The Dons Might Make me a Fool

    I stated a couple posts ago that the Dons of San Francisco, the men's basketball, was not good enough to win a national championship this spring. They might make me eat my words.

    They are pretty good, come to find out! As of tonight in a tight fame with top team St. Mary's, the Gaels, the Dons are 18-6, 8-3 in the WCC. Maybe better than Gonzaga?

    Gonzaga is down a bit this year, but how about these Dons?

    I claimed that if San Francisco won it all in the Dance, I would walk across the country naked.

    Hmmm. Maybe I spoke way too soon. Too bold. I wonder if anyone has walked the whole country in the nude? Not the best idea.

    Anyway, stay tuned. The Dons may make me a big old fool. You never know.

 Looking to American (U.S.) Sports as Ways to Relate to Everything Else

    As there are many tough and awful and trying things going on in our world, sports can be an outlet for many of us. We are coming up on Super Bowl weekend, which a lot of people derive a bit of pleasure from. Not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

    We have the Kansas City Chiefs, going for an unprecedented third title in a row. They won before that, so Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are going for their fourth together overall. Not bad. Some are saying that they now compare favorably to the New England Patriots, who over many years won seven rings with the same coach and quarterback. I do not wish to name them. This post is about the losers, the franchises that have never won. They give some of us hope, or solace, or consolation. Most of them do well in life, but they just never win it all. They cannot reach the ultimate peak. Like the majority of the rest of us, they cannot win the most sought after goals. Riches. Fame. Easy retirement. The perfect travel or visit schedule.

    All the things that we can never have. We do not give up, but we sort of give in. And that is... okay? Right?

    So, who are these lovable losers and never-beens, the never wins? I will list them in the order that I choose. In order of how much they must be forlorn and frustrated. I have been using the word forlorn a bit lately. Maybe this is telling me and others something.

    The Detroit Lions were one of the best teams all this season. Many people who I asked about who they predicted or who they wanted, even if not fans of Detroit, said it would be good to see them finally get one, after all of our lifetimes of futility. Decades. They must be the longest lived losers of them all in the NFL. Sorry, guys. The Commanders had a great rookie, and a great game.

    Then, the poor Buffalo Bills. They have been great, but not lucky enough, and snake-bitten. They had OJ, and how did that turn out? Not a great look. At least he moved away. The four appearances in a row, hard to beat. Or easy to beat if you win just once, like the Colts and Manning. Or, did Unitas get a couple back in the day? The Super Bowl does not go back too far. There were NFL championships before then. I thought surely the Vikings had won bowl or two. But no...

    The Minnesota Vikings? Yes, they have had some great teams over the years. To no avail. Sorry. I feel for you. I have some teams that lose a lot, too. The Indiana Hoosiers football team has never won it all... But they are not the Vikings. Or the Wikings, as my German coworker would pronounce.

    Eight more? Okay.

    Next, I go with the Cleveland Browns. Even though their old franchise moved to Baltimore and have won a few, the city of Cleveland is pretty sadly lost. Bernie Kosar? Good, but not good enough. And that was a long time ago, right Millennials and Gen Zers? They are down and out. QBs cannot be picked well, I apologize.

    Then, the Arizona Cardinals or the LA Chargers? Both have moved cities, and both involved Los Angeles. I would say that is bad luck. Coincidental juju? Not likely. Even the Rams have suffered too much in that city, but they got redemption in St. Louis, currently without a team. Saint Louis, that is. That is a shame.

    The Cards and the Chargers. Nope and nope. Never.

    Oh, the Cincinnati Falcons! I mean the Bengals. The Bengal Tiger helmets have suffered longer, I would think. They have come close a couple of times, too. And I remember some Falcons (Atlanta) colored pencils when I was a kid in the 1970s, too. So sorry, especially that huge lead they had against the Patriots. See above. (Brady and Belichick.) Is that how you spell it?

