Agita Or Angst?

  Watching sports has been absolutely painful. And it isn’t going to get any better. Even with the Warriors stirring win over Sacramento in Game 7 of their first round playoff series. 

Look at the Yankees. This is a team decimated by injuries. Most notable is the hip strain suffered by Aaron Judge on his birthday in an awkward slide into third base. Everywhere one turns, there is some position player out with an injury. Moreover, starting pitching is relying on three guys who should not be starting unless the team can score 6 or more runs a game. Which, in its current state, is almost unthinkable for this Yankees team.

As bad as things are after getting the doors blown off in the series finale in Texas by a score of 15-2, the bullpen had been superb until Sunday, leading or at the top of most pitching categories. With the way things are going, this, too, will not last. 

If the state of injuries wasn’t already enough, the most bizarre injury happened on Saturday. Jake Bauers, who clubbed 9 homers to lead the International League, was rewarded for his early season success by being summoned to the big club to ease the outfield situation, exacerbated by the absolutely poor play of Aaron Hicks, who has a gigantic salary and is just eating up space on the bench. In the first inning, Bauers made a spectacular catch in left field; at the same time, he injured his knee against the wall and had to be removed from the game. He was replaced by…Hicks. It figures. 

I am not writing this team off right now. The Yankees may sink into last place soon in the toughest division in baseball, led by the still surging Tampa Bay Rays. If the Yankees can avoid more injuries, the pitching gets healthy and the hitting returns, anything is possible. 

Remember, the team is not below .500 and there is panic among the fans and the media. Some are calling for the departure of long-time GM Brian Cashman. His teams may not have won a title since 2009, but when healthy, they are as potent as anyone. Sure, Hicks and Josh Donaldson have not lived up to expectations. But Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe have. 

Right  now it is excruciating to watch the team play. They are home for the Guardians, then travel to Tampa, where, for the first time in ages, the stadium’s upper deck will be open. 

Maybe home cooking might help. Hopefully Judge won’t end up on the IL. For if the losing continues through next weekend, the hole will stat to become almost too deep. 

Aaron Rodgers is here, to the relief of Jets fans. The price paid may have been steep, but he is saying all the right things and participating in voluntary workouts. I was wondering if he would even be able to find his way to the team’s practice facility in Florham Park; he’s there every day with a big smile on his face. And Rodgers is enjoying himself on his off time—he was spotted at the Devils-Rangers Game 6 on Saturday night and the Heat and Knicks opening game of their series on Sunday at noon. Rodgers has proven he can find both Florham Park and Madison Square Garden. And he has played in Met Life Stadium before, so finding that location on the team bus shouldn’t be any problem. This is hopeful news for long-suffering Jets fanatics. 

I have felt the ebb and flow of the Ranges and Devils series. New Jersey couldn’t get it right on home ice, trailing 0-2 when Game 3 was played at MSG. The young group of Devils players suddenly got hot behind the insertion of 22 year old Akira Schmid in between the pipes. The series became 3-2 in favor of New Jersey.

After the first period of Game 6 in New York, the roof caved in for the Devils. The Rangers star-studded lineup played like they were supposed to.

Game 7 is in New Jersey on Monday night. Devils coach Lindy Ruff will mull over if he wants to keep Schmid as the goaltender in the pressure-packed finale, along with tinkering with his lineup. 

I wonder if the Devils, making such a major turnabout this season, don’t have the poise and maturity to win the series. New York should be the favorite to win and escape to play Carolina in the next round. 

A little different scenario led to a Game 7 between the Kings and Warriors. Golden State had played notoriously bad all season on the road. Yet the team won in Sacramento and returned to the Bay Area to finish off the young and quick Kings. Except that the Kings destroyed the Warriors, setting up a winner-take-all finale back in the state capital on Sunday, with the momentum seemingly on the side of the Kings. 

Golden State is the defending champion. They have future Hall of Fame stars in Play Thompson, the villainous team leader, Draymond Green, and of course Curry, the all-time leading three point shooter. 

The speed of Sacramento and the defensive pressure of the Kings resulted in too many forced shots and turnovers. Golden State appeared to be a step slow and looked out of sync. 

However, I repeat that the Warriors are the defending champs. On Sunday, they played like champions. Led by two players in a total team effort which throttled the young Kings. 

Those players are Curry and Kevon Looney. Curry set an NBA record with his 50 point effort on 20 for 38 shooting—with Curry actually missing a pair of free throws in the first half that had him talking to the rim, ball and himself. He was acrobatic, energetic and clearly the best player on the floor. 

