Potpourri

     Too much is happening in sports today and during the past week to center on one specific topic of interest or intrigue. Valentine's Day has come and gone, bringing the price of flowers and chocolate back to reasonable levels. We don't have a lunar eclipse coming up. Elon Musk hasn't launched another car into outer space. Politics and calamity are front page news. The stock market is suddenly on a wild, tumultuous ride. No sports fans, this is the post-Super Bowl, pre-NCAA tournament, Spring training blues.

     Sure, there is the Winter Olympics. If you are fixated on the events from South Korea, you have not rented a movie from Netflix or streamed a program from Amazon Prime. Your devotion to country and the giant slalom are remarkable, unless you don't want to watch all of the reruns of The Big Bang Theory.

     Watching the former stars on foreign teams and some even on the Canadian and U.S. hockey teams doesn't do it for me. I would much rather see Canada and the U.S square off with Sidney Crosby leading the way for Team Canada; or watch Henrik Lundquist and Pekka Rinne toil in the nets for Sweden and Finland; and have Patrick Kane star for the U.S. rather than muck around for the suddenly last place Chicago Blackhawks.

     Shaun White is a fine story as a come from behind winner in snowboarding. NBC is most thankful for that, having invested a lot of time and money in marketing White to the public.

     Lindsey Vonn is a great comeback story, having rebounded from so many surgeries and broken bones, let alone a romance with Tiger Woods. Mikaela Shiffrin is the next generation of U.S. skiers and she has already won gold. The pressure that they exert upon themselves is too harsh--Exhibit A is Shiffrin vomiting before her first race on Friday. But our expectations are too high, even unreasonable, for these fine athletes, as we suffer from the Michael Phelps syndrome of demanding wins in every event and garnering 4 or 5 first place finishes. It is not fair, America (and NBC).  Be pleased with their efforts.

     This is the event when we see curling along with ice dancing. The biathlon shines next to men's and women's figure skating. The NBC networks are replete with coverage of everything and anything at all hours of the day, with the major events live or on tape on the home network. Al Roker and The Today Show are there, as well as NBC Nightly News anchor, Lester Holt. After all, the money NBC has invested in this winter showcase is enormous.

     So what if you cannot spell PyeongChang. The ABC affiliate in Chicago is right there with you, as they referred to the locale as P.F. Chang's. Hey guys--the Winter Olympics is being held in South Korea. And the South Koreans and their enemy to the North have reached a detente in sharing a hockey team. Plus the North Koreans have offered us non-stop cheerleaders instead of nuclear missile testing at least for this period. Anyway, we have Vice President Mike Pence ably representing the U.S. government, causing controversy from his previous stands on gay rights.

     This Winter carnival will be over soon, buried for another four years. Can't you just wait until the Winter Olympics resurfaces in Beijing in 2022? Who knows what will happen then--will the NHL relent on sending its stars to play some real hockey? Will a 36 year old White try again for skateboarding gold? I am confident that as you surf the TV for anything interesting, you have asked these probing questions...

     Alternatively, college basketball's regular season winds down. There seems to be no clear front runner for the national title. All the big names have recently taken a tumble in the rankings due to unexpected losses. Villanova righted itself with a big win at Big East rival and #4 ranked Xavier yesterday. Virginia, Michigan State (who twice had trouble with lowly Rutgers), Arizona, Clemson, Auburn, the aforementioned Xavier, Kansas, Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Cincinnati, Duke, North Carolina, Purdue and Ohio State along with Villanova all have Final Four aspirations. Someone will emerge in April to become the National Champion. At least on the women's side it appears that UConn (no surprise) should be there at the end, but we are reminded that current #2 Mississippi State, now 27-0 this season, derailed the Huskies last year en route to the title.

     There are two other noteworthy events this weekend. This is NBA All Star weekend In Los Angeles. The Staples Center will host the actual game--a change in format which pits teams led by LeBron James (Team LeBron) against the team drafted by Stephen Curry (Team Stephen). No matter how presented, it is still an exhibition game with little defense in order to showcase the marvelous athleticism of the best in the NBA.  There was also the Rising Stars game on Friday; the Skills Competition (won by a Brooklyn Nets' player no less); the 3 point shooting contest (where Devin Booker's record-setting performance outlasted Klay Thompson and Tobias Harris in the final round); and the Slam Dunk contest (winner Donovan Mitchell donned a Vince Carter jersey to replicate Carter's winning dunk in a prior contest and Larry Nance Jr. wore his father's jersey and repeated his dad's contest winner).

     In the end, it is entertainment. At least they are in the right town for the game. Should you choose to watch, Fergie is singing the U.S. national anthem; Bare Naked Ladies will sing "O Canada"; and Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D. will provide the halftime music.

     The other glamour event was the Daytona 500 on the tri-oval at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. This was the kickoff to the NASCAR season and is a storied competition won by auto racing's best. Once conducted on the beach, it is now on a track which holds 101,000 revelers in the stands.

     All the big NASCAR names were present--Martin Truex, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski to name a few. They may not be household names to much of America, but to NASCAR Nation they know and worship those names like it is a religion.

     My sentiments go to one racer. Danica Patrick. Danica is leaving motor sports this year. She is reunited  with one-time sponsor GoDaddy, in her Chevrolet. Patrick was a veritable long shot to win at Daytona. Yet she has my gratitude for doing something great--dating Green Bay Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers.  There was a big pileup during the race.  Fortunately no one, including Ms. Patrick, was hurt. Because I didn't want Danica to go out and mess this up--her present romance is almost as good as J Lo and A-Rod.

     Other stories that resonated through the past week included the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers suddenly being revived in the NBA's weak Eastern Conference; the Houston Rockets overtaking the Golden State Warriors for the best record in the NBA; Tiger Woods not making the cut at this week's PGA event at the Riviera Country Club in LA; Canadian golfer Bubba Watson, who led the same event at -10 heading into today's final round and finished on top, managed to score 2 points on Friday night at the NBA Celebrities' game; the expansion Las Vegas Knights continue to win, on Saturday knocking off the NHL's most storied franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, to take the lead in the league with the most points;  and Roger Federer, the ageless Swiss tennis star, has risen to the number 1 ranking in men's singles.

     I am glad the snow has melted from Saturday night's storm and the temperature may rise to 70 on Wednesday. I can get outside and away from the television set and all of these telecasts which would keep me otherwise glued to my seat. For I had my first Aaron Judge sighting earlier this week and that trumped a whole lot of other sports on my plate, in a week where more tragedy confronted our nation.