The SoapBoxers

Basketball Post Season Musings

As we wind down the collegiate basketball season, there are a couple of big things to still play out. It is time to reflect on the win and loss record of your favorite team and look forward to post season tournaments, or other moves for your favorite squad…which might be a change of venue.

The high schoolers in my area have just wrapped up their state titles, and in Lincoln, Nebraska, that also brings an end to the Bob Devaney Sportscenter.

Smoke Em if you Got Em.

LIL’ RED

Affectionately called “The Bob” the Basketball arena is in fact a multi-use facility. It house the swimming and diving programs for the University of Nebraska, was home to some Olympians and NCAA titles for Gymnastics, and has one of the fastest and best indoor track facilities in the country.

These sports are not as mainstream for the fans, so it was also known as the basketball arena.

A little known fact is that the construction of the building was under a bunch of scrutiny from the get go. The building was built at a cost of under 14 million dollars (of course remember this was the early 70’s and that was a LOT more money then) Most all of the funding was provided by cigarette taxes in the State of Nebraska. Ironically the Devaney Center has always been a non-smoking facility.

Nebraska

The place was truly state of the art on the National level when it opened in 1976. Over the years the Bob hosted 3 different NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games ( in 1980-84 and 88) Many who had visited the Devaney Center did so after the heyday of Nebraska basketball, or as longtime fans call it….NeeBrasketball, after coach Danny Nee.

In 1986 Nee was hired to replace Moe Iba, the son of legendary basketball mind Henry “ Hank” Iba. Nee coached the Huskers from 1986 to 2000. In his tenure, Nebraska became a team to be reckoned with in the conference, as they went to 5 NCAA tournaments, and won the NIT tourney in 1996. There has not been as much success at Nebraska before or since the Nee years.

The crowds in those days, and even during the highlight of the Iba years often exceeded capacity by 1,000 or more. It was standing room only. The place was loud, and it was a great building to watch a game.

I should know, my dad has had season tickets since the place was built…and I have attended most every one of those 595 games over 37 years.

Bye Bye Birdie

Introducing the new Big East commish

With the new Catholic 7 league…which will evidently use the Big East name, 7 schools DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Villanova have agreed to be in the new conference. There are a host of other schools that are hoping to be asked. Among those rumored to be are schools such as Butler, Xavier and, most likely, Creighton. It is also expected that Dayton and St. Louis would come into the party in 2014.

Suddenly my Blue Bird friends of a Creighton Feather talk about the Missouri Valley – , a conference they have been so proud of for so long, – as a second rate citizen. Sport talk radio in Omaha is already planning trips to the Big Apple, and is talking about the fantastic match ups on the basketball court.

This makes me realize how much Husker fans scorned the old Big XII, and how much they lauded the Big 10 when they were leaving just a couple of years ago. Of course the main difference is the Huskers were eating at the big kid’s table already.

Creighton has traditionally had some very good basketball teams over the years, and the Mo Valley is likely one of the more heralded mid-major conferences. But playing the likes of Evansville, Northern Iowa and Illinois State is a long way from playing Villanova, Georgetown, and Marquette night in and night out.

While you might enjoy seeing a much higher level of talent and athleticism coming to your arena 10 times a year, you also better forget the days of the 20 wins season. You won’t be rolling along as the league favorite any time soon with those teams on your league schedule.

Until Next time, get those pencils sharpened for Selection Sunday, and may your brackets be full of correct upset winners.

These are historic times. For the first time since the late 1200s, a Pope has resigned. Like a monarch, the Pope has never really had an opportunity to retire, they have died in place. Even the other Pope who resigned, Celestine V, did not really retire. Shortly after his departure the next Pope had him arrested and imprisoned for the last two years of his life. Celestine (nee Peter) considered himself too old to fill the post which he held for only 15 months. He had been a hermit, and wanted to return to that life. He was in his mid to late 80s, the records are not that precise.

The current events could possibly be one of the most intelligent moves made by an elder statesman in recent history. Pope Benedict recognized that his age was impeding his ability to function as the Pope and he is stepping aside. This is a grand opportunity for all of the Cardinals to be involved in the conclave without the overshadowing cloud of morning for a deceased Pope. In the modern age, access has not been as much of a problem as in the past. At least half of the Cardinals must be present, but until the 20th century, there was seldom more than that minimum available. The conclave is supposed to start ten days after the death (or resignation) of the last Pope. The conclave should not last very long, but history has shown conclaves to last years.

