Robservations: Plenty of winners to support
In a state where there’s always room on the bandwagons, Tennessee sports fans have plenty of places to throw their support lately.
While the Lady Vols continue to cruise, as expected, the Madness of March also has not one, but two Vanderbilt teams in its midst. Both the Commodores and the Commodore women (I bet you didn’t know they aren’t the “Lady Commodores,” did you) are alive and kicking in their respective NCAA tournaments, and there’s no shortage of fans suddenly kicking into black and gold mode.
I hesitate to admit this, but even I found myself cheering Vandy’s men on as they advanced to the Sweet 16 last weekend.
It must be peer pressure, because I’ve always been the first to wish a devastating loss on the ‘Dores, and I hadn’t picked them to go far in the tourney. But with my bracket already lying in a landfill somewhere, there’s nothing for me to gain by correctly predicting any more games. So why not let the academic crowd celebrate a little?
Of course, as of this writing, the Commodores are preparing for a bout with Connecticut, so the celebration could be over before you read these opinions. But win or lose, Vandy has accomplished something this year only 15 other schools can brag about.
In the pro ranks, even the Nashville Predators are turning heads, and drawing fans onto their bandwagon.
Heading into Thursday night’s game with the New York Rangers, the Preds were in eighth place in the Western Conference. Eighth might not seem that great to those of you who aren’t that familiar with the NHL, but to pro hockey fans, it’s the magic number, since the top eight teams from each conference reach the playoffs.
Of course, the Predators have fallen on a bit of hard times recently, as they’ve dropped from as high as fifth all the way down to their current position in the rankings. But there’s plenty of time to rise, or fall. And there’s plenty of time to go out and catch that Predator train before it heads off to the playoffs — or back home early — once again.
• Just a couple of weeks removed from entering life as your friendly neighborhood family man, I’ve already learned something about kids: Appearances can be deceiving.
Recently, my 6-year-old sidekick, Harley, and myself went shopping for a new mitt, as she is signed up for the coach-pitch softball league this summer. Since she’s a southpaw with a pencil, we naturally chose a left-hander’s glove, and headed out to the yard for some practice.
Weeks later, while helping me cover Boyd Christian School’s baseball doubleheader, Harley decided to work on her throwing with a few gravel out of the parking lot. Watching her hum rocks (in a very safe fashion, no people or vehicles were damaged), my trained sportswriter eye noticed very quickly that she was throwing with her right hand.
So, a few dollars and a new mitt later, you wouldn’t believe the improvement in her defensive skills. I wonder, would her penmanship get better if we swapped the pencil into her other hand?
• The highly-touted Southern Standard golf challenge is off to a slow start. During a much-anticipated opening round a couple of weeks back, Dale found himself in a different group from yours truly, preventing the head-to-head matchup (and trash talk) we’ve been looking forward to.
And, to be honest, I’m not that upset about it. I really played badly, but don’t let Dale know I said that.