The Daddy Chronicles returns! Starring a 9.5 year old who’s playing travel hoops but can’t fall asleep, and 6 1/2 year old who’s obsessed with hockey and may have an addictive personality

Happy Friday, my fellow humans! The NBA Playoffs are here! The Stanley Cup playoffs are here! Donald Trump is actually for real this time no I mean it standing trial for a crime he probably committed!

Life is wonderful. First, a programming note: the Lewis family is headed on a weeklong vacation tomorrow, which means your humble blogger is going to try to kick back, relax, and not type for a bit. So there shall be no new Wide World of Stuff posts until Monday April 29, at which point I’ll probably give you a 2,000 word opus on airplane bathrooms. Or something like that.

OK, on with today’s show. It’s been far too long since I’ve done a Daddy Chronicles, and as always the two humans who live with us and look like us have given me lots of material.

So let’s get into it, starting with the 9.5 year old who got a big future date announced this week…

— So Nate’s been going to Hebrew School for two years now, and at the end of fourth grade a major event happens: Kids and families get told their bar mitzvah dates. Sure, it’s years in advance, but never too soon to know when the big day is! So a few days ago we were told that on Oct. 9, 2027, our blonde boy will be going before the Torah. Pretty exciting. And yes, we’ve already called our family photographer who takes gorgeous pics of us every year and told her to save the date. Shockingly, she was free that date so far.

— Another large development in Nate’s life: After a few years of trying, and four unsuccessful tryouts, he finally made a travel basketball team! We were stoked and quite frankly, I was surprised since I was prepared for disappointment after the last few tries. But starting in March he’s been on a squad and it’s been… an experience. I’m thrilled he’s playing for a “real” coach finally, and playing with other boys who are good and will make him better.

The practices are twice a week, and one of those is about 45 minutes from our house, so it’s taken some schedule adjusting (Fun fact: The route to get to the gym at the “far” practice takes me right past the street where my ex-wife’s parents still live. Good times! Should I drop by and say hi, or nah?).

Then there are the tournaments: At the start of the season we were given dates for five tournament weekends. But no locations, or times.
For weeks leading up to our first tournament I was told “you’ll find out soon” and “we’ll have it a week or two before.” Forty-eight hours before our first game, we were told where it was, and what time it would be played.
Two days! This seems insane to me. I’ve asked around and a few travel basketball leagues do this in our area, too. There’s no way every travel league is like this, right? How do parents plan their lives?

— Nate has also been flourishing musically, continuing to excel at piano and now starting bells (percussion) at school. He did NYSSMA for the first time this year (that’s a New York state individualized music competition) and performed really well. He’s growing up before our very eyes.

— The one big issue for Nate the last few months has been sleeping. He’s been having a super-rough time falling asleep, and we’ve tried most everything: melatonin pills, meditation apps, different music, reading before bed, not reading before bed, staying up a little later, all of it works for a few days and then doesn’t. It was getting to a point where it would take 3-4 hours for him to fall asleep some nights, and he would literally make himself sick, being so upset at not being able to fall asleep.

It’s 100 percent a psychological thing, where Nate can’t get his mind to turn off, and unfortunately it appears to be partly genetic, as my father and me both have had major falling asleep issues for periods of our life.

We’ve gotten connected with a psychologist who specializes in sleep issues, and things have started to get better lately. Hoping we’ve turned a corner on this.

— OK, onto the smaller yet still significantly louder small human. Last Daddy Chronicles I alluded to Theo falling in love with hockey. Well, he’s now gotten obsessed with the sport, watching it and playing it. He’s still in the Junior Rangers program, playing 1-2 times per week, and his skating, stickhandling and shooting have gotten better. He is all hockey, all the time, playing street hockey in our driveway, and watching the Rangers as much as Nate and me do.

My wife believes she’s now a “hockey mom” and she’s kind of right; packing up the equipment, noticing his improvement from week to week, getting the equipment put on in less than 10 minutes, she’s got it down pat. Also, when Theo is told if he gets undressed, showers and into his PJ’s quickly, he can stay up to watch the first period of Rangers games, he turns into Clark Kent in the phone booth. Amazing how his sloth-like nighttime routine can get sped up when watching Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider are involved.

— I’m also starting to think Theo has a bit of an addictive personality. After his first lacrosse clinic (my children are Long Islanders, they are legally required to at least attempt to play this awesome sport), Theo went to his school library and took out lacrosse books, and wanted to know everything about the sport. He was that way with hockey and a few other things, too.

