Trying to Burn Bernie Plus Baseball & Basketball
I missed last night’s Democratic presidential debate but everything I’ve seen and read leads me to believe it was not a night in which any of the 7 candidates on stage could declare outright victory in what was a two-hour slugfest.
While some went hard after front runner Bernie Sanders they likely did little to stop his momentum heading into this weekend’s South Carolina primary. I did see plenty of highlights in which the debaters went after one another and basically ignored the CBS News moderators who seemed to lose control.
Maybe the biggest winner of the night was President Trump who continues to benefit from the division among Democrats but a lot can happen between now and November.
Deep down you know I’m a “sports guy” so here are some quick hitters:
- There is a reason why you often hear the term “there’s no such thing as too much pitching” when it comes to baseball and I’m sure the Yankees will agree. Tuesday came word that two-time All-Star Luis Severino will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week and is done for the season and that news came less than three weeks after James Paxton had back surgery which will sideline him until late May.
- John Vianney and Manchester will meet for the second straight year in the finals of the Shore Conference Girls Basketball Tournament after both won their semifinal games Tuesday in Toms River. The difference this time around is the Hawks rate the role of slight underdog as they seek to become the first Ocean County team to win the girls title twice since its inception in 1972. The teams meet Saturday at 5 p.m. at Monmouth University’s OceanFirst Bank Center as part of a girls/boys doubleheader. The boys semifinals are Thursday night at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena.
- Scoring 1,000 points in a high school basketball career is a coveted milestone and it was one that occurred with regularity in Toms River this winter as pointed out by Chris Nichols. Last night Toms River South’s Jalen Folsom joined the 1,000 point club thanks to a 23-point effort in a loss to Donovan Catholic. TR North has two players who reached the milestone this season in all-time leading scorer Jakari Spencer and Najae Hallenbeck and East senior Mike Goodale not only scored his 1000th point this season but last night set a Raiders single game record with 46 in a win over Lacey.