Looney had a third game of over 20 rebounds, which gave the Warriors second, third and fourth chances to capitalize on a tired Sacramento defense, which they did. He plays in all 82 games every year. He is an unsung hero, revered by his teammates. The guy flat out played great ball. 

Golden State turned the tide by reducing its turnovers while forcing the Kings into many more. Now the Warriors have home court advantage as they host the Lakers with Lebron James and Anthony Davis in the next round. Advantage Golden State. 

I want to say something about Stephon Curry. He has made me a Warriors fan by his athleticism and accuracy. The guy is a winner. How he ended up playing at Davidson instead of Duke and being drafted sixth is mind-boggling. 

Pundits can talk all they want about Michael Jordan and Lebron James being the greatest players of all time. Perhaps they are.

What a 6’3”, undersized kid, now 35 years old, can do is beyond compare. He reminds of the intensity of the late Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. 

I loved Jordan and was mystified with his style of play. It was far different from that of Curry. 

Pundits have put down Curry, just as they found fault with Derek Jeter, my favorite baseball player. Somehow, those guys knew how to win and star in the big moment. Which is why I always watch them and why I am enamored with Aaron Judge, too. 

At least the Toronto Maple Leafs finally won a series, downing the Tampa Bay Lightning in a thrilling Game 6. I was pulling for the Leafs, even if they did have home ice. 

Now I have to lock in on the New York-New Jersey Game 7, the start of the Los Angeles-Golden State rivalry being renewed in the playoffs for the first time since 1991, and the Yankees. Plus the weather has played havoc with my plans to see F&M take on number 1 Johns Hopkins in a home doubleheader. First it was on Saturday, then Sunday, then Monday. Now if the weather cooperates, the games will be played in Lancaster on Tuesday. I have never seen a #1 team in person in college baseball.

I am trying to decide what all this is for me—agita or angst?

The Rites Of Spring

  It is a sun-splashed day in New Jersey as I write this blog. A little cool with a breeze, but I must remember that this is the last week of April, not June. 

The Yankees are beginning a three game series in Minneapolis Monday night. Where the weather is not going to be so kind. The overnight lows for Monday and Tuesday will be at or below the freezing mark. Which makes me wonder what additional injuries will New York suffer playing in such conditions? Already missing a good portion of their elite pitchers and Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Harrison Bader, there is plenty of worry that an already-thin team would suffer even more if another key player or two would not be properly ready for the cold  they will face. 

It almost makes one long for the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome—but it was not a pretty ballpark and the turf was unforgiving. Might I add that that was not a fitting tribute naming a mausoleum for a great American and a genuinely nice man—I met him and instantly liked him. Those in power at least acknowledged the big name in business in the Twin Cities by naming the new ballpark and the arena which houses the NBA’s Timberwolves after mega-merchandiser Target. 

In comparison, the Vikings stadium naming rights went to home town U.S. Bank for only 25 years and a measly $220 million whereas Target purchased naming rights for the Twins field for $19 million over 15 years and extended a deal for the basketball arena which has averaged $1.5 million dollars yearly over the past quarter century; the biggest baseball stadium naming rights belongs to the Mets who got Citibank to fork over $400 million—now you know in part how Steven Cohen can afford the high salaries for Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, and the Mets also have cable station SNY to finance the team’s acquisitions. 

Some ballparks still come cheaply for naming rights like Rogers Centre and Coors Field, and there are the outliers like Yankee Stadium, Orioles Park at Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field, Lambeau Field, Solder Field and Fenway Park which have not succumbed to the use of corporate money. Which is part of the reason why the Chicago Bears want to move to suburban Arlington and reap the windfall surely due them with a new stadium, or more recently, why the Oakland Athletics are abandoning the worst stadium in the major sports for the greener pastures of the desert sands of Las Vegas, where the NFL Raiders, a former co-tenant, has found paradise in Paradise, NV.

Colleges also recognized the lure of arena and stadium sponsorship. Having been in Piscataway yesterday, I saw Jersey Mike’s large sign on the basketball arena and SHI Stadium, home of the Rutgers football team, towering over the Raritan River.  

Seemingly, the money is never enough, as I was watching the Mets and Giants play in San Francisco on Sunday night. On the left uniform sleeves, the Mets players advertise for New York-Presbyterian, a well-known hospital. The patch is large and in white and obviously very distracting. 

