Late February

So I am not yet over the incredible heave by Iowa from the corner after going off of four sets of hands which cost RU a game they had won. I was angry that RU players could not bat the ball down like defenders are trained to do on a football “Hail Mary” throw to try to tie or win a game. It was a lucky set of circumstances with an unbelievable shot from an impossible angle. 

RU Head Coach Steve Pikell wasn’t too upset afterwards. His rationale was that if all of this happened and the Iowa player scored, more power to them and let’s move on. Such logic carried them into the second half of Wednesday night’s game at Michigan State, where the #6 Spartans trailed 40-33 before they had a 23-4 run to reverse the game in their favor. The 61-50 final score shows that, at least against a highly-ranked MSU on the road, RU didn’t get blown out.

RU has 4 games remaining in this order: home again Minnesota; at Iowa; Penn State; at Indiana. Presently RU is 12-14. If they went 3-1 in these final contests, they would be a .500 team entering the Big Ten Tournament. A victory and a loss in Chicago would leave RU at .500 and have a shot at the NIT. Not probable but possible. Who would have thought this could happen to the Scarlet Knights given their earlier struggles. I like this team even if they are short  on skill because they are deep in determination and character.

F&M ended its season in Chestertown, Maryland with a loss at Washington College. F&M played gallantly but key misses from the Diplomats combined with timely free throw shooting and some nifty buckets by the Shoremen put Washington into the next round of the Centennial Conference playoffs. The last second three point attempt from the corner fell short and F&M had a long and unhappy bus ride home after falling 63-60. For the curious, D III #6 Swarthmore won the CC automatic bid with wins over Washington and Johns Hopkins.

Duke was blown out of the gym after a sneaker blowout. Zion Williamson, Duke’s all-everything big man and projected #1 pick in the NBA Draft, had his shoe fail in the first minute of the game, derailing the big man with a mild knee strain. North Carolina took full advantage of the loss of Williamson and dominated in the paint. 

Now three teams sit tied atop the ACC standings—Duke, UVA and UNC. Any of the three can win the league championship in the regular season or in the ACC Tournament. Any of the three can also win the NCA Tournament. Duke’s chances in the ACC and and the NCAA’s hinges upon Williamson’s recovery. They did fine with a road win at Syracuse before the largest crowd in Carrier Dome history. 

While Carolina can crow about the win; let’s see how they fare in a couple of games when the two teams meet in Chapel Hill, if Williamson is healthy. It was nice to see President Obama seated court side in Durham. Retirement suits him well.

A must read is the piece by Sally Jenkins, formerly of Sports Illustrated and now with the Washington Post. She wrote a provocative column on the plight of Zion Williamson and the others who are restricted by the NBA to have to reach age 19 before they can play professionally in the U.S., unless they go to Europe for a year, while the schools and shoe companies profit. See www.washingtonpost.com/people/sally-jenkins/ and you will be directed to her February 21st article. 

Villanova has lost three games in a row for the first time in ages. This should be expected after the seasons Head Coach Jay Wright has had with the great talent he assembled and now are playing in the NBA. 

Georgia had a game taken away from them in the last seconds by something untoward. A fan heaved a stuffed toy Bulldog onto the court as a Mississippi State player was shooting a free throw. The MSU coached yelled and carried on, demanding that a technical foul be called against the Georgia bench for unsportsmanlike conduct. With the score tied, Mississippi State had more chances to untie the game, which they did. After missing the second free throw on purpose, Georgia had no chance to fling a desperation shot. 

My only question is this—what if the offender was a child under the age of 5 who just acted on impulse and threw the toy onto the floor? Should Georgia still penalized like that? If it was an adult, I hope they identified the person and the idiot is penalized for incredibly poor judgement. 

Nevada lost to San Diego State on the road, scoring only 56 points. This loss should move them out of the Top 10 and may hurt their chances at a #2 seed. The Wolf Pack has more to lose considering it is harder to gain ground in the polls and with the Selection Committee and their proprietary bias for the Power 5 conferences. The Big Ten is projected to have as many as 9 NCAA tournament teams. Yet the likelihood of those Big Ten teams being seeded too high and losing is greater than if a deserving Nevada team is sold short for its few losses. Which is why America loves the underdog in the David versus Goliath epic confrontation that is the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim was involved in an unfortunate car accident when he struck and killed a man whose car had been disabled on an upstate New York Interstate. Boeheim was trying to avoid the vehicle when the decedent entered the lane in which Boeheim’s car was traveling. For Boeheim, this came after a big Syracuse win over a ranked Louisville squad at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night and with Duke coming in. I know that Boeheim is still shaken and upset from this tragic occurrence. I imagine this will impact his team as well. My condolences, like Boeheim, who said he will carry that night with him forever, and countless others, are with the family of the man who tragically lost his life in this horrible accident. It was an appropriate measure to have a moment of silence for the victim before the Duke game.

