Steve's Sports Blog

The Beautiful Game

2006-06-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

This is it. The greatest sporting event there is. March Madness is my favorite yearly spectacle, and the Olympics are the best chance for a Canadian to see his coutry compete against the world's best. But the World Cup, there's just nothing that can compare. 20,000 Trinidad and Tobago fans took over a small corner of Germany to watch their team in a tune-up against a German division 3 side! For smaller countries, this is a month to cherish that will forever be etched in the national history books... for the powerhouses, this is another rare chance at being forever entrenched in the history of the sport. Let's get to it...

GROUP A

Germany, Poland, Ecuador, Costa Rica

Going with the favorites in Group A. Germany isn't carrying itself with much swagger so far considering they're always good and are playing at home. Ecuador was great at home in qualifying, but it will be different in Germany, particularly against the hosts. Costa Rica has links with my home club of OFI Crete, but none are currently there, so the team is now dead to me.

GROUP B

England, Sweden, Paraguay, T&T

With or without Rooney this should be England's group. Sweden and Paraguay on the 15th should decide the runner-up, while T&T enjoys their 3 games in the sun.

GROUP C (Group of Death, part 1)

Netherlands, Argentina, Ivory Coast, S&M

The dutch will falter as always at some point, just not this early. Argentina could be Brazil's biggest threat, or they could pull a France and crash out early. The Ivory Coast may well be the most talented African team, and Serbia/Montenegro is certainly no pushover. The plan is for the two favorites to notch 2 wins each before meeting, leaving them to play for position in the finale.

Group D

Mexico, Portugal, Angola, Iran

I see the underrated Mexicans taking the group ahead of the underachieving Portugese. However this is by no means a walk for either side, as Iran is far more talented then most realize, and an unknown quantity like Angola could spice things up. This group is one where an upset could happen easily.

Group E (Group of Death, part 2)

Italy, Czechs, USA, Ghana

Ouch. Everyone is jumping on Group C as the "Group of Death," but this group has the #2 and #5 teams in the world, neither of which is Italy (#13). To top it off, Ghana may be the most skilled African team in the tournament. Too close to call, we could see the big three finish at 2-1, or we could see all four at 1-1-1... I see Italy clamping down defensively to take the group, and the Czechs squeaking through. No matter what happens, there will be two very good teams being dropped from the tourney from this group.

Group F

Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan

The favorites won't cruise, but they'll do enough. The three way dogfight for runner-up will keep the group interesting. Japan is ranked the highest but hasn't been convincing in recent games, Croatia has had big wins but tapered off of late, and Australia is the longshot but could grind past the other two.

Group G

France, Switzerland, Korea, Togo

The top three have the pleasure of grouping with the lowest-ranked team in the tournament (Togo), which makes the Togolese my new favorite team. However, France will be primed to make up for their 2002 debacle, the Swiss are one of my darkhorse picks, and Korea wants to show the world that they don't need to be at home to beat the world's best.

Group H

Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

Last but not least, the favoured Spaniards and the Ukraine should get through here (though I will forever hate the Ukraine for knocking out Greece). It won't be easy as Tunisia is the most complete African team in the tournament, and the Saudis have been here before.

ROUND OF 16 (First vs. Second, A/B, C/D, E/F, G/H)

Germany - Sweden
Netherlands - Portugal
Italy - Croatia
France - Ukraine
England - Poland
Mexico - Argentina
Brazil - Czechs
Spain - Switzerland

QUARTER-FINALS (Talk about premier matchups)

Germany - Netherlands
Italy - France
England - Argentina
Brazil - Switzerland

SEMI-FINALS

Germany - France
England - Brazil

3RD PLACE

France - England

FINALS

Germany - Brazil

AWARDS

Best Young Player - Cristiano Ronaldo (POR), Wayne "if healthy" Rooney (ENG), Lionel Messi (ARG). Darkhorses: Phillipe Senderos (SWI), Johan Vonlanthen (SWI), Cesc Fabergas (SPA), Asamoah Gyan (GHA)

Golden Shoe - Ronaldo (BRA), Miroslav Klose (GER), Thierry Henry (FRA).

Golden Ball - Ronaldinho (BRA), Thierry Henry (FRA), Steven Gerrard (ENG).

So I have the finals repeat... the Germans will be tough to beat at home, and Brazil is the best team in the world until proven otherwise. Of the teams I had missing the second round, the Ivory Coast, US, Australia and Tunisia have the best shot at screwing up my picks. Of those, if the US gets through, they could have a good run. No matter what, it's going to be very, very fun to watch. Enjoy the show on Friday...

Four more days of freedom...

