Dear Fan X

Dear Fan X:  You are at it again. You have been tormenting me this week about sports, claiming that I would not have enough to write about. Typical Fan X grousing.  From Monday through Friday, I have encountered more sports-related stories than even I thought I could uncover. Some of them are relevant to what the world is presently experiencing. Others are simply interesting enough to warrant a mention. 

What it does show that sports is so engrained in our lives that, when nothing currently inside an arena or stadium is competition, there is still a place for sports in our daily activities. The interaction between athletes and with the fans still continues. And is a needed source of release, comfort and satisfaction, along with disappointment and heartache. Like it always has been. 

There is precious little sports on TV other than reruns of countless games of yore, SportsCenter, NFL news coverage and documentaries like the O.J. Simpson saga. The print media is giving us little in the local edition, although The New York Times and Washington Post are Providing, as usual, more in-depth stories. 

My source of information really comes from the cable networks apps. CBSSports.com and ESPN.com offer just as many articles and stories as before—even without reporting on games. Which is why, Fan X, I have plenty to talk about. 

Let’s start with your beloved New York Mets. With the heralded group of pitchers who came up nearly together, it was thought that Noah Syndergaard would be the best of the lot. Tall, powerful built, with an exploding fastball and a lethal curve, he became known as Thor for his god-like looks and 6’6”, 242 pound stature. He was going to be the man-child who would lead the Mets to repeated World Series wins. 

Except that wasn’t the way it worked out. The ace of the staff is Jacob deGrom, a lanky college shortstop who has merely won two straight N.L. Cy Young Awards. 

Nonetheless, nothing less was expected from Thor. If DeGrom was the ace, then the 27 year old Syndergaard was the second act. Mets fans are not a pretty lot when their expectations fail to be realized, but they will love you to death if you meet or exceed those goals. 

On Thursday in Florida, Synergaard underwent successful Tommy John surgery for an acutely torn UCL. As another reader, Fan Y, brought to our attention, this surgery was not without controversy. 

Syndergaard had two opinions which concurred that survey was required. Tommy John surgery is an elective surgery, something which was made clear when Chris Sale of the Red Sox had his recent Tommy John surgery. 

The doctors claimed this surgery was justifiable even as the pandemic fills hospitals most particularly in New York (the Mets use the Hospital for Special Surgery). Their reasoning was that to delay the surgery until the pandemic subsided would hurt his ability to earn a living, pushing his recovery to 2022 instead of 2021. Florida is not the epicenter of the coronavirus like New York City, so that was the chosen site. 

So this benefited the player and the team. He received special status. Most likely it did not cost someone life-saving treatment or surgery. And the Mets and the player were transparent about the reasoning behind the decisions. Which will make him available to pitch in 2021, which could be the next time there is a baseball season. 

For baseball and every other sport cannot be played while the threat of COVID-19 is real, and until there is a vaccine. Optimism by the NBA and MLB is fine, if there is a reason for it. But there isn’t. 

How can baseball be played if the ball can be a source of the transmission of the virus by carriers unaware that they are infected? Contact is close between an umpire, catcher and batter. Fielders touch the ball with their hands. All wipe their sweat from their faces. Plus the players will not be isolated, limiting their chances for infection. Bringing crowds to a stadium is another subject; the risks of transmission grow larger.

If we have shut down such events as the NCAA Tournament, which pours billions into the NCAA’s coffers, and we have closed the major sports leagues for an indefinite period, what sense does it make to bring them back prematurely so as not to suffer major financial losses? Golf to notice, postponing the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck due to the crisis. The Indianapolis 500 joined the list of sports postponements. 

Dodger Stadium is being used as a test site and a place to park an overfill number of rental cars not being used while California is on lockdown. Those are good uses, similar to Bauer, the hockey equipment giant, making shields for first responders and face masks being made from MLB uniforms. 

The IOC swallowed hard, but did the right thing in postponing the Games until 2021. Then again, my friend, Commissioner Roger Goodell has decreed that the 2021 Draft must go on as scheduled. I would expect no less from the leader of the cabal of greed known as the NFL.

This pandemic is going to be one of the greatest tragedies to hit modern society. Are we so self-serving and vain as to have games go on when the toll on humanity is so great and could, at any given time, double back with even greater fury? One year without sports might be necessary to get life back to normal. How many injuries requiring surgery will supersede the elective surgeries people had to wait months for? 

