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Dzwierzynski: On opening day, hope springs eternal
BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI
@BrendanDzw
The 2017 Major League Baseball season started on Sunday, April 2, with a game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press
Associated Press
For all the splendor and entertainment that a myriad of major sporting events bring about, Major League Baseball's opening day still stands out above all others. The grandeur and ceremonial nature of opening day brings hope to even the most cynical fans and the most miserable teams.
Even though it was passed long ago by professional football as America's favorite sport, baseball is still nicknamed "America's pastime." Opening day perfectly encapsulates why this is still the case. It's a symbol of hope, a reason to get intensely excited all over again, just as you did the spring before.
After a winter of no games and a short, almostmeaningless slate of spring training games, the bevy of games on opening day can satiate even the most ravenous baseball hunger.
The beautiful thing about hope on opening day is that it applies to all fans. For fans of terrible teams, there's hope that this is the year your team finally executes a rebuild correctly.
For fans of mediocre teams, there's hope that this is the year your team finally makes it to the postseason.
For fans of teams that are good but not the best, there's hope that this is the year your team finally makes a serious run at a title.
For fans of teams like the world-champion Chicago Cubs, who just broke a 108-year run without a World Series title, in case you forgot, there's hope that this year will bring a second-straight championship.
As if we needed another reason to get excited about opening day, it signals that summer is near. The weather gets warmer, responsibilities dwindle (in some walks and stages of life, anyway) and
there are no other major sports to focus on.
It's a symbol of hope, a reason to get intensely excited all over again, just as you did the spring before."
The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final are done
before the calendar turns to July, and important football games don't begin until well into the dog days of summer. As those other sports wind down or slowly get started, baseball is in full swing, grasping the complete attention of sports fans across the continent (don't worry, Canada, your beloved Toronto Blue Jays aren't forgotten).
The start of the MLB season always elicits
memories of playing catch with a parent, or pickup games with your friends or memorizing stats on the back of your favorite player's card. It harkens back to delightful moments, and promotes faithful, or borderline irrational, optimism for the future.
There's a simple beauty in opening day. There's a whole season to debate about front office moves, the relevance of sabermetrics and why
your ace pitcher completely lost his ability to locate his fastball. But, for that one day (either Sunday or Monday depending on your team of choice), it's nothing but pure bliss surrounding the return of our national pastime.
As it always does, hope springs eternal on opening day. For a nation of baseball fans, it couldn't get here soon enough.
Bill Self chosen for basketball Hall of Fame
► AMIE JUST
@Amie_Just
Kansas coach Bill Self has been selected for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Hall announced on Saturday that Self, a first-ballot inductee, would be entering the prestigious group. Two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady, former UConn women's standout Rebecca Lobo, Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw and Texas high school coach Robert Hughes join this year's ballot.
"I'm very honored and very humbled because I know there are so many people out there that this game has been their life to them or they have based their entire life promoting and having great success at the game," Self said in a Kansas Athletics news release. "I feel humbled that I was remotely considered in that group."
After graduating from Oklahoma State, Self began his assistant coaching career at Kansas under Larry Brown in 1985-86. His assistant coaching career continued at
his alma mater from 1987- 1994. There he coached under Leonard Hamilton and Eddie Sutton. He had his first head coaching position at Oral Roberts from 1994- 97. He coached at Tulsa from 1996-2000 and Illinois from 2001-03 before coming to Kansas in 2004.
Self is the 20th person with ties to Kansas basketball to be selected for induction. Fellow Kansas coaches in the Hall of Fame are Brown, Phog Allen and Roy Williams. James Naismith — the Hall of Fame's namesake — was inducted for contribution to the sport, rather than coaching.
"Bill has earned this honor," Kansas Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger said in the release, "with his passion, his ability to teach, develop and adapt, and his consistency of excellence at the highest level over a long period of time. He has indelibly made his mark as a wonderful steward of the great tradition of Kansas basketball."
The induction ceremony takes place in September at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Associated Press
Associated Press Bill Self answers questions at the Basketball Hall of Fame news conference, Saturday, April 1, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz.
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