2006-05-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

So I actually went out and played a little sports myself yesterday... tennis to be exact. Let's just say I'm glad no one was around to see me. On the bright side I did take the match against my roommate 6-4 (after trailing 4-1), 6-3. On the not so bright side, the entire match was one unforced error after another. Tennis players are ridiculous. I will always believe that soccer players are the fittest in the world (and among the most talented), but I definitely believe that tennis players would give them a pretty good run. By the end of two sets I could barely lift my arms (and I realize how in-shape that makes me sound), I couldn't imagine playing 5-setters one after the other. The athletes in the worst shape? Well everyone picks on baseball players, and though they're getting better (at least appearance wise), they definitely do the least amount of work.

Speaking of those out-of-shapers, if you're reading this you probably know a fair bit at least about sports in general and baseball in specific. However, just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few days, Phillies phenom Cole Hamels is set to make his debut tomorrow (Friday). I am putting a big fat BUY recommendation on this guy, like everyone else in the world. His first start will be in Cincinatti to face the surprising Reds, but the minor league numbers speak for themselves. Before this year, Hamels started 28 games between A and AA, going 11-3 with a 1.54 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 208 K(!) in 152 IP. Ridonkulous. Starting the year at A-ball, Hamels posted a 1.77 ERA in 4 starts, with 29 K in 20.1 IP. The Phils pushed him up to AAA, where he obviously wasn't ready. Not ready to the tune of a 0.39 ERA in 3 starts, a 0.48 WHIP and a whopping 36 K in 23 IP... including one complete game shutout. Now, it's not a large body of work to use as an indicator, but the guy is obviously supremely talented. When asked about how he'd evaluate Hamels progress, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel said, "I'll tell him to throw about 10 shutouts, and then from there I'll evaluate him." Do I expect him to destroy MLB hitters? No. Do I expect him to be better than most of the guys you can find on the waiver wire, and a bunch of guys that are probably still sitting on your roster? Definitely. I drafted Justin Verlander repeatedly this year, and Hamels could well be better.

Has anyone seen that Sidney Crosby Gatorade commercial? Now, I'm a connoiseur of bad TV and bad commercials. Believe me, there are plenty of bad ones out there. This one has to be up there at the top, just for how poorly it was thrown together. To recap (in case you don't want to watch it), it's the one where Crosby joins a pickup street hockey game, and people start flocking to the game, and everyone (including the Hanson Brothers) throws their stick on the pile until the pile is 10-feet high. Then inexplicably, it shows Crosby on the ice skating towards the camera, stopping to show Gatorade dripping down his face, and flash to the "Is it in you" tagline. Which has nothing to do with anything! It's as if Gatorade was pitched the pile of sticks idea as a commercial... after the pitch they asked, "OK that's a great commercial, but where's the tie in to Gatorade?"... to which the ad firm replies, "I dunno, we'll have him skating around with Gatorade on his face at the end or something"... which seals the deal. I now have a career goal of working in an ad agency... not because I think I could do better (which I could), but just to be able to sit in meetings where so many horrible ideas are pitched, and so many are actually approved! If the crap you see is what was approved, imagine the pitches that get turned down!

Well that was a few minutes of your life that neither you nor I will ever get back. So without furter ado, The Daily Tatis: Ottawa fell 2-1 to Scranton, and I know why. Fernando Tatis was given the night off. He struck out in his one appearance as a pinch hitter in the 9th. Why you keep someone so talented on the bench is beyond me, but with the loss maybe the Lynx will see the error in their ways. You can't expect a guy like Fernando Tatis to come off the bench cold, he needs to be in the groove, seeing pitches and watching ground balls roll by at third base... then he's at his best. LET FERNANDO PLAY... we still love you.

Mr. Baseball

2006-05-10T08:42:00.000-04:00

In honour of my favorite Japanese baseball-related movie (which was on TBS yesterday morning), let's talk a little more hardball.

Dallas McPherson - The Angels prospect is back with the big club, getting a chance in place of Casey Kotchman. Power, power and more power... his career minor league OPS before this year was .970 (nice). However, he has a slight penchant for striking out, to the tune of 49 K's in 102 AB's this year at AAA Salt Lake. I don't get to see a lot of the PCL (and it's a little dead to me without the Vancouver Canadians), but I'm guessing that the pitchers in the American League will be a little better than the ones he's been striking out against half the time. His first game back, facing Freddy Garcia (decent) and Cliff Politte (6.17 ERA) he went 0-3 with 3 K's. He should be able to hit .250 with some power, but be wary of jumping on him if your league counts strikeouts.

