Happy Passover. Happy Easter.

  It is Passover. To be followed by Easter. Very holy days in the Jewish and Christian religions. There is a lot of history involved with these sacred days. And a lot of food. 

In Judaism, we don’t eat bread during Passover. This has to do with the Jews leaving Egypt and having no time to let the dough rise, so the bread that they made came out flat, albeit still edible. 

To follow custom and tradition, we have a Seder, a big communal meal where we acknowledge the aforementioned history and throw in some tradition in the food. 

Matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish abound. Thankfully at an early age I was disabused of the fiction that there was an actual fish from the Middle East called “gefilte,” which my ancestors raised in bathtubs and painstakingly deboned and made into little fillet-like objects. 

Now the meal which we eat can have so many variations. Some have brisket and turkey. Others go for different fishes—salmon is very popular. 

Potatoes and noodles—unleavened ones—are found in kugels and other recipes. Vegetables and salads aplenty, too. As long as you don’t bring in anything “chametz”. That means food products derived from the five main grains which, when mixed with water, sit for more than 18 minutes. So we Jews have to stop thinking about Oreos for 8 days, the length of this celebration. 

The downside to the primarily matzoh diet is that your stomach gets disoriented, not having the regular foods one is used to. One begins to anticipate the first meal after Passover concludes with glee; sometimes very early into the holiday. Pizza or a bagel sounds absolutely scrumptious. 

In America, we modern, moderate Jews continue with our lives during the eight days of Passover. Watching TV isn’t verboten. Going to work is accepted. Ditto school, although many times school calendars neatly have Passover, Good Friday and Easter coincide. 

And while Easter is reverential, it has become highly commercialized. Ergo, the need for candy like Easter bunnies or jelly beans. They are found wherever candy is sold.

Moreover, Easter meals are a family tradition. Many families get together for a big feast with relatives. Others go to restaurants; Easter is one of the biggest dining out days after Mother’s Day. 

Supermarkets are open on Easter Sunday. They didn’t used to be. Most Mc Donald’s can be accessed, with a plethora of sweet treats available for the kiddies. Although it is not a  destination for Jews; I have never heard of a Big Mac on matzoh. 

Sports doesn’t stop during Passover or Easter. Why should it? So much happens leading up to the holidays—the conclusion of college basketball; the NBA and NHL are in the stretch runs; and MLB is into its second week this year. 

Which makes me very happy. After all, I am the resident sports nut of this blog. 

Where do I begin? With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. We have a Final Four where two # 1 seeds, Michigan and Arizona square off in the first semi-final game. Then we have U Conn and Illinois, two squads which have emulated their head coaches and scrapped their way to this destination. 

Michigan and Arizona dominated their opponents in the Elite Eight. Two very talented, athletic teams which can drub an adversary with pressure, good shooting and intelligent play. Both are worthy of winning the title. It is almost too bad that they meet now instead of the final. 

One can dub U Conn and Illinois as near-“Cinderella” schools. Nobody thought that either had any business making the Final Four. U Conn took the Big East crown but the sportswriters said this was a down year for that conference.  Illinois lost its Big Ten Tournament opener to Wisconsin. 

Connecticut basketball has re-emerged under the guidance of Dan Hurley, wild man on the sidelines who has Hall of Fame genes inherited from his father, legendary New Jersey high school coach, and his brother, who was an All-American at Duke where he won a national championship. Danny has won two titles since he arrived at Storrs. Not too shabby until you compare that with Geno Auriemma’s record 12 National Championships with the U Conn women. 

For that matter, all of the coaches who lead teams into the Final Four can really coach talented players. That’s why their teams are where they are. 

Besides Hurley, Illinois’ Brad Underwood has some interesting history. He has been in so many places as a player and learned from some great coaches. He began his college playing career at Hardin-Simmons, a Division III school, where he would later return as an assistant. Then at Independence Community College, he led the team to a second place finish in the NJCAA Championship. On a recruiting trip at Oklahoma State, his host was Bill Self, who would later become a national championship coach at Kansas. Underwood finished his playing career at Kansas State under the tutelage of Jack Hartman. 

Underwood’s journey, from driving vans for his junior college players, to being an assistant coach learning from legends like Bob Huggins and Frank Martin at K-State and South Carolina, made him more than ready to led a D I program when he assumed the reins at Stephen F. Austin, amassing a spectacular 89-14 record. 

One year at Oklahoma State was enough for Illinois to take a chance on Underwood in 2017-18. He has gone 193-109 in the very tough Big Ten. 