— Theo continues to love school, and he and his first-grade buddies adorably write letters to each other saying things like “Dear Austin, you’re my third best friend. Love Theo.” And also “I won’t ever forget you.” (what are they, lovesick teenagers over here?)

— My little guy is very excited about the upcoming Wackadoo Zoo play at school in two months, and I’m convinced he has a theater career ahead of him. He can be shy sometimes but he does love a good stage.
— A strange skill we’ve discovered about Theo: As scatter-brained and distracted as he normally is, when it comes to packing for a trip, he has a Zen-like concentration. The last few times we’ve packed for trips, we give him a list and boom, he goes about putting socks and pants and shirts in neat piles with a focus he uses for almost nothing else.

It’s like watching someone inhabit his body for a few minutes. It’s mesmerizing.

— Finally, my boys continue to look out for each other in all ways, even when they’re fighting. For a long time Nate was always the nurturing, caring one, which is normal for big brothers, I think, but ever so slightly we’re seeing Theo show real compassion for his brother, and not just always wanting to be around him.

It’s such a joy knowing they’ll have each other their whole lives. That is, if Theo doesn’t push Nate down a manhole cover one day before yelling “sorry!”

Thousands of salmon do something kind of cool after a truck crash in Oregon. Kate McKinnon returns to “SNL” and she’s freaking amazing. And boy oh boy am I excited about the New York Rangers playoff chances.

So, lots of us think fish aren’t exactly the smartest animals in the tank, if you know what I mean.

Have you ever heard a fish described as smart, or clever? Maybe at an aquarium on one of those info boards, but pretty rarely.

But I heard a story the other day where I thought, “wow, that was pretty good thinking.”

From Smithsonian magazine: “Tens of thousands of baby salmon lived to see another day after a tanker truck transporting them crashed near a creek in northeastern Oregon.

Unfortunately, another several thousand of the young salmon being transported in the truck did not survive the accident—and those that lived ended up in the wrong body of water. But Oregon wildlife officials are counting their blessings: The driver of the vehicle suffered only minor injuries, and the salmon fatalities could have been much higher.

But here’s the part where the baby salmon were smart: “When the truck flipped, water and fish poured out of its tank. About 77,000 of the smolts made it into the water of Lookingglass Creek below.”

The salmon were smart and brave enough to find some water nearby. Way to go, little fishies! I dunno, they must’ve been scared, or confused, but they were able to find some H20 and carry on with their little lives.
As Dory once said, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

Good job, little salmon.

**Next up, I know I ran a clip of “Saturday Night Live” here on Monday, but the episode this past week was so good I’ve got to give you two more. First, definitely check out this “Beavis and Butthead” sketch with Ryan Gosling and Kenan Thompson that had me rolling, and of course with the great Kate McKinnon returning, you knew there’d be at least one awesome sketch involving her.

Check out the incredibly talented McKinnon and how she completely makes Ryan Gosling lose it halfway through this sketch. McKinnon, for my money, is the most talented female performer ever on “SNL,” she is great in everything.

I miss her and still expect her to be a major star.

**Finally today, what a great couple of sports days for me here in New York. The New York Rangers finish off one of the best regular seasons in their history, finishing with 55 wins and in first place overall in the NHL, and my least-favorite sports announcer ever, John Sterling, the radio voice of the Yankees, announces his retirement.

The Rangers, man, what a season. Fifty-five wins, Artemi Panarin scores 120 points, Igor Shesterkin looking like the world-beater goalie we know he is the last half of the year, and they are cruising into the playoffs.

I know, I know, the team with the best record all season almost never wins the Stanley Cup (you can look up the history here, it’s not pretty). But I am as confident in this Rangers team’s chances as any they’ve had since 1994, the last time they won the Cup. Sixteen more wins, and I get to go to a Stanley Cup parade.

Let’s gooooo!!

Iran, Israel, and World War III, anyone? Caitlin Clark guest stars on SNL and is fabulous. And an Irish crime kingpin is trying to get caught in the strangest way

So, normally I tend to ignore social media hashtags like “World War III” and the like, because usually it’s just some people hyperventilating over one nation slightly provoking another nation.

But damned if I didn’t click on a few of those this weekend, because, you know, the world isn’t feeling so safe right now with Israel and Iran striking each other.