Fransisco Liriano - The electrifying lefty started 78 minor league games in his career, and AVERAGED 10.31 K/9. So far this season for the Twinkies, he has a 28/4 K/BB ratio in 20 IP. Last night the Twins let him go for a three-inning save in a blowout win over the Rangers, leading many to believe that they're stretching him out to be bumped into the rotation, possibly at the expense of Kyle Lohse. If you throw out one bad outing in the 18-1 shellacking at the hands of Detroit, Liriano has given up 3 ER and 18 H in 17 IP. I already have him on any team with a remotely deep pitching staff, and I suggest you do the same.

J.J. Putz - As I mentioned yesterday, Easy Eddie has been out of the closer's role for a little while. After contemplating a closer by committee, the M's are going with Putz as their new full-time closer. It's not a guarantee that he'll always pitch the 9th, nor is it known how long he'll have the job. However, he's a guaranteed pickup in any league where you need relief help (2.04 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 25 K, 5 BB in 17.2 IP) and some cheap saves (4 so far) for the time being. If you're in a very deep league, picking up Rafael Soriano isn't the worst idea in the world either, since if Putz isn't doing the job it'll be Soriano (like his 4-batter save last night).

Josh Towers - He looked decent for a few innings last night, then gave up a HR to Bobby Crosby (thank you Josh), walked the anemic Jay Payton with two outs and then gave up another blast to Adam Melhuse. He was yanked after the 4th, but the 3 ER in 4 IP actually dropped his ERA from 10.59 to 10.09. He had a decent year lin '05, but his seven straight losses this year means it might be time for the Jays to cut bait. At the very least, any fantasy owners who had been hanging on in hopes of a renaissance, give it up. He might not even get another start.

The Daily Tatis - Fernando went 3-4 with his 10th RBI of the year in a 4-3 win over Scranton, raising his average to .305. That's why he's the 3-hitter in the Lynx lineup, folks.

Shin-Soo Choo - No I didn't sneeze. One of my favorite M's prospects is off to a good start in AAA. The numbers are good (.310-5-15 in 116 AB's), and the speed (9 SB's) is coming back after a down year in '05. He's not walking a ton (12 BB), but with his strikeout total (16 K) he looks pretty good on paper. But since the M's have a glut of useless OF's, don't expect to see him anytime soon (not that I mind him getting a bit more seasoning first, I just wish the M's had better hitters - the HR Carl Everett hit last night was their first since May 1... ridiculous).

Jack Cust - A quick mention of the former Lynx, currently with San Diego's AAA team in Portland, who's having a great start himself: a 1.061 OPS and a 33/20 BB/K ratio, to go with a .277-8-24 line. Too old (27) to be a "prospect" anymore, if the former first-rounder can keep the K's down and the BB's up, he's always had the power to play in the big leagues.

That's all for now, time to waste another day away! If anyone else has MLB 2K6, try playing with the Blue Jays. For some reason, Eric Hinske is just unstoppable... in designing the game they must have forgotten he sucks.

The Recap

2006-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I told you all that you shouldn't have listened to me. Don't I always tell you not to listen to me!

NHL PLAYOFFS (5-3, with one right on games)

So I was right about the goaltending battle in the Calgary-Anaheim series, I just got the wrong guy... Colorado and Milan Hejduk showed that they were better than I thought (7 points in the 5-game shellacking)... Nobody picked Edmonton... I went 4-0 in the East, nailing the Ottawa-Tampa series, except it was "Johnny" Grahame getting most of the blame... I picked Marty Gerber as the MVP in the Montreal-Carolina matchup, little did I know my favorite backup goalie Cam Ward would get a chance to prove himself... Lindy Ruff really is good, I still don't know any of the Sabres.

NBA PLAYOFFS (7-1, hitting the games on three)

I'll say that Detroit really did want another home game... VC did it again, though eventually in this playoff he will revert to his late-Raptors form and bring the whole Nets team down with him (why in the world doesn't anyone just foul him hard... do it early and often, you won't need to worry about him for the rest of the series)... King James lived up to the billing, again... The only Western series I didn't nail was thanks to Bonzi Wells, who just made himself an extra $25 million... Boris Diaw (18-6-6) in the 1st round was pretty bang on, another whoops from the Hawks (maybe they'll draft Rudy Gay so him and Marvin Williams can sit on the bench together)... Kenyon Martin is the new definition of goat, I hope he likes New York... And finally allow me a small chuckle at the expense of Memphis, as the playoff curse we Vancouverites put on it continues.

Some other stuff to chew on while I have your attention...

I'd love to see a Phoenix-Dallas Western Final, so that'll be my call. It'll be tough for both to get there, but it would be a fantastic series. In the East, despite New Jersey's Game 1 romp, I still think Detroit and Miami are on a collision course so long as Miami stops taking 20 minutes off here and there.