The conclave is closed, no communications with the outside world until a decision is made. This isolation provides a contemplative atmosphere to allow the Cardinals to pray and listen for direction from the Holy Spirit. To the non-religious and even to non Catholics, this may seem quaint or odd, but the Cardinals do meditate and try to discern the best choice by a spiritual method. The votes are written on slips of paper, which are counted first to make sure there are only as many votes as Cardinals, then for a majority vote for each name. These ballots are burned whether there is a choice or not. Chemicals are added to the ballots to make the smote black when there is no choice and white when a choice has been made. The choice is made when one name gets more than 2/3s of the vote. Any Catholic man older than 18 is eligible, but for the last 200 years, the choice has almost exclusively from the council of Cardinals.

When the new Pope is selected, there are several major issues that will have to be addressed. Some of these issues have not been mentioned in any media, but are important none the less. High on the list and mostly forgotten is the fait of several priests who were accused of sexual abuse who have taken refuge in the Vatican. It is interesting that the Church has taken the stand that there are no boarders when discussion American immigration policy, but the boarders of the Vatican are intact for protecting a small group from prosecution. There is an assumption of innocence, but running and hiding in the Vatican does not allow justice to be served. The Church has complete sway on matters spiritual within the Church, but matters of civil crime must be addressed by civil authorities.

Another major issue that is not high on the public attention, is the reorganization of the Church hierarchy. The balance of Bishops, Archbishops, and Cardinals is still based on the distribution of the Church in the fifteenth century. The tradition of the leader of a specific parish having a certain position must be addressed, similar to the dead districts in the English Parliament. There are a disproportionate number of high offices in Italy and a sad lack in Latin America.

Married Priests are an issue as well. Many would claim that this is an innovation, but in truth, priests were not required to be celibate for several centuries into the history of the Church. Peter the Apostle himself was married. Celibacy is a special commitment. Celibate priests will always be necessary for the health of the Church, but allowing married priests will prevent the crisis of priesthood that has been building over the last few decades. It may surprise many that there are married priests in the Church. If an Anglican, Episcopal or Orthodox priest converts to Catholicism, that Priest may be a priest in the Catholic Church without having to give up his wife.

The new Pope will have many additional concerns. He must address them while having the specter of the resigned Pope living just on the edge of view. He must continue the drive that Pope John-Paul II started in developing interest in the Church among young people. He must continue the fiscal cleaning that Pope Benedict started to keep the Church solvent.

In the end, the Cardinals will choose. For the good of the Church, all Catholics and most Christians are praying for their choice to be inspired.

[adrotate banner=”32″]

The End is Near

The countdown is on! I am still cautiously optimistic as we have had some delays with our construction, but the mortgage interest rate is locked in, we have given notice to the apartment complex where we have been living, and the final choices on interior things have been made.

Final Choices

The final choices included carpet colors, and of course interior wall colors. We also had to pick out the bathroom light fixtures, the hardware for all of the doors and windows, and a couple of exterior lights. It is really hard to imagine all of the different things you have the opportunity to select if you are building a home for the first time.

Some of the other choices are not so obvious. Do you want a wall mount for your television here? Where do you want your outlets and light switches? Do they flow and make sense when you go through the house? Where do you want the tile to stop and the carpet to start around your walk out basement door? So many decisions, many of them are not big decisions, but at the same time, once you make them you are never going back.

Great Ideas From Our Builder

Extra Spigot near the garage

Our builder is a genuinely nice guy and also has a great eye for aesthetics and for things that make sense. “ You might want to add a gas line to your deck for your grill.” I would have never thought about this. Initially I was opposed. After running this by a few other friends it appeared this was the best thing since the invention of OREO cookies.

“How about an extra water spigot near the garage?” Why didn’t I think of that? – This one makes total sense…Yes Please!

“We can stain the cement on your front entry and porch area, it breaks it up and makes it blend into the environment better. We can also do something similar in your unfinished storage area in the basement” – This one I have to see a little more to buy in, but we do have a lot of concrete from the sidewalk to the front porch, so I am thinking this will be a smart move as well.

Starting to Look Like Home

At this point, every trip to check out the house is entertaining. You can see progress being done literally every day. The house looks like a house now, and the inside is starting to look like a place I will be living for a long time. My son has already gone from one playroom (which is essentially one of the spare bedrooms) to now having three playrooms when he gives tours of the house to friends who are in town or want to check out progress. I hope we get moved in soon, or I will be living in the garage as he will claim a couple more playrooms for his LEGO kingdom.

