The 2015 Major League Baseball season will get underway at 1:05 PM on Monday when the New York Yankees take the field against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.
This year’s NCAA tournament is in full swing with all of the upsets, all of the powerhouses being, well, powerhouses, and all the drama and excitement that has become the norm. I’m no big basketball fan, and frankly, to me March Madness is more than anything else an indicator that baseball season is around the corner. Nevertheless, March Madness just seems more watchable to me than, say, a high-profile NBA game or a Duke-UNC matchup. It’s sort of got what I’ll call a “world cup effect.”
Kentucky will head into the NCAA tournament undefeated after beating the second-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in an SEC tournament final that wasn’t close. Kentucky is the undeniable favorite to win it all this year, and even if they don’t, nobody would dispute that on any given day, they could beat anyone. Kentucky’s last championship win came in 2012, and their last appearance was in a 2014 loss to U-Conn. Since bringing in his first recruiting class, Coach John Calipari has managed to reach the NCAA tournament every year minus 2013, a year which saw star freshman Nerlens Noel struggle with injuries. Kentucky has always been known as a “basketball school” but since taking the reins, Calipari has converted the program from occasional wave-maker to a full-blown dynasty.
Major League Baseball announced rule changes for the 2015 season intended to speed up the game. Under criticism from younger fans that major league games are “too long and boring,” major league baseball has been considering different solutions for some time.
This past Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats put a cap on their perfect regular season by beating the visiting Florida Gators by a decisive score of 67-50. The game was pretty close until about halfway through the second half, when Kentucky’s depth and, well, talent overpowered the struggling Gators and sent them away with their first losing record in the regular season since Billy Donovan’s second season as the head man at Florida in 1997-98. The Wildcats will enter the NCAA tournament looking to be the first team to completely run the table since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers.
This year, February 4th marked what some call college football’s national holiday. Yes, the much-revered and looked forward to National signing day came and went once again with the same pomp and circumstance to which it has become accustomed over the years. This year’s class, depending on which scouting service you listen to, had either Byron Cowart, Trent Thompson, or Kahlil McKenzie at the top of the list. All of them are defensive linemen, which was a theme that was certainly prevalent at the top of this year’s recruiting crop as the “big uglies” generally took up about five of the top ten spots.
January 23rd was a sad day for baseball fans everywhere as the game lost an all-time great in Ernie Banks. Banks, or “Mr.Cub,” as he was known, passed away at 83.He was a 2-time all-star, 2-time National League MVP, and a first ballot Hall-of-Famer during a career that spanned 18 years (1953-1971), all on Chicago’s north side.
Solutions by The State News
