I'm Back. And Ready For Some More Sports

My wife and I flew to New Orleans last Saturday to see our daughter and to retrieve the car we brought to her back in May. With some worries over the weather in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, we managed to get to Newark International Airport on our second attempt with Uber (the first one had been reserved and was summarily canceled, causing much angst at 5:30 a.m.).

The flight was a bit bumpy at times, and the pilot did an excellent job of skirting what had become Tropical Storm Claudette. Sitting by the window as I customarily do, I could see the edge of the storm as we flew over Mississippi. 

Instead of a rain-filled weekend, the sun shined brightly for much of the time. We went to Audubon Park, where we walked among the beautiful cypress trees. Without the oppressive heat and humidity on the first day of Summer, the walk was very enjoyable and not too sweaty. 

In the park, there was plenty of activity. There is a municipal golf course which was in use, and there were plenty of cyclists, joggers and fitness freaks using the apparatus around the park. There even was a group sauntering on horseback through the outer edges of the turf. 

Despite being a rainy and hot locale, the people of New Orleans love to get outside. It was clearly evident at the park, and we saw other runners on the streets throughout the city. Plus there are a lot of private backyard pools (we relaxed in the one at our daughter’s apartment after an afternoon’s drive to the Mississippi River delta, some 75 miles south of New Orleans in a place that appeared to be light years removed from the city), and we even saw a man, presumably a parent, filling a small wading pool in the back of a pickup truck, to the absolute delight of a young boy. 

The street were relatively empty. The eating establishments we frequented were not. I had my share of oysters twice over, and we indulged in plenty of other seafood and brunched on modern Israeli fare at Shaya, one of my favorite restaurants. 

We did not go to Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, nor did we have a beignet.  Too touristy. 

Our hotel was the Hyatt House, and our window gave us a clear view of half of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and a full look at the Smoothie King Center. I immediately thought about Drew Brees, the Super Bowl-winning QB for the Saints, who is now retired. 

I also thought about the mess the Saints will have this year with Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston at QB. Hill is a utility type player. Winston was inconsistent while he was with the Buccaneers. The crazy Saints fans aren’t going to be very patient with these two if they don’t produce. Following a Hall of Fame QB like Brees is a difficult if not impossible task. 

It also was interesting to hear that Tom Brady was close to signing with the Saints before he headed to Tampa Bay . Which begs the question—what was going to happen with Brees had Brady signed?

The there is the ongoing malaise enveloping the Pelicans. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was fired. Stan had complained how hard the season was with COVID hanging over the team. Like Brad Stevens of the Celtics, he was mentally fried from the quick turnaround from when the 2020-21 season ended at Walt Disney World. 

Rumor had it that the Pelicans players were not enamored with Van Gundy, starting with team star Zion Williamson. His people let everybody know how unhappy he was in New Orleans. An article in The Athletic chronicled how difficult it was to keep the moody Zion happy.

As a result, there are a bevy of articles predicting that Williamson will end up in New York or with the Lakers (isn’t that the preferred landing spot for almost everyone?). And on top of Zion’s disappointment, he and teammate Brandon Ingram were not selected to the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team. 

Additionally, there was an article earlier in the week indicating that the Pelicans were the NBA franchise most likely to relocate in the near future. The lease at the Smoothie King Center is only through 2024, which isn’t that far off. NBA expansion is likely with a return to Seattle and now Las Vegas, which has shown the NBA owners that the success of the Golden Knights in hockey and the Raiders in pro football is no fluke. Louisville and Kansas City have been mentioned as other possible locations for the Pelicans, or as a place where a billionaire would like his team to be. 

Gayle Benson, widow of Saints owner Tom Benson, who purchased the NBA club to keep it in New Orleans, has never publicly said anything to suggest that the team is for sale. But with the constant turmoil—I reference the Anthony Davis fiasco of two years ago—anything is possible and the Pelicans will remain in the rumor mill until Zion is happy and the arena sells out regularly with a winning team. 

New Orleans has a long history of bad basketball. Even with “Pistol” Pete Maravich, the LSU phenom and scoring champ, the Jazz never ended a season above .500 and the venues were bad—first Municipal Auditorium and then Loyola Field House before playing in the cavernous then-named Louisiana Superdome. 

The best thing that happened to that franchise was to relocate to Salt Lake City. Where they still have not won a championship.

