Mark’s Musings – March 16, 2016
Mark Fortune
Ahhhh – March Madness! You just have to like the constant tirades, the rants, ravings and promises of victories to come along with the untiring predictions. What joy! Or you may not enjoy it. It can get tiring.
But, like many of you, it is close to being my favorite time of the year. Who doesn’t enjoy the fervor and huge mass of news created by the media with these signature events. And oh the raucous crowds! The craziness of the cheering, the stomping of feet, the photos, the videos, the signs and placards, the Twitter and Facebook posts, the almost 24 hour television coverage and the lines. It’s all just too much! The boasting, the glibness and the glee are all spewing forth like a Texas oil well.
It starts for real here in Ohio on Tuesday. Oh – wait – you thought I was talking about the NCAA basketball tournament? Oh. Sorry. I was talking about politics.
Do you have a prediction on our great state of Ohio and the Republican winner? Our Governor perhaps? Trump? Cruz? On the Democratic side – Clinton? Sanders? Which candidate has provided the most intrigue? The most insightful comments? Some ideas that might actually work? I would be most interested to know your thoughts.
Spring is on the way. Does it seem like it has been a long winter? We’re almost home free at this point. The grass is even showing signs of greening up. Ah yes, we do have that “old wives tale” so to speak – the one about three snows after the forsythia bloom then it will snow no more. I have yet to see the forsythia blooming. I imagine its close. But, it does seem that this happens more often than not but I haven’t tracked it either. Maybe someone has.
It’s too early and there are too many teams for me to make any final four predictions in the men’s NCAA tournament. I do believe that the Ashland Eagles women’s team will fly high.
The Tribe is fourth from the bottom in the Cactus League while the Reds are sixth from the bottom. I felt that both of those statements sounded better than 12th and 10th place respectively. The Bucs – who are in the Grapefruit League – are also fourth from the bottom. The Tribe’s home opener kicks off against the Red Sox on April 4. We will know more then. Spring training ball is like the preseason of football. You just don’t quite know what is going to happen as coaches tweak and re-tweak their teams.
As we head toward Palm Sunday, the movie “Risen” has generated over $32 million in gross receipts on a budget of $20 million according to the weekend movie results. Star Wars – The Force Awakens – is headed toward a billion dollars in receipts. The division of Sony that is dedicated to producing films that appeal to a Christian audience is “Affirm Films.”
I hope this warmer weather lasts, the myth about the forsythia is false, you changed your clocks – all of them – we have an actual spring and you enjoy St. Patrick’s Day.
Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion
