It never felt like we were all in on Las Vegas until we peeled off the rubber band and unfolded the Las Vegas Review-Journal to the lead story of that morning, “Brothels fire back on Reid”. Libya is bombing their citizens. The economy is teetering with little insulation. Nevada has different concerns. Brothels are well brothels and Reid is our US Senator Harry Reid. The whores are upset that Senator Reid wants to close them down. With unemployment at 14%, the housing debacle and construction in the dumpster, it does not appear that prostitution is where Senator Reid needed to focus his attention and our tax dollars at this time. US Senators should be careful when they start calling out the working girls. The US Senate and prostitution are not always that different.
March Madness is at fever pitch in Sin City. The spate of basketball tournaments has attenuated the signal in the days leading up to the brackets being announced on Sunday. The Yard has opened the annual basketball pool. Credit card limits have been analyzed in the unlikely event that this Bruin team makes a run for Indy. The 2006 Trek to Hoosierville was a MasterCard moment that is still being paid for and will be passed on in our codicils. Indianapolis is one of the best cities to go to for the Final Four. Indy gets the Final Four every four years because the NCAA said it is so. During the finals, downtown is packed with college basketball being preached on every street corner. There is no event that is more than two beers away from the last one.
Basketball in Indiana is not a game. It is more. Indiana was set to observe Daylight savings for the first time in state history in 2006. The farmer’s clocks were set to spring ahead at 2:00 AM for the first time since the invention of clocks. The UCLA-LSU National Semifinal would end near midnight that night. The governor had to take executive action and push the deadline to 4:00 AM to ensure the bars stayed open. When UCLA pasted Big Baby and LSU that night we toasted a politician who had that kind of foresight. We had no idea then it was going to be the only game that UCLA would win in three straight visits to the Final Four. Fortunately, we partied like it was.
There are colleges and mascots who will be placed into brackets this Sunday that we will have never hear of now or again. The Long Island Blackbirds are in and representing the Northeastern Conference. The Wofford Terriers are in the dance as well. The basketball Blue Bloods will dominate but never intimidate. North Carolina and Kentucky change out their superstars every spring. George Mason and Butler athletes play together through their senior season. They are the kids who might play pro in another profession but they can still play. They have played together for years, will graduate on time and upset a Blue Blood. Which one is the devil in your pool?
For the chosen who embrace the March brilliance, we share collective moments that will always be clear even as the mind fogs. The late Jim Valvano doing laps around the basketball court looking for someone to hug when NC State upset Clyde and The Dream in 1983. In 1992, Christian Laettner corralling a 75 foot pass from Grant Hill to sink a 17 foot jump in overtime to beat Kentucky 104-103 after the Wildcats had taken a one point lead with two seconds left. Bruin Tyus Edney’s 4.8 second dash down the length of the court dash to beat Missouri in 1995. Valparaiso guard Bryce Drew draining a 23 foot jumper with no time on the clock to beat Ole Miss in 1998. Jayhawks Mario Chalmers game tying shot 3-pointer that pushed the 2008 Championship game into a runaway victory for underdog Kansas. Every moment has alternative perspective based in geography or in your place in your pool.
Gas prices are hovering at $4 per gallon. Charlie Sheen and Moammar Gadfhi are in a spiraling death match of insane irrelevance. Wisconsin is in revolt. Tune in a college basketball game and cheer for your team or an underdog or neither. Their colloquial passion will refresh your spirit. Their enthusiasm will rekindle your soul. And deep in your heart of hearts, ask yourself why it is that college education is so underwater and CBS is paying billions to telecast college basketball?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Karna never sleeps
The Yard covered our first sporting event Las Vegas this past weekend. We have a lot of catching up to do and we started at the Thomas and Mack Center. The San Diego State Aztecs were in town to face our Running Reb’s in a Mountain West showdown. It was a compelling matchup and 18,000 Las Vegans showed up to root on our team. It was a raucous crowd and we admit that one simple question changed our entire perspective when we were at the concession stand, “Do you want Grey Goose or Kettle One?” We have never been asked that question in over 35 years of attending games at Pauley Pavilion. It caught us off guard but we went with the Goose.
