Yesterday afternoon, I stopped on the freeway ramp to assist a stranded motorist, who offered me his bling and his watch if I’d help him get to Florida. Too weird to be true, and maybe he was working a scam. The funny thing is I look at ads for watches all day, because if you look at one ad for a gizmo, you’ll see all the ads for gizmos. Maybe I should’ve taken a closer look at that guy’s watch. I noticed a chessplayer wearing a wristwatch last week, and I thought: Who wears a wristwatch these days, when the …
Month: November 2025
Cal 60 Pacific 52
Last November, I was renting a room in the Adams Point neighborhood in Oakland, walking distance from the 19th St. BART station. A 10-minute BART ride puts one in Downtown Berkeley, walking distance from Haas Pavilion. I needed Pacific to visit Cal *last* season. During the WNBA season, the Golden Bears visited Chase Center one night for a Valkyries game. Coach Smith was working the crowd waiting in line, and I got her attention. Coach Smith kinda knows me, from Stanford and from Cal, but I don’t think she’s ever seen me in the same context twice. Sometimes I’ve been …
UCLA 73 Oklahoma 59
Mismatches like UCLA 87, UCSB 50 and Maryland 87, Maryland-Baltimore County 50 make me wish I’d waited for conference play, but UCLA 73, Oklahoma 59 on Monday makes November watchable (and man, I’m disappointed about missing USC 69, NC State 68 due to spoilage). God help me, I’m allegiant to TWO Los Angeles sports teams. When Gianna Kneepkens entered the transfer portal, I committed myself to whichever team she joined. Honest, I’m OK with her going to UCLA — the Bruins are a Pac-12 all-star team, and Coach Close is the best sideline interview in the NCAA. With practice, any …
Northwestern 67 IU-Indianapolis 64
The Jaguars missed the tying free throw with 7 seconds left, and the host Wildcats survived. Neither team was good at the line. IU Indianapolis shot 67%, Northwestern made 3 for their first 8, then 5-of-7 in the 4th quarter. NU senior forward Grace Sullivan completed a double right after halftime, and finished with 18 and 18. Even at 6-foot-4, Sullivan averaged 4.3 rebounds in 23.6 minutes last year. Until this afternoon, the only team I had any interest in was Menlo HS (Menlo Park, Calif.), with an assistant coach who’s a chess expert. Without reflection or sentiment, I thought …