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.