A Real Mish Mash In March

  Usually, sports and the political arena are intertwined only so much. Besides the usual sports metaphors and occasional forays of ex-jocks into politics (see Senator Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn head football coach and Rep. Jim Jordan, a multiple NCAA wrestling champion at Wisconsin), our heads seemingly can divorce the two entities outside of the White House visits for championship teams. 

This past week, sports and politics intersected in not such a nice way. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of the late Senator who was assassinated while running for President, and who is seeking to become President, spoke about two possible vice presidential running mates—both with connections to the sports world.  One was former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, who was a professional wrestler of some fame. 

The other name belongs to a present day competitor. That person is Aaron Rodgers, currently under contract to play quarterback for the New York Jets. Rodgers is coming off a serious injury to his Achilles tendon suffered in the first quarter of the opening game last September against Buffalo.

Evidently Rodgers has been in contact with Kennedy and they have discussed a number of their coinciding views. Just know that I do not share their visions. 

What was greater news was a report by CNN that Rodgers had some wild thoughts about the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. They were so outlandish and that information dominated the news cycle until Rodgers denied he said that the shootings weren’t real. 

It’s what he didn’t say which still is in question—if it was as the article reported, then Rodgers’ attempt to distance himself from the alleged comments was only smoke and mirrors. Which wasn’t at all addressed by the Jets hierarchy nor by my team representative when he randomly called this week and I broached the subject. 

The odds that Rodgers will receive the Kennedy nod for vice president are probably slim. But wouldn’t that be fitting for the team which has the longest drought for post-season play in any professional sport—to have their star QB/savior divert his focus from the team to politics? 

The off season free agency signings have been fairly good for the Jets, especially addressing the poor offensive line which is being assembled to protect the aging 40 year quarterback. Combined with the potential for a positive draft in April, the pieces that could make this a really good season for the Jets are begin g to fall into place if Rodgers is healthy and returns to his Hall of Fame form. 

But, as Tony Kornheiser, co-host of Pardon The Interruption on ESPN likes to say, these are the Jets. They never get it right. And now their quarterback has the team embroiled in politics as an added distraction. You cannot make this up.

Yankees fans went ballistic this week when it was discussed that ace pitcher and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole had soreness in his pitching elbow. This was to be the season of redemption after last season’s unacceptable 82-80 record. Cole was counted on as a mainstay in the starting rotation. 

That no longer is the case. While the MRI came back clean and a visit with famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neil ElAttrache confirmed that surgery is unnecessary at this time and a conservative treatment regimen which includes a PRP injection and rest could return Cole to the mound in a couple of months, there remains great uncertainty. 

Look no further than former Mets star Jacob deGrom and what happened when he joined his new team in Texas. He too felt soreness in his elbow and tried the rest routine before attempting to come back early in the season. Except that he reinjured the arm and ultimately needed Tommy John surgery to repair the UCL ligament in his throwing arm. Despite losing deGrom, the Rangers went on to win the World Series. 

New York fans can take solace that a former Yankees pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka had similar problems and fared well without surgery. However, his story seems to be in the minority with these types of injuries. 

Coupled with the news that star outfielder Aaron Judge has a core injury which he has been resting, the injury bug has once more struck the Yankees as the team seeks to quiet fans clamoring for the first World Series title since 2009, an eternity for the rabid fan base. Perhaps the talent in the minors, which has shown flashes of brilliance this Spring, will save the day until Cole returns. Or if Cole’s injury persists, is this another season in tatters?

Less than two weeks until Opening Day in Houston. Too many unanswered questions for this 2024 team throughout the lineup. Who sanely would have expected less?

I have this crazy little streak. Every year I watch the NCAA Selection Show on CBS as the Field of 68 is announced. Some years I have a team I am watching in the draw. Other years, it is purely the interest of a college basketball junkie. 