As for the great frozen game, every series is at 2-0 so it's pretty tough to bet against any of the series leaders right now. I think San Jose is too much for Edmonton to battle back from... The Ducks are a fantastic looking team, even if Ilya Bryzgalov goes from "Otherworldly" to "Pretty Good," they should still advance... Jersey's heartbreaking loss last night would cripple just about any team, but they've been there before and you never, ever count out the Devils with Marty Brodeur in net... Finally, Ottawa is down two going to Buffalo (who are even better than I could have imagined, especially with Ryan Miller playing so well). Normally that would be the kiss of death, but this team is way too talented to be counted out yet, one big win could make the Sabres think twice.

Jeff Francis is starting to turn it around. My favorite pitcher is still walking too many batters, but he's helped the Rockies to a 20-13 mark and first place in the NL West. Over the past 4 games, he's started to look more like the guy who won Minor League Player of the Year a couple years back (26.2 IP, 17 H, 3 ER, 11 BB, 16 K, 1.03 ERA, 1.05 WHIP). For the year, he's now 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. If he can keep cutting back on the walks, the Rockies will have their ace.

One of the talented lefties Francis watched as a kid, Tom Glavine, is off to a fantastic start. I throw harder than he does, but he's got 41 K's in 46.1 IP to go with a 1.94 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The Mets are establishing themselves as the team to beat in the NL East, and word is they might make a move for a guy like Barry Zito. Being in the anti-Zito camp, I think handing over Lastings Milledge (and more) would be a mistake. Not a Kazmir-for-Zambrano type mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. I don't think Zito is a bad pitcher by any means, I just see the Mets having to give up too much for a guy who WAS a Cy-Young winner, but now pitches like a #2. Speaking of Oakland, the famous Nick Swisher is really starting to turn into what Oakland hoped for (.327-10-28). Now if Bobby Crosby can do the same, maybe my Rance Mulliniks fantasy team can stop sucking.

The Mariners are torturing me. 14-20, last in the AL West. Eddie Guardado (0-2, 6.94 ERA, 1.97 WHIP) is out as closer. King Felix (1-4, 5.40, 1.64) has struggled, and may be tipping his pitches. The two big-splash free agents from two years ago are horrible busts... Adrian Beltre (.221-1-9, 9 SB's) is running at least and hitting .313 in May (no power still), while Richie Sexson (.190-3-17) is pretty much stinking all around (.111-1-2 in May). Joel Pineiro finally looks like a real pitcher again (4-2, 3.72, 1.22), but it's of little consolation to me right now. Maybe I'll put on the classic Vin Baker Sonics jersey I picked up on friday and go drown my sorrows somewhere.

Finally, the Ottawa Lynx are still struggling at 14-17, good for the basement in the IL North. There's nothing blatently wrong, they're mostly middle of the pack in every category... but that's not a recipe for success. The third-worst team WHIP but reasonably low ERA tells me that things could get worse. On the bright side, we still have Fernando Tatis (.287-3-9 in 28 games... he even stole a base!). We love you Fernando, don't ever leave Canada again.

Gone for the week...

2006-05-03T10:21:00.000-04:00

I'm off for a little well deserved vacation time (including hopefully a Jays game Saturday afternoon)... be back by monday to look back on the NBA/NHL first round.

There's nothing like Draft Day(s)...

2006-05-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

So here I am with my second semester in the books. Diving right into the Spring term wasn't exactly my idea of a celebration, but I'll live. Lots has gone on since I've been here that I want to get to, but today I have to concentrate on the NFL Draft. The Seahawks have had an intriguing offseason... after getting robbed in the Superbowl, the overall makeup of the team hasn't changed too much (albeit with a few notable exceptions). The Hutchinson debacle was absolutely horrible... credit the Vikes for making such a gutsy play, as the Hawks are really going to miss Hutch on the left side. The response, handing the same contract numbers to Nate Burleson. We always need receivers who can actually hold on to the ball when it's thrown to them... I just don't know if we needed 49 million dollars worth of Nate Burleson. With Joey Joe Joe Jurevicius gone to the Browns, at least we filled a hole... with some of the most expensive filling we could find. Other than that the Seahawks have been pretty good this offseason, especially signing one of the prizes of the free agent class in LB Julian Peterson. They filled in some depth in a couple of key places as well, which is important because the Hawks didn't have a lot of picks to work with... two on the first day, and four on the second (two of which were 7th rounders). It looks like they didn't do to bad with limited resources however, Mel Kiper and Dan Pompei both graded them out at a B, which Pete Prisco gave them a C. Time will tell how good this draft was, but let's take a look at who will be rolling into camp this year.