Is it only a matter of time before the classic Yankees pinstripes are adorned with corporate logos, while eschewing the names of the players wearing the uniforms? Or will some corporate giant influence the Steinbrenners with a ginormous amount of moolah that Yankee Stadium needs to have a slightly different name? 

Between naming rights, TV and radio money, merchandising and ticket prices, the economics are staggering. Which is bad enough in professional sports, but becomes a problem with NIL (Name-Image-Likeness) in college. Where is this revenue source and how disparate will it be for schools like Texas, Alabama and USC with huge booster bases as opposed to relatively smaller schools like Wake Forest, Boston College and, yes, Rutgers, to be able to procure talented student-athletes to attend, perform, get educated and then, in some circumstances, leave early for the pros?

Sure, many athletes give back to the communities with foundations. Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, is highly philanthropic. Others like Adama Sanogo, the gifted UConn basketball center, wants to establish a school in his native Mali for those who never were as fortunate as him to have a talent and receive an education because of it. Yet the return gestures are never enough and the community outreach of the professional sports is paltry compared to the money they make. 

I know I sound cynical about this. Money has always played an important role in sports. Whether it be capitalist owners in my youth paying virtually nothing to their stars, forcing players like Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale to go public with their desire to be more appropriately compensated, or someone like Saquan Barkley, the New York Giants running back, boycotting voluntary workouts while wanting his fair share of the pot after the mega deal QB Daniel James received, we will always be talking about the dollars in sports. I can only think of faux sports agent Jerry Magurie yelling “Show me the money!” How correct he was. 

Besides the Yankees freezing their tutus off in Minnesota, those Tampa Bay Rays are as hot as a firecracker on the Fourth of July. With a recent sweep of the Chicago White Sox in St, Petersburg, the home record is 13-0 for the start of a season, something which hasn’t happened since 1900. It is very early, yet the Rays remind me of the 1984 Detroit Tigers, a team which opened the season with a 35-5 record and easily won the World Series over San Diego. 

Tampa plays in the very competitive AL East. The other four clubs are all sporting records above .500. I cannot imagine the Rays continuing this blistering pace when they need to face the Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles and Red Sox multiple times during the course of the season. What is helpful for the Rays is that the nineteen games per season against division rivals is no more, a concession to a more balanced schedule where the teams play all of the other teams, not just a few as has been the case.  

The Yankees were the pre-season favorites to win the American League. Toronto has always been solid, as they proved in New York this weekend by taking three of four from the Bombers. Baltimore is winning, an extension of last year’s surprising success. In the AL West, Texas, with its infusion of high-priced talent, is the early leader. Houston clearly misses the injured Jose Altuve and while they are playing better ball, are the Angels going have Mike Trout uninjured for the entire season and will Shohei Ohtani, obviously the best player in baseball, remain an Angel?

The biggest surprises in the National League are the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs winning while the St. Luis Cardinals continue to stumble out of the gate. Arizona has started well, yet one expects the Padres and Dodgers to prevail by the end of the campaign. Atlanta and the Mets are at the top of the NL East; Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has clubbed 10 homers in a remarkable start. Now if Max Scherzer can learn to pitch with less rosin on his hands, made stickier with alcohol in trying to clean it off without getting caught and subsequently suspended as happened this week, and Justin Verlander can take his aging body to the mound again, this could be the year for the boys from Queens. 

All New York area winter teams made the post-season. Brooklyn has already been eliminated by the Sixers and the Islanders head back to Raleigh behind 3-1. Despite limited help from star Julius Randle, the Knicks have emphasized defense to lead Cleveland 3-1. 

Which leaves the Rangers and Devils. New York soundly thrashed the Devils in games 1 and 2 in Newark. New Jersey, with a better record away from the Prudential Center, won on Saturday night in a tense overtime battle. Game 4 at MSG on Monday night is pivotal. A Devils win will give fans a six or seven game series, while a Rangers win will make it highly unlikely that New Jersey can prevail. 

Finally, I am glad that Steve Ballmer has broken ground on a new arena to house his Clippers. Because the inhabitants of cryto.com Arena caused havoc with the setups inside. In the span of  just over three days, the Kings, Clippers and Lakers will have hosted six games, including a hectic Friday/Saturday which required a changeover from hockey ending on Friday night to a floor for the Clippers and other decorations and necessities being laid out for a 12:30 PDT start, only to have to quickly change over for a Lakers game and different floor and surroundings at night. Then back to hockey for Sunday, which went to overtime, finally ending the quagmire with a Lakers game on Monday night. 

