Quick post-mortem on UL, and Opening Day in MLB

First, UL's Elite 8 performance vs UNC last saturday night was all you could have wanted from this team. They played very well, only falling in the late minutes to a superior "team", in UNC, which had one of the best players in the nation making plays in those final minutes to take the Cards down.

I, for one, and many other UL fans have expressed similar sentiments, think this team did exceptionally well. If you had asked someone in January, after UL had dropped a home court game to lowly Cincinnatti, if UL would make the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, most people would have laughed. But at the end of the season, this team started putting all of the pieces together to have a very good run.

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Secondly, now that basekball is over, it is now "officially" Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Last night the Washington Nationals hosted the Atlanta Braves, and the Nat's won in a bottom of the ninth walk-off homer fashion, 3-2 over the Braves.

Today the Cubs take on intra-divisional rival Brewers.

Finally baseball is being played again.

As noted, in my other post about the NL Central, here is my prediction for the NL-East.

NL-East

This might be one of the best divisional races to watch come September, if everything works out right. The Mets have all of the talent and pitching staff, but BOTH the Braves and the Phillies have a ton of talent and all of the pieces to contend for the title.

For the Braves, I think their season will all hinge around "health". They, (like the Yankees), have a lot of veteran players that need to do it this year. I would not say this is a "do or die" year for the Braves, but it is close. Two key things for the Braves must happen though. They must get production out of Hamilton in their starting rotation, and Chipper Jones must stay healthy. Considering Jones has not had a full season healthy over the last few, the chances of that are slim. And unlike other NL divisions, a small losing streak in this division could end playoff hopes.

I think this division will come down to a fight, (just like last season), between the Phillies and the Mets. And honestly, I think with the off-season acquisition of Santana by the Mets, I will give the edge to the Mets. Unlike the Braves, while the Mets do have a few key veteran players, (like aging 1st baseman Carlos Delgado), they are not dependant on them for success.

So my pick for the NL-East champs is the NY Mets.

(note, I do think that the Phillies will end up with the NL-Wildcard spot.)

Back in town....after my personal March Madness

After traveling all week, I am back in town today, after taking my own version of March Madness.

Every year, I take week, head off to Florida for a week of fishing and spring baseball. With a lot of drinking in the mix. This year was a little later than I normally go, but still a great time.

I know that most who would read this are very much caught up in Louisville's run in the NCAA tournament. And rightly so.

But this weekend ends the regular spring training and begins the regular major league baseball season.

After watching some teams in Florida I have some predictions for the MLB season.

To keep things simple, I will start with my overall predictions for the season division winners, and then break the divisions down a little more in seperate blog entries.

Since many in our area are Cincinnati Reds fans, let's start with the NL Central.

NL Central

The Chicago Cubs are the favorites to repeat as the NL Central champs. Despite some very big question marks about Rich Hill's control. Jason Marquis will get the starting nod over Hill, and Hill will head to Iowa for more development. Kerry Woods is tagged as the closer now, and you have to wonder if that might create some bullpen hard feelings with Carlos Marmol, who was easily the best closer in the NL last year. But if anyone can handle clubhouse issues, it is Lou Pinella.

The Brewers still have a very good pitching staff, with Sheets and Suppan, but Sheets must stay healthy, because Gagne has not been good at all. Still, they have a very powerful lineup. But I think they are in for some "clubhouse" problems, with some of their off-season trades.

The surprise in the NL Central will be the Cincinnati Reds I think. Unknown pitchers before the spring season started of Volquez and Cueto have been EXTREMELY good. So good that up and coming phenom Homer Bailey, who has struggled a bit adjusting to MLB hitters, has been optioned down to the Bats, to let him continue to develop. Which just shows how deep that rotation could be.

The Cardinals, Astros and Pirates will fight for the basement in the NL Central, and I think the winner, (or loser), for last place will again be the Pirates. They have looked really bad in spring.

My prediction for the NL Central Winner: Chicago Cubs!!!

It is opening day for MLB!...well, kinda...

VERY early this morning was opening day for MLB...in Japan. Not that anyone noticed. Even if you are a huge RedSox and you thought you might be able to get up around 6am EST to watch your team open the season was a "good idea", then you were doubly ticked off, when you found out that through some fluke technical screwup, most of the NE did not receive the transmission.

The only saving grace? ESPN2 did replay the game at 2pm today.

(BTW, I am traveling this week, and will not be able to post much. But will get on it with my predictions of the MLB division and pennant races later this week. However, until then, here is a little taste......Go Cubs!)

2nd round NCAA thoughts...

After the 1st round of the NCAA tourney, I maintained that the Big East has proven that it is the best conference in the nation. Primarily on the strength of the Be going 7-1 in the first round. While the 2nd round of the tourney saw four of those teams fall, including both the BE tourney champions Pittsburgh, and the regular season champs Georgetown, I still believe that. Only the PAC-10, which is now tied with the BE in terms of teams heading into the round of 16 has any other claim to that statement.

But even with that, I still contend the Big East is the better conference. Marquette was a defensive stop or a missed front end of a 1&1, or a missed layup away from taking down the #2 PAC-10 team, Stanford, and the Golden Eagles finished 5th in the Big East conference.

However, I will say that the top of the PAC-10 is looking much stronger and better than the top 2-5 of the Big East, because of the two head to head matchups, where while Stanford just squeeked by Marquette, Washington State just destroyed Notre Dame.

At the same time, some local sports wonks have been touting the Big-12 as being much stronger.

And yet in the head to head matchups in that regard between the BE and the B12, the BE has destroyed their one opponent. And while there is another chance to see that matchup, it is extremely doubtful whether a Villanova team that just barely made it into the tourney will be able to knock off the B12 champion in Kansas.

But, then again, not many people nationwide would have ever picked Davidson over Georgetown, or WKU over UConn, either.

But one thing we do know for sure, and most would agree with: the ACC and the SEC are just AWFUL; and have been all year, despite what "Dookie" V and Jay Bilas have to say about it.

1st round of NCAA tourney over...BE big winner

Here is the fact. The current field of 65 teams in the NCAA tournament have been whittled down over 4 days to just 32, and after today and tomorrow that will be down to just 16.

Of those 32 still standing, 7 of those teams are from the Big East conference. The best winning percentage of all of the conferences. And were it not for a late overtime last second shot, the Big East might have had all 8 of their 8 teams move into the 2nd round.

And what is even more impressive is that the Big East teams are doing it the way they have done it all year in the conference. With NASTY, stifling, suffocating defense that just grinds opponents down and into confusion, and dominating the backboards.

Without question the Big East has proven that it is THE best college basketball conference in the nation. Bar none.

Fans of opposing conferences and sports media wonks nationwide can talk about conference RPI and Sagarin ratings all they want, and how the PAC-10 was a 'better' conference, or that the ACC had the 'best' two teams. The Big East has proven it where it matters most. On the court, against the best competition in the nation.

Will the Big East continue to do that? Honestly, probably not. But when one conference makes up almost 25% of the TOTAL top 32 teams in the nation, can anyone deny that the Big East is THE best conference in the nation?

The facts do not lie. Especially when you consider how close, tight, lucky, or downright awful, some of the other conferences teams have played against competition that they were supposedly much better than. I.e. Duke vs Belmont, Vanderbuilt vs Siena.

Again, I doubt whether the Big East will be able to continue that pace, primarily because the competition against some of the more elite "teams" in the nation will force that number down. But that does not dilute the fact of how strong the Big East conference has proven itself. And that was proven by the fact that all but one of the game that Big East teams played were really even close. (Sorry UK fans, but without a superman effort by ONE player, (Joe Crawford), that game against Marquette was not even close.)

The Big East IS the BEAST of college basketball, and no one can deny that now.

Basketball overload...

Ok, so like what the HELL gives with yet ANOTHER post-season college basketball tournament? We have the NCAA, the prize fight of college basketball, the NIT, the consolation prize of college basketball, but now we have the CBI, (College Basketball Invitational)????