Remember this—the Pelicans franchise was first known as the New Orleans Hornets in 2002-03. This was the first Charlotte Hornets team, which owner George Shinn moved. 

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina walloped the city forcing he team to play in Oklahoma City for two seasons. We can all recall the horrible pictures of the damage, including the flooding in the Superdome. 

By 2013, the franchise was renamed the Pelicans. The Hornets records were returned to Charlotte, to be used by the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats then became the new incarnation of the Charlotte Hornets in 2014. Got that?

The Pelicans have had 6 head coaches during their existence. The team record resides well below .500. Pelicans teams have made the playoffs seven times, winning two series and one division title. Chris Paul, now the starting point guard of the Phoenix Suns, began his career in New Orleans with the Pelicans. He has reunited in Phoenix with his Pelicans head coach, Monty Williams, who is doing an exceptional job with the Suns.

Even when the Pelicans looked to move Paul to the Lakers, they botched that one. The NBA was the temporary owner of the franchise before the 2011-12 season. Commissioner David Stern, acting a the President of Basketball Operations, rejected a three way deal with LAL and Houston. Instead, Paul went to the Clippers and the haul which New Orleans received was significantly less. 

With Davis as the star and Alvin Gentry as the head man, there was some success in NOLA. There was some good talent to support Davis, who was a dominant player in the post. 

Then Davis made his trade demands public. A standoff ensued until he was finally traded to the Lakers. 

It has not been a pretty history for basketball in New Orleans. Zion’s miserableness, is par for the course in one of the NBA’s most stupefying franchises. I don’t see much improvement for next season, and don’t think a #10 draft choice will necessarily be a savior for the Pelicans. 

Thus, when I looked out of my 11th story room, I felt like I was looking at a minor league version of the NBA when I viewed the Smoothie King Center. It was appropriate that the lights on the sign for the Superdome only illuminated Mercedes-Benz. They like their cars in the South and pro sports in New Orleans has only half of its lights on anyway.

We worked our way up to Chattanooga, where we reconnected with a classmate of mine from the Washington Semester Honors Program in Government at American University. It will be 50 years ago that I met Chris and my classmates on a steamy D.C. afternoon. 

I had been a summer intern for my local Congressman and I would continue the position throughout the semester. So much of my time in D.C. had a lot to do with sports. 

I found my way onto a Congressional softball team sponsored by Congressman Bob Bergland (D-MN), who became President Carter’s Secretary of Agriculture. A really nice man and he knew my name even though I was not a constituent. A life lesson. 

We won the regular season title but not in the semifinals. I slugged a grand slam home run to win a game 24-23 to get a date with a Jewish AU cheerleader from Bergen County, who I took to see the Knicks and Bullets play at the Baltimore Civic Center on the night Earl Monroe was traded to New York. That was my only walk off home run EVER. 

I made friends with a staffer for a Pennsylvania congressman whose father was Gene Corbett, a first baseman who had a 37 game career with the Phillies, hitting .120, with 2 homers and 10 R.B.I. Corbett’s claim to fame was that before he died in 2009, he was the last living player to have played in the Baker Bowl, a former home for the Phillies. I later made professional acquaintances with a lawyer whose uncle played for the Philadelphia A’s and Washington Senators. Along with Elrod “Woody” Wheaton, my coach at F&M in 1969, he and Jack Welaj are the only two major leaguers I have ever met.

I went to more than 10 Senators games that summer, some thanks to my F&M trainer, Jim Warfield, who was the Indians trainer. I was there for the final Senators game at RFK Stadium. I had a tryout with the Orioles while living in unairconditioned  housing at George Washington University. 

Chris was an all-American Division III high jumper from Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio. We worked out together numerous times, as we were the only varsity athletes in the group at American. Sometimes we encountered Kermit Washington, then the leading rebounder in the nation. He was very nice. As opposed to when he viciously struck the Rockets’ Rudy Tomjonavich. 

I hung out with the softball team on Monday nights to watch the inaugural season of Monday Night Football. Me with a circle of older adults, in their 20’s and 30’s, watching Howard Cosell and rooting for the Colts—the Corbett family had seats at Baltimore Memorial Stadium. Treated like an adult—another life lesson.

I went to the Naval Academy for the first time—to watch Chris snare a second place in an open meet on a Saturday night. The guy was a fierce competitor in track and a great motivator in life. 

Chris and I went to the University of Virginia in Dodge to watch Baldwin-Wallace get thrashed by UVA. He knew most of the mens’ basketball team—and they were glad he came to support them in defeat. 