Sports has a rightful place our culture. It just has to wait its turn while humanity eradicates a virulent disease. That trumps sports in my mind. Think, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. Think about this decision before you regret it. Don’t buy into 7 inning games, too many doubleheaders and playing into December as proposed by agent Scott Boras with expanded playoffs. Your product does not need to be diluted. You too, Adam Silver. 

Plenty of players have stepped up to help out in a myriad of ways. Kyrie Irving, Roger Federer and Drew Brees have donated sums to help in the fight. Mike Trout of the Angels, the best player in the majors, made a video discussing the need for coming together as a community.  Vince Scully, the retired voice of the Dodgers offered us hope. Steph Curry aired a thoughtful Q & A on Instagram with Dr. Anthony Fauci, our nation’s top expert on diseases, so that children could understand what is happening. 50,000 watched. Peyton Manning showed up in an online course from his alma mater, the University of Tennessee. Kentucky hoops legend Rex Chapman has been calling charges on non-basketball events for a little levity in such hard times. And of course, there is the joke that the Houston Astros have avoided any virus thus far because they knew the signs beforehand. 

It is needed. Center Karl Anthony Towns, a New Jersey native, is going through the agony of his mother being on a ventilator. NBA analyst Doris Burke reported that she had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

People must stay away from beaches, parks, basketball and tennis courts. Boardwalks have been shut down for good reason. Free on-line dance and yoga classes have become the rage.

There is a stimulus package passed and signed. Yet the owners of the Devils and Sixers wanted to slash jobs and salaries/wages  Which was quickly rescinded after an enormous public outcry. Not so at the NBA offices where executives are taking forced salary cuts and with the Montreal Canadiens, who wanted to layoff 60% of its staff. 

During this time of tremendous suffering, we lost two greats. Fred “Curly” Neal, the dynamic leader and dribbler extraordinaire of the Harlem Globetrotters has died. Also, Jimmy Wynn, the prodigious home run hitter in the early days of the Houston Astros passed away at age 79. Very strong with a short, stocky build, he was nicknamed “The Toy Cannon.”

We can amuse ourselves with on line gambling. Marijuana is considered a “necessity,” so the dispensaries are open. Or see the hilarity of the Ron Burgundy interview with Peyton Manning.

Football fans can find joy or anguish with the transactions of free agency. Eagles fans can take solace that the onions of QB Carson Wentz and TE Zach Ertz were picked up. Jets and Giants fans can grumble that the GM’s hadn’t done enough so far. Former Jets enigmatic WR Robby Anderson inked a 2 year, $20 million duel with Carolina. Good riddance.

Out West, the Chargers and Rams have redone their logos and uniforms…why? And we can track the movements of James Winston and Cam Newton as they seek new teams to lead. Or the Twitter feeds of Houston QB Deshaun Watson as he openly campaigns to be traded to New England where there is an opening at QB. 

Also in LA, the Clippers ownership paid $400 million to buy the Forum from the Knicks. This will allow the team to build its own arena in the shadow of SoFi Stadium. Good news in a hard hit area.

Just like the fun thoughts about grad transfers from Harvard and Columbia going to play basketball next year at Ohio State and Duke, respectively.  Plus the fact that Mychal Thompson, father of Klay, disclosed on the Dell and Sonya Curry podcast that his son, Klay, wants to play the rest of his career with the Curry’s son, Steph and retire together as Golden State Warriors.

I even had time to get angry with Dawn Staley, Head Coach of the #1 South Carolina women’s basketball team. In her typical Philadelphia chip-on-her shoulder mentality, she has demanded that the NCAA award her the 2020 Championship because she had the best team by far. C’mon now. South Carolina may have won the SEC crown, gone undefeated in SEC regular season play and 32-1 overall and was a big favorite to win the NCAA crown. However, her team didn’t go undefeated and they play these games to anoint a winner in a fair and equitable competition. Ask Geno Auriemma—UConn has lost some titles too along with all it has won.

I leave you with this, Fan X, so that you know that there is hope in these turbulent times, that good can come from the sports world. The New Orleans Aquarium has named a new baby penguin Zion, after the rookie phenom of the Pelicans. Nice.

Does this, Fan X, satisfy your wonderment about what a blogger like me can write about when there aren’t any games? Stay safe. Be Well. There is a long journey ahead.