In my last blog, I discussed some the teams likely to lose berths in the playoffs if they failed to win their conference tournaments. Naturally, that happened in a number of leagues. I am not and never have been a proponent of post-season tournaments to decide the league winner. This cuts across all intercollegiate sports at all levels. To me, a post-season championship can easily allow for an upset, thereby negating a dominant effort by a school in the regular season. 

Twenty-one top seeds didn’t make it to the conference finals. Many of them, like Princeton, which succumbed to a below .500 Brown, or Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion Indiana State, won’t get to the Dance even with sterling records. Such a shame. Yet teams like NC State get hot in a five day span and win the Atlantic Coast Conference, depriving a team which successfully navigated a tough regular season in their particular league the chance to go forward as the might have in the once-dominant Big East Conference, which has only 3 schools in the field of 68. 

I have attended the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. It is a spectacle like no other. Outside of the ACC Tournament, it is probably the best and  most enjoyable one to watch. Given its location in the biggest city and in “The World’s Greatest Arena,” no wonder the seats are still filled and the location will remain the same though 2032.

Watching other neutral site conference tournaments, there are so many empty seats, including the Power 5 locations that the funding from TV makes these get together so profitable. The ACC ventured from its Tobacco Road roots to be in Washington, D.C. this year. Which makes very little sense since the initial reason the conference left its Greensboro home was to placate the University of Maryland. Maryland has long abandoned the ACC for the Big Ten, so going to DC wasn’t the wisest move. Thus, the number of empty seats is the result of poor planning coupled with TV avarice. 

A little hockey. I watched the Carolina Hurricanes dominate the New Jersey Devils on the road. They are the best team I have seen this season. Then the New York Rangers, a strong team, went to Raleigh and shut out the ‘Canes. 

What is certain is that there is no clear cut favorite in either conference. Any team could get hot and make its way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Handicapping the 2023-24 playoffs would be ludicrous . In a month, the field will be set. Let the insanity reign.

By the way—who wasn’t thinking when they scheduled the Islanders and Rangers at MSG on St. Patrick’s Day? Are you kidding me? With all that venom already existing between the fan bases now fueled by inane drunkenness? That’s a recipe for big trouble.

Lastly, Steph Curry returned from his ankle injury to meet the Lakers at the Staples Center on national TV. It was great TV until the end when a malfunctioning clock coupled with reviews of plays elongated the game by nearly 25 minutes. The seemingly ageless Lebron James scored 40 in a losing cause while Steph and Klay Thompson shined. Still, Golden State wouldn’t have won but for an unfortunate eye injury to Lakers center Anthony Davis which removed him from the game after the first quarter. 

That’s a wrap. Go fill out your brackets. It’s all a real mish mash in March if you ask me.

It's Tourney Time, Baby!

  This is the weekend when a number of non-Power 5 conferences have their conference tournaments while the big boys end the seemingly unending regular season. This is a time when automatic bids are earned and a lot of marginal teams begin to sweat their chances to advance to the Big Dance. 

We know that the Power 5 leagues will once again dominate the minds of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Selection Committee. In many instances, that is a logical way to proceed.

However, those on the committee must not forget the runs of the eventual champion University of Connecticut, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Miami and San Diego State University in the previous tournament. That would be a #4 seed (UConn); two #5 seeds (UM and SDSU); and a #9 seed (FAU). If they want to make a truly competitive tournament, then deference must be given to champions and other teams from conferences like the Sun Belt, WAC and Ivy League—these teams can flat out play and the Power 5 schools tend to avoid playing those conferences lest they are upset and suffer a Quad 2 or 3 loss and damage their resume. 

I look at a one school conference like the America East Conference and see perennial league power Vermont atop the regular season standings. Last season the Catamounts were a #15 seed and gave Marquette a battle in the opening round. This year, UVM has a win over Ivy League co-leader Yale and some close losses to good mid-major teams. Without winning the tournament, they go home. And even if UVM does make it to the Dance, will they be sequestered in a #15 slot again despite a 28-6 record. 