First, as you may have heard, Israel is alleged to have recently killed top Iranian officers in a strike at Iran’s embassy in Syria.

And so this weekend, as explained in this NPR story, Iran launched a massive barrage of over 300 drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend — in what is believed to be Iran’s first direct attack on its regional foe from Iranian soil.

Nearly all of the weapons were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States. However, a few of the Iranian ballistic missiles made it through the defenses, severely injuring a 7-year-old girl and slightly damaging a military base in southern Israel, according to Israeli officials.

On Sunday, a senior Iranian military official said Iran’s “operation” against Israel had ended and there would be no more attacks coming, according to Iranian state media.

But tensions continue to run high in the Middle East. Now, the focus is on how Israel and other countries will respond to Iran’s escalation. An Israeli military spokesperson said on Sunday that leaders had “approved operational plans for both offensive and defensive action,” without going into further detail.

This is bad. Really bad. I have no idea why Israel attacked Iran’s consulate in Syria, but I do know Bibi Netanyahu has shown absolutely zero signs of stopping the attacks in Gaza, despite Joe Biden and many other leaders warning him to.
It’s very clear that this awful, corrupt, arrogant leader of Israel doesn’t take any threats from allies seriously, and it’s also clear that in an election year, President Biden is terrified of angering any of the Democratic base that supports Israel 100 percent, regardless of the actions it takes.

As I’ve said many times, there’s nothing Netanyahu likes more is war, even as his support among Israelis plummets.

The U.S. says it won’t be helping attack Iran right now, which is reassuring. But once the missiles start flying from Tehran, nothing really feels safe. I have zero belief that Netanyahu will take Biden’s warnings seriously, and very little faith that peace is coming anytime soon.

I’m not saying we should all be building bomb shelters in our basements. But things are headed in a bad, bad direction in the Middle East, with a reckless leader intent on fomenting war at the center of things.

As my grandmother might have said, oy vey.

 

**Next today, the incomparable Caitlin Clark made her “Saturday Night Live” debut over the weekend, and she performed as well as she does on the basketball court.

Clark, the soon-to-be top pick in the WNBA Draft, was on “Weekend Update” calling out Michael Che for his many jokes about women’s basketball in the past. Clark was really terrific here.

**And finally, this story cracked me up. There’s a drug kingpin in Ireland who police have been looking for for awhile, and they may have cracked the case.

Thanks to the kingpin leaving negative restaurant reviews online of local restaurants.

From this story: “Christopher Kinahan and his sons, Daniel and Christopher Jr., are wanted by law enforcement agencies inside and outside of their native Ireland.

‘Gourmet gangster’ Christy Kinahan is one of the world’s most wanted men who, along with the help of his sons Daniel and Christopher Jr, is thought to be working with groups of army gunmen and money launderers.

Yet seemingly unbothered by the international manhunt, Kinahan – dubbed Dapper Don –  who is believed to be hiding out in Dubai – has been posting hundreds of reviews and pictures online between 2019 and 2023.

Kinahan is a prolific reviewer on Google, with his profile earning more than 10,000 points and a ‘level 7’ guide rating, according to the Sunday Times and Bellingcat.”

Too funny. Whether he’s leaving these reviews to taunt the authorities looking for him, or if he’s just that aggravated about his fajitas not coming out well, I love that Kinahan is doing this.

Good News Friday: A Ukrainian girl who lost both legs is running in the Boston Marathon. An MLB player who gets released with an awesome message to the kid who’s replacing him. And the solar eclipse, as seen from an airplane, is wildly cool.

Happy Friday, y’all! Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming, the cherry blossoms are doing their thing in Washington, D.C., we all survived the solar eclipse, and the New York Rangers are about to clinch the best record in the whole damn NHL.

Life is good, eh? Oh sure, there are problems and worries everywhere, but on Fridays I like to come here and forget all that and think about good things.

Like courage and bravery, and the power of the human spirit. That’s what I thought of when I first heard about a 12-year-old girl named Yanka Stepanenko. Yana is Ukrainian, and of course as such she has been hugely impacted by the awful war that has now been going on for more than two years.

Stepanenko lost both her legs in a Russian missile attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

And yet on Monday, will run five kilometers of the Boston Marathon on prostheses.

According to this fundraiser page, “Yana’s charitable goal is to raise money for a sports prosthesis for a severely wounded defender, a patient of the NESZLAMNI Center, who lost a limb in the war. The girl wants him to be able to run like her.”