I attended an Eagles-Redskins game at RFK on a cold and windy Sunday in early November. Thankfully I had access to the Stadium Club to warm myself. A major lesson learned that day—thermals, wool socks and heating pads are necessary equipment after Halloween.

I had a blast in DC. It was where I finally started to really grow in college. The maturity and experience of others guided me. 

I never quite felt I belonged at F&M academically because I wasn’t applying to Ivy League schools and using F&M as a fall back. I excelled in Government, my major, along with some other courses. But I wallowed with Geology, Economics and Math 23. 

Similarly, I walked onto the baseball field not having played an organized game since the summer of 1966. If anyone didn’t belong there, it was me. Except I found that no one knew or cared about my playing past. They cared that I could play the game and that I was a good teammate. 

I knew Chris would be going to see the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Reds’ AA team, on Wednesday night. The nickname is derived from nearby Lookout Mountain. For the record, Chattanooga downed Rocket City 11-0. And I know Chris had a great time. As we did with him and his wife two days earlier.

The Yankees are starting to hit. The team plays a critical series in Boston this weekend. 

Chicago came into LA and threw a combined no hitter at the Dodgers. It is the 7th no hitter of the season, which is second all-time. The Dodgers are the franchise which as been no hit the most. The Cubs are the team with the fourth most no hitters from its pitchers.

Jacob deGrom and Gerrit Cole are pitching well. Umpires look ridiculous enforcing the foreign substances searches. Despite the pronouncements from Commissioner Rob Manfred that it is a success. The optics are horrible. 

Phoenix and the Clippers stand at 2-1 in the Western Conference finals. Trae Young and his Atlanta Hawks took the Sixers out, setting up a match with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals. Milwaukee downed Brooklyn in Game 7, negating a great performance by Kevin Durant, who looked like the best player in basketball.  Without a healthy James Harden and  no Kyrie Irving, the fact that the Nets almost won the series showed how great Durant was playing. 

Montreal is in the Stanley Cup Finals, continuing its surprising run. Either the Islanders or Lightning will join them. Was Wednesday’s stirring OT win by New York the last game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum? (BTW—the new UBS Arena, next year’s home for the Isles, is already sold out)

What does this all mean? I’m back. And ready for some more sports.

Blah, Blah, Blah. Again

Good news for Yankees and Phillies fans on Friday night. Neither team played. Which is rare for Major League Baseball. Games are almost always played on Friday nights. 

The bad news? That they play each other in a two game series on Saturday and Sunday. No matter wha the outcome, somebody’s weekend is going to be ruined. 

These are two not very good teams that were supposed to be much better. Plus the managers are intertwined—Joe Girardi was the last Yankee skipper to win a World Series crown—way back in 2009. When GM Brian Cashman let Girardi go, he opted for the more serene Aaron Boone. 

The problem in New York is that the same level of success which Girardi reached in his final season, has been duplicated by Boone, with the former third baseman and star of the dramatic 2003 ALCS win over Boston, now piloting a sinking ship. 

Whenever there is a glimmer of hope for the Yankees, something goes terribly wrong. First it was the dominant streak where the team was winning consecutive series and took down the AL West leading Chicago White Sox in three games at Yankee Stadium. The pitching and hitting were in sync and the Yankees made up ground on the Red Sox and Tampa Bay, perched above them in the AL East standings. 

Just as suddenly, the wheels came off of the bicycle and the Yankees were being beaten every which way by Tampa and then by Boston in a three game sweep at home. It wasn’t pretty. In fact in was virtually unwatchable. 

The tonic for the Yankees’ revival was a trip to the Twin Cities. The Twins, thought to be a top tier team, one which could rival Chicago and Cleveland for AL Central supremacy, were wallowing in the division basement. 

New York beat up on Minnesota in the first two games of the series. The bats came alive. The pitching was what it was supposed to be. And the Bombers jumped out to a nice lead on the Twins in the final game of the series. 

Up 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, Boone brought in his closer. Aroldis Chapman had one blown save in 13 appearances, and the team bailed him out with a dramatic win in that contest. 

Except the roof caved in. With the swiftness of a Chapman fastball, in nine pitches, the game went from a 5-3 sure victory to a stunning 7-5 loss. 