    Finish off withe more recent teams. Hard luck all around. The Houston Texans, who were the... I forget. Are they forgettable? I guess so. Best of luck, Houston, who had the Oilers who became the Titans of Tennessee. They won one? I guess so, not in my list of eleven all the time losers.

    Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers. Losers, both. They both have had runs, but no, no, no.

    We all lose. Some of us lose more than others.

    Get used to it, life. I mean, we have to be used to competing, and coming up short. A lot of the time for many of us. Or we must be used to failing, learning, and coming back for more.

    That is what I see in all these never-been-champs.

    The Bills, the Lions, the Vikings, the Bengals I (knew a true fan who loved them, and then ended up firing him from our job with me as part of the replacement), the Cardinals, the Falcons, the Chargers, the Panthers, the Texans, the Jaguars. Did I leave one out? 1, buffalo, 2, detroit, 3, minnesota, 4 cincinnati, 5, arizona, 6, L.A., 7, carolina, 8, houston, 9 jacksonville, ... Oh: 10, cleveland, and 11, ... tennessee.

    Yup, we love and appreciate all of them.

    Keep trying. Keep it up. Never quit.

    

March Madness Arms Races continue into the Second Quarter of the 21st Century

    Some of us college basketball fans care about who has the most rings. Most of us quasi historians and aficionados of the sport and the history know who has the most.

    UCLA sits at 11. This year they may be good enough to get another one. They are balanced and may have enough umphh to make the push. Luck will be involved, as always, but twelve would be quite the achievement. There last was in 1995, and their reign of greatness ended in 1973, back when Bob Knight at Indiana arrived on the scene. Coach Wooden was from Indiana. Martinsville, some 20 some miles from Bloomington. Ahh, the spells and enchantments of the Wizard of Westwood...

    Kentucky is next with 8. They were looking top notch a month or so ago, at 10-1 with some impressive wins. But, with their new former player and stolen from my BYU Cougars coach Mark Pope, they have fallen on hard times and have been smoked a lot.

    Who is next? UNC? Yes, Chapel Hill. They won three in a row starting in 1993 with Hoosier big men. They tied then surpassed my Hoosiers. Curse them! At least their sixth national crown was not stealing a big man from the state of Indiana. They have 10 losses already this season (one more than IU!), and may not make the Big Dance this spring. Good riddance, Tar Heels. If you get in, then maybe we get in. Too many losses... The champ with the most ever was 11. UConn in 2011 and N.C. State, no, Villanova, in 1985. I loved that one.

    Speaking of UConn: tied at 6 with North Carolina now! Ugh. The most, five, in this century. They have won the last two in a row, and their team is only ish. They have a key injury to Trey McSorley, the freshman big guard who was committed to go to Bloomington and Mike Woodson for a long time, then reneged. Good luck in the pros, no love lost here. Huskies could win a third, in a row, first time since UCLA, but I think their chances are quite slim. No crazy good guards like 2011, in sha' allah.

    Then, we have Duke and Indiana. Ugh. Duke has been killer for most of the last 35 years, and the Hoosiers have not been. Sad. The protégé of of Knight outdoes the master. Both from Army tutelage or grooming. Like the Law of Two among the Dark Lords of the Sith. Coach K finally retired. Good riddance. Between UNC and Duke, the Tar Heel Tobacco State wins too much.

    Duke has a decent chance at 7 this year, if they stay healthy. May they break. I can hate me some Dukies... So much resentment, jealousy, outrage. I cannot get over the officiating in 1992. Putrid. Offensive foul on a jump shot on Calbert Cheaney. Ridiculous!

    Then there is my IU guys. 1987 was pretty amazing. I cannot believe that was the last one. 2002 was a great run, but the Terps were set, due, and loaded.

    Now we got Kansas. They are gaining ground, having won twice this century, and they are likely top 10 or 15 this season. The Jayhawks have always had the capability to tie and surpass the Hoosiers. Resentment, sure. Jealousy. Schadenfreude. 

