Latest news with #JoeCastiglione
Boston Globe
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Essays on caring for Mom, Red Sox legend Castiglione draw reader responses
Bradford, New Hampshire To take such a difficult topic and weave such a tender story full of love is truly a credit to both [the writer] and [his] mom. Advertisement rochebull posted on I was my mother's chief caretaker during her last few years, going to her home on Cape Cod every other week. . . . The hours would be filled with a whirlwind of activity — doing the grocery shopping, cooking some meals ahead that she could just reheat, doing the cleaning and laundry, taking her to her doctors' appointments — trying, trying, trying, to do whatever I could to make her comfortable and keep her safe. . . . I wish I could hear her voice one more time. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up IAMRETIREDYAY posted on My mom was a nurse in Boston during the same era. Bad weather meant she might have to 'pull a double' rather than driving home 30 minutes away. Always in her whites, even as the director of nursing. I took pride in being allowed to polish her white shoes. We learned compassion and that end of life is inevitable. Her demise was a long one. Her body gave out but her mind didn't. That was a blessing and a curse for all of us, but she taught us how to live in the world and how to leave it. Advertisement sharkboy posted on Whole New Ballgame I really enjoyed Jamie McClellan's Perspective on Joe Castiglone and summer nights listening to Red Sox games on the radio ( Steve Soskin Tewksbury McClellan did a superb job of describing Joe Castiglione's voice and famous calls. I have had the good fortune to live next to the Castigliones for some 40 years and have heard his voice on many occasions. One Saturday at 9 a.m., I was in the driveway washing my car. I heard Joe calling a game. 'That ball is driven up the right-field line. It's going for extra bases.' A few moments later, 'Deep to left field. That should drive the runner in.' And on and on. I looked around the trees between our properties. There's Joe with his grandchildren, maybe 4, 5, 6 years old, playing wiffle ball. I smiled and said to myself, Joe Castiglione. Good guy. Jerry Morris Advertisement Marshfield A wonderful tribute! Arthur Hillman Housatonic It was a pleasure to listen to Joe do some spring training games [in March] on WEEI. I hope he comes back as an occasional play-by-play guy. Koch_Brothers posted on Transitions are always difficult and this one will be more painful than most. You can't have that comforting constant in your life yanked away without an impact. So we'll feel a little like we're missing a security blanket . . . made a little worse by the tease of hearing him call a few spring games. rrendine posted on Among the many reasons to love Joe Castiglione is this: a real New Englander, he knew how to pronounce Wareham, Worcester, Eastham, Leicester, Chatham, and Stoneham. We knew he was one of us. Sam Chapin Plymouth I will miss Joe's call of the games, but I will also miss the stories, musings, and reminiscences with which he filled the intervals that constitute the bulk of every baseball game: the relief pitcher's long walk in from the bullpen, rain delays, the manager's mound visit. . . . Joe filled these moments with recollections about everything from where to get the best Italian food in every Major League city to the obscure names of players who only made it to the majors for a cup of coffee. Over the years I wrote letters to him after the season ended, telling him how much it meant to me, sitting in my house or car in North Carolina, to connect to the game through him. Inevitably, around Thanksgiving, I would receive a handwritten note thanking me for listening. UNC65 posted on Advertisement Thanks so much for the very nice story on me. Much appreciated. Joe Castiglione Marshfield CONTACT US: Write to magazine@ or The Boston Globe Magazine/Comments, 1 Exchange Place, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02109-2132. Comments are subject to editing.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
CFP for Dummies plan: What college football can learn from March Madness blueprint
CFP for Dummies plan: What college football can learn from March Madness blueprint Show Caption Hide Caption US LBM Coaches Poll: Ohio State claims top spot after national title run See where your team landed in the final US LBM Coaches Poll ranking of the year. Sports Pulse They're making this more difficult than it is, which falls in line of late with just about all things college football. So while we soak in the majesty of the three-week event that is March Madness, it's time to reassess the postseason football clunker rolled out last season by the smartest men and women in college sports. Something, everyone, must be done about the College Football Playoff. It's time to introduce the CFP for Dummies plan. 'We're only one year into the new playoff format,' said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. 'I don't know that you make drastic decisions based off one year.' While I'm all about not being trapped as a prisoner of the moment, there's something so reassuring about the simplicity of the NCAA basketball tournament that can't be ignored. Everyone has a chance to play in it, and the highest seeds get more favorable draws. That's it, period. Hence, the CFP for Dummies plan. But as we move toward the new CFP contract in 2026, and a likely increase to at least 14 teams, they're reinventing the wheel again. And by 'they' I mean the Big Ten and SEC — the insatiable beasts running college sports. They've got grievances, and they want to be heard. They want more guaranteed admission to the CFP, and they're not sure they like the idea of a selection committee — which doesn't exactly use strength of schedule as the determining factor. They're talking about turning Championship Week into play-in week, but each of the Power conferences have different ideas about how to pull it off. They're still not sure about campus games, or if more are needed. And the seeding thing is an absolute mess. This isn't rocket science. Simple is better. Follow the lead of the NCAA tournament, and begin the 2026 season with a clear and unmistakeable path to the national championship. Here's how it happens: SPRING POWER RANKINGS: Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Big 12 LOOKING AHEAD: Our way-too-early college football Top 25 for 2025 Commit to the selection committee This begins and ends with clear and unambiguous metrics from disinterested sources. Translation: computer nerds! The NCAA tournament uses NET, KenPom, BPI, KPI and – tada! – strength of record (see: record in relation to schedule difficulty) to decide selections for the 68-team field. I refuse to believe the highly qualified mathematicians running these programs can't easily translate their formulas to college football. The human committee will still have the ultimate say, and there will undoubtedly be questionable decisions (hello, Indiana). But at least there's transparency. Commit to a 20-team field How did we jump all the way to 20, you ask? It's less postseason games, in totality, than what the