I've Got A Basketball Jones

(Hip Early 1970's 

Cheech & Chong Reference)

For the past four days, I, like many American sports fans, spent most of my waking hours jonesing on the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, aka, March Madness.  Maybe it was the fact that there was no tournament last year, or maybe it was the fact that this COVID-induced disjointed college hoops season caused me to not get fully engaged in the sport until now, but whatever the reason, man oh man, did I enjoy these last four days in front of the tube.

And, yes, I have random observations to make, and here they are, in no particular order of importance......

First round upsets in the tournament are always fun and exciting, but when the dust settles and the Sweet Sixteen is determined, it is usually the Blue Bloods of college basketball that remain standing.  Only Oral Roberts University can be considered a "cinderella" at this point.  Of the other fifteen schools, ten are from Power Five conferences, two are from the basketball rich Big East, and Gonzaga, Loyola, and Houston, while they are not P5 schools, they are all rich in hoops tradition.

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Yes, Creighton is a member of the Big East.  Last time I looked, Nebraska was still west of the Mississippi River.

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Maybe it's because I live in an eastern city, but I find that coverage of college basketball contains a HUGE East Coast and Midwest bias.  The Big Ten sent eight teams to the tournament, sentiment was almost unanimous that the B1G was the strongest conference in the country, and yet only one of those teams is among the final sixteen, one didn't survive a play-in game, and two others lost in the first round, including second seeded Ohio State to 15th seeded Oral Roberts.  By contrast, five west coast teams, Gonzaga, USC, UCLA, Oregon State, and Oregon are still standing.

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Just about every "expert" and bracketologist out there had Villanova losing to Winthrop in the first round.   You know what happened.  While Winthrop kept it close, Villanova was never really in any danger at all of losing that game, despite playing without two of their best players.  I honestly believe that if the two teams played ten times, Villanova would win eight or nine times.  In the second round, the Wildcats rolled over North Texas, and they remain standing.  Sometimes bloodlines and a coach like Jay Wright really do mean a lot.  A whole lot.  They next face Baylor, and will no doubt be underdogs, but how surprised will you really be if Villanova wins that game?

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Count me among the many who do not care for Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, but he is some coach.   The Orange finished eighth in the ACC this year and here they are in the Round of Sixteen.  I heard that this is 25th or 26th time he has taken a team to the Sweet Sixteen.  That's amazing.  In the second round he went up against a superior WVU team who has a great coach too in Bob Huggins, and Huggy was completely outcoached by Boeheim.

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Is there anything more exciting than seeing a highflying and exciting basketball game being ground to a halt in the last few minutes of a game while the zebras spend countless minutes agonizing over a replay to see whether the ball was last touched by the guy in the white shirt or if it actually grazed off the fingernail or shoelace of the guy in the blue shirt?  Or seeing them then spend another two or three minutes deciding whether there is 1.7 or 2.4 seconds remaining on the clock?  And then there are the endless time outs and parades to the foul lines.

Talk about buzz kills.

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I note that the trend to baggy and well-below-the knees basketball shorts seems to have gone by the wayside.   Current styles are shorter, but not as short as the nut-cutters worn by players in basketball's jurassic era.  They are looser than in the old days and stop in mid-thigh, several inches above the knee.  A good and a stylish compromise, I believe.

However, I'm not crazy about the leggings that more and more players are wearing.  I guess they serve a purpose, but aesthetics isn't one of them.

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The four network coverage of games remains one of the great innovations ever in sports television.  I remember being skeptical when this was first introduced by CBS and Turner several years ago, but now I couldn't imagine it any other way.  Halftime? Switch to another game.  Commercials?  Switch to another game.  Game you're watching turning into a boring blow-out? Switch to another game.  

What could be better?

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Speaking of commercials, the Capital One spots with Chuck, Sam, and Spike, with Jim Nantz as a Plus One, remain the gold standard.  The new one this year that shows them all as little kids at their first game should win an award.

I've loved the commercials that note the return of watching this event that was missed last year, and I love the one for Apple AirPods of the hip-hop kid dancing through he neighborhood and joining in with kids jumping rope.  

Most other commercials were old and aggravating by midway through the first day, especially that creepy one for Coke Cherry-Vanilla in the convenience store. Eeuew.

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I would also like to call bullshit on those who have speculated that this tournament is somehow tainted or deserving of an asterisk because of either (a) the disjointed nature of the regular season, (b) the uncertainty up to the last minute of who would or would not be able to compete in it,  (c) the lack of spectators, or (d, and most ridiculous of all) the fact that neither perennial participants Duke and Kentucky were not included.