This CBI tournament is beginning to encroach on the realm of the absurd, along the lines of the college football proliferation of meaningless post-season bowl games.

Some of the (quote), "TEAMS", (unquote), in this farce of a post-season play, have literally LOSING records. Like the Big East's very own Cincinnati Bearcats. Who have a season record of 13-18. Yes, 13-18! That is so far below .500 that they could not find their way back to playing .500 ball if they had a flashlight and GPS. There are some very "mediocre" teams in this thing, like Houston, Rider and Nevada. But along with bad teams like Cincy there are also teams like Old Dominion, Richmond and Virginia. Those are some really BAD teams. (And BTW, Richmond, Rider and Nevada have already lost and are out of this farce. Mercifully for them...AND us.)

This so-called "tournament" is anything but. It is nothing more than a money grab by Fox sports, (BTW, it is rumored to be being shown on a FOX Sports TV network, but I have not seen even which one it is, or even where that cable channel is offered.)

There is NO reason to hold this tournament, and certainly, NONE of these teams will ever be big fan attractions. So why even play it?

This is a bad idea...taken to the worst possible conclusion. The only ideas I have heard worse than this is "Battery night" at Shea Stadium or "50 cent beer night" at the old Jacobs Fields or XFL football. A few other REALLY bad sports ideas.

Odds and ends from football to baseball..........

Today marks the first day of Louisville spring football practice. Some other schools have been started for a week or two. For UL there exists some HUGE question marks left as a hangover from a horribly unsatisfying season in 2007. The personnel holes at LB and along the OL, not too mention QB, safety and WR, are nothing compared to the much large question marks currently over whether or not Kragthorpe has fixed the assistant coaching holes. Holes that were created by him, and that must be fixed by him. The off-season moves and coaching acquisitions have been welcome changes. But the question marks remain as to how effective these coaching changes will be.

The key will be in how fast these coach's all come together. And that is the real thing to watch for.

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On Monday of this week, the LA Dodgers closed down and bid farewell to their old spring training facility in Arizona called, "Dodgertown". While it did make some sports media talk shows, it did so only because there existed a small break between the end of the college basketball conference championships, and the beginning of the NIT and NCAA tournaments. (Oh, and that other thing call the CBI...a note about that in a minute.)

While I can not even remotely be considered a Dodgers fan, the closing of Dodgertown was a little sad for me. Sad partly because it completely brings to an end a chapter of Dodger history that stretches back to the days when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, and were not part of that "California culture". Dodgertown, and the Dodger management created that facility in time and in a place that ran against the current mainstream of major league baseball at the time. That being that the real reason that Dodgertown was created was to give a home where ALL of the Dodger players could train, practice and play together. Both black and white. Built in 1948, at the time, it was the only franchise of its kind to show forethought and social conscience in dealing with its black players. And the names of the players that went through Dodgertown is a HOF list. Players like Jackie Robinson, PeeWee Reese, Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax, Duke Snider, all from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Not to mention all the HOFer's from the LA Dodgers after 1958. Even managers like Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda. All of them had their time in this small Florida oasis of baseball.

It is sad to see it go. But that is why baseball is so rich for so many baseball fans. History. Baseball is the longest, continual running professional sport in America. And Dodgertown was a large part of that history.

NCAA selection changing criteria again

Ok, it is less than 24 hours since we learned of the pairings for the yearly NCAA basketball tournament. And every year we have a large controversy as to who got in, and who did not. This year the major discussion of who did not centers around mostly, Virginia Tech, Dayton, Arizona State and Illinois State. All of the talking heads on ESPN are throwing out great arguments as to why those 3 teams deserve to be in, and maybe why this team or that team should not be in.

Every year at the beginning of the season we hear from every available news source that the RPI, (or basketball Ratings Percentage Index), is THE major determining factor as to what team gets into and is left out of the tournament. And some years that works. But looking at this year, that argument does not hold water.