power conferences are currently discussing. The need for new revenue streams has led the power conferences to the idea of play-in games. More games for television means more money from the CFP contract. More money from the CFP contract means less of a financial hit when universities begin spending as much as $20 million-23 million annually on de facto pay for play, beginning July 1. By moving to 20 teams, championship week doesn't change, and conference championships aren't minimized because the winner of the four power conference championships receives a spot in the playoff. The other 16 teams are at-large selections, much like the NCAA tournament. But here's the catch: just because you're a power conference champion doesn't mean you avoid a play-in game. Commit to a basketball bracket After championship weekend, the selection committee releases its field of 20, and the bottom eight teams will compete in play-in games at campus sites. The winners then move to the round of 16, where the CFP is seeded just like the NCAA tournament: No. 1 vs. No. 16, No .2 vs. No. 15, and so on. The round of 16 is played on campus, and the seven remaining games – quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game – will be neutral sites through the bowl system. If this system were in place for the 2024 season, the SEC would've had seven of the 20 teams, and the Big Ten five. The Big 12 and ACC would've had three teams each, and the final two spots would've been committed to Boise State and Notre Dame. The play-in games: Illinois (20) at Miami (13), Missouri (19) at Mississippi (14), Iowa State (18) at South Carolina (15), and Brigham Young (17) at Clemson (16). The four winners move to spots 13-16 in the playoff, based on their end of season CFP ranking. It is here where I need to stress that the Big Ten and SEC are pushing a 14- or 16-team format for 2026 that includes four automatic qualifications for their respective conferences, and two each for the Big 12 and ACC. In the CFP for Dummies plan, everyone increases their access. And, more to the point, their ability to earn. Don't believe it? Check out this empirical evidence of teams per conference (with current conference alignment) beginning with the first CFP after the Covid season. 2023: SEC (7), Big Ten (6), ACC (3), Big 12 (2). 2022: Big Ten (7), SEC (6), Big 12 (3), ACC (2). 2021: Big 12 (6), Big Ten (5), SEC (4), ACC (4). A simple plan for a simple process. Welcome, everyone, to The CFP for Dummies plan. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
Fox Sports
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Changes to spring football offers programs chance to reinvent themselves
Oklahoma joined several name-brand programs in a trend that is as predictable as it is worrisome for many college football fans, choosing to cancel its spring game and opt for a more fan-friendly showcase. While this venture represents a new direction for Oklahoma, it's also indicative of the growing reluctance of many programs investing tens of millions of dollars in asset management (read: players) that they'd like to protect from poachers and injury. So, Oklahoma will instead host a combine, known as the "Crimson Combine." "This is a brand-new spring football tradition for our fans," Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione said. "Crimson Combine will spotlight our players while also giving our fans the ability to get closer to the action and have the chance to engage directly with our team and coaching staff. We're planning some unique activities that will highlight our players and provide high entertainment value for everyone in attendance." Sure, I'll watch your dad run a 40 against Deion Burks. But is that really what this is about? Nebraska, USC, Texas, Florida State and Oklahoma each have differing reasons for opting out of hosting a glorified practice for the public, but Huskers coach Matt Rhule was unafraid of saying why he has decided to do away with a tradition that he thinks can only hurt his program in the era of name, image and likeness. "I think it's really, fundamentally — I hate to say it like this — it's really because last year we were one of the more televised spring games," Rhule said, "and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that. "To go out and bring in a bunch of new players and showcase them for all the other schools to watch, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me." Yes, Rhule is correct in that spring football has worked as a springboard for some players to earn recognition and interest from other programs. But that's hardly the case for most players. Many programs design their spring games to showcase as little of their talent and playbook as possible. Some coaches even believe if you can pick up anything other than the basic philosophy of their offense and defensive schemes that they've put too much of the playbook into the game. The scoring is often convoluted, pitting the offense against the defense for phony points and he-didn't-even-touch-him tackles. Some spring games make flag football look like a contact sport. But that's never been what the spring game was about — not for many players and most fans. Former Oklahoma great Gerald McCoy was the kind of player who might've spent a 2025 spring game in sweats on the sideline rather than have coaches risk him pulling a hamstring or worse in a practice that meant nothing with respect to his contribution come September. Yet, he still disagreed with Oklahoma's decision to cancel the spring game for a glorified fan appreciation event. "So no spring game? Just a showcase?" McCoy tweeted. "No opportunity for young guys to perform in front of fans? Guys who have improved to do it in front of the fans. What about the guys who may never see the field in a real game getting an opportunity in the spring game to get reps in front of a crowd. Aight I guess. Love yall. Always a Sooner but count me out on this one. Guess I'm officially an old head now" Yes, you are, Gerald. We both are. But I'm not so old that I'd rather watch a meaningless practice where a walk-on might pop-off for 100 yards rushing against the No. 3 defense than perhaps give a younger fan, one just getting to know his heroes, the opportunity to make a core memory. I imagine there's a little boy, a little girl, who will get to meet John Mateer, and in return, he becomes their favorite player based on a handshake, a kind word or an autograph. I imagine there's a teenager who might find out that his upbringing looked a lot like that of Brent Venables — hard, rough, unrelenting — and believes he can become a head coach one day too. Yes, the emotionless business of college football is at work here. There is no doubt that the money counters and coaches, a conservative risk-averse group by nature, are unwilling to let players hit each other in earnest in April. But there's also an opening here for programs to reinvent themselves in pursuit of the next crop of lifelong fans. And that is for the best. RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast " The Number One College Football Show. " Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily . recommended Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
