Kathy and I just returned from a four-day trip to Memphis to celebrate my Aunt Betty’s 97th birthday, along with my six Tennessee cousins and their families. A proud graduate of THE she’s sharper than most people twenty years younger, so much so that we gave her a 100th birthday card early in case we don’t make it because we know she will!!
While on the road, we toured a few college campuses, notably those of Murray State (the Racers baseball team had just made history with a first-time appearance in the College World Series) and Western Kentucky, home of the Hilltoppers. We also passed through Clarksville, Tennessee, home of Austin Peay University (who can forget that memorable cheer from the ‘70s, “Let’s go Peay!!”). Unfortunately (with apologies to The Monkees), we missed the train and didn’t get to explore the environs of the Governors!
Two items of interest to college hoops fans emerged from the latest meeting of the NCAA Division-I Basketball Council. Beginning with the ’26-‘27 season, member schools can now schedule 32 regular-season contests, up from the current 31. The other is the strong possibility that “March Madness” will be expanded from 68 to 76 teams as of the 2026 tournament, the first expansion of the brackets since 2011.
The NCAA’s official rationale is that with only 68 teams invited, some of the best 68 or 70 teams aren’t going to make the field because they didn’t win their conference tournaments. As the Council stated, “We need to reward the regular season performances as opposed to the randomness of a weekend at the end of the year.”
Unofficially, in my opinion, by expanding the tournament, you create a few more games to quench the appetite of the television viewing public. The magical allure and excitement of the tournament is created by the “Cinderella” teams that appear out of nowhere and capture the nation’s attention. Not to diminish the inclusion of some worthy teams, but it always comes down to money!
Sad news upon the passing of “The Cobra” Dave Parker at age 74. Parker was the ‘78 National League MVP, won two NL batting titles, was a seven-time All-Star, and won a World Series ring with the ‘79 Pirates. Playing eleven years with Pittsburgh, he also spent four seasons with his hometown Reds from ‘84-‘87, leading the NL with 125 RBIs in ‘85.
Here’s a little-known fact—Parker was a graduate of Cincinnati Courter Tech High School and a three-sport star. He was a starter on the ‘66 Tech team that was Greenville’s Homecoming foe as the Wave took home a 20-0 win on Harmon Field turf!
Recently elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee, he was to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown July 27th but sadly, it will now be posthumously.
Something of a fairly historical nature occurred in the NBA draft recently conducted. All five starters of the ‘24-‘25 Duke basketball team were selected, beginning with the number one overall pick in Cooper Flagg by the Dallas Mavericks. Kon Knueppel went fourth to the Charlotte Hornets, while Khaman Maluach ended up with Phoenix as a tenth choice as a result of a trade with Houston. In the second round, Sion James was chosen by the Hornets while Tyrese Proctor was picked up by the Cavaliers at number forty-nine.
The last time a school had all five starters selected was in 2012 with Kentucky, most notably with Anthony Davis, and earlier in ‘06 all five UConn starters were chosen. Makes you wonder how in the world the Blue Devils lost in the national semis to Houston, doesn’t it?
If you get the chance stop by Greenville’s City Park and check out the progress of the new bleachers that will become Alumni Stadium at Harmon Field. For you fans of Erector sets, it will be interesting to say the least!
Here’s an interesting observation by that great American patriot Benjamin Franklin—“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” Truer words were never spoken!
