Mark_Concannon's Blog

Talk about a day of decision! More plot twists than an episode of "24."

Suppose the Milwaukee Brewers had to win one game against say, the Pittsburgh Pirates to keep their spot in the Major Leagues and that a loss would mean a demotion to Triple-A. That's the situation facing several teams in the English Premier Soccer League this weekend, as EPL clubs play their final game to complete the regular season schedule.

The bottom three teams will be relegated to the lower division, the "Championship" League, which is impressively named but light years behind the Premier League in money and prestige. Derby County, with an abysmal 11 points has been doomed for demotion since before Christmas. The real drama will be played out among the next three teams in the bottom four. Reading and Fulham have 33 points, Birmingham is in next to last place with 32. Two of those clubs will be sent down.

Fulham, my sentimental favorite since the club employs five Americans(including UWM alum Brian McBride) has a tough assignment playing at Portsmouth, the surprising FA Cup finalist which is protecting the golden 8th spot which would insure a place in the UEFA Cup tournament next season. Reading has the easiest assignment, at woeful Derby, but if Fulham and Reading acheive the same result this weekend, Fulham wins the tiebreaker on goal differential. Birmingham needs to win at home against Blackburn, not an easy chore with the Rovers in 7th place also looking to nail down a UEFA placement.

And the gut-wrenching tension among the bottom feeders is surpassed at the other end of the table, as Manchester United and Chelsea are tied for first place heading into the final weekend. Man U enjoys the goal differential advantage and can clinch the championship with a victory. The Red Devils visit Wigan, which has occupied the lower half of the standings all season and would love to play spoiler again after earning a surprising draw at Chelsea last month that could determine the EPL winner. Chelsea faces Bolton at home. The Wanderers, with 36 points, could still technically be relegated with a lopsided loss, so they're not likely to be too bold and send many attackers forward with the knowledge that a 1-0 or even 2-0 setback insures their place in the top league.

Talk about a big finish! I can't wait for the last act from these lads!.

*****POOPED IN PRIME TIME-Red Sox manager Terry Francona would like to play some weekday matinee road games to arrive home earlier to get some rest for the next series, but his A-list Sox are playing mostly night games."Those teams aren't going to give us day-game getaway days because we're a big draw. We have to accept that. I don't know that it always helps."

*****RUB-A-DUB-DUB-Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young's season-long struggle with back pain is lessening thanks to the team's masseuse.Young, who had made virtually no progress over the last month in his recovery from a strained lower back, enjoyed a breakthrough moment Wednesday when Nationals massage therapist Tatiana Tchamouroff worked on his hip flexor for the first time. Young felt immediate relief and was subsequently able to hit balls in a batting cage with authority for the first time in weeks. Once she worked on my hip, that was it," he said. "It fixed everything. It made all the difference."

*****BEES BUZZING-The Salt Lake City Bees of baseball's Pacific Coast League started the season winning 21 of their first 22 games.

*****SERIOUS SMOKE-Kenn Kasparek tossed the 20th no-hitter in University of Texas history, lifting the Longhorns to an 11-0 win over Texas State last week.

*****SERIOUS SMOKE #2-There were six no-hitters thrown in local girls high school softball on Wednesday.

*****MAY SADNESS- The Dallas Mavericks are 4-12 in their last 16 playoff games.

*****SOME EXPERIENCE REQUIRED?-The New York Knicks were seriously considering former guard Mark Jackson for their next head coaching job and former guard and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith for the GM slot. Neither man has any experience coaching or in the front office.

*****A ROUGH ROOM-Former UWM and current Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl's divorce after 25 years of marriage has been finalized, spawning major traffic in internet chat rooms full of Volunteer-hating Memphis fans.

*****RACE FANS GASSED-The prospect of paying $4 a gallon to get to the track has some race fans reluctant to start their engines. Ticket sales have slipped just as May, the biggest month in motorsports, approaches. So track promoters are shifting into high gear to keep the grandstands full, offering all-you-can-eat packages and staging rock concerts.

