Besides the sighting of the proverbial first Red Robin heralding the onset of spring there are a few other harbingers that remind us that winter hopefully is starting a gradual decline to warmer weather. Among these are the playing of the Super Bowl, the first of the high school sports tournament seedings and draws for brackets as the tourney trails begin, and the opening of spring training camps for Major League Baseball team, both in Florida and Arizona.
The old saying “defense wins championships” was proven again as the Seahawks completely dominated the Patriots offense in winning Super Bowl LX. In a game that was basically over once Seattle forged ahead 12-0 early in the third quarter perhaps the highlight of the evening came when the National Retail Foundation announced that an estimated $20.2 Billion was spent on food, drink, and apparel over the weekend!
Girls high school basketball finds the following seeds in the D-III through D-VII divisions in the Southwest District:
D-III. (1) Bellbrook (2) Chaminade-Julienne (3) Carroll (4) Tippecanoe (8) Greenville
D-IV. (1) Kettering Alter (2) Brookville (3) Oakwood (4) Urbana
D-V. (1) Waynesville (2) Miami East (3) Versailles (4) Milton-Union
D-VI. (1) Tri-Village (2) West Liberty Salem (3) Legacy Christian (4) Arcanum
D-VII. (1) Russia (2) Mississinawa Valley (3) Fort Loramie (4) Cedarville
Bowling sectional play kicks off with D-II action beginning this week through the 15th while D-I starts rolling on the 15th through the 22nd.
Wrestling brackets haven’t been set as of this writing but sectional matches are set to begin from the 23rd through the 28th.
Swimming sectionals take place around the state beginning this Monday the 9th with gymnastics set to start competition on the 16th.
Boys basketball seedings and draws will be held next Sunday the 15th for D-III through D-VII while D-I and D-II will be determined on the 22nd.
For complete tournament brackets and other information click on the OHSAA Southwest District website.
The Reds pitchers and catchers report Monday the 9th to camp at Goodyear, AZ with full squad workouts to begin on the 16th. With the return of Eugenio Suarez as a designated hitter and the addition of three veteran hurlers to the bullpen manager Terry Francona appears to have the roster necessary to compete with the Brewers and Cubs in the NL Central but only time will tell. Cincinnati opens the regular season at home on March 26th, hosting the Boston Red Sox in an interleague contest.
Some great college basketball games on television over the weekend! Wisconsin got “homered” (at least in my humble opinion) courtesy of two highly questionable calls in the last sixteen seconds of an overtime loss to host Indiana (first time I’ve seen a charge called on a player who was dribbling away from the basket almost at half court followed by a phantom call on the Badgers as a Hoosier player lost his balance backing his way to the basket with three seconds remaining). Officials have a tough job and usually are “spot on” enough that I don’t critique them but these two calls were highly debatable!
In other games, Purdue eked out a win over Oregon, Michigan State prevailed in overtime over Illinois, and North Carolina took its first and only lead of the game with .4 seconds remaining to overcome Duke in the first of two annual bloodlettings between the two perennial neighboring powerhouses.
How about those Miami RedHawks beating Marshall to move to 24-0 and remain one of two unbeaten major college teams (along with Arizona). The ‘Hawks put their perfect record on the line this Friday night before a sellout crowd at Millett Hall as they host archrival Ohio University in another “Battle of the Bricks”.
Speaking of big games, Tri-Village’s Patriots host Preble Shawnee’s boys Friday night in a battle of two 10-0 teams to determine the WOAC regular season championship. Should have a sellout crowd at the PAC rocking from the opening tip!
Just two quick hitters to wrap up today’s award winner—US downhill skier and NBC favorite Lindsey Vonn literally fell short in her quest at age 41 to win another Winter Olympics medal. After suffering a torn ACL during a practice run a little over a week ago, Vonn bravely tried to return to the mountain course only to crash shortly into the race, needing to be air-evacuated from the slopes. NBC’s ratings went down with her as well!
Finally, what do you make of the disappearance of NBC “Today Show” anchor Savannah Guthrie’s mother from her Tucson home? Theories abound, most of which are pure speculation without having all of the information available to authorities. I’ve been going to Tucson for most of my life as my deceased grandparents, aunts, and uncles resided there along with several living cousins. Kathy and I have stayed the last few times at a resort within a mile or less of Nancy Guthrie’s home in the starkly beautiful Catalina Mountain foothills. You can only hope for a positive outcome to the situation but as the days go by those hopes begin to somewhat fade.