Sincerely,

RetiredLawyerSportsOp

Playing A Home Schedule For The Foreseeable Future

What is worth writing about in the sports world? Tom Brady’s 2 year/$50 million contract to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Well, it’s ludicrous for a 42 year old QB, no matter how good he has been (and he is the G.O.A.T.). I think of Joe Montana, who left San Francisco because he had to—Steve Young was waiting in the wings. He had some success in Kansas City the following season, but it was clear that Montana was far from the dominant Super Bowl winner the 49’ers had at QB. And Brady is coming off a final season in New England season he would like to forget.

Sure, Brady plays in the NFC now, in a division with New Orleans and their older QB, Drew Brees; Atlanta, which picked up former UGA standout Todd Gurley II when the Rams jettisoned him; and Carolina, where the team is in flux and has a new coach who does not want the rehabbing Cam Newton. Plus his home games will be in warmer weather; Carolina is of moderate temperature in the fall, and Atlanta and New Orleans have domes. Clearly a better climate than frigid Foxborough in December and January. Then again, there are also domes in Arizona, Dallas, Detroit and Minnesota, which is helpful come playoff time. However, it is no joy to play in the cold of Chicago, Green Bay, Seattle, New York, Philadelphia and Washington compared to San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

No matter. This was a calculated move from a couple of years ago, designed to get Brady the best deal possible. A guaranteed $50 million, a no trade clause, no franchise tag and $ 4 million in incentives is a nice retirement package should he choose to close out his career at age 44, one year less than his desire to play QB in the NFL at age 45.

Sure, there is cheering in Buffalo, Miami and New York with Brady’s departure. Fans in those cities really believe that New England will finally be dethroned without Brady at the helm,  despite the legendary genius of Bill Belichick. 

Not so fast, guys and gals. It is only March and a lot can happen. Look at the world as it is now before making such outrageous pronouncements; a month ago we had not heard of COVID-19 and look where we are today—on virtual lockdown. 

So Tom, the wife and kids can reside in the warmth of Florida as his football career continues. He won’t have Rob Gronkowski anytime soon playing tight end. Rumor has it that Julian Edelman might make his way to Tampa, augmenting an already solid, veteran corps of WR’s. Brady also has a veteran coach in Bruce Arians, who worked with Peyton Manning at Indianapolis, and who will promote the passing attack.

For me, it is simple. I don’t have to watch Brady destroy the Jets twice a season. Not even once this upcoming football year—if the coronavirus is under control come football season. Do I wish him success? Nope. No matter how good he is and has been—he is Tom Brady and he will always be a NYJ nemesis. 

Will we see a lot of him on TV as TV exec salivate over a 42 year old icon with diminished abilities? Yes. There other QB’s I’d ratter watch—Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees come to mind. Maybe even Kirk Cousins, who picked up a nifty multi-year contract extension of his own. Not Baker Mayfield. This is the big story on a sports-starved week 2 without games. 

Yankees news is good and bad. The bad is that two minor leaguers were hit with the coronavirus. All minor leaguers were sent home and will receive pay into April. 

Which leads to our ever-changing Aaron Judge update. Judge had a CT scan which showed the rib is healing slowly. He remains in Tampa for rehab. What was disclosed came as a surprise—that he also had a partially collapsed lung on the same side as the rib. Something more to be concerned about. 

There was a Pete Alonso sighting in a video for an elderly Mets fan. Hopefully, Yoenis Cespedes won’t do something stupid while he, like his teammates, bide their time until there is an all clear for a return to baseball.

With a limited sports section in the Star-Ledger, consisting of mostly articles from other newspapers, there is very little to read about. Ditto ESPN.com and CBSSports.com. Largely because a crowded news room is verboten right now. 

Every once in a while I check out Sports Center on ESPN. It is mostly devoted to pro football as the NFL heads to a fan-less draft in April. Otherwise, there is the UFC, which persists in continuing its bloodletting in quiet arenas. The WWE is still producing its programming, but not from the big arenas. Instead they have a place in Florida they are using. It is all about the money.

Instead of watching games, we await the inevitable next big name to be found to have the coronavirus. Kevin Durant was the last and that has led to the Lakers being tested since they were the last team to play the Nets, which had 3 other players test positive in the epicenter of the  COVID-19 outbreak. 