*****BLADE BLUNDERS-Ever since they teamed up for their mega-star shaving commercial, Tiger Woods didn't win the Masters and needed knee surgery, Roger Federer didn't win the Australian open and dropped to 4th on the world tennis money list and Thierry Henry has been a bust at FC Barcelona which finished leaps and bounds behind Real Madrid in the Spanish Soccer League.

*****THE NAKED CITY-Penguins minor-leaguer Nathan Smith has been suspended for one game after being arrested for running naked in downtown Scranton early Sunday. Public drunkeness was among the laundry list of charges Smith faces.

We return, fully-clothed for more musings on Monday, May 12th

Fabulous success or abject failure. There's no middle ground for fans of Manchester United and Chelsea, who in 3 weeks time will enjoy the former or suffer through the latter.

The Red Devils and the Blues are dead even atop the English Premier League standings after Chelsea's home victory over Man U. this past Saturday. But even though the teams are tied, Manchester has a much easier schedule for the last two matches of the season and the Devils also win the tiebreaker on goal differential, a fact that United coach Alex Ferguson seemed to recognize when he rested EPL player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo Saturday.

The coach rested Ronaldo because the Red Devils have bigger football fish to fry this week, hosting the second leg of the two game UEFA Champions League semifinal with Barcelona today. Man U played Barca to a goal-less draw last week in Spain, Barcelona held the ball for 70 percent of the match, stringing together dozens of passes but never looking really dangerous. A United victory today at Old Trafford would mean a berth in the championship game next month in Moscow where the Devils could face....

Chelsea. Yes the Blues dreams of European club supremacy are quite vivid these days. Chelsea hosts Liverpool in the other UEFA semi tomorrow at Stamford Bridge. The Blues escaped with a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week at Anfield when Liverpool's John Arne Riise knocked the ball into his own net in the waning seconds. So even a nil-nil draw on Wedneday(away goals count double in the aggregate tiebreaker) would move Chelsea into the title game. So the Blues, who sacked legendary coach Jose Mourinho in September throwing their program into disarray, now have a chance to take the "double;" both the EPL and Champions League crowns.

So imagine if the Packers played the Bears in the NFC championship game AND Super Bowl. That's the type of angst Chelsea and Man U. supporters are dealing with these days. And considering what those fans are accustomed to, there's no prize for second place here. It is all or nothing.

*****LOWDOWN ON LO MEIN-Brewer fans didn't cheer on many dramatic victories during last week's homestand but they could enjoy the best food stand name in baseball: "Wok Off Noodles.

*****SKIP WANTS TO SEE YOU IN HIS OFFICE-A tough week for former Brewers Brady Clark and Ray King who were both sent to the minors

.*****SAUSAGE STRIKER SURFACES-Randall Simon, the former Pirate who became famous for whacking a racing sausage at Miller Park has signed a contract with the independent Newark Bears.

*****NO BIGGIE, MATE-Australian native and Padre infielder Justin Huber hit his first major league homer off Randy Johnson."It's pretty special," said Huber "But I don't see myself telling stories about it in 10 years' time or 20 years' time, because nobody in Australia knows who Randy Johnson is."

*****AUGUST OFFSPRING GOT GAME-Since 1950, a baby born in the United States in August has had a 50 percent to 60 percent better chance of making the big leagues than a baby born in July. A recent survey showed as of the 2005 season, 503 Americans born in August had made it to the major leagues compared with 313 American born in July.

*****THE LONGEST DAY-Watertown's Maranatha Baptist College baseball team took a doubleheader drubbing Saturday against Aurora, losing the first game 32-1 and the nightcap 19-0

*****GET MEL KIPER ON THE HORN-Sportsbook.com offered fans the chance to bet on the NFL draft.

*****BAGGAGE CLAIM-Four 1,700-pound, black granite replica racing tires, ordered as milestone markers to honor Darlington Speedway, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, got a weeklong unanticipated detour to Anchorage, Alaska, on their trip from the manufacturer in China to South Carolina. "They got to California and got put on the wrong train and ended up in Alaska," said Darlington's president.

*****MOVE THE VEHICLE OR I'LL MOVE IT FOR YOU-A suburban Chicago police officer is a new world record holder for bench pressing. Dale Szymanski of Bolingbrook lifted 622 pounds earlier this month at the National Bench Press Competition in Lake George, NewYork.

