Lee Lowenfish

For someone dubbed the Prince of Paranoia, things are looking up in my life as a fan who roots ardently for Columbia women's and Wisconsin men's basketball. Over Valentine's Day weekend, Columbia moved into a first-place Ivy League tie with Princeton using a solid second half to thump the Tigers, 70-56.  The next night, oddly by almost an identical score, 69-56, Columbia beat a stubborn Penn team that trailed 30-15 at the half but made life a bit anxious after intermission behind sharp-shooting forward Katie Collins. The lead was secured when the Lions kept their composure against the Quakers press.  Resurgent junior Riley Weiss had a consistent 44 point weekend and co-captain Perri Page, with her father former Pitt star Julius Page and family cheering her on, had a double double against Princeton, including a career-high 25 points. After a foul-plagued first half against Penn, she bounced back with a double-digit scoring second half and all-around play to keep the Quakers from dreaming of another upset like last month's in Philadelphia. Kudos also to the ferocious play of junior guard Fliss Henderson who was in the middle of everything all weekend and a rebounding force. 

 

I love defense and pitching in baseball and defense that creates offense in basketball.  The Lions' recent outstanding play has also been keyed by sophomore guards Mia Broom and Nasi Simmons who I'm beginning to call the Steal Sisters - earlier this season Nasi set a record with 10 steals against Yale.  Sad to say, only one home game is left for the Lions, Sa Mar 7 2P against Harvard always a tough opponent and tied for third with improving Brown who we meet in Providence on Feb 28 also at 2P.  Ahead on Mar 13-14 is the 4-team Ivy League tournament this year at Cornell.  With Penn 3 games behind Harvard and Brown and only 4 games left in regular season, it looks like the 4 tourney teams are set, but seeding is still to be determined.

 

Down in Greenwich Village, the NYU Violets women cagers' Division III winning streak is now up to 84.  They, too, only have a few games left in the regular season: This Fri Feb 20 at 730P against Washington U of St Louis, the school that owned the prior D-3 winning streak early this century. Then Su Feb 22 at noon against U of Chicago followed on Sa Feb 28 at 3P against Brandeis, preceded by a 1045A alumni game.  The Violets are assured of hosting FSa at the Paulson Center on Bleecker Street just north of Mercer the first weekend in March. If they advance, hosting the next round will depend on how far the solid NYU men's team goes in its playoffs. 

 

Here's a shoutout to another local D-3 winning streak, the Montclair State men's team is 24-0 with one regular season game left -  Wed Feb 18 at 7P at College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.

Montclair State should host first rounds of playoffs at their gym on the Montclair campus, Feb 25-26. 

 

On the bigtime D-1 side of men's hoops in the NYC area, St. John's is 20-5 and ranked #17 in the latest national poll.  There is no doubt that Rick Pitino knows how to coach but I find his arrogant manner off-putting. After a game this past Sat on the road at Providence that was punctuated by a late first half brawl, Pitino commented to the press, "Curfew 5 AM." Pitino's arch-rival Arkansas coach John Calipari also likes to be flippant in his comments. Complaining about the transfer portal and other legal changes enabling player mobility, Calipari wailed the other day, "I have a player who has two kids and is using his NIL money to pay alimony." 

 

My Wisconsin Badgers are a team that has used the transfer portal effectively to achieve national attention after a mediocre start to the season. Last week they knocked off nationally ranked Big Ten rivals Illinois on the road and Michigan State at home. In addition to home grown junior guard John Blackwell and seven-foot junior Nolan Winter, Wisconsin has plucked the transfer portal for two key veteran components, flashy southpaw guard Nick Boyd from northern New Jersey and key reserve the former Minnesota Golden Gopher (and Tulsa Hurricane) Braelen Carrington, a useful sharpshooter.  Boyd can be stopped if you force him to the right and make him take off-balance shots, but when he is on, his speed and daring are electrifying. 

