Archives for March 2025

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox share Fort Myers as their MLB Spring Training hometown. The Twins call Lee Health Sports Complex home and play their games at Hammond Stadium. There are five additional playing fields and the year-round Twins Player Development Academy. It is also home to two Twins minor league affiliates, the Low-A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels and the rookie-level Florida Complex League Twins.

Of course, the Red Sox have JetBlue Park at Fenway South, sometimes referred to as “Little Fenway,” situated at 11500 Fenway South Drive in Fort Myers. Because of the close proximity, the townspeople created a way for the two clubs to battle for one of the most obscure trophies in all of sports.

The Twins once played against the Texas Rangers for the Senators’ Cup, but with the Twins move to Lee County in 1991 and the Red Sox soon following in 1993 to share tiny Fort Meyers, there had to be a new deal. Knowing the history, the local fans called for a special springtime competition between the two Fort Myers ball clubs. The local newspaper, the News-Press, held a naming contest for the competition(s) and the award itself.

The Senators’ Cup became the Crosstown Cup but that only lasted a while until it was re-named, the Mayor’s Cup. The team’s battled for the Mayor’s Cup for decades but then someone realized that JetBlue Park was technically outside the Lee County line, so there was yet another name change.

Saturday (March 1) began the competition for The 2025 Chairman’s Cup between the Red Sox and Twins, with Boston taking the first of the six Grapefruit League matchups, 8-4. The “Battle for the Cup” will continue on March 12 and 23 at Little Fenway. They’ll meet at Hammond Stadium on March 8, 16 and 20. The clubs split the 2024 Chairman’s Cup, but, most importantly, the Twins lead in the all-time series, 15-14-3 in Cup wins and Minny holds a 93-84-2 edge in games.

This is the 33rd season the Sox have called Fort Myers their Spring Training home (1993-2025), their most years spent at any Spring Training city. The Red Sox are in their 14th season at the Fenway South Spring Training and Player Development Complex, which opened in 2012.

Now, how about that for a notebook full of interesting but useless information?

That said, long before MLB interleague play between the American League clubs and National League clubs, in the decade of ‘60s when this columnist was growing up a few miles east of then, brand new Shea Stadium, there was an annual, one day break in the schedule in order to schedule the Mayor’s Trophy game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Mayor John Lindsay – NYC’s, call it, “Fun City” was Mayor between January 1966 to December 1973 – the glory years of the Mayor’s Trophy game which alternated between Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium every other year.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he doesn’t know if the recently completed and quite popular 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is here to stay, and he called it a “quick appetizer” as the league turns its focus to other international ice hockey events. Bettman, appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show,” noting the success of the tournament “has been so quick and overwhelming, we’ve got a lot of things to consider and sort out, including what our own All-Star Game looks like going forward.” … On international plans for the future, Bettman said, “What we’re going to do is Olympics (Milan/Cortino ‘26), two years later the World Cup, two years later Olympics (French Alps ‘2030), two years later World Cup. And the World Cup will have at least eight countries participating, and that’s something we’re in the process of finalizing. The World status may have something to do with exactly how we pull that all together.” Bettman said the NHL is aiming for a full World Cup “like you see in soccer,” with host sites in North America as well as Europe. The odd country out, as Bettman noted with the vague “world status,” is the Russian Federation.

IN OTHER NHL OFF-ICE NEWS: The Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College and the National Hockey League Players’ Association have reached an agreement that will open the door to current and former members of the NHLPA to complete their education at Boston College through NHLPA UNLMT, providing an invaluable resource for professional hockey players looking to earn college degrees. The agreement was signed by Woods College Dean David Goodman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh, a BC Woods College graduate.

STOP the RACE: Do you believe in miracles? Yes. On Saturday afternoon, St. John’s clinched the Big East regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

SPORTS BIZ BOSTON: The Boston Celtics extended their deal with TD Bank through the 2044-45 season. This sponsorship will continue the bank’s role as the retail and online banking provider for the NBA’s Boston franchise and the Maine Celtics of the G-League. “We’re elated to extend our partnership with TD Bank, and build on our shared commitment to community engagement and connection with our fans,” Boston Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement. “TD Bank’s continued investment in our initiatives makes a significant impact, and their ongoing support ensures we can continue providing unique experiences for fans while contributing to meaningful causes that benefit the Greater Boston area.”

Included in the terms of the extension, the bank will launch a Celtics season ticket wait list that will enhance “engagement with this dedicated Celtics fanbase.” With the Maine Celtics, TD Bank will add sponsored promotional games, such as ‘EmpowHER Night’ and ‘Fan Appreciation Game.’ They will also hold CommUNITY Crew events in Maine to support its local communities.

The naming rights to the arena for the Celtics and NHL’s Boston Bruins is controlled by the Bruins and their parent company, Delaware North.

TIDBITS: Is there better use of a nickname in sports other than CBS Sports’ Bill Raftery calling his college basketball play-by-play man, Ian Eagle, by the name, “Bird?” … Our local dog grooming store is activating a big promotion for the month ahead. They are calling it “Bark Madness,” with discounts on all kinds of baths, nail brushing and every other thing you can think of to cater to your furry friends. … If you picked Adam Svensson as your one and done fantasy PGA TOUR player this week, you had the wrong Svensson. Jesper Svensson was high on the leaderboard on Saturday and in contention for the Cognizant Classic title in the Palm Beaches.