    Next, with... Three, is the Villanova Wildcats. Two relatively recently, the last ten years. The 1985 team was a godsend, to thwart mighty Georgetown, the dominant team of its era. The last one was a little too much for me. They ate not good enough this year. Fine by me.

    There are a bunch of teams with two all time. My assessment of each in 2025, gearing up to the Big Dance March Madness (we need more nicknames for the tournament):

    Cincinnati, last won in 1962 (see Oscar Robertson, an Indiana state product). They are maybe good enough to make the tourney, but have to finish well in the rough and rugged new Big 12. I think not, personally.

    Florida. Back-to-back wunderkind winners in 2007 and 2008, they have a chance this year. They are balanced and good.

    Louisville. Preceded two of IU's championships in 1980 and 1986. Their crown vacated the year IU was picked to win it all, and choked. 2013. Alas. (Picture me weeping and forlorn.) Crean got the talent, but could not produce.

    Michigan. The Fab Five could not do it, but two others did... When? Of course, 1989, that was cool. And more recently, it was... Wait. I meant Michigan State. 1979 with Magic Johnson and 2000 with Mateen Cleaves. This year they may have the best chance in the Big Ten. Winning like crazy. The Wolverines are decent, too. Only one banner for them, though.

    N.C. State. The least offensive of the Tobacco State teams. 1983 was incredible. Not much hope for 2025.

    Oklahoma State. They are down, and mostly out.

    San Francisco. Not much chance for the Dons from what I know of the West Coast Conference, which has temporarily adopted Washington State and Oregon State. If San Fran won it all this year, this spring, in March, I thought I would do this: walk across the country naked. Yeah, I am that confident the ultimate winner will not be these guys.

    One-time winners? 

    Arizona. 2025? Pretty impressive. Beat up my Cougars at the end of the game last night in Provo. Caleb Love and others are formidable.

    Arkansas. They had a great 1994. They just beat up Kentucky, but the Cats are now down. Calipari has brought some of his boys to Fayetteville. Might make the Dance.

    Baylor. Recent winners. I think they are very good. Hurt and shallow bench now, but I think that they can put together quality wins.

    California. No chance this year. Sorry, Mad Dog Madsen.

    CCNY. They may not exist as a basketball squad anymore, unless they morphed into something else. St. Johns in New York is good...

    Georgetown. Better than normal, but not good enough to make the Dance.

    Holy Cross. Are they still the Crusaders in the Post 9/11 era? Prolly not. Like their chances for victories in the Madness this spring.

    La Salle. Their time has come and went. I mean gone. Not that great, unless I am missing something.

    Loyola (IL). Had a great run with the nun a few years ago. Not much hope now, but keep the faith. 

    Marquette. Their coach Al McGuire got caught for cheating? They have a very good team this season. Possibilities abound. I am not sure of one super star, though. It could happen.

    Maryland. I am impressed. Color me a fan, of sorts. IU blew the close game to them. Ouch.

    Ohio State. Won it with Bobby Knight and bigger legends back in the day. This year? Not quite enough, unless they channel some Jim Jackson potential. They do have athletic pieces.

    Oregon. 1939? 1941. Close to greatness like IU before the World War got going. Ducks are okay but sinking now in February.

    Stanford. They are decent now. They might make the Round of 68.

    Syracuse. Nope, not this year.

    Utah. Nope. Despite getting the calls for the OT win in Salt Lake against a better BYU, they will not make it.

    UNLV. No sir. They have too many losses; they need a towel chomper, or a Grand Ma Ma.

    UTEP. Not tracking much, maybe good enough to get in the tourney?

    Virginia. Not good enough in 2025. Even though they humbled a Pitt team this past week.

    Wisconsin. Early pre-WW II great. They are very good, dangerous, and could do big stuff in March.

    Wyoming. Not good enough in the Mountain West. Maybe next year.

    That, my friends, is my 2025 take of the ring arms race.

    Who do I want to win it all? Indiana, always. But they are struggling mightily. So I will take my BYU Cougars. Only have to get hot. It. Could. Happen.

