Bears, Rangers...and yes, Rockets on Sunday Minds

Let me start with the most disappointing... the Houston Rockets.  They lost their third straight game.  And for the third straight game they could have won had they only remembered an NBA game is 48 minutes long and a winning team has to play all the way to the final horn.

Despite a puzzling inability to pull away from the Denver Nuggets the Rockets were in good position to break into the win column.  Until, that is, they forgot how they got in that good position in the first place.

Starting late in the third quarter the team reduced its ball movement on offense to taking  more and more mis aimed three point or outside shots.  Then when the long misses resulted in early offense for Denver they found themselves on the losing side of the scoreboard.  This club has too much depth and talent to be squandering it.  Every single possession has to be more dear and every single defensive stand has to be stout.  Just improving in those two areas with the talent on the team would be enough to challenge for a division title.  Anything less than that and frustration will be the norm rather than the exception.

BEARS BEAT HORNS

Whether or not the Texas Longhorns are a mere shadow of the team they have been over the last several years or not is not all that relevant.  The fact is, the Baylor Bears beat them in football on Saturday and that has not happened much--EVER.  It was huge win for Art Briles and his Bears who have been better and better every season since Briles abandoned the Houston Cougars on the eve of a bowl game after bringing that program back to prominence.  Baylor will now get a higher level bowl game to play in this year and is still in contention for a REAL big bowl.  Women's and Men's basketball plus several of the minor sports have already proven the Bear's worth to the Big 12.  Now football is doing its part as well.

RANGERS GET A WIN

The Texas Rangers have a win in the World Series.  Sure, they still trail two games to one and need to at least take two of the three games in Arlington to have a shot at turning the series around.  But you have to win one before you can win two.  That is the need on Sunday.  The game is really a toss up.  Both the Giants and Rangers are going deeper into their rotation.  Tommy Hunter of Texas has a great 13-4 record with a slightly high 3.73 earned run average.  The Giants Madison Bumgarner was just 7-6 but a very solid 3.00 ERA during the regular season.  Neither pitcher was in the rotation all year.  Neither has pitched in the Series yet.  Bumgarner has been in two games with one start in the post season.  He has no wins or losses and a 4.05 ERA in  6 2/3 innings pitched surrendering nine hits.  Hunter also has no record after one poor start in which he lasted only 3 1/3 innings and surrendered three earned runs and five hits.

If the hitters are going to determine Sunday's game give a slight edge to Texas.  They have more of them than the Giants although the Giants have had the better offense in this series so far.

1860s BASEBALL IS A HOOT

Finally had a chance to stop by and watch the Houston Babies play baseball as it was played in the 1860s.  They were part of a round robin in Katy with three other clubs.  The game immediately looked to me like something that should be revived everywhere.  It has the elements of slow pitch softball, the baseline distances of baseball, a softer more dead ball that is essentially baseball sized so none of the players wear gloves.  In addition hitters are out on balls caught on the first bounce OR on the fly.  The combination of dead ball and one bounce rule makes for a real game.  For instance, Katy beat Houston 3-1 in the one seven inning game I watched.  That is a MAJOR difference with slow pitch softball where runs are always in double figures.  Time after time hitters smacked what looked like sure hits into the outfield only to be retired when the fielder got to the ball after one bounce.  With the dead ball there was also no chance anyone would drive one far enough to clear the fence either. 

Using 1860 rules also means playing the game as they did in 1860.  One, for instance, would think bunting would be a good strategy.  In 1860, however, the bunt was unknown.  I do suspect more hitters were slap types that I saw with the modern players trying their hand at the old game.  Still, it seems to be a great game for players of all ages and even skill levels to have fun giving a shot.