Playoff Hockey

One thing I do miss about NoDak is CBC and Hockey Night in Canada. It's playoff time, and I do get to see games on VS, but I'm usually working during the NBC telecasts. If I had Tivo, I could watch the game when I got home. Will have to see about that once I get the house settled.

NCAA Tournament

If you enjoy watching March Madness like I do, then this is your time of year. Jim Nance is always good (plus we get to hear him pump up the Masters). Dick Enberg is also a good commentator. CBS traditionally does a good job covering the games. If Gus Johnson is the commentator, however, be sure to get acquainted with the mute button on your remote. He makes Mike Tirico sound calm!

In the zone

I've received a lot of blessings in the past several weeks. I started part-time teaching for Everglades University which is based in Boca Raton, FL before Thanksgiving. They have an online education system, and I'm teaching a 4-week meteorology course. It's been interesting to learn how to teach people via the internet.

In racquetball, I've been practicing after my league matches and it seems like the effort has been paying off. I won two matches recently that I would not have predicted a victory beforehand. I'm in a tournament this weekend, so we'll see if it carries over. I am coming off two graveyards, so I'm hoping my energy level and timing will be there.

This week, I scored about 20 points (I lost track... definitely 16, possibly 21) in basketball league. That's like an explosion for me. I'm usually passing and getting assists since I'm a guard. It was definitely a case of "being in the zone" as a shooter.

Then, last night, our curling team (I'm the skip) scored what could be described as an upset over a team skipped by the league coordinator Bruce. We all shot very well and Bruce had an off night.

So, it's been an interesting time in my life and who knows what's next... stay tuned!

Taking one for the team

One of my favorite sports cliches is "taking one for the team". This phrase is commonly used in baseball in a situation where a pitcher is having a bad game. The manager leaves him in there to eat up innnings and save the bullpen, even though he's allowed 15 runs in 4 innings. It is pretty humiliating, but it is a sacrifice the pitcher understands and accepts.

The cool thing is, even though the pitcher screwed up big time, his teammates don't ride him about it. They still want the guy to come back the next time and pitch lights out. They want him to see him succeed because they want the team to be successful.

Of course, there are clubhouses where this wouldn't be the case. It's like the kicker who misses the chip-shot field goal to win the game. Do you blame HIM for the loss or do you look back to the 3rd-and-goal incomplete pass that the QB threw? But wait, the QB was rushed to throw by a defensive blitz not picked up by the offensive line. See, it's a team effort. A loss is a loss for everyone, not just the kicker.

Slice it and Dice it

I gotta tell ya, the veggies from the garden taste awesome this year. Several jars of pickles are in progress. The rain keeps falling over areas other than Grand Forks this summer. Some severe weather in the region recently. Read the Grand Forks Herald

Did you know that I shot a 46 on the back nine of Kings Walk? I nearly ended the round with a birdie birdie, but I choked the birdie putt after losing my focus just a bit. I don't know how those pros do it!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

So why is it that John Rocker got 28 games and a $20,000 fine (later reduced to 14 games and $500) for offering his opinion concerning the diversity of the occupants of a New York subway but Ozzie Guillen only gets a fine for calling a sports journalist a perjorative name?

Tiger Woods is not a robot. He can't just show up on the PGA tour after that long a layoff. Not only did he recently lose his father to cancer, the first event he plays is the US Open on the weekend of Father's Day. And in New York to boot.

Speaking of golf, I broke 100 this year. If I could avoid the disaster holes (quad-bogeys), I'll start doing it quite often.

My garden is doing okay so far. It's been very dry, so the soil is starting to dry out and harden. I guess I'll have to use my new hose a lot this summer. I just predicted a warm, dry July-September for my climate outlook today. Maybe that means that just the opposite will happen (HA HA!). You never know!

UND has decided to move to Division 1 athletics. I think this is a big mistake. I don't know if there's enough money to cover the cost of traveling. Only the hockey teams have been D1, and I don't see the baseball, swim or tennis teams EVER being anywhere close to competitive. But what do I know? I'm not from here so I probably don't "get it"... <----- SARCASM, in case you couldn't tell.

The US soccer team should just avoid Europe like the plague. No victories! How does freakin' Australia make it to the knockout round? All I can say is Group E was very tough. Certainly no freebies! I wish I could be in Deutschland right now and experience it. Oh well, maybe I can go to Europe one of these days.

Michelle Wie is an idiot!

So, Michelle Wie is going to try to qualify for the men's US Open. I just don't understand why she wants to play against men when she can't even win an LPGA event! She should follow the path that Annika Sorenstam took. Annika has been dominant in the LPGA tour for years and tried to play in, I think, the Western Open on the PGA tour. She did well, but if I remember right, she missed the cut. Anyways, the point is, Michelle Wie should focus on winning tournaments rather than participating in publicity stunts.

Commentary

Okay, I admit it. I don't write nearly enough to call this a "blog", but it's not like anyone reads this stuff anyway. So, I will comment on recent happenings.

Topic One - Team USA and the World Baseball Challenge

It drives me nuts that the media (newspaper, TV, etc.) comes from some sort of perspective that because it's Team USA, it automatically means we should expect a gold medal. It's as though nobody else plays baseball or that no other team can have a better day than ours. It's so egocentric and plain wrong. Just because you put a team of multiple all-star players together doesn't mean that team will win every time. It's a classic case of "Steinbrenner Syndrome". He thinks he can BUY a championship for New York. What few people acknowledge is that there is more to baseball than having the best "talent".

In baseball, you need to have the players string hits back-to-back in order to produce runs. Every guy in the lineup can go 1-for-3 on a given day, but if those hits aren't strung together or no homeruns are hit, there won't be any runs on the board. This wasn't entirely a group of underachieving prima donnas (like Team USA basketball, for example) either. You have to have timely hitting.

Snow

Snow today. I hope to play better racquetball today. I won my women's match, but lost in tiebreaker in the men's match. Way too many errors. I won't win the women's if I make those errors. I'd like to go to the men's consolation final, so I must play better!