-- Here's some food for thought for those involved in youth sports (author unknown):
He stands at the plate
with heart pounding fast.
The bases are loaded,
the die has been cast.
Mom or Dad cannot help him,
he stands all alone.
A hit at this moment
would send the team home.
The ball meets the plate,
he swings and he misses.
There's a groan from the crowd
with some boos and some hisses!
A thoughtless voice cries:
Strike out the bum!
Tears fill his eyes,
the game's no longer fun.
So open your heart
and give him a break;
for it's moments like this,
a man you can make.
Keep this in mind
when you hear someone forget -
He's just a little boy
and not a man yet.
-- Miami Heat coach Pat Riley jokingly said he should "write a check" to fans over his team's poor 14-62 record. They're so bad, wouldn't the check "bounce"? ... In high school boys hoops, Dillard won its 5th straight state championship recently. Next week they're favored by seven points over the Heat!
-- Did you know Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl was the school mascot while a student at Boston College? ... Sandy Koufax, the reclusive Dodger Hall of Famer, turns up at the Final Four every year (He now lives in Vero Beach and Ellsworth, Maine) ... It's ironic Gators coach Billy Donovan ($3.5 mil per year) wasn't in the NCAA tourney but Belmont's coach Rick Byrd ($228,000) was.
-- According to Tom Cunningham, there is one kind of dog that can't bark--the Basenji. It yodels.
-- Last month Yankee Shelley Duncan slides into second and spikes Rays second baseman Aki Iwamura in the upper thigh. A few inches higher and Duncan's nickname would be the "Yankee Clipper" ... A's and Red Sox opened the season in Japan. Guess it's now baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Toyota ... Tommy Lasorda, 80, managed a couple of spring training games for L.A. He went out to argue a close call but forgot ... The Red Sox, Yankees and Tigers appear to be the favorites to win it all. We like the Indians.
-- After watching Brett Favre's emotional news conference, could a Kleenex endorsement offer be far behind?
-- If the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings merged, would they be the Buffalo Wings?
-- In closing, Tammy Tripodi gives us signs you've got a bad funeral director: The hearse has a Pizza Hut logo on the side and he asks if you want the cremation to be original or crispy.
(Some of the information in this column was obtained from other news organizations)