Yard bylaws require the staff to follow most major sports except hockey, soccer and NASCAR. The Yard is a homer and there are not enough American stars in hockey. Most of the stars in the NHL have just too many vowels in their names to garner interest or accurate reporting. Soccer is only compelling every four years and only if the US makes World Cup pool play. The NASCAR stars seem like fun guys who like to drink beer, drive fast and brawl with each other in random precision. We just cannot commit an afternoon to watching cars drive really fast in circles. We did not plan to follow lacrosse either and did not even know there was a professional indoor lacrosse league.
We read that the Boston Blazers had a racy halftime show featuring scantily clad women giving lap dances to the team’s mascot. Apparently, the team apologized for the halftime promotion that “wasn’t executed as spelled out to us.” It sounded like a hell of a promotion that was executed to perfection. We are checking to see if the Blazers have any Las Vegas dates. Las Vegas is jonesing for a professional team in any sport and lacrosse could be a fit.
Karma has been an ethereal wrapper of sports consequence since early man. Good karma has rarely been congealed down to its core elements. Good guys finish last and all of that. Bad karma is noted, tallied and tweeted about for all of mankind or at least to those with connectivity to social media. Lebron tweeted, re-tweeted, and then tried to un-tweet his gloat about the bad karma his former team suffered when the Cavs were lapped by the Lakers on 1/12/11. The Karmaliers went on to lose another 15 games in route to 26 in a row. On the verge of setting the record for most losses by any professional franchise, they got a Friday night game against the poster child of NBA futility-The LA Clippers. Donald Sterling is the ruddy poster boy of that franchise’s bad karma. It is well deserved and fully vested. The Cavs won and now enjoy as much chance of making the playoffs as our Donald’s Clippers. The Washington Wizards having lost 25 straight road games played the Cavs two nights later and ended that streak in Cleveland. Karma is fleeting. Lebron, you still have a karma deficit that will be recovered on national television in Boston in late May.
Ben Roethlisberger, you just threw two interceptions and failed to rally the Steelers to their third Super Bowl Title in six years, what are you going to do now? He is definitely not going to Disneyland with Aaron Rogers. The Magic Kingdom wanted no part of the not too gentle Ben even if he had rallied the victory. The Yard hopes Ben is not headed to another college bar restroom to grope a coed but it is a long off season and there could be a lockout. He did not get convicted for that incident but Commissioner Goodell suspended him anyway. Righteous Roger did not suspend him for banging the casino hostess in Tahoe who cried foul in an attempt for a civil payday. Apparently, Big B can foul a casino hostess as long as he can beat the civil suit but no more drunken coeds for Ben. Ben, karma can be expensive.
March Madness is within our headlights. UCLA might actually make the tournament in a down year for the Pac-10. The UCLA women have a better shot in their tournament. The University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team is to be commended for their amazing persistence during their 90 game winning streak. It is the longest streak in women’s basketball history and most likely will never be broken. During the hoopla and the quest to win 89 in a row, Uconn coach Geno Auriemma demanded respect and recognition for his women that they did deserve. But Geno, your women Huskies did not break the men’s basketball record of 88 games in a row. That record will never be broken either. It is a compelling story and a great thing for Uconn and women’s basketball but can anyone please reply with one epic matchup during the Uconn streak? Did anyone race home to catch a game on TV?
John Wooden’s Bruins beat Digger Phelps four times before his Fighting Irish ended the streak. The Bruins had wins over Bob Boyd’s # 2 ranked Trojans, Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers, Lefty Driesell’s Terps and Jerry Tarkanians 49’ers. UCLA beat every Pac-8 Team six straight times. The Bruins won twelve tournament games and three NCAA Titles during those 88 games. Chick hoops is chick hoops just not NCAA men’s hoops. It is just not the same level, importance or history. We do not cover women’s basketball, either.