Instead of making three point shots, we watch Atlanta star Trae Young shooting socks into his laundry basket, starting the #InHouseChallenge phenomenon.  Dewayne Wade and Gabrielle Union, lately of Gatorade commercial fame, shared a video of their highly competitive #InHouseChallenge game of hoops on their 1 year old’s toy basket. 

We are fed a diet of reruns of classic games. There is no PTI. Just like there aren’t any late night shows or even Ellen DeGeneres during the daytime. We were treated to a Steph Curry golf trick shot challenge inside of his home. Which he won. Of course. This is Steph Curry. He can score from close in as well as outside the arc.

So many walkers, joggers and bicyclists populate the half mile oval we live on. My wife and I improvise in our basement with our light weights, chairs snd mats. She power walks. I am restricted with my ankle, and I am missing needed physical therapy. There is a video circulating of a homebound jogger greasing his kitchen floor and running barefoot. I feel your pain. Even the daily weigh-in and the bi-weekly blood pressure readings are now competitive. 

I observe a group of builders frame an addition onto a house in rapid fashion. One day the old portion is gone. The next day the new wood is being hammered. Today a roof is covering the entire building. With the absence of competition, this now qualifies as spectator sport. 

We learned the Division 1 All America teams in basketball, with accolades going to Myles Powell of Seton Hall for making the first team. I am not going to disagree with the selections. Nonetheless, I thought Cassius Winston of Michigan State was better than Powell.

Or there is a simulated NCAA bracket which, in The New York Post, has led to a Seton Hall—Duke championship game. Only in a pandemic could this fantasy arise, especially for two overrated teams.  

So I trudge on in what is now called “The New Normal.” Unfortunately, in lieu of hearing Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery calling NCAA games, the esteemed Dr. Anthony Fauci, our nation’s expert on infectious diseases, is getting far more TV time than A-Rod and J-Lo and the Kardashians combined. We make do, we make sacrifices while we are sequestered in our homes for what might be a long time to try to do what needs to be done to stem the surge of cases infecting all our lives. 

Businesses and sports are taking a real hit with the downturn in the economy. The collective psyche of the country is absorbing an onslaught that could never have been expected with this manifestation of ill-dubbed COVID-19. 

I don’t know what I will comment on with next week’s blog. Usually I don’t know and I let the week unfold before fixating on some topics which catch my eye. 

I shudder to think how much worse this coronavirus can be. I am chilled to think what I will be facing next week. sc

Sports And COVID-19

I don’t know what to do. I am not the only one. We are in the grips of a pandemic, something I would never associate with the United State of America. The Corona Virus, dubbed COVID-19, has invaded the civilized world from its origins in China and caused havoc like we  have never here seen in our lifetimes. It is scary.

This is a continually evolving situation, with constant reporting of the statistics in the media, replete with dire predictions and contradictions. Politics is involved when it should not  be, but why would this stop now at this time in our national history? 

There is panic, hysteria, doubt and uncertainty. No one has a handle on what this virus will do, although some have made it through the illness unscathed. Yet others, especially those with underlying infirmities and older people have suffered and many have already died. 

It is much too early to estimate what will be the end result of this disease. We as a nation are barely in the infancy of its capabilities. What ever its trajectory, it is certain that not everyone will be unscathed, no matter what precautions are initiated.  

Office holders and doctors bravely attempt to undertake measures to control the situation. Whether they work is a great unknown.  

For me, I have been identified in a greater risk category merely by my age. While such does concern me, I also know that I take good care of myself within the limits of my body, given my ongoing ankle tendon issues which keeps me from walking/jogging. Bad timing to have an injury that might have helped me to be in even better shape. 

I watch what I eat. I wash my hands a lot. I try to refrain from touching my face, although that isn’t working as well as I want. I take disinfecting wipes to the supermarket and the gym, wiping off surfaces that might have ben compromised by somebody earlier.

For what we don’t know is the number of undiagnosed people carrying COVID-19 and who remain in the general populace, potentially infecting others. That piece is the bad news. 

Sports has taken all the right measures, and in its own way, became a leader in the community response to COVID-19. By postponing games, quarantining teams and protecting the athletes and the people associated with the sport, team and even their families, the heads of the NBA, NHL, MLS. MLB, NCAA and other sports have made the only right and courageous calls—to postpone or cancel events that are big deals to a lot of people and corporations. The same applies to our educators who have closed their physical plants yet have developed ways to utilize technology or even old-fashioned methods to keep the minds of their students interested and active. 

