Sports Wrap Up, End of January 31, 2025

 Sports Wrap Up, End of January 31, 2025baseball 

    Ugh, I get too invested in my sports teams. Like: my Indiana Hoosiers.

    The men, much more than the women. I root for the women quite a bit, too. My dad and step-mother attend most of their home games. It's home. The men have always meant a lot to me. Winning, losing, and everything in between. We are Indiana.

    I will write more about IU and Purdue later. The triumphs, successes, and the travails. Both have had them.

    But first: tennis, then football, then basketball. Taking a break from baseball and stats, something that I have been doing lately. Baseball. Less painful, perhaps less passionate and involved. We can be more distanced and analytical about it. So we like to analyze from afar and stay cool.

    Basketball gets much more personal. As does some football.

    TENNIS: Jannik Sinner, the red head, of Italy, wins over Zverev, the German with the Russian name. I watched it, and I wanted Zverev to do better. Maybe get his first grand slam. Sinner got his third overall, his second in a row in Melbourne. Njokovic pulled out in the quarters (?) with a ripped muscle in his ham string, I think. The Americans were eliminated, sequentially, but I think they are gaining ground. Ben Shelton went the farthest. Frances Tiafoe shows promise, but comes up short. Like Paul and Fritz.

    The American woman won it all! Madison Keys? Yes, I think so. Good upset of Swiatek, or whichever non-US woman was favored. I think Swiatek is Polish. A favored number one, but the women are harder to predict than the men.

    The Italian with the German name beats the German with the Russian name. Great stuff. Nadal the Spaniard is done. Federer the Swiss man has been done for a while. Ready for the new generations. All know Carlos Alcaraz is the beast. We shall see.

    Tennis. French on the clay courts next in a couple months. Go USA! Us Americans can do it! This year, me thinks.

    Tennis.

    Then, football. I will talk the pros. Then some college, I guess.

    The Eagles are going to play the Chiefs in New Orleans. A rematch, and the Kansas City team will go for a record third win in a row. Oh, yeah. Talking about the Super Bowl. I wanted their opponents, both the Buffalo Bills and the other one. Who was it? Baltimore? Or... No! The Washington Commanders! The local team! Of course, Jaden Daniels et al were brilliant this year. Best run since 1991. And now they are our local guys.

    Kyle Van Noy, one of my favorite BYU players of all time, made the All-Pro Bowl for the first time. Age 34, pretty impressive. Colts folded early, and always rooting for my BYU and IU guys. Allgier for the Falcons and others.

    Ohio State cleaned up on Notre Dame. The only two teams to beat IU. Indiana had an amazing season. Cignetti back up the bravado and more. My BYU team surpassed expectations and killed the Colorado Buffaloes, which I watched from the California mansion, before I got the norovirus bad.

    December came in with shingles and went out went out with painful throwing up and the runs. Oy ve, mein herr.

    Time for basketball? The Celts have shown themselves to be vulnerable. Many teams have a chance. I would like someone new, as usual. So, why not the Pacers? Maybe not quite there yet, but there are quite a few that could do it.

    And... college? BYU is more trustable than my Hooser boys. Canon Catchings was clutch the other night. And, alas, Indiana was good enough to beat Maryland and Purdue... But we did not!

    UConn should keep losing, I hope. The IU non-commit is not healthy. McSorley. Cooper Flagg at Duke is 18, and they are good. Alabama, Auburn, ... Purdue is good, but Indiana can be right there. That top screen, the guards were getting around it. Too many clutch things for the Boilers, and IU made great plays, but choked at the end.

    Like so many other times. Showing encouragement, compared to the other earlier blow outs.

    Best case scenario for NCAA championship? Still Hoosiers and Cougars, until we are smashed out of it. Not: UConn, or Kentucy. Or Kansas. North Carolina may not make it. Maryland or Michigan State would be all right. Even Purdue. Utah does not have the chances.

    Okay, that is my report for now.

    No, I lied. Cavaliers would be cool. Maybe Grizzlies, or Timberwolves. What about the Houston Rockets? But, yeah, Pacers all the way.

    Peace out and blog on.