RECORD: 11-3

It’s always fun to see baseball purists come out whenever there’s a scandal in the sport. I’m a baseball fan, and like anyone else, I want to see the game played cleanly. However, acting as though there’s a high and mighty moral code in the sport is naïve at best and flat wrong at worst.

The notion of a “character clause” in the game has been laughable since its inception. Between a color barrier, Hall of Famers doctoring the ball, and top players using banned substances in a league stewarded by a commissioner who turned a blind eye as long as it made him money and wound up in the Hall of Fame anyway, being outraged at sign-stealing seems outrageous in and of itself.

That isn’t saying what the Astros and Red Sox did was right. It isn’t. It was stupid, and hopefully it curtails obnoxious attempts at sign-stealing. However, saying sign-stealing robbed teams of titles is a step too far. Every team steals signs in some form or fashion, and that’s never going to change. If the actions taken by Major League Baseball end the more absurd processes, though, I suppose that’s a plus.

TUESDAY’S RESULT: Iowa visited Northwestern and powered away late to win 75-62. That meant the Hawkeyes easily covered the 5.5-point spread, which kept a good run in this section going.

WEDNESDAY’S PLAY: I’ll head to the ACC, and among that conference’s Wednesday slate is a tilt between NC State and Miami. Looking at these two teams, they appear quite similar in quality, which makes the eight-point spread a bit curious. NC State is home, so the Wolfpack being favored isn’t shocking, but this seems about double the spread it should be. Because of that, I’ll take the points with the Hurricanes.