What a remarkable young woman. Here’s the link to her fundraiser. I hope she gets the biggest cheers of anyone in Boston on Monday.

Total solar eclipse from an airplane looks wildpic.twitter.com/va9vaOK4AF

— John Pompliano (@JohnPompliano) April 8, 2024

**Next up, there was, of course, a solar eclipse this week, which freaked out lots of people (“Don’t look at it!”) but for most of us was just something fun to do on Monday afternoon for a few minutes.

Me and the boys went outside with our special glasses, looked up for 5 minutes, said “Wow” and “cool” a few times, then went about our lives.

This was pretty awesome, though; a view of how the eclipse looked from an airplane.

In the fall of 2010, our college had a series against the Longhorns for a 3 game set. Our hitting coach at the time was Josh Holliday and his brother, Matt, brought his kid to our early practice. I remember watching his son @J_Holliday7 with a sweet lefty swing. Go get em’ kid!

— Tony Kemp (@tonykemp) April 10, 2024

**And finally today, a pretty cool little sports moment. The transactions page of a sports section contains a million little stories every day; this player gets called up from the minors, this player gets released because of that, etc.
But rarely do you see a gesture like this: The Baltimore Orioles have a young phenom named Jackson Holliday, who is 20 years old, son of a former big leaguer, and one who seems destined to be the Next Big Thing.
Holliday was called up from the minors on Wednesday, and to make room for him on the roster, the Orioles released Tony Kemp.
This (above) was the message Kemp sent out upon hearing the news. All class, Tony.

He made a ton of fans with that Tweet. Have a great weekend. 

Science proves that teenagers do indeed smell funky. A teen guitarist does an amazing Tears for Fears acoustic cover. And some thoughts on a pretty, pretty, pretty good “Curb Your Enthusiasm” finale

So, look, we all know it’s not easy being a teenager.

Your face breaks out in acne, your body is changing thanks to all these damn hormones coursing through it, you’re trying to get the opposite sex interested but not sure how, you’ve got pressures of family, school, maybe a part-time job, and your self-image is usually not very good.

It’s rough. There isn’t enough money in the world for you to pay me to go back to the years when I was 13-18. It’s brutal for almost all of us.

So, you know, scientists of Germany, this really isn’t helping. Check this out:

“A new study led by a team of researchers in Germany has for the first time compared the chemical composition of body odor between teenagers and infants, homing in on the exact compounds that make babies smell like flowers and teens smell like sweaty goats.

The research gathered together two cohorts – 18 infants aged between zero and three, and 18 teenagers aged between 14 and 18. Each subject slept for one night in a pre-treated cotton t-shirt with pads sown in under the arms. For 48 hours before the study night, each subject followed strict dietary and hygiene protocols, abstaining from perfumed cleaning products and refraining from eating strongly spiced foods.

The cotton pads were then analyzed using a variety of processes including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-olfactometry. From this data the researchers broke down the body odor into 42 distinct odor-active compounds.”

And, after analysis, it was discovered teenagers smell “goat-like” and wax-like.  Other compounds were variously described as having odors resembling sweat, urine, musk and sandalwood.

Oh man. Poor teenagers. It’s just a miserable time of life, and we all have to smell you, so we’re not thrilled, either.

I’ll say this: The goat smell thing does call to mind all the times I’d leave the front door open and my mother would yell “What, were you raised in a barn???”

Absolutely incredible.

Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World.

Solo Acoustic Guitar – Kent Nishimura. All of the instruments and vocals — on his guitar… pic.twitter.com/QmGW9PkOc1

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) April 7, 2024

**Next up, it seems to be music week here on the ole’ blog, because I can’t NOT share this. This is 20-year-old Japanese kid Kent Nishimura, playing just a banging version of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

Just sensational. Here’s a link to Kent’s YouTube page, if you, like me, want to spend 20 minutes of your day being blown away by his talent. 

**And finally today, I must say a few words about the end of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a show I have mostly enjoyed very very much over the past 25 years, even though a few of its 12 seasons were stinkers, including this last one.

But the finale this past Sunday was, in the words of Larry David, pretty, pretty, pretty good. The season-long storyline of Larry getting arrested in Georgia for giving water to a voter online was finally paid off, with a trial invoking the “Seinfeld” finale, as so many people Larry has screwed over the past 12 seasons of the show, coming back to testify at his trial.