ROUND 1 (31) - Kelly Jennings, CB (Miami)
2005 - 32 Tackles, 1 Sack, 3 INT, 12 Passes Broken Up

A 6'0" corner with 4.4 speed, Jennings is the choice to eventually start opposite Trufant. The Hawks had the luxury of being able to stay at 31 with so much talent in the back half of the first round at corner, and you can't argue with this pick. Might have less talent then VT's Jimmy Williams, but looks like a more solid player with good potential and no character issues.

ROUND 2 (63) - Darryl Tapp, DE (Virginia Tech)
2005 - 48 Tackles, 14 Tackles For Loss, 10 Sacks, 3 Forced Fumbles

Slipped because he's small for a DE (6'1", 250), Tapp will help the pass rush and hopefully keep Fisher and Wistrom fresh. The D-line might not have been the biggest need for the Hawks, but the value of this pick for so late in the second round is undeniable. All signs point to this being the best pick of the draft for the Hawks.

ROUND 4 (128) - Rob Sims, OG (THE Ohio State University)
2005 - First full-time season at Guard

6'3", 307, apparently with a conditioning problem. Looks like a guy who could develop into a starting guard if he can keep his weight under control and work at turning his weight room power into blocking strength.

ROUND 5 (163) - David Kirtman, FB (USC)
2005 - 8 Carries, 22 Yards, 1 TD / 22 Catches, 281 Yards, 1 TD

About 6'0" and 230 pounds, the Hawks are hoping he develops behind Mack Strong. Was projected to go in the 7th round or to be signed as a free agent, but is a lead blocker who can catch passes and contribute on special teams.

ROUND 7 (239) - Ryan Plackemeier, P (Wake Forest)
2005 - Ray Guy Award Winner, 47.2 Yards per Punt, 82 Long

Big guy, big leg strength. Can work as a punter and kickoff specialist, and can function as a reserve FG kicker if necessary. Shows good hang time on punts and kickoffs, and had a monster season at Wake.

ROUND 7 (249) - Ben Obomano, WR (Auburn)
2005 - 33 Catches, 357 Yards, 5 TD / 7 Carries, 147 Yards, 2 TD

6'1", 205 with 4.45 speed and good leaping ability, has the physical tools to play wideout in the NFL. However never quite made a big splash in college, never utitilizing those tools. As Hawks fans will come to expect from their wideouts, he's reported to lose concentration and sometimes drop balls he should catch.

Overall the Seahawks did about as well as anyone could expect from them with the picks they had. They made their two high selections count, and filled some gaps late. I'll probably rest myself in the middle of the experts, this was a pretty solid B-/C+ draft. They didn't waste any choices, didn't reach too far and managed to pick up what looks like a huge steal in the late 2nd round (Tapp graded out just behind Jennings). The road to another Superbowl begins...

Mega Fantasmic NBA Playoff Surprise

2006-04-22T15:23:00.000-04:00

Enough of all that hockey stuff... time to talk some hoops.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Milwaukee
I'm not as sold on the Pistons cruising to a Championship as some people I know... but I'm on board with them cruising through this series.

Shape it up - If Milwaukee wins a game here, it's because Detroit wanted another home game.
Series MVP - Rip Hamilton... beware the mask.
Series Goat - Jamaal Magloire... maybe they'll run him out of town and into Toronto?

Detroit 4-0.

(2) Miami vs. (7) Chicago
Is Shaq finally running out of gas, or was he just waiting for these next two months?

Shape it up - The Bulls keep it tight, doing what they do best (holding opponents to poor shooting)... but eventually the Diesel shines through
Series MVP - Shaq, until proven otherwise (sorry Flash)
Series Goat - Othella Harrington... just because.

Miami 4-3.

(3) New Jersey vs. (6) Indiana
Another 3-seed from Jersey... while the Devils get a team that overachieved, the Nets draw a team that never developed into what should've been a perennial conference powerhouse.

Shape it up - The Nets have been uber-hot, but I hate Vince Carter... the Pacers need to dominate on the glass, and hope the Nets evil-twin shows up 4 times.
Series MVP - Jermaine O'Neal, needs to take this team on his back this time.
Series Goat - Vince Carter... because I hate Vince Carter.

Indiana 4-3.

(4) Cleveland vs. (5) Washington
The King makes his first appearance, and I'm backing him to do great things.

Shape it up - Both teams are good at home, but having Hughes in the lineup will help the Cavs get revenge for losing the season series.
Series MVP - King James. Lookout.
Series Goat - Antonio Daniels... I'm gonna pick on former Grizzlies today.

Cleveland 4-3.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) San Antonio vs. (8) Sacramento
This would've been a walk for the Spurs without the trade for Artest, and it probably still will be despite it. Though, I wonder how much Dunc-a-Dunc can do... luckily the Spurs shouldn't need much here.