*****NO REAL MADRID CHAT FOR YOU-Spain's Defense Ministry has ordered its staff to stop browsing sports and entertainment Web sites while on duty. A Spanish newspaper reported the restrictions stem from recent incidents in which computer systems overloaded and nearly crashed.

Browse all you want here. We'll be back with more musings on Monday, May 5th.

In Chess, it's known as the "Endgame," the pivotal moves in the waning stages of a match where there are only a few key pieces left on the board. I'm not an expert at Chess and I'm certainly no Grandmaster at baseball, but I know enough about the latter competition to question two of Ned Yost's Endgame moves yesterday in a contest I attended at Miller Park.

The Brewers were in great shape to put the Phillies in "checkmate. The home side had runners at first and third with no one out in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the 7th. With the pitcher due up, Yost called on Tony Gwynn Jr. to pinch hit. Gwynn is a terrific young prospect who may patrol the team's outfield for years to come. But yesterday, he hadn't seen major league pitching since going on the disabled list 3 weeks ago. And Gwynn faced crafty veteran Tom Gordon(Gordon is 40, any pitcher 40 or over still in the big leagues is automatically deigned "crafty"). And Gordon ate the kid alive. Gwynn was retired on three pitches after awkward swings at each delivery. Meantime, Craig Counsell, another left-handed stick, sat on the bench. Counsell, a pressure tested warrior with much big game experience, has been one of the team's best offensive performers(a .350 average at gametime) He is a tremendous contact hitter. Any ball in play in that situation would have certainly scored a run. But buoyed by Gwynn's strikeout, Gordon whiffed Jason Kendall and got Rickie Weeks on a grounder to end the threat. Counsell later came off the bench and singled in the 9th, but by then the train had left the station

Because in the top of the 8th, The Phillies had two outs with left-handed hitter Greg Dobbs at the plate. Rather than to bring in lefty-killer Brian Shouse, Yost stayed with right-hander David Riske who promptly gave up a walk to Dobbs and a single to Chase Utley, another left-hander, before surrendering what proved to be the game winning 2-run double to Pat Burrell. Shouse was then summoned to retire Geoff Jenkins but by then the train was pulling out of the station.

As we saw last season, there is little margin for error for any team making a run at the playoffs. The Brewers must get smarter in Endgame scenarios going forward or their playoff run will end before it gets started.

I am not a fan of the designated hitter but I am a fan of hitters, which are becoming a vanishing breed in Major League Baseball. In Tuesday's game at Miller Park, the Cardinals used two pitchers as pinch hitters. During last night's broadcast, Brewer announcers Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder talked about how Milwaukee pitchers Dave Bush, Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra were in effect "auditioning" for pinch hitter roles any time they came up to bat.

What is going on here? It's simply a numbers game. There are 25 spots on a baseball roster. Most teams carry at least a dozen pitchers(The Brewers currently have 14) so that doesn't leave a lot of room for backup position players. The solution to this problem is a no-brainer. MLB needs to expand its rosters to 28 players.

The NFL has increased its team rosters from 40 to 53 players in recent years. Even the NBA now features 15 players per team instead of 12. Why isn't baseball following suit? Because once again the powers that be in this sport treat the game's rules like they were etched into marble and brought down from the mountain top. Change comes slowly to the big league diamond.

Fans want to enjoy the late inning strategy afforded by inserting pinch-hitters. But they want to see HITTERS; not someone who qualifies as a "good-hitting pitcher" by recording an average north of .150.

There are some purists who might argue the real problem is teams using too many pitchers. I don't disagree. In their 4-2,  9-inning win over the Phillies last week, the Mets summoned 7 different hurlers to the mound. We are now awash in 5th inning "set up" men. But that manager mind set is here to stay. The days of all 5 starters recording multiple complete games each season are as much a distant memory as pro footballers playing on both sides of the ball.

So expand the rosters to 28. And for heaven's sakes cap the number of pitchers at 14. Or else we'd have a bunch of jobs out there for third inning set up guys.