Controversy enveloped the Georgia-Mississippi men’s basketball game on Saturday. During the week, the campus and Oxford had been awash with protests regarding the Saturday march from one Confederate statue in town to one on campus by two purported Confederate sympathizer groups. To put an exclamation point on the fact that the march was in progress when the game began, 6 Ole Miss players took a knee at the start of the National Anthem and two more joined in as the song progressed. This was not anti-veteran or against the views of law enforcement and the military—the players who participated made that clear. It was a protest against what the purposes and goals of the two groups—who were not local—stood for. The entire campus and administration should be supportive of this counter protest by its students—especially by the players.

On Sunday Rutgers announced that C. Vivian Stringer, the 70 year old Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach, would be missing the final three regular season games due to exhaustion. This is sad news. She is doing the correct thing in listening to her doctors. I hope that she is physically able to return to the sidelines for the post-season as planned. The question remains: is this the end of a magnificent career for a trailblazer in women’s basketball?

I watched the Boston Celtics and the Bucks in Milwaukee on Thursday night. The game went down to the end with Boston’s star and major irritant, Kyrie Irving, missing the final shot to allow the Bucks to prevail by a point. Although Toronto, Philadelphia and Indiana have better records than Boston, a Milwaukee-Boston playoff series is like an Eastern Conference finals. Watching Giannis Antetokounmpo play reminds me of  Doctor J—Julius Erving. Giannis is the M.V.P. in my mind, not James Harden or Russell Westbrook.

Golden State won its first game after the All-Star break over Sacramento by 2 points. It took heroics by Steph Curry, who had 36 points which included an NBA record setting 10 three point buckets for the 5th time this season. Kevin Durant, as the free agency rumors swirl and have him landing in New York where he has relocated his business interests, added 28. No less an authority than Draymond Green said that the Kings, despite losing all four games this season to the Warriors, are a legitimately good basketball team with Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III, and they will be contending for the playoffs and improving yearly.

Golden State was riddled by the James Harden-less Houston Rockets at home on Saturday night before a national TV audience. Chris Paul absolutely shredded the Warriors, tallying 23 points with some deadly three pointers and dishing out 17 assists. To make up for the loss of Harden, who has a cervical sprain and flu-like symptoms, Kennth Faried and P.J. Tucker put up double-doubles and Eric Gordon hit for 25 points as Houston climbed to 3-0 against Golden State this season.

Houston had leads in double digits much of the game and led by 20 points at one time. They played a stifling, smothering defense, stealing the ball, making the Warriors work harder for their shots and blocking shots more than Golden State is used to. While the Warriors actually led by 4 in the third quarter, that advantage was short-lived. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson all had 20 or more points. DeMarcus Cousins looked rusty, Draymond Green was ineffective and the Warriors’ bench had no answers for the Rockets. Golden State should hope that they do not have to play Houston in the playoffs.

LeBron James said he had to get his playoff push going earlier than usual the season, with the Lakers looking in form the outside of the current playoff picture. With the Houston Rockets ahead by 19 points in the third quarter,, he led the charge to overcome James Harden and his crew for a Los Angeles win. However, on Saturday night, the team was blown out by the New Orleans Pelicans without Anthony Davis. This led LeBron to question his teammates desire to win.

Can LeBron carry the team and will them to victory? He is 34 now and the years of playing for championships plus his significant groin injury may hinder this. LeBron lives to win on the basketball court and he does not want his legacy tarnished. So it would not surprise me if the Lakers go on a significant winning streak these last 20+ games led by King James.

Speaking of tarnished, the embarrassing revelation that New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft got caught up in a sting operation by frequenting a massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida which is suspected of engaging in human trafficking is so unfortunate. Here is a man worth billions and is very philanthropic, yet he is reduced to going to such a place for sexual activity, which was verified by local authorities. 

We can speculate on the reasons which placed this wealthy 77 old male in the midst of a sting operation. Whatever the reason, it is not good. I don’t care for him very much because he is arrogant. Still, I have a pang of sadness that he needed to stoop to this level for sex. He probably could have borrowed Stormy from his buddy, President Trump. She accepts cash, of which he has plenty.

Manny Machado is a Padre. Who really saw this coming? Ten years and $300 million later, San Diego, the team with a great farm system, will now become a power with Machado and the #2 prospect in all of baseball, Fernando Tatis, Jr. patrolling the left side of the infield. 

Where does this event leave Bryce Harper? Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, evidently wants 10 years and at least $326 million for his client. That represent a million dollars more than Giancarlo Stanton’s 10 year, $325 million deal. Such is the simplicity of his negotiations, which makes it so difficult now that Machado has gone below the Stanton figure. Harper has previously rejected $300 million offers, including one from the Washington Nationals, the team has played with thus far. Unless the Padres go all out in a spending frenzy or the Phillies or Giants are willing to make a big splash, I think it will be harder for Harper to attain grander fiscal happiness than Machado has.