I didn't have great hopes for this year's edition of the Badgers but if nothing else, their competitiveness should mute the critics of coach Greg Gard who is nearing his 20th year with the Badgers, including more than ten as top assistant to retired Hall of Fame coach Bo Ryan. 

 

I've quoted these coaches many times but it never hurts to repeat some of their adages: 

"WE JUDGE OUR PLAYERS BY WHAT IT TAKES TO DISCOURAGE THEM" - Bo Ryan after Badgers knocked off then-#1 ranked Ohio State in Columbus, 2011.

"IF CONSISTENCY WERE AN ISLAND, IT WOULD BE LIGHTLY POPULATED" - Greg Gard quoting a sports psychologist that addressed his team, earlier this decade

 

The Badgers' schedule until the Big Ten tournament (which is really the Big 18 nowadays) is with all times EST:

Tu Feb 17 830P at Ohio State FS1; Su Feb 22 Iowa 4P FS1; Sa 2/28 at U of Washington FS1 4P; W Mar 4 Maryland 8P FSI; Sa Mar 7 at Purdue 4P CBS

 

     AND NOW TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME!

Turning to the hope that the return of spring training always brings, the Prince of Paranoia applauds the Orioles for signing former Met RHP Chris Bassitt to bolster a starting pitching staff that doesn't have a real ace but can always use innings-eaters and gritty gamers like Bassitt. He turns 37 on Feb 22 but knock on wood, he has been durable as a reliable starter most recently for the Blue Jays through their World Series run.  The addition of Bassitt certainly tempered the bad news that the usually durable Jackson Holliday will miss all of spring training and some of the

regular season with a hamate bone fracture located in the palm of his hand.  Two other notable players, the Mets' Francisco Lindor and the Diamondbecks Corbin Carroll, recently suffered the same injury.  Each probably was incurred from overdoing batting practice in preparation for the long season.  

 

I will try and I urge most lovers of the game to appreciate good games and remarkable player achievements during the upcoming season because the specter of an owners' lockout of players looms large after the current collective bargaining agreement expires in early December.   I refuse to believe any forthcoming disaster is inevitable including what is happening to our society during the second term of the 47th president. So I prefer to cite some good news concerning Tomas Lopez, a junior RHP for my Columbia Lions baseball team who will pitch for Brazil in the upcoming World Baseball Classic starting on March 4.  Tomas' mother is Brazilian and she is over the moon in delight for her son's opportunity.  Lopez told mlb.com - and why not capitalize this quote too! 

"BASEBALL JUST BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER ALL THE TIME. . . . I'M JUST EXCITED [TO FIND OUT] . . .  HOW EVERYONE GOT INTO THE SAME EXACT SITUATION THAT I'LL BE IN." 

 

Regardless of the doom and gloom folks bemoaning the MLB labor situation, I insist that there will always be baseball on lower levels and I always try to honor some of the less-recognized lights.  So here's a shoutout to the latest class of inductees into National College Baseball Hall of Fame that were honored last week - Feb 12 - at the new home of the NCBHF in Overland Park, Kansas, near Kansas City.  Among the honorees were former Mets RHP Kris Benson (who starred at  Clemson) and Hubie Brooks (who starred at Mesa AZ JC and Arizona State U). Also inducted was Jack Coffey, the longtime Fordham baseball coach and administrator.    

 

ERRATA from recent posts:

**The real first name of manager extraordinaire Francona is Terry but everyone calls him "Tito" in honor to his father who had a better MLB career.

**James Cagney's closing line as he gets blown up at the end of "White Heat" is "Made it, Ma. Top of the World!"

 

Speaking of old films, here are some TCM tips:

Th Feb 19 1045P Robert Aldrich's "The Longest Yard" (1974).  Aldrich was a member of the Rockefeller family which included former NY governor and Presidential aspirant Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller but he made it up the chain in Hollywood without using any connections. He directs Burt Reynolds, a former gridiron star now in prison, in a football game between prisoners and guards.  Interestingly, Aldrich's first film as director was "Big Leaguer" (1953), filmed in the New York Giants minor spring training base in Florida.  