The same applies to High Point of the Big South; Charleston of the Colonial Athletic; Oakland out of the Horizon League;  Sam Houston in Conference USA; Quinnipiac from the MAAC; Akron in the MAC; SoCon’s Samford; 28-3 Mc Neese State, the runaway champ in the Southland; and the leaders in the Big Sky, Big West, Northeast and Ohio Valley Conferences among others—win or go home.  Not that any of these schools realistically has a shot at the title, but great seasons can only end up in the National Invitational Tournament, which is on its last legs. 

It gets complicated with other conferences. Let’s start with the Ivy League. For much of the regular season, Cornell, Princeton and Yale have been in a dead heat for the lead. Princeton has put together a stellar 23-3 record, even if the losses all came in league play and the non-conference schedule was not extraordinarily challenging. Remember that the Tigers beat #2 seed Arizona and #7 Missouri before falling to Creighton in last year’s Sweet Sixteen. 

Yale and Cornell did not fare particularly well versus better programs —should that be held against the as both teams did not suffer more than eight losses should either win the league playoff? No one expected much from Princeton—and how did that work out?

Moreover, if Princeton was to lose to either school and not win the Ivy automatic bid, should they not receive strong consideration for an at-large berth which might normally go to a team which finished atop above .500 in a power conference? If track records speak for themselves, then Princeton could make it into the tournament—as a regular seed or in a play-in game.

I have been following James Madison University. Coming off a marvelous season in football and making a bowl game, the Dukes have starred in the Sun Belt Conference while amassing a 28-3 record. The problem for JMU is that Appalachian State went 16-2 in the league with a 26-5 record, one game ahead of its rival and earning the conference tournament top seed. ASU defeated JMU twice. JMU won its opener on the road at Michigan State, a team on the ropes for selection into the Dance.

So what to do if JMU loses one more time to App State? Are they relegated to the NIT while Michigan State makes the NCAA’s? I hope not. 

While FAU finished second in the AAC to South Florida, both schools merit a place in the tournament. Is the Atlantic 10 a three team invite with Richmond, Loyola and Dayton? Does the strength of the Missouri Valley Conference allow for Indiana State, Drake and Bradley all to go? Ditto in the Mountain West with Utah State, Nevada and Boise State?

Is the venerable ACC only going to send its historically best schools—Duke and North Carolina—or do overrated schools like UVA, Pitt, Clemson and Syracuse get nods instead of somebody from a lesser conference? Could the Big 12 send as many as eight schools? Should Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s and Rick Pitino and Villanova receive more appreciation?

What about the Big Ten? Is Purdue really a top seed? Look at their post-season record and it is evident that they receive too much credit. Eight schools from the Big Ten are too many. In its last run in the NCAA’s, the Pac-12 should only send three teams, although Oregon at 11-8 is going to get a big look see. No more than six from the SEC, please, while Mississippi State, Texas A&M and LSU are lurking dangerous close to .500 in league play. And please consider Santa Clara from the WCC to join St. Mary’s, Gonzaga and San Francisco. 

There are only 68 slots to be filled. Nothing I have laid out accounts for the biggest wild card of them all. Upsets in confidence tournaments. Those happenings wreak havoc and end up excluding teams which, other face, would normally be worthy of a spot in the draw. 

I have heard talk of expanding the size of the field. How the NCAA would go about that is unclear. Would teams on the bubble have a better opportunity to receive a place in the Big Dance? Would the big boys once more receive greater preference or will the smaller guys actually get seat at the men’s basketball table? No matter what, there always will be some team left out in the cold, with an aggrieved fan section.  

In about a week, we will have the field. Will it be replete with surprises or just have the usual suspects in the usual places, over seeded and ready to fail once more? Or is that the beauty of the flawed being known as the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship?

Staying with the money maker known as collegiate basketball, little did my wife, two college friends and I have an idea that seeing Penn defeat Dartmouth would have some meaning later this year. These two teams finished far behind their Ivy League brethren. 

But that’s not the real story. The Dartmouth team has voted to form the first labor union for college athletes. A lot has to happen to make this a reality. When it does, the entire landscape of college athletics will change. As will the NCAA, if that organization survives the pillory at the hands of the SEC and Big Ten in football. 

