The O'Colly, Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

‘They

put us on

the

map;’

the story of OSU’s 1981 team

tioned.

Daniel Allen Staff Reporter

In this four-part series, The O’Colly will revisit the 1981-87 Oklahoma State baseball teams, which have one of the most dominant stretches in college baseball history.

The Cowboys’ seven-consecutive College World Series appearances mark the longest stretch in the sport’s history, but they never came away with a national championship.

Tom Holliday gripped his phone with a pressing opinion.

As a phone call with Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward regarding the Cowboys’ 1981 lineup progressed, Holliday, OSU’s pitching coach, grew bullish as he read each name off the handwritten roster.

The returning production offensively and on the mound. The surplus of veteran experience. All of it provided Holliday more assur-

ance about the impending lineup.

Entering Year 4 of Ward’s tenure, both coaches knew the program needed a breakthrough.

The fan support around the program prior to Ward’s tenure had dwindled drastically. Nineconsecutive seasons of regionaldeprived teams put a damper on the program’s outlook. However, Ward and Holliday bolstered the fan investment, notably with a Big Eight Tournament championship in 1978 during the coaching tandem’s first season in Stillwater. Winning seasons in 1979 and 1980 – including a 43-10 campaign in ’80 – only enhanced that.

But OSU hadn’t appeared in the College World Series in 12 years. And in Holliday’s mind, the 1981 team was the one to make it happen.

“We’d pieced together a lineup of nine guys where, in all honesty, we felt like we were better than any team we played at every position,” Holliday said. “I mean, we were good. Really good.”

So, as the phone conversation between the two winded down, Holliday gave his two cents.

“I like this team this year,” Holliday told Ward. “I think this is the one.”

“You think so?” Ward ques-

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation.

First base slugger Jim Traber returned to OSU after a flashy freshman season in 1980. Mark Poole and Mickey Tettleton were set to man the catching position, with Poole being “the deep thinker” and “brains behind the plate that held a team together,” according to Holliday, while Tettleton was the “freak athlete” who could also slot in an outfield position.

The pitching rotation, however, was all the more enticing for Ward and Holliday. Two-way star Darren Dilks, a left-hander and pinch-hitter who had transferred to OSU in 1979 from Chaffey Junior College in Rancho Cucamonga, California, highlighted the core. No one, in the minds of the OSU coaching staff, was more paramount within the lineup than the elusive talent of Dilks.

“Dilks was the ultimate movearound kind of guy who could really play first base, could pitch and could just excel anywhere you put him,” Ward said. “He was just a star. And we needed someone, like him, who could pick a team up and lead by example. And we got that in (Dilks).”

See Dynasty on page 3

Karli Godwin’s home run, Lexi Kilfoyl’s pitching lifts OSU to fifth straight super regional

Parker Gerl Assistant Sport Editor

Jilyen Poullard’s message to Karli Godwin was simple.

“She was like, ‘We don’t need you to be a hero, we just need you to be Karli Godwin,’” Godwin said. “And then I think that kind of just took the pressure off my shoulders.”

The Cowgirls, the five-seed in the NCAA Tournament, defeated Michigan 4-1 Sunday in the Stillwater Regional final to clinch a fifthstraight super regionals appearance. It was OSU’s 18th-straight regional win at Cowgirl Stadium and set OSU up to host Arizona in supers next week.

And it was Godwin, OSU’s standout freshman first baseman, who gave the Cowgirls two muchneeded runs in a game where they weren’t easy

to come by, while Lexi Kilfoyl did Lexi Kilfoyl things in the circle.

“That was a grind, we knew it was going to be tough,” Kenny Gajewski, OSU’s ninth-year head coach, said.

OSU and UM duked it out for four innings, with scoring starting in the first inning. The Cowgirls struck first on Tallen Edwards’ RBI single. Then UM’s Keke Tholl evened it up at 1-1 with an RBI single of her own.

But Lexi McDonald, with an assist from the wind, helped the Cowgirls regrab a lead with a second-inning solo home run that put OSU up 2-1.

No more runs were scored until the fifth inning, when Poullard offered Godwin confidence.

“Sometimes you just get worked up and you need to take a deep breath,” Godwin said of the moment leading up to her at-bat.

