There are only three weeks left until the baseball season starts. The Phillies’ offense seems ready for the regular season already, but on the other hand, the pitching staff needs a lot of work. I am also quite nervous because the World Baseball Classic is beginning and the Phillies have a number of players participating, including all-star catcher JT Realmuto, outfielder Kyle Schwarber and shortstop Trea Turner. All of these players are very important to the team's prospects for another good season and I will be watching the games on Fox Sports One quite cautiously hoping no one gets hurt.
NFL free agency will start officially next Wednesday. Because the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, a good number of their players are going to be highly sought after as free agents. Their starting running back, Miles Sanders is most likely going to be one of those players to change teams, along with veteran defensive lineman Fletcher Cox. Another reason why the Eagles are probably going to lose a significant number of players is the money needed to sign Jalen Hurts to a new contract for four or five years as a result of his great season this past year.
March Madness will start next Thursday. I will have a lot of fun watching most of the games. This year, I have no clue who is going to win the tournament. This is the least amount of college basketball I have watched in years. I hope this is not the case, but I’ve heard that defending champion North Carolina may not make the tournament to have a chance to defend their championship. This would be very unfortunate. Some new schools have been ranked as No. 1 this year, including Houston and Purdue. There is no clear favorite to win the tournament. We will see what happens. My bracket will be tough to complete with all the betting that goes on for this event. This is always a great tournament to follow whether you participate in a bracket or not.
Congratulations goes out to the Cape Henlopen girls’ basketball team for a great season, which unfortunately ended prematurely in the quarterfinals of the state tournament against Woodbridge. I was actually able to attend the game. At the end the first half, the score was tied at 25-25, then everything fell apart for Cape and Woodbridge cruised to the victory. I hope next year the team can get over the hump and advance further.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