And that is the whole problem with the selection process. It is not quantitative by any known measure. It is purely and completely subjective based on the makeup of the selection committee in any particular year! Now, I would be ok with that, IF the NCAA selection committee were forced to do two things:

1) Before meeting publish the criteria by which the committee will be using to determine the selections. Even if it is only a few days before they meet to do the selection.

2) Fully disclose how the voting went based on that criteria.

That would, I believe, take all of the debate as to "why" a team did or did not make it, and would just shift the debate by the sports media wonks to disagreement. That would be fine.

But as it stands no one has ANY idea how this process ends up with its decisions. The committee chair told ESPN last night that it was the "overall body of work", while last year it was the "overall RPI and schedule". Which clearly indicates that the criteria is shifting from year to year.

Because if the criteria from last year were applied to this year, then teams like Kentucky, Oregon and Kansas St, would NEVER have been selected over any of the teams I mentioned above. And some would counter that UK, UO and KSU had tougher schedules, as shown by the SOS. Wrong! They did not. Not over teams like Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Dayton. So that argument does not hold water either. (BTW, here is the source of my information: Realtime RPI)

What I have learned over the years is that the NCAA selection committee is not unbiased and wants all of the obfuscation it can get every year in the selection process so that they can reward some conferences and punish others. Anytime you can get people arguing over why this team or that team did or did not get in, it deflects them from asking the more pertinent questions. Questions that would back the committee into defending their positions, rather than giving some off the cuff nebulous criteria answer. An answer such as what we had yesterday from the committee chairman.

The college basketball post season is here!

Now that the conference post season tournaments are in full swing, it is the one time of year that I truly can not get enough college basketball. But maybe not for the reason you think...or even you do.

What I love most about the post season basketball tournaments are, the day games. This really, for me, is a throw-back to when I was a kid in grade school and the baseball World Series was played during the days. During those late october afternoons, every boy in my school had a dad, uncle, or even much older brother, who would call up the school during lunchtime and offer some really lame excuse about some type of "family problem", so that they would have come get "little Johnny" and take them home. After, of course, using even a dumber and MUCH lamer excuse on their bosses at work, so that they did not go in all day and spent most of the morning at the bars, talking about the upcoming pitching matchups. Of course, more often than not, the guy sitting across the table arguing why so-and-so pitcher was better than yours was often your dad's/uncle's boss anyway. (As if THEY would miss the game, and did not know what the real reason was they were not at work.) Then your dad/uncle/brother would drive to school, and having pulled us out of normally a packed nurse's room of boys with stomach aches and other assorted ailments, we would all pile in the back of a one dad's stationwagon and sneak off to the local bar to watch the game. At that, the bartenders and owners had NO fear of reprisal from local authorities about kids in a bar, because literally half the bar was cops, government officials, or some other authority figure of renown.

It was truly a "guy moment"!

With TV deals of the World Series putting EVERY game on at night, those days are long over. But, we can still have this type of "guy bonding" with our kids today every time the college basketball world begins dribbling out the clock beginning in mid-March.

And there is very little chance this will go away anytime soon as a result of TV deals. The shear volume of games and teams playing pretty much assures that. The only real crisis being when is your "favorite team" playing? And are there interesting matchups that you want to watch?

Yeah, yeah, I know. A LOT of guys can not do this sort of thing for fear of mad bosses who only have a nose for the bottomline and no life, can watch and/or listen to these afternoon games over the Internet in the comfort of their Dilbert cube. But that just does not have the "style points" of coming up with lame excuses and pulling your kids out of school just to watch a game together.

So as we head into the NCAA tournament this year, I say all of us sweatsock, armchair athletes, take some time, grab your kid and hustle off to the nearest "family friendly watering hole" and catch an afternoon game once. You and your kid will remember it for a long, long time.

Another golfer gone wild...

An incident occurred last week that went by with very little media attention nationally, and absolutely no media attention locally that really needs to be discussed.

