A Lot Of Foolishness

As we watch the horrifying events in the Ukraine and wonder what it means for the United States, we still have sports. While athletics seems trivial in comparison to the vivid images televised from Kyiv and other cities under attack, we look to our games as a way to escape the difficulties we face in our daily lives, and now, as we witness the first major incursion in Europe since World War II, sports are still a diversion from harsh reality.  Most times the outcomes of games buoy us up, , and sometimes they don’t. 

What happened after the Michigan-Wisconsin men’s basketball game was a black eye for the Wolverines’ coach, Juwan Howard, as a representative (and alumnus) of that highly respected school. Howard, employing unnecessary full court pressure at the end of the game where Wisconsin had inserted its subs, was offended when his counterpart, Greg Gard, called a time out with ten seconds left, to advance the ball to half court. Gard’s rationale was to not put too much pressure on the reserves he had inserted to finish the game. 

Somehow this enraged Howard. When the teams met to shake hands, Howard tried to walk right by Gard without shaking his hand. Gard grabbed Howard’s elbow. Then things deteriorated. Words were exchanged. Howard took a swing at a Wisconsin assistant coach. Players pushed, shoved and swung at each other. It was a disgrace. 

The upshot was that Howard, who was previously tossed from a Big Ten Tournament game for his violent, threatening behavior—he is a very big man—was banned 5 games and fined $40,000. Two of his players were banned for one game, which happened to be the Rutgers game on Wednesday night. Gard was fined $10,000 and one Badgers’ player was suspended for a game. 

In my opinion, Gard got off easy. He didn’t need to grab onto Howard. He should have been suspended one game. Howard’s boorish behavior was duly noted by observers and by Gard in the post-game press conference. Gard went relatively unscathed. 

Both coaches didn’t know how to stop competing . That is normally a good quality. Except when one coach takes offense at the other’s tactics while employing unnecessary moves himself. You can’t have it both ways and come away insulted. Like with Howard. 

This was not the first time this season that there had been strange goings on in the handshake line for the Wolverines. A couple of weeks ago, when Michigan lost at Rutgers, a few words and shoves ensued as the teams met after the game. Writers called it a kerfuffle. It was more like a volcano emitting steam, with the eruption inevitable, sometimes sooner rather than later. 

Critics jumped all over this ugly situation. Calls for ending the tradition of handshakes arose. Respected coaches like Tom Izzo, leader of Michigan State, Michigan’s arch rival, came to the defense of the tradition. It angered him that what had happened now resulted in calls for ending this tradition. Izzo pointed to how much has been lost in college basketball by way of teaching points, and that this was a great way to instruct young men as to the reason why these games are important and to remind them there are consequences for misbehavior. 

Michigan’s players came out at home and played an inspired game to beat Rutgers. RU didn’t help itself by having key players get into foul trouble. Michigan’s slim NCAA Tournament hopes remain alive. So does RU still have a chance? They didn’t help themselves much with that loss after losing at Purdue on Sunday where the Knights trailed for the entire game. Both teams have to win out for any realistic chance to go to the Big Dance. And maybe have a win or two in the Big Ten Tournament. Otherwise, they could both be relegated to the NIT—where they might meet up once more. 

The NBA All-Star Game took place in Cleveland over the weekend. As most know, that is the home turf of one LeBron James, who was a captain of one of the teams. His opposition was Team Durant, led by the injured Brooklyn Nets star, Kevin Durant. 

Normally, I do not watch the NBA All-Star Game. The only reason I turned it on was to see the members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team be honored at half time. Some 40 of the greats of the league were present, capped off by the final announcement of the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan, who entered to a rousing roar of approval. 

I love the Yankees tradition of Old Timers Day. Bringing back the memorable names of yesteryear always has an attraction for me. Call me nostalgic. 

Thus, seeing the legends on stage in Cleveland on Sunday night was awesome. Shaq. Barkley. Miller, Petit, Anthony, Wilkins, Ewing, Walton, Iverson, Gervin were among the honorees who were there. Of course, those who had passed away were honored too—Chamberlain, Maravich and the thunderous cheer for the late Koby Bryant. I loved it. 

Then I learned that Steph Curry, one of the honorees, playing for Team LeBron, had been shooting threes in bunches. So I started to watch. And Curry did not disappoint. 

Ultimately, Curry drained 16 three-point shots, many from way beyond the arc. It was as marvelous a shooting display as one had ever seen. His heroics led to his receipt of the M.V.P. trophy named after Bryant for the first time. 

While Curry ended up with 50 points—that is 2 shy of the All-Star Game record—it took a shot from team leader LeBron James to seal the victory for his team. In Cleveland, where he was still beloved as the best local ever to play basketball. Which is interesting, because Steph Curry and LeBron were both born in the same Akron hospital, three years apart. That is some tandem. 

We needed the relaxed atmosphere of NBA All-Star Game weekend to erase the ugliness of the college game and escape the world’s geo-political maelstrom. It was glorious to watch New Jersey native, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, win the Three-Point Shooting Contest, recording the highest final round score ever. Very impressive shooting, period, let alone for somebody who is 7’0. 

In these times where we are trying to emerge from the nuclear winter which COVID immersed us in, a return to some enjoyable times gives hope to the possibility that we may have more normal times. Even with the caution still coming via the Center for Disease Control. 

The politicians are all in favor of loosening the restraints and requirements. Their rationale is driven by the economy. An economy which is now wrapped up in a war that we did not bring on and inflation which has its roots in many things. 

Mayor Eric Adams announced this week that New York City is ready to loosen its vise grip on COVID. He didn’t say when, but his tone implied that such easing of restrictions will occur sooner rather than later, barring another unexpected upsurge, 

I have to admit that my wife and I were tempted to attend the Paul Mc Cartney concert at Met Life Stadium on June 16. Might COVID be only endemic by that time? 

Except that when I looked at the prices for the event—well over $150 per seat plus ticket insurance to sit way upstairs and away from the stage—I blanched. It’s bad enough that Jets tickets and parking cost me well over $200 per game—with a mediocre product to boot. At least Mc Cartney, who will turn 80 two days after the concert, gives a far better performance than what the Jets put on the field. But that wasn’t enough to change my mind.

The outgrowth of Mayor Adams’ decision would be that Kyrie Irving, that renowned anti-vaxxer, would get to play in playoff games if the Nets can get Durant healthy and recently-acquired Ben Simmons can finally reach a mental health level which would put him on the court. The experts believed that this would vault the Nets back into serious playoff contention. 

I disagree. The top teams in the Eastern Conference—Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee and Philadelphia are much stronger than Brooklyn, when they are at full strength. This is foolish thinking, especially with a squad mired in a 12 game losing streak. 

Then again, we’ve seen a lot of foolishness this week.