Clayton Kershaw has been shut down with “arm trouble” after his first bullpen session went 10 minutes before stopping. Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts does not believe this is serious. I am dubious about his feelings. This shutdown may portend the even greater decline of one of the premier pitchers of our time. He has lost some speed on his fastball and makes up for that loss with guile. Kershaw started 26 times last season, but had a third bout with back problems and suffered some biceps tendinitis. 

To me, this sends up a red flag—his injuries are starting way too early, or, he never healed from last season. Kershaw, who will turn 31 in March, is in the beginning year of a three year, $93 million extension. I have doubts that Kershaw will make it through to the third year without a string of injuries plaguing him and removing him from the elite status he posted even last season with his 2.73 E.R.A. and a great strikeout to walk ratio. No matter what happens,  his path to Cooperstown remains safe.

Are you as excited as I am about the NHL trade deadline on February 25? Thought so. 

Like their brethren in in MLB, NFL and the NBA, these moves are designed to plug holes. Only from a team not going anywhere will a major impact player be sent packing. With that in mind, will the Rangers and Devils, mired in the bottom of their division, be sellers? With the Devils, is this a one year aberration fueled by the extended absence due to injury of Taylor Hall, last season’s Hart Trophy winner as the NHL’s M.V.P.? Or will the Islanders, among the leaders in the Eastern Conference, be buyers? I feel sadness for New York Rangers fans, as crowd favorite Mats Zuccarello was shipped to Dallas.

I watched the NHL Stadium Series from Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Flyers traveled down the street to host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the rain. It had elements of sloppiness on the ice coupled with physicality, but in the end the Philadelphia boo birds saw their Flyers rally to win over Pittsburgh with two goals late in regulation and the game winner 1:59 into OT by Claude Giroux. The Penguins folded despite surging to a 3-1 lead on goals by Sidney Crosby and Evegni Malkin. Pittsburgh’s chances went the way of the weather—when it began to pour, the Flyers suddenly played better. It was a festive scene and I love the outdoor games. Even if the rain made playing conditions difficult.

The Jets have told me that they were only going to accept tickets for games on my phone’s NYJ mobile app. No more fob’s. No more Internet printing of tickets. No more hard copy tickets with stubs. I recognize modernization. There still are some Electronic Age dinosaurs who have flip phones and do not get the Internet on their cell phones. I pity them.

What this really means is that the Jets are trying to control the resale market. How many people are willing to give up their account number and password for friends or others to enter the stadium on their tickets? The answer is very few. Which forces the season ticket holder to send the tickets back to the Jets, who will control the resale by selling the ticket and providing an account number and password for the particular game to a non-season ticket holder. 

I am dealing with what has been tentatively been diagnosed as soleus tendonitis. Every step I take, my R leg near the fibula hurts. I need to rest the leg, elevate and ice it while not exercising through walking or biking, let alone running. I believe it has become chronic and I think that it is somewhat footwear derived. If I haven’t reduced the pain by this method (anti-inflammatory medications are out because I had a reaction to them) after my upcoming Canadian trip, then an injection is likely. What a bummer. Especially when I am trying to lose 10 pounds.

Spring training is a time of eternal optimism. All the players start fresh and every team begins the season at 0-0. Managers and club executives heap praise on their teams, gushing with excitement. The warmth of the Florida or Arizona sun augers a new sense of being, a time of joy not yet tempered by reality. Players can get their work done in the morning and if not playing in an exhibition game, play a round of golf or go swimming. It may not be
Spring on the calendar until the later part of Spring Training, but in the team camps it is the start of a new adventure, a voyage which, for two teams, will culminate in the chill of early November.

Having said that, I have never been to a Spring Training game. I doubt that I will, for the games are meaningless and the prices are still relatively high. I have been on the site of the Miami Marlins’ camp in Jupiter, which allowed some player closeness and interaction with the fans. I have seen Detroit’s complex in Lakeland; the Red Sox in both Winter Haven and Fort Myers; Philadelphia in Clearwater; the Yankees in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa; the Cardinals, who share the other side of the Jupiter grounds with the Marlins; the Pirates in Bradenton; and the Brewers while they played at Sun City in Arizona. That is the extent of my Spring Training interest and I am happy with it. It takes enough to go to big league games these days. TV has become the great equalizer. 

Then again, this is an unusual weather year, with two Polar Vortex, and now snow in Pasadena and Malibu, where in the latter, they suffered enough devastation with the fires later last year. Clark County. Nevada, I.e., Las Vegas, had to cancel school. So, just like the weather, who knows if this baseball season will revert to form with the big money clubs leading the way. Change is in the air, and now on the ground.

Thus, I hope to be ready to exercise with a more svelte body come Opening Day. Just as I hope the Yankees will be ready out of the gate when the bell rings on the 2019 season. We both anticipate having great seasons. If not, I might feel like a perpetually unhappy Mets fan.