Lee Lowenfish

Although the coldness of the oppressive NYC winter hasn't yet gone away, it is still time to celebrate the coming of spring.  Whenever the blues hit me - a cursory glance at news of the world can do that these days - I hum to myself Freddie Hubbard's joyous jazz waltz "Up Jumped Spring" and my spirits leap  immediately. 

 

It helps that one of my favorite college teams, Columbia women's basketball coached by Megan Griffith in her tenth year at the helm of her alma mater, has morphed again into another exciting band of Megan's Marauders.  Recovering from the sting of two losses in a row to Harvard that allowed Princeton to dethrone my Lions as Ivy League champion, the Lions are determined to make the most of their participation in a consolation tournament, the WBIT (Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament).  It's good to still be playing - in contrast, Princeton lost convincingly its first round March Madness meeting with Oklahoma State.

 

In the first round of the WBIT, Columbia crushed St. John's of Queens NY in 74-26 in what would be their final home game. This past Sunday Mar 22, Columbia routed North Dakota State, a team with only 4 losses, 86-57 in a road game in Fargo ND.  The Lions had three 20 plus scorers, led by sophomore Mia Bloom with 26. Subbing for injured point guard Maria Avlijas, Broom like all her teammates played intense defense while sparkling on the offensive end.  Some of Broom's awesome long passes reminded me of Cecelia Collins' similar throws which provided highlight moments on last year's team that won the school's first game ever in March Madness.  (Cece is now playing pro ball in Germany.) 

 

Next up for the Lions is a Th Mar 26 quarter-final matchup at the University of California-Berkeley to be broadcast on ESPN+ at 10P EDT.  In another quarter-final, Harvard travels to my graduate school alma mater, Wisconsin-Madison, for a 730P matchup with the surprising Badgers who finished the regular season under .500 but have solid wins over Oregon State and Miami-Fla in the WBIT.  Given the disappointing loss of the men's team in the first round of March Madness - something I was not surprised by because they never played consistent good defense all season - I'm happy for Wisconsin's success in coach Robin Pingeton's first year.  But in women's basketball, I'm a Lion all the way.  In fact, I know Griffith and her marauders would love to face Harvard again in the WBIT Final Four that will be held in Wichita's Charles Koch Arena - yes, the home town of one of the Koch brothers - on March 30 on ESPNU. The final will be on ESPN2 on W April 1. The other bracket pits San Diego State against Kansas and Brigham Young vs. Stanford.  

 

On the Division III level in women's basketball, NYU's amazing 91-game winning streak came to an end last Thursday Mar 19 when in the semi-final game of the D3 Final Four, the U of Scranton Lady Royals led virtually all the way winning a battle of the undefeated 60-52.  But it was Denison College from Granville, Ohio that won the D3 crown beating Scranton, 55-41.  Nothing can take away from the achievement of Meg Barber's remarkable winning streak coaching her alma mater. She loses only one graduating senior Caroline Peper so look for some more potent basketball in Greenwich Village in future season(s).   

  

Here's a shoutout to another Wisconsin women's hockey championship, the 9th brought back to Madison by retiring coach Mark Johnson.  The Badgers came from behind to win a semi from Penn State on the Nittany Lions' home ice.  And then beat the Ohio State Buckeyes in the final, 3-2.  The winning goal was scored by fourth line wing Claire Enright late in the third period after Ohio State, just as their leader Joy Dunne predicted in a post-second period TV interview, roared back to tie the game with 2 goals in 2 minutes. I don't know of any team sport where the finals FOUR YEARS IN A ROW were played by the same two teams.  Fans and citizens in general can learn so much from the competitive fire of these great athletes in college hockey, many of whom now have the chance to play in pro hockey leagues in this country. 

 

I'll have March Madness schedules on many levels to share at the end of this post but now . . . 

IT IS TIME TO TAKE YOU OUT TO THE BALLGAME! 