 

Earlier on Thursday at 145P is "Jammin' the Blues" - a 9 minute documentary by Djon Mili that explains jazz in the simplest most rhythmic way.  Mili was a photographer from the Netherlands who  a few years earlier for LIFE magazine filmed Bob Feller's fastball comparing it to a roaring locomotive. Feller held his own in the comparison.

Also on Thursday at 1:10P most likely on the main NBC network station  - the gold medal game between the amazing US team against their arch-rival from Canada.

 

Sa Feb 22 8P. "Patton" (1970) directed by Franklin Schaffner with George C. Scott in title role. Also Karl Malden. I mention it because many baseball personages like Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and former Phillies pitcher and manager Dallas Green said they were inspired by the volatile WW II general who reportedly counsled his troops, "Be glad you're in my outfit and not shoveling shit in Louisiana."  

 

That's all for now.  I continue to urge you to Stay Positive Test Negativew and Take It Easy But Take It.  Next time I will tell you something about a new book that I wrote the afterword for:

"KNOW YOUR STRIKE ZONE: THE ULTIMATE BLUEPRINT FOR FINDING YOUR SWEET SPOT IN LIFE AND LEADERSHIP" by Paul D. Miller and Milton O. Thompson. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groundhog Day greetings from the polar vortex in New York City that has turned this winter into hoping that your long underwear survives and vigilantly taking short choppy steps to avoid disaster on icy sidrwalks and intersections. One consolation, of course, is that spring training is only 10 days away.  And 10 days ago in what I consider the unofficial opening to the new MLB season, I was delighted to attend the 59th annual dinner of the New York Pro Baseball Scouts Hot Stove League at Leonard's Palazzo restaurant in Great Neck. It was an evening as always filled with great camaraderie in spite of the stark reality that traditional eyes-and-ears scouts are "Baseball's Endangered Species." the title of my 2023 book about the mysterious but essential craft of scouting 

 

I dedicated the book "To Every Scout Who Wrote Down What Players Could Do, Not What They Couldn't Do."  Despite the analytical madness enveloping baseball, the spirit of positivity was in the air at the dinner.  Guest speaker Dave Sims, successor in the Yankee radio booth to John Sterling, spent many years broadcasting Seattle Mariners games (replacing another legend in Dave Niehaus).  Sims knows that he must keep abreast of the latest trend in statistics, but he said, "Grandma listening in Walla Walla is not interested in a hitter's expected batting average" - it's one of the modern stats that drives me crazy, too.  

 

In receiving the Turk Karam Scout of the Year award, Jim Cuthbert, now with the  Kansas City Royals, gave a spirited endorsement of the New York City scout who has to fight very hard to get into the exclusive ranks of the sport's evaluators. Once a backup catcher at St. Johns University in Queens, Cuthbert knew that playing pro ball was not in his future but he was spotted as a potential good scout by Cubs scout Billy Blitzer who has organized the dinner since the legendary Twins scout Herb Stein handed him the reins. Cuthbert used to work for Cleveland and he was lavish in his praise of manager Tito Francona (now skipper of Cincinnati) who treated him as an equal and read seriously his area scout reports.

 

The New York Hot Stove League has always honored local coaches and two of this year's award-winners, both from New Jersey, gave memorable speeches (all speakers tonight BTW came in under five minutes!). Don Bosco Prep coach Mike Rooney remembered the awesome feeling when Ralph DiLullo, another legendary scout, first gave him his card, it feeling like a passport to a future career. And how DiLullo mplored him to take care of his arm and wear his uniform the right way.   Johnny Johnson, winningest coach in the history of Brookdale Community College, urged up-and-coming scouts to always praise players when they made good plays.  "You're touching people's lives!" he said.