So bravo to the leaders acting as leaders should.  There are always naysayers or doubters who complain about this overwhelming response being an overreaction. To them I say that we should be so lucky. 

Sure, I don’t know what to do right now without basketball on TV for the next couple of weeks. Or with the news that the start of the baseball season has been pushed back indefinitely.  I have plenty of other things to do and watch;  I can even sleep. 

I find it abhorrent that golf, Wrestle Mania and soccer outside of the U.S. continues (the PGA and The Masters belatedly were postponed).  The arrogant NFL says that this does not impact on their scheduled events—even if they canceled an upcoming meeting. What makes them better at not exposing many people to illness? Nothing comes to mind. 

I feel for the participants—the students, the professionals—whose seasons have been wiped out or diminished. All that training and effort for naught. I think of Rutgers men’s basketball team having all of the requisites for entry into the NCAA Tournament and ending a streak of futility dating back to 1991. Except that the streak will continue for another year because of this unforeseen event and the dire predictions.

There will be sunshine eventually. The nation and its strong people will return to normalcy, but maybe a new normalcy after what we had to endure. We will come out of this having learned to better prepare for the unimaginable and to rekindle an economy which has taken a major tumble from the turmoil. 

Sports will be a symbolic metaphor for the first steps after we emerge from the dark cloud which envelops us now. It happened in 2001 after the attack on our country. And it will share center stage again. 

I wish those who read this blog good health as well as to their dearest friends and families. Just as I wish that the athletes who have had their time to shine usurped good health and fortune as they navigate the next few weeks and months. 

What more can we wish for right now? In the meantime, I will start to clean the house, read a book or two, work on learning meteorology, practice good hygiene and wait for the day that sports once more is back and becomes the norm. 

Judge-Mental

In a week where an Islander suffered a horrific facial cut that took 90 stitches to close, a Rangers forward scored 5 goals including the game-winner at home against the high-flying Washington Capitals, and the Devils defeated the Rangers at the Garden, I was not going to discuss hockey. 

In a week that saw Steph Curry return to the court and score 23 points in limited action in a Warriors home loss to defending NBA champ Toronto after a Curry-less Golden State team won at Denver, the current third seed in the West, that was not going to turn me to pro basketball. Nor was the Spike Lee-James Dolan imbroglio this week prior to and at halftime of the Knicks upset of the Houston Rockets at the Garden going to change my mind.

It wasn’t the Seton Hall losses to Villanova on Wednesday and Creighton on Saturday which set Creighton, Villanova and Seton Hall as the 1-2-3 seeds heading into the Big East Tournament next week at MSG that would be my topic of my college basketball discussion this week. Nope. But more on them later. 

There was nothing to write about in the NFL. The combine is done and the NFL Draft looms on the horizon after free agency begins. The players have to vote on the new CBA. Even the daily saga of Tom Brady’s landing spot for 2020 wasn’t enough to make me write in chapter and verse about the NFL.

So what is on my mind this week? Well, I was going to do a piece on arenas I visited this fall and winter. I fully intended to do that. 

But there are other events I want to talk about beforehand. And circumstances have changed dramatically in 24 hours.

Leading off are the Yankees. When Gerrit Cole surrendered 4 homers to the Tigers in Lakeland (they say the wind was blowing out at Joker Marchant Field), I started to think the worst. He is having trouble with his arm/shoulder and an IR stint is ahead. I wasn’t very pleased that Jordan Montgomery was also shelled by the Tigers, who scored 15 runs while “holding” New York to 11. Maybe the Tigers are improved from last season when they resided in the cellar of the AL Central. Nah.

I also was concerned that Tyler Wade and Gary Sanchez were batting way below .200. Or that outfielder Mike Tauchman had been hitless in his return from injury. And that Miguel Andujar dropped a routine throw from Gio Urshela while Miggy learns how to play another position. Let’s face it, Yankees management—great bat, not so swift a fielder no matter where he plays. I was happy to see that everyone’s favorite new Yankee from last season, DJ LeMahieu, is hitting lasers like he had never stopped for four months between the end of the regular season and now. 

Still, I had this sickening uneasiness eating away at me. We Yankees fans are spoiled—I have had 14 Yankees World Series victories in my 69 years on this planet. We expect winning the big prize. 