See Godwin on page 6

OSU hosts 55th Special Olympics Summer Games, 39th on campus

More than 4,600 athletes traveled to Stillwater last week to attend the country’s largest Special Olympics Summer Games. This year marked the 39th Summer Games hosted at Oklahoma State University with the City of Stillwater and the 55th anniversary of the annual event in Oklahoma. In 2022, OSU increased opportunities for participation in Special Olympic events by developing the first Special Olympics Unified college program in Oklahoma. The program allows adult Special Olympic athletes to compete alongside Unified partners, who are

Unified students, staff and faculty in a variety of sporting events. Through OSU Unified, the university welcomes nearly 100 adult athletes for weekly OSU Unified intramurals. There are weekly opportunities to participate every Thursday evening in addition to the Special Olympics Summer Games in May.

“For over 20 years now, Summer Games has been some of my favorite days to be on the OSU campus. Summer Games expands the Cowboy welcome to thousands of athletes, partners and families every May,” said Dr. Jennifer Jones, OSU Director of the Center for Developmental Disabilities. “I am thrilled that our OSU Unified team will

Photo courtesy Tulsa World Archive, graphic courtesy Hayes Fawcett Oklahoma State coaches Gary Ward (left) and pitching coach Tom Holiday (right) believed the 1981 Cowboy baseball squad put the program “on the map.”

Kaytlyn Hayes

Karli Godwin hit a fifth-inning home run to help OSU pull away.

Songboer

Continued from page 1

Ward and Holliday had been building toward a breakthrough for three years. And less than one month until Opening Weekend, in their minds, that breakthrough was imminent.

“We didn’t know when we were gonna get to Omaha, and we honestly felt like 1981 may have been a year late,” Holliday said. “But we knew it was coming.”

From 1981 on, Ward and Holliday had one commonality in mind: given OSU’s surplus of talent on its roster, the group would only improve.

Often, a central figure within a roster is pinpointed midway through or in the latter stages of a season. OSU, however, was so experienced and “driven toward a national championship” that each prospect contributed in their own way.

“We intimidated everyone we played because it was kind of like our personality,” Holliday said. “We just expected to win. To win every game that we played in and beyond.”

OSU logged totals of nine runs or more 21 times during the season. And as the offense gradually reached its peak form, the pitching staff complemented its success, highlighted by a multitude of gems from Dilks.

After beginning the season at old University Park in Stillwater, OSU opened a new ballpark — Allie P. Reynolds Stadium — in a conference series against Missouri. OSU lost three of four, albeit to a talented Tiger team, but Holliday saw a silver lining.

“We needed that (new) ballpark, and it came at a great time for us,” he said. “You talk about fan investment; people started showing up to our games made that better almost immediately.”

And attendance wasn’t the lone logistic that benefitted OSU from its new home confines.

“When we came in and got to Stillwater, OU was the talk of the town,” Holliday said. “They were really in control of everything, recruiting wise, rivalry wise, everything. They got all the prominent kids in our state. And (the stadium) kind of helped shift things our way.

“That and all the winning we did.”

The OSU faithful poured in, and so did the recruits. Holliday said OSU garnered pledges from as many as 10 prominent junior college recruits nationwide shortly after Reynolds Stadium’s opening.

Long before the era of the transfer portal and NIL, college baseball programs built themselves off of junior college transfers and high school prospects. Naturally, Holliday preferred experience. So, he often went the junior college route.

The Cowboys concluded regular-season play with a 4314 overall and 12-6 conference record. Shortly after came a Big Eight Tournament Championship.

Just like that, the group’s confidence heading into postseason play was near the mountaintop. ***

OSU opened play in the 1981 College World Series against South Carolina at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

The Cowboys made easy work of their opponents in the Midwest Regional, hosted by in-state foe Oral Roberts.

After logging victories against ORU, Southern Illinois and the Golden Eagles a second time, OSU had attained its long-awaited breakthrough — a trip to the College World Series.

Now, the group longed for more.

After an 8-5 win in 10 innings against the Gamecocks in the opening round of the College World Series, then came a decisive 12-6 win against Miami, Holliday’s alma mater.

“I had some personal interest in that one,” Holliday said with a laugh. “I’ll admit it.”

Shortly after was an 11-10 win over Arizona State through 13 innings to clinch a spot in the national title contest.

OSU played a game against Texas, but was already guaranteed a spot in the national championship game against Arizona State after the Sun Devils dominated the Longhorns. So, OSU’s 13-inning, 8-5 loss was practically meaningless.