*****BUSY BULLPEN-In their 4-2 victory Friday night at Philadelphia, the Mets used 7 pitchers.

*****PANIC BUTTON-After the Mets lost two of three to the Brewers last weekend, the New York Daily news ran a story comparing the series to the Mets late season collapse in 2007

*****NO LOVE LOST-And the Daily News had no sympathy for Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was benched after an .070 start, calling him "Big Floppy."

*****TRY SOMETHING NEW-Former Brewer Geoff Jenkins batted in the leadoff spot for the Phillies last Sunday, the first time he hit in the #1 slot after playing over 1200 major league games. He was 2 for 6 and scored a run.

*****TOO MUCH BUZZ?-The Cubs are concerned that ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano is ingesting too much caffeine. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said Zambrano is "off a lot of caffeine, but hasn't kicked the habit completely." Zambrano admits to drinking coffee and energy drinks "under the table."

*****WITH A NAME LIKE THAT-The Lehigh Valley IronPigs opened their Triple A International League season by going 0-11. The Pigs are a sloppy 2-13 as of this writing and still haven't won a road game.

*****OK IN KC-Kane County, a suburban Chicago team in the Class A Midwest League, stormed out of the gate, winning its first ten games this season

*****WASN'T HE THE FONZ'S NEPHEW?- Baseball's Buffalo Bisons just recalled pitcher Bubbie Buzachero from Double-A Akron

*****SLUGFEST-The Lemoyne College baseball team from upstate New York, scored 49 runs in two games last week, sweeping a doubleheader from St. Peter's.

*****THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?-How bad is the marketing of the LPGA which has the hottest athlete in pro sports(Lorena Ochoa, who has won 4 straight tournaments) and is still barely a blip on the sports radar

*****BYE WEEK-There is no PGA tour event the week of September 8th, a rare opening on the men's golf calendar. The Ryder Cup happens the following week in Louisville.

*****WHY DON'T YOU STAY AWHILE?-The New England Patriots have back to back west coast road games on two diffferent occasions next season. Pats coach Bill Belichick is considering keeping his team on the left coast for two straight weeks during those stretches rather than flying back to New England between games

*****TRAVELING MAN-Linton Johnson, signed by the Phoenix Suns for the playoffs, had signed two 10-day deals with the Suns and a third with Toronto this season. And Johnson is always ready for action. "I had my bags already packed," Johnson said. "After being on these 10-days, I have a 10-day travel kit now. It's ready to go."

*****ON THE RUN-The 111th Boston Marathon will be run later this morning. John J. McDermott won the first Boston Marathon in 1897 in a time of 2 hours, 55 minutes, 10 seconds. Human-race-kind has shaved nearly an hour off that time. The current course record is just over 2 hours and 7 minutes.

Gotta run for now, but we're back with more musings next Monday, April 28th.

With new GM John Hammond watching the action Monday night at the Bradley Center, and the Bucks allowing the Bulls to shoot 67 percent and score 151 points, what are the chances Larry Krystkowiak will be retained as head coach? Zero. It's probably not fair to let Larry go after just one full season, but on a team that has lost 17 of its last 20, something has to change. Hammond will also shake up the roster. There is plenty of talent here, but the pieces don't fit.

That's my prediction about Larry K. I did a 50-50 split on my preseason prognostications on this blog. I said the Hawks would win the #8 spot in the East. Good for me! But I also said the Celtics would not be dominant. Not so good for me!

Playoff predictions shortly, but first, why did Don Nelson bench Baron Davis for the entire second half last night in Golden State's must win game against Phoenix? The Warriors who are quite common without the Baron, lost, were eliminated from the post season and had to be wondering what Nellie was thinking.

I'd love to see an old school Celtics-Lakers final but I'm, having trouble pulling the trigger on L.A. This is a team that lost back to back home games to Memphis and Charlotte last month. So I'm going with the Celtics and Utah. The Jazz are big, fast, deep and overlooked in the star-studded West. Plus Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured coach in major league sports, deserves another moment in the sun. Maybe the Bucks will get their moment next season.

