All things are possible. It’s just a matter of putting your mind to it. For instance, I’m a coke addict. The beverage that is. Been drinking so many of them a day for so many years if they were to plant me I’d probably sprout as a sugar cane stalk. I’m finally making a concerted effort on reducing the number of them per day to one or two.

Maybe I should just go cold turkey on them like I did when I quit smoking. Unlike cigarettes, those things won’t kill you in moderation. So I’ll stick with the plan. I’m substituting iced tea and water instead of that 16 oz Coke each time I hit the fridge.

All I know is I’m applying my mind to it and the reduction is working. It’s about making conscious decisions.

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Sports Commentary

This is just the tip of the iceberg

I read a story today in the New York Post on a local player on the Wizards Bradley Beal. My guess is this kind of stuff has already been happening and this is just the first recognized incident of fans blaming gambling losses on players and cursing them out after the game because they lost money and making it personal with the player that he has cost them money and is deserving of being treated like Sh*T. I really loved Bradley Beal’s response to the fan and even if he did knock the cap off his head the fan deserved worse and should be removed from the arena for future games.

I knew this crap was coming. The next thing is it’s going to escalate to physical threats and attacks. People aren’t rooting for their team, they root for their gambling money. And when it gets into serious funds and people’s inability to control their own gambling you can be talking about life and death.

So be prepared for this and much worse in the future. Unfortunately, this frustration of gambling losses probably extends into their homes and workplaces.

Ravens and Lamar

Interesting watching the saga of the Ravens and Lamar playing out. My take – it’s the outcome that has been brewing since the start. Rookie quarterbacks who come in and set the world on fire with an organization don’t get paid what they are worth for contributions. By the time they reach the end of that contract, you have a huge gap and all that dedication to the team from a player’s perspective should be compensated. You have done everything they asked for and more. And you’re taking the risk with your own body. Owners and coaches don’t step on the field and get hit like that.

Then you have fair market value. Well, the owners made their own bed by driving up salaries and guarantees. And one guy makes a mistake in Cleveland and fairly the top players say this is the new market value.

It would be my opinion the owners said either to themselves or collectively said we can’t do this and are trying to reestablish the new value for top-tier quarterbacks. And forget that and just look at how the Ravens are run. They are not afraid to let go of established players in their primes. They keep a cycle of good young players, a mix of a few veterans and a few scattered stars they get at a bargain and sometimes pay handsomely while they are here but there is always churning. And the way the league is set up with salary caps teams decides on the balance of superstars or distributed talent.

Kansas City won last year with a ton of rookies who stepped in with established pros and a superstar quarterback. As those very talented rookies continue to develop can they afford to pay everyone in a few years? Nope.

What I can’t figure out is the Jets and Rodgers. Why wouldn’t the Jets want a QB who is over a decade younger and in the same class of talent?

As far as Lamar, I understand if he feels like he hasn’t been treated fairly. But it’s the same lesson we all learn. While the competition on the field might be fair, running those NFL businesses the goal isn’t fairness, it’s who keeps the most money and management holds a lot of the strings.

I think it’s a matter of Lamar wanting maybe just a little (and I mean little) more than his going rate and that the Ravens aren’t coming up with their best offer because they aren’t going to change their stripes in how they run the organization.

Baseball Season

I’m excited about the start of the season Thursday. I think some of these rule changes will help the game from a fan’s perspective. I’ll give baseball one thing. They get the All-Star game right. Every player is giving their best. There is a home-field advantage for the winning team in the World Series. NBA and NFL should just skip their All-Star events, they are nothing more than a poor exhibition.

As I used the hear the little league ump yell. PLAY BALL

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Random Thoughts of the Day

• It’s almost the blooming end of March.
• I did some metalwork today. The furnace filter track got bent so I brought out the persuader.
• Finding a better balance today.
• Sometimes you make an impact without fully realizing it.

I’m betting it’s going to be another great tournament. So much parity anyone can beat anyone. Drama, friends, food, fun, and then around 12:30 or 1 am when that last game of 16 on the first day comes to an end, I will sleep very sound and rise again for the next day’s Madness.

Also, I mean, that you bet like crazy this year on the Madness and some are going to lose their shirts. For me, it’s the time of year that I play an office pool. Maybe 10 or 20 dollars max. I see more is being bet legally this year than illegally. Or so says some news poll. How does anyone know what the illegal bet really is? I’m guessing what remains of organized crime isn’t really giving the Government its books just for comparison.

Adrenalin pumping, the ball is thrown straight up in the air, two men/women leap and tip to a teammate. And were off.

Jump, tip, pass, pass, pass, dribble, shoot.

Retreat, lock eyes to your competitor’s torso.

Deny, prevent, deflect, remove them from paint.

Back and forth, score, turnover, rebound, assist.

You’re tired, someone fouls, substitutes.

Coaches yelling, whistles blowing, timeout, pep band plays.

The ball deflected out of bounds, the call is made, people go insane

Back and forth, fresh bodies come in and out.

Cut to a TV timeout, Dicky V is cancer-free video (you know its coming)

Action quickens, decisions rushed, tensions build, stamina tested.

Game clock ticks, shot clock ticks, cheerleaders, and fan’s emotions peak.

The crowd counts down, everyone is standing, the shot, the net flinches.

Players jump and pump fists in the air, at the same time men on all fours, head in hands.

