Those 22-run innings kill your ERA
It was no April Fools’ joke, although the Kentucky State baseball team wishes it had been.
On Wednesday, April 1, Kentucky State surrendered 22 runs to Eastern Kentucky in the first inning, trailed by 48 runs after five innings when the game was stopped and then agreed to cancel the second game of a scheduled doubleheader.
“I’ve never seen it in my 25 years of experience,” Kentucky State Coach Lamar Johnson told the Associated Press. “It was inexplicable, to be honest with you.”
Kentucky State (2-16) actually led once, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Eastern Kentucky rallied with 22 runs in the bottom of inning, during which Eastern Kentucky Coach Jason Stein began substituting players. After the score reached 49-1 in the fifth inning, both coaches agreed to stop the game and call it a day.
According to the NCAA, the game would have set the Division I record for the most lopsided victory, but Kentucky State is in Division II.
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Trivia time
UCLA was No. 1 in the final Associated Press men’s basketball poll in 1975. What was the No. 1 team in the final United Press International poll?
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Nothing prehistoric about it
Contrary to the myth built by a certain powerful cable sports network that college basketball did not exist before 1979, the year ESPN debuted, one of the 10 most-watched games in the sport’s history was played in 1975.
The 1975 tournament final between UCLA and Kentucky is tied for eighth on the list with a 21.3 rating and a 33 share. Apparently, John Wooden’s final game as Bruins coach seemed to interest Americans without having Dick Vitale scream about it.
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Diaper dandy?
The Chicago Bears haven’t had a quarterback as talented as Jay Cutler in at least two decades, but not everyone in the Chicago media is thrilled with the acquisition of the Pro Bowl quarterback.
In Friday’s edition of the Chicago Tribune, columnist Rick Morrissey wrote: “If Jay Cutler doesn’t raise red flags, Bears fans, you are colorblind. From all appearances and indications, he has the maturity level of larva.
“Two weeks ago, he demanded the Broncos trade him. On Wednesday, he said he had wanted to stay with the Broncos all along.
“On Friday, I’m guessing he will say he’s ecstatic about the Bears and deep-dish pizza.
“This is exactly the kind of steely resolve you want in your huddle, isn’t it?
“Well, you’re about to get it. The Bears on Thursday traded their first- and third-round picks this year, their first-round pick next year and Kyle Orton to the Broncos in exchange for Cutler, a 2009 fifth-round pick and a six-pack of baby formula.”
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Trivia answer
Indiana, which was undefeated during the regular season and lost to Kentucky in the Mideast Regional semifinals. It was one of only two times during UPI’s 42-year history that it differed from the AP national champion. UPI picked Indiana in 1954, when the AP picked Kentucky.
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And finally
From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “A New York administrative law judge has ruled that an Albany-area exotic club is exempt from paying state sales taxes because pole dancing qualifies as art.
“The ruling not only saved Nite Moves $129,000, it made professional athletes the nation’s No. 1 patron of the arts.”
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