As a result, Holliday said Ward played a multitude of second-string and bench players over the game’s course to merely get the Cowboys through it. Most of the team’s arms who threw were back-end pitchers. OSU almost winning was merely a bonus.

“Why we had to play that game against Texas, I do not know,” Ward said. “None of us knew. None of us could figure out why. But I figured, ‘Well, we have to get through it one way or another.’”

Then came the main event – a second matchup against Arizona State. This time, for all the glory.

OSU started right-hander Timmy Rodgers, while Arizona State went with righty Kendall Carter. Dilks had enough rest to pitch at least an inning – at most, two – on short rest for OSU.

The Cowboys’ bats erupted early, garnering a 2-0 lead over the Sun Devils in the first inning and chasing Carter from the game before the opening frame had concluded.

But in came lefty Kevin Dukes for Arizona State, who kept OSU’s offense at bay from that first inning on.

The Cowboys couldn’t hit Dukes. His four-seam fastball painted the edges of the strike zone to near perfection. His curveball fooled OSU’s hitters with its decisive and sharp break. And his changeup was a complementary mix to his pitch arsenal, striking the Cowboys by surprise each time he threw it.

“We just couldn’t hit him,” Traber said. “I mean, the guy was on another level at that point. It was like each pitch and each inning he threw, he got better.”

The Sun Devils tied the

game at 2 in the bottom of the first before OSU took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third. But then the team’s offensive struggles resurfaced. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Rodgers was chased from the game.

Amid a Sun Devil offensive rally, Holliday had motioned for left-hander Craig Tice out of the bullpen. However, Tice cited soreness in his throwing arm as a reason not to pitch. So, Holliday went with the shortrested Dilks instead.

Dilks pitched two innings but didn’t dominate. He merely got OSU through them. By the time Dilks exited the game, the Sun Devils had already extended their lead enough.

Eventually, a 7-4 Arizona State win was finalized. The Sun Devils were national champions, and the Cowboys’ run to Omaha concluded with a second-place trophy.

But the loss only made the urge to win a national title even more rampant.

“By the time we got back from Omaha after the 1981 season had ended, we were already on trying to solidify that 1982 team so we could get

back (to Omaha) and try and win it,” Holliday said. “We were obsessed with it. We were so, so driven. You can say any word or superlative you want to describe the feeling we had, but the feeling itself is indescribable, really. We were after one thing, and that was to win a national title.”

Without the 1981 team’s success, none of the Cowboys’ ensuing decade of dominance would have been possible. And Ward and Holliday will be the first to say that.

With that, the bar had been set. The newfound standard within OSU baseball had been established. The goal of making the College World Series had been achieved. Now, winning it became the expectation.

“After 1981, a lot of national people were like, ‘Oh, Oklahoma State just made a splash; they’ll go by the wayside,’” Holliday said. “Well, they didn’t know anything, really. We really felt like we should have won it all in 1981.

“We were just getting started.”

Adam Luther/O’Colly

OSU made the World Series sevenstraight seasons under Gary Ward from 1981-1987.

Courtesy of OSU Athletics

Tom Holliday felt OSU’s 1981 team had a good chance to end a 12-year World Series appearance drought.

Traveler’s tips: Island hopping in Greece

Kennedy Thomason News & Lifestyle Editor

With its ancient mythology, historic ruins and a vast history, Greece is a popular tourist spot. Its storied history is not the only

thing travelers can enjoy, as Greece’s islands are a beautiful, trendy spot to visit.

Taking advantage of a free day on my study abroad trip, I spent the day visiting some islands in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea.

About a two hour boat ride from the coast of Athens lies Agistri Island. The smallest of the islands in the Saronic Gulf, about 500 residents live there. Its quaint size and feel give a taste of Greek culture as authentic restaurants sit across the street from beaches.

With a forest-esque feel toward the center of the island, travelers can build

their schedule based on how adventurous they feel. With a hike, travelers can explore rocky cliff diving. For a more relaxed day, staying on the north side of the island is more feasible. The almostcrystal water is relatively shallow and restaurants, sun beds and beaches are readily available.

Closer to the coast of Athens is Aegina Island. The capital of Greece before Athens, Aegina has a larger resident population and is the biggest island in the Saronic Gulf. The island is also more catered to tourists.

