At The End Of February

I received an email from the baseball coach at my alma mater, Franklin and Marshall College. As a baseball alum who sends a little money in support of the program, I receive his reports and even personal e mails. 

He talked about how practice had begun and how hopeful he was that the players might play. He spoke of the Ivy League not playing this year. But he pivoted and said that the Patriot League abruptly changed course and has had a basketball season, even if it has been rife with postponements due to COVID-19. 

Right now, going forward with a season would be up to the Centennial Conference Presidents. It is his hope that the Diplomats baseball team would take to the diamond this year, among the first CC teams to have played since the pandemic began. 

I find coaches on the collegiate level to be wildly optimistic about the team’s chances before the season starts. Any negative showing, and the players lose focus and the season is lost. 

As you who have read this blog regularly know, I have been against playing intercollegiate athletics until this nation turns the corner with the pandemic. Unfortunately, we are not there yet. Student-athletes are among the last groups who will receive the vaccine. 

Yes, I have marveled how colleges have managed to play a season—in football, in basketball. It has been far from perfect. Weekly I sadly read the postponements in many conferences. The NCAA has drafted a contingency plan if a team is in the Tournament and is felled by the virus. 

These are young men and women who sacrifice plenty to be able to follow their dreams. They do not have the arrangements that the professional teams have—and they too have had their hiccups. 

Would I like to see F&M play baseball this Spring? Yes, I would. Am I as optimistic as the coach? Hardly. 

I have seen some games involving ACC and SEC schools aired on the ESPN networks. Those are the big boys. The CC has not followed the big boys, instead taking its lead from the Ivies and the Patriot League. 

We will know the answer to this question of playing CC baseball soon, because March is nearly here and the schedule will necessarily be compressed. Most importantly, I hold out hope for the players and their dreams. 

For this was the time of the year that I used to love when I was at F&M. We were practicing for the start of the season. Mostly indoors, in a dusty dirt area called “The Pit.” It would get watered down, but the dirt below  would be dug up and the lack of adequate light to start with—both from the upper perimeter windows and the caged lights suspended from the ceiling was never enough. 

While I was an outfielder by choice—I loved to make the long throws to the infield and occasionally catch somebody trying to take an extra base—I also was used as a utility player. Which meant that I took ground balls and caught pitches inside the cage during batting practice. And it also meant that I would be bruised and battered from the bad hops on the grounders and my hand would hurt incessantly from the pounding of the pitches. Not your fault, Bobby O!

If that wasn’t too onerous, trying to see the ball during batting practice led to many foul tips and not very awesome struck balls. My sophomore year I broke my Bobby Murcer Louisville Slugger on one of the first wings I took in the cage. Murcer was one of my favorite Yankees and the bat felt so good in my hands—until it was cracked wide open. I was saddened but found solace in an Al Kaline bat which I liked—Kaline was an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers and he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Luckily, I didn’t break that bat the entire year. 

When the snow would melt and the fields would not be too muddy, we would get outside to practice. Hitting in the Lancaster cold would sting your hands if the ball did not find the bat just in the right spot. We weren’t wearing batting gloves in those days. 

Catching fly balls was always a highlight. A couple of times we would have to endure snow flurries and try to catch the ball—if we could see it. Or the late February/early March winds would make catching a routine fly ball an adventure. 

Even sliding practice was unique. I had never slid on the floor of the basketball court. Let me tell you—if you didn’t slide correctly, your landing would hurt from the unforgiving wood surface.

This may sound like a litany of complaints. Except it isn’t. We were a team and we endured the difficult conditions together. Sure there would be some moaning and groaning. But it made us closer, if not better (we weren’t that good). 

Which made us revel in the sunshine and warmth which would come in March and certainly in April. It was fun and I was plain old happy to be there. In the elements. With my teammates. At F&M.

I have also been to Florida and observed Spring Training for the Marlins, who share space with the Cardinals in Jupiter. I was separated from then Marlins star shortstop Henly Ramirez on an outer field. He tossed a couple of balls over that fence and I secured one.

