5 Things I Learned in March

By carolinianweb on April 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

Jeffrey Beall/Flickr

Daniel Johnson
Sports Editor

I hate March! Football season is over and baseball season had not begun yet. As much as I love basketball, without variety, it just tires me after two weeks. It also doesn’t help that I had Michigan State winning the National Championship. So for this year, this month has been more terrible than usual. All that being said, five moments, events, or new stories have taught me something new about sports.

5. The OJ Simpson Trial was crazier than a drunk monkey on cocaine

The past two months, my favorite show on television has been “American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson.” Every Tuesday at ten o’clock, you can find me butt down on couch tuned into FX watching amazing actioning performances from Cuba Gooding Jr, Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, and Ross from “Friends”. Being born in 1996, I have no memory of the OJ trial, the bloody glove, Fuhrman’s tapes, or any of the crazy behind the scenes power grabs from the prosecution and defense lawyers. That being said, the mini-series places you back into 1995 Los Angeles and illustrates the complete lunacy of the trial from both sides of the case, as well as the jury and the families involve.

4. There will not be another quarterback like Peyton Manning

The day Peyton Manning retired, I sat down and though if there had been another signal caller like him. Tom Brady is obviously this generation’s Joe Montana. Aaron Rodgers is John Elway. People compare Manning to Dan Marino, however Marino never dictated the game and the field like Manning. I’ve seen Peyton audible to a running play on a third and long in the playoffs and get the first down. Manning on the field was like watching Einstein giving a lecture or Beethoven at a concert, complete control over his domain. Players like Manning are once in an eternity type player.

3. The New Women’s Basketball Coach have very small shoes to Fill

Nine wins. Wendy Palmer ends her tenure as the leader of women’s basketball with her best season. A nine win season! Despite these earth shattering numbers, it got to a point where women’s team were not going to succeed under coach Palmer and it was best for everyone to part ways. Like back in 2011 when Palmer first took over, it is time for a new era in Spartan basketball. And though I hope Palmer finds success in her next avenue in life, whoever takes over her position does not have big shoes to fill. A ten win season would be a breath of fresh air.

2. Baseball is the King on the Campus

With both the men’s and women’s basketball team not having their best season, we forget that the teams for the Spartans are having great seasons. Men’s and women’s soccer and Volleyball began the year giving the students some of the top teams in the SoCon. Now, baseball takes up that mantle and have ran with it all around the diamond. At 21-6, the team has far and away the most wins in their conference. Despite just now beginning their in-conference schedule, expect the baseball team to continue their amazing season all the way into May.

1. Women in Sports Still gets the Shaft

I said previously that 2015 was the year were women in sports had taken their place at the top of the mountain. But why keep such a good thing going? Three of the biggest names in sports: the UConn Women’s Basketball team, the US Women’s Soccer team ,and Serena Williams, were all in the news this month having to essentially, defend their success! The now ex-director of of the BNP Paribas Open Raymond Moore gave his two cents on equal pay between men and women in tennis.

“If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport.” Despite the fact that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have been the best male players over the past three years, I only watch tennis when Serena is on. She is the Tiger Woods of her sport.

Speaking of dominance, now to the hardwood. The UConn Huskies have won four of the past six National Championship and is currently on pace to win a four straight national title. Boston Globe columnist, Dan Shaughnessy, wrote a piece titled, “UConn women are too dominant for their own good”. Again, like with Serena, the only reason why I watch a women’s basketball is because of the Huskies. And the US Women’s Soccer Team making much less than the men’s team makes it 3 for 3. The fact that the men’s team is an average squad while the women are the best team and is more popular in the US doesn’t matter when it comes to pay day. What matter is genitals! It’s days like these when I want Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, and Miesha Tate to beat up the stereotypical stuffed shirt upper class misogynist.