Thoughts from Dave Higgins
The basketball scores are 112 to 98, 78 to 75, 88 to 77 and 101 to 99. In local action, Bonso Gonzago went 7 for 5 from the floor while Clayton Clearwater had a triple single. Tonight on ESPN 37 we have number 201 Brisbane Polytech takes on The Little Sisters of the Poor. Finally, left fielders and second basemen report in two weeks!
Why are commentators still talking about things being “dialed up?” On sports coverage, they are always saying things like “the defensive coach is dialing up a blitz package.” In politics, they say the candidate is “dialing up negative ads against his opponent.”
Dial tones went out in the late fifties and early sixties. I can just barely remember rotary phones where you actually “dialed up” the number of the person you wanted. Push buttons and now digital have replaced dialing completely. I guess “dialing” it up just sounds better than “pushing” it up but still it must be confusing to young folks when someone comments that this or that is being dialed up.
Can you rant without raving? And, what exactly, is raving?
Big, bold headline: WHO KILLED JFK? When you go to the article, guess what? “Nobody seems to know for sure…” is how it starts out. Another example. WHO WILL WIN THE 2013 SUPERBOWL? “It could be any one of a number of teams, and of course there could always be a surprise….”
Conventional wisdom is nothing more than what all of us think today which, as sure as the weather, will change tomorrow. This morning on Morning Joe all the pundits were bemoaning that Mitt Romney will be so “beat up” by the end of the primaries that he has no chance in the fall. It was only four years ago that Hilliary took Obama to the door of the convention before bowing out at the last minute. Obama was certainly “beat up” in the primaries. He did OK in the fall. This is going to be a very interesting election this year – for sure.
“We need reform from the bottom down not from the top up!”
“If this law works, I’m in favor of it. If it doesn’t, I’m against it!”
“Generally speaking, politicians are average people, untrained for the job they are doing.”
“This is a critical election. The choices couldn’t be clearer.”
In college football, who was playing the best football at the end of the year? Hmmmm. That would be WVU (Orange Bowl) and, of course, Alabama. So, if we had a play off system in college football, the Mountaineers would probably be national champions this year!
Nine eleven means one thing; nine one one another. Yet both are 911. Both involve danger but one is an attack and the other a rescue. Very spooky.
What can we learn from this 70-33 win?
1. Speed and hard tackling wins. Period.
2. The Big East (may it rest in peace) is a much better conference that folks think.
3. Players who get in the game because of injuries are often better than the “starters” they replace. Remember Steve Slaton and Pat White coming into the Maryland game?
4. Team chemistry is more important than newspaper stories in terms of what’s really going on.
5. WVU could well win a national championship in the next three years.
I got all excited when I saw on the ESPN website that the Orange Bowl was saying 23 West Virginia 15 Clemson. Then I realized that was their respective rankings not the predicted score.
Years ago when the salaries for sports figures started to go into the zillions, an agent for one of these superstars was asked how anyone could possibily justify such a huge salary when teachers, clerks and other ordinary people get so much less?? The reply was telling. The sports agent said, “Why don’t you have these people rent out Yankee Stadium, put their desk in center field and see how many tickets you can sell to watch them do their job?”
