March Madness returns next week. It was one of the first events to be canceled last year. It will start next Thursday. I think 68 teams will be in a massive bubble in Indianapolis, Ind. Talk about crazy planning! I wouldn’t have wanted to be one of the people who has to figure out how this whole thing is going to work in the first week. One of the only good things is that after the first weekend there are only 16 teams left in the tournament for everyone to worry about. It still has the potential to have problems, but hopefully all will go well. This will not be a typical year in many respects. Duke and Kentucky are not nearly as good as usual and will miss the tournament for the first time that I can remember.
I think there are three teams that have the best chance win the title this year. Gonzaga, Baylor and Michigan. Gonzaga has a chance to become the first team since 1976 in college basketball to go undefeated, but they have to finish the job. They’ve had multiple chances to win the championship in the last 10 to 15 years and haven’t done it yet. It would be pretty cool if they got that done this year after all the chaos of last year.
If you are going to join a March Madness pool this year, good luck. The selection show is on Sunday.
There are only three weeks left until the start of Major League Baseball's regular season. Now is when the regulars will start to play most of the Grapefruit and Cactus League games for five innings or so. Now is also when I will begin to pay more attention. I am nervous about the Phillies' prospects this year because they have the same starting lineup as last year in terms of position players. For them to contend for a playoff spot, the offensive starters are going to have to play to their all-star potential. One of those starters is third baseman Alec Bohm, who (in my opinion) should have won the National League Rookie of the Year award last year.
The PGA Tour Players Championship is this weekend at TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Fla. This is one of the most well-known courses in the world. Especially the iconic island hole at 17. I actually think they should change it to hole 10 instead of 17 because if you put it in the water on that hole it is too much of a penalty to have it at the end of the tournament. However, they will never change the routing because the course is just too famous. A blast from the past is winning. After the first round, Sergio Garcia shot a 65 to lead to field. He won the tournament in 2008 and has had multiple other chances to win. We will see if he can stay at the top of the leaderboard going into Sunday.
Turn those clocks forward this weekend! The nice weather is so sorely needed, but still a few more weeks to count on it. Stay well everyone.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
