What now?
Raheel Ramzanali: A 16 beating a 1? What's next in the sports world?
Mar 20, 2018, 7:05 am
Yes, a 16 beat a 1. Now what? Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
There are certain things in sports that I thought I would never see in my life, but here we are and a 16 just upset the OVERALL No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maybe because it was anti-climatic since UMBC slapped Virginia around in the second half, but not a lot of people were as moved by this as I was on my radio show (which can be heard on ESPN 97.5 FM daily from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
I thought a 16 upsetting a 1 would rank as an all-time “whoa, they really did it!” moment for sports fan, but the reaction was just a “cool, it happened - now what?” for the most part. I get it, we live in a time where we’re really desensitized by memorable moments because they keep happening, but even a 16 over a 1? In the last year we’ve seen a player average a triple-double in the NBA, Lebron make it to seven straight finals, a player hit 59 homeruns in a non-steroid era (albeit a juiced ball era), and Nick Saban win his 900th National Championship in an era where teams are getting better and better, yet he keeps winning. These are things that aren’t supposed to happen, but they have and we as fans are starting to believe this is normal. Heck, we’ve even seen a female basketball player compete in a Slam Dunk Contest in the last 15 years.
I thought on Monday morning I would be greeted with the same enthusiasm as I had about seeing history being made, but it was more of a, “Raheel, we get it, a 16 beat the number 1 OVERALL seed - let’s move on.” Maybe I’m more disappointed that I no longer have something to cross off my sports viewing bucket list, but I can’t be the only one that will remember where I was when the Retrievers upset Virginia. I knew this would be the year we saw it. Just ask my good friend Dustin on Twitter. I was calling the upset of Kansas by Penn as we watched the first wave of games on Thursday. Y'all, we witnessed history! All those close calls and “I think this is the year” moments finally paid off and we cashed in with a historic upset.
This also leaves me with an important “What Now?” update of my sports viewing bucket list. I’ve been lucky to experience some cool sports moments, but here are two that I need to cross off before I call it a day and give a shout out to heaven:
United States National Soccer Team winning a World Cup
Texas Basketball winning a championship
I guess I have something to look forward to for the next 33 years. Here’s to you, Shaka!
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.