When Northwestern football players unsuccessfully tried to unionize, their failure was scoffed at. Now, more than likely, we observers of collegiate sports are at the precipice of something huge, with undetermined outcomes. This story bears close watching as it unfolds. 

For now, we have basketball on our radar. Whether it is setting the DIII Final Four (Hampden-Sydney plays Guilford and Trinity and Trine tangle on the men’s side while NYU goes against Transylvania and Smith and Wartburg meet on the women’s side) or watching the conferences determine champions for men and women, there is no more exciting time for college athletics. 

Sure, the Boston Celtics hit a rough patch in losing two straight to Cleveland, after blowing a 22 point fourth quarter lead, and then to Denver with Nikola Jokic just dominant for the defending champs. And sure, Steph Curry rolled another ankle late in the season, jeopardizing the Warriors chances to make the playoffs. And yes, the Yankees’ season opener is less than three weeks away.

So what. It is tourney time, baby!

Baskets And Other Things

  I have been lax discussing college basketball. My cousin dissed me fro not talking me about UConn hoops—men’s and women’s. My college roommate always chides me about more over that subject. My former Rabbi chastises me over North Carolina basketball and Duke. 

I admit that college basketball hasn’t been the first thing on my sports radar this winter. The NBA has taken up much of my time. And that is where I am going to leadoff this blog. 

In the last week or more I have gotten to see many of the so-called marquee teams. The frontrunners—Boston, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Denver. The second tier—New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Milwaukee. Plus those which are on the fringe: Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State and Dallas. 

While games can be entertaining among the aforementioned teams, there is a wide gulf between the lower and middle rungs and even more so with the elite teams. To me, there are two teams which are set apart from the remainder of the league: Boston and Denver. I have my doubts about everyone else. 

There is certainly a buzz around some of the contenders. Minnesota has been leading the Western Conference almost all season; I just don’t think they have the personnel to win it all. Oklahoma City seems to be better in the West—the young talent is enormous—but will the lack of experience hurt their chances? Sacramento is an enigma—I thought they would have progressed more.

Cleveland falls into the same category as OKC—talented but not proven. Milwaukee needed a coaching change to make headway—will that be enough? Philadelphia goes as Joel Embiid goes—and he’s still injured. New York now has Jalen Brunson hurt along with Julius Randle—their two most important pieces; another season of not enough at MSG. 

Golden State and the Lakers have been paying well lately. Except that the Warriors and Lakers could not fend off the Nuggets and Boston blew GSW out on Sunday in a near-record performance. 

Boston has a lineup similar to the glory days—player after player who can flat out play. There is a reason the Celtics have lost only 12 games thus far—they are that good. 

Denver has arguably the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic. When paired upon with Jamal Murray on the pick and roll, it is a lethal combination. The remainder of the lineup is full of good shooters and highly competent defenders. 

So unless a team emerges from nowhere, or significant injuries impact the remainder of the schedule, expect to see the Celtics and Nuggets vying for the title. It might be that simple. 

Has anyone noticed that the Florida Panthers have passed Boston, the New York Rangers and Vancouver for the most points in the NHL? It wasn’t a fluke last season when the Panthers unceremoniously dumped the record-setting Bruins out of the playoffs in the first round before losing in the Stanley Cup Finals to Vegas. 

It would be folly for me at this time to pick who will make the Finals this season. The Devils, last year’s upset darlings, are on the verge of not making it to the playoffs. Even with Auston Matthews goal sniping, Toronto doesn’t seem to have enough, to the unforgiving dismay of Leafs fans. The thought of an all-Canadian Toronto-Edmonton Finals with Matthews and Connor Mc David facing each other sounds too good to be true. Really.

Remember—all it takes is a hot goalie to carry a team. Experience and talent helps too. More on hockey in another blog. 

Besides watching a ton of televised sports, I went to two distinctly different events. On Saturday, I took my wife and daughter to a quad men’s gymnastics meet at Rutgers involving RU, Cornell, West Chester and Ursinus. A small but enthusiastic crowd watched the four teams rotate between beam, bars, floor and vault. 