If a tournament is held at all, and it is being held, and if you make it through the six round grind and win six games, you are a Deserving Champion.  Period.  No asterisks required.

Another ridiculous sentiment that some are floating is will Gonzaga, should they win it all and finish 32-0, something that has not been done in 45 years, do they deserve to be included in the same conversation with other undefeated teams - Bill Russell's USF team, Frank McGuire's UNC team, the Wooden/Alcindor/Walton UCLA teams, or Bob Knight's Indiana team?  The answer is YES!!!!  Gonzaga will have played a schedule that was set out for them, and then survived a 68 team tournament.  If they end up beating every team that comes before them, they are, by definition, one of the great teams of all time.  You want to argue that Alcindor's Bruins were better, fine, that's what sports are all about, but don't short change their accomplishments.

And yes, I know that that previous paragraph, can be rendered completely moot between now and April 5, but I like the Zags chances to at the very least get through the Regionals and into the Final Four.

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Based upon various nieces and nephews choice of colleges, I made a number of what I call "loyalty bets" this weekend.  Lost money on Ohio State (Brian and Francie), North Carolina (Bonny, Michael, and Sofie), St. Bonaventure (Bill), Georgetown (Katie), and went 1-1 on Ohio U (Zach).

Prior to the beginning of the tourney, I made four separate $8 bets at various odds on each of four schools to win the whole enchilada.  All four schools remain alive, and here is how the payouts would go for me if any of them win: Gonzaga $24, Baylor $56, Houston $176, and Alabama $184.

So you all know how I'll be cheering this coming weekend.

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Not counting last year, when, of course, there was no tournament, this is the first time in many years that I had not spent at least one of the first two days of March Madness gathered at a local sports bar with groups of friends to watch the games.   Of course, such gatherings are fun and you can't put a price on camaraderie, but I have to say that I was able to get more into the games themselves by watching them in the comfort of my home.  You can pick what game you want to watch at a given time, the food and drinks are cheaper, and really, when it comes to camaraderie, who better to watch games with than Mrs. Grandstander?

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.

This 'n That....

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

News arrived earlier this week that the Alliance of American Football, the AAF, or, as some refer to it, The Aaaaaafffffff, was folding its tent and ceasing operations after seven weeks of its inaugural season.

This league seemed to have a lot going for it....Smart football people were involved (Bill Pollian) in running it, there was TV backing for it (CBS, NFL Network), and it had a reasonable sense of itself (it would work in concert with the NFL as a developmental league, rather than as a competitor).  Plus, there seemed to be a constant demand for football in the United States, right?

Well, apparently not.  

I did watch a game in the first weekend, but none since.  The quality of play was spotty, but I liked that they were using the games to test out new rules and ideas (no kickoffs, a variation of the onside kick, etc), and the games did move incredibly quickly in real time, so the NFL could definitely learn from that.  

However, it didn't even last full season.  I don't want to make light of it, since a lot of people - players, coaches, game officials, and office staffs - are now out of work.  That's never a good thing.  Also, if you are considering investing in the revival of Vince McMahon's XFL, scheduled to start in 2020, you might want to reconsider.  The demise of the AAF would pretty much doom the XFL, it seems to me.

I generally avoid any analysis of a baseball team's season until they play thirty games, or around 20% of a season, but based on only four games thus far, your Pittsburgh Pirates appear to be a team that will cause it's fans to gobble up antacid pills like ballpark peanuts as the season unfolds.  They sit at 1-3. In all four games, they led after six innings (they could be 4-0) before the bullpen, considered a strength going into the season, proceeded to blow those leads, and blow them in somewhat spectacular fashion.

Starting pitching has been good to very good, defense has been shaky, base running questionable, and the bullpen, as previously noted, awful.  Still, it's only four games, so no need to panic yet.  Let's check in again after that thirty game mark.

The Pirates home opener loss to the Cardinals, the 4-0 and 5-4 leads blown by the Bucs aside, was a perfect microcosm of all that is wrong about baseball at this point in the 21st century.  It took five hours to play, and while there were two extra innings involved, it took four hours to play nine innings. Managers Clint Hurdle and Mike Schildt (and if you'd have pointed a gun to my head before Monday and told me to name the Cardinals manager, I'd have failed miserably), did all that they could to slow this game down and turn it into an interminable slog.  