When my son was attending law school at the University of Miami, I routinely saw Rutgers open the season against the formidable Hurricanes. It was evident how happy the RU players were to be outside in the warmth of Coral Gables, even if the Scarlet Knights were overmatched from a talent perspective as well as working indoors as opposed to the Miami team basking in the South Florida sun for their practices.

With the snow finally melting and the temperatures rising out of the frigid 30’s, the grounds will start turning colorful again. It will be baseball weather once more in the Northeast. Maybe this will augur a much better Spring and Summer than 2020.

In the more present times, we have seen the incredible life of Eldrick Woods get even darker than it ever has been. We have known the little imp called Tiger seemingly forever. His golfing heroics have made him iconic. So, too, have his terrible falls from grace. 

What we have seen is that although Tiger Woods was a nearly robotic magician with a golf club in his hands on foreboding golf courses, his frailty as a human was a stark contrast to the Tiger Woods we watched on TV.  His golf abilities and his human failings caused a roller coaster of emotions for those who followed his travails. 

Now he is in the fight of his life. For whatever reason, his courtesy vehicle left that Southern California roadway and has literally shattered his life. So many questions arose, the results of the haunting demons of his past—although alcohol was quickly shot down as a contributing factor. 

His path to recovery has been compared to that of Alex Smith, the former Washington Football Team quarterback, whose grotesque injury almost cast him his leg and his life. Or the car accident of golfing legend Ben Hogan, where he defied the odds of even playing again and won major championships.

It is way too early for us to really understand the severity of the injuries and the likelihood of any recovery to even close to a normal life, let alone to professional golf. Woods  recently had another back surgery which put his appearance in the Masters, his favorite tournament, in doubt. That is another complication he will face, in addition to what is almost certain to be multiple surgeries to correct and stabilize his smashed ankle and leg.

Tiger Woods is a worldwide celebrity. You can probably name the names even if you aren’t fully invested in sports—Muhammad Ali being the most famous of all. Mention golf, and the first name that  come to mind is Tiger Woods. His popularity in the US and around the world is staggering. 

Thus, his accident is a big deal—big enough to knock the daily morbid stories about COVID-19 off TV news as the lead story for at least one day. Because Americans idolize their champions, and what happens to them—especially if it is a life-altering accident—becomes more important than listening to the grim details of another day of COVID 19 statistics and vaccination troubles. 

In fact, the notoriety of his fame and the tragedy which has been unfolding acts as much an escape for those caught up with the coronavirus as his winning the Masters when no one thought he could win in 2019. The media will report on Woods for as much time as they can, placing his story where the viewers can watch and hear. Their editorial discretion is catering to his status, and Woods’ misfortune—as well as to what the ratings will be with full and complete coverage. 

There are people who will disagree with me on my view of the importance of Tiger Woods’ car crash. I understand that and agree that we can disagree.

I hope he can return to as much of a normal life as possible. And I want to hear the details of his recovery so that I can root him on. It is up to the journalists to report this with accuracy and with discretion. So that Tiger Woods can regain his dignity. 

I turned the TV off after Indiana led Rutgers by a score of 15-4. After muttering a few choice epithets. I thought to myself that this team was a mess and wasn’t going to make the NCAA Tournament. 

I had been going back and forth between the Golden State-Indiana game and the Rutgers game. After watching Steph Curry absolutely struggle with his shooting from behind the three point line, I figured I would see how badly RU was doing.

To my surprise, RU had battled back to only a 27-22 deficit. Before I knew it, RU suddenly was ahead 30-29. With a steal and a bucket by the scrappy Paul Mulcahy at the end of the first half, RU actually led by four. Behind the offense of senior Geo Baker on Senior Night, augmented by Ron Harper, Jr. finally escaping the throes of his horrendous shooting slump, the Scarlet Knights went on to thump the Hoosiers. 