What the incident was about, related to PGA tour player Tripp Isenhour killing an endangered species of hawk by hitting it with a golf ball. Now, I am not a PETA member, or ascribe to any of PETA's doctrine. So what makes this issue newsworthy? It was that this "silver spoon-fed, frat-boy" targeted the hawk, because it was making noise.

This guy did not do kill this bird through some fluke accident. No, this moron deliberately and successfully tried to kill the bird by hitting shot after shot at it, until he finally killed it.

(Here is a link to the ESPN story about it: Isenhour, charged )

Many times over the course of sports history have animals been killed or injured in the course of playing the game. But nearly all are accidental. For example, in 2001, fireball pitcher Randy Johnson, while pitching in a spring training game for the Arizona Diamondbacks and facing Giants hitter Calvin Murray, literally blasted a dove that flew into the path of Johnson's fastball to the plate. Randy Johnson was visibly upset by the situation and noted that he was very sorry that it happened. The same type of situation happened in 1983 when Dave Winfield, right fielder for the Yankees, while throwing a ball back to the ball boy after warmups between innings against the Toronto BlueJays, hit a gull in the head, killing that bird. In that situation also, Winfield was upset, and even a few days later made a large donation to the Humane Society. (A sidebar anecdote to this, is that Winfield was charged with cruelty to animals. And while the charges were dropped the very next day, Yankee skipper at the time Billy Martin had this to say about the incident, "They say he hit the gull on purpose. They wouldn't say that if they'd seen the throws he'd been making all year. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." Funny stuff. But note this was still an accident.)

So, while clearly there have been other examples of animals being killed in the course of engaging in sports by humans; where some golfers have been involved, these guys go out of their WAY to kill, harass or disturb wildlife, all for the sake of their idiotic and insipid game that, (as Winston Churchill once described), is nothing more than a "good walk spoiled".

Here is another example of a golfer gone wild.

In December of 2000, a 54 year old golfer named Harry Wagner killed an exotic black swan by breaking its neck at the Trump International Golf Club. Donald Trump had imported the rare bird from Australia. The reason this moron gave for killing the swan? He felt "threatened" by the bird. It was not clear why this idiot chose this path of action, when even the investigators noted in their report that the golfer could have very easily just have driven away in his golf cart. Luckily this guy was charged and found guilty of animal cruelty and through a plea agreement performed community service at a local animal shelter. Personally, I think he also should have been made to go through some anger management classes. This guy had some "issues".

In the case of Isenhour, not only should he be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law, since this spoiled frat-boy, literally targeted an endangered bird, and committed an incredibly egregious act, but the PGA also should step in and ban him from play for at least a year. And I think until such time as he has completed BOTH 500 hours of community service and completed an anger management course. And that should be ON TOP of whatever legal action outcomes there are. Afterall how is what Isenhour did really any different that what Michael Vick did? Because let's face some facts here. If this guy so does not care about the life of a bird, what makes you think that he would even HESITATE to hit into you, or even your kids if they were ahead of him on a golf course. (And believe me, I have seen MANY so-called "weekend golfers" who do this sort of thing.)

Isenhour has NO business playing this game. At ALL! Look, this game is played OUT OF DOORS!!! Meaning that if you want to play golf with NO NOISE, then I suggest you buy the Golden Tee arcade game and play in the solitude of your basement! Otherwise, DEAL with the noise!

The PGA needs to take some action here. Because in recent years, the game of golf, has evolved from a gentle past-time where literary writers like P.G. Wodehouse would make fun of the gentry, to one where vicious competitive natures end up in violent acts. And the PGA needs to make an example of Isenhour that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

Winter sports fun...and an anecdote....

Over the weekend Louisville was hit with one of the BEST snowstorms we have had in quite a number of years. It was nothing short of a winter wonderland of fun all weekend as a result.

While many people just HATE that kind of weather, I personally love it...well, every now and then. I pretty much lived outside friday, saturday and sunday, playing the snow and getting every minutes enjoyment out of what will surely be the last significant snow of the season.

Hopefully, many of you enjoyed yourselves as well. I know that the parks were just full of people sledding, making snow sculptures and generally playing.

