Sport Saturday: NCAA

In the USA, sports seasoned seem to get longer and longer.  This is not annoying to fans of the particular sport, but it does lead to some serendipitous paradoxes.  While not strange, maybe, that the National Basketball Association is playing their finals in June, it is very strange that the National Hockey League plays their finals about the same time.  Ice Hockey.  In June. 

Today is maybe one of those happy days, especially for fans of college sports.  College Football Season is well underway, and today's play may determine which teams enter the supposed playoff to determine the possible national championship.  So, today's action does have an overall relevance.   It used to be that  College Basketball began sometime around Thanksgiving, and then for a few weeks the big teams played easily dominated other teams.  Today, though, college basketball is well underway. 

In Football, Ohio State should easily dispatch Maryland, in a game which will probably be a blowout.  The Minnesota Golden Gophers, at number 17, will have their work cut out for them as they challenge the number 4 Nittany Lions of Penn State.  That game should remain interesting well into the fourth quarter.  The fans have really come alive in Minnesota, in their renovated Football stadium, so the Penn State team may be challenged in ways they never imagined. 

Some teams hope to become "bowl eligible," teams such as the fighting Illini of the University of Illinois.  They are hoping for a win, not a big win, but any win, at Michigan State, to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2014.  The Spartans are normally a winning team, but have dropped three straight, while the Illini have won three in a row, including the recent upset of Minnesota.  The Illini have not won four straight Big Ten games since 2001, and the Spartans are favored. 

The Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame, at number 15, have no playoff hopes left, but still hope for a good placement in a good bowl. They will fight their hardest as they visit the Duke Blue Devils, a game neither team can really afford to lose (Duke is currenly at 4-4).  Notre Dame is really good at forcing turnovers, while not turning over the ball themselves. Duke has the opposite problem.  The LSU at Alabama game will be attended by President Trump. 

In College Basketball, today's schedule is indeed replete with such early season classics as Central Arkansas at Georgetown and Stony Brook at Seton Hall.   Don't miss the New Jersey Institute of Technology at Providence College, if you really need to complete you scorecard of a Catholic trifecta today.  The Friars don't foresee any great challenges, certainly.  Some of the regional matchups, such as Northern Iowa at Northern Illinois, may bring some excitement to the fans of NCAA Basketball. 

Football

Devon Allen

Dez Bryant,

Diego Vivarelli

Emiliano Bonilla

Esteban Arteaga

David Fair

Saturday Sport: Aussie Rules, Beach Volley, Army Wolverines

In Rome, Italy, today the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continues today.  Spots for the Olympics are on the line as teams involved in this world tour play also for glory. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball. The World Tour was introduced for men in 1989.  Today, the visit to the Foro Italico in Rome is the final stop on the World Tour before the World Championships, and includes 65 men's teams from throughout the world. 

This afternoon, the US team will face off against Germany in the Men's semifinals, Russia will face off against Norway.  Team USA must be tired this afternoon, as their first match of the day, in the quarterfinals, was a seemingly endless tie, above thirty points per team as the USA finally prevailed. 

Scott Pendlebury

This was a big weekend in Aussie Rules Football, as the season playoffs continue and spots are whittled down toward the Grand Final, played later this month. 

On Thursday at the Optus Stadium, the West Coast Eagles prevailed over Essendon, 116-61.  West Coast has won its fourth consecutive finals match and first final against Essendon. The Eagles won all four quarters on their way to a 55-point margin, but blew the game open with seven goals from 13 forward 50 entries across the first and second quarters. 

Friday night, at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the Collingwood Magpies triumphed over the Geelong Cats by a margin of 61-51.  No teams had met so often in the finals, 23 to be exact, with the Cats holding a 12-11 series advantage, a record which was equalized by the Pies win.  Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury played his 300th AFL match on Friday, and has never looked stronger.  It was a  hard-fought win for Collingwood who jumped the Cats early with four first-quarter stoppage goals. The Cats battled back to finish with more contested possessions (157-135), inside 50 entries (50-43) and shots at goal (22-19) but the Magpies managed to hang on.

There were two games on Saturday. 

In the first, the GWS Giants trounced the Western Bulldogs, 113-55, in a final at their home stadium.  This was a huge territorial win of 76 inside 50s to 37 has seen the Giants run out comfortable 58 point winners today. Hopper for the victors had a team-high 30 disposals. Macrae worked hard all day in a losing side with a match-high 32 disposals.  The game was seen as a battle between the competition's two best uncontested possession sides. The Giants had won the uncontested possession count by 31 per game this season, ranked first, while the Bulldogs had won the same category by 29 per game this season, ranked second.  The Dogs, who have been strong in recent seasons, could not measure up to their usual standards. 

Finally, the Richmond Tigers trounced the Brisbane Lions in the weekend's last game at the Gabba, 112-65.  Both teams, who had been 2nd and 3rd on the ladder at the end of the season, came in strong, each having won their last several games.   The game turned into a rout, and a comfortable victory to the Tigers in the end, who made the most of their forward 50 entries, kicking extremely accurately. Richmond recorded 6.1 (37) from set shots in comparison to the Lions 6.6 (42), while the Tigers also kicked 12.1 (73) from general play, compared to the Lions 2.9 (21). Brisbane kicked 1.7 (13) from 30-40 meters out, despite the Lions ranking 3rd for goal kicking accuracy before tonight's game.

In the USA, in NCAA College Football today, an overrated Michigan meets an underrated Army squad.  This game may be more interesting than predicted, as the team from West Point is on a surge. 

Saturday Final Sport Four

Men's Basketball has us all confused this morning, with the Milwaukee Bucks removing the LA Lakers from NBA contention!?!  This will be the first year in almost two decades without a LeBron James in the NBA finals.  Maybe the Lakers should move back to Minnesota?  

That is where the true  action is this weekend, Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the site of today's Final Four in the championships of USA's NCAA Men's College Basketball. The championships are being played at the US Bank Stadium, better known to readers of this space as the new home to the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL.  I guess they finally wanted to have some champion play at their new stadium.  

This year's is not the most exciting of recent Final Four match-ups, as we have heard over, and over, and over...  A top seed, a past champion and two first-time visitors will play for the national title this weekend.  

They are still playing in the tournament, right, so they must be pretty good.  This space foresees some exciting basketball this evening.

In the first match-up,  tournament surprisers Auburn will contend with fellow southerners Virginia.  Virginia is the last top seed in the tournament, and Auburn is making their virgin visit to the finals.  The Auburn Tigers are peaking, being on a 12 game winning streak.  The Virginia Cavaliers have a top rated defense.  Auburn has some players who may be out for the flu...  The Tigers have the plan and could very well win, but they have their work cut out for them.  

Later, Michigan State, of the Big 10, who won the big dance in 2000, will take on Texas Tech, also Final Four Virgins.  The Michigan State Spartans have a top rated offense and defense, so come into the game strong.  The Texas Tech Red Raiders have surprised everyone in the tournament so far, and could very well pull off a surprise today.  


The Red Raiders are known for a very strong defense, but their offense has been coming alive all tournament long.  

Saturday Sport: Kohli, Cricket, Buckeyes

Amid statements by India's Virat Kohli that his team would not put up by any shenanigans by Australia's selection, India's T20I squad began their tour of Australia, foreseen to be four matches in total.  You may recall that T20 includes a "limited overs" format, with twenty sets of six pitches being bowled by each side.  This means that a match can be played, and completed,  within a few hours.

Kohli said before the series began, that his team would not brook anything from the opposing team, that challenged the India players' self respect.  Australia took the first match last week, but have been challenged currently.  

In the second match, Australia's batsmen were humbled by a disciplined Indian display in the field before persistent rain forced the abandonment of play at a soggy Melbourne Cricket Grounds, leaving the hosts one up in the series with a final match still to play in Sydney on Sunday.

Following a day of heavy showers and high winds in Melbourne, the skies cleared enough for the match to commence on time, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya restricted the Australians after Virat Kohli sent the home side in to bat.

Only Ben McDermott, with an intelligent, unbeaten 32, was able to make much of an impression, before the return of the rain forced an early end to Austrlaia's innings. From there, a series of showers washed over the ground, stopping often enough to have the target revised four times under DLS calculations. The match was finally called off at 9.57pm local time when a final burst of rain ruled out the latest possible restart of 10.02pm for a chase of 46 in five overs.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and New Zealand are amid a three test series being played in Dubai.  

College Football Fans may want to tune into the annual blood bath rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio State, this year played at Ohio Stadium.  Both teams have equal records at 10 and 1.  Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh looks for his first coaching victory over the Buckeyes of Ohio State, while Urban Meyer is 6-0 against the Michigan Wolverines.

Much is on the line in that game today for both Big 10 and wider championship implications.  

For the non Football addicted, Ohio State has a great marching band.  

Ready for Swim

Aleksander and Hetland

 Florent Manaudou

Michael Phelps

Jacek Bilczynski

Jack Mackenroth

Karim Gasmi