A Poem for Father's Day

Yes, I know Father's Day was last Sunday, but I just found this poem today.  It's by an American poet named Joseph Fasano (born 1982).

My Father Watching Baseball

What he doesn't say

is he wanted this with all his life,

the smell of grass, the crack of bat

each morning,

the whole world simplified to wonder.

You have to understand

he had nothing.  You have to understand

his father still carried a war in him

and my father had to carry it also.

It was 1973, once.  My father stood

on the mound of Yankee Stadium, the men

who had invited him were watching,

and he leaned back and asked his life

not to fail him.  It didn't

work out, as the cheap books say.

A whole life selling tools and hope to strangers.

(A life will try to call its prison

beauty.  Every morning, every night

of trial.)

But now he sits

in the aching of his rocker

and mutters "we" when he means

a team of strangers, and calls me up

to ask me if I saw it,

and tells me of a game I have no stake in,

and the green grass, and the trouble

of his country,

and the things men do

to win the game they're playing,

the double play, the bunt, the K, the homer,

and his favorite play of all,

the sacrifice.

Last Day of the Sports Year

The sports year begins with football season in late August, goes through the fall, winter, and spring, and ends tonight with the final game of the College World Series.  Here are this year's major sports champions:

MLB:  Los Angeles Dodgers

NCAA Football:  Indiana Hoosiers

NFL Football:  Seattle Seahawks

NCAA Women's Basketball:  U.C.L.A. Bruins

NCAA Men's Basketball:  Michigan Wolverines

NCAA Softball:  Texas Longhorns

NBA:  New York Knicks

And so, today, we get the last game of the NCAA Baseball Championship between the Oklahoma Sooners and the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Oklahoma won the first game of the final series, 9 to 3.  But yesterday, North Carolina struck back for a 6-2 victory.  So tonight will be the title decider.

As you can tell from the list above, it's been a disappointing season for teams in the Classic SEC.  But it's been a pretty good year.  Both the World Series and the NBA Playoffs were particularly good.

College Baseball Update

We have had an extraordinary run of sports in June -- a tremendous NBA finals series, a bright start to the World Cup, and a thrilling U.S. Women's Golf Open.  So we haven't had as much time for NCAA Baseball as we would like.

After a barrage of upsets, the Classic SEC will miss the finals of the College World Series for the first time since 2018, when Oregon State beat Arkansas.  Since 2018, the Classic SEC had won the CWS six years in a row:

2019:  Vanderbilt

2020:  N/A

2021:  Mississippi St.

2022:  Mississippi

2023:  Louisiana St.

2024:  Tennessee

2025:  Louisiana St.

But not this year.  Here's what happened (seedings in parentheses):

BRACKET ONE:

(16) W. Virginia 7, Troy 5

(5) N. Carolina 6, Mississippi 2

Troy 12, Mississippi 8 (Mississippi eliminated)

(5) N. Carolina 5, (16) W. Virginia 2

(16) W. Virginia 12, Troy 0 (Troy eliminated)

(5) N. Carolina 12, (16) W. Virginia 7 (W. Virginia eliminated)

BRACKET TWO:

Oklahoma 9, (7) Alabama 0

(3) Georgia 7, (6) Texas 1

(6) Texas 14, (7) Alabama 2 (Alabama eliminated)

Oklahoma 4, (3) Georgia 3

(3) Georgia 2, (6) Texas 0 (Texas eliminated)

Oklahoma 11, (3) Georgia 4 (Georgia eliminated)

So it will be North Carolina v. Oklahoma in a best two-of-three playoff to wrap up the 2025-26 sports year.  Carolina has never won the CWS.  Oklahoma won it in 1951 and 1994.

College Baseball Update

Today in Bracket Two, we have the following matchups:

Texas v. Alabama

Oklahoma v. Georgia

And I just want to comment that at my age, I will never accept Texas and Oklahoma as members of the Southeastern Conference.

NBA Update

I can't remember the last time that the first three games of the NBA Finals were all up for grabs with a few minutes to go.  Here is what the Series looks like after Game Three (home teams listed first):

06/03:  San Antonio 95 - 105 New York

06/05:  San Antonio 104 - 105 New York

06/08:  New York 111 - 115 San Antonio

It's the first time since 1993 that the road teams have won the first three games of the Final.  That year, the Bulls ended up beating the Suns 4-2 with a 99-98 win in Game Six.

Here are the current odds to win the NBA Title:

New York:  -184

San Antonio:  +154

So it's very much up for grabs.  Personally, I think San Antonio has gotten better in each game so far, which means that New York will be in huge trouble if the Knicks cannot win Game Four at home.  For Game Four, Vegas has made New York a 1 1/2 point favorite, and have set the over/under at 216 1/2.  Those are almost exactly the same odds as Game Three, and it would mean something like a 109-107 win for New York.  I will certainly be tuned in to see what happens.

One other point should be made here.  The analytics revolution in both baseball and basketball led to some awkward moments, as teams played in styles that felt somewhat off-putting and artificial.  All those popups and strikeouts with a runner on third.  All those missed three-pointers when there were driving lanes available.  But last year, I thought the MLB playoffs showed that the managers and the players have caught up with the analytics -- the teams took advantage of the analytic insights, but in a way that fit the logic of the game.  The result was beautiful; well-played games that had all the traditional virtues, but avoided the obvious mistakes (leaving in tired pitchers, for example) that analytics has corrected.

You can see the same thing in this series.  Yes, they shoot a lot of threes.  But those shots are not forced -- they develop from offenses that feature beautiful passing and cutting.  And the defense has been both intense and clever.  The result is a very balanced game that uses the whole floor and is really fun to watch.  I always believed in analytics, because I believe in winning.  But I'm really pleased to see that analytics doesn't interfere with the beauty and traditions of the game.