Chapman could not get anyone out. He surrendered a two run bomb to Josh Donaldson. Then with another man on base, slugger Nelson Cruz crushed a Chapman pitch to straight away center, well over 400 feet from home plate. Game over. 

Yankees announcers had noted that Chapman’s pitch velocity was still in the mid-to-high 90’s. Except that is slow for him. 

I had watched Chapman pitch versus Boston and I thought something was wrong with him. He labored on the mound and somehow escaped a serous threat. He didn’t look the same as the vintage flame-throwing Chapman.

Perhaps it is mechanical. Cole said his recent pitching woes were the results of bad mechanics. 

Maybe the lingering effects of a recent illness were still with Chapman. Or even lingering effects from a previous COVID-19 infection. 

Whatever the reason(s), the bad outings by Chapman are of great concern for New York. He has been the most reliable pitcher on the staff, a key to Yankees wins. He is a probable All-Star, along with Cole and Aaron Judge. 

There are names on the Yankees pitching staff whom I have never heard of. Some are doing a credible job. 

Help is on the way. Zach Britton, the former Baltimore closer and set up man to Chapman, has been pitching in rehab games. He was put back on the 26 man roster this weekend. His 2021 debut comes at a critical time if Chapman is hurt. 

And while some of the slackers in the Yankees lineup have started to hit and raised their batting averages over .200, the run production and lack of clutch hitting is still a problem. New York leads the majors in grounding into double plays and not driving men in from scoring position. Those are killer stats. 

First base is an absolute mess—no production almost all year. The most recent occupant, Chris Gittens, is 0-12. Luke Voit is injured with no timetable for his return. Mike Ford has been designated for assignment. Jay Bruce retired. Only when D.J Le Mahieu is playing at first base can the Yankees anticipate any real production—and his productivity is about 80 points from where it was last season. 

Second base is no better. Roughned Odor is hitting below .200 and either swings and misses or takes good pitches. Gleyber Torres is starting to become more consistent with the bat; yet he has only 3 home runs thus far. His fielding and throwing at shortstop is subpar.

Gio Urshela is a great glove. His bat has become inconsistent. He is hampered by lower leg injuries.

Miguel Andujar, a converted third baseman, is now the left fielder. He can hit and is a work in progress. Brett Gardner is the sometime center fielder. Aaron Judge, normally the right fielder, has been playing more center fold recently. 

Gary Sanchez catches 3/5 of the starters. His average has been rising. His base running is atrocious. 

Jordan Montgomery has been okay. He is a third or fourth starter at best. Jameson Taillon is very inconstant. Domingo German has been adequate, too, but inspires no fear. Corey Kluber’s status is unknown. 

Luis Severino is working his way back from his Tommy John surgery. He could rejoin the team by July. That could be too late for this season. 

This is a very average team. The lineup is not hard hitting like championship Yankees teams. Do the names Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Paul O’Neill sound more imposing? You bet they do. So does C.C. Sabathia, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. 

Plus Aaron Bonne hasn’t exactly been Joe Torre. When the umpire rung up Odor on a horrendous called third strike on Sunday night, Boone remained calm while his coaches went ballistic—including Phil Nevin who had an IV port in his arm as he continues to recover from COVID-19. 

The media came down on Boone. As did the fans. They are frustrated. Which they have a right to be. 

Remember this—there are significant injuries to Aaron Hicks, Voit and Kluber.  Severino isn’t ready yet; he may have suffered a lower leg injury, which might hinder his timely appearance. Britton is just coming back. And like I said, absent maybe Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the latter starting to heat up again after another trip to the IL, who is a real threat in this lineup?

Of course, GM Brian Cashman made a big mistake when he let Didi Gregorius leave for Philadelphia. His left-handed bat and slick fielding in addition to his uplifting demeanor, are sorely missed. Seemingly too many moves Cashman has made lately have not clicked. Odor; Kluber, Taillon, Bruce. The list seems to be unending.

Another source of blame is Hal Steinbrenner, the son of the bombastic late George Steinbrenner. George would have gone ballistic with this atrocious start. Hal is a bottom line guy. He wants to have no luxury tax and make as much money as he can. Cashman follows his orders, which leaves a less-than-competitive team. Hal and Brian haven’t provided a winning formula. 

It appears to be a lost season unless blockbuster trades are engineered. Don’t count on it. And don’t count on the reinforcements showing up to rescue the day. It has been a disheartening season thus far. 