Maybe the Kings and Clippers, trailing in their playoff series, don’t have any more games at home. The Lakers are more likely to continue playing against Memphis and thug Dylan Brooks, who unapologetically slugged Lebron James in his groin—meriting no suspension like Draymond Green of the Warriors received for stomping on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis as Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg. 

As much as I pity the crew in Los Angeles laboring like they did, those crews in New York and Boston may be switching floors for longer periods if the Celtics, Bruins, Rangers and Knicks continue to win. Which seems likelier. 

What I do miss is the circus in town this time of year, At the Garden, you could always smell the elephants. Such were the rites of Spring.  

No More Muhlenberg Baseball Games For Us

  On Sunday, my wife and I traveled to Allentown, Pennsylvania to watch my Franklin and Marshall Diplomats baseball team for the third time this season. The good thing about seeing the Dips play at Muhlenberg College is that the time from my driveway to the field was just a bit over one hour. 

That’s the best thing I can say about the experience. The field is a pasture disguised as a ballpark. Not since 1969 at PMC (now Widener) in Chester, Pennsylvania had I seen dandelions on a field. These were a bright yellow variety, adorning the grass adjacent to the diamond and base paths. 

The field was not level. There was no warning track in the outfield and the fence was unpadded—just some kind of ugly green wrap around a chain link fence which encircled the playing area. And maybe because it is only mid-April, the grounds crew  (if there is any, since the site is within a park where a men’s league softball game was ongoing in a field nearby along with other sports and a Gettysburg-Muhlenberg softball game) hadn’t quite addressed the tall rough that would be hard to play golf on, let alone baseball. I cannot remember a ball leaving the infield dying in the grass fifty feet beyond the dirt. 

Stands? Nope—it’s lug your own chairs from parking from beyond an unused softball field which was wet from torrential rains which hit the area on Saturday and forced the postponement of the doubleheader until today. Besides, you needed to stand on a slight rise by a roadway being used to be able see the game in an unobstructed way. 

F&M lost one of its top pitchers in the first game and the score got out of hand. The final was Muhlenberg 9, F&M 2. 

Between games, the coaching staff rallied the troops, fortified by food carted in by adoring family members. In my day, food was never offered between games and it was onerous being on the field for nearly six hours without sustenance. Besides, I probably would not have handled eating very well—subs, pizza and big pretzels might have done me in.

Or sent me to the bathroom. When we played on campus, it was a nice hike to the locker room located inside of Mayser Center, the F&M athletic hub. At Muhlenberg, there were two Port-A-Potties adjacent to each other, with a foul odor in each. I gave up my spot as next in line to an F&M player out of pity. He was so thankful. 

Whatever the coaches said to the team worked. F&M came out with some fire in the second game. Muhlenberg caught up to the Dips and tied the score at 3-3. Ever the opportunistic bunch, as evidenced in Friday’s come-from-behind victory over Ursinus when down 7-2, this group added a run in the top of the ninth inning then held on for the victory. 

F&M is now 20-12. The conference record is 7-3, one game ahead of Muhlenberg and Dickinson College.  In two weeks time, the season will be over. F&M has series with last place Washington College, 14-16 Haverford College and a critical two game set with Dickinson. 

All this is a prelude to meeting up with #5-ranked Johns Hopkins University in Lancaster on April 29. The Blue Jays are an astounding 28-3 this season, posting a 9-1 conference mark. If everything stays the same, that doubleheader would potentially be for home field advantage in the Centennial Conference playoffs. 

That is what F&M needs to strive for—winning them all so that the Hopkins games are meaningful in more ways than just seeding in the playoffs. With this team, the expectations are not too high to believe that is possible. During the year, many weekly accolades have resulted from great performances on the field. There are a few All-Centennial Conference players who have been leading the way. 

Should the games be more than Senior Day and the weather is nice—who knows—I might be tempted for another road trip. At least I know where the bathrooms are at Caplan Field. 

The Yankees are 10-6 after splitting four games with the Twins at Yankee Stadium. They are tied with Toronto, which stopped Tampa Bay’s opening win streak at 13. Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, without the shift interfering with his potential base hits, Gleyber Torres and a healthy D.J. Le Mahieu are leading the team in hitting. 

Rookie Anthony Volpe’s average is below .200, but the book on him is that he does not begin to hit until May—not unlike other Yankees who warm up when the weather gets toasty. What Volpe has done, besides hit his first major league home run, is steal bases. He is 7 for 7, and that infuses the powerful top of the lineup with a spark when he is on base. 

