I’m assuming everyone’s been hunkered down the past 24 hours or so as Mother Nature vented her wrath on West Central Ohio, along with over half of the country. For those old enough to remember The Blizzard of ‘78 and a few other notable winter storms, this seems to be just a major snowfall, but man, those temperatures and windchills the rest of the week won’t be much fun, particularly for those who will be working outside and those who services keep the rest of us moving and comfortable.
With the end of the college football season and the incredible rags to riches story of the Indiana Hoosiers by way of their 27-21 win over Miami (FL) comes this trivia question courtesy of Brian Stickel, one that will definitely test your knowledge of college sports. Over the years, and this can go way back so get ready to do some research on Google, eleven D-I universities have claimed national championships in both football and mens basketball. Obvious ones are the three most recent football title winners, all from the Midwest (eat your hearts out SEC fans!) in Michigan, THE, and IU. If you can name at least five of the remaining eight, you are truly to be commended!
One more trivia question—the average wind speed is greater in New York City, Boston, or Chicago? Answer to follow!
Tri-Village’s Patriots continue to roll through the season and the WOAC by completely dominating a Franklin-Monroe team that began Friday night with a 9-3 overall mark and 6-1 in league play. T-V blitzed the Jets with a stifling press and explosive offense in the first half to improve to 15-0 (8-0 WOAC) and further enhance their reputation as one of Ohio’s best D-VI teams. Only upcoming visits to Vandalia-Butler and Troy, along with a conference showdown in New Madison with Preble Shawnee, appear to present any possible problems before tourney time.
Meanwhile, the Lady Patriots trail league-leading Mississinawa Valley with only one league game remaining against Twin Valley South. The Lady Blackhawks can clinch at least a tie of yet another WOAC title with a win over Tri-County North on Thursday. MV suffered a tough non-league loss to Versailles Saturday, while T-V faces the Lady Tigers in Versailles the last week of the regular season.
How important is the mental aspect of basketball games at any level? Greenville’s Green Wave can answer that question after a tough Friday night overtime road loss to Stebbins in MVL action, followed by a Saturday afternoon visit to Versailles. The Tigers, who are clearly a superior team to the struggling Wave, jumped all over the Green and White by opening up an unbelievable 39-3 lead by the middle of the second quarter as the visitors were flat from the opening tip.
Once the roads are clear with every school in the Miami Valley closed at least Monday and possibly Tuesday, look for lots of action not only on the hardwood but also on wrestling mats, swimming pools, and bowling alleys around the area. As usual, postponements are a high school athletic director’s worst nightmare!
The importance of a head coach at all levels is exemplified by the Patriots’ hiring of Mike Vrabel in leading New England to the AFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl a year after finishing 4-13 a year ago. The win over the Broncos in a second-half snowstorm in Denver was a testimony to the organizational, motivational, and leadership skills of the former Buckeye standout. The Patriots will face the Seahawks, winners over the Rams in the NFC title game, as Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold proved that the fifth team he’s played for was the one he could lead to the Super Bowl.
Boston has the highest average wind speeds of the three cities mentioned, with the “Windy City” of Chicago a relatively calm third!
Finally, Florida (ask any THE basketball and football fan) is one of those schools winning national titles in both football and mens basketball. The other seven are Maryland (who can forget the ‘54 gridiron squad?); Michigan State (back to back shared football titles in ‘65 and ‘66); Stanford (football in 1926 and basketball in 1942) ; Syracuse (a football title in ‘59) ; UCLA (football in ‘54 that was shared with THE and a million hoops titles) ; Arkansas (football in ‘64 and basketball in ‘94) and California (football in ‘21, that’s 1921, and basketball in ‘59).
Stay warm, stay safe, and stay healthy; spring isn’t that far away!!