What we saw was mid-level college gymnastics. Rutgers is ranked #44—a far cry from what is shown on ESPN with the top teams like Oklahoma, Michigan, LSU, Florida and more. Cornell and West Chester are ranked in the 60 range and Ursinus, a DIII school, is sequestered at #78. 

The scores are in the upper 9’s for many of the athletes. No one could possibly score a 10.00 as I saw with Oklahoma. Nor is there a sellout  with cheerleaders and a pep band like my daughter witnessed when she saw Arkansas match with LSU in Baton Rouge.

Nonetheless, they pushed themselves and the team crowded around each performer after a competed routine. It was fun—college sport at its purest. 

On Sunday, we traveled to Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair to see my F&M Diplomats play the Red Hawks. Montclair State won both games; the umpiring in Game 1 didn’t benefit the visitors, resulting in plays which allowed MSU to score the two runs it needed to win. 

F&M may be 0-5, but the talent is there. Conversely, MSU is 5-1 and looked more polished and confident. It will be interesting to see where the teams end up at the end of the season. One thing for certain—the weather was beautiful—70 degrees on March 3rd is a real blessing in the Northeast. 

The Sweet 16 is set in Division III men’s and women’s basketball. The NESCAC has three schools still in the hunt on the men’s side—Williams is there and Tufts and Trinity play each other in the next game. The ODAC has its top two schools alive in highly-ranked Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney (along with leading the tournament in hyphens). And the UAA has Washington (Mo.) and Case Western still playing. 

There are a lot more hyphenated schools which made the Women’s Sweet 16. NYU is the top seed. There are three Wisconsin schools in the next round—Oshkosh, Stout and Whitewater. NESCAC schools Bates and Bowdoin are prominent. 

A Final Four will  be set next weekend for both draws. Only one school has more Hope than others in each bracket—because Hope College has its teams still trying to move forward.

As for the D-I women—it was all about Caitlin Clark again. The Iowa star set the all-time scoring record for men and women, passing the legendary Pete Maravich. While Clark is a phenomen who will take her talents to the WNBA next year, she is simply not anything like Maravich. Had he been able to shoot three-point shots, his record would have been untouchable.

With the men, I have seen UConn, Purdue, Houston, Tennessee and North Carolina recently. All legitimate title contenders. But I am not sure each will even win their conference tournaments let alone the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina had enough trouble with NC State on Saturday—the Wolfpack look like a NIT team. And yes, cousin, UConn should have routed Seton Hall. It is really hard to repeat. Houston has injuries. Purdue is a Big Ten team. Tennessee is enigmatic. I argue that any Top 20 team could win this year—nobody sets themselves so far apart from their brethren. 

The fun will be watching the lower-seeded teams rise up to defeat the big boys. It happened last year and it could easily occur this year. After Princeton’s performance last tourney, it would be a horrible shame if the Ivy League is limited to just one school—the Tigers have only 3 losses in 2023-24 yet are tied with Yale and Cornell at the top of the standings. 

South Carolina remains undefeated and atop the women’s leaderboard. Watch for Stanford and Ohio State to be there near the end. I don’t see Clark and Iowa making a run, nor LSU, last season’s winner. 

I will mention that the most expected retirement in the NFL occurred with Jason Kelce’s announcement on Monday. Of course his brother Travis was there—not in Singapore like some misinforming Facebook posts have said. I don’t think Taylor Swift would have wanted it any other way. The Eagles will miss his locker room presence—they have able replacements to fill his large shoes.

It is still exhibition season in Florida and Arizona. But it is now just over three weeks until the regular season begins in earnest. The Dodgers and Padres meet in two games on March 20 & 21 in Seoul, South Korea to whet baseball fans’ appetites.

It is too early for me to get excited over the Yankees. At my age, I temper my enthusiasm. A nice meal has more panache. 

Baskets and other things. A great segue into March.