But the Yankees’ injury jinx has struck once again. With third baseman Josh Donaldson set to return this week and center fielder Harrison Bader ramping up baseball activities, New York seemingly was getting healthier in the field. Until slugger Giancarlo Stanton’s left hamstring began bothering him.

Stanton has been enigmatic as a Yankee. He has legendary power—he had hit four monstrous homers already this spring. Yet he keeps getting his uber muscular frame on the IL with various ailments. It was thought that his playing the outfield would help his hitting. Which it did. I’m at a loss to comprehend what will keep him healthy,  and the Yankees medical staff cannot figure it out either.

The pitching has been so-so, with ace Gerrit Cole pitching like the stud he is. The bullpen is a mess with injuries, and the starting core is still not all healthy. It is a work in progress and the Yankees are going to get better when the reinforcements arrive. 

Early on, the Atlanta Braves look great. Milwaukee leads the NL Central and Arizona is on top in the NL West while the Dodgers and Padres struggle at the outset. The AL East has all teams at .500 or better, Minnesota is much better than last season and Texas leads a disjointed AL West, with Houston struggling without Jose Altuve. 

I want to mention Louis Arraez. He is the defending AL batting champion. Except that the Twin traded him to bolster their pitching staff. As a member of the Marlins, Arraez is hitting .511. The guy can flat out hit. 

This is playoff season for the NBA and NHL. The NBA Play-In Tournament is over. The Lakers, Atlanta, Minnesota and Miami survived. And the Lakers beat #2 seed Memphis convincingly, while Miami beat the Milwaukee Bucks, aided by Giannis Antetokounmpo getting hurt. If Ja Morant, Memphis’ enigmatic star remains out and Giannis’ injury is more significant, two huge upsets may occur in the first round. 

Otherwise, the series stayed true to form as the favorites won. Golden State and Sacramento played a high octane Game 1 in the Golden 1 Center before a very playoff-starved crowd, as the Kings hadn’t been in the post-season in ages. Remember this rising star’s name: De’Aaron Fox. One of a plethora of ex-University of Kentucky players who are in the NBA Playoffs, he has been phenomenal all season and once more in this first game. If Golden State cannot stop him and prevent second chance points off of offensive rebounds, the Warriors are doomed to lose the series. 

New Jersey finished second in the Eastern Conference. This let the Devils draw the Rangers. It will be a hard-fought series—New Jersey made the greatest turnaround in NHL history in 2022-23, but will the lack of playoff experience hurt the Devils?

Boston, coming off its historic regular season whereby points and win totals were broken, is the prohibitive favorite to win it all. Toronto is the sentimental favorite, since the Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967; they draw a tough assignment with Tampa Bay. Carolina also looms dangerously in the East.

Vegas and Edmonton are the likely top two teams in the Western Conference. Colorado cannot be counted out as a viable Stanley Cup finalist. Seattle is a nice story, making the playoffs in their second season. How Edmonton phenom Connor McDavid goes, this is how the West will be determined. 

Too bad football is taking a back seat to all this. Colleges are conducting spring practices—Georgia just anointed a new UGA mascot in the gentrified line of regal Bulldogs, so you know this is a serious Springtime event. In Athens, this transference of allegiance is akin to King Charles the Third’s coronation. And the NFL Draft is next week. 

Spring is in bloom. I should know. I saw it all over on Sunday. The allergy attacks my wife and I had were uncomfortable. No more Spring road trips to Muhlenberg baseball games for us.

Break Up The Rays?

  The NBA wisely conclude the 2022-23 campaign with games at 1:00 and 3:30. Kind of like the baseball regular season having all games start at 3:00 on the final day. 

Much had to be settled in terms of seeding for the playoffs. Much of it had to do with the order in the Western Conference—it was unclear heading into the Sunday games which teams would be in fifth and sixth place, and what the order would be for the play-in tournament which establishes the seventh and eighth seeds. 

Showing some life against teams which didn’t want to play its starters for fear of injury (Sacramento) or had long ago sat down its star performer to better its lottery position (Portland), the Golden State Warriors took care of business with road wins to end a dreadful season away from the Chase Center. Sunday’s blowout against the Trailblazers was by more than 50 points. 

