Tune Me In To the Ball Game

Growing up as a kid in central Pennsylvania, I was a Phillies’ fan. More specifically, I was a fan of the Phillies’ radio broadcasts. I had my clock radio set to the local Phillies’ station, and went to sleep listening to Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn make the games come alive.

There is something special about baseball on the radio. The time between pitches and at bats allowed me to think along with the manager about what decisions to make, both on offense and defense.

I also liked the way Kalas and Ashburn set the scene, described the action and shared stories with me. I could visualize the action, and enjoyed Kalas’ excitement when the Phils did something truly special.

This radio romance lasted about six years, until I moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois at the start of 10th grade.

Since that time, I’ve had some flings with baseball on the radio, namely when I lived in Baltimore and Jon Miller called Orioles’ games, but nothing lasting. In fact, Miller’s being forced out as Baltimore’s lead announcer really turned me off to America’s pastime on the radio.

That baseball-on-the-radio passion, dormant for years, returned with a vengeance this season. The team: the Washington Nationals. The announcers: Charle Slowes and Dave Jageler.

The Nationals, my hometown nine, are an up-and-coming team with a lot of good young position players and pitchers, and two can’t-miss prospects in pitcher Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper.

It’s the on-air synergy between Slowes and Jageler, though, that has me tuning in night after night. Jageler is as good as any announcer I’ve heard at setting the scene, while Slowes has a few signature phrases — “bang zoom go the fireworks,” and “put another curly W in the books,” — that signify a Nationals’ victory.

They also do a good job balancing showing excitement for good Washington plays with criticizing the Nationals when it is called for. As a listener, I want to know when a player or manager messed up, took a risk or did something unconventional. The Nationals’ announcers consistently give me that insight.

Then there was the game that hooked me, a June come-from-behind win against Seattle. The Nationals trailed 5-1 going to the bottom of the ninth, but catcher Wilson Ramos’s walk-off three-rum homer gave Washington a dramatic 6-5 win.

It is fun to have baseball on the radio back in my life. I find myself thinking back to listening to Phillies games as a kid, especially those on the West Coast, and knowing how much I looked forward to them. It is a memory I’m happy to relive anew.

Why Penn State Should Hire Larry Brown: An Open Letter to Athletic Director Tim Curley

Dear Tim:

I am writing as a PSU alum (87) and sports fan who has watched the men’s basketball program struggle for most of the last 30 years. I feel that it is time to make a serious commitment to the program. That process starts by hiring the right head coach.

We need to get away from hiring coaches with Penn State ties when there are better coaches to consider. And why not try to get the best coach that you can. While Butler’s Brad Stevens and Gonzaga’s Mark Few are good options, my personal favorite is Larry Brown. Brown has been a winner everywhere he’s been, and I’ve always thought he’s better suited to the college game. He would be able to recruit good players, and I’m not sure there is a better true coach anywhere.

Imagine the excitement and national attention, not to mention instant credibility, hiring Brown would generate.

This is a make-or-break hire for the program. Kids want to play for a winner, a coach who knows what it takes to make it in the NBA who has a track record of getting the most out of his players.  The big knock against Brown is his age, but he could quickly get the program headed in the right direction, and he’s the sort of coach I would love my kids to play for.

Ed DeChellis’ leaving PSU for Navy after leading the Lions to the NCAAs is surprising; more surprising are the basketball writers I’ve read who say this move to a lesser conference was a smart one. Bottom line, the move does nothing to help PSU’s standing as a school committed to winning basketball.

The next few days offer you a chance to change that perception; I hope you seize that opportunity by hiring someone like Brown.

Sincerely,

Chris Lindsley
408 Circle Avenue
Takoma Park, MD. 20912

VCU’s Toughest Test Could be Butler

VCU is the feel-good story of this year’s March Madness. This is a team that many experts, including ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas, said in no uncertain terms did not deserve to be in the 68-team field.

The Rams were one of the last four in, and had to face USC in a Tuesday play-in game between two No. 11 seeds in which the Trojans were favored. That started a streak of five upset wins against teams from power conferences. The other four: Georgetown, a 6 seed; Purdue, a 3; Florida State, a 10; and the biggest stunner of them all, against No. 1-seed Kansas.

VCU has more than momentum on its side. The Rams can score from downtown and in the paint, and are very solid defensively. Their dominating performance over the Jayhawks — they led by as many as 18 in the first half, and withstood a mighty Kansas comeback in the second — solidified VCU’s fan-favorite status, and got people thinking this could be the first mid-major Cinderella to capture a title.

This is more than just wishful thinking. There are no more No. 1 or No. 2 seeds left standing, and the Rams have only fellow mid-major surprise Butler, a No. 8 seed, between them and a spot in the title game against either UConn or Kentucky.