A number of pundits are already awarding RU a spot in the Big Dance. The latest bracket I viewed places them as a #8 seed. I still say not so fast. There are two road contests left in the regular season—at Minnesota, which believes it still has a shot at making the Tournament, and at one-win Nebraska. 

Neither game is a gimme. The way RU plays, one doesn’t know if the good team, the one which downed Indiana, will appear, or its evil twin, the one which lost to Maryland and looked dispirited. Plus there is the Big Ten Tournament to navigate before Selection Sunday is upon us. 

Their destiny is in their own hands. Does this RU team have the wherewithal to make it happen—to end the 30 year drought for NCAA play? The next two weeks will determine that.

Sticking with college hoops, Duke is suddenly playing like a hungry team, one which desperately wants to play in Indiana in March. A desultory Michigan State team upset #4 Ohio State and is now in the discussion for the “bubble.”

Conversely, North Carolina wanted to pad its resume and enhance its chances to play in the NCAA Tournament by scheduling a non-conference home game against Big East opponent Marquette. That gambit failed miserably, as the Tar Heels lost.

Seton Hall lost to Butler on the road. That muddied their chances for the NCAA’s. They too are a bubble team. 

Meanwhile, I continue to see multiple postponements of games on a weekly basis. Whether they will be made up is hard to determine. #3 Michigan, which is now looking like the best in the Big Ten, will play a home and away make up series with in-state rival Michigan State due to its pandemic hiatus. 

Remember this—the pandemic is far from over. One or two missteps and a team’s fortunes can be washed away due to illness. 

Meanwhile, the RU women’s basketball team has been on fire since its return from its own COVID shutdown. Winners of 6 straight, Hall of Fame Coach C. Vivian Stringer has a team which is presently ranked #25 but will undoubtedly be moving up in those polls. 

One of my freshman baseball teammates informed me that the Florida Gulf Coast women’s basketball team has been dominating its opposition. So I delved deeper.

FGCU is 19-2, is on an 18 game winning streak, and they face their closest rivals, Liberty at home next weekend for a two game set, to end the regular season. This one site, two game weekends has produced an anomaly in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings. Both Liberty and Lipscomb could finish unbeaten at home, and FGCU could join them with wins over North Florida this weekend and then over the Liberty Flames. 

FCGU’s two losses came early in the season in the FloHoops Gulf Coast Showdown—a blow out loss to Missouri State and a 6 point loss to Arkansas. They have a low R.P.I. (Ratings Percentage Index)—they are ranked #78, which is below Rutgers at #49, and a 7-5 Lehigh squad, which is somehow #38.

I am not saying that this team will even make the NCAA’s—even with four wins over North Florida and Liberty, FGCU must win the Atlantic Sun Tournament to be assured a spot in the Big Dance in San Antonio. Teams like FGCU and Stephen F. Austin, ranked at #77 and sporting a 16-2 record, are always fighting an uphill battle for recognition. The fact that a prognosticator has FGCU as a #10 seed, while correct in my estimation, hardly means that the Selection Committee will concur with that assessment.

It is these kinds of teams which produce Cinderella runs in the NCAA’s because analytics are skewed to the big conferences and experts don’t watch these teams closely until they are in the NCAA spotlight. That is exactly why I will be tracking the FGCU women for the remainder of the season. 

Both the NBA and NHL churn on. The NBA released its second half schedule this week. I marveled at Steph Curry leading the Warriors to wins over the Knicks and Pacers, placing them in the playoff picture—for now. The Lakers are on a major skid without Anthony Davis. It isn’t meaningful if he can’t play now. Same with Kevin Durant with Brooklyn, which has Kyrie Irving and James Harden to make up for K.D.’s absence. 

Even football is in the news. J.J. Watt is receiving offers of $16-!7 million to join a new team. Seattle QB Russell Wilson doesn’t want to leave the Pacific Northwest but he has given the Seahawks management a list of four teams he would waive his no-trade clause for, which included Chicago?

What we have is the confluence of summer, fall, winter and spring sports and the horrific injuries suffered by Tiger Woods. At the end of February.