Luck happens when perspiration and preparation meet opportunity. John Wooden
Yard bylaws require the staff to follow most major sports except hockey, soccer and NASCAR. The Yard is a homer and there are not enough American stars in hockey. Most of the stars in the NHL have just too many vowels in their names to garner interest or accurate reporting. Soccer is only compelling every four years and only if the US makes World Cup pool play. The NASCAR stars seem like fun guys who like to drink beer, drive fast and brawl with each other in random precision. We just cannot commit an afternoon to watching cars drive really fast in circles. We did not plan to follow lacrosse either and did not even know there was a professional indoor lacrosse league.
We read that the Boston Blazers had a racy halftime show featuring scantily clad women giving lap dances to the team’s mascot. Apparently, the team apologized for the halftime promotion that “wasn’t executed as spelled out to us.” It sounded like a hell of a promotion that was executed to perfection. We are checking to see if the Blazers have any Las Vegas dates. Las Vegas is jonesing for a professional team in any sport and lacrosse could be a fit.
Karma has been an ethereal wrapper of sports consequence since early man. Good karma has rarely been congealed down to its core elements. Good guys finish last and all of that. Bad karma is noted, tallied and tweeted about for all of mankind or at least to those with connectivity to social media. Lebron tweeted, re-tweeted, and then tried to un-tweet his gloat about the bad karma his former team suffered when the Cavs were lapped by the Lakers on 1/12/11. The Karmaliers went on to lose another 15 games in route to 26 in a row. On the verge of setting the record for most losses by any professional franchise, they got a Friday night game against the poster child of NBA futility-The LA Clippers. Donald Sterling is the ruddy poster boy of that franchise’s bad karma. It is well deserved and fully vested. The Cavs won and now enjoy as much chance of making the playoffs as our Donald’s Clippers. The Washington Wizards having lost 25 straight road games played the Cavs two nights later and ended that streak in Cleveland. Karma is fleeting. Lebron, you still have a karma deficit that will be recovered on national television in Boston in late May.
Ben Roethlisberger, you just threw two interceptions and failed to rally the Steelers to their third Super Bowl Title in six years, what are you going to do now? He is definitely not going to Disneyland with Aaron Rogers. The Magic Kingdom wanted no part of the not too gentle Ben even if he had rallied the victory. The Yard hopes Ben is not headed to another college bar restroom to grope a coed but it is a long off season and there could be a lockout. He did not get convicted for that incident but Commissioner Goodell suspended him anyway. Righteous Roger did not suspend him for banging the casino hostess in Tahoe who cried foul in an attempt for a civil payday. Apparently, Big B can foul a casino hostess as long as he can beat the civil suit but no more drunken coeds for Ben. Ben, karma can be expensive.
March Madness is within our headlights. UCLA might actually make the tournament in a down year for the Pac-10. The UCLA women have a better shot in their tournament. The University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team is to be commended for their amazing persistence during their 90 game winning streak. It is the longest streak in women’s basketball history and most likely will never be broken. During the hoopla and the quest to win 89 in a row, Uconn coach Geno Auriemma demanded respect and recognition for his women that they did deserve. But Geno, your women Huskies did not break the men’s basketball record of 88 games in a row. That record will never be broken either. It is a compelling story and a great thing for Uconn and women’s basketball but can anyone please reply with one epic matchup during the Uconn streak? Did anyone race home to catch a game on TV?
John Wooden’s Bruins beat Digger Phelps four times before his Fighting Irish ended the streak. The Bruins had wins over Bob Boyd’s # 2 ranked Trojans, Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers, Lefty Driesell’s Terps and Jerry Tarkanians 49’ers. UCLA beat every Pac-8 Team six straight times. The Bruins won twelve tournament games and three NCAA Titles during those 88 games. Chick hoops is chick hoops just not NCAA men’s hoops. It is just not the same level, importance or history. We do not cover women’s basketball, either.