TAURASI: When Phoenix Mercury and UConn great Diana Taurasi decided to retire from the WNBA, she didn’t mess around. A very well-planned announcement was made via Time and the magazine’s longtime sports business reporter Sean Gregory. Taurasi explained that January 1 is her usual date to begin training for the next season and “I just didn’t have it in me,” Taurasi, 42, told TIME from her home in Phoenix. “That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away.” … Taurasi has accomplished all there is to accomplish in women’s basketball. She’s scored 10,646 points in the regular season, she’s won three WNBA Championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), six Euroleague titles during her 12-year career playing in Russia and Turkey during the WNBA off-season, She was the 2009 WNBA MVP, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, a three-time Euroleague MVP, and a three-time Russian League Player of the Year. All that written in stone, Taurasi also has won six Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball, an all-time record. With all due respect to Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslies, Sheryl Swoopes, Maya Moore or Candace Parker and all the other top notch women’s basketball players, but without a doubt, Taurasi was the very best. … She knows that someday, someone will come along to challenge her status as “the GOAT of women’s basketball.” … She said to TIME, “My scoring record, or the six gold medals, someone’s going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction to basketball, and put those records in a different way, a different name,” said Taurasi. “That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon.”

THIS JEST IN: According to D-1 ticker via Online Athens (GA), the University of Georgia will not be fined for this past Tuesday’s court-storming after its men’s basketball team upset Florida, “since they held the fans back until the court was clear,” according to SEC Director of Communications Craig Pinkerton. Bulldogs AD Josh Brooks was proud of the student body and their ‘polite court storming,” noting, “Last night proved once again why we have the best students in the country, and I want to personally thank them for waiting to rush the floor. Our students have bought in and helped create a tremendous home court advantage. They have been with us all year long and have made the difference in so many of our big home wins.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: It’s quite logical to place the legendary Tiger Woods as the sure-fire No. 1 earner on the PGA Tour, but who might you rank as No. 2?

If you guessed four-time Major winner and 26-time Tour title winner Rory McIlroy at the two spot, you’d be wrong. Try Maverick McNealy – who regularly arrives at the golf course in his own private jet – is already richer than any golfer in the world not named Woods, including the likes of McIlroy, (Jon) Rahm, DJ, or Bryson DeChambeau. That’s because McNealy is the heir to a $1 billion empire.

McNealy’s father, Scott, co-founded technology giant Sun Microsystems back in 1982. Sun was later acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010 for an eye-watering $7.4 billion, securing generational wealth for the McNealy family for many, many years to come.

Maverick is the heir to McNealy senior’s astonishing fortune, having grown up in a 28,000 square-foot mansion in Palo Alto, California. To put his wealth into perspective, McNealy stands to inherit six-times the net worth of four-time major winner McIlroy.

1985: “No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five will ever do,” wrote Paul McCartney to begin his hit song for The Wings in 1973. McCartney later noted, he’d build his songs when he’d established the first line of the lyrics, citing the words to The Beatles’ classic Eleanor Rigby, “picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been.” Said McCartney, “That was the one big line that started me off on it. With this one (1985) it was “No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five.” … “That’s all I had of that song for months. ”No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty… six?” … It wouldn’t have worked.” … Those thoughts lead us to the fact that 1985 was 40 years ago, and a number of 40-year anniversaries will be celebrated this year. There was one that caught this reporter’s eye this past Tuesday when one of my all-time favorite bands, Tears for Fears, celebrated the 40-year anniversary of their ground-breaking album, Songs From the Big Chair. which along with 1989’s The Seeds of Love marked the band’s worldwide appeal and became a “cultural touchstone for Gen Xers who grew up on MTV,” wrote conservative culture platform, Twitchy. … In the summer of 2023, bandmates Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith took their Tears for Fears’ Tipping Point Part II tour through North America with a stop at The Mohegan Sun two days before playing to a full house at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The June 24 show came just as the PGA Tour stop for The Travelers rode through Crowmell, Connecticut, and yes, it was a short and easy ride to anchor an amazing weekend. … It all melds together to underline a great year of music, history-making and great sports. Remember, 1985 was the year of Live Aid, the all-day rock show on two continents (London, England, Europe and Philadelphia, USA North America) which raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia. … The year began with the establishment of the “Domain Name” system as a framework for the World Wide Web and the common man’s use of the Internet. … “We Are the World” began the USA for Africa relief efforts … Joe Montana won MVP honors in Super Bowl XIX when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. … Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the (then) Soviet Union. … Amadeus won the Academy Award for Best Picture … Villanova defeated Georgetown, 66-64, at the Final Four in Lexington, Kentucky to cap the biggest upset in college basketball history … In one, if not the biggest blunders in marketing history, the Coca-Cola Company changed its formula and released New Coke. The public response made Coke execs re-think that one. … The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 4-games-to-2, winning the NBA title at the famed Boston Garden. It marked the first time an opponent clinched an NBA title on the famed parquet floor. (Note: In 2022, the Golden State Warriors duplicated the feat, defeating the Celtics in six games with the clincher at TD Garden). … Eighteen year old Boris Becker became the first German and the first unseeded player to win the men’s championship at Wimbledon, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets, 6–3, 6–7 (4–7), 7–6 (7–3), 6–4. … The Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-games-to-3, to become the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home. … And, another reminder of just how long ago it was, the Microsoft Corporation released the first version of Windows software.