*****HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR GOOSE EGGS?- On Sunday, April 6th, every team in the Brewers organization was involved in a shutout. Milwaukee beat the Giants 7-0. Nashville defeated New Orleans 4-0. Huntsville blanked Mississippi 1-0 and West Virginia dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Hickory by scores of 1-0.

*****EVEN STEVEN-Almost. Amazingly, the Reds and Brewers have played 163 times with the Reds leading the series 82-81.

*****HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN INFIELDER-With a name like Burke Badenhop, but alas, he is a pitcher just called up by the Marlins

*****ALL IN THE FAMILY-The Yankees have named Hal and Hank Steinbrenner co-chairpersons and Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal, Jessica Steinbrenner and Joan Steinbrenner vice chairpersons. I'm sure they were the most qualified people for the job.

*****ALL IN THE FAMILY-2-Garry Templeton the 2nd, son of the longtime major league shortstop, just signed with the independent Laredo Broncos.

*****HANGING IN THERE-Jason Simontacchi, who pitched for the pennant-winning Cardinals in 2004, just agreed to a deal with the independent Newark Bears.

*****HANGING IN THERE -2-Derby(pronounced Darby) which was just promoted to the English Premier soccer league after last season, will be relegated after winning just one of its' 33 matches so far this year.

*****BECAUSE WE SAID SO-The owners of the new Major League Soccer franchise in Seattle did not want the team to be named "The Sounders" which had been the name of the longtime A-league and NASL club in the city. The owners invited fans to choose one of these names: Alliance, Republic or Seattle FC. The winner? The Sounders. The fans write in choice got 20 percent more votes than any of the owners suggestions.

*****BUT WILL WE GET TEN WINS?- The team with the NBA's worst record is offering $10-per-game season tickets for 2008-09. The Miami Heat announced the "Ten Gets You In!" promotion. The seats selling for $10 are in the upper deck behind the baselines.

*****DOES SHE HAVE A SHOE CONTRACT?-The new women's basketball coach at Elon University is named Karen Barefoot.

*****SAY WHAT?-Tennis star Andy Roddick can't understand why his sport is less popular than NASCAR. "It's a little disappointing that we're behind a sport that you turn left for 4 hours," Roddick said.

*****SAY WHAT-2?-When the jocular Chris Berman was not included in ESPN's coverage at Augusta, Masters officials said, "We never interfere with network personnel decisions." Huh? Tell that to CBS analyst Gary McCord who was banned from golf's most hallowed acres after saying in 1995 that the greens were so slick it was like they were "bikini-waxed." McCord continued to work every event for CBS except the Masters.

We'll be "Saying What" with more musings next Monday, April 21st.

Oh, to be a Major League backup catcher! The best job in pro sports. To be that fixture of matinee lineups in day games after night games, the pinch-runner-induced-late-inning-insert, the mop up masked man of 10-run blowouts.

This is far better than being a backup quarterback or the 12th man anchoring the bench in the NBA. Because the backup catcher knows he WILL get to play: even if for only 30 or so games every season. If you can get a hit once in every 5 tries and catch most of the balls thrown your way, you are a serviceable #2 receiver.

It can be argued then that 35-year-old Paul Bako has been the best ever in that coveted position. Bako has played for ten teams in his ten year Major League career. He donned the gear for the Reds yesterday at Miller Park, where 6 seasons ago he was a Milwaukee Brewer. I dodged the monsoon to attend the game which offered little excitement, so I found myself paying particular attention to Bako. He struck out looking in the top of the third, an effort consistent with being ranked dead last(1015th out of 1015 players) in the Yahoo fantasy baseball ratings.

But in the 5th inning, Bako ripped an RBI double to tie the game, a hit that probably insured his place on the roster for the rest of the season. Then in the 7th, he singled in another run which more than likely assured him of a job somewhere for next year.

So the Paul Bako legacy grew right before my eyes. The man with a lifetime batting average of .233(including 15 homeruns!) who made the final out for the Cubs in their ill-fated collapse in the 2003 NLCS had a banner day. And considering he earns in the neighborhood of half-a-million dollars per season(roughly 15-thousand per game) and has been drawing checks like that for 10 years, for my money, Paul Bako has had a banner career.

