TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – If this sounds crazy, well, it is. The Seattle Mariners are leading the American League West standings. Stop the presses!!! Stop the baseball season!!! The M’s are 8-5 going into today’s game (April 16) and have a half-game lead over the Angels. What is kind of amusing is that almost all the baseball divisions are upside down. Boston won nine in a row after starting out 0-3 and tops the AL East with a 9-4 record (Boston lost April 15). The Red Sox finished last in the shortened 2020 season at 24-36. Those slapstick Kansas City Royals top the AL Central (they were next-to-last in 2020 at 26-34), and in the National League the Mets and Phillies are 1-2 in the East and in the Central the Brewers and Reds are tied for the lead. Only in the NL West where the Dodgers reside on top with 11 wins in 13 games (it pays to spend wildly on the game’s best players) is the status quo taking place. The Dodgers went 43-17 last season and claimed the World Series by beating Tampa, which is tied for last in the East this season with Baltimore. I know, I know, it’s way too early to think of such things. But, hey, you don’t often see the Mariners and the Royals on top. … Washington’s star defensive player last season – Zion Tupuola-Fetui injured an ankle and was carted off practice on Friday (April 16). His loss would be a big blow. The 6-4, 280-pound junior had 13 tackles, seven sacks, three forced tackles and one fumble recovery in last season’s shorten season and was a second-team All-American. … Arizona finally ousted Sean Miller. He’s a very good basketball coach, but his alleged shenanigans around recruiting became too much. The Wildcats hired Tommy Lloyd as Miller’s replacement. The hire has been smacked around by some media for getting somebody to run one of college’s elite programs that has no previous head coach experience. Boo-ho. Lloyd is perfect. He worked for 20 years as an assistant to Mark Few at Gonzaga and is credited for being a very good recruiter, especially in the international arena. So what is to dislike? He’s not Mike Hopkins, who spent a lifetime as an assistant at Syracuse waiting for Jim Boeheim to retire so he could take over. His patience ran thin and four years ago decided to jump the Orange ship and accepted the head job at Washington. That hasn’t worked out real well for Washington. After two winning years with Lorenzo Romar’s players, Hopkins has taken a swan dive with the Huskies the past two seasons. Will Lloyd follow the same destructive path? I don’t think so. Lloyd can coach. … I was watching video of the second boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Jerry Quarry in 1972 and it was a joke. Ali danced around Quarry like he was standing still, moving so quick poor Jerry had no chance. It was like a matador going against a bull. The fight was stopped in the seventh round, mercifully. Ok, that is enough for today. Nice weather we are having. Spring has sprung. Be safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.