Shape it up - The Kings will keep the games close, but they can't compete with the toughness of the Spurs in the endgame.
Series MVP - Tony Parker... emerges from a battle with Bibby as an even bigger star.
Series Goat - Ron Ron... it's so easy to see him doing something stupid in a tight game.

San Antonio 4-1.

(2) Phoenix vs. (7) LA Lakers
THE series that I'm excited for. Mamba and Nash. 120-point games. Phil looking Zen-like. It's faaaan-tastic!

Shape it up - The Suns probably win this series unless Kobe averages 50... the scary thing is he just might, but I think the Lakers are just too weak.
Series MVP - Boris Diaw. Everyone knows the stars, they'll cancel each other out. The Hawks didn't even want this guy... that must be worth something!
Series Goat - Kwame Brown. He's looked better lately, but I see him reverting to his "big bust" form in this series.

Phoenix 4-3.

(3) Denver vs. (6) LA Clippers
The real reason I wanted the Lakers to get past Stevie Nash and co. was because I wanted to see them match up with the Clips in the second round. It's pretty screwy when the 6-seed gets homecourt, but welcome to the 2006 playoffs.

Shape it up - Denver is an interesting team, but the Clips have got it together this year, they'll win Game 4 in Denver and take it at home.
Series MVP - Sam "The Man" Cassell... he'll will them to a series win... and he'll still look like Alien.
Series Goat - Kenyon Martin... the pouty face wars between him and Vince Carter will be a sight to behold this postseason.

Clippers 4-1.

(4) Dallas vs. (5) Memphis
Congratulations Memphis, that big win against the Clips netted you a first-round sweep. Tough breaks for the Tennessee teams.

Shape it up - Dallas is very, very good. Memphis is good, but everything they do, Dallas does better.
Series MVP - Mark Cuban. His towel waving will shift the momentum of this series.
Series Goat - Memphis' season-ending 5-game winning streak. Whoops.

Dallas 4-0.

Enjoy the games everybody!

NHL Playoff Super Extravaganza and Chili Cookoff

2006-04-20T16:12:00.000-04:00

As promised, let's talk a little playoff hockey... minus the two teams that squared off in the 1994 Western (Campbell) Conference finals. Pavel Bure scored 60 goals that season... I miss that guy.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Ottawa vs. (8) Tampa Bay
Interesting. I don't know what else to say. Ottawa should be the undisputed top team in the conference, but it's Ottawa, and no one knows what happens to them in the playoffs. Meanwhile, they draw the top seed and instead of getting a team like Atlanta, they get the still defending Cup champs. The Sens were 4-0 in the season series, and I don't see things changing too much here.

Shape it up - Ottawa, up 2-1 in the series, wins handily in Game 4 on the way to closing it out at home in Game 5.
Series MVP - Any Ottawa forward, they should all score plenty.
Series Goat - As was the case all season, both Tampa goalies will get a heap of the blame.

Ottawa 4-1.

(2) Carolina vs. (7) Montreal
The surprise of the east (sorry Buffalo) against history. Again, the higher seed was 4-0 in the season series, and the lower seed is playing two goalies.

Shape it up - Montreal defends their home ice reasonably well, but Carolina does it even better.
Series MVP - Martin Gerber
Series Goat - Sheldon Souray. The goaltending duo will handle the pressure well, but will be hung out to dry a few too many times.

Carolina 4-3.

(3) New Jersey vs. (6) New York Rangers
The Devils are at it again. The choke that engulfed the Rangers over the last few weeks of the season will get worse as they have to face the team that came from nowhere to steal their division crown and home ice in the first round.

Shape it up - Jagr wins two games almost single-handedly as he makes his case for MVP, but Marty Brodeur won't give him any more than that.
Series MVP - Brodeur will always be their MVP until proven otherwise.
Series Goat - Marek Malik shows everyone the ability he showed when he let Iginla go in Game 7 against the Canucks two years ago. No fancy goals here.

New Jersey 4-2.

(4) Buffalo vs. (5) Philadelphia
Quick, name five Buffalo Sabres! I couldn't do it either... so they must be good.

Shape it up - Philly gets a split in Buffalo, only to drop Games 3 and 4 at home.
Series MVP - Lindy Ruff. I bet I still won't know any Sabres after this series.
Series Goat - The Philly D. They give up too many goals to win here.

Buffalo 4-1.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Edmonton
The oil fought a good battle to get in, and won two of four against Detroit this year. They never seem to be an easy out in the first round, and this year won't be any different... Alberta teams feed off crazy fans come playoff time, you can't help but stop hating them (a little).