Nonetheless, the Warriors could only secure a sixth seed, as the Los Angeles Clippers matched Golden State’s overall record but held the tie breaker. This sets up a meeting with the vastly improved Sacramento Kings, a team which has not sniffed the playoffs for quite a while. Even with Andrew Wiggins back—and nobody really knows what his return will be like because he did not play in any games since rejoining the team—defending their championship is going to be very, very hard. 

The Western Conference has Denver at the top—despite its two-time M.V.P. Nikola Jokic leading the way—it seems never to make it to the conference finals. Second-seeded Memphis is an enigma-the talent is there but the heads seem to get screwed up in the second season. Phoenix is in fourth place and will struggle with the Clippers, even with a revitalized Kevin Durant seemingly healthy. 

Somehow, the Los Angeles Lakers, once left for dead as far as the playoffs, managed to get over .500 and have the top seed in the play-in meetings. Some think that if LAL can win out and secure the seventh seed, they can make a run for the title. I just don’t see it. 

In the Eastern Conference, everything should come down to Milwaukee and Boston—just like last year. Philadelphia has fire power, starting with the strong candidate for M.V.P., Joel Embiid, having put together a monster season. The Knicks have improved, but there is a real question mark about Julius Randle’s ankle. No other teams seem capable of making a run, although Miami, the top team in the East’s play-in, could make a little noise along the way. 

I watched the New Jersey Devils play in Boston on Saturday night. From what I saw the Bruins are as good as their record-setting win total suggests. That record-setting win came on Sunday evening versus the black-clad Flyers in Philadelphia. Two more wins will eclipse the all-time points record for a team, held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, which accomplished the feat in 80 games; Boston has not played 79 games. 

Boston has everything a team would need to run the table. Excellent defense and goaltending, both of which throttled the potent New Jersey attack in a 2-1 win. David Pastrnak scored his 60th goal in the win in Philadelphia. He is a sniper and he can pass. Their head coach was a very successful NCAA champion at the University of Maine, were he was a captain of a 42-1-2 team. Montgomery did not have a stellar NHL career as a player, transitioning into coaching major college hockey and compiling a 125-57-26 record which included winning the 2017 NCAA championship as head coach at the University of Denver.

Montgomery became a head coach in the NHL with Dallas. His teams went 60-43-10 and he was fired in his second season there. The Montreal native must have learned fast about how to best utilize his talent, just like in college. I think he will likely out-coach his rivals in the impending playoffs. 

Not everything is settled in the NHL as far as which teams are in the playoffs. With teams either having two or three games left, Florida, the Islanders and Pittsburgh are vying for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference. In the Western Conference, Winnipeg, Calgary and Nashville are still alive for the final two places.  Congratulations to Vegas, Edmonton, Los Angeles and Seattle for securing playoff positions, although the Golden Knights and Oilers could flip flop in the race for the most points in the conference. What is news is that the two most recent expansion franchises, Vegas and Seattle, are both in the playoffs. 

I want to mention the best players in the league. That would be Connor McDavid of Edmonton. McDavid now has 151 points on 64 goals and 87 assists. He is the first to pass 150 points in a season since Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. Two of the all-time greats. Mentioning him with those two demonstrates how good he is, and I would not be surprised if Edmonton might make it to the Stanley Cup Finals behind their star. 

The NCAA Frozen Four was played in that cold weather site of Tampa this past weekend. Little Quinnipiac (10,000+ students) emerged as the winner, knocking off blue bloods Michigan and top-seeded Minnesota ten seconds into overtime to claim the crown. Talk about giant killers. 

The ongoing saga of the LSU women and more specifically Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and the Tigers’ April Reese reached another low. The kerfuffle caused by First Lady Jill Biden inviting both the winning LSU team and the second place finisher Hawkeyes was resolved by the White House indicating that only LSU would be invited. 

Clark said that Iowa had no place being with the President and First Lady. LSU accepted the invitation, but Reese isn’t necessarily ready to go, saying she would rather meet the Obamas. Reese loves to stir the pot and has experienced no down side from displaying her emotions. No matte how the whole debate over the way the Women’s Championship ended and its aftermath, it gave women’s hoops a place in the conversation when the men had finished (And yes, UConn will definitely go to the White House—no drama there). Can somebody find a way to schedule a rematch in 2023-24?

By winning the title, UConn now has five NCAA Men’s Championships to go along with all those trophies Geno Auriemma and the Lady Huskies brought home. Only UCLA, Kentucky and North Carolina have more championships on the men’s side, and this win tied UConn with the legendary programs at Duke and Indiana.  

Once a sleepy little New Englandl university which played in the defunct Yankee Conference along with Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Boston University and Holy Cross among others, when Jim Calhoun took over the men’s team and the school joining the Big East, UConn left its New England brethren for the big time.

Calhoun’s teams won three titles. Kevin Ollie added a fourth. But the now 32,000+ student school was wandering because of its football program trying to play major conference football but with no truly acceptable home when the Big East folded its football side. 

When the opportunity arose to rejoin the Big East in basketball, UConn gladly jumped back in. Which has made the Big East even more formidable.

However, tell that to a friend of mine who is a proud Seton Hall alum. You would think that bringing back UConn was like bringing in unwanted garbage the way he was so vituperative about the Huskies. Then again, his Seton Hall teams haven’t exactly distinguished themselves like UConn. Sour grapes?

I end with baseball. After three series have been completed, the Yankees have won all three and have a 6-3 record. The Mets, with Justin Verlander still injured and no real closer, have floundered to a 5-5 record, which included a disastrous trip to Milwaukee, which leads the NL Central at 7-2. 

Pittsburgh is a surprising 6-3, but lost its young shortstop Oneil Cruz to a broken ankle which led to benches emptying between the Pirates and White Sox on Sunday. What was most heartwarming with the Pirates home opener was how the crowd embraced Andrew McCutcheon on his return to a Pirates uniform. The guy lives in Pittsburgh and exudes a spirit for his first team after wandering around MLB which was so undeserved. And his mother sang the National Anthem, too. 

Nothing really has been proven after a week plus of play. Except that Tampa Bay is an astounding 9-0 and really beating up on teams in record-setting ways. With 5-4 Boston coming to St. Pete for three more games, could he Rays be 12-0?

Serious Yankees fans must be concerned. Even at this early stage. Break up the Rays?

I Watched Curling In Winnipeg

  My sports week really began when Anthony Volpe was named the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. My sports week ended with me sitting near my upstairs TV with my wife, watching UConn win its fifth national title in men’s basketball. In between there was a lot that happened which made this sports week unusual. 

Volpe is the future of the Yankees, like Aaron Judge is the present (and near term future) of the team. The kid has stardom written all over him.  He was a straight A student, the son of two well-known and respected medical doctors, a kid who grew up on the East Side of Manhattan and then in a beautiful home in Watchung. A boy who had a dream-like many of us—in this case to be the starting shortstop of his favorite team, the Yankees. 

His story is so uplifting that it is a made-for-television movie at the least. How can you not root for him to succeed—unless you hate the Yankees and you don’t like dreams coming true. I find myself checking on him every day, and to see how he did, what his teammates and Manager Aaron Boone are saying about him. I am also anxiously holding my breath, pessimistic as I can be, hoping that this story does not come crashing down. Because this could be the missing piece that makes the Yankees better and perhaps leads them to that elusive World Championship. One which little Anthony Volpe, an elementary school student living in a household of avid Yankees fans, last watched in 2009.

So when Opening Day rolled around on Thursday, there he was in the starting lineup, batting ninth. When the team members were announced, as tradition would be for the first game, of course the cheers were loud for Aaron Judge, coming off an M.V.P. season where he hit 62 home runs and re-signed with the Yankees after a bit of a tumultuous free agency. 

But no cheers were louder than those reserved for Volpe. He’s the local player—he’s one of us. While he did not get a hit that day, Volpe showed us all he could read the strike zone, drawing a walk. When he stole second, he gave the fans a glimpse of his speed. And Volpe made the putouts he needed to make, even beginning a double play.

The Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants, the team of Judge’s youth and a strong pursuer during his free agency. The irony was not lost that Judge could easily have been on the other sideline, his name announced as a Giant, on a team which was playing its first Opening Day in New York since 1956, when the team called the Polo Grounds on Upper Manhattan its home, a mere .8 miles away from the former Yankee Stadium.

Judge blasted a homer in his first at bat. Ace Gerrit Cole set a Yankees franchise record for strikeouts on Opening Day. It was a feel good day in late March coolness. Baseball was back in the Bronx, with a local kid taking over the spot that Derek Jeter once patrolled. 

The Yankees went on to win two of the three games versus the Giants. Then the team beat up on the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their series. Everyone who is inserted in the lineup seems to be contributing in big ways. There may be some relief pitching questions to be sorted out. The team is 3-1 and almost won on Saturday with a ninth inning rally that fell short. 