Yet there is growing discomfort within Yankeeland that a World Series win is needed now, with such a loaded squad. There is the feeling that the Bombers were cheated out of a chance for a title by the Houston Astros. (something the Los Angeles Dodgers feel too). Going a whole decade without a World Series crown is unacceptable. 

Thus the prevailing belief of the experts, the odds makers and fans across the county is that the Yankees are the team to beat. If healthy.

There’s the rub. Spring Training is more than halfway through. Bodies have fallen—big ones. James Paxton. Luis Severino. Giancarlo Stanton. Gary Sanchez’s back is bothering him, just like two relievers. Plus Domingo German is still unavailable until his suspension is lifted. 

All of that was nothing compared to the looming problem facing the Yankees. After a myriad of tests and keeping it easy so far for him, a CT test showed that Aaron Judge has a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. One which, if it does not heal, could lead to surgery and doom his 2020 season as well as that of the team.

Judge claims that he was so frustrated with his performance last season and in the playoffs that he took little time off and dove straight into workouts. In preparation for 2020. Knowing Judge’s penchant for perfection and his chiseled physique, these were anything but light workouts. 

This injury apparently came up last year during the latter stages of the season.  Professional athletes are no different than those who love to workout. Aches and pains are common and there is a whole lot of denial that something is more seriously wrong. 

While Judge is frustrated about how long it took to reach a correct diagnosis, the danger lies in the treatment. Re-injury would almost certainly mean the end of his season and Yankees hopes. 

It is this constant doom and gloom scenario which wears out the New York faithful. We are always fearfully waiting for something worse to happen. Yankees fans feel like the team is snakebitten.

In a very inexact analogy, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo described the virulent coronavirus in this way: The virus is an epidemic, and the emotional reaction is a pandemic. It is kind of the way Yankees fans feel right now—the injury list grows and there isn’t a cure for it.

As a Yankees fan and as a humanitarian, let’s hope that both are under control fast.

As I had stated before, I was going to talk about the arenas and gyms I have been to recently. They are unrelated in any capacity. I just happened to visit them for games. 

Before I get there, I want to talk about the now 28-1 Yeshiva University men’s basketball team. Ranked #13 in Division III, the Maccabees lost their first game of the season at Occidental College and haven’t lost since. 

The Yeshiva campus was affected by the coronavirus. Thus, the team played a 2:20 pm game on Friday against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, due to Shabbat, in an empty gymnasium on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. Having handily defeated WPI by a 102-78 score, Yeshiva faced off against Penn State-Harrisburg at 8:45 pm on Saturday due to religious reasons and again in an empty Goldfarb Gymnasium. Which must be tough on the teams. Plus a few hotels did not want to have the team stay in their building over the corona virus issue.  

Not a problem for this crew. Yeshiva is now in the Sweet 16 after a 102-83 win. Up next is Randolph-Macon on Friday, with the site to be announced. Such a good story.

Back to the arenas. First, there is the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario, an outlying suburb of the Canadian capital. The home of the Ottawa Senators, it is a rounded facility shaped like a tire that sits prominently in the middle of nowhere. Kind of like the Senators—they seem to be continually going nowhere in the standings. 

Originally called The Palladium when it opened in January, 1996, it has also been named the Corel Centre and Scotiabank Place. It seats 18,652 for hockey, although capacity usually is not reached except when the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens visit, along with the marquee teams like Washington, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.

I liked the sight lines, the atmosphere, the fans—even if there were maybe 9,000 present on a late January Monday night for a game between two teams not headed for the playoffs. I had a nice experience. The seating area reminded me of Rogers Place, the Edmonton Oilers home; Rogers Place was much nicer outside the hockey area, having opened in 2014. Of the 10 hockey arenas I have visited, Canadian Tire Centre sits at number 5, behind the current  Madison Square Garden, Brendan Byrne Arena, the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Edmonton.

We visited Drew University in December to see the home team take on Carnegie Mellon. While the game was exciting, Baldwin Gymnasium, even refurbished with new paint, bleachers, scoreboard and logos, was maybe a bit more dignified than a pedestrian high school gym. Rarely are the 800 seats filled, although some students do attend the games and they make their presence known due to the close proximity of the stands to the basketball floor.

Those who follow this blog know that 2 weeks ago we visited Franklin and Marshall College and took in a game versus Ursinus. The 3,000 seat venue has had its makeover too, and the new bleachers, and scoreboard make a distinct difference. So too, do the listings of all pf the great athletes who played winter sports in the gym, the center of F&M basketball, wrestling, squash and volleyball since 1962. 