Michigan’s Dusty May was a manager at Indiana University, working for one Bob Knight. He then worked his way through the assistant coaching ranks with stops at Eastern Michigan, Murray state, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before getting his first head coaching job at Florida Atlantic. In his first NCAA appearance, May guided the #9 seeded Owls to an astonishing 35 wins, a Final Four appearance and a loss to San Diego State on a buzzer beater. He compiled a winning record and is the all-time winningest coach at FAU.

May knows what he is doing and it shows with a cast of top tier players. This season, Michigan was the first Big Ten school to win all ten road games. The 29 regular season wins are a record at the school and the 19 conference victories is the best ever in the Big Ten. May has been selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the National Coach of the Year this season. 

Tommy Lloyd is so good a coach and recruiter that his name has been repeatedly mentioned for the North Carolina opening. His 61 wins in his first two season in Tucson is a NCAA record. A Washington State native, he landed at Gonzaga as an assistant coach for Mark Few, who has a ton of wins under his belt. His basketball IQ is high; that’s why Arizona struck gold with him. 

These four survivors have played some really good competition. That’s why they are here. 

U Conn’s nemesis was Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team, which the Huskies went 1-2 against. Early in the season, Arizona dined U Conn in Storrs by four points. A bit later in November, they beat Illinois at Madison Square Garden by 13. U Conn has a road win at Kansas under its belt plus victories over Texas and Florida, a #1 seed in the tournament. 

U Conn’s most recent game was an example of how they never give up. In a reflection of Hurley’s animated coaching style, the Huskies were down 19 points to Duke, the overall top seed. Inspired by Hurley, the players kept chipping away, putting themselves in a position to win if the breaks went their way. 

And did they ever. Ahead by two points with precious few seconds, Duke inbounded the ball underneath the U Conn basket. All they had to do was hold onto the ball and draw a foul. The game would then be history and Duke would rightfully be in the Final Four. 

Except harassing pressure and a bad attempt to pass the ball by mid-court led to a steal and, after one pass, freshman Braylon Mullins swished an improbable three point shot with 0.4 seconds left to propel the Huskies to an incredible win. Duke doomed its own chances with sloppy play. U Conn won with grit and determination. 

If I was to guess who makes the final, it would be Arizona and U Conn. I did pick Arizona to go to the finals, with Florida beating them. I won my three person pool by default—my wife picked Purdue and my daughter went with Duke. Neither had a Final Four team while I had the Wildcats. 

But U Conn has pedigree. In a slugfest with either Michigan or Arizona, the Huskies can hold their own. That’s for sure. 

Wouldn’t it be something if both U Conn teams win their respective tournaments.That happened in 2004 and 2014.  

The women are undefeated but have to get by two #1 seeds to win it all. Just like the men will if they down the Illini. It is worth watching. 

Except that I might be preoccupied. I will be spending part of Passover and Easter Sunday looking for no chametz to eat. While checking out some New Jersey Devils hockey.

Yes, I will be following the New York Yankees to start their home campaign after a massive 5-1 road trip in San Francisco and Seattle, dominated by great starting pitching and timely hitting. Even with star Aaron Judge starting slowly in 2026.

Not to worry, said David Cone, former NYY and NYM pitcher and currently an analyst for the YES Network. It is a timing thing which Judge will rectify. Then look out. 

With Giancarlo Stanton absolutely mashing the ball again, New York looks even better than last season. For now. After all, this is a marathon, not a sprint. 

It is a holiday week/weekend. The airwaves are filled with sports. A lot better than eating matzoh, Passover cake or chocolate rabbits. 

Happy Passover. Happy Easter. 

Channel Surfing

  I know I didn’t think too much of the Big Ten this season. Nobody really could beat the top teams and they managed to beat each other in conference play. The outlier was Michigan, which went 19-1 in conference during the regular season. Yet the Wolverines couldn’t get past Purdue in the conference tournament final. Purdue was 13-7 in conference play, which tied them for fourth place with UCLA but placed them behind Illinois, Nebraska and Michigan State at 15-5  and Wisconsin, which went 14-6.

The conference which received the most NCAA slots was the SEC. Ten schools made it in. All had 20 or more wins and at least a .500 conference record. Florida was a #1 seed and came into the tournament as defending champion. Texas was a #11 seed and was relegated to a play-in game versus NC State from the ACC; the ACC received 8 bids, with SMU also in a play-in game (versus last team in Miami of Ohio) like NC State. And the once-powerful Big East  only was able to get U Conn, St. John’s and Villanova into the tournament.