Consider this one sequence in the game.  Hurdle makes his slow walk out to the mound and calls in Francisco Liriano from the pen to face a left-handed batter.  Liriano makes his way in from the bullpen, takes his eight warm up pitches (after he'd already been throwing in the bullpen), and the proceeds to walk the batter he faces.  Hurdle then walks out to the mound, calls in another pitcher, who walks in from the pen, takes his eight warm up pitches....well, you get the idea.  Probably 12 to 15 minutes of real time elapsed and the only thing that actually happened was a base on balls.

Baseball as it is being played today is becoming almost unwatchable.  The old time baseball "purists" who rail and shout at the clouds about anything being done to "change the game" should be more worried about the game withering and dying from lack of interest due to the pure ennui that the game has become.  Rob Manfred's desire to make changes that will pick up the pace of play should be encouraged and embraced, not scorned by the people who long for the days of wool uniforms and teams traveling by trains.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has gone pretty much according to chalk and have lacked the early round upsets hat everyone loves, and that was probably a good thing, since it produced some spectacular games in the Rounds of Sixteen and Eight.  We have become big fans of the University of Virginia Cavaliers as the Final Four approaches.  Should UVA  advance to the final game and win it on Monday night, Marilyn will be the winner of a prestigious Bracket Pool run by our pal John Frissora.  Even if the Hoos lose in the final, she will finish in second place, but to get there, they need to beat Auburn and its loathsome coach Bruce Pearl on Saturday.  So let's go UVA.  Make Mr. Jefferson proud.

And in a non-sports related item, I note that yesterday was the 97th birthday of actress Doris Day.  I made mention of this on The Facebook yesterday, both on my regular feed and on a couple of movie groups to which I belong.  All posts brought up numerous comments and "likes" from people expressing their regard for Miss Day.  As I said, who doesn't like Doris Day and what's not to like?  I hope that she spent her birthday, and is spending all of her days, in good health and comfort.

Delayed Thoughts - NCAA Basketball Championships

Things have been a bit hectic here in The Grandstand of late, so I am a bit late in my thoughts on the recently concluded NCAA Basketball Championships, both Men's and Women's divisions, so before too much time passes, here we go.....

• The men's tournament this year proved, for the most part, to be somewhat lackluster....no dramatic opening round David-over-Goliath upsets, no dramatic buzzer beaters.  In the end, though, it seemed that the two best teams over the course of the tournament met in the final game, North Carolina and Gonzaga.
• Unfortunately, the final game was, shall we say, less than aesthetically pleasing.  Poor shooting by by both teams and overly officious officiating by the, er, officials combined to produce a pretty poorly played and sometimes painful game to watch.  
• Well, as I always say, there are no guarantees as to what you might see when you watch a sporting event.  That is what makes sports so much fun to follow.
• Marilyn Sproule, aka Mrs. Grandstander, was able to finish in a T-3 in a bracket pool that included 57 entries, MUCH better than both her husband and brother did in that same pool.  She also won the little sporting Proposition Pool that I ran for the Final Four.  After winning my Super Bowl Prop Pool, she is on a roll.
• We are also happy for our niece Bonny  and her husband Michael, both UNC grads for being able to celebrate another championship.  We are also happy for their daughter, Sophie, who scored this bit of swag for her 15th  birthday on Thursday...

Happy birthday, Sophie!!

• Perhaps the biggest college basketball story of all this tourney season was the defeat of the Connecticut women's team by Mississippi State in the semi-final game in overtime.  This ended a chance for UCONN to win a fifth consecutive championship, and it also ended an unbelievable streak of 111 consecutive wins for the Lady Huskies.

• I was impressed by how well that UCONN handled the defeat, both the players and Coach Geno Auriemma. Geno was most gracious in defeat, and it almost seemed like a part of him was relieved that the streak was over.

• I am sure that Geno is already working on starting another streak.  He may never win 111 straight again, or even come close to it, but would you bet against  UCONN being in the Final Four once again next year and winning it all?
• In the end, Mississippi State couldn't sustain the effort they had against UCONN in the semis, and they fell to South Carolina in the Championship game.  While SC and their head coach Dawn Staley, who is certainly poised to become the next dominant coach in the women's game, are deserving champions, I am figuring that this tournament may be remembered more as not the one that South Carolina won, but the one where Connecticut lost and the record win streak ended.  That may not be fair to South Carolina, but there you are.

Dawn Staley and Her Champions

• On a podcast I listen to a commentator mentioned that in perhaps the greatest sports upset ever, the 1980 USA victory over the USSR  in the Olympics, the team still had to beat Finland for the Gold medal.  Not many people remember that.  I suspect, though, that the young women on that Mississippi State team, who "couldn't beat Finland", will for the rest of their lives savor that UCONN victory more than they ever would have a championship victory over South Carolina.
• So, here's a hypothetical question for you....Would that 1980 USA Olympic hockey team and its win over the mighty Soviets be remembered with such devotion today had they lost that Gold Medal game to Finland?