VCU seems to be in a great spot, but I contend the Butler game could be the Rams’ toughest test to date for these (final) four reasons:

1. Big Men on Campus Syndrome: After shocking Kansas, the VCU players are stars on their Richmond campus and beyond. More than 5,000 fans greeted the team at the airport upon returning after beating the Jayhawks, and fellow students, family and friends are treating them like heroes. Maintaining one’s focus and work ethic in such situations isn’t easy.

2. Forward Thinking: While it’s hard to believe VCU will take Butler lightly, it is only natural to think that after upsetting five teams from major conferences that mid-major Butler is a team it can beat. That change in expectations could have the Rams looking past Butler toward their One Shining Moment one game too soon.

3. (The) Butler Did it (Again): This is the Bulldogs’ second straight Final Four appearance. And while last year’s star, Gordon Hayward, departed Butler early for the NBA, the Bulldogs have several key players, namely center Matt Howard and point guard Shelvin Mack, who have dealt with the pressure of college basketball’s biggest stage. That could make a big difference on Saturday.

4. This Year’s George Mason: VCU’s NCAA Tourney run has often been compared to George Mason’s surprising Final Four appearance in 2006. Both are members of the Colonial Athletic Association, were not clearcut choices to make the field, were No. 11 seeds and seemingly came out of nowhere to be America’s team heading to the national semifinals. It’s worth noting that after beating the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina and No. 1-seed UConn, George Mason lost to Florida by 15 in the Final Four.

So much for the case against VCU. I am rooting for the Rams to win it all, and believe they have a chance. May the Madness continue a few games longer.

5 Reasons I Love March Madness

March to me means one thing — Madness, as in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I just can’t get enough of it.

Bracketology. Selection Sunday. 12-5 Upsets. Mid-Majors. Sweet Sixteen. The Big Dance. Cinderella. Christian Laettner vs. Kentucky. George Mason in the Final Four. Jim Valvano Looking for Someone to Hug. Bo Kimble’s Left-Handed Free Throws to Honor Fallen Teammate Hank Gathers.

So many memories, so many busted brackets. March Madness is my favorite three weeks on the sporting calendar, and here are five reasons why.

1. Gus Johnson. He is the voice of March Madness to me. If it is a close game, I want Gus handling the play-by-play. His excitement down the stretch of a tight game is genuine, real and fun to listen to. He captures the spirit of how I’m feeling while watching, with no filter. Not convinced? Listen to these Gus Johnson classics.

2. One Shining Moment. This annual video recap of March Madness, shown just minutes after the championship game, is a must see. CBS, though, needs to bring back the version with Luther Vandross singing. Last year’s version, featuring Jennifer Hudson, was a huge disappointment.

3. The Round of 64. The first two days of the tournament, on a Thursday and Friday, feature 32 games, with TV coverage from noon until after midnight. What’s not to like about that? I usually take off one of those days to get my Madness on early.

4. Bracket Competition vs. Dad. I remember one year when I was in elementary school challeging my dad to see who could pick the better bracket. We’ve done this pretty much every year since, including one year when I was living in England. He always claims not to know much about the teams, but seems to win more than half the time.

5. Upsets. Bucknell beating Kansas. Vermont over Syracuse. George Mason knocking off North Carolina and Connecticut. I love seeing the David vs. Goliath upsets. Could this be the year a No. 16 seed topples a No. 1 seed? Not likely, but not impossible. More importantly, how many of the upsets will you predict in your brackets? We’re talking about bragging rights here.

So those are five reasons I’m Mad about March. What’s on your list? Share your thoughts below, and enjoy the ride.

Concussions Cloud Football’s Future, Parents’ Decisions

My son has talked about trying out for the junior varsity football team this fall when he enters high school. A year ago I would have been thrilled he wanted to do this. Now, though, I’m not so sure.

My change of heart is directly tied to Boston University researchers’ findings linking concussions and repeated head trauma to a progressive and degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

BU researchers have examined the brains of athletes looking for signs of CTE. The fact that they found CTE in the brains of long-time NFL players is one thing; that they found early signs of it in an 18-year-old high school football player who had multiple concussions is quite another.

Is there such a thing as safe head trauma? What impact can new helmet technology and rule changes have on reducing head trauma? More to the point, how can a parent decide if the benefits of playing tackle football at any level outweigh the risks?

My sense is that in a few years, with the results of much more concussion-related research, decisions like this one will be more fact-based than is the case today.

So what to do? I am inclined to let him play if he really wants to, while keeping a close eye out for any concussion warning signs. The fact that I, a lifelong football fan, youth sports coach and supporter, am so conflicted about this makes me wonder about the future of football as it exists today.

