{"id":152654,"date":"2022-03-29T03:51:31","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T08:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=152654"},"modified":"2022-03-29T03:51:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T08:51:33","slug":"random-thoughts-hoops-hardball-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/03\/29\/random-thoughts-hoops-hardball-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: hoops, hardball, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

This week\u2019s edition of Random Thoughts centers around an awkward press conference, the NCAA tournament, Major League Baseball, a playoff chance, the Monday Mailbag and a note to Mother Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeShaun Watson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who watched DeShaun Watson\u2019s introductory press conference last Friday? If you did, I think we can agree that it was incredibly awkward for all concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As most of you know, I\u2019m a diehard Cleveland Browns fan but it\u2019s not a good look when you trade for a guy that has to spend an entire press conference answering questions about allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Yes, two grand juries declined to indictment and yes, I believe in innocent until proven guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All I\u2019m saying is it\u2019s a bad look for a franchise that just can\u2019t seem to sidestep bad decisions, bad signings, bad draft picks, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NCAA basketball<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t alone when I said the national championship was up for grabs in a wild and crazy college basketball season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I think this year\u2019s tournament has been entertaining, although the semifinal games weren\u2019t exactly close games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the so-called blue bloods are the four remaining teams but two weeks ago, how many people thought any of these teams would be in this spot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

There wasn\u2019t an overwhelming favorite to win it all and if there was, I suppose it was Gonzaga, who got bounced earlier than expected. Now, a lot of people think Duke will win it all this year. However, just to be different, I\u2019ll say Kansas wins it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s roughly a week and a half until the 2022 Major League Baseball season gets underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the lockout and given the tweaks to the game over the years, are you looking forward to it? What changes do you like, what don\u2019t you like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure how I feel about the OHSAA\u2019s decision to play the first three rounds of football playoff games on Friday nights this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I like split nights, Friday and Saturday but that\u2019s just me. I know a lot of coaches prefer Friday nights and that\u2019s understandable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels like the OHSAA is going to be tinkering with the football format for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday Mailbag<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had people ask what happened to the Monday Mailbag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seemed to be a popular feature and it seemed a lot of people read it. However, the number of questions seemed to dwindle, so it was put on hiatus. Let me clarify one thing \u2013 the number of suitable questions seemed to dwindle. There was no way I\u2019d use questions that only served to disparage local coaches or student-athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we can get back to a steady stream of questions, the feature will return. You still have the option to use your name or have it withheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weather<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A note to Mother Nature \u2013 enough with rain, cold and snow \u2013 it\u2019s time for spring sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor This week\u2019s edition of Random Thoughts centers around an awkward press conference, the NCAA tournament, Major League Baseball, a playoff chance, the Monday Mailbag and a note to Mother Nature. DeShaun Watson Who watched DeShaun Watson\u2019s introductory press conference last Friday? If you did, I think we can agree that it was […]<\/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-152654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 17:19:01","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\/152654","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=152654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}