Krause: Postponements just keep piling up

Idle chatter while thinking that maybe this whole climate change thing might have some merit after all …I?ve been doing this job for more than 15 years, and I?ve never seen as many winter sporting events postponed as I have this year. You might get one or two, mostly in anticipation of, or in the immediate aftermath of, some horrendous storm (the latest “storm of the century,” as it were).But this winter, athletic directors have had to scramble almost as much as they do in the springtime, when rain wreaks havoc with an already-tight schedule.We moan and groan about how we?re going to get all these postponed games covered, but that?s nothing compared to the worry of how they?re going to get scheduled, and whether there are officials available to do them.So here?s to you, athletic directors. Yours is one job I wouldn?t want to have.There will be many words written, and spoken, about Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees in the coming months. Let me add mine. He has received the benefit of the doubt from umpires virtually his entire career. He is the Duke University of baseball. If the pitch isn?t down the middle of the plate, it?s a ball; if he?s just a fraction of a step off first base, he?s safe.I?ve lost count of how often I?ve cursed him in the privacy of my own home for the fact that umpires consider him God-like. Every time Tim McCarver, or Bob Costas, goes into rhapsodic swoons over him, I want to kick something.Yet about 10 or so years ago (probably after he went diving into the stands to catch a foul ball while Nomar sat in the shadows of the bench with an Achilles injury), I stopped hating him bitterly and decided he wasn?t a bad guy at all. And as the years have progressed, I realize what a class act he is. For someone brought up with the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in my face 12 months out of the year, Jeter made the Yankees almost palatable during an era when they first had Roger Clemens and then Alex Rodriguez as more than ample reason to hate them.Don?t get me wrong. The next time Jeter trots down to first base on a pitch that isn?t dead center and belt-high, I?ll curse him all over again. But in the end, he — like Mariano Rivera — has been one of the best ambassadors to Major League baseball for almost 20 years, and the game will be immensely poorer without him.Mushing around in snow, slush and freezing rain makes me think of the Red Sox. And despite what the Yankees did in the off-season, I think the Sox have the edge on pitching alone. Right now, with Jon Lester, John Lackey and Clay Buchholz, they have three potential 15-plus game winners at the top of their rotation. They also have Jake Peavy, Felix Doubront and The Dumpster (Ryan Dempster).They?ll miss Jacoby Ellsbury, but the name of the game is pitching. And they have plenty of it … and shouldn?t entertain the thought of trading any of it.We?ve certainly had our share of 1,000-point scorers in boys and girls basketball thus far this season, and we?re probably going to have two more if the Bulldog girls go far in the tournament. Both Diondra Woumn and Deidra Newson have a good shot of hitting the millennium mark too.I know it?s Friday, but I?m finally able to discuss the latest Northeastern Beanpot loss rationally.Nothing against the Huskies. For two periods, they played BC as tough as anyone has. Problem is, hockey games have three periods. And when BC decided it was time to turn up the heat, Northeastern couldn?t match it.The Huskies, this year, are a very good team. But BC is a great team.That?s the difference.Curling.That?s all. Just curling (accompanied by an exaggerated roll of the eyes).Can we eliminate all the preliminaries and just let the US women?s hockey team play Canada now for the gold?