Sports Today: Once Again, Fans Are Treated to Something New

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (R) is greeted by Wayne Gretzky during a ceremony after Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., on April 6, 2025. AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Commentary

In the last week, there have been intriguing, exciting, and glorious developments in baseball, basketball, and hockey.

Baseball

A new baseball season has opened, and the big news is a possibly revolutionary change to one of the three basic tools of the game—the baseball bat (the other two “tools” being baseballs and fielders’ gloves).

Several players on the New York Yankees have started using the new so-called “torpedo bat,” designed by a physicist. The torpedo bat has a shape that is different from the typical bat design that has prevailed for over a century. Instead of the thickest part of the bat being at the end opposite from the handle, the thickest point in the torpedo bat is six or seven inches from the end and it tapers off and is now slimmer at the end.

With a large number of baseballs flying off the Yankees’ torpedo bats into the bleachers for home runs, batters from around the major leagues seem anxious to give it a try. It will be interesting to see at the end of the season if the flurry of early home runs by the Yankees was an anomaly or whether the torpedo bat truly is superior to the traditional bat.

Basketball

The men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament (March Madness) this year had their similarities and their notable differences. The major similarity: In neither the men’s nor the women’s tournaments were there any Cinderella teams this year exploding out of obscurity to compete for the title in the Final Four. On both the men’s and women’s side, the regular season powerhouses, and consequently highly seeded in the tournament, did not disappoint. In the men’s bracket, all four Number One seeds advanced to the Final Four. In the women’s bracket, three of the four top seeds made it, with the only Number One seed that didn’t make it (Southern Cal) having lost its star player to injury.

The difference was in how the two Final Fours played out. In the women’s tournament, the University of Connecticut Huskies, under longtime coach Geno Auriemma, won their 12th national title by totally dominating their opponents. They crushed UCLA by 34 points in the semifinal, then easily handled defending champion South Carolina, defeating them by 23 points in the championship game.

On the men’s side, both semifinal games and the final were cliffhangers. The Florida Gators won the championship despite being behind Auburn for most of their semifinal game, and did it again in the final, defeating Houston despite being ahead for only 63 seconds of the 40-minute contest. In its semifinal game, the metrics at one point showed that Duke had a 93 percent probability of winning the game, but Houston pulled it out by going on an improbable 9–0 run in the game’s last 33 seconds to win by three.

Sadly for Houston, the shoe was on the other foot in the final. At one point in the second half, Houston had more than a 90 percent chance of victory, but the resilient Gators pulled it out by three points when, almost miraculously, Houston wasn’t able to take a single shot on its final three possessions. If you like the unexpected and unpredictable, you would have gotten a kick out of those games.

Hockey

The primary sports highlight this April happened in the National Hockey League. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals scored his 895th regular-season goal, breaking what was long considered hockey’s unbreakable goal—the 894 regular season career goals scored by the great Wayne Gretzky. Amazingly, their respective goal totals—895 and 894—were both scored in the identical number of games: 1,487.

I watched the two goals that Ovechkin scored on April 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks to tie Gretzky’s career mark. The shots were absolutely brilliant. With perfect laser-like accuracy, Ovi drilled the puck into the tiniest possible space between the goaltender and the goalpost. Both goals came off of shots he launched like a rocket from a crisp pass at the exact split second that the puck entered his wheelhouse. Ovechkin then showed his deep respect for the sport of hockey and the career goal-scoring record by refusing to go on the ice near the end of the game when the Blackhawks pulled their goalie. He didn’t want the record-setting goal to be an empty-netter.

Ovechkin didn’t have to wait long to make history. At 7:26 of the second period of his team’s next game, a Sunday afternoon game with the New York Islanders on April 6, he scored the record goal, again demonstrating power and pinpoint accuracy. It was truly a transcendent moment in hockey history. I loved the outpouring of sportsmanship that the history-setting goal triggered. The game was played at the home rink of the New York Islanders, but the fans were so enthusiastic and full-throated in their cheering for Ovechkin that you couldn’t even tell that he wasn’t playing on his home ice. Even the Islanders players came off the bench and saluted Ovechkin by tapping their sticks on the ice. And to crown it all, the Great One (Gretzky) himself smiled broadly and joined in the standing ovation. It was beautiful.

To close, although it was a different kind of achievement than Ovechkin’s excellence that has spanned 20 years, on April 8, the Vancouver Canucks made history in 60 seconds. They scored three goals (all three with their goalie pulled) in the last minute of play against the Dallas Stars to send the game into overtime. Never before in NHL history had a team erased a three-goal deficit in the last minute of regulation. And wouldn’t you know? The Canucks scored again in overtime to complete an unprecedented comeback win.

Once again, in just the last few days, we have witnessed the magic of sports—great achievements, odds-defying comebacks, and the occurrence of the unexpected and unprecedented. What a great time to be a sports fan!