March Madness----Final Report

Congrats to Florida on winning their 2ond Championship in
two years. The Coach had only UCLA make it to his final 4, & they lost to Ohio State in the
semi-finals. Well, at least the Coach had 1 in the final 4; Better than a lot of the so-called
"experts." WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!!
The Coach

Update---March Madness

Experiencing a bit of bad luck with the group of 8,Coach is left with just
1 of his Final 4 selections...... UCLA. Coach says,"Bet em till your nose bleeds." The Bruins
will win it all!!
Coachgiz

Update Coach's March Madness Picks

Coach's picks still alive--------
Final 4----North Carolina; UCLA; Memphis
Dark Horses---- Tennessee
Bet em till your nose bleeds!!

Tarnished Heroes

Whatever happened to the good old days, when kids had sports stars they could
look up to? Bill Virdon Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder & later Big League manager with the
Pirates & Yankees. Jackie Robinson, infielder with the Brooklyn Dodgers & first black player
in the Major Leagues. Hank Aaron, home run king of the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Sandy
Koufax, pitcher for the L.A.Dodgers. These men barely scratch the surface of the many HEROES
of baseball. There were many more associated with other sports such as Bart Starr, quaterback
for the Green Bay Packers. Bill Russell (basketball) player for the Boston Celtics. Floyd
Patterson former boxing Heaveyweight Champion of the world. Bob Cousy, point guard for the
Boston Celtics.
These men were worthy of the idolatry afforded them by the kids of their era
because the headlines that they made were positive in nature----- Speaking at youth banquets
& other affairs promoting their sports; Taking the time to sign autographs before & after games,
or when recognized on the street; Having positive things to say about their teams, fellow
teammates,managers, etc.
Todays OVERPAID athletes constantly are criticizing everone, from the bat
boy to the owner of the club. Nothing & no one is safe from this suspect banter. Drugs are
a problem today, & when caught, penalties are too lenient. Gambling,(Pete Rose), seems to
be looked on as more serious than drugs! One of the greatest players to ever play the game
is banned for life, while steriods are pushed into a dark corner & appear to be rewarded
to an elite few.
Yes, in my day, we could look to with pride the men who played the games,
& earned the respect of all of us who needed these heroes to give us someone to emulate
in our formative years; Not these tarnished heroes of today who pop pills, drink excessively,
abuse women, etc. etc.
The Coach

March Madness

After intense study & research, the coach has formulated his Final 4
& a few "Dark Horses" that, with a few breaks, & playing their best, could create some
surprise upsets.
Final 4- (1) North Carolina
(2) U.C.L.A.
(3) Memphis
(4) Wisconsin
Dark Horses- Maryland, Gonzaga,Tennessee, Louisville,
Creighton.
There you have it. Bet them till your nose bleeds!!
The Coach

March Madness
Check back here before next weekend for the Coach's picks
for all the brackets, & a prediction for the Final 4!! Coach has been following College hoops
very closely this year, so check HIS picks before you fill out your own brackets.

Little League Baseball
This level of baseball is played by boys & girls between the ages of 10 & 12. It is
organized baseball sponsored by Little League Baseball Inc. I'm sure you've heard about the
LL World Series played in Williamsport Pennsylvania every year in August. But how do the teams get to Williamsport? They qualify by playing in All-Star tournaments all over the world.
Yes, there are foreign teams at the Series as well as U.S. teams. These tournaments are
started at the end of June, so that the local, district, area, state, etc. etc. can complete & crown
their champions in time for the August World Series.
Sounds simple enough doesn't it? What could possibly be wrong with the above
procedure? Well, let me tell you.
Let's form our own little league organization in our own home town. Let's say on
"sign up" day we have 60 children who express an interest in playing. This sounds easy enough,
doesn't it? That would be five teams with twelve children per team. Fantastic!! But wait a
minute; Do we want to have try-outs to insure that the players are split fairly according to
ability so they are as equal as possible? Some leagues do this, while others just randomly
select the teams. The important question to ask here is, "Will all the children get an equal
chance to learn & play?"
Our league will start in the middle of May & end at the middle of June. Why end
so early? Because remember, All Stars must start by the end of June for World Series Tourneys.
Now here is my main reason for the criticism of Little League; The league will
select 12-14 All Stars for the Tourneys. Remember, our league has 60 children. If my math
is correct, 46-48 of our kids are done playing about the middle of June because of All Stars.
July & August are beautiful months for baseball, but these kids don't have the chance to
develop their skills, because they are not the top players in the league.
Common sense tells us that there are many solutions to this problem. I'm not
going to make a list of them here. Circumstances may be different in parts of our country,
that could influence solutions to our problem.(ex. weather)
My main point is that our youth of today is being turned off baseball by methods of
organizations that don't give them the opportunity to learn the game properly, or give
them the time to play the game.
In conclusion, this article deals with only ONE of the problems with Little League
and/or other organizations involved in sponsoring sports activities for our youth. Dealing
with the other problems as I see them, I'll leave for another day.

Baseball Predictions

Predictions for Major League Baseball 2007
1. The Pittsburgh Pirates will finish above .500 this year.
2. The Chicago Cubs will finish FIRST in their Division.
3. Barry Bonds WILL NOT break Henry Aaron's HR record this year.
4. The New York Yankees will finish THIRD in their Division.
5. World Series-------- Cubs vs Angels

Blind Man

A woman gets into the shower, & shortly, she hears the doorbell ring. Damn she
thinks,who can that be? She calls out,"Who is it?" A male voice answers,"Blind Man." Oh well,
she thinks, at least I won't have to worry about getting dressed,I'll just take a couple dollars
to the door as a donation. She goes to the door & hands $2 to the man. "Thanks lady, but
where do you want me to hang these blinds?"

Hope we can post information as well as sports items for your reading pleasure.
I am open for any suggestions, since this is my first attempt at creating a blog.