SPORTS FOLDEROL

  PETER LAVIOLETTE  was asked this week  about  ZAC JONES , the New York Rangers  defenseman who has been a healthy scratch for 17  straight games, 19 of the last 20. Were they  considering shipping the 24 year old from  Richmond to AHL Hartford for conditioning? No,  the Rangers coach said. “We need him here.” …  Too bad the crack Big Apple press didn’t have a  followup, like “For what?” … This is the same  Laviolette, once described by a New York writer as  “The Genius,” who was quoted last year that he  didn’t believe in keeping players on the sideline for  more than a few games in a row … then withheld  Jones for all but 31 of the regular seasons’ 82 …  This year’s latest excuse for not playing the 5-11,  185 pound left-hander has to do with the  addition of a couple of defensemen via trades in  December  … while unloading  JACOB TROUBA  (and his $8 million contract) as...

  Nothing, it seems, can keep  AARON McGARITY  down … not for very long, anyway. He’s one of those  lucky people who always sees the glass half full. None  of that half-empty stuff for the lanky right-hander from  Richmond, once-again in limbo but upbeat, as usual,  that his baseball career hasn’t reached the walk-off  stage … and he’ll actually have to go to work to make a  living. “ I’m not giving up … no sir, not yet,” McGarity said  Saturday.  For every  JUAN SOTO , baseball’s current mega-star,  there are thousands of Aaron McGaritys out there ...  who, despite numerous setbacks, just know things are  going to get better. In other words, McGarity is a poster  child for the American dream … determined to carry on  for as long as it takes … even if, deep down, he knows the odds are stacked (very high) against him. “ I just had a ‘pro day,’ which is like a tryout in front of  scouts. I averaged 9...

  The rank and file is restless at University of Virginia  over the school’s extending athletic director  CARLA  WILLIAMS ’ contract … but what really frosted some  Cavaliers was the bump in salary … a 29 per cent hike  (with incentives) to more than $2 million annually –  guaranteed -- over the next five years … What  obviously impressed the board of visitors was Williams’  ability to raise millions of dollars and upgrade athletic  facilities since her arrival in 2017 … And that,  apparently, was more important that the major problems  facing the athletic department in football and men’s  basketball … that had her critics wondering out loud if  she was capable of overcoming them … Williams’ has  made one major hire, football coach  TONY ELLIOTT  off the staff at Clemson, and that has resulted in three  losing seasons and an overall record of 11-23 … which  doesn’t make him unique in Hooville ...

  Briefly Told … (I hope) … Congratulations to Hanover County … not … for  treating the Freedom of Information Act like it’s  some sort of barrier to truth, justice and the  American way … for, by redacting anything and  everything that would explain why the high school  baseball team was suspended, all you did was  create even more suspicion … quite likely making  what happened sound much worse than it really  was … Equally stupefying was the opening line: “This investigation is the result of an  allegation  of  …” What? The explanation was redacted … Does  that mean all it takes in Hanover County, USA, is a  charge of some uncorroborated misdeed to bring  the hammer down whether justified or otherwise?  Not good, not good at all. At last … finally … justice for  BILLY WAGNER  … voted into baseball’s hall of fame on his 10 th  (final) year of eligibility … That the left-handed  reliever ...