I am prejudiced. I went to college there. I played numerous games of basketball on the gym floor, even after baseball practice. It is one of my home courts. I have seen other Division III basketball facilities and, for a building that is nearly 60 years old, it looks as good if not better than many others.  When packed, it has an atmosphere that is electric for that level. Seeing the place redone in the tasteful manner the Athletic Department had chosen, in concert with a plethora of more modern sports facilities at or near the campus, the new Mayser Gymnasium fits right in and looks very small college smart.

On Saturday night, we were going to head to Philadelphia to see an arena I always had wanted to enter. That would be the venerable Palestra, the home of the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and for many, many years, was the Mecca of Philadelphia college basketball, hosting numerous Big Five games and acting as the home floor for Temple, Villanova, St. Joseph’s and La Salle in many instances. 

However, my cooking must have disagreed with my wife, who has had it a bit rough with her digestive system. Rather than travel the nearly two hours to Penn, sandwiching in a stop in Cherry Hill for chicken cheesesteaks at Chick’s Deli, the better move was to stay home and let her rest. Which has helped considerably.

Remaining home turned out to be very fortuitous. On Tuesday night , I was 4 rows from the floor at the Rutgers Athletic Center when #9 Maryland came to Piscataway. And left on the short end of a 78-67 score, looking like a tried and very defeated bunch. The RAC, newly known as the Trapezoid of Doom for its unique shape, largely attributed to the lack money the architects had to work with, is a cauldron of noise when the fans get going. Opened in 1976, the RAC is widely recognized as one of the hardest places to play in college basketball. 

The RAC was fully alive on Tuesday night, constantly roaring with the highlight reel performance of their beloved Scarlet Knights. For Coach Steve Pikiell’s group, the Maryland game represented a do or die game as far as attaining the first NCAA bid since 1991. They passed that test with flying colors, white RU jerseys streaking down the court time and time again, handling the vaunted Terrapins with relative ease.  

I love the RAC, It is my adopted home court. There is nothing better to me than going to the RAC for a big game and RU coming out on top. 8,000 people can make a ton of noise.

Is the RAC antiquated and outdated.? To a large extent, it is. The outer corridors and general design aren’t the prettiest. Many have compared the RAC to a glorified high school gym, which I believe is unfair. With the music of the band so loud, the cheers of the fans, many of the alumni rooting hard for a return to the glory days of from the mid-1960’s to 1991, the RAC can be deafening. It must be hard for the visiting players to concentrate with so much fervor within the building. The new scoreboards make for a nice look even if the place itself is old by Division I standards, the Palestra notwithstanding. 

Rutgers had to win 2 out of the last 3 games ending the season to stand a chance at a 20 win campaign and that coveted NCAA bid. Losing the first game to a ranked Penn State team near the end of the game could have broken this team. Instead, they showed their resiliency with the win over Maryland.

What laid ahead was a final road game at Purdue, a team alive and on the bubble even with a 16-14 record heading into the Saturday afternoon contest. Rutgers had a 1-8 road/neutral site record this season, which, contrasted with the 18-1 mark at the RAC (the best record in Division I at home), was not enough in many forecasters eyes to make certain a bid to the Big Dance. A win at Purdue was the way to punch that ticket. 

In a very entertaining and toughly played game. Rutgers took everything the Boilermakers threw at them, surviving the onslaught and winning 71-68 in overtime. This was a thrilling matchup of two teams fighting for their post-season lives, with Rutgers having the more difficult task given its road woes this season. Led by a determined Geo Baker, who tallied 19 points and aided by Ron Harper, Jr. with 15, Akwasi Yeboah scoring 11 points and Jacob Young adding 10 points, this team has looked every bit the NCAA team RU fans believe they are.

Nothing is for certain when it comes to NCAA bids. The Big Ten may send 9 teams to the Tournament, depending on what the selection committee looks for and its criteria in making up the field. Rutgers still might have to perform very well and win against nemesis Michigan in the 8-9 game at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on Thursday (if Michigan loses its final game at an agitated Maryland team coming off of two consecutive losses, it appears that Rutgers is the 8th seed).

For certain, RU has had a heck of a season. The judgement of the Selection Committee is what awaits Rutgers. 

As a matter of fact, this whole article has been judgmental or in the case of Yankees devotees, Judge-Mental.