Some Sports Talk

I like to watch sports on TV, team sports that is...you can keep your golf, tennis, swimming, running, boxing, UFC, and so on.  No, what I prefer as a spectator are sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, football...and lately, ice hockey.  It just so happens that four of these have a lot going on right now.  In women's college basketball, the Division I championship finale yesterday pitted two SEC schools: Mississippi State, which just came off a huge upset of Connecticut in the semifinals, and South Carolina.  I think that the Bulldogs must have been spent after that win, because South Carolina built up an early lead and stopped Mississippi State from scoring beyond the three-point line...eventually winning the national championship going away.  In the men's NCAA Division I championship game...to begin tonight a little past nine...my remaining favorite, North Carolina...with its incredible rebounding ability...will play Gonzaga, a team that has lost only once all year.  But I'll be at work during this game, regrettably missing out on it...

The playoffs are set to begin in the National Hockey League soon, and I honestly don't have a favorite team right now.   The other night I watched a game between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and, for the first time, felt that I understood the game and was able to follow it...wow, that makes a big difference!  Not that I'm going to be a hockey fanatic any time soon, but from time to time during the Stanley Cup playoffs I'm certain to watch some televised games...

There is one sport I haven't mentioned because it has a combination team/individual duality to it: bicycle racing.  This July the Tour de France will take place, and I have a tendency to stay glued to the television watching the excitement...as well as the beautiful, often breathtaking scenery as the competitors pedal their way through towns, the country, and steep mountain roads...

Major League Baseball began its 2017 regular season this past weekend...and I'm already bored.  This despite one of "my" teams, Tampa Bay, taking it to the Yankees 7-3.  I wrote earlier that I preferred to watch team sports, but maybe baseball...already very slow-moving without the even more complicating factor of instant replay review...may turn out to be a sport I tend to avoid.  Then again, sometimes I enjoy sitting back and watching a game...especially when there isn't anything else on the boob tube...

In soccer, I'm following the English Premier League, Mexico's Liga MX, Germany's Bundesliga, and the North American top pro league, Major League Soccer. Of these four, I clearly prefer English league soccer...the combination of its high standard of play with league parity makes their matches a joy to watch.  Contrast this with MLS, where the players seem to often have difficulty connecting on simple passes.  Still, come summertime MLS will be the only league left in season...