Murf's Turf - "Mid-Winter Musings"

MID-WINTER MUSINGS

 With pitchers and catchers getting set to report to Florida and Arizona, I still can’t shake this Big Mac / Steriod mess.  

 Why couldn’t the slugger just ‘fess up and say “I am sorry.”

 Instead he tried to rationalize and explain and shift blame and in his own way, made matters worse.  I firmly believe there will be some media members that won’t let this rest and won’t be happy until they get this cheater out of baseball.

 Former slugger Jack Clark, perhaps bitter because he was passed over for the job as Cardinal hitting coach, blasted Big Mac.  Then at the Winter Warm-up Event in St. Louis, fans cheered Big Mac and jeered Clark.  Makes you want to shout out “Can’t We All Just Get Along?”

 I find it terribly ironic that at one time in history an asterisk was placed next to the name of Roger Maris in the record books.  He set his home run record in a season that had more games than Babe Ruth and was roasted in the day by fans that loved “The Bambino.”

 In an earlier column I had previewed the John A Logan basketball team and indicated this squad could be one of the best ever under long-time coach Mark Imhoff.  Just before the holiday break, the JALC Vols hit a rough patch and lost three straight against top competition in a week.  They went into the break with a very ho-hum 8-4 record, 0-3 on the road. Some doubters thought maybe this team had too many players thinking about individual stats and their basketball future after a stint at JALC.  

 After the break, the Vols have been on fire.  As I write this, the Vols had ripped off eight straight and gone 7-0 in Great Rivers Athletic Conference play.  The team averages 84.1 points per game and outscores their opponents by almost 17 points a game.

 What happened over the Holiday break? Super-Sub Devonte Maymon said he thinks it was just getting away from basketball for a few days.

 “I think we just needed a break,” Maymon said.  “It’s a grind and to get a few days off, it really helped.”

The Vols are back in the grind with two games a week straight through February and then the Region 24 Tourney at Rend Lake College.

 Circle Monday night February 15^th or Wednesday night February 24 on your calendar and come to Carterville and watch the Vols battle Kaskaskia or Southeastern.  By that time, Coach Mark Imhoff will have passed his former mentor, Tom Ashman for wins at the college and who knows, the Vols might still be on that undefeated roll.

Let’s Meet Here Next Month