 

I couldn't help thinking of a line about scouting from Branch Rickey:  "If he makes a great play, he can do it again."  I am happy that I devoted an early chapter of BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES  to Rickey's scouts who learned from and challenged the master.  Speaking of Rickey, one of his great grandnieces, poet and teacher Marjorie Maddox Hafer has just come out for a book for ages over 8, A MAN NAMED BRANCH: THE TRUE STORY OF BASEBALL'S GREAT EXPERIMENT (Loch Ness Books distributed by Sunbury Press, Mechanicsburg, Pa.). It is based on stories that she heard from family members about Rickey's longstanding commitment to racial equality that led to his signing of Jackie Robinson and other players of color. It includes many family photos.

 

As far as what to expect from the upcoming MLB season, I welcome real games starting in spring training before the end of the month and especially during the World Baseball Classic from Mar 6 through 17.  There is SO MUCH false info out there on the internet about trades and coming signings. Let's wait for real news on that front.  Sadly, more and more established sportswriters are writing about the inevitability of another owners' lockout of players when the current Basic Agreement expires in early December.  I refuse to believe in that inevitability, but more speculation about that in future blogs.   I need to read first what the Atlanta Braves balance sheet looks like because they are the only MLB franchise that must release accurate financial figures because it has legal status as a public enterprise.  

  

And now it's time to salute the NYU women's basketball team that won its 80th game in a row yesterday Feb 1, a rare one-point nail biter over Carnegie-Mellon of Pittsburgh. The Violets with only one senior Caroline Peper on its roster have been blowing away most opponents.   NYU goes on the road for the next two weekends including a Sun Feb 8 noon rematch at Carnegie-Mellon. They return on Friday night at 730P against Washington U of St Louis that holds the record for most Division III wins but the streak could be history by Feb 20. That's what I love about sports, the unpredictability. Sunday afternoon Feb 22 at noon, Violets play at home U of Chicago,  Only one regular season game left Sa Feb 28 against Brandeis at 3P, preceded by alumni game at 1045A. First round of post-season tourney will undoubtedly be at home in the Paulson Center on FriSa Mar 6-7.   

 

This remarkable Violets team is finally getting media attention. In an excellent piece the Athletic's Eden Lasse wrote in the Fri Jan 30 print NY Times, head coach Meg Barber, who played for NYU early this century, observed, "Basketball is basketball. Division III does not mean third rate." She added admiringly, "These kids are insanely talented at other things.  But right now, at this moment in time, they see themselves as basketball players."  For more info on NYU basketball where the men's team is also doing very well, check out nyu.edu/athletics

 

Meanwhile in the Ivy League women's race, my Columbia Lions on Fri night Jan 30 briefly rose into a first-place tie with Princeton by beating the Tigers on their home court, 73-67,  for the third time in the last four years. Unfortunately, the next night at Penn they fell to the Quakers, 66-57, and fell back into second place after Princeton beat improved Cornell.  The Lions play in Ithaca this Sat Feb 7 at 2P and will try to avenge their loss to the Big Red that opened the Ivy League season.  The big rematches with Princeton and Penn will be at home at Levien Gym on Fri Feb 13 at 6P - televised on ESPNU - and against the Quakers on Sat Feb 14 at 5P.  The top four teams will qualify for the Ivy League post-season tournament in mid-March held this year at Cornell.     

 

There is not much to report about sports in film on TCM in early Feburary except for one special comedy short.

Th Feb 5 1030P. "Baseball Bugs" (1946) Bugs Benny takes on a whole baseball team! 

For Marx Brothers fans, there is the rarely shown:

Su Feb 9 115P "The Big Store" (1941) with Tony Martin singing "The Tenement Symphony"  

The last Noir Alley for over a month as TCM's 31 Days of Oscars commences on March 13 will be

Su Feb 8 12M repeated at 10A "Vice Squad" (1953) an oddity that might be somewhat interesting with Edward G. Robinson/Paulette Goddard

Su Feb 15 2P Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train" (1951) with memorable scenes taken at the Forest Hills Tennis Club

and at 8P "White Heat" (1949) James Cagney's memorable turn as gangster Cody Jarrett, Virginia Mayo as his moll, and a memorable late cry, "Top of the world, Ma!"

 

That's all for now.  Stay Positive, Test Negative, and Take It Easy But Take It!