Here you go, a blog post smack dab in the middle of March Madness, and the only mention that I will make of the Madness is to say that I made 18 wagers on games over the course of the first two rounds and posted a 10-8 record. Making money, but barely.
On to other topics.....
World Baseball Classic
While fiddling with the remote control on Saturday night, I happened upon the quarter-final game between the USA and Venezuela. It was the bottom of the fifth inning, the USA was up 5-2, but was in the process of giving up four runs and falling behind 6-5, and I decided to stick with this game. (Full disclosure: my TV provider does not give me the Turner networks so my access to NCAA basketball was limited.) Two innings later, Venezuela tacked on another run and led 7-5. The top of the eighth featured a monstrous grand slam home run by Trae Turner, that put the USA up 9-7, the eventual final score, and set off the celebration pictured above.
That led to me watching the semi-final game between the USA and Cuba on Sunday night, won handily by the USA, 14-2, and featuring two more home runs by Trea Turner, who has become the WBC version of Reggie Jackson. The other semi-final was played last night between Mexico and Japan. Japan won 6-5 with a bottom of the ninth two run walk off double. Japan trailed the entire game until that moment, and it was an absolutely terrific game. This sets up tonight's championship game between the USA and Japan. Seven o'clock on FS1. I'll be watching and so should you if you are a baseball fan. Oh, and if you think that these games are "meaningless", watch the emotions and reactions of the players (see photo above). It isn't meaningless to them.
It is interesting that these WBC games are being played under the "old" rules. No pitch clock. Infield shifts allowed. I have watched very little spring training baseball, but I have seen enough to know that these rules will create a tremendous improvement in the viewing experience of ball games. Watching the WBC games, where the pitchers pace around the mound between pitches, and the batters step out of the box between every pitch, only reinforces that observation.
The "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger" Podcast
Prompted by Ron Cook's column earlier in the week, I downloaded and listened to Episode 23 of the podcast. It featured an interview between Roethlisberger and his long time head coach, Mike Tomlin.
I was aware that Big Ben had started a podcast last fall, but I hadn't sampled it until this week. The Podcast website describes the show thusly:
"After years of sampling unique beers and talking football with friends, we've decided to make it a show! Get ready for uneducated craft beer reviews, over-educated football insight, and a list of special guests that is guaranteed not to disappoint!"
The interview with Tomlin was excellent. Very informal, very entertaining, and very informative, as the Coach and the QB had an excellent bull session about coaching, football, and their relationship in general. When I look AT THE GUESTS THAT BEN HAS HAD ON HIS SHOW since it began, it makes me look forward to some long car rides in the future when I can replay these old shows.
Check it out.
"Six"
We took in the musical "Six" at the Broadway in Pittsburgh series this past weekend, and what a great show it was. It is the story of the six wives of King Henry VIII. It is framed as a show during which "the Queens" meet to decide which of them should go down as the "Lead Queen" in the the story of Henry VIII. Each states their case through song and dance. The songs range from rock & roll, to semi-rhyming hip hop, to soulful ballads. The costumes are colorful and funky, and the staging and lighting is positively amazing, a real sensory overload in the best sense. I would see this show again in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.
Four Stars from The Grandstander.
To Absent Friends - Bud Grant
Bud Grant
1927-2023
Former Minnesota Vikings head coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Bud Grant died last week at the age of 95. After a successful stint as a HC in the Canadian Football League, which followed a successful career as a football player and a pro basketball player with the Minneapolis Lakers, Grant became the Vikings head coach in 1967, and coached the team for 18 seasons. During Grant's tenure, the Vikes reached the Super Bowl four times, and while he and his teams never managed to win a Lombardi Trophy, the accomplishment of reaching that game four times is not diminished. (On a personal note, I am quite happy that Grant was the losing coach in Super Bowl IX, Steelers 16 - Vikings 7.)
Grant was known as a hard-ass coach. One who never allowed his players to have heaters on the sidelines in the coldest of cold weather games in Minnesota winters. Famously, at a playoff game in Minnesota a few years back, a 90-something year old Bud Grant was an honorary captain of the Vikings that day, and came out for the coin toss in single digit temperatures wearing only a short sleeve Vikings golf shirt.
And on an off beat note, fans of the Tony Kornheiser Podcast, we Loyal Littles, all know the special place that Grant had on the podcast in his relationship with Nigel and Reginald the monkey when Reginald would pick games for the upcoming Sunday.
RIP Bud Grant.
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