This is post #56 of the new year, maintaining my one-a-day writing pace despite all the travel. I got to see my first baseball game of the year, as Oregon State predictably pummeled Cal Poly at the Texas Rangers/Kansas City Royals spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona. For me, it was a Surprise visit, but as Beaver’s fans might say, “it was no surprise in Surprise!” A new winning streak of 4 is underway, hopefully keeping pace with last year’s season where we saw them win 28 of their first 29 games and go into the NCAA tournament with another 20 game streak. (See Post #132). “Chester the Molester” is back in uniform, as the controversy over pitcher Luke Heimlich continues, after posting his first win of the season against New Mexico. The Beavers are back in action against Nebraska later this week, as the administration and coaching staff continue to support the kid, who failed to register as a sex offender after moving to the Corvallis campus. The reputation of the school being questioned by the media, but I saw no evidence of parental protest around the Surprise diamonds.

It’s a tough call, considering his age and the fact that he’s served his sentence. Does banning him from baseball make as much sense as allowing his potential star-power to help others avoid the same mistakes? After all, the whole purpose of a university is to provide education. It has to be tough on President Ray and his leadership staff, in lieu of other recent sex-abuse related incidents at major universities. There must be circumstances involved that we are not fully aware of, in judging the character of this young man. I suppose Luke could quietly hide in shame from the public, but he has chosen to face this awkward controversy every time he takes the mound. Also, there apparently has been little objection from his teammates.

The Cubs and White Sox start spring training this week, and college basketball is soon headed to tournament play. I’ve been pretty hard on my Hoosiers this year, but I can see the outstanding coaching influence of Archie Miller on their defensive play, something that’s been missing since the Bob Knight era. They finally could get a win against an upper tier BIG opponent with a road victory over Nebraska, extend their conference winning streak to 5  and perhaps pass Penn State in the standings. The Huskers already have 20 wins, are on the verge of earning a potential double-bye in the BIG tournament, and will probably receive an NCAA tournament bid. The Hoosiers have already lost twice to both Michigan State and Purdue, and hope to even the score against Ohio State on Robert Johnson’s Senior night, although that would be a huge surprise. They can’t score with any consistency, fail to convert under the basket, are terrible from the free throw line, and still turn the ball over too many times to be competitive. It’s been a tough season, but they still have a chance for a NIT consolation finish – not in tournament but much more than expected earlier in the season. It may not be total “Sadness” in March, but certainly no “Madness.”

Purdue has had a disappointing finish to the conference season, just as I took my first step on the band wagon. The Boilers have the potential for a magic March, but the league leading Spartans have stolen the BIG spotlight. Michigan seems to be peaking at the right time again, and Ohio State is just a slot above them in the national picture. That’s four BIG teams in this year’s top 20, already accounting for 6 Indiana losses this season between them. The biggest disappointment in the league is probably Wisconsin, who will need a BIG tournament championship to extend their NCAA tournament streak to 20. Despite their worst season this century, they still managed to beat the Hoosiers again in Madison this year. (See Post #383). It will be no surprise when Michigan State plays in its 21st consecutive NCAA tourney next month.