In all the hoopla about the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, the women’s championship lost out on some great press and exposure. On Sunday night Stanford beat Arizona 54-53 as a last second shot by Arizona bounced of the back of the rim to preserve Stanford’s victory. It was a hard fought game played at a very high level. Women’s college basketball is played at a very high level. It is ashame, that they do not get the same exposure the men do. Their work effort and dedication is as good or better than the men. We have a long way to go in this country for women’s sports to be on par with men.
Unlike the women’s championship game which was decided in the last second, the men’s game was over 3 minutes into the game as Baylor jumped out to a 12-1 lead that never got less than 10 points for the remainder of the game. Baylor sucker punched Gonzaga in the first minute and the Zags never recovered. Last night Baylor was the much better team.
I cannot help but chuckle at some of the “pundits” and sportswriters who are bashing Gonzaga as not being tough enough because they do not play in one of the “power” conferences. As a result, they were not prepared for the intensity of Baylor. This is such hogwash. Gonzaga had to win 5 games to get to the championship game. No team from the B1G, ACC, SEC, or Pac 12 won 5 games in the tournament. The B1G, SEC, and ACC didn’t have one team that won four games. Only Michigan won 3 games of the 9 B1G teams in the tournament. The B1G hasn’t won a men’s basketball championship in 21 years. Maybe the B1G teams are worn out by tournament time. Gonzaga made it to the championship game because they earned it by winning. They just got beat by a Baylor team that had a perfect day. It had nothing to do with the conference Gonzaga plays in during the regular season.
How about the start of the season for Tiger rookie, 22 year old Akil Baddoo. In the first pitch he ever faced in a major league game, he hit a homerun on Saturday. On Sunday he hit a grandslam, Today, he had a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to allow the Tigers to beat the Twins 4-3. No Tiger in history has ever had a better first three games of his career.
I read an article in Bridge Magazine today analyzing why Michigan’s covid numbers are rising faster than any state in the country. One of the reasons given is that Michigan’s tighter restrictions during the early stages of the pandemic and following the second surge in November slowed Michigan’s progress toward herd immunity as compared to other states. There may be some truth to the analysis, but I for one am happy we had the tighter restrictions until the vaccine became available. There is going to be plenty of time to analyze the data in the next year or two to find out the facts.
Republican Congress Fred Upton or Michigan is leading a bi-partisan effort to develop a new bill around police reform that he hopes will address the concerns of all Americans. Congressman Upton has consistently opposed any bill that removes qualified immunity from our law enforcement officers. If anyone can get a bill passed that will work to meet the needs of our law enforcement officers while also addressing some of the issues that have arisen in the last few years, Fred Upton is the person who can get this done. I will be watching the progress of his effort over the next few months.
Stay safe. Wear your mask properly. Wash your hands regularly. Social distance. Schedule your vaccine.
Quote of the Day: “I liked it today” Tiger Manager AJ Hinch when asked how he liked the “international rule” that MLB has adopted of starting a person on second base at the begging of each half of an inning when in extra innings.
Orchid of the Day: Akil Baddoo. See article above.
Onion of the Day: To all the “pundits” and sports reporters who are criticizing Gonzaga as not being tough enough because they do not play in a “power” conference.