Parents cry in joy and in sadness at the same time.

Alumni going nuts, coaches shaking hands, cheerleaders crying.

Players embrace each other in glorious victory.

Other players hugged in support of giving their all and coming up short together.

Some with long looks in their eyes knowing their college days have come to an end

Freshmen think the Dance/Madness will be every year before they know the difficulty of repeating.

Post-game interviews, highlights, and commentary by your play-by-play team.

Coaches in closed locker rooms both telling their guys how proud they are regardless of winning and losing.

Friends and family leave the stands, the next team’s supporters enter.

And it begins again. One by one they go down. Each game, every game, Till ONE.

ONE SHINING MOMENT.

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Yes, I know it pales in comparison to the real-life and death taking place in the world. But when things were normal, you can’t get more drama than March Madness.

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Random Thoughts of the Day

• A feast at a friends is a menu that mends.
• If your relationship with your children is good then every minute with them is one that is cherrished.
• Instead of regret, use it to motivate.
• I’m trying to think positive, I want to think positive. Why won’t my mind cooperate?

Yes, it’s that time of year for the mother load. A basketball junkie’s dream. More bounces of the ball than the eye can keep up with. One and done. You lose you go home. Tension to the max every game. Kids’ dreams being realized. And at the same time, huge fan bases crushed.

And as I rose this morning I was distressed to see the usual crap that ruins a great contest like this. Overzealous people losing complete perspective and sending these young athletes crushing messages and threats. And when I say Overzealous I mean F’ing idiots who should serve jail time for making threats like that. So, way to go Ohio State fan, you have shown what the problem is for a lot of Universities who haven’t sent the right message to their fan base that that is unacceptable behavior.

Remember people, “IT’S JUST A GAME”. Come on, I’m a huge college basketball fan. Been going to Maryland games since the mid-’60s. I live and die with this team each year. But I think we need to start standing up to these people when we see and hear them. Or report them if we see social media comments that are threatening or wrong or mean-spirited.

College sports are a wonderful thing. A fairly closely matched age group. Young men and women learning new teammates and systems and competing at the highest level of skill while getting paid NOTHING for the pleasure of doing a sport they love. Yeah I know some of you will question the “play for nothing” and you are right in some cases but it’s still the closest thing you can get to a highly competitive game with great skill in a group that isn’t professional. And the way tournaments are done the drama can’t be matched.

Like yesterday when we said this game is over, it’s going to take a miracle for Va Tech to win. Down by 3 with 7 seconds left and the other team shooting 2 free throws to ice the game. I then said it’s going to take 3 miracles for this to happen. I said he is going to have to miss both free throws and then they have to hit a game tying 3 pointer, to send it to overtime. And then they flashed what the player shot for the season at Free Throws 52% and we all had a head tilt. And then he missed the first. And then he missed the second. And Va Tech rebounds gets down the court and swisch, tie game and OT. And I was wrong also. They needed 4 miracles, because they lost in OT. But talk about your excitement.

Random Thoughts of the Day

• The handshake and hug are not things of the past.
• A very special day that puts a huge smile on my face for a very special loved one.
• On the verge of being eligible for the vaccine feels like a comforting thought.
• At least once a day you should feel like you’re living life “balls to the wall.” It might be just listening to a classic song and dancing to maybe putting your right foot on the accelerator a little more than normal. Maybe just stepping outside at night and howling at the full moon. Start a new hobby. Do something to make yourself feel alive.
• Wow, a post before lunchtime. Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf.

After I saw some comments to the player that was targeted I saw a reply from a speech by former president Teddy Roosevelt, I had never read but its fitting.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Nothing like having time to pursue ones interest. And my interest this month is College Basketball, my favorite sport. Yeah the money and TV and the one and done’s have changed the game dramatically. The number of guys who play their whole college career is a rarity these days. But it’s still the most exciting and even and real sport, set up in a playoff format that just breads tension and drama.

So as I looked up at my frozen net the other day I knew the warm temps were only a short time away. As well as the conference tourneys and then Selection Sunday and let the Madness begin. And so this week with the temps hitting the 60’s and 70’s in the northeast, I’ll look for my basketball and hope the air pressure is good because I can’t remember where I put the needle for the air pump last.

Every dribble I take, I feel young again. Well not when I try to do some of the moves I might have had in the day, but you know what I mean. I love basketball but the pro game while exciting and performed at a higher skill level than college, doesn’t have the emotion. That is youth. That is young guys the same age focused on a goal while going to school and hopefully not being highly paid yet.

They haven’t had to endure the grind of a 82 game regular season. They haven’t had 6-7 weeks of playoffs. They are in a zone they will never experience again. It’s a chance for small schools with the same age kids to upset the powers and elite of the sport. And a decent chance at that. For its one and done time.

Just like the street, you lose, you sit. But unlike the street you don’t get the second chance till next year, if you lucky. All I know is I love watching the game. And this spring and summer I’m going to try to rediscover the love of playing the game. I think it will do both my physical self good but also mentally it might be the biggest gift.

And now with the last regular season game only about 8 hours away, the troops gathering for the victory and sendoff to the conference and then the Big Dance, I hope it’s a great March again on the tube. Oh yeah, the finals are actually in April. What the hell. Maybe next year I’ll do some traveling and catch a Big Dance game live.

But in the mean time — GO TERPS —