SZ682

BY JIM DAWSON

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

BASEBALL HAS BEGUN!

Well, almost. It is spring training. The couple games that I’ve viewed had opposing lineups (Rays and Orioles) that had nary a name I recognized. It’ll get better.

Now that Eric Hosmer, JD Martinez (Yay!) and Logan Morrison have signed with teams, the logjam of free agents should be unleashed.

The best part of the coming season is that there once again will be a battle between the BoSox and the Yankees. The season’s always better when those two rivals have very competitive teams. This year could be a corker.

The New York Yankees will be the Bronx Bombers for sure and some of their old records may be shattered like glass hit by their home run balls. You liked Mantle and Maris. Now we have Judge and Jury (Giancarlo Stanton). And that Gary Sanchez isn’t shabby when it comes to smashes out of the park, any park.

Even with JD Martinez, the Red Sox still are a doubles team. They will hit more home runs as a team just because of the presence of Martinez in the order. JD will help the hitters around him in terms of pitch selection.

There are ways to make up for the lack of power. The Red Sox were the worst at running the bases last year. I read that they were thrown out 81 times last year. You’d better believe that an Alex Cora managed team won’t allow that to happen again.

It heartened me to see that Cora will have the BoSox get away from a batter always taking the first pitch. What did Ted Williams say? ‘See the ball. Hit the ball’. Of course Teddy Ballgame had better eyesight than most of us do.

The New York – Boston battle will come down to whoever has the best overall pitching.

That and defense. I love the Red Sox outfield. It may be the best that they’ve ever had. Benintendi, Bradley Jr. and Betts will save the team a bunch of runs. They will be a joy to behold. Let’s just hope the baseball gods keep them all healthy. Play ball!

BULLETS

• While I didn’t see the US win Gold in curling, I did view the shot that set up the win as skip John Shuster knocked out two Swede rocks, leaving 5 US stones in the circle.

The Americans were given the women’s gold medals by accident. http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/shuster-team-usa-score-5-points-8th-end-gold-game

• Hope you caught the item about the Bundesliga soccer goalie who turned to get his water bottle and his opponent scored while he wasn’t paying attention. Dummkopf!

EMAIL

My original thought was Freebird, by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and featured in Con-Air. But then, The Rolling Stones Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, featured in Casino and Blow. And, of course, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, used in the Mindhunter film. And there’s Hey Jude, used in the Across the Universe film. Also, Layla, in Say Anything. That said, I do not have a definitive answer to your question. Bummer. The Wizard Wiz, well you did some heavy thinking on this trivia question, good try. - Z

Sorry for late response very busy with new play-I believe "The End" by the doors is what you’re looking for-Apocalypse Now-"I love the smell of napalm in the morning"-Marlon Brando was great in movie-Celtics-Baynes reminds of Jim Ard-Monroe an end of career Sidney Wicks/Curtis Rowe (Remember John Brown bought team and brought in Wicks /Rowe hoping to re-kindle UCLA magic). Ken Forestal Good guess, Ken, but no, not the Doors and The End. - Z

Queen. Bohemian Rhapsody

Matthew Dawson

You are correct, Matt. It's Freddie Mercury's Queen with Bohemian Rhapsody. - Z

Hey Jim,

The Detroit sports media is giddy about Matt Patricia joining Bob Quinn in attempting to erase two generations of football frustrations for Lions fans. Is Detroit’s gain really Patriots loss?

Bruce Irwin

Bruce, thanks for reading. I think Matt Patricia is a great hire for the Detroit Lions. His bend but don't break defenses have been consistently good over a number of years. Bob Quinn also comes from a Patriots background. The Lions should be on good footing going forward. The question will be how well they draft and sign free agents. - Z

Sportzine is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz

THE HOT CLUB

We were talking about Canadian geese when my friend Paul, who is a Director for the National Wildlife Federation, pointed out that it’s Canada geese. Wikipedia notes: “The Canada goose was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae.”

The Herbster, Fleet Feet Pete and I were talking about beer and the rise of craft breweries into a larger share of the market. So I opined that last I knew the Germans drank more beer per capita than anyone else. Fleet Feet said that it was the Czechs. Sure enough, a Wikipedia search revealed the top 10 as Czech Republic, Seychelles, Austria, Germany, Namibia, Poland, Ireland, Lithuania, Belize and Estonia. The USA was 17^th.

So from there, Herbster mentioned that Budweiser was originally a Czech beer called Budweiser Budvar. Indeed that Czech bier goes back to at least the 16^th century. Because of a trademark fight with Anheiser-Busch, the Czech beer is sold as Czechvar in the US.

Friday Cap’t. Jack pointed out that he read that there are now 14 QBs in the NFL that make more money than Tom Brady. Soon, with free agent QBs, there will be more. I said that Tom Brady, who has redone his contract to help the Patriots with the salary cap and to help keep players, doesn’t care.

Vermont Jack showed me his cellphone. It had a picture of a beer called ‘Medicator’. It is a pot infused American pale ale. Not THC but CBD. ABV of 6.5. VJ says it cost $128 a case. $22 for a 4-pack. From Long Trail Brewery in Bridgewaters Corners, Vermont.

LAST ISSUE’S QUIZ ANSWER

Last issue, you were asked to name the band that had their first million selling single, which started out as a 7 minute song, and then was a hit 16 years later when it was used in a movie. Only Matt Dawson knew it was Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody. The 1975 operatic song ended up at 5:52. It was a hit again when used in the movie Wayne’s World. Bohemian Rhapsody was from Queen’s 4^th album A Night at the Opera, the name a tribute to the Marx Brothers (from The Wacky Top 40 by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo).

THIS ISSUE’S QUIZ

This band shot to fame with the aid of a song penned by Ray Davies of the Kinks and the production efforts of Nick Lowe. The band enjoyed great success first in England. It was composed of 3 Englishmen and one American. Name?