The WBC etc.

  The World Baseball Classic is akin to the NHL-invented Four Nations Cup. Except that the WBC is held during the exhibition season and the NHL stopped play for their tournament. Neither count for much other than bragging rights and something for journalists to pontificate about. 

Watching Shohei Ohtani hitting home runs in Tokyo is wonderful for the Japanese people who have their hero live and in front of them. But each team the the pitchers face—despite the many quality names—aren’t up to the capacity like they would be in the playoffs and World Series. 

So I feel kind of cheated by this event. It pales in comparison to the recently-completed Winter Games and the level of hockey demonstrated there. Even with Ohtani dramatically striking out Mike Trout, his former teammate in Anaheim to secure victory for Japan over the USA the last time the WBC was held, this just doesn’t measure up to the USA-Canada games—both men’s and women’s. 

Still, large crowds will be drawn to the venues. FOX is televising the games with partners. The baseball media is agog over it. Just not me. 

A regular season contest between North Carolina and Duke is more appetizing. There is always more at stake whenever these two fierce rivals collide. It’s just not there when Israel plays Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic or, hold your breath, the Netherlands. 

Watching Juan Soto deposit a ball into the seats for the Dominicans to walk off a game in seven innings due to the mercy rule against an overmatched Netherlands team won’t raise my level of excitement one iota. 

Moreover, this extravaganza is pitted against the start of March Madness. The eyes of the Nation are much more involved, as again, much more is at stake. Conference tournaments have begun. The final countdown to Selection Sunday has started. 

Yet a loaded team USA inexplicably lost to Team Italy 8-6 on Tuesday night. The Americans had to wait out the game between Italy and Mexico to see if they had made the quarter finals. 

The fact that this team found itself in such a precarious position has led to plenty of griping in the sports world. USA fans felt we were better than everyone else—like in Olympic men’s basketball. Which we barely were in the past Summer Olympics.

There were two buzzer beaters in the Patriot League which first catapulted #2 seed Lehigh into a second round game with a heave from mld-court. Then #1 seed Navy went ahead at home in the final seconds only to have #5 seed Boston University nail a three pointer from way beyond the arc to sink the Midshipmen and their hopes to go to the Big Dance. Either the Terriers or the Mountain Hawks will have their ticket punched. 

We are drawn to the underdogs. Long Island University clinched their first berth since 2018, winning the Northeast Conference crown. LIU won the berth when Mercyhurst, which they ultimately defeated, was ineligible to make the NCAA’s in a transition year from a lower division. 

Rod Strickland is the LIU coach, now in his fourth season at the helm. Those who are NBA fans recall that Strickland was drafted by his hometown New York Knicks and spent time with 10 NBA teams. He averaged 13.2 ppg in the regular season and 13.4 in the playoffs. 

Once a hot head and a divisive figure, Strickland has turned around the Sharks as LIU is now known. No matter how many teams he played on, Strickland came in and changed the atmosphere in Brooklyn. Maybe, if LIU gets to compete in a play-in game, the school can come up with that elusive first NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament win; they sit at 0-7. 

A week ago I might have unabashedly picked Duke to win it all in Division I men’s hoops. Guard Caleb Foster suffered a foot fracture against UNC; he is a very important cog in the Blue Devils offense. Plus some other key players are banged up. Duke’s chances aren’t as rosy.

Those anointing Michigan to win it all—be careful. No matter how powerful the Big Ten teams are and given high rankings, no school from that austere conference has won a title since 2000. That was Tom Izzo’s Michigan State team, which downed Florida. 

Speaking of Florida, aren’t they the reigning champions? Those necessarily counting them out—beware. Michigan may be as good, as is Arizona. Florida may still be better than those teams. Early season close losses to Arizona in Las Vegas, TCU, Duke in Durham by a point and UConn at Madison Square Garden showed me that the Gators are unafraid and battle-tested. Losses to Auburn and Missouri in SEC play aren’t disqualifiers in my mind for a team which wants to repeat. 

Prediction-wise, it looks like the Atlantic Coast Conference will get six into the tournament; the Big 12 might get seven in, as will the SEC; the Big 10 has eight likely to make it; the Big East will only have three selected, which will match the West Coat Conference. 

Of note, Gonzaga won the WCC for the final time. The Zags won the title for the 12th time in the last 14 years. Next season, they will join the Pac-12. 