However, the one outdoor sport in this part of the country we hardly ever participant or hear anything of, because of our milder climate and low sea-level, is skiing. Something that while I enjoy, I pretty much suck at it.

So, in honor of the past 72 hours that I have been playing with the dog, having a snowball fight with the neighbor kids, and just all around enjoying the best snowfall we have had in years, let me share my worst skiing story.

I had just moved to Denver and had only skied 2 other times in my life. But the gang I hung with there took me out the very first weekend the slopes opened. Every year at the end of the season they give out the Big Banana award for the best, (read Worst), ski fall. The Big Banana was a 3 foot long stuffed banana. Well, I won it the very first day, because they said that NO ONE could top it. After 20 minutes on the Green Circle slopes, I stupidly decided I was ready for the Blue Circle. Remember this was only my 3rd time skiing. Everything was fine until....(how many bad things always start out with that line?).....I hit a little bump. All I remember from there out was waking up 2.5 hours later with a concussion. And a video tape that made me look like the guy from the ABC Wild World of sports falling off of the ski jump. Apparently, one of the guys thought ahead enough to bring his VHS recorder with him and captured the whole thing for posterity.

Watching myself, I looked like Charlie Brown taking a line drive up the middle. Ski's, hat's, shoes, and yes, EVEN MY SKI PANTS, came flying off as I bounced and tumbled down the hill at about a clip that would make Darrell Waltrip proud. I took out two evergreen saplings and a ski school class of 7 people made up of mostly 8-10 year olds that could ski better than I could any day. They went sprawling like bowling pins, knocking out the tow rope line. I came to rest, (as it were), by slamming into a bench that was sitting next to the tow line, proving than immovable object can stop an irresistible force. Especially if that force is unconcious and out of control.

Really, I can't make this stuff up. Needless to say, I was banned from returning to that ski slope.

One other note: The guys retired the big banana that year to me figuring that was one that should not ever be topped, and changed to the Big Bear award.....

or not!..........

Yesterday I posted that Brohm's drop in the NFL draft may be more driven by NFL team positional need rather than anything that Brohm has or has not done, or whether the NFL scouts are somehow "blackballing" him.

Wellllll.....maybe I was wrong.

Yesterday evening we learned that the Atlanta Falcons released Joey Herrington thereby creating a spot for them at QB and with the Falcons picking 3rd, the rumor is that they are badly wanting a franchise QB with that pick.

The rumor further states that the Falcons are hoping that Matt Ryan is still available when their pick is made.

There is only one small problem with that. The real problem that the Falcons had last year was an OL that was more porous and ineffective than a Rafael Palmero testimony.

The problem for Brohm, is that he is a pocket passer, and would get pummeled in that Atlanta offense.

So if Miami takes Matt Ryan, and if the Falcons are dead set on a taking a QB in their spot, Brohm will likely NOT be Atlanta's pick. Because to be effective, the Falcons need QB that really can throw on the run, and be a run threat themselves.

Maybe there was something to that statement that Brohm is being schemed against afterall.

Brohm getting raw deal?

I have seen and read a lot recently about Brian Brohm looking to slip way down in the first round NFL draft this upcoming April.

A lot of local media is suggesting that Brohm is getting the "Brady Quinn" or "Drew Brees" treatment from the NFL. But I am not so sure about that. Brohm preformed very well at the combine in Indianapolis recently, even running the 40 time much better than he ever had done previously.

So, why then is Brohm projected as slipping way down in the first round of the draft, and in one case one "draft pundit" has him not even being SELECTED in the first round?

I think it has a lot more to do with positional needs and talent by NFL teams, more than it does anything that Brohm has or has not done.

I certainly think Brohm is far better than any QB in the draft, and IMHO, is THE number 1 QB in this year's draft. And even though Matt Ryan has graded out higher than Brohm, I think Brohm's intangibles and field leadership is far and away better than Ryan's.

