Lee Lowenfish

April Fool's Day will now have special meaning for Columbia fans. Knocked out of selection to the top tier of March Madness by two tough losses to Harvard, the Lions regrouped and won five in a row to win the NCAA's consolation tournament, the WBIT (Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament).

In the April 1 final, Columbia led all the way against Brigham Young, building a 42-24 halftime lead that stretched to 27 early in 4th quarter. Suddenly the Cougars caught fire and the Lions started committing turnovers.  The lead fell to 11 with still more than 3 minutes to play but senior co-captain forward Susie Rafiu - named to the all tournament team along with brilliant guards junior Riley Weiss and sophomore Mia Broom - righted the ship with a driving layup and the Lions won going away, 81-64. 

 

For the semi-finals held in Wichita, Kansas, it looked like a fourth meeting this season with nemesis Harvard was in the cards because if the Crimson beat Wisconsin in the quarters, they were set up to meet Columbia in the semis.  But upstart Wisconsin, who lost the last ten games of the tough Big Ten regular season and limped in with a 10-game losing streak, upset Harvard with a last-minute rally that forced an overtime that the Badgers won by 3.  It probably worked out for the best because my guess is that another Harvard-Columbia tussle would have left even the winner drained for the final.  

 

As a great believer in history and karma, during Columbia's great WBIT surge I kept thinking of Christy Mathewson's aphorism:  "I have learned little from winning but have learned everything from losing."  There were tears in the Columbia locker room after the second loss to Harvard.  But they gathered themselves and inspired by co-captain Perri Page's defiant comment that coach Megan Griffith applauded - "We are going to Wichita and winning it" - they rose to the occasion. 

 

I love finding historical connections.  The WBIT Final Four was held in Wichita where one of the heroes of the 1970 New York Knicks champion Dave Stallworth played in college and is in the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame along with Larry Bird. Stallworth was the forward rushed into action in Game 5 in 1970 and replacing injured Willis Reed he held his own against the Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain in a crucial win that set up Reed's dramatic appearance in Game 7.) There was even a more significant historical connection for Columbia's third win in the WBIT, a thrilling 74-68 victory over the U of Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears held on the Pete Newell Court.  Newell is a sadly forgotten great Cal coach who in his last 8 meetings against UCLA's legendary John Wooden won them all. 

  

Back to the main story - Three Lions made the tournament team - Susie Rafiu, junior Ivy League Player Of Year Riley Weiss, and sophomore Mia Broom who thrust into the role of point guard for the tournament also became a consistent scorer.  She is also a budding wit - looking at the scoresheet during the post-game press conference after the Wisconsin victory and noticing her line - 12 points, 10 rebounds, 8 turnovers - she quipped, "I almost had a triple-double."   

More seriously after the Brigham Young victory, Riley Weiss dissected the BY 13-0 4th q run. About letting the opponent's press distract the team,

"It shouldn't happen," she said, . . . "but it's only bodies."  The great ones really know how to stop the moment from becoming overwhelming.

 

Turning to baseball, first Columbia, the Lions find themselves in the middle of the pack with a 3-3 record in the short 21-game Ivy League season. Coach Brett Boretti is happy that it is a wide open race and I believe him.  It's up to the players as always to believe it, too.  When I post this blog, I'm heading to Coakley-Robertson-Satow Stadium for a single game with Penn, another regular rival of the defending Ivy champion Lions.  Double-header tomorrow Sat Apr 4 with rain cancelling the usual Sunday noon game. Next weekend hopefully SaSu Apr 11-12 will be consistent weather for Homecoming against Princeton. 

  

Turning to the start of the MLB season, I am trying to keep my emotions under control about the Orioles.  The offense seems improved despite the loss of second baseman Jackson Holliday to a hand injury that cost him all of spring training - he should be back later this month - and a more serious elbow injury to third baseman Jordan Westburg that might need season-ending surgery. The pitching is questionable and the defense not good.  As someone who loves pitching and defense - remember what makes baseball special is IT IS THE ONLY SPORT WHERE THE DEFENSE HAS THE BALL!! - it is hard to have championship hopes for a team with so many holes.But it will be easy to root for newcomers first baseman Pete Alonso and veteran RHP Chris Bassitt who had a horrible luck in his first start, a loss to the Rangers, that wasn't helped by his throwing error.  He owned it and turned the page. 

 

Another cliche I will state in closing:  YOU CAN'T WIN A PENNANT IN APRIL BUT YOU SURE CAN LOSE ONE.  

More on these topics anon.  For now as always Stay Positive Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It!

The late NBA commissioner David Stern dreamed of his league's championship being decided on the Fourth of July.  Well, they came close yesterday (Su June 22) when the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted at home the even more upstart Indiana Pacers to win their first title with a 104-91 Game 7 victory. (Technically, the lineal descendant of the Thunder, the Seattle Supersonics, won an NBA title back in 1979).  

 

It is too bad that the Pacers breakout star guard Tyrese Haliburton was injured in the last games of the series, but I want to begin this blog with a salute to Tyrese's backup,

T.J. McConnell, who played valiantly through the playoffs.  McConnell was undrafted out of the University of Arizona after playing two years at Duquesne University near Pittsburgh.  Whatta grass roots story is McConnell!  He played for his father Tim McConnell at Chartiers Valley HS in Bridgeville PA, 10 miles SW of Pittsburgh. Tim was a vocal presence rooting for his son at many Pacer playoffs game.  Before one of them, T.J. entered the arena wearing the uniform top of his sister Megan McConnell who plays for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury. Last but not least, TJ's aunt Susie McConnell captained Penn State's women's cagers and was a member of the Olympic team.  