Shops line the streets, and vendors sell pistachio-based goods, which the

island is famous for. Almost all of Greece’s pistachio production is from Aegina, and the local economy was built around it. On the north side of the island, ruins of a Temple of Apollo can be found. The area is called Kolona, or “column,” because one column remains standing. Like much travel in Europe, Greece is relatively cheap in comparison to the United States. A round-trip boat ride to the islands cost less than $150. For travelers wanting to visit one island, a ferry ride can be bought for less than $40.

Monday - Wednesday: 10:00am - 10:00pm Thursday - Saturday: 10:00am - 11:00pm

Only one column remains standing in the ruins of the Temple of Apollo.

Agistri Island has a small population and offers authentic Greek culture for visitors to partake in.

be participating for the second year in Summer Games.”

There are many different competitions offered for the athletes to participate in, including track and field, bocce, cornhole, golf, powerlifting, softball, basketball, bowling and tennis. Unified events included basketball, cornhole and bocce.

“Our athletes look forward to competing in these games and work hard to prepare for this annual event,”

said Special Olympics Summer Games Director Jim Scott. “Athletes are not the only ones who benefit from the Summer Games and other similar events. We are increasing opportunities for healthier communities by cultivating understanding and inclusion.”

Unfortunately, due to weather, all outdoor events were canceled on Thursday. However, athletes were still able to participate in a lunch provided by the Special Olympics and attend a dance party, movie, or swim party that night to celebrate the weekend.

Athlete Will Scott has participated in Special Olympics events his entire life. This weekend, he competed in numerous events and never let the weather

bring him down.

“He started his involvement when he was in elementary school, then all through junior high and high school.

Now he’s an adult on a Special Olympic team. We’ve just been coming since he was 10, and he’s 26 now,” said Beth Kidd, Will’s mother.

Scott was preparing for his next basketball game in the 3v3 Unified competition held in the Colvin Annex.

“I love that he gets to come out here and compete,” Kidd said. “There is so much inclusion, and the atmosphere, the love from the other athletes, the families and the volunteers have meant so much over the years.”

Special Olympics offers events in all

50 states and welcomes more than 4.4 million athletes to participate.

“Oklahoma State University has been hosting the Special Olympics Oklahoma Summer Games for close to four decades, and it’s the perfect partnership. It really is the epitome of the Cowboy Code. The athletes and the volunteers end each day of the games knowing they gave it all they had, and they finish what they start. It’s a time of overcoming, belonging and celebration,” First Cowboy Darren Shrum said. “These competitors and volunteers are honorary Cowboys while they’re here, and we are delighted to be part of something that is so meaningful.”

Songboer

OSU hosted Special Olympics Oklahoma Athletes in the summer games for the 39th year.

Kaytlyn Hayes

On Monday it was announced that Lexi Kilfoyl is a top three finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award. Oklahoma State’s Lexi Kilfoyl named

Godwin...

Continued from page 1

It boosted OSU’s advantage to 4-1, and gave the Cowgirls “some breathing room,” Gajewski said. When Godwin rounded third, Gajewski threw his hands up in the air before high-fiving her, as Godwin made it look easy after she had what Gajewski called “awful” batting practice before the game.

And Godwin carried a rare smile toward Gajewski.

Ashton Slaughter Sports Editor

An Oklahoma State Cowgirl has never won USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award, but Lexi Kilfoyl is inching closer to changing that. After being recognized as a top 26 and top 10 finalist, Kilfoyl was tabbed a top three finalist for the award Monday morning, USA Softball announced. The award, which has been given annually since 2002, is voted on by coaches across DivisionI softball, media members and past winners, and will be announced on May 28 at the athlete banquet prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series.

Kilfoyl, OSU’s ace, was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year from

the conference earlier this month and is now chasing national recognition as the country’s best. Her 1.08 ERA and 24-3 record have set her apart as one of the elite pitchers, and players, in softball.

In the Stillwater Regional, Kilfoyl pitched 15 perfect innings across the three games that she started.

“The story of the weekend is Lexi,” head coach Kenny Gajewski said following OSU’s regional-clinching victory over Michigan. “Just the way she carried this team, she’s been waiting for this moment.”