Luck happens when perspiration and preparation meet opportunity. John Wooden
Friday, January 21, 2011
Field of Prayers
Sports are microcosms of life where scores are kept. The winners are applauded while the losers are consoled. Sports and more importantly baseball is the historic anchor for the rambling vortex of Yard postings. On this day, I can only think back to the ball fields of Pasadena Southwest Little League. On a Friday in January, the infields are being groomed with the draft a few days away. The players will still be in holiday mode trying to find cleats, mitts and balls that had not seen the light of day since last June. Parents are in earnest mode attempting to multi-task education, sports and social commitments. During February, skills would be found or renewed. Teams and their personalities would emerge throughout the spring. This is baseball distilled down to its beginnings in the pastures of Abner Doubleday.
Baseball has similarities to real life where there is much down time between moments in the spotlight. Everyone eventually has to face the pitcher or make a play. Results are not always as hoped. Parents skillfully magnify a small victory for a ten year old so it resonates louder than a miscue for the day. The resilience and spirit of youth is too distracted to allow those moments to hang in the psyche after the glove is put to rest.
Baseball is the only sport that clears the entire lineup off the playing field each inning. Every three outs, the team gets another chance to make three more while the other watches. These are rare “in game” moments to dissect a play, review a technique or reprimand a lack of effort. But there are many more moments where kids are the storylines not the game. Their personalities morph into the collective soul of their team. Their interplay in the dugout is a Cioppino of anxiety, swagger and diffidence.
The cocky shortstop with the refined skills of his two older brothers bragging his way through the anxiety laced wrapper of expectation. There was the shy pitcher who was exposing his inner athlete a little more with each game. She was a plucky first baseman with an infectious smile and a joyous zeal trying to keep pace with her older brother. The right fielder played because that is what his father expected him to do on Saturday afternoons in the spring.
The kids outgrew little league faster than the parents. Several would play baseball at the next level. Most took their lives to the next level without the mitt. The memory of the team would fade over time but always renew when former teammates might cross paths in school or at a party. Stories were rarely shared just a knowing tell in the passage of time. Team families shared the same community of history. Lives move on with other relationships interwoven into the quilt.
We lost the plucky first baseman this week. It was unexpected and tragic. Her friendship and spirit will be remembered by many. You didn’t have to know her to know that she is the daughter of a grieving family who needs our prayers. In the community built on the field and to the collective spirit beyond that, get out your mitt, take your position and slap your fist into it a few times for her and her family. Let the big guy know we have their back.
Baseball has similarities to real life where there is much down time between moments in the spotlight. Everyone eventually has to face the pitcher or make a play. Results are not always as hoped. Parents skillfully magnify a small victory for a ten year old so it resonates louder than a miscue for the day. The resilience and spirit of youth is too distracted to allow those moments to hang in the psyche after the glove is put to rest.
Baseball is the only sport that clears the entire lineup off the playing field each inning. Every three outs, the team gets another chance to make three more while the other watches. These are rare “in game” moments to dissect a play, review a technique or reprimand a lack of effort. But there are many more moments where kids are the storylines not the game. Their personalities morph into the collective soul of their team. Their interplay in the dugout is a Cioppino of anxiety, swagger and diffidence.
The cocky shortstop with the refined skills of his two older brothers bragging his way through the anxiety laced wrapper of expectation. There was the shy pitcher who was exposing his inner athlete a little more with each game. She was a plucky first baseman with an infectious smile and a joyous zeal trying to keep pace with her older brother. The right fielder played because that is what his father expected him to do on Saturday afternoons in the spring.
The kids outgrew little league faster than the parents. Several would play baseball at the next level. Most took their lives to the next level without the mitt. The memory of the team would fade over time but always renew when former teammates might cross paths in school or at a party. Stories were rarely shared just a knowing tell in the passage of time. Team families shared the same community of history. Lives move on with other relationships interwoven into the quilt.
We lost the plucky first baseman this week. It was unexpected and tragic. Her friendship and spirit will be remembered by many. You didn’t have to know her to know that she is the daughter of a grieving family who needs our prayers. In the community built on the field and to the collective spirit beyond that, get out your mitt, take your position and slap your fist into it a few times for her and her family. Let the big guy know we have their back.
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