How about that Final Four? All the top seeds surviving, setting up a battle of the titans! I'm not talking Jayhawks or Tarheels here. It's the UEFA Champions League, where four iconic soccer clubs have advanced to the semifinals.

Liverpool, the UCLA of the beautiful game, advanced for the third time in the last four years. The Reds won a controversial match over English Premier League rival Arsenal on Tuesday. The Gunners scored in the 74th minute to equalize at 2-2, a result which would have sent them through to the next round. But a minute later, Arsenal's Kolo Toure was called for a foul inside the 18-yard box. Stephen Gerrard converted the ensuing penalty kick and Liverpool kept its European dreams alive.

Chelsea, the "Kansas" of the group, needed a one goal victory over Turkey's Fenerbache(call them "Davidson") who had stunned the Blues with two lightning fast tallies last week in Istanbul to the delight of the incessantly roaring home crowd, which belted out deeply guttural club songs from the opening kick to final whistle. In the return leg Tuesday, Michael Ballack scored in the 4th minute, but Chelsea fans could not breathe easily until the 87th minute when Frank Lampard converted Michael Essien's cross for an insurance goal. So now the Blues face the Reds in an all-English matchup in the semis.

In the other half of the draw, there is FC Barcelona, the "Memphis" of the last four, with its glittering stars Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry(he's the "other guy" in the Gillette commercial with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer) Barca barely broke a sweat winning two 1-0 matches with the overmatched German side FC Schalke.

Manchester United completes the final four, clearly the "North Carolina" of UEFA with its great tradition and deep roster of top players. The Red Devils drew AS Roma in the quarterfinals, scored two goals in the first leg in Italy and coasted to a 1-0 win yesterday at Old Trafford. . Now that all of its players are healthy, Man U. looks unstoppable.It is almost unfair. In Wednesday's triumph, manager Sir Alex Ferguson(yes, he's actually a knight) rested Golden Ball(given to the world's top player) favorite Ronaldo and played top striker Wayne Rooney for just 20 minutes, saving them for Sunday's huge EPL match with Arsenal.

So how good is this? Chelsea against Liverpool. Barcelona versus United. Home and home 2 game battles to determine the finalists.

Who will have "one shining moment" at the championship match next month in Moscow? Five great contests among the world's best clubs will give us the answer.

*****LOVE THY SELF-I'll be rooting for Kansas in tonight's championship game. I've been a huge fan of KU coach Bill Self since the end of the 2003 season. Self's Illini team lost a close game to the Badgers at the Kohl Center on a controversial call that could have gone either way. The victory gave the Big Ten title to UW. At the post game news conference, the first question to Self was about the call. His answer? He talked about the great atmosphere in Madison and what a great thing this was for college basketball. Pure class. Go Jayhawks.

*****ROCK CHALK, HUH?-Curious about the Kansas cheer, I looked up its origins and found "Rock Chalk" to be "a transposition of chalk rock, a mineral that exists in western Kansas." A KU english professor suggested those two words replace "Rah Rah." Thus, we have "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!"

*****YOU DID WHAT?-UCLA coach Ben Howland was not happy when he learned forward Alfred Aboya couldn't work out recently because he had a knot in his back after assembling furniture he had bought and was hunched in the same position for three hours while wielding a screwdriver.

*****HE'S A RENTER-Ira Newble signed with the Lakers for the rest of this season. He's played on five NBA teams since 2002.

*****ALL BETS ARE OFF-Many of the Vegas sports books are so certain Boston will win the NBA championship, they are no longer accepting future bets on the Celtics. They will take bets on whom you think will be runner-up to the Celts in the championship series.

*****BET AGAINST HIM, IF YOU DARE-The Vegas sports books are also certain Tiger Woods will win this week's Masters. You can bet on Tiger or take the rest of the field with both sides paying off even money. But the odds on the other golfers really tell the story. Madison's Jerry Kelly, who finished 5th at Augusta last year, is listed at 200-1

*****WE NEED MORE THAN A COOL STADIUM-Baltimore's revered Camden Yards, was once one of the toughest sports tickets to procure. But after years of Oriole ineptitude, the Yards have lost their luster. Only 10-thousand fans showed up for the O's game last Tuesday night.