Instead, much of the focus was on the Big 12. Arizona was the big team coming from that league.The Wildcats had a 35-2 record this season, 16-2 against its conference mates. Houston was right behind them 14-4 and 30-7 overall. Eight Big 12 schools landed in the Big Dance—Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU, TCU and UCF joined the party. While no school had less than a .500 in conference record, each had 20 or more wins on its resume. 

The NCAA Selection Committee still thought enough of the Big Ten to take nine schools from the Big Ten—all which had a .500 record or better in conference play. The last one in was 10-10 Iowa, which still managed to go 24-12 overall. This was despite the detractors who thought too much of a bias was given to the Power 5 conferences, especially the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12. 

Thus, when the smoke cleared from the first weekend’s battles, the Big Ten had a conference-record six teams left in play in the Sweet 16. The Big 12 had three left. The SEC still fielded four schools in that group. The remainder came from the Big East (UConn & St. John’s) and ACC (Duke). 

Not that this guarantees a clear path to the Elite Eight or the Final Four for multiple Big Ten teams. After Thursday’s games, three of four Big Ten schools in action moved on. Purdue, Iowa and Illinois advanced; Nebraska couldn’t as it lost to conference foe Iowa. Correspondingly, the Big 12 lost #2 seed Houston when Illinois vanquished the Cougars, (somehow unfathomably playing in an arena 2.5 miles from campus) and for the SEC, a highly-underrated Texas team bowed out in a loss to Purdue. 

On Friday before the start of the games, it remained possible that the Big Ten could get four schools in the Final Four, as Michigan State and Michigan had to win on Friday to keep that possibility viable. Michigan State lost to U Conn while Michigan won its game. 

From the Elite Eight, we knew that either Iowa or Illinois was headed to Indianapolis and the Final Four. For Iowa, they had a mini-Big Ten Tournament of their own, facing Nebraska and Illinois in back-to-back contests. 

Furthermore, on Friday, it was up to Iowa State and Arizona to maintain Big 12 pride as it was for St. John’s and U Conn to keep the flame alive for the Big East. Duke was the lone school left for the ACC. Duke and U Conn were victorious. 

The SEC still had Tennessee and Alabama alive. The Volunteers had to face #2 seed Iowa State and Alabama had to play #1 seed Arizona. A true SEC-Big 12 showdown. The Wildcats won, but Tennessee defeated the Cyclones.

By the way—no real Cinderella teams this year. No non-Power 5 schools won more than one game. High Point may have been the best of the lower seeds to win unexpectedly. Over #4 seeded Wisconsin, a Big Ten school anticipated to win handily. 

VCU’s win against North Carolina was nice, but the folks in Chapel Hill are more in turmoil than ever with the firing of Head Coach Hubert Davis, a Carolina alum and despite his top player, potential lottery pick in the NBA Draft, out with an injury. Will the administration go for a big hire like in football with Bill Belichick? Is UNC really even on par with Duke right now? These are questions which will be answered when the next coach is selected—presumably before the April 7 transfer portal opens. 

And how about LSU reclaiming disgraced former head coach Will Wade, who had just lost in the play-in game leading NC State? The guy was involved in a FBI investigation of illegal payments to players before N-I-L came into vogue and subsequent recruiting violations led to his termination. He went on to Mc Neese State and then NC State to continue his winning days. I ask this: is he truly rehabilitated so that LSU, infused with Mc Neese people in their athletic administration, won’t be sorry about this choice? 

In the women’s bracket, six SEC schools made the Sweet 16. The SEC has always been a powerhouse league for the women’s game. The conference began the festivities with 10 members in this Big Dance. So it was really no surprise that so many SEC teams were still playing. Texas and South Carolina were top seeds in their regions (undefeated U Conn and one-loss UCLA were the other two top seeds). 

While U Conn and UCLA drub opponents, there is one other star in the women’s game. Hilda Hidalgo of Notre Dame has nearly single-handedly carried the #6-seeded Irish to wins over higher-ranked opponents. In defeating #-2 seed Vanderbilt, Hidalgo’s statistics read as follows: 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and 7 assists. 

Thus, the SEC received 10 bids in each tournament. I realize that the field has to be filled to draw it down. But this proves how much a money maker the NCAA Tournament is and how much of a slant it is towards the SEC. Same thing in football. 

Nonetheless, the Big Ten won the College Football Playoffs. Indiana triumphed over an ACC school—Miami (FL). Could this repeat itself—no SEC school wins the Men’s Tournament and a Big Ten team wins the Big Dance too? (It would be the first time since 2000 when Michigan State won) And perhaps the UCLA women knock off U Conn? 

