Clarksville, TN – Someone broke the watercooler at the last office party and my grapevine died in this crazy weather. So here are my Fourthoughts for this week.
March Madness Ends With Clash of the Titans: I would guess most who read the above title assumed I was referring to the showdown of Kentucky vs. Uconn for the NCAA Men’s Tournament Championship. After all, it has been a wild tournament and the storylines for these two teams have sports writers drooling like Victoria Secret came out with a new line of lingerie with the colors and logo of pro sports teams.
Actually, the titans I was referring two are the two undefeated teams that competed for the NCAA Women’s Tournament Championship, UConn and Notre Dame.It will be the first time in tournament history two undefeated teams will play in the championship game. Not only is the Championship on the line, but perfection is as well.
This was fourth time the two programs have met in the final four the last four seasons, with Notre Dame winning three of the four (although having Skylar Diggins helps).
The UConn win was the ninth championship for Uconn head coach Geno Auriemma, passing the legendary Pat Summitt for the most all time.
And it just happened to take place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
NCAA is Ready for War
It has been reported recently that in a press conference at the Final Four, NCAA President Mark Emmert made it clear his stance on the unionization of college athletes.
“To be perfectly frank, the notion of using a union employee model to address the challenges that do exist in intercollegiate athletics is something that strikes most people as a grossly inappropriate solution to the problems,“ Emmert said. “It would blow up everything about the collegiate model of athletics.”
While it was nice to here Emmert admit that intercollegiate athletics has “challenges,” the translation I took from the reported statements is “No punk kid is going to tell me how to run my billion dollar business.”
Kain Colter and the Northwestern athletes have made a small crack in the foundation of the impervious NCAA.
Busy Ballparks in Clarksville
Even though it seems as if the world is focused on the conclusion of March Madness, in the seemingly brief moments of warmth and sunshine there is a lot of baseball and softball being played locally.
We are practically at the end of the first month of the high school baseball and softball season. Almost every day of the week after school, teams have been competing both at home and on the road.
This week both a softball and baseball tournament will take place in Clarksville. The William Workman Classic Baseball Tournament starts Thursday, April 10th and concludes Saturday April 12th.
Local teams competing in the tournament include Clarksville High School, Rossview High School, Montgomery Central High and Northeast High School. The full tournament schedule is available at the Clarksville Wildcats Baseball website: www.clarksvillebaseball.net
The Tennessee Softball Coaches Association Softball Tournament will also take place in Clarksville starting Friday, April 11th. West Creek, Clarksville Academy, Northwest High School and Fort Campbell High will be among the local teams competing.
The full schedule is available at www.tnsca.com
The New Look Govs
The Austin Peay State University Athletics Department revealed its new “visual identity,” Tuesday, April 1st. They revealed a new logo and updated word mark which has been received positively by the community.
The new Gov has a new, welcome modern even intimidating visage and the new look of the words Austin Peay is clear and simple. Especially, compared to the old stylized AP which, while distinct, resembled ancient calligraphy.
However, the excitement generated by the excuse to buy some new gear this summer will only last as long as the success of the teams and that responsibility falls on the baseball and softball teams this time of year.
Right now, last season’s OVC regular season and Tourney Champs are below .500 with a 12-20 record (5-7 OVC). The Lady Govs are 17-21 (6-7 OVC).
The new Gov is intimidating with wins. Otherwise, that monocle could be mistaken for a giant tear.
“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth