Krause: Spikes made unfortunate choice of words referring to time with Pats

Idle chatter while wondering whether Brandon Spikes ever studied US history …Yes, I know it is just a guy trying to stir something up. Yes, I understand he?s probably not being 100 percent serious.But there are certain places where I don?t think you should go … even if you?re goofing around. And one of them would be referencing to slavery when you?re getting millions of dollars to play football.Brandon Spikes got on Twitter the other day and started in on his time with the Patriots, calling it, among other things, “four years a slave.”I think we can all agree the parting between Spikes and the Pats was not cordial. He obviously did something to set coach Bill Belichick off, and it may or may not have been far less of an issue than the way Zen Hoodie handled it. Still … you kind of wish Spikes chose his words differently.We?re one day into the Masters and I don?t care. Why, you ask? Because Tiger?s not playing.When Tiger?s in contention, it makes the Masters must-see TV. When he?s not, or if he?s not playing, it?s not going to be on the Sunday bucket list.Tiger is like Jack from 40 years ago, in the mid-1970s, when Nicklaus was tearing up every golf course in the world. He made whatever tournament he played an event all unto itself. No Jack, no interest.There have always been players who capture your interest for short periods of time … guys like Johnny Miller or Tom Watson. By and large, though, golf?s royalty — at least in my lifetime — was passed down from Arnold to Jack to Tiger. No one else comes close.And of the three, Tiger is the most compelling, thanks to his hornet?s nest of personal problems and his not-so-subtle pursuit of Nicklaus? record for winning the most majors.It?s clear we?ve been watching the decline of one of the best golfers we?ll ever see. Age, a violent torque on his drives, and perhaps a bit of his own hubris, are catching up to him. His body?s falling apart. And while there are certainly good golfers teeing it up this weekend, there?s no central figure to follow. Even people who don?t know which end of a golf club to hold will see the Masters on TV and ask “how?s Tiger doing?”I?m not sure I could pick out a name that just rolls off everyone?s tongue the same way.The state basketball committee has voted to keep the alignment formats it devised prior to this season for one more year. That can?t be good news for the school that considered itself adversely affected by being moved either up or down. And there were a lot of them.One of the schools was Danvers, which, after back-to-back Division 3 state titles, got to go for the three-peat in Division 2. Considering nobody was going to beat a New Mission team that could have embarrassed some of the top D1 schools, that somehow just didn?t seem right. The Falcons made it to the D2 North final before falling after a game effort against the Titans.This was all done so that there could be a statewide champion in Division 4. St. Clement is happy, at least.The first time I saw Shabazz Napier, he scored a quiet 17 points in a 100-87 Charlestown win (in regulation) over Classical in the 2008 MIAA tournament. I say quiet because he was just one of several Townies to go on an offensive splurge that night. But he was dishing out assists all over the place, so there?s no telling how many points he ended up being responsible for.Even if I only covered him once, it?s always fun to see someone you came in contact with in his formative years achieve the ultimate success.So, good for him for leading Connecticut to the national championship. I can truly say I saw him when.