Today, we’re in the midst of all kinds of emotions in the sports world. WE’RE ON THE EDGE …. With all kinds of feelings & actions.  Here goes…

…The NCAA Mens-Basketball Championship Game between Florida & Houston was definitely  ON THE EDGE of being the one of the best Championship games ever. The 65-63 Florida win went down to the final buzzer. There were regular changes of momentum. One team would go on a “run” and then be matched by the other team.  At the very last second, Florida defeated Houston in a thrilling  finish at the buzzer for the title.  There was constant action with outstanding plays and then a goof or two.

…Many of the team statistics were very, very close—3 pt shooting % was 25% to 24%; Field Goals made—21% to 24%; points in paint 28 to24. But a stat that really did make a difference was the Free Throw %–Florida 81% Houston 64%

…Houston had rallied in the Semi-Finals to snatch the win away from Duke. In that game Houston trailed by 14 points in the late in 2^nd half. Sooo…they had been down to the “last second” moments previously and rallied for the win. The Championship game was different. Houston held a 12 pt lead in the 2^nd half. Gradually, the lead was sliced down until it was within 2-4 points. Houston had the ball for the final possession but could not get off a shot. A late turnover by Emanuel Sharp was only 1 of the 3 turnovers that Houston committed in the final minute. Final: Florida 65 Houston 63. For the basketball fan, it was absolutely great basketball to watch but…. for Houston…. It was a true heartbreaker.

…The NCAA Tournament keeps us on the EDGE OF OUR SEAT—especially in the early rounds. 2025 NCAA Tourney was no exception. McNeese State’s upset of #5 seed, Clemson, 69-67. The 12th-seeded Cowboys used a suffocating first half  defense to open a 24-point lead. Then fought off a late-charging, comeback attempt by No. 5 seed Clemson for the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory. It’s this type of shocking win that makes the NCAA provide us with some Cinderella story each year.

…The Big 10 is ON THE EDGE of becoming an also-ran in the NCAA Tournament. The Big 10 hasn’t won a NCAA Mens Basketball Championship since 2000! It’s the longest title drought of the major college basketball conferences. Since 2000, there have been 7 Big 10 teams in the Championship game but all have lost. This year, the Big 10 didn’t even have any of their teams reach the Final Four!!

….ON THE EDGE OF PLAYOFFS, the Blues are NOT guaranteed at this moment (Wed) but stand much better than they did 2-3 weeks ago. Here’s the format—the top 3 teams in each division automatically qualify. The next 2 wild-card teams are the next 2 best teams in the entire conference. At this moment, the Blues are not in the top 3 teams of their division but they are tied with the Minnesota wild for the most points of any Wild Card team. Hence, if it remains that way, the Blues would be a Wild Card team.

…ON THE EDGE of moving towards complete professionalism is college football.  QB Carson Beck reportedly transferred from Georgia to Miami with a huge NIL deal of $4 million! Other sources indicated that Beck’s total NIL earnings could be even higher than the reported $4 million, potentially reaching $10 million, including earnings from brand partnerships and the Miami collective (nice word for NIL committee).

…ON THE EDGE of moving upwards in the Cardinal Farm system w/o much fanfare–Top Prospect Potential belongs to Chen-Wei Lin. He signed out of Taipei for $500,000. His 97 mph fastball could be his ticket to the big-time.  The MLB.com’s Top 30 prospect List  (In no particular order) includes other Cardinal prospects– JJ Wetherholt, Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence, Jimmy Crooks, and Thomas Saggese. Saggese was just elevated to the MLB last week due to injury issues on the Birds.

…ON THE EDGE of the key college football signing date, Mizzou looks to be struggling in it’s home state. Of the top 34 senior football players in Missouri, Mizzou has signed the #1 rated prospect by ESPN–Jack Lange. He’s an OT who brings in some staggering dimensions. He’s 6-8, 280 pounds out of Eureka HS. Mizzou also signed the #3 rated prospect Daeden Hopkins. He’s a Def End out of Hermann HS. Their 3^rd Missouri signee was the #13 ranked player in the State was Jason King of DeSmet HS. 3 great recruits isn’t enough quantity of high quality HS players from your home state to attend their home-state school.  

…I’m ON THE EDGE with Ivan Herrera. He’s been absolutely terrific..actually TOO much so from my view. Here’s a young catcher with 4 HR in the Major Leagues in only 21 at bats. He’s never had this type of power in his entire career. In 2024, he had 5 HR in 258 plate appearances. In 2023, he had zero HR in 44 official at-bats. Also in 2023, he had 10 round trippers in 375 plate appearances. His last HR was a long, towering shot to right field (the opposite field). With that long blast & the statistics above I have my doubts. To me, he looks “buffed up”. I have the nagging, unpleasant thought that he’s using performance enhancing drugs  to get stronger. I hope that I’m wrong.

….But StL fans aren’t the only fans ON THE EDGE in early 2025. The fans in Atlanta have seen their team limp off to a horrible start of 2025. The Braves are 2-9, in last place  in the NL East division, 6 games out of 1^st place after playing only 11 games!

…On the other hand, the NL West division has many fans ON THE EDGE due to the dynamic start of 3 teams in the division. As I write this on Thursday morning, the SD Padres hold a 10-3 record in 1^st place. There is a tie for  2^nd place as the SF Giants are 9-3 for 2025 while at 10-4   is the Dodgers. Each team is 0.5 games out of 1^st place. It looks like it’ll be quite a race.

….Sometimes we get ON THE EDGE because of a strong performance by our “favorite” team. Look at some of the batting leaders as I write this on Thursday…George Springer holds a MLB best with a .447 average. However, I don’t think that the unbelievable .406 batting mark of Ted Williams in 1941 is really in danger.

….Speaking of Ted Williams—his stats will definitely get you ON THE EDGE. Williams missed  games in major parts of 5 different seasons due to military service. His lifetime numbers are great. But w/o any time in his prime missed due to service, how super-great would they be?  Yes, he served in WWII and also the Korean War. For those 5 years, he played a grand total of 43 games! What was his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty-only Military vets would know this terminology)? He was a Marine Fighter Pilot!! He wasn’t on “tour” to visit military men. He was fighting!

… If he had batted his “average stats” (for him)  in those 5 years of military service with the rest of his career, he would have reached these stats (these aren’t the exact numbers but they expected plateaus)—3400 hits! ; 660 HR; 2400 RBI’s; and amazingly to me 6,000 times on base!!! That stat reminds me….Ted refused to swing at pitches out of the strike zone. He’d only swing at strikes no matter the situation. If anything, those numbers are probably beneath what he would have hit with the prime of his career on the field, not in the air! There have been other super-great batters, Williams is the best all-around batter from my view.

…ON THE EDGE of Winning the NCAA Hockey Title are the Final 4 teams of Denver (31-1-1); Western Michigan (32-7-1); Boston University (23-13-2); Penn State (22-13-4).  The final four is being held in St. Louis. Semifinals were Thursday Apr 10 & the Championship match is Tonight-Saturday, April 12. I remember the glory days of SLU hockey from 1970-1979. The Billikens competed at ACHA Division III level. They never made the Final 4 but it was entertaining hockey (at least to my eyes). Wish they still had a program. I’m sure that the cost of the program is prohibitive.……We’re now ON THE EDGE of wrapping this one up. Thanks so much for your read. Please pass the word of the Buzz . It’s posted each week on my web page-https://bobryansportsblog.com. Your Comments & Reads can also be placed/ or found  on Facebook-Bob Ryan.