I have nice recollections of listening to exhibition baseball on the radio.
One venue I have always liked is the Detroit Tigers’ “winter home” of Lakeland, Florida.
Detroit, down last year, after winning 4 straight divisional titles, is exerting itself in spring games, at least home in Lakeland.
After losing their first game in Lakeland, the Tigers have won 7 straight.
Teams in their situation, a down year after much success, I believe are determined, more determined than usual and this play at home may augur well for the Tigers.
More previews will follow but I do think Detroit will be a solid team, at least in 2016.
Fifty years ago, the NCAA Final Four (was not called the Final Four) was held at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland and was in another stratosphere as a publicized/non publicized event.
The national semi-finals were played on a Friday night with the final the next night, a Saturday night game certainly not televised by a major network.
Now the event has grown to where each game, all 67 in the tournament are televised. Some of it is on over the air CBS, but most is not. Those games are on cable television, mostly Turner Sports but also True T.V.
Much has changed and I applauded when the tournament grew and actually even liked the announcers, Curt Gowdy and Al McGuire, to name two, while NBC telecast some of the tournament.
This year I will watch almost none but I will follow it, I suppose.
Curt Gowdy pictured above.
It likely is a “stretch,” but there is a link between Austin Peay and their first round, NCAA Basketball Tournament opponent, “all powerful” Kansas.
Before the “all powerful,” clearly “A Wizard Of Oz” reference, note that Austin Peay, the Tennessee governor for whom the school is named signed the law prohibiting teaching Charles Darwin’s evolution theories in Tennessee Schools.
This led to The Scopes Monkey Trials. William Jennings Bryan, fairly likely part of L. Frank Baum’s Kansas set book, “The Wizard Of Oz” defended the backward position prohibiting teaching Darwin’s theories.
Yet he was a brilliant man. So “Oz,” Kansas, a stretch and it will take an “Oz” type miracle for 26 point underdog, Peay to beat Kansas. Wonder what that is on the silver standard Bryan suggested and likely was an “Oz” theme.
Austin Peay University made the NCAA Basketball Tournament as upset winners in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Their nickname is the Governors and the “Y” in Peay, named for 19th century Tennessee Governor, Austin Peay ( more on him in my next post) is silent.
Forgive the upcoming perhaps scatological, but I think this works.
The fans of Austin Peay, pronounced pea or dare I say pee, chant “let’s go Peay” and is a rallying cry for the team. It has been for some time.
I recall fondly the school’s greatest player, but did not realize or had forgotten “the association” with the chant.
His name is James “Fly” Williams, who played with Austin Peay (1972-1974) and now works at a recreation center in Brooklyn, New York.
My not that early read on the American League West is that the division will be down this season at least opposed to expectations.
The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros overachieved last season and I expect neither will do as well this season.
I thought the Astros would be a factor last season as they like the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets had impressive young players and all three improved to make the playoffs a year ahead of schedule last season.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sooner or later will realize manager Mike Scioscia does not walk on water (Who does other than Jerzy Kosinski’s “Chauncey Gardner,” in “Being There,” about whom Mr. Kosinski said maybe) and likely will not improve much.
Seattle (Mariners) and Oakland (A’s) might surprise, somebody usually does, but I say no.
Final predictions are ahead, as the season is still nearly three weeks away.
The following events happened yesterday concerning the naming of the 68 team NCAA tournament.
CBS, greedy beyond greedy made their “selection show” two hours, meaning it was full of talking heads’ on and on, same old opinions about the teams in the field of 68.
The information was leaked on the internet and that helps to explain lower ratings for CBS and embarrassment for the NCAA.
I am glad the unbeatable, hypocritical monoliths CBS and the NCAA “suffered” but the leaking is also wrong.
If this were a tragedy somewhere in the world rapid correction would not be evident but rest assured next year this information will not be leaked. hese powers have their priorities set and oh the board meetings!
Heaven help us but enjoy the tournament!
Stonehenge pictured above, better and good monoliths.
The film “Spotlight” happened to win the “apples and oranges,” Academy Award as the best picture of 2015. That fact impresses me little but the film produced almost the opposite reaction.
It was superb with a fine ensemble cast that included top actors and was truly effective in detailing the journalism involved in publicizing the horrible actions and subsequent cover up involving the all powerful Catholic Church in Boston.
“Spotlight” so effectively sent reminders of other Boston based film or television all the while taking us around the great and unique city, I happened to visit last summer.
Liev Schreiber looking very much like Michael Santasieri (jr?), the latter one who works helping those with autism, gives another fine performance this as managing editor Marty Baron.
The show “Ray Donovan” starring Schreiber dealt heavily with the subject of child molestation and worse. Many of the same concepts were cited in “Spotlight.”
Without giving much if any of the movie “away,” the harsh subject manner is cited but tastefully and fairly.
The process and the journalism by a brave, dedicated group is pardon the pun, “spotlighted.”
Eight of the thirty current major league baseball teams have never won the World Series. Three are housed in the American League West.
Both Texas teams, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, each of whom made the playoffs last season only to dissipate series leads in the quarterfinals/division series, have never won it all.
Texas began play as the Washington Senators in 1961 while Houston began as the Colt 45’s in 1962.
The Seattle Mariners began play in 1977 and not only have never won the World Series but along with the Washington Nationals nee Montreal Expos are the only teams never to have made the World Series.
The Oakland A’s last won it all in 1989 while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim “titled” (their only one in their only W.S. appearance) in 2002.
I will have a review and some comments about the superb film “Spotlight” in an upcoming post.
Some pre movie and post movie comments/coincidences follow. As usual here, no need to say “spoiler alert” as “nada” is revealed concerning the film, other than it is tremendous.
Knowing television show, “Ray Donovan” star, Liev Schreiber is in “Spotlight,” I started with acclaim for the recently departed actor Bob Hoskins and his role in “Hollywoodland,” as “fixer” Eddie Mannix, a real life version of much depicted on and as “Ray Donovan.”
Then in the endless procession of movie previews, there is a newer one for “Hail Caesar,” showing an Eddie Mannix character, based on the real person shown.
After the movie and with just 4 people left after the credits, I got a laugh from a couple I did not know by saying “on a lighter note the (New England) Patriots won the Super Bowl that (2001-2002) year.”
A great actor, Bob Hoskins pictured above
Two teams/universities, Stony Brook and Buffalo, with links to radio station WFAN won their conference tournaments yesterday to automatically qualify for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Buffalo team results were being reported as a weekly feature when I last listened to the station WFAN, weeks back.
Stony Brook has been promoted and talked about many times on WFAN.
Congratulations to each team.
Buffalo has been better than expected all season and yesterday rode to the NCAA’s beating Akron University as a 4 plus point underdog.
While those betting Stony Brook vs Vermont were not rewarded, the team was and now both Buffalo and Stony Brook await their seeding and opponent in the tournament.
Andy B Sports 