{"id":131958,"date":"2020-06-09T04:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=131958"},"modified":"2020-06-09T04:00:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T09:00:33","slug":"random-thoughts-baseball-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/06\/09\/random-thoughts-baseball-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random thoughts: baseball and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s Random Thoughts center around baseball, the return of the NBA, the University of Notre Dame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a non-sports related topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baseball is back<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s so nice to have local baseball back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ottawa was a flurry of activity with high school All-Star games last Friday and Saturday, and the younger kids opened their season last night in Van Wert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It won\u2019t be called ACME Baseball this summer, but that level of play is returning as well. It\u2019s just another step toward normalcy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon further review\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve changed my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week I said I had the sinking feeling this will be a summer without Major League Baseball, but now, I think there will be some sort of season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One side or other will probably give in at the last minute. However, if games are to start by July 4, they\u2019ll have to reach an agreement sometime soon. But I really do think it\u2019ll happen now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anyone else think the NBA\u2019s return format is just plain strange?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22 of 30 teams will play eight games starting on July 31, then the playoffs will begin and will last until October 12 if needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strange, but at least the two sides were able to reach an agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notre Dame<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife and I enjoyed a four-day getaway last Thursday through Sunday. On the way back, we stopped at the University of Notre Dame to see The Word of Life Mural, (AKA Touchdown Jesus), along with Notre Dame Stadium and the Golden Dome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither of us had been there before, so it was something new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, to be clear, we\u2019re Ohio State fans, not Notre Dame fans, although we certainly don\u2019t root against the Fighting Irish. Regardless, we enjoyed seeing these things and thinking about the history behind them and the rest of the campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, it\u2019s a beautiful campus and I\u2019m glad we made the stop. It was well worth the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road trip along US 30<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is reopening tomorrow after being closed since mid-March due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a football fan, it\u2019s a great place to go and worth the trip along US 30. There\u2019s lots of history in the building and you can easily spend a day or two there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-sports related<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a better western than the movie Tombstone? If so, I\u2019d like to know what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to drop me an email at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor This week\u2019s Random Thoughts center around baseball, the return of the NBA, the University of Notre Dame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a non-sports related topic. Baseball is back It\u2019s so nice to have local baseball back. Ottawa was a flurry of activity with high school All-Star games last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 09:46:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}