Even with that, I still think that the reason Brohm might not go in the top 20 of the NFL draft is more because of other needs by the teams selecting. Miami has the #1 pick this year. And their first and foremost need is at QB. They BADLY need a Brian Brohm type of QB to come in and take over immediately. But honestly, I do not think that Brohm would fit in there at Miami for the type of offense they are running. And I think that Miami will look at other QB options first.

Then you look at the next 9 teams and QB is just NOT their top priorities. The Rams have 3 good, (but not great), QB's to start next season, Atlanta has Herrington and Redman, and would like to have a great QB, but they have monster needs on the OL first. And that goes on all down the line until you get down to Carolina who picks 13th. They have a need for "franchise" QB, but are they going to pull the trigger on it?

One thing is for sure to me. I do not think there is anything like "black balling" going on with Brohm. I think it is just situational based on other needs by the NFL clubs. There is a LOT of youth in the NFL at the QB spots right now. You look up and down the rosters, and most NFL QB rosters in the 2-deep, (not the starters), have not been around more than 3-5 years. So, they are just now getting their NFL legs under them.

Brohm WILL have a very good NFL career. There is no doubt in my mind about that. And he will do that, regardless of whether he is picked 1st or 101st. And that is the real bottom line here.

the REAL 'March madness'..........

Over the weekend, we had one of Louisville's mid-winter weekends that makes everyone just ache for the warming weather of spring and the outdoor activities that come with it.

I saw dozens of people out on the golf courses, jogging, walking their dog, in the park playing frisbee, riding bikes, etc. I even saw many local HS teams out practicing their various sports, as well pickup games of basketball. Yep, the warm weather brought out all of the people who love sports and enjoy playing them, if only on an ad-hoc basis. Personally, I took the chance to fight with other 'fair weather' fishing junkies and was trying to land that prize pre-spawning bass. Something I failed to do, but I have NEVER had a bad day fishing. But that is another blog.

There were other things going on also. This past weekend, along with the beautiful weather, many of the summer sport leagues began holding their sign up periods for their sports. Summer softball leagues held their meetings, as well as summer basketball and swim leagues.

One such league that also met this weekend, that gets little attention, but has a very big underground membership is the Louisville chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League.

They held their sign meeting this past weekend And the Courier-Journal on their website posted this information:

Men's senior baseball is gearing up
By Derek Poore
dpoore@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Louisville's chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League will hold an informational meeting from 2-6 p.m. on March 2 in the Community Room at Jefferson Mall on Outer Loop.

Anyone interested in joining a team in the league's 18-, 25- and 38-and-older divisions is encouraged to attend, league organizer David Allison said. Teams and individuals who need a team are welcome.

The league plays at parks throughout Jefferson County and Southern Indiana in the spring and summer. The Men's Senior Baseball League is a network of about 1,000 leagues nationwide.

For more information call Allison at 594-0872 or 935-0095 (after 6 p.m.) or e-mail allison83@bellsouth.net.

If you have never heard of this, please let me enlighten you. This is a group of guys, mostly older ones that just love the game of baseball, even though the days of playing the game in any real organized way has past them by.

They play for the love of the game, and because softball is not the same game. This is a real baseball game. Played with fast pitch baseball and only a slight change of the rules regarding substitution and pinch running. Afterall, with the knees and years of beer and fried food, that is enough of a handicap for most of us.

But make no mistake, even though the arms look like rubber, the fastballs never getting over 65MPH, the speed of the running looks like guys wearing army boots running in sand, and the only sound from the spouses sitting around the field are from the cell phones who have 911 on 'speed dial', these true 'boys of summer' play the game as if it is the World Series. That does not mean that they are so serious as to not have fun and ridicule those of lesser talents or skills. Because as I noted, time is the biggest leveler of talent and skill. No, they take the game seriously, but they also take back the joy we all remembered of playing those after-school playground pickup games. Of the times in the backyard with our dads, brothers, uncles, even MOM's, playing 'catch' to teach us to throw and catch.

It's a way to remember the past and celebrate the game we love. And it's a perennial reminder that summer is always just a warm spring weekend away.