I Already Have Indigestion!

All I wanted to do was enjoy the NCAA Tournament. The time of year when euphoria and bitter disappointment merge in a great confluence of emotions. Besides the Super Bowl, I cannot think of any sporting event which captures the minds of the country. Especially now with skyrocketing gas prices and a very discomforting war in Ukraine which has many on edge as to Vladimir Putin’s next move. 

Of course I am going to talk about the NCAA’s. How could I not? I love the Selection Show, the stories behind the stories. The upsets. Along with the heartache which comes with the agony of defeat. 

More on that later. For baseball is back. With a frenzy of trades and free agent signings. Even exhibition games have begun. 

The Yankees were big participants in this mad dash to Opening Day on April 7. A big trade with the Minnesota Twins, a team which had already started in the trade wars by diong some swapping with the Texas Rangers, netted 3B Josh Donaldson and SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa. (I can’t wait for Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill to repeatedly pronounce his name!). Gone were Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. 

Urshela will be missed. He was beloved by his teammates, especially 2B Gleyber Torres. Not so Sanchez , who had played out his time in New York with uninspired play and horrible numbers at the plate and behind it. 

The backstop duo of Kyle Higashioka and the third man in the Twins trade, Ben Rortvedt may become a righty/lefty platoon. With considerably more defense than Sanchez offered and possibly more productivity at the plate. One thing Rortvedt has is huge arms. If you can, get a look at those beasts. Unfortunately, he has injured his oblique muscle, placing his Opening Day status in doubt. 

New York was not done. GM Brain Cashman brought back free agent Anthony Rizzo to man first base. This was a good move. 

One which made oft-injured Luke Voit expendable, as expected. Off to San Diego he went, with a highly coveted pitching prospect coming to the Yankees. I wish him well—he was exciting at times (he won the AL Home Run title in 2020) and very professional. He should be a great DH there—if he remains healthy. 

The Yankees are supposedly interested in former Rockies’ SS Trevor Story. Along with the Astros, Giants, Rangers, and, gasp, the Red Sox. Story wants to play short. Many of those teams already have a player manning that spot, for example, Bradley Crawford in San Francisco and high-priced free agent signee Corey Seager in Texas. So Story might have to make a position switch for the money he covets. And he chose the Red Sox, for a six year, $140 million deal. 

So I have two questions about the Yankees interest in Story. One is why did they go and get Kiner-Falefa? And even without Story joining the ranks, where were they going to play the hitting machine known as D.J. LeMahieu? 

Correspondingly, is there a trade involving Torres that might be in play if the Yankees get Story and insert LeMahieu at his natural spot at second base? Will it be for more starting pitching? 

More disturbingly, there was a give and take with reporters and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge this week. Given the mandate in New York City and in Canada requiring athletes to be vaccinated in order to play, Judge alarmingly avoided clarifying his vaccination status. Which makes him a big question mark if he cannot play home games and in Toronto. That’s roughly 90 games unless the mandate is lifted. Rizzo also falls into this category. 

This is a guy looking for a big payday. The Yankees undoubtedly would like to keep the fan base happy by signing Judge to a long term deal. But all seems in disarray if he isn’t vaccinated. He would become another Kyrie Irving, and we all know how well liked he is. Even when he scored 60 points in Orlando this past week. 

Maybe Judge is gambling his long-term future, or maybe he is anticipating that the mandates will be lifted in New York City by the start of the baseball season, which nearly coincides with the start of the NBA Playoffs. 

I never thought I would say Aaron Judge’s name in the same sentence, and for the same reason as Aaron Rodgers and Irving. I am not fond of the last two. I am losing my fondness and patience with my current favorite Yankee. 

I felt a twinge of sadness for Baker Mayfield. The Browns QB was hung out to dry when the team went into the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. Mayfield was a bit of a miscreant in college, but he became a better person in the pros and his cute commercials helped even more to make him likable. 

While Watson was absolved of all criminal conduct for sexual assault, the civil suits involving the 22 complainants are still out there. Plus the NFL may still have something to say about a potential sanction for his alleged conduct. 

Mayfield rightfully asked for a trade. Yet the Browns have denied his request, probably because they anticipate Watson being unable to play in some portion of 2022, if not the entire season.

Mayfield indicated he would like to go to the Colts. They have a need for a QB with Carson Wants off to Washington. Wherever he lands, I wish him well. He is deserving of that. 

Steph Curry hurt his foot on a questionable play in the game against Boston on Wednesday night. Just as Draymond Green had energized the team with his return on Monday night versus Washington when Steph went for 47 points on his birthday, the team is now going to be highly questionable for a deep run in the playoffs.

Finally, there is the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers played in a great 2 OT game against Notre Dame. As I watched the clock read 12:00, I knew that RU was finished. It was St.Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish was going to prevail. 

RU should hold their heads high. Geo Baker, Ron Harper, Jr and Caleb McConnell will be gone. They brought the Scarlet Knights to prominence and out of the NCAA purgatory they had resided in for 30 years with 2 bids (a third would have happened but for COVID). While I am sad that the team did not go on (Notre Dame routed Alabama in the first round—I had picked Rutgers to win over the Irish and Crimson Tide), reflecting upon what these three have accomplished makes me happy. If you have a chance, read the open letter Baker penned after the painful loss. This, to me, epitomizes what a student-athlete is about. I wish him nothing but success in the future. 

St. Peter’s shocked the basketball world with its upset of blue blood Kentucky. Shaheen Holloway’s squad made the basketball world take notice of how good they are, how overrated UK was and how good a coach the former Seton Hall star is (Icon Rick Pitino, now at Iona, has advocated for the Hall to grab Holloway if current Pirates’ coach Kevin Willard leaves for Maryland as anticipated). The Peacocks made it to the Sweet Sixteen with a demonstrative win over Murray State.

The first couple of days have been magnificent to watch. The “lesser” conferences  have made the big boys from the Power 5 scramble to win—or sometimes lose, as Richmond downed Iowa. Wisconsin had trouble with Colgate. Arkansas narrowly beat Vermont. Ditto Michigan State over Davidson. New Mexico State toppled UConn. Chattanooga led Illinois for all of 30 seconds, but those 30 seconds gave the Illini the win. 

I expect more close contests and upsets to happen as the games continue. Top seed Gonzaga struggled mightily against Memphis. North Carolina knocked out defending champion Baylor. Michigan upended Tennessee, a #3 seed in the South Region. 

I have UCLA to win in my bracket. My Final Four remains intact. I am leading my wife in her bracket, but not by much. My college roommate has me by two wins and is grousing he should have bet me a Harold’s gigunda corned beef sandwich as to who would prevail. 

With all that I have chronicled above, plus having celebrated our son’s birthday with a bevy of  non-dietetic foods, I already have enough indigestion!