Tuesday afternoon: Yes, there are more sports than soccer Part I

Breaking this into two parts.

1. Some of you know that I was a full-time sports writer, and I have never really stopped being a part-time sports writer. This is an amazing time to be a sports fan. The Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup (hockey) in 50 years, the Celtics and Lakers are banging away at each other for the NBA championship, Major League Baseball is in full swing, and then there’s the World Cup. Oh, and even though it’s off-season, there are huge changes happening in college football.

2. This is shaping up to be one of the great baseball season. We’ve had two perfect games and another that was near-perfect. The real buzz, though, comes from the Washington Nationals.

Stephen Strasberg, a rookie, won his first two games in the Major Leagues and struck out 14 in his first game and eight in his second. He may truly be The Next Great Pitcher. See him pitch if you can.

3.Washington chose Strasberg with the first pick in last year’s draft, and this year they picked Bryce Harper, a young catcher who is supposed to be all that and a bag of chips.

If he’s as good as they think he is, they may convert him to being an outfielder, because they last longer than catchers.

Here’s his summary:

Washington Post

Bryce Harper, meanwhile, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline "Chosen One," hit home runs so long they were measured by tape measures and Google Earth, earned his high school GED two months after turning 17, entered junior college, was reported to have a major attitude, was ejected and suspended from his final game of the season last week, then was chosen by the Nationals with the first pick in the draft Monday.

4. One of our local schools won the state high school baseball championship Saturday. You travel for hours (some schools more than others), play a game in the morning and, if you win, a game in the afternoon.

If you know high school sports, you know that schools tend to compete against schools of similar size. Fort Ann is a Class D school, the smallest of New York’s five classes (AA, A, B, C and D) and is one of the smaller schools in the class.

I am covering the school’s graduation a week from Friday, and the graduating class will be right around 50 kids. To me, state titles, especially in big states like this, are a big deal. Especially for a town that small.

5. Tonight’s NBA Game 6 between the Celtics and the Lakers could be a classic and could be an amazing Celtics’ celebration. If the Lakers do win, then plan for Thursday’s game, which will be one game for the title. This is a great revalry.

 

Tuesday afternoon: Yes, there are more sports besides soccer . . . Part II

Part The Second

6. I started working on this post yesterday morning, and this item – about the upcoming changes to big-time college sports conferences – kept changing, but it finally seems to have settled down.

Basically, because of TV contract money for football, the traditional big-time college conferences – the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Pac-10 – are adding new members, which of course reduces other conferences.

The Big 12 (which was once the Big Eight) looked likely to send teams in all sorts of directions. Even going into yesterday, Nebraska had left for the Big Ten and Colorado for the Pac-10.

The key to the Big 12 is Texas, which is the 800-pound gorilla. The Longhorns appeared ready to lead a charge of four teams into the Pac 10 (which was aiming for 16 teams), with Texas A&M peeling off to the Southeastern Conference and leaving Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State hanging in the breeze. Missouri had sought to join the Big Ten, but apparently got turned down.

If you didn’t understand that, it’s OK. The remaining Big 12 schools told Texas, “Go ahead and have your own TV network and make millions, and we will stay here with you and keep the league together..

So, there will be a Big 12, with fewer teams.

The Big Ten, by the way, now has 12 teams, with Notre Dame and others nosing around.

Boise State is joining the Mountain West Conference. Utah may wind up in the Pac 10, and the are other possibilities.

The final thought, though I cannot remember what paper it’s from:

“The motivator is money and the issue is TV,” the former Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel said. “It’s strictly about money. The presidents sit back there and they say that we’d like to have similar academic institutions and research institutions and it’s bull. If you can play and win, that’s all that it takes, and you’re in a good market.”

7. Speaking of college sports, the NCAA Division I College World Series is finally set., It's played every year in Omaha, Neb., and is an event  I would love to attend/cover some day.

ArizonaCentral.com sums it up nicely:

Top-ranked Arizona State University (52-8) plays Clemson (43-23). Others in that four-team, double-elimination bracket are No. 11 South Carolina (48-15) and No. 13 Oklahoma (48-16). 

College World Series first-round games in the opposite bracket are No. 6 TCU (51-12), making its debut in Omaha, vs. No. 12 Florida State (47-18) and No. 5 Florida (47-15) vs. No. 7 UCLA (48-14).

The winners of each bracket meet in a best-of-three championship series starting June 28.

You will note, geographically, there's a theme in where most of those teams are from.

Tuesday afternoon: Just hacking around

1. Please welcome harpnfiddle to the Liamverse.

2. Today’s World Cup tidbit is a list of team nicknames

I thought USA was the Eagles, but maybe that’s just rugby.

I especially like Les Elephants, the Super Eagles, Bafana Bafana, The Indomitable Lions and the Black Stars.

3. I know my Boston-area friends all know this already, but I have to share my sadness at the passing of Joan and Ed's Deli in Natick, which is closing this weekend. A great deli and a great breakfast place. Wonderful place to get together with friends.

4. There is actual new content at "Working" Press

5. My wife made a great soup/stew deal last night that reminded me a good deal of kale soup. The Andouille sausage helped a lot.

6. I have not made a big deal out of it, but I have basically been off alcohol since May 2. New meds. Anyway, at the big outdoor art festival, I ran into two of my favorite bartenders, plus a waitress, and they all missed me. ;) It's funny when you tell bartenders you're not drinking. There's real sympathy.

7. It's been a good blogging day, and I have gotten some work done as well. Let's see what else I can get done.