Not to get worried that Tampa Bay began the season 4-0. It’s a nice start. Moreover, the closeness and intelligence among the players reminds me of the 1969-70 and 1972-73 New York Knicks. I read an article in The Atlantic about how returning star first baseman Anthony Rizzo gifted each teammate two expensive bottles of Italian wine with a personal, handwritten note accompanying the gift. This team is the kind of team I would want to play on—and I liked my college squad just fine.

A quick word on the Golden State Warriors. They won 4 of the last 6 games and remain in sixth place in the Western Conference, trying to avoid the play-in round. The two losses could have been wins. The long-awaited return of forward Andrew Wiggins is happening. Three more games to conclude the regular season—OKC tonight in San Francisco then on the road at Sacramento and Portland. Their seeding will come down to that last game.  

Now I did not see too much of the Yankees until Monday night. That is because my son and I resumed our father-son hockey trips to Canada with the New Jersey Devils. 

Saturday we traveled to Manitoba by way of Ottawa, a bumpy trip over the initial round of storms in the East. We managed to make it to a sports bar near the Canada Life Centre in time to watch the end of the first game of the Final Four while we had dinner. 

I watched in awe as ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic University frittered away a 14 point lead in the second half, succumbing to a last second game winning shot which sent San Diego State into the Finals. Sitting among a whole lot of Canadians, there was not the uproar which might have erupted in an American sports bar. After all, a distant screen carried a curling tournament from Ottawa and two screens or more showed games involving Toronto at Ottawa and Carolina at Montreal. Hockey, for sure, as our waitress would say. 

My son graduated Miami Law. We made it back to our hotel in time to watch his school play UConn in the other semi-final game. Which turned out to not be much of a contest, as the Huskies propelled themselves into Monday’s matchup with SDSU. UConn continued to steamroll through its opponents and was an overwhelming choice to win it all. 

We watched the game on a CBS affiliate from Minneapolis. I did learn that the two sports networks in Canada, SN and TSN, are bitter rivals. Hockey and Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Raptors games are the big sports in Canada and they are split among the two. There is plenty of US and Canada fare to keep any Canadian (or visiting American) sports fan satiated. 

Our Sunday was spent traversing through Winnipeg, the smallest NHL market. It was warm and humid when we left New Jersey. It was cold and blustery with diffuse sunshine in the True North, as the area is called. We visited a must see if you ever make it to Winnipeg—the Canada Museum of Human Rights. Awesome. 

We slipped Into our Devils gear and headed to an eatery called Earl’s, not too far from the hotel and an eight minute walk to the arena. What we found were a lot of people wearing Winnipeg Jets jerseys—we clearly stood out. The manager of the place made a comment about not seating us wearing Devils clothing. I didn’t take his gesture well, firing back at him that maybe we shouldn’t patronize his establishment. My son brokered a truce so that I didn’t begin an international incident. 

For our dinner entertainment, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game was on the screens. Caitlin Clark had been spectacular in leading upstart Iowa to the finals, including a thrilling win over undefeated and defending champion South Carolina. LSU, led by its great coach, Kim Mulkey, she of the loud outfits, was simply the better squad. 

Sure, the officiating was horrible. It greatly detracted from a surefire, exciting matchup which became the highest-rated women’s basketball game in TV history. And LSU had no great liking for Iowa and they showed it. With symbolic gestures which drew the ire of many, but not me. They are individuals and they are allowed to express themselves in whatever way they choose. 

What bothered me more was that the keeper of the TV set at the restaurant turned the game off in the fourth quarter. Instead we picked up the TNT NHL telecast of Boston and St. Louis. At least it wasn’t curling. 

The Devils were routed, 6-1, scoring with 13.9 seconds left to play. New Jersey was playing its second game in two nights, having won in Chicago on Saturday night, while the Jets played at home on Friday and were well rested. I like the arena and we nonetheless had a great time while being disappointed with the outcome. Plus it was snowing on our walk back to the hotel. A novelty for me this winter. 

Escaping the frigid 14 degree (10 C) morning in Winnipeg, I was home in New Jersey in plenty of time to watch the Phillies-Yankees and UConn-SDSU games. The Huskies should have blown out the Aztecs by over 20 in the first half. Instead, SDSU tried to mount another comeback. Connecticut and its coach Dan Hurley deserved to win. They were the best team by a landslide. Adama Sanogo is going to be a force in the NBA. For that matter, he could be right now. 

I fell asleep just before midnight (11:00 CDT). In a week which Golden State won two and lost two, baseball began for real, college basketball ended and I watched curling, I traveled to Winnipeg.