Monday, March 20, 2023

Three Beautiful Things 03-19-2023: Fantasy Baseball Draft, Zags and TCU Entertain Me, Sleeping on the Couch

1. My left big toe continues to be inflamed and I continue to stay home to treat it. Today was draft day in our Fantasy Baseball leagues and I had planned on joining league members at The Lounge for the draft day party. Instead, I stayed home, jumped online, and joined the draft from home. Originally, I had planned on letting the ESPN computers draft for me, but once I got online, I made my own selections, for better or worse. I look forward to seeing how my teams perform.

2. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Gonzaga and TCU square off today, playing for a trip to the West Regional in Las Vegas on Thursday. I enjoyed TCU's aggression and toughness. I had not seen their best player, Mike Miles, Jr., in action before and I was very impressed with his game. After the first half, I wondered if Gonzaga could come back from being behind much of the opening stanza, wondered if they could overcome TCU's five point half time lead.

They did. I experienced their comeback and eventual win was a balanced team effort. While Drew Timme was the hub of Gonzaga's effort, especially on offense, scoring key baskets and dishing out assists at crucial times, I also admired Malachi Smith's play off the bench, the contributions Anton Watson made on defense and as a supportive scorer (how about that steal he made? how about his going the from TCU's backcourt to Gonzaga's goal and slamming his purloined booty home?), and way the Rashir Bolton heated up in the second half. The Zags had a couple of missteps -- missing free throws and turning the ball over trying to inbound it late in the game -- but, on the whole, I was impressed with how they've evolved as a team over the course of the season. 

The Zags' victory made me happy. So did Creighton's win over Baylor. I enjoyed how Creighton moved and shot the ball and how balanced and physical their effort was. I agree with Jay Wright's analysis. As Villanova's men's basketball coach for a long time, he faced Creighton at least twice every year. He says this year's Creighton team is like past teams offensively, but what impresses him is how the 2022-23 team is so much stronger defensively. It's been a great tournament so far for the Big East with Creighton, Xavier, and U Conn all advancing to the round of 16. I'm eager to see if any of these teams, or Gonzaga, can somehow win the whole championship. 

For me, that would be really fun. 

3. When my red and angry big toe couldn't stand having a sheet and blanket over it in bed tonight, I decided that rather than sit up on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor, I'd try sleeping on the couch with a single blanket and the heat in the living room turned up. 

It worked! I was able to keep my toe from having contact with the blanket and I quickly established a comfortable sleeping position on the couch and, lo and behold, whatever angered my toe in the evening and early in the night settled down a bit. I was grateful for the comfort of our couch and for getting some pretty good sleep. 

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