With the way the games are going, I bet the NCAA is happy. So, too, are CBS, Turner on the men’s side along with ESPN, which airs the women’s games. 

Oh yeah—the NBA is now in its playoff push. In the East, Detroit has clinched a playoff spot and remains 4.5 games ahead of Boston. Detroit has gone 8-2 in its last 10 games while the Celtics, who are one game in front of New York, has gone 7-3, just like the Knicks. 

Miami, Charlotte, Orlando Philadelphia are all in pursuit of Atlanta and Toronto, the final teams not residing in the play-in games. Only two games separate the haves from the have nots. Charlotte is 7-3 in their last 10 games and defeated the Knicks at home on Thursday night. Philadelphia has re-united Joel Embiid and Paul George, the latter having served his suspension for using a banned substance; they still miss Tyrese Maxey, their All-Star guard, who is out with a tendon strain in his right pinky finger. They could be dangerous if everybody is healthy. 

In the West, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder maintains a two game lead on San Antonio for the top spot in the conference. They each have gone 9-1 in their past 10 games, with OKC having had a 12 game streak stopped by Boston earlier this week. 

For slots 3 through 5, two games separate the Lakers, Nuggets and Timberwolves. LAL is also 9-1 in the past 10 games; Denver is surging with a four game winning streak. Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards is now listed as day-to-day with knee inflammation—good news for the team’s chances. 

Portland and the Clippers are battling for the 8-9 spot, and could make a run at Phoenix, which is three up on its pursuers. Golden State is floundering with no Steph Curry; they are below .500, but safely remains in the 10th and final spot. Without a healthy Curry, GSW is toast. He has nine games left to get better and shake off any rust—if that is at all possible. 

I heard a commentator saying that Buffalo, the surprise team this season in the NHL, is starting to swoon. That’s because they lost their last two games in overtime, then suffered a home loss to Detroit on Friday night. That brings the Sabres record in the past 10 games to 6-2–2. Not too many teams can match that—a couple have won seven like Ottawa, Philadelphia and New Jersey. 

Ottawa, Detroit, Philly, Washington and New Jersey have the mathematical chance to catch the teams ahead of them—Montreal, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Boston and the Islanders. It’s going to be a scramble to the finish in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo, Carolina and Tampa Bay all are in good stead to make the playoffs. 

The best team in hockey may be Colorado, which has 106 points and only 13 regulation losses. Dallas and Minnesota seem to have the playoffs locked up. Possibly Anaheim, too. Edmonton, Las Vegas, Utah, Nashville, the LA Kings, Seattle, Winnipeg and San Jose still have a chance to catch someone and make the post-season. 

Yes, it is baseball season. The New York Yankees overpowered the Giants in San Francisco to begin the campaign. Back-to-back shutouts. A franchise record to begin a season. 

Don’t just anoint the Yankees champions just yet. Aaron Judge’s four strikeout Opening Day performance didn’t sit well with the fan base. He redeemed himself with a two run homer in the second game. 

As much as the implementation of the ABS system for contested ball/strike calls will initially create havoc, this first step is way overdue. Too many calls resulted in strikes or balls being called when they should not have been called. 

I hope this works, because a wider usage of the systems is needed to make the right calls more often. For the integrity of the game. It helped Judge on Friday.

Besides watching games on your local team’s network, MLB hasn’t stopped adding partners. FOX, FS1, ESPN, TBS, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, MLB Network, NBC/Peacock and Netflix will be televising games. 

If you don’t have cable or cannot stream or subscribe to additional services, you are going to miss games. Plenty of them. The day of local over-the-air TV broadcasts has been long gone. 

The prices to watch games in person is ridiculous enough. Add cable and streaming—the cost of watching games over the course of a baseball season is nearly prohibitive for so many loyal fans. 

Andrew Marchand calculated what it would cost to watch all the Yankees games this season. The price to see games on ten networks was a whopping $760. 

This is why salaries are so out-of-whack with reality. The money the owners make is so much and can be shared without denting their considerable profits given the new partnerships in advertising and marketing along with television. 

Wherever money is available, somebody always wants more. Good for the WNBA players to nearly double their salaries in a new contract. It’s the same in baseball, the NBA, NFL or the collegiate ranks with N-I-L. 

Sure, the games are exciting. Playoffs and tournaments are great and the level of competition is outstanding. But when this dollar train is ever going to end, I cannot say. 

For right now, enjoy yourselves watching March Madness and the end of the regular seasons in the NBA and NHL as well as the start of baseball. I will. As long as I can locate the correct network when channel surfing to see the games.