I enjoyed all of the guest stars from the past, including Mocha Joe, the girl whose doll Larry ruined, Col. Vindman, all of them were delightful.

And we got major star guest stars for the finale as well, including Allison Janney, Greg Kinnear and Jerry Seinfeld. I thought how David poked fun at the criticism he got for the “Seinfeld” finale, and he had a clever “change” at the end, with Seinfeld figuring out a way for Larry to avoid prison time after being found guilty and ordered to serve one year (just like the “Seinfeld” quartet was).

I loved the callback as well to the “pants tent” which was in the first Curb episode, and knowing Richard Lewis was filming his last scenes ever was also poignant.

I didn’t love this final season (it was even more juvenile and filled with way more unfunny vulgarity than in the past), but Larry David sent the Curb universe out strong. I am so glad he decided to do another show after “Seinfeld.”

South Carolina women’s basketball completes a perfect season, vanquishing Caitlin Clark, but this sport was the real winner. Vince Carter gets into the Hall of Fame, so let’s look at his most famous dunk. And an incredible cover of “Purple Rain” from two guys you’d never expect

David Aldridge, the great sportswriter and TV broadcaster, sent out a Tweet Sunday that I think sums up just about how I feel, and millions others feel, about college women’s basketball right now.

He Tweeted this:
“Caitlin Clark is great. Kamilla Cardoso is great. Iowa is great. South Carolina is great. Bluder and Dawn are great. This title game is great. Paige is great. Aziaha James is great. JuJu is great. ESPN’s studio show is great. This tournament is great. Can we all stop hating on whoever we don’t like, for whatever reason, and just enjoy this incredible basketball?”

For a couple of hours Sunday afternoon, an incredible bow was tied on one incredible tournament. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa Hawkeyes played one whale of a ballgame. There was great shotmaking, terrific defense, wonderful athleticism, and a crowd roaring on practically every play.

Caitlin Clark, a woman most responsible for the huge increase in TV ratings and media interest, scored 18 points in the first quarter, then was held in check the rest of the way, as South Carolina finished an undefeated season.

It was a wonderful showcase for the sport, and I think it’s not the ending, but maybe the beginning, of a new era in women’s hoops. Clark and USC star Cardoso are both headed to the WNBA, and there’s a belief that maybe once Clark is gone women’s college basketball will fall in popularity a bit.

It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s likely. The people who tuned in the last year or two to see Clark will find plenty of other stars to watch. USC’s Juju Watkins is an electrifying player. Paige Bueckers at UConn is back next year. So is Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson Heck, two of them were on the Gamecocks Sunday, in freshman Tessa Johnson (19 points) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (nine points).

Women’s basketball hit a special peak this year, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon. Watching the semifinals Friday night, I marveled at how far the talent level, and athleticism, had grown in this sport in just the last 10 years.

David Aldridge is right. Everything about this sport is great right now.

**Next up today, continuing with our basketball theme, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced its newest class over the weekend, and one name that jumped out is Vince Carter. The pride of Daytona Beach, Fla., Carter could jump like no one has ever seen, and went from a high-flying superstar in his early days in the NBA, to a very solid overall player who lasted two decades.

If there’s one Vince highlight that will be showed about him for eternity, it has to be this one: His massive dunk over Frederic Weis at the 2000 Olympics.
Watch it above, from so many different angles. Just incredible.

This is magnificent.

Tom Jones and David Gilmour duet on Prince's Purple Rain. pic.twitter.com/eu6iGPNrAo

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) April 6, 2024

**And finally today, despite Elon’s best efforts to destroy my Twitter playground, it still exists and I still see incredible stuff like this: Tom Jones, and David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) doing an absolutely killer version of Prince’s iconic “Purple Rain.”

I mean, this is freaking wonderful.

Good News Friday: A dog runs a mile to get help for her humans after a car accident. A bid to get Red Panda into the Basketball Hall of Fame has been launched, and I’m all in favor. And Steve Hartman finds an 8-year-old fashion trendsetter

Happy Friday, y’all! Apologies first of all for there being no post on Wednesday; my Tuesdays this spring have gotten extremely busy and there have been a few times where I just ran out of time to post.