Bouquets, Brickbats, and Other Observations

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

Saw the current Pittsburgh Public Theater's production of "Daddy Long Legs" on Sunday evening.  It might have been one of the very best shows we have ever seen at the PPT, and we have been attending productions there since the 1980's.

The show starred Danielle Bowen and Allan Snyder, both of whom were making their first appearance at the PPT.  One can only hope that they will be appearing there in many future productions.

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Speaking of the PPT, it was announced a few weeks back that Managing Director Ted Pappas would be leaving that position at the end of the 2018 season.  Apparently, it was Pappas' decision to move on, and one can only wish him the best.  In his eighteen years in that position, he has made the PPT one of the true gems in the Pittsburgh cultural scene.  Good luck to the person that the PPT brings in to replace him.  He or she will have some HUGE shoes to fill.

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"Feud: Bette and Jane" continues to be one of the most entertaining series on TV.  The scene on last Sunday's show wherein Joan Crawford, played by Jessica Lange, fires her William Morris Agency agents in one of the great scenes with one of the best lines ever delivered on series television, was an absolute classic.  

If you missed it, go to FX Network On Demand and click on Episode 4 of the series.  The scene I am talking about takes place in the first five minutes of the show - you'll know it when you hear it, believe me - so you won't have to invest a lot of time into it if you are not so inclined.

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And while we are talking about TV series on FX, we are now three episodes into Season Four of "The Americans".  So far, I'm disappointed, and I fear that unless things pick up quickly, we could be talking shark-jumping for what has been a really good series for the first three seasons.

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What was becoming a major embarrassment came to end last night when Duquesne University announced that Kevin Dambrot, late of Akron University, had accepted the position of Head Basketball Coach for the Dukes.  Apparently, Dambrot had originally turned down the job, and then so did everyone else the University approached about the job.  So, they went back to Dambrot and upped the ante considerably (seven years / $7 million), and he said yes.

For those of us who came of age when Duquesne was THE college basketball team in the city, and those of us who did are now all in our sixties and older now, we can only hope that, finally, things may turn around on The Bluff, and that Dukes basketball can be relevant once again.

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So, the NFL lodge brothers approve the relocation of the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas by a note of 31-1. The Raiders then say that the actual move won't take place until 2019 or 2020, and that, by the way, the lame duck team will be raising ticket prices for the chumps in Oakland to attend their games.

(Oakland and the State of California would not cough up any public funds for a new stadium for the Raiders.  Vegas and Nevada is forking over $750 million of their residents' tax payments.  Just the way the NFL and other pro leagues like it.)

Mike Wilbon is right: the arrogance and greed of the NFL owners knows no bounds, and the sad part is that those suckers in Oakland will no doubt continue to pony up for tickets when it would serve the Raiders right to play in front of empty houses for their remaining years in the Bay area.

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Has anything been more annoying than the  prominent role being sought out and granted to Lavar Ball, the father of UCLA basketball player Alonzo Ball, and two other hoops' prodigies.  The fact that the Bruins went down to Kentucky in the regional semis last week may have ruined a lot of peoples' bracket pools, but it spared the nation - for now, anyway - any further exposure to Lavar Ball.  By the way, Ball may well be the #1 pick in the NBA draft this summer, but in that game against Kentucky, he wasn't even the second best guard on the floor. Both of those kids from Kentucky were better, for that night at least.

I missed the Kentucky - North Carolina game on Sunday, but was somewhat surprised at the outcome.  I thought that Kentucky was the best team that I had seen play throughout the tournament up to that point.  Not completely surprised, though, because, after all, North Carolina IS North Carolina.

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For what it's worth, I'm calling North Carolina to beat Gonzaga for the Championship come Monday night.  As always, watch but don't bet.  And for the record, the bracket pool that I submitted at the outset of the tournament had UCLA over Arizona in that game.  

Shows you what I know.

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As for the movie scene, last week I pulled to favorites out of the DVD basket here at home, both from director and screenwriter Lawrence Kasden.  From 1981...

and from 1983...

I hadn't watched either one in several years, and both hold up well after all these years and are still terrific movies to watch.

Here Come the Blue Bloods.....

