Briefly. (OK, a little wordy)
Trivia #1: Who was the last player to earn Final Four MVP despite playing for a losing team?
Trivia #2: What is the longest drought for a school between March Madness appearances?
Trivia #3: Only seven times teams have completed the “perfect” season (undefeated in the regular season and tournament). Which of these schools have not? UCLA, San Francisco, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, St. Louis
I try not to complain too much and I do like this area of the country, but then I do not like the cold this time of year. Then I read that the happiest countries in the world are places like Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway. Go figure.
In case you missed it, the Mariners and A’s opened the MLB season on Tuesday in Tokyo. On Wednesday, after the last game of the 2-game series, Ichiro Suzuki was to announced his retirement. He was in right field when his teammates walked off leaving him to come off the field by himself to a rousing, very long ovation. Quite frankly, it was very touching. It was his last game, in Japan, in front of his real fans. After the game fans refused to leave the stadium.
Let’s take a closer look at the Red Sox 2019 schedule. They begin with a brutal 11-day, 11-game west coast trip to Seattle, Oakland and Arizona. I guess it’s good to get it out of the way and not play in the frigid northeast. Despite that trip they play more home games in April (15) than any other month. They open at home on April 9 vs. Toronto. Hope to see you all at Tony C’s (before) and the Baseball Tavern (after). Not surprisingly they play the yankees at least twice in every month. Interleague (I don’t like it) they have Colorado, the Dodgers, Philly and SF at home and Arizona, San Dingo, Colorado and Philly on the road. From April 19 thru May 8 they play 20 games in 20 days. Aside from the all-star break, they are off for two straight days only once (barring make-up games), June 27-28. They end the season with 3 home games vs. Baltimore.
So are you familiar with the term “Load Management”. You might see that some big NBA stud is not playing on any particular night due to “Load Management.” Translation? The guy is either too tired or he and/or the team is afraid he will get too tired. Bunch of snowflakes, I tell ya. (Chock this up as this week’s sign of the apocalypse)
On Wednesday Disney, a behemoth of a company to begin with, completed it’s $71.3B acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Later this year Disney+, a streaming service, is slated to launch and expects to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Apple. Google is moving in as well.
There’s a fine line between playing good defense (hoops) and the other team having a terrible shooting night.
Trivia #3 hint: A bit of a trick question. Read carefully.
If you’re out on the prowl tonight, or your son, nephew, grandson, whatever, I got a pick-up line for you. “Hey girl, how’s your bracket?” Or better yet; “Hey baby, wanna see my bracket?”
Tonya Harding, you’re not. 22-year old American skater Mariah Bell was allegedly bullying and kicked South Korean competitor Lim Eun-soo, 16, during warm-ups before the women’s short program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan on Wednesday. Lim was cut, received medical treatment and was able to compete. She finished in 5th place while Bell finished 6th. DOH!
So I’m flipping back and forth between the Celtics and a 16th seed play-in game on Wednesday night. Now while the talent levels don’t compare, give me that play-in game any night of the week. (I may have alluded to this preference in the past??)
Speaking of which, don’t bother trying to explain to me the NCAA bball tournament play-in games. How the 11th seed is determined by a play-in makes no sense. As you may know, there are four play-in games. Not only are two for the 11th seeds and two for 16th seeds, but they are in only two regions. What?! Why don’t the other two regions have play-in games? Forget it, don’t bother trying to explain.
Kathy and I are getting on a plane tonight. Obviously, we are not flying on a Boeing 737 Max 8. Just for kicks, I asked her what she would do if we were scheduled on the Boeing 737 Max 8. She said she wouldn’t go. Boy, that would have been a helluva ensuing “conversation.”
Trivia #1: Who was the last player to earn Final Four MVP despite playing for a losing team? – Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston), 1983
Trivia #2: What is the longest drought for a school between March Madness appearances? – Harvard (1946 to 2012 – 66 years)
Trivia #3: Only seven times teams have completed the “perfect” season (undefeated in the regular season and tournament). Which of these schools have not? UCLA, San Francisco, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, St. Louis – Kentucky and St. Louis (UCLA did it 4 times)
“Now, I’m a seaside sittin’, just a smokin’ and a drinkin’;
I’m ringside, on top of the world.
I got a drink in my hand; I got my toes in the sand.
All I need, is a beautiful girl.”
Ed's Head On Friday 