The Sports Weekend That Was

A quick whirl around the wide, wide world of sports from this past weekend....

• The finalists in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament have been determined with Virginia defeating Auburn and Texas Tech defeating Michigan State in two wildly amazing games.  What an improbable finish to that Virginia game with the kid sinking three straight free throws with .6 seconds left to eek out a 63-62 win.
• So as to avoid jinxing the situation, I will just say that we in this household are vigorously rooting for Virginia tonight.  Should the desired outcome be achieved, I will spell out the details at some point later in the week.
• After suffering two bad losses to the Cardinals last week,  the Pirates then proceeded to complete a four game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds and now stand at 5-3.  
• Yesterday's game featured a benches clearing hissy fit which caused numerous post game comments about baseball's hallowed "unwritten rules" and hand wringing about how certain players need to "respect the game."  What a bunch of horseshit that is.

• Chief hand wringer among the Pirates was relief pitcher Keone Kela (who was ejected from the game for his actions in the brouhaha).  Kela apparently broke his spring training "not gonna talk to the media" dictum to make his overwrought pronouncements.  Two of the Pirates three losses, by the way, came in large part because Kela twice surrendered home runs that erased leads that he was brought in to protect.  Maybe Kela should work on that little kink before declaring himself the Arbiter Of All Things Proper On A Baseball Diamond.
• It is becoming apparent that we are in the beginning of a season long journey wherein all broadcasts and telecasts will be a tribute to Steve Blass as he serves out his final season as a broadcaster.  I'm not a Blass Hater, by any means, but this is already getting tiring.  By what date in the season's calendar will Greg Brown begin to openly and unabashedly weep over Steve's pending departure? I say it happens after the All-Star Break, but before the July 31 trade deadline.
• The University of Pittsburgh unveiled it's new look, or new "branding" for its athletic teams.  The blue-and yellow color scheme of the Majors-Dorsett-Sherrill-Marino-Risacher Era of Pitt athletics will now be official.  As will the "Script Pitt" logo, which, in fact, came back about two years ago.  Also, a new Panther Head will also become the "secondary" logo for Pitt's teams.

• Much of Pitt's fan base, which has been kvetching for the return of the Script logo ever since the Evil Steve Peterson did away with them in 1997, acted predictably all across social media last night and today:  They hate the new look.  Oh the script is good, and the colors are okay, but the font of the numbers is awful and what's with that stupid new panther, they ask.  Some people are only happy, apparently, when they are unhappy.
• Me, I like the "new" Panther, but I'd like everything a whole lot more if HCPN could manage a ten or more win season in 2019.
• If you didn't watch the NCAA Women's basketball championship game last night, won 82-81 by Baylor over Notre Dame, shame on you.  For two and a half quarters, Baylor led ND by anywhere from ten to thirteen points. Then Baylor's best player, Lauren Cox, left the game with a bad injury, and Notre Dame proceeded to stage a valiant comeback that saw them take the lead late in the game, only to have Baylor play equally valiantly in fighting off the comeback and eventually winning the game and the championship.  Terrific game.
• The Penguins qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs which begin on Wednesday.  Time for me to hop on the bandwagon and start watching the Pens.  My prediction:  The Penguins to win it all, no series lasting longer than five games.  The only thing not certain at this point is the exact date for the victory parade. 
• And in football, Antonio Brown tweeted out that the person responsible for the Steelers not making the Playoffs last year was.....Juju Smith-Shuster.  Juju, you will recall, was voted team MVP by his teammates last year, and AB, apparently, has never recovered from this blatant act of disrespect.

So, what will this new week bring us?  This is why we follow sports.

The Trades

Less than a month ago, July 9 to be precise, I expounded in this space about the awfulness of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the ineptitude of the team's front office, which, in the person of GM Neal Huntington, all but gave up on the team and gave indications that they would be selling assets come the July 31 trade deadline.  Since that pronouncement on Huntington's July 8  radio show, you all know what has happened.  The team has gone 16-4, including an eleven game winning  streak, and has propelled itself at the very least back into the race for a Wild Card spot in the post-season.  The players themselves called the Front Office's bluff and yesterday the suits delivered, making two huge trades.  

On Monday evening I was out at an event and a friend asked if I thought the Pirates would make any significant deals at the deadline.  My answer was that they would probably get some middling relief pitcher just to say that they did something, but that I doubted that it would have any significance whatsoever.

Well, I was wrong.  A minor league pitching prospect was sent to Texas for relief pitcher Keone Kela.  I admit that until this trade was announced, I had never heard of Keone Kela, but his credentials as a top flight reliever/closer are impeccable.  

Kela

Then the stunner came yesterday afternoon, right at the 4:00 deadline.  Starting pitcher Chris Archer comes from Tampa Bay in exchange for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and the always popular Player To Be Named Later.

Archer

Despite what his number say, no one throughout baseball disputes that Archer is a genuine top if the rotation starter.    Without question, the Pirates are a better team today than they were the day before with the addition these two guys to the team.

Will it be enough to make a difference this year?  I am not so sure, but before these deals, I didn't see any chance of the team making the playoffs.  That equation has changed now.  Also, Archer and Kela, who come to the Bucs with three and two years of control, respectively, and with "team friendly contracts" (always important to the Pirates), the team looks to be improved going into 2019 and beyond as well.

Both deals represent a shocking change in philosophy for Huntington and the Pirates, who would never part with prized prospects.  Meadows has made the big leagues and has proved that he can play at this level.  He was destined to be the guy who would replace Andrew McCutchen, and now he's gone.  Will he ever achieve Cutch-like status?  Maybe he will, and it will hurt of we see him in multiple All-Star games over the next decade or so wearing a Rays uniform, but he may not, either.  As we all know, baseball history is littered with Can't Miss Prospects who have, you know, Missed.  Glasnow was projected as a dominant Ace of the future, and he has not panned out up until now.  Of course, he could turn out to be a future Cy Young candidate like Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole are now, or he could remain what he currently is, a middling relief pitcher.  Oh, and we'll see about the Player To Be Named.

But we know what the Pirates have gotten in Archer and Kela.  Two proven major league pitchers who will be an immediate help to this team, both this year and for a couple of years to come.

We have all been burying GM Neal for his inaction and salary dumping this season, so it's only fair to give him some props for what he has pulled off in the last forty-eight hours.  Time will be the ultimate judge of these deals, of course, but as of right now, I like what the Pirates have done here.