Shape it up - Edmonton will trade shots with the Wings for six games, but just don't have enough to get over the hump.
Series MVP - Nick Lidstrom, cementing his status as the best defenseman in the world.
Series Goat - Dwayne Roloson, he'll pull a Cloutier at some point and it'll deflate Edmonton enough to get them bounced.

Detroit 4-2.

(2) Dallas vs. (7) Colorado
Two powerhouses from the days of old (ie. the late 90's). Only no Belfour-Roy matchup here, and Colorado is a little rough around the edges.

Shape it up - Theo steals a game prompting the entire city of Denver to enroll in the Jose Fanclub, only to play pedestrian hockey the rest of the series (and be replaced by Peter Budaj).
Series MVP - Any Star not named Marty Turco. The guy could fall asleep back there and win 4-3.
Series Goat - Milan Hejduk. The Avs need him to score in bunches (especially if Svatos can't come back), and he won't have it this time.

Dallas 4-2.

(3) Calgary vs. (6) Anaheim
I love Brian Burke. This Anaheim team may be good for a while with him at the helm... but they run into a team that will grind teams into 2-1 defeats all Spring.

Shape it up - Giguere will continue his work back towards his Conn Smythe form, creating an amazing goaltending battle... one the Ducks can't win.
Series MVP - Kipper. Who else?
Series Goat - Teemu Selanne/Andy McDonald. Each averaged over a point a game in the regular season, they'll be lucky to combine for a point a game in this series.

Calgary 4-2.

(4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose
Congratulations Nashville, your evolution into a solid contender is rewarded by a first-round matchup with the team NO ONE wants to play. I really wish I had the balls to pick them anyways.

Shape it up - Nashville will falter once on home ice (where they've been spectacular), and that's all the Sharks will need.
Series MVP - Joe Thornton states his case over Jaromir.
Series Goat - Tomas Vokoun's blood. Mason has played well, but they'd have a much better chance to hold off this team with their franchise goalie.

San Jose 4-2.

There you have it. Pat Quinn, enjoy your new freedom watching the action unfold. Maybe we'll dump Crawford and bring you back for a very awkward reunion. Congrats to St. Louis for keeping the first pick in the draft... you're gonna need a lot more than that. Enjoy the festivities tomorrow - look out for the NBA edition of this spiel.

The homestretch...

2006-04-18T18:46:00.000-04:00

Sorry to my *3* fans for the lack of content. I was out of town for a few days and then it was down to business for an econ exam. Luckily all I have tomorrow is a pesky job interview so I get to spend a few minutes rambling on about nothing to you beautiful people. Some notes from the weekend:

Chris Shelton - From a week ago: "I really believe this man will hit .500 and mash at least 200 HRs." Silly me, he's only on pace to hit .471 with 112 HRs. No, I don't understand it either.

Vancouver Canucks - So they missed the playoffs, now the real work begins. If Nonis is everything the organization said he was, we'll be hovering around 9th again next season, with an eye for another 5-year run. He has pieces to deal, let's see how he uses them.

NBA MVP - I love Steve Nash. BC boy. Short and White. Everything I could ever dream of being (only with bad hair). But I'm sorry... to him and to King James. Mamba's gotta be it. Just has to be. I hate his shooting percentages, and his slumping rebound and assist numbers. But seriously, look at his team! Lamar Odom aside, is there anyone there that you would want starting on your team? Let's take the Raps... it'd be tough not to take Mike James, Charlie V and Pape Sow against Smush Parker, Brian Cook and Kwame Brown. We'll give Bosh an edge over Odom, and call the benches a draw. That leaves Kobe and MoPete. Now Mo has been better than I ever thought he'd be this year... and Kobe's gotten his team 17 more wins in a tougher conference. That's my argument. I hate him, but he has to be the MVP... without him, the Lakers are a cheaper, less talented version of the Knicks.

NBA Draft - Two words: Brandon. Roy. My considerable influence over NBA GM's will shine through any day now. Until then, he'll go in the middle of the lottery to a team that will immediately enjoy a 12-5-4 guy who plays defense. I really can't wait to see this Italian kid I keep hearing about... Chad Ford says some people around the league think he's the top prospect in the draft. No one would take him at #1, but I haven't heard this much Nowitzki talk since Nikoloz Tskitishvili... and he turned out GREAT.

Some more MLB - The Mets are getting way to much positive play... look for a huge swoon soon. Kenji Johjima (.364-2-10) looks great so far. Ichiro (.190-1-4) and Adrian Beltre (.144-0-0) do not. Despite this, the M's are only a half game back of the division leaders (with identical 6-7 records). There's no way Albert "Pooey" Pujols is only a year older than me. Good to see Vernon Wells off to such a great start (.420-5-12, 2 SB) with some help in the lineup.