Meanwhile, the best pitcher in baseball is playing for that team in Queens. I watched Jacob deGrom strike out 11 San Diego Padres in a 3-2 Mets victory on Friday night. He also drove in two runners. The guy is unreal. 

Unfortunately, he is dealing with right oblique issues. Which is why deGrom came out of the game after 6 innings, having surrendered only one hit. When the Mets fans chant M.V.P., they aren’t dreaming. If he remains healthy, he is the best player in the N.L., and a major reason why the Mets are in first place in the NL East. The excitement thus far is at Citi Field, not at Yankee Stadium. The crowds will grow in Flushing as the season progresses, not in the Bronx. 

I saw that the Dodgers have a 13 game winning streak versus Pittsburgh, which included three road wins this week. I believe the Yankees are better than the Pirates. Same with the Twins and Baltimore Orioles. Probably the Arizona Diamondbacks, too. I cannot say for certain about the Detroit Tigers, as Detroit swept the Yankees a couple of weeks ago. 

What I don’t believe is that the Yankees are better than AL East rivals Tampa Bay and Boston. Or the Mets, Phillies and whole lot of other teams. Which is another way of saying that this team was overrated.

MLB is cracking down on pitchers who use foreign substances. Complicating the Yankees dilemma is the fact that Josh Donaldson was the player who questioned if Yankees ace Gerrit Cole used a particular substance to enhance his pitch spin rate. 

Cole did not acquit himself very well at a pre-start press conference. What he did do was dominate Donaldson with two strikeouts when he faced the Twins this week. Along with a stare down. 

Which brings up a question about Chapman. Could he have been doctoring the ball and is now afraid of being caught. Will that make him into a normal reliever, rather than the fearsome pitcher he had become?

I know that there is a lot of other stuff going on in the sports world. The next round of the NBA Playoffs is underway and Phoenix looks to be in command over Denver. The Clippers put themselves in another 0-2 deficit. Philadelphia has started to make the Atlanta Hawks look ordinary by taking a 2-1 lead. 

The juggernaut Brooklyn Nets lost a game in Milwaukee which was winnable. Reserve Bruce Brown, in the lineup while James Harden cannot play, took too many shots at the end of Game 3 and committed too many fouls and had key bad defensive plays. The ball belongs in the hands of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, who looks like his unstoppable best player in the NBA self.  Brooklyn can win without Harden. It is just harder to do with Bruce. 

Montreal now draws the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. The Islanders have looked awesome with series wins over Pittsburgh and Boston. Now NYI meets the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Don’t count Coach Barry Trotz’s team out. He won in Washington and the Capitals were too cheap to pay him for that. Washington has not won a series since Trotz left for New York. 

It is fun to see the Isles winning. They keep postponing the inevitable close of the Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum for NHL hockey.  The Islanders will be in their new arena by Belmont Park next season. Seeing the banners hanging from the Coliseum rafters reminds me of the glory days on Long Island. Those were some teams. 

Novak Djokovic downed Rafael Nadal, the master of clay, in a thrilling French Open semi-final. Too bad that wasn’t the final. 

My editor is off for a few weeks as her family celebrates her daughter’s wedding and then she takes a much needed vacation. Mazel tov.

No blog next weekend. While I have been writing this week’s entry, the Yankees surrendered 4 runs in the first inning, with Philadelphia chasing Taillon in the process. Ugh.

Be glad I don’t carry on more about the travesty. Otherwise, blah, blah, blah. Again.

I Am Glad That There Is Hockey and Basketball (DAMN YANKEES!)

I am in a sour mood. My calf strain seems to be mending fine and my ankle isn’t really bothering me terribly. I can increase my walking mileage and biking time. I can go to the gym without restrictions. Plus I accept my ongoing root canal as a necessity with a cracked molar--not much I can do about that. So I can’t really attribute my sourness to my physical ailments. 

Perhaps the Knicks losing to the Atlanta Hawks in 5 games could be the source of my malaise? Nah, not really. NYK exceeded my expectations for the past season. Let’s face it, Trae Young is an emerging star for the Hawks, a team which can take out the next opponent, the top-seeded Philadelphia 76’ers, especially if megastar Joel Embiid is hobbled or out due to his unfortunate knee injury. Nope. It’s not that. 

While I still feel some angst about the Golden State Warriors losing a heartbreaker to the Lakers in the 7-8 game and then being eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies, I am a realist. 