Victories by schools like Middle Tennessee State, Stephen F. Austin, Hawaii (or is it Hawai'i; can someone explain that apostrophe to me?), and Arkansas-Little Rock sure are thrilling and fun on Days One and Two of the NCAA Tournament, but when all is said and done after Round Two, it is surely the Big Boys of college basketball who head to the Sweet 16.  After yesterday's games were over, we are left with all four #1 seeds, two each of Seeds #2, #3, #4, and #5, plus a #6, a #7, and a #10, and an #11, and that ten and eleven happen to be Syracuse and Gonzaga, two programs that can hardly be classified as Cinderellas.

This tournament is one of the most fun events on the sports calendar, but the fun ends after Round One, because when the dust settles, when things get down to business, you're most likely always going to see Duke, North Carolina, Kansas or other schools of that ilk playing for all the marbles.

On Bracketology and Other Tourney Thoughts...

Random Hoops Thoughts.....

• I used to think that nothing released more useless hot air into the atmosphere than endless discussions of the NFL Draft, but I am starting to think that that boring topic has been surpassed by discussions centering around "Bracketology", a term invented, I believe, by ESPN, to describe filling the field for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.  The discussion usually starts around Thanksgiving with endless discussions about strength of schedules, RPI, Last Four In, First Four Out, and who is or is not on The Bubble.  These conversations go on endlessly and peak on Selection Sunday when the pundits then go into a feeding frenzy ripping "the committee" for  having the temerity to include East Overshoe University in the field of 68, while at the same time having the stupidity to exclude dear old Siwash State, who had a much better RPI.  And don't even get them started on the seedings!

• It's all very tiresome, but it mercifully comes to an end on Thursday of the first round when sixteen games are played, followed by sixteen games on Friday.  Lots of action, some exciting upsets, and lots of beer drunk in lots of sports bars all across the land. Then it's actual basketball for the next three weekends, culminating with the Championship game on Monday night, April 4.
• But it will all start again on or about April 5 when Joe Lunardi or Doug Gottlieb or some other gasbag will issue the first projections for the Field of 68 for 2017.
• Okay, few things are more snooze inducing than listening to someone else talk about THEIR bracket picks, so I will be brief.  My own Final Four consists of Michigan State, Kentucky, Maryland, and Baylor with Michigan State defeating Maryland in the Final.
• Yeah, I know, Baylor lost in the first round yesterday, which probably screws up any chance I could possibly have of winning, but how could you not have been rooting for Yale in that game yesterday?
• Of primary interest today are these games: Pitt (Only a #10 seed! Are you kidding me???) vs. Wisconsin (Will Paul Chryst be in attendance?) and West Virginia (A #3 seed! What was that Committee thinking???) vs. Stephan F. Austin. If both teams win and advance through this weekend, they will meet in a Sweet Sixteen game in the East Regional.  WVU is actually favored by many to go far in the tournament, so  wouldn't a Pitt win over WVU in that game really put a cherry on the top of what has been a rather uneven season for the Panthers?  Lots of grass to mow for both teams to get to that point, though, but we can dream can't we?
• On the women's side of the NCAA Hoops extravaganza, congratulations to the ladies of both Duquesne University and Robert Morris University for making it to the Championship tournament this year.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that RMU will have to face the University of Connecticut in the opening round. And the game in being played in Storrs, CT. Oh, well.  Should UCONN sneak by the Lady Colonials, their next opponent will be the Duquesne, should the Lady Dukes win their first round game. Again, oh well.
• As an RMU alum, I really wish these ladies well, but I'm a realist.  I suspect and hope that the experience of playing in the tournament against the great UCONN Dynasty will be something that will serve these young women well as they go through life, and will be an absolutely wonderful memory for them.  Same goes for the Lady Dukes.  Play well, ladies.

A Haircut, Basketball, A New Book, the NFL, a Big Bang, and Other Topics

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box......

• Well, the BIG NEWS out of Spring Training arrived via social media at Noon today: Andrew McCutchen cut he dreads!!! He looks good:

