Wednesday

College basketball is now officially over for the year.  The ND women got smoked last night by Baylor in a game that wasn't all that much of a game.  I've often joked in the past about how some of the low-post gals on the championship-caliber women's teams were players who could beat up on guys:  Brittany Griner takes that distinction to a new level of truth.  Scary.

There are a couple of other college sports seasons now in full swing.  Spring football and basketball recruiting.  With Calipari's recent success, I'm betting that the next wave of one-and-dunner's are signing up for a few months of ball in Lexington.  Do you think that they even go to class after Christmas?

I mentioned this to 4 yesterday in a text: the primary European cycling stage-race this week is in Basque country in Northern Spain, where we spent several days last August.  Yesterday's finishing town was Vitoria Gastiez, our base for four days.  I couldn't find a pic on-line from the post-race program that had enough of a view of the city to determine exactly which part of town that the race was calling home.  Actually, this was a race that had a hard time finding financial backing this year.  Shock.  (Spain is likely the next Greece.)

So the big news today is that we have Opening Day for MLB.  The Cards and Marlins are the feature game on ESPN tonight, not that I have plans to watch.  Being a bit of a baseball guy, Opening Day has always at least registered on my Richter Scale.  Back in our Chicago days, I don't think I made it to any Opening Day games, but we had a client that supplied Old Style to Wrigley Field, so were got to go to a lot of games.  Those early April events in Wrigleyville were always a weather adventure.  You really didn't want to be in the shade.

The new ballpark in Miami has received a lot of press.  It's one of those retractable-roof jobs.  To get people to a game in Florida in the Summer, you need to control the climate.  Heat, humidity and showers have a way of tempering attendance numbers.  Miami (not Florida?) spent a lot of money on players in the off-season.  Can you buy a championship?

CBS's stamp on the Final Four weekend extended to the elaborate, Hollywood-eque introductions of the starting line-ups.  There was cheesy snip-its from each team acting like grade-schoolers, and then the esteemed (in whose mind?) Jim Nantz calling out the players with the on-air feed also serving as the public address announcer at the Superdome.  I didn't stay up for the post-game awards, but I'm sure that Nantz was the emcee for that as well.  He was also featured in wire-service-photos of the Hall of Fame inductees.

At what point are the on-air personalities separating themselves from reporting the game to participating in the event?  Pre-game interviews and locker room look-ins.  Half-time contractual commitments for quick Q&A while leaving/coming to thecourt.  It's almost a set-up:  in the middle of a huge contest. coaches and players are supposed to convert from fully-involved combatants to commentators.  Like there's no chance of letting an emotional statement slip out that will be critiqued by the same arbiters-of-sportsmanship who are looking for exactly that conflict. 

Moving on.  The Masters golf tournament starts tomorrow.  The big story is whether Tiger can recapture his mojo at Augusta.  Whatever.  Carrying on my small rant from the previous paragraphs, my main gripe with the TV coverage is that we have to listen to more of Nantz's babbling about the "cathedral of golf", and how "the Master's begins on the back nine on Sunday".  What a crock.  And I actually like the Masters.

Looks like a great day here.  Make it a good one in your neighborhood.

BCOT