Hofstra, High Point, Northern Iowa, Tennessee State, North Dakota State, Wright State, Queens (NC) and Siena have joined the party after conference tournament wins. Bubble teams include Oklahoma, Auburn, Texas, Missouri, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Indiana and SMU. There are bound to be more upsets within conferences like the Atlantic 10 and American. 

Selection Sunday will sort this all out. I am sure that there will be schools which get left out that think they were worthy of joining the others in this great national celebration. Good luck to the Tournament committee in seeding this version. 

With the women, it comes down to two schools. Undefeated UConn and one-loss UCLA. Anybody else will have to be lucky. For that matter, if the Huskies and Bruins meet for the title, somebody might need some good fortune to walk away with the crown. 

Over in Division III, the 64 school field has already been pared to 16 after two rounds were completed. For the most part, the seeded teams advanced. 

Franklin and Marshall, a great team at home but not so good on the road or at neutral sites, was eliminated by a SUNY Cortland team which outplayed, out hustled and out shot the Diplomats. I have strongly felt that F&M was not that good despite its record now 22-6 after the loss at Endicott College in Massachusetts. (Cortland lost by a point to Endicott in the Round of 32). All three Centennial Conference teams which made it to the tournament were eliminated in the first round. 

Emory eked out a second round win at home. The #2 seeded Eagles now draw a feisty Yeshiva squad on Friday afternoon. Trinity (CT) remains the favorite going forward in the bracket; other title contenders include two other conference foes, Tufts and Wesleyan meeting on Friday; upstart Hood, which travels to Hartford to take on Trinity; Endicott and Illinois Wesleyan battle next; and two other UAA schools besides Emory remain in action in Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago. 

On the women’s side, NYU has been dominating. They face Hardin-Simmons next then if they advance, the Violets host the winner of Southern Maine and Wisconsin-La Crosse. Should Scranton get by Bates and Johns Hopkins defeat Concordia-Moorhead, the two powerhouses will collide. 

The other side of the bracket has a distinctly Midwestern flavor to it. Only Washington & Lee isn’t a school west of Pittsburgh. Bethel, John Carroll, Denison, Hope, Chicago, Washington (St. Louis) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (B’gosh!) are still in the hunt. 

I saw a highlight of the hockey game between Tampa Bay and Buffalo. The final score was 8-7 in favor of the streaking Buffalo Sabres. That’s right. Let me repeat myself—the streaking Buffalo Sabres. 

The franchise hasn’t seen the playoffs since 2010-11. It has never won the Stanley Cup. With 86 points in 65 games, Buffalo is tied with Carolina for the most points in the Eastern Conference and are four ahead of the Lightning. 

That game featured over 100 penalty minutes in a fight-filled affair. Every minute it seemed that the teams wanted to drop the gloves in some capacity. 

One fight occurred four seconds after a previous one. I didn’t realize any animosity existed between these two teams. It reminded me of the Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970’s, when fights would happen before the puck ever dropped. 

Notice that the Florida Panthers, winners of the past two Stanley Cups, along with the Edmonton Oilers, their opponents, are struggling to compete for playoff spots. Edmonton is in a better spot than Florida, but any losing streak will jeopardize their chances. 

Playing all those extra games does catch up with teams and players. Especially as they age. It is small wonder that Steph Curry and LeBron James, as marvelous as they remain, are accumulating wear and tear injuries which keep them sidelined. 

In Curry’s case, the Golden State Warriors have all but lost an opportunity to escape the dreaded play-in games. Without him, GSW has no chance to advance to the main draw.

Finally, NFL free agency and trading has gotten underway. The New York Jets are bringing back Geno Smith to be their quarterback after he had a rough year in Las Vegas. Jets fans shudder, thinking about how a younger Smith was not very good leading the team’s offense. 

Then there is the Max Crosby affair. The star defensive lineman was not happy in Vegas. Management made a deal with Baltimore, shipping the unhappy player East in exchange for  two first round draft choices. It seemed like a coup for the Ravens. 

Until team doctors weren’t happy with the examination of Crosby’s knee, which had a meniscus repair in January. The deal was voided. Instead, Baltimore signed free agent Trey Hendrickson, thus not losing its first round picks. 

Still a coup for the Ravens—perhaps even better than the Crosby deal. Vegas must now figure out what to do with him—trade him or keep him or mend fences. 

Unsurprisingly, I spent more time on anything but the World Baseball Classic. The WBC doesn’t do it for me.