    What if?

    

    

    

    

    

Another Tuesday Night Inept Massacre? Madison is Kryptonite, But IU Has No Supermen

    The IU men are getting worked by Wisconsin in Madison tonight, and worse yet it is on Peakock.

    Have I told you how stupid they are? They are loathsome for sports. I hate them. Okay, detest them.

    IU plays stupid. I hate this.

    Then they tease me with a little run. Trailing now by (16?) with 6 plus minutus to go. Wisconsin has gotten so many bounces. A missed shot, no IU rebound, corner Wisconsin three...

    Leal misses, inside and out. Ballou should do more down low, as should Reneaux. Mgbako gets bodied and scored in inside, just like little Braden Smith of Purdue...

    Ugh. I hate when IU is bad. For years!

    Go IU.

    Going down the drain... Mile Rice misses two potential game winning shots at home versus Maryland and on the road at Purdue.

    Stoopid loss to Northwestern, and other blow outs.

    Ech. Eech. Malik Reneaux is coming back...

    MAN! These guys. Carlyle is no longer in it...

    Galloway and Leal should be better. Goode tries.

    Not enough. Tucker does a couple good things, but we are a wreck.

    Mike Goodson is on his way out.

    Like a lot of us fans this season. Hmmmmpphh..

 Economics: The Powers that Rule Us

    Like gravity and invisible but real energies and powers in the universe that control or greatly influence how we live, behave, survive, sometimes suffer and sometimes thrive, the powers of money and economics push and pull us across our globe, into the seas and skies, and even further outside the heavens into the void of space and on into planets, asteroid belts, and eventually to the starts.

    Voyager is way out there; I am not sure how close to the next star, yet, but our earthly human money and resources has shot it out that far from our planetary orb.

    When we launched it back in the 1970s, there were people dying of starvation, wars, diseases, and other avoidable catastrophic fates. But, we allocate and parse out our profits and expenses how we do.

    Those with it, the wealth, make decisions, often over life and death.

    Thus is our dismal science, economics.

    I wrote those words, above, last night.

    How do people wield all the billions, like most of us work or fail with only thousands, or less?

    It takes experience and wealth to begin with.

    I just got through the part of Trump's book (via Schwarz) where he builds the Trump Casino in Atlantic City.

    The art of the deal.

    We all try to regulate the prices and costs and efforts and labors of all of us.

    It is an art, some or many would argue.

    Some have one talent, others, two, and still others five.

 Black History Month and Solving GlobalProblems

    Calling out Spike Lee. Who else? Oprah? There are many Black Americans with power and influence. Some are funny. Some are athletic. Some are genius. Some are powerful, rich, and influential

    We, all of us Americans, celebrate them. The Grammys just lauded Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar. Are they helping us? Are they helping Black or other communities? They certainly make money. They have riches. They seem to be thoughtful and caring.

    What can we do to help African-Americans? Other Americans? Latinos? Native Americans, or indigenous.

    Gaming has helped some. We think. Right?

    Donald Trump in his 1987 autobiographical goes into gaming in Atlantic City. Is gaming and gambling the way to save society?

    Oh, yes, and the environmental problems. This is a "we" problem. Yes?

    We must recognize the ills and downfalls of the global warming. Yes? Bigger than just a Black issue. A human issue. But, we are all together in this.

    We need equality. We need justice. We need economic sovereignty. We need to improve. We need the dreams of ML King and so many others.

    We need to be clean. We need to look out for our brothers and sisters.

    We need to stop adultery, which can be applied to a whole people. Sexual purity and moral integrity are real things.

    THC is killing us, one brain and soul and mass killing at a time.

    Blog it.

    Happy Black History Month. Let's think and do good, or better, things.

 Who Were the Best Negro League Baseball Players? And, Does it Matter?

    Okay, yes it does matter. This is Black History Month; that is important. This is who we are. If we do not know and understand where we have come from, then we are doomed to be not only ignorant, but ungrateful for where we have been and where we are going.

