Win - Lose - Rain: Weekend Recap
Reviewing the weekend's good things, bad things, and other things.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”
Those words were spoken by Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham in 1988, although LaLoosh says he heard those words from Crash Davis. The movie quote seems to be loosely based on an adage attributed to longtime Yankees manager, Casey Stengel:
“There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, you can lose, or it can rain.”
I don’t know when Stengel allegedly said that, but regardless of the original source, I’ve always appreciated the conciseness of the message. You want to have wins, you want to avoid losses, but sometimes you get neither. While it’s a baseball-centric phrase, I think it can apply to many other contexts, which is what I plan to do here now, and if all goes well, following most weekends.
In Win - Lose - Rain (WLR), I’ll share some things or themes from the weekend that I liked, disliked, and didn’t have strong feelings about. Once baseball season begins it may be more about that, but not always, and because we’re not there yet, this edition will focus on other stuff. Feel free to drop your own WLR in the comments.
WIN
Dudes Hugging
Ryan Elvin had taken all of four free throws this season as a walk-on for the Houston Cougars men’s basketball team. Because his team could not stop fouling against Texas A&M, he was needed to take two of the most high-pressure free throws possible. And his teammates were there for him.
He missed the first, got some more love from his teammates, then sank the second, and helped his top-ranked team move to the next round.
Meanwhile, Northwestern was getting clobbered by UConn, and senior guard Boo Bouie was walking off the court for the last time. Bouie has had about as legendary of a career as a Northwestern player can have, and the moment between him and his coach, Chris Collins, was beautiful:
I don’t have any attachment to either team mentioned, but I love how this tournament can bring out moments like that for guys who seem to be so hypercompetitive and aggressive.
LOSE
Dudes Being Oversensitive
I didn’t watch as much NCAA wrestling as I should have this weekend, but I did catch the championship match with Carter Starocci winning his fourth national title for Penn State. It’s a huge accomplishment, one shared by another PSU wrestler on Saturday (Aaron Brooks) which brings that exclusive club membership to just seven wrestlers, ever. Starocci had an injured leg that held him back earlier in the year, but he had enough in the tank to hold off Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh.
During the match, commentator - and wrestling royalty Jordan Burroughs - was asked by his broadcast partner if he would be attacking that injured leg if he was the one facing Starocci. Burroughs, like any competitor, answered affirmatively.
Former Nittany Lion Bo Nickal found that offensive to his sensibilities, apparently.
I’ve never met Nickal but I’ve watched him wrestle, and I find it pretty hard to imagine he wouldn’t attack an opponent’s weakness - physical, tactical, or otherwise - if given the opportunity. Burroughs was simply doing his job, providing a logical answer and insight, not saying he’d try to intentionally injure Starocci, and this comes across as Nickal being a bit too sensitive in defense of his guy.
We’ve all been there, and generally sticking up for friends should be commended. But when the comment is innocuous as Burroughs’, a knee-jerk reaction like Nickal’s is over the top. And considering Starocci’s pre-match tweet, I’m guessing he didn’t need anyone coming to his aid over a comment.
RAIN
Rain
Yesterday it was cold and rainy, which meant the grass and plants received some much-needed water in this early part of spring. It also meant we were mostly trapped inside all day, and by dinner time the house looked like a small explosive detonated inside our toy cabinets.
We did make a trip to the library for a bit (it’s become a weekly routine for us) and I was able to watch plenty of hoops, but there were a few moments where it would have been nice to get the kids outside for a while.
On the other hand,
*slips on New Balance shoes and braided belt*
the lawn is really starting to brighten up.
Brackets
My bracket turned into molten ash over the weekend. But this is in the Rain section because, for as much as I enjoy March Madness, I don’t actually care much about my bracket predictions. For the last several years, my rooting interests have been:
Kansas
Chaos
My bracket
I don’t begrudge folks for wanting to be right in their predictions, but I would much rather see big upsets instead of a Final Four with nothing but chalk. Which is why this past weekend was fairly disappointing overall, even with a few great games and upsets. KU lost, all the 1s and 2s made it to the Sweet 16, and the only potential harbinger of chaos is an ACC team. Granted, this ACC team has America’s New Favorite Large Adult Son in DJ Burns Jr., but still.
The women’s tournament only had a couple of upsets in the first three days, but there’s enough star power to keep it compelling, and the KU women have a chance to take down USC tonight, so perhaps they can spice things up there. Here’s hoping.
That’ll do it for WLR this week. If you have any additions of your own, leave a comment below, and share with your friends.