In a sign of the times, both Opening Day games for the Mets and Yankees will not be televised on either free TV or traditional cable.  The Yankees open at the

SF Giants tomorrow Wed Mar 26 in San Francisco at 805P EDT available only on Netflix or radio.  (In another sign of the times, a recent poll of media

listening of young people revealed that virtually 60% Gen Z youngsters don't listen to radio at all).  The Mets will open at home Th Mar 26 at 115P against ace pitcher Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  It will be available only on NBC Peacock.  The Yankees don't open at home until Fri aft Apr 3 against the Miami Marlins. That game will be on YES.

 

I am not a fan of the so-called "balanced" schedule that has cut intradivision play from 19 to 13 games.  With 30 MLB teams to schedule, there is no way this schedule is balanced out of the division because teams don't play other teams the same number of times.  As a result, it won't be until May 1-4 a wraparound through Monday weekend with the Orioles that an AL East rival comes to the Bronx.  Red Sox don't come in until June 5-7.  Mets' NL East home schedule is even worse:  Non-contending Washington comes in Apr 28-30, then Marlins May 29-31. Braves don't arrive in Queens until Jun 12-14 and Phillies' first appearance at their arch-rival's home isn't until Jun 26-28.

 

I don't want this baseball part of blog to become a rant because I don't like scolds and I try to remember Schopenhauer's wise warning, "Show me what you hate and I'll show you what you are."  So with little expectations for the season for my Orioles, I welcome with open arms Pete Alonso to Camden Yards.

Already he and former Met RHP Chris Bassitt are showing senior leadership on a team that fell apart from the curse of too many expectations the last two

years. With injuries to infield mainstays Jackson Holliday- who should be back soon - and Jordan Westburg - who could be lost for the season - and a questionable bullpen, it is hard to see my Birds as a contender.  But they and 29 other teams are still 0-0 so there is that hope.   

 

And there is always the short intense season of college baseball in the NYC area.  Columbia opened its defense of the Ivy League title last weekend by taking 2 out of 3 from a good Harvard team.  It is a short Ivy League season - 21 games consisting of 7 3-game series and a four-team post-season tourney at the home of the first place finisher.  So every game is important. 

 

Big series are ahead at Coakley-Robertson-Satow Stadium in the Baker Field: always contending Penn SaSu Apr 4-5, Princeton 11-12, and Yale picked by some to dethrone my Lions, Apr 25-26.  Sa doubleheaders start at 1130, Su single game at Noon. There is no admission charge.

Readers of the blog who follow other college (and high school) teams in this area, you are invited to let me know about how your teams are doing, too.

And now in closing here's some more March Madness schedules:

 

Division II Elite Eight Schedule - Men - held at U of Pittsburgh-MC Cooper Fieldhouse

W Mar 25 12N #3 Gannon vs #6 Michigan Tech

230P #2 Cal State East Bay vs. #7 Oklahoma Baptist

6P #1 Nova Southeastern vs. #8 Black Hills State 

830P #4 Daeman vs. #5 Lander

Semis -F Mar 27 6 & 830P

Final Mar 28

All at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse

 

Women's Elite Eight at some Cooper Fieldhouse 

Tu Mar 24

Noon #3 Colorado Mesa vs. #6 #6 Minnesota Duluth

230P #2 Indiana Pa vs. #7 Holy Family

6P #1 Grand Valley State vs. #8 Carson-Newman

830P #4 Cal Poly Pomona vs. #5 UAH

Semis Th Mar 26 6p. 830P

Natl Championship F Mar 27 3P - Men's game follows around 6P

 

Division III Men's final between Emory of Atlanta Ga and Mary Washington College won't be held until Apr 3 in Indianapolis, site of the big boys of

March Madness final four.  As for the big boys of March Madness, I can do without the moaning and groaning of the coaches about the good old days before NIL and transfer portal. It seems the great coaches and the well-endowed schools get to the top anyway.  And I'm glad that they've been aided by some players who were blocked from playing time at other schools.  The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, but sometimes it is.