    Baseball in the 21st century has now become an international part of many countries, a game celebrated not just in North America but in much of the Caribbean and Latin America, and a fine and proud tradition in much of East Asia. The game of baseball, also played in Australia, now covers some forty or more countries in multiple continents, and generates billions of dollars and brings millions of fan and workers to fields across the width and breadth of the United States and many other lands.

    Until the first integrated Black ball players came into the until then all white and non-Latino major leagues, baseball in the United States, mostly played in the northeast, had created some legendary names and huge legacies. Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Babe Ruth. Many of them did not make killer money as the athletes do now, but their fame and acclaim were notable and left them as individuals and families with rich histories and notoriety. Not so much for many of the best and brightest Negro leaguers. They deserve some more credit and attention, going on one hundred plus years later.

Oscar Charleston OBP .449 (born 1896) # 5 all-time, compared to the Major leagues bigs, mostly played in the U.S. Northeast

Jud Wilson OBP .434 (born 1894) # 9 all-time, compared to the Major leagues bigs.

Turkey Stearnes OBP. 417 (born 1901) # 24 all-time compared to the earliest leagues, mostly white

 

Mule Settles OBP .410 (born 1901) # 37 all-time compared to the earliest white dominated major leagues

Jackie Robinson OBP .4098 (born in 1919) # 39 all-time in both the Negro Leagues and the Majors 

    The above five men were among the top forty in all-time on base percentage, although because they played almost exclusively in the Negro Leagues, except for the pioneer and honored hero Jackie Robinson, they played considerably less games, because it is presumed (for later corroboration) that the budgets and audiences were not as good. African-Americans have always had more economic barriers and struggles than the average white American, sadly this was reflected in the sport of baseball. 1947 was the beginning of the end of this unfair dichotomy in the United States. Since # 47 Jackie Robinson the more sensible and just integration of all the races into America's pastime, this part of our society has gotten more fair shakes at performing according to skills and merit. 

    But it was wrong and unfair for a long time.

    That is why, at least now, someone like me and anyone else who reads this can acknowledge better achievement among the greatest of the greats. Black history and system of redress and due credit demands it. Until only a few years ago, these players were not included in the overall baseball statistics. Purists, which there are a few and carry weight and authority, that these Negro Leaguers did not play as much, did not bat against the best pitchers, and not against the very white establishment that kept them out of the game.

    We are trying to give credit for the greatness that these men did accomplish. Like Jackie Robinson or other Black men who were great, we are sure that they would have been amazing players at the highest, best-known league. Perhaps there would have been extra cash flow for some of them, which could have helped out more people in the African-American community. Our country has had hard travails when it comes to race relations. Blacks have had it hard, as have the Native Americans, and others, like Latinos and Asians, Arabs or others. Even many whites have had some problems and issues over the years. No one has had it super easy. But we try to give people a better opportunity, a fairer chance to succeed and establish the "American dream." And what more emblematic and righter game to compete in as equals than baseball?

    Charleston was born in Indianapolis and died in Philadelphia at age 57, He played in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1941 at the age of 44. His teams were the Indianapolis ABCs, the St. Louis Giants, the Harrisburg Giants (capital of Pennsylvania), the Hilldale Club, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and the Toledo Crawfords, and the Philadelphia Stars, but his last stint was only two games. It seems he retired there, maybe as a coach, because that is where he passed by the end of his life.

5th best on base percentage of all time.

    OBP deserves special praise, because some guys get a lot of hits, but they cannot walk very much and help the team move into run scoring position as much. Tony Gwynn, a prolific hitter of the 1980s and 1990s, had amazing stats for average, but my guy Tim Raines got so many walks that their OBP was about the same, and in effect they were en par as effective batters and runners. Of course, Raines was much faster, too.

    Of the men listed above, I would venture to say Jackie was the fastest, but that deserves further review. 

Maybe in a further installment? To be determined.

Blog it. Happy Black History Month.