• Is there a more fun sports weekend than the opening weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament?  We spent all of Thursday watching games deep into the night.  On Friday I met up with friends Fred, John, and Len and others at the Tilted Kilt and watched games all afternoon.  Lots of TV time on Saturday and Sunday watching the field of 64 being winnowed to 16.  I do regret not having had the foresight to get tickets for the Opening Round games that were held at the Consol.  I have great memories of seeing those same games at the Arena in 1997 and 2002.
• On the downside, watching all those games means seeing commercials - the same commercials - time after time.  We can argue all day as to which are the best and which are the worst ones.    My own nominations....Best - The AT&T commercials with Shaquille O'Neal, Clyde Drexler, Julius Irving, and Christian Laettner.  The Worst (and no other is even close) - The trailer for that movie with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, a movie that shows promise of being one of the worst movies scheduled for release in 2015.
• I was dubious when the NCAA announced a few years ago that all opening round games would be telecast on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, but it has turned out to be utterly fantastic.  The way they show the scores of other games, and the network on which it is being televised, thus enabling you to switch to another game, is the most viewer friendly thing on television.
• That said, isn't it amazing how four games being played simultaneously can all manage to be in a commercial break at the same time?
• As great as watching all these games is, I have to say that the endless cycle of foul-time out-free throw-time out-foul and on and on is extremely tedious.  I know that it has become an intricate part of the strategy of the college game, but surely there has to be a better way.
• A special shout out to my SABR and Facebook Friend Susan Petrone of Cleveland.  On Tuesday, her novel, "Throw Like a Woman" was officially released.  I have already downloaded it on my Kindle, and it will be the next book that I read.  Good luck, Susan!

• I know that we are very late to this particular party, but Marilyn and I, throughout he magic of syndication and reruns, have become completely hooked on "The Big Bang Theory".  We are far from caught up on all of the adventures of Sheldon, Leonard, Penny and the rest of the gang, but there is seldom an episode that we watch where we have not laughed out loud throughout the show.  Truly one of the funniest sitcoms ever.

• Did you notice that NFL has announced that one of the games that will be played in London next season, between Buffalo and Jacksonville, will start at 9:30 eastern time and will not be broadcast in network television.  Instead, it will be streamed over some yet-to-be announced Internet streaming service.  This is the first shot across the bow, folks. If the money is there from some Internet giant like Netflicks, Google, or Amazon, and it will be, be prepared for one day seeing the Super Bowl through your computer, telephone, or Apple Watch.
• Speaking of SABR, the Pittsburgh Chapter's next meeting will be on April 25, and I have already put together a presentation for that meeting.  It's been a while since I have done a presentation, and I am looking forward to it.  Makes you want to show up, doesn't it?

The NCAA Tournament Selections

Some quick comments after watching the NCAA Tournament Selection Show:

• I think Seth Davis mentioned 19 schools who will advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
• According to Doug Gottlieb, there are about a dozen teams in the field who shouldn't be there.  Really?
• One of the guys, not sure if it was Davis or Gottlieb, and can you really tell them apart, said that in the Opening Round Arizona will be playing a "virtual home game" - in Portland, Oregon!  C'MON MAN!
• Clark Kellog mentioned several teams who can "score the basketball".  Good to know that they aren't playing their games with baseballs or golf balls.
• I miss the days of Billy Packer bitching and moaning that not every single ACC team made the tournament.

Robert Morris gets a play-in game in Dayton.  Not surprising.  Need to get past the Opreys of Northern Florida for the chance to upset the Dookies.

Let's Go Colonials!!!

Big Game Tonight - A Prediction

Tonight the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship will be decided when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Connecticut Huskies. 

The UConn story is kind of amazing to me.  When last we looked, legendary coach Jim Calhoun was "retiring" under a cloud of academic improprieties that led to the team being put on NCAA probation.  Further, when various conference realignments forced the Big East to return to it's basketball only, Catholic school roots, Connecticut seemed to be still standing when all the music stopped playing, and sort of disappeared from the Big Times College Hoops scene, at least from my vantage point. And now here they are, a number seven seed playing for the National Championship.

The team they will play, John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats seem to have an equally improbable story.  National Champs in 2012, they failed to even qualify for the big tournament last year, returned with another bunch of potential one-and-done blue chippers this year and started the season with mixed results.  They made the tournament this year as a number eight seed.  

I have no horse in this race, no chance to win any money in any pool that I entered, so what I am really rooting for tonight is a good game.  If forced to root for someone, I would choose Kentucky because I kind of like Coach Cal, despite his reputation for sailing near the wind on several occasions.  Still, if you want a prediction, I am going to choose Connecticut as the winner tonight.  Kentucky probably has more talented players, but in watching both semi-final games on Saturday, Connecticut seemed to me to be a better team.

As always, watch but don't bet.

It could also be a very special year in Storrs, CT, as the UConn women will play for the national title tomorrow night against Notre Dame.  Both teams are undefeated, and that one should be a treat to watch.

Enjoy the game!

