By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, breaking in a new heater as I pace the room awating the Ohio State-Notre Dame game — and it is No-tra Dame, not Norter Dame.

—IT IS SPELLED T-E-A-M: After the University of Dayton basketball team lost three straight Atlantic-10 games, social media was a conflagration of criticism, a lot of it aimed at point guard Malachi Smith.

So after Smith’s daring deed of a game-winning last-second pass that beat Chicago Loyloa in overtime, Flyers coach Anthony Grant addressed it.

“I’m really proud of this team’s resiliency,” he said. “There were a lot of questions about our guys’ ability to block out the noise and stay together. Our guys showed our character.”

They turned that negative noise into a Neil Diamond song, ‘Beautiful Noise,’ with Smith’s pass to Amael L’Etang to beat Loyola. But Grant’s point of emphasis was team, team team.

“To me, it’s always gonna be team,” he said. “We’re in a day and age where everybody wants to make it about other stuff and it gets into these kids’ heads. It’s hard for ‘em, just really hard for ‘em. You fight it as a coach because you see it and they can get sidetracked.

“You try to keep it about what it’s supposed to be about (team) and stop trying to make it something else,” he added. “It’s team. It’s team. . .that’s where the joy is. Where else can you get that? You can’t get anyting else like it in life. Nothing else.

“I walked into the lockerroom and just to hear the excitement that they had for each other, coming together and getting that win. Where else are you finding that?

“So let’s keep it at that because that’s what it is about,” he said.

—SURPRISE ANOINTMENT: If you aren’t into baseball analytics, and I’m not, MLB network’s Brian Kenny stuffs them down your throat until you want to gag.

But he did say something the other day that I actually agree with. He said a young Cincinnati Reds player has a chance to be a superstar.

Elly De La Cruz? Of course. But Kenny wasn’t talking about Cruz Control. He was talking about Matt McLain.

“If anyone has a chance, it’s this kid (McLain) right here,” he said. “He’s going to be 25 and he slugged .507 as a rookie. He could be a superstar.”

That is, of course, if he stays healthy.

—ANY MARTIAN PROSPECTS?: If life is discovered on Saturn, a Los Angeles Dodgers scout will be there to sign a player.

The Dodgers could find an MLB player in Antarctica. Last week they signed a 17-year-old, 6-foot-7, 185-pound pitcher named Joseph Deng.

Where did they find him? In South Sudan, only the second player in MLB history from Africa.

So far this year the Dodgers have re-signed Teoscar Hernandez (Dominican Republic) and signed Kim Hyseseong (Korea), Roki Sasaski (Japan) and Deng (South Sudan).

The Dodger have an international history that might eventually be interplanetary.

Noteworthies: Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico), Fernando Valenzuela (Mexico), Kenley Jansen (Venezuela), Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic), Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic) — a history of United Nations signings.

—PITCH AND RUN: There is only one player in MLB history who stole at least one base in a year for 10 seasons and was never caught stealing. Never. Not once.

And his name is Greg Maddux. Yep, pitcher Greg Maddux. Who knew this guy with a book full of incredible pitching statistics could run the bases, too?

The other pitcher with unfathomable statistics is Nolan Ryan. And here’s one.

In June of 1974, Ryan threw 235 pitches against the Boston Red Sox. Four days later, on three days of rest, he started again and won.

Did it hurt his arm or shoulder. Not a chance. He pitched for 19 more seasons.

—QUOTE: From Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson: “You want to know the best pitch in baseball? It’s strike one.”

—HERE, THERE, EVEYWHERE: Pete Rose is the only player in MLB history to play more than 500 games at five different positions. He famously moved from left field to third base so that Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson could insert George Foster into left field.

When I saw the list, I was surprised to learn at what position Rose played the most games and it was by a wide margin. He played 939 games at first base.

Left field was second most at 671. Then came third base at 634, second base at 628 and right field at 595.

He never played center field, never caught and never pitched. It surprised me that he never caught in an emergency situation. When he played on the Dayton sandlots he was mostly a catcher.

And with the passing of Pete Rose and Bob Uecker, who said, “There is no crying in baseball?” Yes, I can personally attest, there is crying in baseball.

—QUOTE: From Pete Rose: “You’d be surprised how many shortcomings can be overcome by hustle. If you have someone equal in ability to me I will beat him every time because I will try harder.” (Surprised by overcoming shortcomings with hustle? No, no surprise when it came to Charlie Hustle.)

—DOG-GONE IT: My dogs, Quinn and Paige, are extremely smart, as are all dogs. But they can’t operate an MRI scanner. But my neighbor’s catscan.

—PLEASE CHEER ELSEWHERE: As the risk of being curmudgeonly, why does the University of Dayton need 25 cheerleaders? Do they need that many to chant, “Go UD. Go, go, go UD?”

They have more cheerleaders than basketball players on the roster, by far.

OK, I’m perturbed, hence my bleating. I missed Amael L’Etang’s buzzer-beating game-winning shot in overtime to beat Chicago Loyola.

Why did I miss it? Because a UD cheerleader blocked my view. When a UD game is nationally televised, I lose my mid-court seat and am relegated to a table under the basket in front of the student section.

Between on-the-floor cheers, the cheerleaders sit on the floor in front of the table, constantly waving pompons in front of my face and constantly jumping to their feet during play.

I politely asked one young lady if she would not sit in front of me and if she did could she not jump up during play. She gave me the stink eye, sat back down in front of me and leaped to her feet and blocked me from seeing UD’s most important basket of the year.

I watched a replay on TV. . .but it’s not the same. And if I see that cheerleader in my neighborhood I will yell at her, “Get off my lawn.”

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 138: Actress/comedian Goldie Hawn had the right attitude when she said, “Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat?”

And before listing this edition’s songs, give credit to former Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell’s No. 1 antagonist, George Yuhas Jr., for singing this after the Detroit Lions lost: “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Lion(s) sleep tonight.”

—Lost In Love (Air Supply), Queen Of Hearts (Juice Newton), When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman (Dr. Hook), The Longest Time (Billy Joel), Walk of Life (Dire Straits), Electric Avenue (Eddy Grant), Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Belinda Carlisle).

 

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