But I’m back now and it’s Friday, and I’m super excited for Final Four weekend, both men’s and women’s! Women play tonight, men tomorrow, it finally freaking stopped raining here in New York on Thursday after a Noah’s Arc-like few days of downpour, and I’m ready for some good news! Also, basketball fans, I want to point you to this wonderful story about Ian Eagle, longtime fabulous broadcaster who’s doing his first Final Four for CBS. Bryan Curtis did a great profile of “Bird” on Ringer.com

OK on to the Good News! My first story today comes from Upworthy.com, and a pretty incredible dog.

From the story: “One pit bull mix, Ares, possibly named after the Greek God of war and courage, showed incredible bravery and intelligence after she and her mom were in a car accident.

Ares and her mom, Melissa Fickle were driving with the windows down while they were on their way to the park. It was then that Fickle got into a car accident at an intersection causing Ares to bolt through the window and run off. The jolted woman thought the dog ran off into a neighborhood and worried she wouldn’t see the sweet girl again, but Ares knew just where to go for help.

Instead of roaming the streets scared, the black pibble ran a full mile to get to the doggy daycare she visits often, demanding someone notice her.

In the security camera footage, you see Ares repeatedly jump at the door like she’s trying to knock. Eventually the owner at Hounds Town Metro Detroit notices the dog and comes out to check on her. When he didn’t see Fickle with Ares, the owner of the daycare called Ares’s mom, much to her relief. Since she was dealing with the aftermath of the accident, she could now rest assured that her brave pup was safe.

“Luckily, then he called me and said, ‘she’s here’ and I literally sank to the ground,” Fickle tells WXYZ-TV Detroit.

That sweet dog knew exactly where to get help. Thankfully the accident wasn’t a major one and the duo are back together. Ares is even brave enough to get back into the car for more trips to the park and daycare.”

Pretty amazing stuff. Dogs, man. They’re pretty awesome.

Let's get Red Panda into the Hall of Fame!

We asked Hall of Famers @davidaldridgedc, @JayBilas, @MarcJSpears, Jackie MacMullan & Mike Breen to endorse the world's greatest halftime acrobat — and her reaction is priceless. 🐼🥣

SIGN THE PETITION: https://t.co/1HYZPFel7D pic.twitter.com/QUSCS44aDW

— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) April 4, 2024

**Next up, I’ve written before about the glorious halftime entertainer named Red Panda, who comes out on a unicycle, wearing high heels, and juggles plates on her head. She is an incredible performer who has entertained millions at hundreds of NBA and college basketball arenas. I’ve been lucky enough to see her act live a few times and I always come away mesmerized. Well, the great sports podcast host Pablo Torre has enlisted some other hoops media personalities to try to get Red Panda into the Hall of Fame. 

It would be sensational if it happens; click the above link to sign on. And if you have never seen her, well, check out this video of her act, and tell me she’s not Hall of Fame worthy!

 

**And finally today, a delightful story from Steve Hartman, who goes to Maine to find an 8-year-old named James who decided to start dressing up for school a few years ago, and now has started a sartorial revolution among the little people set.

So many glorious quotes in this piece, but my favorite is the little girl who said “I’m a little itchy, but it’s fine.”
Have a great weekend.

The Final 4 is set, as party-crashers Alabama and North Carolina State try to stop Purdue and UConn. A NASCAR driver throws part of his car at another driver, you gotta see this. And a few thoughts on a weekend trip to Philadelphia, a wonderful city with too much to do.

I don’t know about you, but after the last few weeks I’ve decided I’m changing my name to D.J.Burns.

Because there’s no one in sports having more fun.

If you don’t know who that is, you haven’t been paying attention to the best story in sports right now, the improbable run to the NCAA Tournament Final Four of the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

N.C. State was in a tie game with a few minutes to play with the awful Louisville Cardinals team in the first round of the ACC Tournament three weeks ago. They came very close to losing that game. They won.
Then they were one missed free throw by Virginia away from being eliminated again, two days later. They survived and won that game.

And since then N.C. State has had just an incredible, unlikely run, winning NINE straight games, including Sunday over my beloved Duke Blue Devils, to make the Final Four.

This is … impossible. State was 9-11 in the ACC this year, and looked ready to end its season with its coach, Kevin Keatts, possibly being fired. And yet here they are now, looking like world-beaters, beating Marquette and Duke over the weekend, led by Burns, the 6-foot-8, 300-something pounder who exudes joy every time he’s on the court.