Kilfoyl and the Cowgirls will be back in Stillwater this weekend, as they’re hosting Arizona in the Stillwater Super Regional, with their sights set on clinching a fifth straight WCWS appearance.

sports.ed@ocolly.com

“I was like, ‘See how easy it is?’” Gajewski joked. “And I know it’s not easy, but like, I just wanted her to laugh. And I give her a hard time because every time she runs around third she just mad dogs me, she like, mean mugs me. I’m like, ‘Why do you have to look so pissed off all the time?’ and she smiled today, and I was like, ‘That’s awesome.’”

Kilfoyl put the finishing touches on OSU’s victory with two straight perfect innings and a onehit seventh after Godwin’s homer, cementing a Cowgirls 4-1, super regionalclinching win.

The reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Kilfoyl, finished the day with eight strikeouts, one earned run, five hits and no walks. She started all three of OSU’s regional games and tossed 15 total perfect innings.

“The story of the weekend is Lexi,” Gajewski said. “Just the way she carried this team, she’s been waiting for this moment.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Kaytlyn Hayes

Head coach Kenny Gajewski said Lexi Kilfoyl had been “waiting” to have a moment in the postseason.

Lifestyle

‘Rebel Moon Part Two” gives disappointing follow-up

Unfortunately, “Rebel Moon − Part Two: The Scargiver” is the first movie to have zero redeeming qualities.

Even the most tragic, hopeless movies you’ve ever seen, whether it’s “Grave of the Fireflies” or “The Human Condition” trilogy, has some kind of beauty to it. Some fundamental meaning at its core that validates the whole experience.

“Grave of the Fireflies” is a stirring tale about a brother’s unconditional love for his sister in a time of war, and “The Human Condition” proves that facing life with kindness and perseverance may not tackle every problem you face, but will enrich your life beyond words.

Have you ever watched “Avatar,” “Seven Samurai” or “Star Wars?” Congratulations, you’ve seen the “Rebel Moon” duology! Throwing all of these ideas in a blender and then boiling them down into their worst possible nature is just the tip of the iceberg here. If making bad films were illegal, Zack Snyder would be locked away for a long, long time thanks to making this. Snyder’s latest epic masterpiece is called “The Scargiver” for a reason, it has left a permanent scar on the face of cinema. Whenever I feel good about the movie industry, I need to be reminded of this to be put in a terrible mood. Not only is this the worst film of the

year, beating out such classic films as “Madame Web” and “Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate,” it may be the crowning jewel of badness in my movie reviewing career.

Essentially, this film is the third act of another film that doesn’t exist. The characters you came to know and forget from “Rebel Moon − Part One” must defend a village from the same enemies they easily defeated in the first movie. Isn’t that compelling? Dealing with the same threat again, but on an even smaller scale?

But don’t worry, the “teaching a village to defend itself” troupe isn’t the only cardinal sin this film commits. We are treated to an hour, if not more, of sequential, nonsensical flashbacks of each character and their lore. These

range from “strange but almost creative” to “Why am I still watching this?”

There was a moment in the film in which a character triumphantly proclaimed, “I have been given a scar by the Scargiver!” and, with nothing left to do, I stood up and began furiously clapping. I know Snyder is capable of great things, so how and why did he come up with that line?

What follows is two and a half hours of Grade A meandering. Trust me when I say “Rebel Moon Part 2” is a sensory deprivation tank of a movie.

Imagine the twisted pain I felt in my stomach when I found out Snyder wants to make four− more of these. I think that speaks for itself.

TIME OF GOD’S FAVOR! “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Is.55:6 NIV)

the

and

would come into their purposes in the “eleventh hour;” right at the end of life’s work day.(Mt.20) You may think that it is too late to turn your life over to Christ; there is such little time left on “your calendar.” Yet, those who come in at the “eleventh hour” will receive the

Michael Clark Staff Reporter

Classifieds

Business Squares

Come check out the wide variety of elegant clothing at Formal Fantasy!

Located on 121 E. 9th Ave, Downtown Stillwater

The best selection of beer, wine and liquor that Stillwater has to offer! Perfect for all your game day needs, come to Brown’s Bottle Shop located on 128 N. Main

“The Original Hideaway, located on the corner of Knoblock and University. Serving quality pizza and more since 1957.”

Murphy’s Department Store

815 S Main, Downtown Open 10-6

Monday thru Saturday

Houses for rent

ACROSS

Pleads 5 Clear as day

Brunch side 14 “Lunch __ a Skyscraper”:

Things put in to power?