All-Time Top Ten NCAA Tournament Players

A special edition of Sports Illustrated came in the mail today that salutes "75 Years of the NCAA Basketball Tournament".  Cool idea.  Even cooler was the centerpiece of the issue, which named the ten "greatest players" in the history of the tournament, and for your consideration, here they are:

10. Jerry West
9. Christian Laettner
8. Magic Johnson
7. Bill Bradley
6. Wilt Chamberlain
5. Larry Bird
4. Oscar Robertson
3. Bill Russell
2. Bill Walton
1. Lew Alcindor

Pretty good list and hard to find fault with either the players selected or their ranking on the list.  However, what I find to be the most interesting facet of this list is the fact that seven of the men on the list fully pre-date the ESPN Era of sports (1979 to current).  Johnson and Bird, who played from 1977 to 1979 straddled the birth of ESPN, and only one player, Laettner, can be considered a pure ESPN Era player.

Also, consider that Russell, Robertson. Chamberlain, Bradley, and West played in an era before these games were televised on national television networks (I might be wrong, but I believe I am correct on that).  It was only when the John Wooden UCLA Dynasty came to the fore, anchored by Alcindor and Walton, that these games began being telecast nationally on one of the major networks.

Being that I am at times a Grumpy Old Man, it always rankles me that many people are of a mind that "if it wasn't on ESPN, then it didn't really matter, or didn't even happen", and ESPN itself is one of the foremost dispensers of this bit of conventional wisdom.  That being the case, I salute Sports Illustrated for having the integrity to look at the complete history of the event about which they are writing.

How would such a list coming from the Mike Greenbergs, Stewart Scotts, Chris Bermans, and other sages in Bristol look?  For one thing, you can be sure that it would include Michael Jordan.  In fact, I am betting the we will see letters to the editor in SI in a few weeks demanding to know why Jordan was left off.

Tigers and 'Cats and Jayhawks (?)...Oh, My

Not sure how you apportioned your TV viewing time this afternoon, but most of my attention was on NBC watching Tiger Woods win his first PGA Tour event in 934 days. Did the guys at NBC bring up that 934 day number enough for you? Since the revelation of Woods' now well-publicized feet of clay, it is quite fashionable to knock him and have people tell you what a scuzzball he is and blame him for everything from poor on-course behaviour, spitting too much, global warming, $4 per gallon gasoline, and inverse fluctuations in the stock market. I, however, have always been rooting for him to find the magic once again on the golf course and start winning. Golf is a lot more interesting when Tiger is in the hunt and winning.

Well, he did that in most convincing fashion today - a five shot margin over second place finisher Graeme McDowell. One most interesting stat from today, and I think I heard this correctly from the boys in the booth, was that of the final 14 golfers, Woods was the only one to shoot under par in today's fourth round. That's impressive.

That was Tiger's 72nd official PGA Tour win. The record for Tour wins is 82, held by Sam Snead. Here's a question to ponder: at age 36, which record is Tiger most likely to break, Snead's 82 career wins, or Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors (Tiger has 14)? I was beginning to think that both records were becoming out of reach for Woods, but after today, I think Snead's record is well within his grasp, and probably more likely to fall than Jack's 18 Majors. However, if Woods wins one this year, and right now he's got to be the favorite at Augusta in two weeks, Jack's record comes into play once more.

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I began the afternoon by watching Kentucky wallop Baylor (the Bears, Oh my!). That one was so out of reach so early, that staying with the golf at Bay Hill was easy to do. The Wildcats sure do look impressive. Make that Very Impressive.

I was also glad to see Kansas advance. Not that it helps me all that much in my FGE Bracket Pool, but Kentucky and Kansas are my two Universities in the MOASP, and if they both happen to meet in the Championship Game, I will have a big leg up on securing the coveted Lamp of Knowledge Trophy for 2012.

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It will be interesting to see the TV ratings for this afternoon. A Kentucky blowout and a golf tournament with Tiger Woods in the lead surely ate into what CBS thought they would score for this afternoon.

Oh, and by the way and for what it's worth, I didn't see Woods spit once on the golf course today.

March TV Madness

Some TV screen reflections on March Madness Weekend.....

• That hour or so of viewing on Friday night when the Ohio U., Norfolk State, and Lehigh upset wins were hurtling to their final buzzers was about as good as sports TV watching could possibly get. Thank goodness for that "Alt Ch" button on the TV remote!




• The four network coverage of the first weekend, particularly on Thursday and Friday, is fantastic. While out driving on Saturday afternoon, host Jory Rand on The Fan was saying he liked it better when only ONE network covered all the games and they had to cut away to the other games. Is he insane? Or, could his opinion just possibly be colored by the fact that he also works for Channel 2 (the CBS affiliate here for you out-of-town readers)?




