34-60-78. Keep those numbers in mind for later in today’s award-winning column as they could play a significant role in your life and I don’t mean winning lottery numbers!
How about Rory McIlroy finally winning the Masters Golf Tournament over the weekend? The Northern Irishman almost (once again) blew a commanding lead over the last few holes before hitting a gorgeous wedge into the 18th green and the first playoff hole to defeat Justin Rose and claim the famed Green Jacket given to the Masters champion (along with $4.2 million!).
In so doing, McIlroy became the sixth male golfer to earn a career “Grand Slam” (winning the US Open, British Open, PGA, and Masters titles), joining golf legends Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods in that distinguished club. Notice that such greats as Arnold Palmer and Slammin’ Sammy Snead failed to capture the quartet of major championships. In his eleventh try, Rory finally was able to overcome years of frustration and near misses to don the coveted jacket and put all of his demons to rest.
Here’s today’s trivia question for all of you golfing buffs—what two active players are each one win short of claiming their own Grand Slams and what titles are they missing?
A quick glance at some spring sports at the high school level in the early going around the area—
In the Miami Valley League, Tippecanoe and Butler appear to be the class of baseball action thus far, while Tipp and Greenville lead in softball competition. Expect some major collisions in the next few weeks when these teams finally meet!
In boys’ tennis play Troy and Tipp seem to be ahead of the rest of the MVL with Greenville third while compiling a 6-3 record to date. At first singles Kyle Penny of Troy is 9-2 while the Wave’s Mason Pierri has posted a 9-3 mark. Michael Burns of Troy is a perfect 8-0 in third singles.
Western Ohio Athletic Conference play finds Newton with a 7-0 overall mark in baseball, followed closely by the Panthers of Tri-County North at 6-1. On the softball diamond, the Lady Patriots of Tri-Village are a perfect 10-0, with Arcanum trailing at 9-5 overall.
Milton-Union and Miami East head the Three Rivers Conference in softball action, while the Bees of Bethel pace the field in baseball.
Track and field competition continues as weather permits. With hoped for better conditions to come in the next month or so it can be expected that times will drop and lengths and heights will increase. Meanwhile, all of you parents, grandparents, and fans will just have to continue to bundle up and brave the elements!!
Hey, congratulations to the Western Michigan Broncos on winning the NCAA “Frozen Four” hockey title over the weekend, downing the Terriers of Boston University. I was especially glad to see the Broncos knock off BU, as Boston had erased a two-goal deficit with less than a minute remaining in regulation back in the 2009 championship game to beat my Miami RedHawks in overtime, denying Miami its first NCAA trophy!
The NBA is set to enter the two-month playoff journey this week as the annual extravaganza of traveling, palming the ball, pushing, shoving, cussin’, dunks, and three-point shots takes place, offending the senses of old-school basketball purists everywhere!
In the Eastern Conference the top four seeds are occupied by the Cavaliers (go Cavs!), Celtics, Knicks, and Pacers (go Indy!) while the Western is led by the Thunder (a really good young team), Rockets, Lakers (please Lord, not LA!), and the Nuggets (who just fired their coach after a good season and a 2023 NBA title). I probably won’t watch all of the games but will catch the best-of-seven title contests!
One last thought on the NCAA mens basketball tournament—how could Houston go their final three possessions with getting off a shot and losing to Florida 65-63? By the way, there are 2,113 male college basketball players presently in the “transfer” portal, looking for new homes and better financial awards.
In addition, Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava is leaving Knoxville as the Vols refused to meet his agent’s demands to have an increase in compensation from $2.4 million to the $4 million range (he certainly didn’t justify it by his performance against THE in the playoffs last season did he?). As Vols Coach Josh Heupel told reporters “no one is bigger than the program”. Good for Tennessee in taking a stand; I’m telling you it’s the Wild, Wild West out there in big-time collegiate sports right now and something needs to be done. Just don’t expect much guidance from the NCAA!!
Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson are both one win away from joining the elite group of career Grand Slam winners, Spieth needing a PGA trophy and Phil an US Open title.
Finally, a recent Stanford University study has found that the ages of 34, 60, and 78 are key time frames for significant changes in a human’s life span. By isolating 373 proteins, researchers have pinpointed those three ages (representing young adulthood, late middle age, and old age) as major milestones in the physical health of an individual where the greatest amount of changes occur. The study concludes, that in general, aging is not a steady progression at an even pace but rather an intermittent pattern, with each person having his or her own health experiences. As always, stay active and healthy!!