*****HANGING IN THERE-Pitcher Will Cunnane, who started the 2001 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, just signed a contract, at the age of 34, with the independent Newark Bears.

*****THE NAME GAME-The two worst names for MLB pitchers? Twins starter Kevin Slowey. Brewers reliever David Riske.

 No risks here. We'll be back with more musings next Monday, April 14th

There are certain days on the calendar more special than others: my anniversary, my wife's and son's  birthdays, my birthday and my second birthday which happens to be today.

32 years ago today I was hired by WNYS TV in Syracuse to be the weekend sportscaster. I was a junior in college. I had little experience. I would be paid a pittance. But I was now in Television. I was thrilled.

On that very same day an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University was about to drive west on the thruway to accept the head coaching job at the University of Rochester. But just before he left, he was told that longtime head coach Roy Danforth was leaving SU to take the top job at Ole Miss and would he be interested in taking Danforth's spot with the Orange. Jim Boeheim said yes and the rest is history.

Boeheim and I began new chapters of our lives on the same day. His news conference was the first story I covered. That summer I was looking for some easy credits and signed up for "The Advanced Theory of Basketball Coaching." There were five people in the class; me, three football players and an assistant coach from a local high school who was by far the most enthusiastic student. The course was taught by Boeheim and his young assistant coach whose name was Rick Pitino. Little did any of us realize that our two teachers would coach against each other in the 1996 national championship game. For the final exam, we drew up plays. My pick and roll earned me an A.

32 years later Boeheim has the same job, has won a championship and been to three final fours. I've had six different TV jobs but have been on this last assignment in Milwaukee for 21 years, having found a great place to live and work. So from that fateful April 3rd of 1976, it's turned out pretty well for both of us. Happy Birthday, Jimmy B.

*****IT'S A GIRL.. NO, STRIKE THAT-Were the parents of Stanford's Lopez twins expecting girls and already had names picked and when their boys were born still named them Brook and Robin?

*****GO DOWN SWINGING-Kudos to Mount St. Mary's who stayed true to themselves and did not try to slow the game down against mighty North Carolina. The Mounties lost by a ton but they were courageous just the same.

*****WHAT WOULD DEAN DO?-Shame on UNC coach Roy Williams with his team leading Arkansas by 28 in the closing seconds not pulling the ball back and dribbling out the clock. A Tarheel sub hit a gratuitous three pointer to rub salt in the already deep wound.

*****CHANGE THE MENU-I applaud Applebee's for committing millions to buy air time during the NCAA tournament, but you'd think they'd have shot more than just one commercial. The same spot keeps running over and over. How expensive would it have been to shoot at least one more ad?(Nike, AT&T and Miller are running at least 3 different spots) Does is really cost that much to shoot closeups of potato skins?

*****ANOTHER OPENING...-The American Basketball association awarded an expansion franchise to Hollywood, California to begin play next season. The team nickname? The "Showstoppers."

*****WARMUP ACT- The AHL Suspended Lake Erie defenseman Dale Purinton for one game for his actions during pre-game warm-ups prior to a March 15 game at Grand Rapids.

*****HANGING ON-Former Brewers Keith Ginter and Mike De Jean are still in the game. Ginter was reassigned to the Red Sox minor league camp. De Jean was sent down by the Astros.

*****MAKE IT SNAPPY- As part of the fight against global warming, Japanese professional baseball officials said Tuesday they plan to shorten games by 12 minutes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at stadiums. Under the plan, teams will be required to spend no more than 2 minutes and 15 seconds when they change from fielding to batting. Pitchers will be asked to throw within 15 seconds of receiving the ball from the catcher when no runners are on base.

*****SOUNDS LIKE A CLOSER-The independent minor league New Jersey Jackals signed a pitcher named Juan Done.

*****SHE'S BETTER THAN SHE SOUNDS-The WNBA Minnesota Lynx just signed a forward named Ashlee Awkward

*****HOW ABOUT "THE LATTES?"-The new Major League Soccer team in Seattle will let fans vote on three possible names. The team will announce the choices on Tuesday.

We choose to take next Monday off. More musings on Monday, April 7th.