Seriously, how can you not love this guy? He’s got soft hands, quick feet, beautiful touch around the basket, and is a terrific passer.
Eleventh-seeded N.C. State is in the Final Four for the first time since 1983, when it also shocked the world by storming through the tournament and winning it all.
They now have to play Purdue, and its 7-foot-4 star Zach Edey, and it seems impossible that the Wolfpack will win again but we’ve been saying that for a few weeks now.

What a story. What a tournament. I love it so much!

— A few words about the team State beat Sunday: What a weird season this was for Duke. Huge expectations coming into the year, given all the talent coming back and coming in as freshmen. Then a good not great regular season filled with some really poor performances, and then a miserable loss to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament. Then, with expectations low, Duke played very well in winning three NCAA Tourney games, including an absolute slugfest Friday night over top-seeded Houston, 54-51.

Then Sunday, with a chance to go to the Final Four, the Blue Devils played an awful offensive game. Nobody could hit shots, Tyrese Proctor was particularly terrible, and after a good defensive first half, Duke imploded in the second half.
You can’t call a season that ends in the Elite 8 a failure; you just can’t. But wow, this Duke team sure made us fans scratch our heads quite a bit.
Bring on the Cooper Flagg era!

— Feel so good for Purdue and its long-suffering fan base today. The Boilermakers hadn’t made the Final Four in 44 years, and have had so many good teams fall just short of that mark. After last season’s epic choke job against No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, Purdue finally came through this year. Seven-foot-four Zach Edey had a lot to do with it, as he scored 40 yesterday, but the Boilermakers guards were also huge. Happy for them to finally get to the promised land.

— So, UConn. The Huskies and Illinois were tied at 23 late in the first half Saturday. Then UConn scored the next THIRTY points in a row.
You know how hard that is to do, even in, like, a pickup game at the YMCA? To do it in an Elite Eight game against a great team, is just extraordinary. I’ve been saying all along I don’t think the Huskies will repeat as champs, but wow Saturday was so, so impressive.

— Gotta think we’re getting Purdue-UConn next Monday night, but the way this tournament has gone, who knows.

— Super pumped about the game of either tournament taking place tonight in the women’s Elite 8, as we get a national title-game rematch with champion LSU taking on Caitlin Clark and Iowa (7 p.m., ESPN). Man oh man this thing should break ratings records and be a whale of a ballgame.

Joey Gase took off his rear bumper to throw at Dawson Cram 😳

🎥 @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/V88TzSfkDD

— The Athletic Motorsports (@TheAthleticAUTO) March 30, 2024

**Next up today, here’s something you just never see much in sports: One athlete throwing part of his vehicle at another.

In the NASCAR X-Finity race over the weekend, a competitor named Joey Gase was so frustrated at fellow driver Dawson Cram (which, by the way, is a fantastic movie villain name) that Gase removed part of his bumper and threw it at Cram while he drove by.

This is all kinds of awesome. This would make me watch NASCAR if it happened regularly.

**Finally today, we spent the last 3.5 days in the great city of Philadelphia, one of my favorite American places to visit. We were attending the bar mitzvah of a dear family friend’s son, and the whole weekend was a blast.
Couple quick thoughts on the trip:
— The bar mitzvah itself was fun, although the service was, as expected, super long. Our friends belong to a conservative temple, whose services range in between the short 90-100 minute affairs we Reform Jews enjoy, and the longer than the “Titanic” and “Flowers of a Killer Moon” combined services of Orthodox Jews. Still, it’s a long time to be sitting, although one highlight was the odd Jewish tradition where, toward the end of the prayers session, the guests all throw candy at the bar or bat mitzvah honoree. Literally dozens of pieces of wrapped treats are hurled, like fans protesting a call at a sporting event. It’s wild and fun and I’m pretty sure our friend got pelted a few times.

— Also a highlight: I taught my kids how to play the classic bar mitzvah game “Coke and Pepsi!” I can’t believe kids still play that. So much fun.

— The Franklin Institute is an absolute gem in Philly; we’d been there a few times but still went back for hours of wonder and delight. What a fantastic combo of science museum and historical knowledge that place is.

— We did not, as planned, get to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and pose with the famouse “Rocky” statue, but we did make a pilgrimage to the store I’ve told my children about for years, the beautiful Mitchell and Ness flagship on Walnut Street. Mitchell and Ness, for those who don’t know, have the licenses to make throwback sports gear for MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA teams, and it’s absolute heaven on earth for someone like me.

We scored a few choice items and honestly it was like being a kid in a candy store.

