GOT MY FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

So, the season is upon us.  Don’t get me wrong….I’m not talking about Spring!!  I’m talking about Opening Day Week for the MLB and for our grandsons’ high school baseball team.

I made it to their first game, which was at home and sadly, they lost1-3.  Neither of my grandsons got to play in the game.  The week prior they were in Florida for their spring break, therefore were not in town for their practice sessions, which automatically means you don’t get to play.  On top of that, Teddy has a break in his hand which will keep him out for another couple of weeks (he managed to drop a couch on it!!!) 

Turning now to the Cincinnati Reds….it is so much fun being a fan of this team!!  For most of the 20^th century the Reds held a special tradition of playing the first game of the MLB season.  This is because they are the first professional baseball team in the country. 

Their history dates back to 1869 (just post Civil War, WOW!!)  At that time, they were the first professional team named the Cincinnati Red Stockings. 

The franchise was officially founded in 1881 as a charter member of the American Association.  In 1882 they played their first season winning the league championship.  In 1890 the club joined the National League and shortened its name to the Cincinnati Reds. 

So, in honor of its history, The Reds have played the first game of the season at home nearly every year since 1900.  There were 3 exceptions:  1966 Philadelphia, 1990 Houston and 2022 Atlanta. 

The strict tradition of the Reds being the sole opening game faded in recent years due to international openers and scheduling changes, something that infuriated Marge Schott (owner at the time),

Whether we still hold that honor is almost a moot point, since no other team does Opening Day like Cincinnati!!!  It is a full day affair with TV coverage beginning early in the day, a huge parade at Noon, game time at 4:00 pm and hundreds, of thousands of fans flooding downtown.  There have been numerous attempts to make Opening Day an “official Cincinnati holiday”, meaning no school and folks off from work.  So far that hasn’t happened.   

Some of my earliest memories are all about baseball.  One of my favorites is how, after we moved to Florida in 1957, Dad used to listen to WLW radio for Reds games.  It was tough, given than WLW was almost 1000 miles away, back in Cincinnati.  Reception wasn’t very good at all, but Dad hung in there until the Tampa Rays came along.  But he still followed the Reds and always saw a game when he came to town for a visit.  

  

So, this past Thursday was Opening Day.  As usual there was nothing else on TV.  Unfortunately they played the Boston White Sox and lost that game, but won the series taking it 2 games won, 1 game lost. I have all the games on my phone calendar and we have subscribed to Reds-TV on MLB so we can watch all the games.  Got my fingers crossed it will be a winning season.

Oh For The Love Of Sports!!!

So, there’s been a bit of excitement here in southern Ohio for a while.  Not something I would expect national news to pick up, and if you’re not a sports fan, you wouldn’t be aware either.  And, honestly, as much of a sports fan as I am, basketball is pretty far down on my list. 

However, several weeks back the Miami RedHawks (as in Miami, Ohio) started to get a lot of local press coverage.  They had gone pretty far into their season without losing a game.  A few nights ago was their final game at home for the season, and they won that one!  Last night they played their final away game against Ohio University.

Pete and I were going to stay up as late as possible to watch (game started at 9pm, that’s our usual bedtime).  Unfortunately, for some reason I couldn’t login to ESPN.  So, this morning, as soon as I woke up, Pete let me know, they beat OU 110-108 in overtime.  Their season record 31-0!!!  Wow!!!  I need to mention here, that this was the first loss for OU, at home, in over 15 years!!!  (Heartbreak for them!!)

I pulled up game highlights and as far as I could see, there was never more than a 3-point spread throughout the game.  Miami won in the last 2 seconds of the game when they blocked a final basket effort.  So, congratulations Miami!!! Hope you have great success in the upcoming tournament.

Brought back memories, of course.  Of the four of us in my family, only Mom was an avid basketball fan.  This never registered with me until one time, on a visit home, Mom was watching a game and was more than a little engaged!!  Yelling, screaming, jumping up and down!!!  Who knew??  Not me!!!

Other basketball memories include a visit to a University of Florida (Gators) game.  I was maybe 11, 12….somewhere in there.  The only reason it has hung in there with me is that throughout the game the crowd was screaming “Gator Bait”, “Gator Bait”.  Not sure, but I think I was a little traumatized. 

Then there was the Dixie Hollins Rebels.  I never got to go to many of my high school games cause by that time I was working.  But I remember when my brother was a student there, they won state titles in 1960-61.

So, the sport has been around in the family, kinda, and I may be motivated to stay tuned to the upcoming tournament.   Miami plays  UMass in the MAC tournament this Thursday at 11AM.  Got to get my ESPN login fixed!!!!