• High Definition TV does not do any favors for Marv Albert. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but every time there was a shot of Marv on camera, the camera was pointing down and to the right, Marv's left. Never a full facial shot of Marv. Was that intentional or just a fact of TV logistics? One thing you could see was that there had to be more pancake make-up covering Marv's mug than on any other four female sideline reporters.




• Marv, btw, will turn 71 in June of this year. I looked it up, and is he still an outstanding play-by-play guy? Yessssssss, he is.




• For the most part, though, all those announcers and analysts over all those games in all those locations seemed to run together for me




• Speaking of appearances, I hope that Leslie Visser is suing the bejesus out of her plastic surgeon. If Visser was never a knockout like Jillian Barbery or Erin Andrews, she was always an above average attractive woman. When you look at her now, all you can say is "My, God, why did she do that to herself?"




• Now, the commercials....




• Loved the Chevy commercial with the three passengers singing Spandau Ballet




• Loved the Enterprise Rent-a-Car one that talked about how they hire more new college grads than any other company and featuring former NCAA athletes




• Love the NCAA PSA that states "there are thousands of NCAA athletes, and most of them will be going pro in something other than sports"




• Top to bottom, the Bud Light commercials are always good




• Liked the McDonald's commercial of the suspicious wife who "loves" the mint shamrock shake her husband bought her




• The Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with the guy popping a champagne cork in the direction of the guy with the eye patch made me squeamish




• Hate the State Farm commercial with Bob Knight. Hate seeing this guy cash in on the fact that he was a horse's ass for his entire career. This commercial won't make me cancel my State Farm auto and homeowners, but if I was not already a policyholder, it would certainly NOT attract me to the company.




• On the other hand, I did like the State Farm commercial of the two guys dancing on the Jumbotron Fan Cam




• Again on the other hand, the Knight commercial makes State Farm's Aaron Rodgers Discount Double Check commercials look good by comparison

A Bizarre Story, NCAA Picks, and a DVR Alert: "On the Waterfront"

That was a very bizarre story generated by the Arena Football League's Pittsburgh Power ("generated by the...Power"- get it?) this past weekend. In case you missed it, and considering the coverage the Power gets, it would have been easy to do so, here it is in a nutshell.

It seems that the AFL Players went on strike last week (somehow this story did not generate the news coverage that the NFL non-strike did last summer). At that point, the owner of the Power, some guy named Shaner, released every player on the roster a few hours before the team was to open it's season in Orlando on Friday night. Shaner then said he would resign any player who agreed NOT to go on strike. Those players who did not agree to do so, then had their airplane tickets taken from them, and were told that they were on their own in getting back to Pittsburgh. All the while, even as the game on Friday was being played, somehow, Shaner and his staff were trying to sign more scab players.

Thus, the Arena Football League now becomes the very epitome of a Bush League.

Two good lines have emerged from this. The first came from buddy Dan Bonk on Facebook last night when he proclaimed this to be "the biggest local non-story of the year."

The second came from Dejan Kovacevic who said that Lynn Swann (a Power team owner) doesn't deserve to have his name associated with something like this, unless, of course, he agreed to it with his partner, Shaner.

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For anyone who cares, I have completed my NCAA Tournament Bracket - for amusement purposes only - and have Ohio State, Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State reaching the Final Four with the Wildcats defeating the Jayhawks for the title. Such a scenario would do wonders for me in the year long MOASP competition.

I did need to amend my original selections with the news today of Fab Melo's DQ from Syracuse. Tough break for the Orange. I had Syracuse in my original Final Four.

On a more wistful note, the fact that Opening Round sub-regionals are being held in Pittsburgh this year makes me think of attending those games back in 1997 at the Civic Arena. Seeing those three double-headers in one weekend with a bunch of my work buddies is one of my fondest sporting memories.

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Finally, a DVR Alert for tomorrow night, Wednesday, at 10:15 PM on Turner Classic Movies, one of the All-Time GREAT movies, from 1954, "On the Waterfront." This movie won eight Academy Awards that year, including Best Picture, Marlon Brando for Best Actor, Eva Marie Saint for Best Supporting Actress, Elia Kazan for Best Director, and Budd Schulberg for Best Screenplay. In addition, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

This is a young Marlon Brando, and if you only know Brando as Vito Corleone of "The Godfather" in 1972, you really need to see him in this movie. He is absolutely fabulous in this.

The picture below is from the "I coulda been a contender" scene between Brando and Steiger. It is the scene that is always shown when this movie is discussed, and even if you've never seen the movie, you have probably seen this clip, but watch the movie, see this scene within the context of the entire movie, and it is really, really powerful.

Don't miss it!