Postseason pulls in extra fans because of the conditions: Defeat sends home one of the two teams until the following year. Wait ‘til next year is the refrain seldom appreciated in the whirl of sports.
• Last weekend the Chicago Steel of the The United States Hockey League became the first team in the Eastern Division to qualify for the playoffs. It put the Steel, which plays its home games in Geneva, in the playoffs for seventh consecutive season, a success story we should emphasize to a greater extent than we do these days.
The Steel seeks the Clark Cup championship. The Steel has three regular-season home games remaining, April 1, 2, 15. The final game will be against Dubuque Fighting Saints at 7:05 p.m. for Fan Appreciation Night and a postgame skate with the Steel.
One note from the Steel public relations man, Scott Foley: “The United States Hockey League has never seen a player quite like the Chicago Steel’s Macklin Celebrini. Mack puts up five goals on USA Hockey’s NTDP Under 17 team which includes his old Shattuck Saint Mary buddy and fellow top prospect, Cole Eiserman. The Ganens brothers square off and the guys debate which players have the best and most valuable hockey cards.”
• Part of the magic with the men’s college basketball postseason tournament is two-fold: The quality of play of big players who can handle the ball and a reference to the earlier comment of one-game loss and the team’s season has ended, that is to write: One-and-done. Four teams remain in both the men’s and women’s postseason college basketball tournaments. See page 12. No Big Ten Conference men’s team qualified for the Elite Eight. Only Michigan State made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the men’s tournament from the 14-team Big Ten. Three women’s teams from the Big Ten advanced to the Elite Eight. Only Iowa found a berth in the Final Four after a 97-83 victory against Louisville in the Elite Eight. Both Ohio State and Maryland women’s teams of the Big Ten Conference were in the Elite Eight prior to losing games and ending their 2023 seasons. Wait ‘til next year.
Iowa, LSU, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech are in the women’s Final Four to be played Friday evening with a championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The men’s Final Four of San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Miami University, and UConn (Connecticut) will be played Saturday late afternoon and evening with a championship game 7 p.m. Monday. Do we expect the unexpected?
• Once premium many years ago and now basically overlooked, the National Invitation Tournament still merits relevance. Two games were played Tuesday this week, North Texas vs. Wisconsin of the Big Ten Conference, and UAB vs. Utah Valley State, both games set to determine the championship opponents Thursday evening in Las Vegas. Indianapolis will be host to the semifinals and championship game next year.
.• Baseball is upon us. The regular-season opening Major League Baseball games for the Chicago teams, Cubs and White Sox, will be played Thursday, March 30. The Sox will play a 6:08 start in Houston and the Cubs will play at 1:20 p.m. at home against Milwaukee. No prediction is sound, however, good pitching, helps. Spring training standings usually are meaningless. Through Monday the Sox were 12-13 and the Cubs 16-12.