Cowboy Calendar

Wednesday, May 22

Kids’ Night @ 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Location: Louie’s Grill & Bar

https://www.facebook.com/LouiesStillwater

Live Trivia Night @ 7 - 9 p.m.

Location: Iron Monk Brewing Company

https://www.ironmonkbeer.com

Louie’s Bingo Night @ 8 p.m.

Location: Louie’s Grill & Bar

https://www.facebook.com/LouiesStillwater

Wednesday Bingo Night @ 9:30 a.m.

Location: The Union Beverage Co.

https://linktr.ee/theunionstilly

Singo Wednesdays @ 7 - 9:30 p.m.

Location: Em Curators of Craft

https://curatorsofcraft.co/pages/weekly-events

Open Mic Night 2024 Competition @ 7 - 9 p.m.

Location: Bad Brad’s Bar-B-Q

https://badbrads.com

Stillwater Summer Farmers Market @ 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

https://www.stillwaterfarmersmarket.com/ 4th Annual Oklahoma Mini-Silky Fainting Goat Show @ 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Location: Payne County Expo Center

Admission: $60 / head to enter; free to watch https://www.bigskysilkies.com/the-oklahoma-show

Beginning Acrylic Painting w/ Mark Crow: 4 Week Course @ 6 p.m.

Location: Prairie Arts Center

Admission: $70

https://artscenter.okstate.edu/adult-classes/drawing-and-painting/1326-beginning-acrylic-paintingwith-mark-crow-wednesdays1

Bowling w/o Ball Benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma @ 7 p.m.

Location: Stonecloud Brewing Company

Admission: $20

https://www.facebook.com/events/75304244356 5275/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history% 22%3A%5B%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22d iscovery_top_tab%22%2C%22surface%22%3A %22bookmark%22%7D%5D%2C%22ref_notif_ type%22%3Anull%7D

NCAA Division I Men’s & Women’s Tennis Championship

Location: Michael & Anne Greenwood Tennis Center https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/202210-28/2022-2026-future-di-ncaa-championshipsites Team Trivia Live @ 10 p.m. - 12 a.m.

Location: College Bar

Edited by Patti Varol

By Rebecca Goldstein

Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black Tribune Content Agency

Linda Black Horoscopes

Today’s Birthday (05/22/24). Plan to realize a dream this year. Steady action generates satisfying professional results. Share support with friends this summer, before autumn sparks professional breakthroughs. Winter brings a romantic or creative shift, before springtime fills your home with love and laughter. Turn your visions into reality.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is an 8 — Review the numbers. Pay bills and manage accounts. Fix an error and save. Keep cash flowing in a positive direction. Budget for a dreamy possibility.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 7 — Pull with your partner. A challenging moment reignites collaboration. Misunderstandings abound. Patiently clarify. Exchange agreements and promises for shared commitments. You’re realizing a dream.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) — Today is a 9 — With a busy schedule, slow to avoid accidents or mistakes. Prioritize healthy practices and exercise routines. Recharge with music, good food and rest.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Today is a 7 — Communication could seem stuck, especially with your sweetheart. Don’t rely on luck. Apologize when appropriate. Share a persuasive invitation to a fun possibility.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is a 6 — Home tempts you in. Settle into your sanctuary. Clean and clear clutter. Contribute to a family project. What you’re building has lasting value.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is a 7 — Discover an exciting possibility within the chaos. Articulate it for the public. Use your communicative arts and skills to share a story. Get creative.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is a 9 — Follow the money. Do the research and backstage preparations for a later performance. A profitable opportunity is within reach with a polished presentation.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is an 8 — Slow to review personal plans before taking action on them. Consider alternatives and options. Breakdowns could require a different route. Discover buried treasure.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is a 6 — Find a private, peaceful spot to think. Consider things from a higher perspective. Look for hidden opportunities. Rest and make plans for later implementation.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 7 — Coordinate and strategize with your team. Get into a huddle and resolve who’s doing what. Go for distance, not speed. Practice for later performance.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is an 8 — A professional responsibility requires your focus. All is not as it appears. It’s easier to ride a horse in the direction it’s going. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is a 7 — Engage in an exploration. Consider long-term implications and consequences of different ideas and views. What might be the Los Angeles Times Daily