Good News Friday: A little boy and his friend, a crow are adorable together. The stolen Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads have been found! And a little boy has fun on the kitchen floor, adorably

Happy Friday, world! It’s almost April, the Duke Blue Devils play a Sweet 16 game tonight I fully expect them to lose but hope they win, Monday is April Fools Day and a school holiday, a relief to schoolteachers everywhere since this means they won’t have whoopie cushions placed on their seat or other indignities, and we’ve got a trio of good news stories for you today.

We start with a beautiful little video of a little boy named Otto, and his friend Russell, a crow. Loyal reader Sanford sent me this and I thought it was so adorable.

An animal, a kid, and friendship that needs no words.

**Next up, the biggest mystery of this NHL season has been solved: A few weeks ago the Pittsburgh Penguins were scheduled to have Jaromir Jagr bobblehead night. But mysteriously, the day before the game, the team announced that the entire 14,000 strong stash of figurines had been stolen, en route from California.

I admit that when I first heard this, and then the team had Jagr make a video of him “searching” for the dolls, I thought it was a big prank. An elaborate put-on, a set up for Jagr driving a forklift of bobbleheads onto the ice that night, as they were mysteriously “found.”

But nope, they were legit stolen, it appears. And now they’ve been found, all is well, and this hockey legend can get his due.

The way he's completely unbothered 😭 pic.twitter.com/OgKWCR408j

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) March 24, 2024

**And finally, another little kid video, this one completely reminds me of when my boys were young, and playing in mess was just so much fun.

Have a great weekend. And let’s go Duke.

A woman in London has an amazingly embarrassing Zoom experience at a funeral, and it’s worse than you can imagine. Sinead O’Connor’s daughter with a stunning performance of Mom’s signature song. And we are in the golden era of women’s college hoops, watch while you can

Since the dawn of Covid-19, we’ve all had our unfortunate Zoom experiences. A camera glitching, a microphone left on while we’re yelling at our kids to stop smacking each other and go eat their dinner (your mileage may vary).

But a woman in England recently may have taken the cake of shame. She was livestream watching a funeral when she decided to take a shower. And didn’t realize she’d left her camera on; she thought she’d just listen along to the mourners while getting clean.

And so this woman’s shower and her, um, lady parts were broadcast. At the funeral. On the big screen with the other Zoomers.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, the woman had no idea she’d done this. Until showing up later that night at the wake, where the other mourners, well, recognized her.

So funny and yet so horrifying at the same time. I think if I were that woman I’d need to move immediately.

Sinéad’s daughter, Roísín Waters, singing “Nothing Compares 2 U” at Carnegie Hall last night in tribute to her mum.

Oh man…I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Every other performer was crammed side of stage to watch this bittersweet majesty unfold.

And my god,… pic.twitter.com/mUrunmpDKt

— Amanda Palmer 🎹 (@amandapalmer) March 22, 2024

**Next up, I thought about putting video of the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore Tuesday in this space, but then I figured you all had seen it and it was so awful, who needs to see it again.
So instead, I give you Sinead O’Connor’s daughter, Roisin Waters, at Carnegie Hall last weekend, singing “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

What a freaking voice she has!

**And finally today, I didn’t have the time nor space to get into it fully in Monday’s blog, so I wanted to do so here. The NCAA Women’s Tournament has been just as fantastic as the men’s so far, with great performances, upsets and wonderful games.

The University of Iowa survived a scare and showed they’re way more than just Caitlin Clark and some backup singers, winning a tough battle Sunday. The Duke women scored the biggest upset so far, beating No. 2 seed Ohio State in Columbus. And Sunday night I was absolutely transfixed by the most exciting game I’ve seen in women’s basketball since, OK, since last year, as Stanford and Iowa State traded haymakers, big shot after big shot, in the fourth quarter and into overtime.

Women’s basketball has EVERYTHING right now, great athletes, superstars like Clark, Angel Reese and USC’s freshman Juju Watkins (seen above); perennial powerhouses like UConn still hanging in, and superteams like South Carolina, undefeated and rolling toward the Final Four.

I am so happy these women are finally getting their due, and TV ratings have been monster. Which is why once again I will say that it would be so great if the women’s tournament either moved up a few weeks, or back a few weeks. It deserves its own standalone showcase, and fighting for airtime and Web space and print space in newspapers with the men’s tournament is just not fair to the women.

Start the tournament in early April. Or in early March, and move the season opening to early October. I don’t care which way it goes, I just think