 

Turning to grinders in baseball, here's a salute to Jake Mangum, the switch-hitting outfielder for the sizzling Tampa Bay Rays who have roared into second place in the AL East only 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees before games of Mon Jun 23.  I don't consider myself a great judge of talent - I paid homage to those unheralded men and women who work at scouting for a living in my most recent book, BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES (U of Nebraska Press, 2023).   But in Sept 2019, Mangum caught my eye in what turned out to be the last championship game of the venerable New York-Penn League. 

 

A 4th round draft pick of the Mets from Mississippi State, Mangum singled for the Brooklyn Cyclones driving in the first run of the game against the Lowell Spinners, a Red Sox farm club. Then with his team trailing by one run in the 7th, Mangum singled again to spark a two-run rally that were the deciding runs to bring the Cyclones its only title. 

 

After the game, Mangum explained that all he wanted to do in that 7th inning at-bat was "to play baseball".  He wasn't worried about his hand placement on the bat or the sequence of pitches the analytics crew told him to expect.  He simply was determined to get on base and start a rally which indeed he did.

 

At 29, Mangum is old for a rookie but he has persisted through a lost 2020 covid season that wiped out all of minor league baseball, a back injury, and a trade to the Marlins in 2022.  His big break came after the 2024 season when the astute Rays organization traded for him, giving up RH reliever Calvin Faucher and utilityman Vidal Brujan.  Since returning from rehabbing an injury, Mangum has put up impressive numbers in 148 ABs: 1 HR, 23 RBI, 10 R(uns scored), 10 SBs in 10 attempts.   

 

There are no guarantees in scouting and player development but Jake Mangum's athlete genes are off the charts and they often are significant.  His grandfather John played offensive tackle for the Boston Patriots in the old AFL before they took on the New England name; his father also named John played at the University of Alabama and for 9 years was a defensive back for the Chicago Bears; and his uncle Kris for 10 years played tight end for the Carolina Panthers. 

 

Jake is now opening a baseball branch on the Mangum athletic tree after carving out quite a career at Mississippi State. He was nicknamed The Mayor for His passion for the game and school loyalty. I recently happily learned that as a senior, Mangum mentored freshman infielder Jordan Westburg who has been aptly dubbed by Baltimore's interim manager Tony Mansolino the glue of the Orioles.   

 

Here's one more tip of the cap to another grinder worthy of recognition, Athletics centerfielder Denzel Clarke.  The native of Toronto pulled off two sensational catches earlier this month, one robbing the Orioles' weak hitting utilityman Jorge Mateo of extra bases on a backhanded catch in left center while averting at the last moment a crash into the wall.  The second one at Anaheim against the Angels has to rank as Catch of the Decade if not the Century.   Clarke raced back to the center field fence, leaped high in the air, braced himself on the wall, and stretched over the wall to bring the ball into his glove. 

 

"That fella must be a gymnast!" I said to myself.  Sure enough, his mother, Donna Smellie-Clarke, used to be a gymnast and then became a renowned track and field star at one point holding the Canadian national record in the long jump.  In 1984 she was on the Canadian Olympic heptathalon team. She has since become a highly regarded coach and Denzel gives full props to her coaching and inspiration.  

 

Before it is TCM movie listing time, I want to send best wishes to Ron Washington, 73, for a speedy recovery from the circulatory issues that forced his temporary removal as

Angels manager.   He has kept the LAA near .500 through his intense managing and here's hoping that he is back at the helm real soon.  In the meantime, Ray Montgomery is at the helm, the first Fordham University Ram to manage in the big leagues since Frank Frisch the Fordham Flash skippered he Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs.. 

 

More on Frisch and his undying passion for the game in future blogs. Actually, there is a nice tie-in to TCM's Fourth of July programming with Frisch.

At 8P "Yankeee Doodle Dandy" (1943) airs with James Cagney as George M. Cohan who once flirted with buying the NY Giants shortly before Frisch joined John McGraw's

powerful team.  Frisch was once asked how he relaxed before a big moment at the plate.  "I just whistle 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'," he said.

Also on July 4 at 4p is the musical "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" with Esther Williams as a turn-of-20th-century owner and Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra as two of her players.

 

For those who read this blog straight through immediately, Tu Jun 24 145P brings you "Alibi Ike" (1935), the final film in Joe E Brown's baseball trilogy.  The story is based on Ring Lardner's story of the same name.  It features actual footage from the 1932 World Series between the Yankees and Cubs, Bill Frawley the huge baseball fan (and later immortalized as Lucy/Desi's neighbor Fred Mertz) as Joe E's manager, and young Olivia DeHavilland as Joe E's love interest.

 

Sa June 28 4P "Field of Dreams" (1989) the modern classic based on WP Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe" with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones.  To me the biggest fantasy in the film is Costner & Jones go to the concession stand at Fenway Park, three people wait on them, and there is no line. 

Also on June 28 are an impressive array of Noir classics:

145P "The Killers" (1946) the one film based on a Hemingway story that the writer liked with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner emerging as stars

8P "Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder directs Barbara Stanwyck out of her comfort zone and Fred MacMurray "helps" with Edward G Robinson figuring it out

10P "Chinatown" (1974) Director Roman Polanski gets memorable performances from Jack Nicholson & Faye Dunaway despite off-screen drama 

 

And Su June 29 1230A repeated 10A the last Noir Alley of June is a classic:  "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948) Stanwyck playing a memorable victim.

 

That's all for now - always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and as long as we can, Stay Positive Test Negative.