Selfishness takes over because I love to watch Steph Curry shoot and dribble. Besides Draymond Green, there wasn’t enough talent on the court to make the Warriors into a real playoff team.

Look at the Grizzlies and Lakers. Both teams won a game in their respective series. That was it. Certainly Anthony Davis’ injury derailed any chances LAL had in defending their crown. I fully believe that the Suns are an emerging power in the West—the 10-0 run in the bubble last season which sent them home just shy of a playoff spot was fair warning that they would be a force this season. Devin Booker’s 47 points in Game 5 provided an exclamation mark to those doubters about how good Phoenix is. 

Ja Morant and company were overmatched against Utah once Devon Mitchell returned to the Jazz lineup. Utah is playing like the number one seed they are in the West. I feel they have a legitimate chance to reach the NBA Finals if no injuries occur. Which is unfortunate, because G Mike Conley is day-to-day with a mild hamstring injury. 

The Jazz draws the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks series—the only opening round matchup not yet decided. Dallas is leading 3-2 trading into Friday night’s game in Big D. 

I like Luka Doncic, the young star of the Mavs. There was doubt that he would play effectively after suffering a shoulder injury. That uncertainty was laid to rest when he scored 42 points in a triumph over the Clippers at the Staples Center. 

The Clippers were solid favorites to win this series. The team acts like they can easily win in seven by going to Texas and taking business then coming home and take Game 7.  

Not so fast. This is the second series where the teams have won all of the games on the road. The other is the 1995 Western Conference Finals  between Houston and San Antonio, which ended in six games with the Rockets winning Game 6 at home. Which means history, albeit limited, is on the Mavs side. 

Now I am biased, as I am rooting for Dallas over the Clippers. My intense dislike of Paul George’s playing abilities colors my impartiality. Would I be upset if LAC went on to win this series? Not at all. 

In the East, I made mention of the Hawks and Sixers. Which leaves the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Will I watch when the games begin on Saturday night? Probably. Do I care which team emerges? Not really. Do I think that Brooklyn is the better team? Do I feel that the Bucks are a far better opponent than the Boston Celtics? Absolutely. Can I see an upset? Yes. Do I believe there will be one? No. 

Wild news emerged from Boston. Danny Ainge, the head of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, has stepped down. Ainge, survivor of a heart attack, will turn the reins over to Brad Stevens, who will give up his head coaching job to assume the awesome responsibility of bringing another championship back to Boston. 

Stevens didn’t take the head coaching job at Indiana probably because he knew he could succeed Ainge. Stevens also suffered from coaching fatigue, a.k.a. burnout. Whether this affects his judgment in hiring a new coach and how he navigates the salary cap and improves the Celtics is still to be seen. 

Is the NBA the cause of my misery? No. 

Mike Krzyzewski is stepping down as the head basketball coach of the Duke men’s team after the 2021-22 season. He has done everything a coach could do, beginning with his accumulated victories at West Point and Durham, which is at 1,170 and counting. His resume includes 12 Final Fours and 5 National Championships. 

Forty-two years at Duke is a long time. Coach K, his name shortened by sportswriters who didn’t have spell check, became the premiere basketball coach of his era. Some might say he is the greatest of all time in the collegiate ranks; others will simply point to John Wooden’s body of work at UCLA where his Bruins won 10 titles. 

Certainly they both are on the Mount Rushmore of college coaches. Who else can join them there is open to vigorous debate. The other names mentioned for this prestigious honor are the recently retired Roy Williams, who won at both Kansas and North Carolina; Jim Boeheim, still going strong at this alma mater, Syracuse; Rick Pitino, who showed his magic this year at Iona; Jim Calhoun, the former UConn head man; the venerable Dean Smith, who brought UNC to prominence in the tough ACC; the General, Bob Knight, whose mercurial style got him into hot water at Indiana; Adolph Rupp, the revered head man at Kentucky, whose teams remained all-white while integration was beginning around him; and John Calipari and Jay Wright, who continue to make history at Kentucky and Villanova. 

Coach K is 75. The rigors of recruiting and now the transfers rule have taken a toll on men like Williams and Coach K, making it harder to gain stability within a team. That in itself is almost as bad as the one and done player who can lead a school to a title—Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse come to mind first—then head to the riches in the NBA. Even having modest success in college can lead to a lucrative deal for those who opt not to stay and play four years. 

Coach K has won national titles. He has won in the Olympics. He has the most victories of any D-I basketball coach. This final season before his handpicked successor and former player, Jon Scheyer, assumes the throne, will be a farewell tour unlike any other. 

