March 1980

MARCH 1980

(Again, I told you I might change my mind. While engaging in the cardmaking process for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, I was just having too much fun, so I decided to add in the two losing semi finalists, Purdue, featuring giant center Joe Barry Carroll, and Iowa, a spunky little team with future pro Ronnie Lester, to make a full Final Four. I also noticed something that I think I knew, but the cardmaking process made clear to me. If you look at points per 36 minutes instead of points per game, you get a very different angle on who the most dangerous players are. The stars are still the stars, but you can tell the good bench players from the less good ones if you evaluate them all on the same scale- a team that looks unimpressive based on points per game looks more dangerous when you see there are maybe four double digit scorers there.)

(I also thought some more about the "league average" issue, since PLAAY's cardmaking depends on it, and decided to base the "league average" on the four teams' opponents, since opponents points scored is a stat all four teams have, so my baseline as a "league average" is the total of 120 odd games that all four teams played. And, vexingly, one of the four teams does not have minutes played, which figures into the formulae as well, so I had to guesstimate based on the players' total points scored and their points per game averages. The timing has been another hornet's nest- via the formula in the PLAAY book, it seems to require 60 cards per half, or 120 cards total, to yield around 60 points per team, but the first half of the first game, all I have been able to play as of this writing, has yielded scores in the low 20s. I will have to see if the scores equal out as play proceeds. I suspect I may not have underlined enough qualities, which probably dampened the score some, as well. I emphasize again this is user error, not a flaw with PLAAY's product.)  

(I also took a look at the 1980 Red Sox roster, and the names, to quote James Joyce, are a summons to all my foolish blood. I think I'll have to at least play opening day when April rolls around, especially since the Masters is the only other April event in the replay. This Red Sox team was between the 75-78 team and the 1986 team, obviously, calendar wise, but also in terms of team building. 1980 was still their Underpants Gnomes era of team building- "1) Hit a lot, 2) shrug, 3) Profit!"- whereas 1986 would be the first year in a decade someone thought "maybe we should get some pitchers too." But some of the seeds of that '86 team are here- very young seasons from Rich Gedman and Bruce Hurst and Bob Stanley, as well as mainstays like Dwight Evans (my favorite player ever) and Hall of Famer Jim Rice, who would conclude his usefulness in 1986, as well as Dave Stapleton actually producing positive WAR, which is a wild sight for someone who has replayed games with the 1986 Red Sox approximately a zillion times. (In 1986, Stapleton batted .128.) ) 

(And with the recent untimely passing of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, I think replaying Oakland's opener is called for. And New York's 1980 roster- a pitching staff of Tommy John, Luis Tiant, and Ron Guidry, with spot starters Jim Kaat and Gaylord Perry- has always interested me.) 

(I was also able to confirm that I have Title Bout II cards for Pipino Cuevas, Thomas Hearns, Alan Minter, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, and, of course, Muhammad Ali, so that I can replay 5 title bouts- those of Hearns, Hagler, and Holmes, as well as the twin bouts of Duran and Leonard. I am still deciding how best to represent the Ali who fought Holmes, making the fight interesting, but also realistic.) 

NUMBER ONE MOVIE: "Coal Miner's Daughter," a film about singer Loretta Lynn, whose maiden name is also my last name. 

NUMBER ONE SONG: "Another Brick In The Wall," Pink Floyd

NUMBER ONE BOOK: "The Bourne Identity," Robert Ludlum

NUMBER ONE ALBUM: "The Wall," Pink Floyd

Disney began offering VHS tapes of its movies for rent. 

Spoiler candidates John Anderson (Republican) and Ted Kennedy (Democrat) won their respective Massachusetts primaries over the favored Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. 

Cyclosporine, a critical anti rejection drug for organ transplant patients, began clinical trials. 

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was convicted. 

At the NFL Owner's Meetings, the owners voted to deny Al Davis permission to move the Raiders to Los Angeles. Davis, of course, did it anyway. 

The first closed caption TV broadcast was made. 

Mt St Helens in Washington State came to life again after 123 years of dormancy, and will erupt in May. 

The season finale of the show "DALLAS" posed the question,"Who Shot JR?" 

A match fixing scandal convulsed Italian pro soccer. 

SPORTS: 

John McEnroe reached the world #1 ranking for the first time in his career. 

Olympic champion Jesse Owens died. 

(Actual result: Louisville defeated UCLA to win the national championship.) 

FINAL FOUR LESS THAN FANTASTIC

In a pair of lackluster semifinals, the UCLA Bruins outlasted the Purdue Boilermakers with a 49-43 win. They led the entire way, overcoming their poor shooting with aggressive rebounds and second shot opportunities. UCLA was paced by Kiki Vandeweghe’s 13 points and 6 boards, as well as James Wilkes’ 12 points and ten rebounds. Guard Darren Daye also chipped in with a full scoresheet, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 steals. 

Over on the other side of the bracket, the Louisville Cardinals got stellar guard play from Darrell Griffith with 12 points and 3 steals, as well as Derek Smith, who benefitted from the Iowa Hawkeyes’ attention on Griffith to the tune of 22 points, 8 rebounds and four assists. Iowa’s Ronnie Lester tried to keep Iowa in the game, but his 22 points were not enough to overcome the Cardinals, who ran out to an 8-0 advantage after the opening tip and never looked back.

The National Championship game featured a blistering first half from UCLA, who ran out to an 11 point advantage at the half. Louisville’s Darrell Griffith tried frantically to shoot his team back into the game, winding up with a game high 46, but the Bruins’ balanced attack led by guards Mike Sanders and Darren Daye as well as smooth shooting Kiki Vandeweghe led to UCLA hanging on for a 79-74 triumph and another flag to hang up in Westwood. 

(Out of the events simulated, the Super Bowl, the Basketball National Championship,  and Daytona came out differently, whereas the National Semifinals did not. I’m not sure what that proves, except that I’m enjoying the process.)