A Few Things on My Mind

                                                 Ray Jr. on Sports

• • •  Wow, Loyola of Chicago continues to pull off the upsets in the NCAA Tournament beating Nevada 69-68 and advancing to  the Elite Eight for the first time since 1963. The Ramblers are truly the Cinderella team of the Big Dance. Stories like this makes sports special. It’s also a reminder that you can’t underestimate anyone.
    •  The biggest upset of the Tourney was when 16th seed University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) beat the top overall seed of the tournament the University of Virginia ( the first time a 16 beat a 1). Folks thought the Cavaliers would go far in the Tourney; Even I had them making it to the National Championship but losing to Villanova. Shows how much we know.

      

•  My pick to win the NCAA Tournament is still Villanova, by the way. I had a chance to see them play both games in Pittsburgh and this team is playing like they’ve been there before; And the 17 three-pointer performance in the game against Alabama was incredible. Wildcats Head Coach Jay Wright has this team in a zone as they prepare to   face a pretty-good West Virginia team.

• •  I’m not surprised that Oklahoma Sooners freshman Guard Trae Young is leaving for the NBA. For someone to have the season that he’s had (27.4 PPG, 8.7 assists, four 40-point games) he really doesn’t have anything else to prove on the college level, but I think it what will help him is if a contending NBA team drafts him, so he can learn and develop on the job. Young doesn’t need to go to a lottery pick who will try to put all their expectations on his shoulders.
  •  I’m also not surprised that Rhode Island Head Coach Dan Hurley chose  Connecticut  over Pitt. I know Pitt gave him a substantial offer, but Hurley has never (to my knowledge) expressed any kind of interest in the Panthers. His heart was with the Huskies all along. He used Pitt’s offer for leverage with UConn. Shrewd? Yes. But nothing new in the world of sports.

•  I know a lot of folks are over this Pitt basketball coaching search, but I’m glad they’re taking their time. New Athletic Director Heather Lyke has a project ahead of her, but no doubt she’s up to the task. I can’t imagine what it would take to fix a team that finished 0- 19 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but a good coach and patience is a good start.
•  Apparently, the NFL is close to revising their catch rule. That more like fixing that rule and going back to a catch being a catch. And they need to apologize to the Steelers Jesse James, the Bills Kelvin Benjamin and the Cowboys Dez Bryant for their glaring omission. Too bad it won’t add the 7 points that each play deserved.
•  Go ‘head. Keep talking about the Cleveland Browns making the playoffs in 2018, and I’ll keep reminding you that this team finished 0-16 last season. They were $100 million under the salary cap, so of course they would spend money. But teams don’t make the playoffs off free agency. The Browns would be fortunate to finish 5-11. They’re not passing defending AFC North Champion Pittsburgh.

• •  The Hornets Dwight Howard had a 32-point 30 rebound game,becoming  the first to do so since 2010 (Kevin Love). Impressive. But what’s not impressive is that Howard got tossed out the game after getting his 16th technical foul of the season. That game basically symbolized the good and bad of Howard’s career.
  •  I’m liking the recent play of the Cavaliers Lebron James as he’s once again put the team on his back. And the Cavs are feeding off it. I give LeBron his due, but I still will not give him the MVP award, because it belongs to the Rockets James Harden.

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