 

New Yorkers are most interested in Rick Pitino's St John's Red Storm who face Duke at 710P on Th Mar 26.

U Conn-Michigan State battle of Dan Hurley & Tom Izzo is on F Mar 27 at 945.  I must remind myself it should be all about the players.

As a Big Ten guy, the Iowa-Nebraska matchup on Th 3/26 at 730P is interesting - Nebraska has never been this high and the former Chicago Bulls coach

Fred Hoiberg has found his niche on a campus and his son Sam is a scrappy guy and no nepotism hire. 

 

As for the women's Sweet 16, some interesting matchups;

F 3/27 5P UNC v heavily favored UConn

  same night at 10P Duke v LSU and its volatile coach Kim Mulkey - 

Sa 3/28 Kentucky v possible challenger to UConn, Texas 3P

   later at 5P Oklahoma v former champion South Carolina 

 

And what would my blog be without a couple of TCM Tips:

Sa 3/28 145P "Angels in the Outfield" (1951) with great footage of Forbes Field and a corny fantasy that somehow works.  One lesson from film though:

   Read the bottle on the oil before cooking. 

Followed at 330 by "Looney Tunes: Baseball Bugs" (1946)

 

That's all for now.  Stay Positive, Test Negative, and take it easy but take i

 

I was so riveted watching "Tender Mercies" on TCM's 31 Days of Oscar earlier this week that I forgot about the first innings of the USA-Italy game in the World Baseball Classic.  I had never seen "Mercies" before and Robert Duvall's Oscar-winning performance as a country music singer trying to recapture his mojo really moved me. Horton Foote's great dialogue provided the title for this post when a music fan asks Duvall, "Hey, Mister, were you really Mac Sledge?"  "I guess I was," he replies.  The exchange reminded me of the story of the old coach leaving a baseball clubhouse and an autograph-seeker asks, "Who did you used to be?"

 

Some might find the ending of "Tender Mercies" corny as Duvall has a leisurely catch with a football he had gifted his stepson who of course is named Sonny. But I thought it worked fine given the tragedy you knew was coming earlier in film when Sledge's daughter from an earlier marriage (acted by a memorable Ellen Barkin) dies in an auto accident.

 

TCM has a slate of baseball movies coming up tomorrow Friday night Mar 13 through 6A Sat morn Mar 14.  

8P "Field of Dreams" (1989).  I still think the biggest fantasy in the film is when Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones go to a concession stand at Fenway Park and there is no line and three people are ready to serve them.  

10P "Bull Durham" (1988) written and directed by former Oriole farmhand Ron Shelton who never made the majors because in the days before free agency he was stuck behind Bobby Grich in the Baltimore farm system. Shelton's book on the making of the film "The Church of Baseball" (Knopf, 2022) is a good read and rumors are still floating around of a possible musical in the works.

12 midnight "Bang The Drum Slowly" (1973) definitely on a short list of great baseball films adapted from Mark Harris' novel of same name.  The film that

made Robert DeNiro a star. 

145A "Pride of the Yankees" (1942) the Lou Gehrig story starring Gary Cooper with Teresa Wright as Eleanor Gehrig and Babe Ruth plaiying himself.  Crusty non-baseball fan Samuel Goldwyn was so moved by the story that he paid a sum in low five figures to Irving Berlin for use of "Always" in the film.

4A "The Stratton Story" (1949) the film that cemented Jimmy Stewart's stardom based on the real story of once-budding White Sox pitcher whose career

was curtailed by a hunting accident. 

Oscar night is Su Mar 15 and a week later Mar 22 at midnight Noir Alley returns.

 

Now let's talk real baseball not reel baseball. After "Tender Mercies" was over, I did eventually turn to the USA-Italy game and picked it up with the Italians, managed by former Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli, surprisingly ahead 3-0.  Before long it was 5-0 and then 8-0 heading into the late innings.  FOX announcers Joe Davis and John Smoltz, the latter still looking for his funny bone, had all but given up and their moaning was annoying.  In a game played in Houston's cozy bandbox now known as Daikin Park, the lead didn't look insurmountable to me given the firepower on USA led by captain Aaron Judge. Sure enough, a home run barrage started by Oriole Gunnar Henderson followed by two blasts from Cub and former Met farmhand Pete Crow-Armstrong brought USA within 2 runs, 8-6.  But Red Sox and former Yankee reliever Greg Weissert did get the save for Italy by striking out Henderson and Judge for the final two outs.

 

The sighs of relief from USA manager Mark DeRosa must have overturned furniture in MLB and FOX television offices when Italy routed Mexico in their game last night (Wed Mar 11). DeRosa admitted that he didn't understand the rules of the WBC and he thought his team had already clinched a spot in WBC quarter-finals before the Italy game.  The quarter-finals are now set for the upcoming weekend with Italy a surprise and undefeated entrant - the other seven teams were all expected to make it to the closing rounds. 

 

Here's the TV schedule, all times EDT, all games on FOX channels with home team listed last:

F Mar 13 630P in Miami on FS2 - Korea v. Dominican Republic with red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

   Mar 13 8P USA v Canada in Houston on FOX

Su Mar 15 8P FS1 Miami semi-final

 

Sa Mar 14 3P FS1 in Houston, Puerto Rico v Italy

     Mar 14 9P FOX Venezuela v Japan with Shohei Ohtani

M Mar 16 8P FS1 semi-final in Miami

Tu Mar 17 8P WBC final in Miami

 

Inevitably, the WBC has taken attention away from spring training games, but with a pitch limit of 65 in first rounds and under 90 in the last rounds danger of pitching injuries may be reduced.  Running bases is another story, however.  Italy lost its starting catcher Kyle Teel of the White Sox to a hamstring injury incurred as he was stretching a single into double against USA.  Yet so far Italy has shown depth in every area of the roster.

 

Before I close, here's a salute to the NYC area Division III basketball teams still alive in their version of March Madness. 

On F Mar 13 at 730P the NYU women host a frequent post-season rival Hardin-Simmons from Texas at their Paulson Athletic Center on Bleecker near Mercer Sts.  The Violets won their 89th in a row last weekend breaking the UCLA men's record.  At 5P U Wisconsin-Lacrosse meets Southern Maine.

 

Also on F Mar 13 at 7P U of Scranton, who lost to NYU last season, hosts Bates of Maine. I still quote a warmup T-shirt Scranton players wore last year:

EVERY DRILL, EVERY REP, EVERY DAY.  It's up there with the T-shirt I once saw in a Tampa Bay Rays baseball clubhouse:  CHAMPIONS ARE MADE WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.  The Scranton regional opens at 430P when John Hopkins of Baltimore tangles with Concordia-Moorhead MN.

The D-III women's Final Four is at Roanoke College in Salem, VA Th Mar 19 and Sa Mar 21.   Check ncaa.com for streaming information because there is sadly next to no cable or regular TV coverage.  

 

Also on F Mar 13 at 1P, the Yeshiva University men in upper Manhattan travel to Emory U in Atlanta in their D-III tournament.  Unfortunately, the Montclair Red Hawks men's team that had won 24 in a row in regular season lost their last 3 games and their season is over.   

 

Tomorrow F Mar 13, I'm heading up to Ithaca to root on my Columbia women's team against Harvard in the 730P game of the Ivy League tournament.

My Lions lost the regular season finale to Harvard last Saturday enabling Princeton to become top seed in the tourney.  More details on my adventure on alumni bus in the next post.  My Wisconsin Badgers men start the Big Ten tourney against U of Washington today Th Mar 12 at 230P EDT on Big Ten Network.  An erratum from last post I want to fix now. Vital Wisconsin sixth man Carrington's first name is Braeden! 

 

In the meantime, always remember:  Stay Positive, Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It!