Many want a fairy book ending for this college hoops icon. Not me. I never liked Coach K that much. He could be surly and self-serving. I felt he talked down to people, no matter his generosity in buying pizza for students camped out for tickets to a Duke-UNC game at Cameron Indoor Stadium (parents must have loved that they were shelling out big bucks for a Duke education while their children were freezing outside of a gym trying to obtain basketball tickets). 

Maybe my expectations were skewered by his nasal tone and his harsh demeanor. Then again, he was hired to coach basketball and his players—both college and in the pros— adore him. Perhaps that is the greater measure of the success of this man. And his legacy.

In the NHL, Boston is ahead of the Islanders 2-1 with an overtime win last night. The Lightning failed to go up on Carolina 3-0, as the Hurricanes prevailed in OT. Colorado is acting like the best team, holding a 2-0 margin on Vegas. And Montreal, the comeback kids who downed Toronto on Monday night to win that series, are ahead of Winnipeg 1-0.

The Leafs have been called chokers by many. They lost key player John Tavares to a brutal hit and never were the same, in spite of accumulating a 3-1 series advantage. 

Give credit to the Canadiens, who played gritty, hard hockey and turned Leafs mistakes into goals. Another year’s disappointment in Toronto—they are acting like the New York Rangers, which went from 1940 to 1994 without winning the Stanley Cup.   

There were no no hitters thrown this week in baseball. The division leaders are Tampa Bay, the White Sox and A’s in the American League, while the Mets, Cubs and Giants are atop the divisions in the National League. 

Chicago is alive with baseball fever. Good to see. Cubs-Sox games will have even more fervor this year. 

San Francisco remains a surprise. The Giants took 3 of 4 from the Dodgers in LA last weekend. Yet they hold a one game lead on San Diego and only two games separate the Giants and Dodgers. It is a three team race, not a two team race like prognosticators anticipated. 

Tampa Bay is on this huge winning streak. 17 out of the last 20. Watching them this week at Yankee Stadium, the Rays are a feisty bunch, with good pitching and timely hitting. While the players are intense, here is a joy in how they play. 

Which is far from that in the Yankees clubhouse. The Bombers are in disarray. Everything seems to be untimely. And they can’t hit too well, nor is the pitching sufficient lately.

Here is where my mood has been affected. I have great difficulty watching the team. 

Aaron Judge is trying too hard. He’s now installed in centerfield because Brett Gardner cannot man that position on a daily basis. On Thursday, Clint Frazier, hero of Tuesday night’s walkout victory with a line drive hoe run which barely cleared the left field wall, had a chance to stop a Tampa rally. Except his throw from right field, Judge’s spot sailed up the line, allowing the Rays to score a second run on that hit. 

I don’t care that Frazier has batted over.300 in his last 12 games. He is a defensive liability and his offense is spotty. 

Others who are tough to watch are D.J.LeMahieu, who is batting in the .250’s; Gio Urshela, whose average is down in the same range; ditto Gleyber Torres; Giancarlo Stanton’s return from the IL has been unspectacular and wooden; Roughned Odor does not thrill me and strikes out way too much;.

Meanwhile, closer Aroldis Chapman is struggling after his virus. Ace Gerrit Cole is 1-3 in his last four starts with an E.R.A. of nearly 5. Thee is no continuity on the pitching staff.

Combined with the lack of timely hitting with men on base—New York is among he worst in that department—it seems the only person hitting is Miguel Andujar, who is out of place in left field. This is horrible.

Of course, I have left special mention for Gary Sanchez. The guy cannot run the bases. He runs when he shouldn’t and he stays rooted to the bag when he has a chance to run without problems. Michael Kay keeps pointing to the productivity of Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka being above the norm for catchers. It doesn’t take into account how badly they are in producing runs. Which the Yankees are very bad at during this 3-7 slide. 

They aren’t much fun to watch. I half-heartedly stated to my wife that I should boycott the Yankees while they are so miserable. Maybe that might help my mental state and, in a superstitious way, bring them some luck. 

Except that I decided to watch Thursday’s matinee with Cole as a starter, only to see him struggling and the offense looking anemic once more. Which isn’t very good with Boston coming to town. 

I’m afraid to turn on the Yankees telecast tonight. Or for the weekend. With good reason.

I’m glad there is hockey and basketball to ease my mind.