Sweet Sixteen, 2026

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March 27,.2026- There were two separate games on the screens, at Vickery Park Cafe, which has the women’s NCAA championship tournament on, full bore. It seems about time that the health and well-being of young women is given the same cache, in the sports bar network, as those of young men. We have had a few years of increased public interest in Women’s College Basketball, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angela Reese and, this year, Azzi Fudd.

I stopped in at Vickery. in between getting my blood drawn at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, in Garland and a chiropractic adjustment, in Frisco. The place offers high quality burgers and salads, and their soups are superb, as well. Seeing the equal time being given to the ladies’ Sweet 16 was a bonus.

At home, Hana was highly insistent, this evening, on doing a “round trip” of Army crawling, going about a foot in one direction, then going back the other way. I will get a soft quilt, tomorrow, which we can overlay on the plastic mat. In the moment, though, she was not happy until tonight’s effort was completed. I thought of all the effort and practice the young women in NCAA have put in, and can see her making a habit of daily practice, at whatever activity she chooses for herself.

The question begs: “Would you invest the same energy into a grandson?” I’ve already answered that question, with the energy put into son’s health, well-being and development. So, yes, each human being put before us is worth the full court press of energy and interest from parents and grandparents alike. Society will be that much further along, if this is taken as seriously as it deserves.

Quantum Leaps

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April 5, 2021- It was the joy of a lifetime to see the University of Arizona Women’s Basketball team advance to the NCAA Finals, with a solid victory over a formidable University of Connecticut team. It was disappointing to see the Wildcats lose, by one point, to Stanford University, two days later-yet heartening that both teams gave 100%, and there was, as it were, no subsequent animosity or rancor, from either side. The NCAA itself took a self-imposed black eye from its earlier refusal to acknowledge Arizona’s presence in its own tournament, but I see that more as part of the growing pains that are part of college sports’, and society’s, maturing attitude towards women’s sports.

The health, stamina and well-being of both male and female human beings is one of the most basic interests of a fully-functioning society. I was one of the most uncoordinated of children and young adults, but have always recognized the role that sports, especially team sports, have in the maintenance of good physical and emotional health, as well as their role in building character. Youth, high school and college level athletics, at their best, provide the most reliable vehicle for character-building. When adult egos and remuneration get involved, that character-building can be tarnished-and granted, I have seen “Youth Leagues” turn into mechanisms for burnout of otherwise promising young athletes.

I fully expect that the quantum leaps that we have seen, in the progress of sports for girls and women, will long continue-and have the effect of elevating all athletic endeavours-for boys and men, and co-educational teams, as well. Congratulations again to the University of Arizona Wildcats, and to the Stanford Cardinal, for jobs well done. (Here’s to you, also, Baylor Bears.)