Calling All Cars

The last big thing we need to do- once things are ready – is move in. I have never been a big fan of moving, I don’t know anyone that is. The one positive is you get rid of a lot of things you don’t need anymore. We look to be moving in the last week of March…right up against Easter. I am hoping I find some friends who don’t have the entire weekend filled with church, family meals, and egg hunts and I can get a few willing and able bodies to help us get the majority of stuff to our new domicile.

My wife and I both agree we will take our time un-packing. This might even give us a good start to another garage sale once the weather gets a bit warmer. I am going to need to have some extra money to pay for all of these house warming parties I have promised to so many people!

Regardless it will be a lot of packing, stacking, unpacking, placing and re-arranging.

I sure hope the Easter Bunny brings me some Tylenol!

There may be snow on the ground in your neck of the woods, but it’s time for baseball to begin!  Baseball is already alive and well.

Spring Training

Spring training began in mid-February, and games have been underway for a while now.  If you subscribe to MLB.TV, you can watch these games on various types of smart devices (not all games are available).  I’ve tried to connect from an iPhone (worked great), Roku (slightly awkward, but worked), Kindle Fire (didn’t work on the first day, but games are now available), and my Panasonic Blu-Ray player (still doesn’t have the Spring Training games).

I’m switching from MLB Extra innings to MLB.TV this year.  Overall, I think it’s a good switch.  MLB Extra Innings is $200.  The base MLB.TV package is $109.99 (for computers only).  It costs $20 more for connected devices (which includes the iPhone, Roku, and Blu-Ray player).  I opted to buy the minor league package for $20, which will allow me to watch some minor league games (only on a computer sadly).  That’s more value than MLB Extra Innings, for $50 less.

I won’t pretend that MLB.TV is perfect, though.  Each device I’ve used has a different interface, and the differences generally aren’t related to the technical constraints of the device.  In a perfect world, the experience should be nearly identical on every device.  Even worse, the fact that the spring training games are available on some devices and not others is unforgivable.  The availability of minor league games only on computers is also very perplexing – why not make these games more readily available instead of forcing people to their computers?

Fantasy Baseball

My fantasy baseball league draft is under way.  We have a very unconventional setup.  We can only start one player for each letter of the alphabet (last name).  The changes player valuation considerably.  For the draft, owners are randomly assigned 2 letters for each of the 10 rounds, and can pick any player from those letters.

I’m through the first twenty picks of the draft and at this point no major holes are evident.  I got my infield in order first, and then filled out the rest of the team.  I’ve tried to get a bit too cute in recent year – notably, last year trying to corner the market on good catchers to create demand – and it had generally bitten me in the rear.  This year I played it pretty much straight up.

World Baseball Classic

World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic is well under way.  Cuba and Japan have advanced from pool A and Chinese Taipei and The Netherlands from pool B.  Pool C and D (in Puerto Rico and the U.S.) begin play this week.  By the time you read this, Japan and Cuba will be near the end of their much anticipate game.  Both have already clinched spots in round 2, but the winner gets a better seed in the second round.

I’ve had the good fortune to watch bits and pieces of a few different games so far, and it’s definitely enjoyable baseball.  It’s nice to see fresh faces as a reminder that baseball in not just a sport in the Americas.

The WBC staggers the games, with two players from each pool playing the first day, before all the teams are in the fray on day two.  It might be good from a PR perspective, but it’s horrible from the standpoint of fair play.  For example, let’s look at pool A.  Japan and Brazil played on the first day, matching their aces.  On day two, they each played teams who hadn’t played yet – meaning that they also had to face that team’s ace – and obviously couldn’t match with their ace, who had started the previous game.  In the case of Brazil, they faced Cuba’s ace in the second game.  This setup creates an unfair advantage for the team that are idle on the first day.

Here is another in a series of movie reviews. This week, the topic is “Hotel Transylvania”. The basic story is a protective single dad with a teenage daughter who wants her freedom. The twist is that they are vampires, not the sparkling melodramatic vampires from “Twilight”, but a cartoon version of Count Dracula and his daughter. To protect his daughter, the Count builds a resort for monsters, safe from people.

The movie covers just the weekend of Mavis’ (the count’s daughter) birthday. All of the classic monsters are in attendance, but the security is not what the count thinks it is. A human shows up. The mayhem and slapstick that ensues involves the Count trying not to kill the uninvited guest and hiding him from the rest of the monsters. This is both to save his resort and protect his daughter. The problem is, the young people fall in love.

This is definitely a family, focusing on younger children, type movie. Great escape from politics, world events and the economy. It is a cartoon, so do not expect much in deep thought. Fun for all and worth renting. It is long past being in theaters, even rerun and discount theaters.