I shamelessly brought my laptop to the Northridge-Goshen IHSAA Class 4A Sectional semifinal last night to complete my column. There were so many options for today’s thoughts.
- Super Bowl LIX that might result in the first team to three-peat earning the Vince Lombardi trophy (the Kansas City Chiefs).
- The aforementioned sectional hosted by Warsaw Community High School with Friday’s sectional semifinal as further testimony to the widening gap between the haves and have nots among area girls’ basketball programs.
- Numerous NBA trades, a few surprises to boot, where it’s evident the teams not making moves, or cleaning house, are after more than 60 games played this season, are resigned to an unsuccessful run at the championship, let alone a run to make the playoffs.
Although the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles have no weaknesses in their roster, the Chiefs will hoist the championship trophy in tomorrow’s Super Bowl in a manner like their recent Super Bowl win over the Eagles.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is even better this season at finding ways to win, and it’s likely he’ll throw a game-winning touchdown pass to either one of football’s best-ever tight ends, Travis Kelce, or to a running back someone didn’t pick up in the flat.
The Eagles’ pass rush will give Mahomes reason to scramble, and occasionally run him down, but when they don’t, he’ll be making plays. Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley, the most recent 2,000-yard rusher, will ground and pound against the Chiefs’ defense, but in the end I believe Mahomes, not Philly QB Jalen Hurts, will make the play that matters, and he wont need to adapt Philly’s Tush-Push to put points on the board.
As I am typing the Northridge Raiders, unless rat-infected fleas bite them and create instant plague-like results will take their 43-13 halftime lead the rest of the way to today’s section finals.
Warsaw, too, faces Elkhart, who beat Concord by three point – the Minutemen were crushed in late January by the Tigers, who rolled up 79 points against them. Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s still a good night for spot bets.
For last night’s game my only spot bet is each winner’s over-under is 70 points. Even if there is a running clock both teams can break what I like to call (when you hit 70) the Geritol line.
Here are my spot bets for the sectional final:
- The over-under for tanning bed trips if the game is not played in the early afternoon due to incoming inclement weather for both teams combined – 12. I believe in fact Northridge will contribute to at least eight athletes in that spot bet.
- Head Coach Lenny Krebs will use the word love in his postgame interview – 3. Don’t let me down Coach Krebs. I have an oatmeal scotchie batch riding on this.
- Warsaw will have at least three Northridge made baskets where they’ll practically haul in the ball from the bottom of the net and transition to a responding basket in four seconds – 3.
- The Cupid Shuffle will be played twice.
- Brooke Winchester will conference with the official (I say this with reverence of course) – 3. She IS the floor captain, so it’s kosher.
- Jocelyn Bricker will hit a spinning jumper in the lane – 2. If you’ve seen these, they are a thing of beauty. The junior has some of the best inside moves we’ve seen in the Tiger Den in decades.
I’m hoping the action will be competitive and classy. There is nothing better than seeing a sectional’s two best teams meet on a Saturday night for the trophy. On the other hand, the Laporte sectional has South Bend Washington and Penn on the same side of a bracket. Oy-veh.
I digress for a moment. Northridge messed up my only spot bet tonight while I was editing this column. They won 63-21, though, and will wait to see who joins them in the final. The suspense is killing me.
Gotta love those ping pong balls.
The Dallas Mavericks trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a move that fortifies the Lakers chances to get to a deep playoff run. They’ll still have to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, who – without the Cleveland Cavaliers record so far, would hold the league’s best won-loss record. Luka and LeBron James can determine during the pregame which one will be laxer on defense and sneak out an extra un-whistled step in a Euro-step finish to the basket. Face it, LeBron doesn’t even cover up his walks with the move.
Holy smokes. Here we are. Have a safe, fun Super Bowl LIX weekend, and enjoy, specifically, the Willem Defoe-Catherine O’Hara Michelob ULTRA commercial where the two great performers play hustlers in the whitest sport ever invented, pickleball.