Robservations: ‘Meaningful’ hoop games begin tonight
My old boss at another paper used to have a word he liked to use to describe high school basketball games played during the month of November.
That word? “Meaningless.”
Not to take anything away from any team’s performance during the opening weeks of their season, but he was right. You can have all the wins over neighboring counties you want, and we all love bringing home a “W” in a Hall of Fame game or a Thanksgiving Classic.
But in Tennessee, in high school basketball, the rubber doesn’t really start meeting the road until December, when district foes begin clashing.
For the Pioneers and Lady Pioneers, the road through District 7-AAA begins tonight, with a visit from Murfreesboro Siegel.
Last season, the home squads prevailed in the two meetings between WCHS and Siegel, with the Stars and Lady Stars sweeping their Jan. 14 meetings, and the Pioneers and Lady Pioneers scoring victories at Dalton Gym.
With the Pioneers sporting a 5-1 record heading into tonight’s tilt, nothing would be sweeter than putting that first notch in the district win column — especially since it will come at the expense of the team which ousted them from the first round of the 2005 district tournament.
And while the Lady Pioneers are at 3-2, and lacking a bit of depth due to injuries and illnesses, tonight’s contest provides a good chance to swing momentum back their way.
It’s the first of 14 district matchups for each Warren County team, and those 14 games will determine where the Pioneers and Lady Pioneers match up in the postseason.
November’s over, hoop fans. From here on out, make no mistake: Tonight’s game, and every other league game, definitely mean something.
A Superior Court judge in Boston has been asked by the Red Sox to let them keep the baseball that then-first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz caught for the final out of the Sox’ 2004 World Series victory over the Cardinals.
It seems Mientkiewicz (which, by the way, is the hardest word to type in the English language) kept the ball and claimed he owned it after catching a flip from pitcher Keith Foulke for the last out of Game 4.
He put the ball in a safe deposit box, and after being traded to the Mets, “loaned” it to Boston for a year, agreeing he would have the ball returned to him “unless the ultimate issue of ownership has been otherwise resolved.”
Here’s a silly question: How does a player “own” the ball just because he catches it? If I caught a foul ball, the only reason I’d be able to keep it is because big-league baseball teams can afford thousands of baseballs, and it would be pointless to ask a fan to return them.
I know it was a historic World Series win for the Bosox, but I still can’t believe the court system is getting tied up over something this stupid.
So, being the friendly neighborhood sports columnist I am, I will now solve the Red Sox and Mientkiewicz’s problem with the help of some simple common knowledge gained through years hanging around the local city ballparks.
Mientkiewicz, give them the ball back. Then they’ll give you a free Coke from the concession stand, and everybody’s happy.