Maryland’s Friedgen a Victim of Unrealistic Expectations

University of Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen arrived in College Park in 2001 with little fanfare and few expectations to live up to, other than his own. Friedgen, a former Maryland player and a highly-regarded assistant coach at the college and pro levels, took over a program that had gone 37-73 with no bowl appearances from 1991 to 2000.

If you had told Maryland fans and athletic administration that Friedgen would guide the Terps to a 74-50  record (prior to Maryland’s bowl game on Dec. 29) and seven bowl appearances over the next 10 years, it is hard to believe anyone would not have taken that in a heartbeat.

Friedgen, though,  was fired on Dec. 20, a victim, in part, of unrealistic expectations, some of which he helped create by winning an amazing 31 games in his first three seasons.

The beginning of the end took place on February 6, 2009, when then athletic director Debbie Yow named offensive coordinator James Franklin Maryland’s head coach when Friedgen retired. This coach-in-waiting deal stipulated that Maryland would pay Franklin $1 million if he was still on the Terps’ staff and wasn’t head coach by January 2012.

The problem with this was that Friedgen had no plans or desire to retire. Maryland, though, now had a significant financial incentive to switch coaches when Friedgen’s contract expired at the end of the 2011 season.

Fast forward to December of 2010, when new Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson saw Franklin leave College Park to become head coach at Vanderbilt. This forced Anderson to make his first major decision: Either give the 63-year-old Friedgen at least a three-year contract extension through the end of 2014 to provide some stability necessary for recruiting success, or bring in a new coach. Having a lame-duck Friedgen coach the last year of his contract was not a viable option.

Anderson chose the new-coach route, despite that fact that Maryland bounced back from a 2-10 season in 2009 to 8-4 in 2010, earning Friedgen Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors for the second time.  Is there a chance the new Maryland coach — the buzz is that it will be former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach — will be more successful than Friedgen’s nearly .600 winning percentage? Sure. But this grass-is greener approach could backfire as well.

Either way, it’s sad to see Friedgen go out this way. Say what you want about Friedgen, but he is truly a Maryland man. Coaching his alma mater was his dream job, something he made clear throughout his tenure.

That has never been more evident than in the days leading up to the Military Bowl game against East Carolina. Friedgen has choked up often in talking about his last few days as Maryland’s head coach, and what the last 10 years have meant to him.

His players, both past and present, have been quick to support him, and Friedgen has handled the situation with class, and even a sense of humor. I for one am sorry to see him go.

I’ll be pulling for Maryland tomorrow, and I have a feeling his players will make a statement with their play in sending their coach out with a convincing win. Seeing him get a Gatorade shower and celebrating with his players and Maryland fans would be a fitting end for a coach whose accomplishments will seem more impressive with time and perspective.

Don’t Mess With March Madness

Based on several articles I’ve read recently, there is growing momentum, at least among college coaches, to expand March Madness from 65 to 96 teams. This, in my opinion, would be a huge mistake — one from which it might never fully recover.

Why am I against expansion? Here are a few reasons:

• It would water down the field by including teams that are barely over .500.
• It would extend the tournament by another week, which would make it too long.
• It would produce games like the eighth best team in the Big East taking on the seventh best team in the Big Ten. In short, games no one but fans of those schools want to watch.
• It would take away much of the suspense of “Selection Sunday” and the speculation of who will be in and who won’t for weeks before, which is now referred to as bracketology.
• It further reduces the chances of mid-majors making a run like George Mason did several years ago, which adds to the excitement of the first weekend or two of the tourney every year.
• Can you imagine filling out a 96-team bracket?
• It would remove much of the incentive to schedule difficult nonconference games, as strength of schedule would become almost meaningless.

Expansion is something many college coaches favor, the theory being that their job security increases in direct proportion to how often they make the NCAA Tourney. But why make us fans suffer in the process?

It’s good to see coaches and players sweat out being a bubble team in February and March. A team should have to perform at a certain level to make it to the Big Dance, and I’m tired of the notion in sports that more is always better.

The fact that most NHL and NBA teams make the playoffs each year is ridiculous. I like that some college basketball powerhouses — like North Carolina and UCLA this season — will  occasionally not make it to the Big Dance.

More games would also mean more money for the NCAA and its schools, but if anything the NCAA Tournament field should be reduced by one, taking us back to 64.

March Madness is my favorite sporting event of the year. It’s four weeks of great drama if you count “Selection Sunday,” and really four months of drama if you count the regular season and conference tournaments, leading up to the night when the brackets are announced to the world and the office pools begin.

Selection Sunday is now just a week away. I for one will be following the conference tournaments very closely as I make my own predictions on who should be in and who should be out, as well as what darkhorses are poised to make surprising runs in the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA Tournament has a magic to it in large part because of the drama and excitement the current format produces on a yearly basis. Adding 31 more teams to the mix will do more harm than good. Keep those teams in the NIT where they belong.