The best (only) team I've ever worked for - Yes fans, my beloved Ottawa Lynx are the worst team in the IL North so far, with a 5-6 record. But get this, they have Fernando Tatis on the team, and he's hitting .355! How he hit 34 HRs in a season, I'll never know. BTW, Delmon Young (the future man for the Devil Rays) is hitting .391... no power yet, but 9(!) stolen bases. Yikes.

That's all for now kids, I have to get back to real work. Back soon with my "NHL Playoff Super Extravaganza and Chili Cookoff."

Is this the end?

2006-04-13T11:15:00.000-04:00

It is almost a done deal. With two games to go, and trailing the Oilers by a point in the standings, the Canucks have an uphill battle for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. It should be official by now, but Edmonton seems to want that spot as little as we do. Tonight Anaheim is in Edmonton, and the Canucks finish the home and home in San Jose. It's pretty simple... if we lose and the Oilers win, we can pull out the golf clubs.

So, this may be blasphemy for a Canuck fan, but hear me out. There is a part of me that wants this team to miss the playoffs. The age of the big line has come to an end, and it's time to start making some changes. While making the playoffs would not necessarily ensure that changes wouldn't be made anyways, there were enough problems this season (Cloutier, injuries to every major defenseman, Bert's first season since "the mugging," Naslund's nagging injuries) to give management and fans hope that this team should be kept together for one last run... especially if we scare Detroit like we did a few years back when we had them on the ropes until "the shot" (Lidstrom from centre, which may have ruined Cloutier's career - just look at him against the Wild in the second round the next year... *choke*). So what must be changed? I'm no expert, but...

Marc Crawford MUST go.
That's it, it's time. The team hates him. The fans hate him. He comes across as a gigantic prick in the media and to people in person. His Stanley Cup win was with a team that a) had the mindset to respond to his coaching style and b) had the talent to win even if they didn't. This Canucks team does not have that mindset or that talent. They need a fresh start, and I don't know where it would come from, but it can't come from Crow.

Todd Bertuzzi must go.
I love Bertuzzi. Any trade we make involving him will be the classic "three quarters for a dollar" deal. He'll go somewhere new (anywhere but Colorado), get his head together and re-establish himself as the most dominant power forward in the game. I wish I thought he could get that in Vancouver, but it's just not going to happen. It's Dany Heatley-esque in that way. Since I think the team needs a makeover, it should probably start here. Hopefully the pieces the Canucks would get back could eventually justify the trade.

Markus Naslund might have to go too.
This one would hurt most of all, but there are three good reasons. 1) He and Bert have been rumored to be separated from the rest of the team for a while now, and without Bert it's questionable as to whether the team could come back to respond to Nazzy. 2) He's getting old, and we're paying him a LOT of money when his production has dropped from the upper echelon. 3) He's still valuable enough to be worth some major return. It would be a sad, sad day for Canucks fans if we dealt him... but it's not out of the realm of possibility.

The Sedin's have earned their shot.
They turned Anson Carter into a 30-goal scorer again after Washington didn't even want him. They are second and third in team scoring (74 and 71 points), and first and fifth in +/- (+11 and +7) despite being tenth and eleventh on the team in icetime (16 and change per game). Again, this depends on the breakup of the big line but I think they've proven themselves capable... especially in the face of a lot of criticism lobbed their way pretty much since they were drafted.

Build a time machine.
I just want Brian Burke back.

Shake up the D-line.
Jovo was never a "defenseman." Ohlund is not what he used to be. Salo is good, but not great. Nolan Baumgartner plays too much (like at all). I liked the moves at the trade deadline, but they obviously haven't panned out as the team hoped. Something needs to be done here, and I think it's a more pressing concern than the goaltending situation.

Again... I definitely don't have all the answers. If I were Dave Nonis... I'd be much uglier. But seriously, he's looked like an adequate GM so far (despite things not quite falling his way) so I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt here. However, how he handles this offseason might just make or break his tenure (and I hate saying that so early about a GM). I think missing the playoffs might make it easier on him, and give him the chance to really start to reshape this club in his own way. If we don't, well we might be hard-pressed to avoid a big drop off in a few years time.

Hot or Not?

2006-04-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

The start of the fantasy baseball season is one of the best times of the year for a junkie such as myself. No-namers jump out to hot starts, and the less patient among us get antsy halfway through April... leaving the calmer managers to reap the benefits. My own personal list of April waiver-wire pickups can read off like an all-star team. I'm hoping that this year will be no different. However, there's always the danger of one of these hot starts making the eager beaver look like a genius (see Perez, Oliver - 2004), while proven players tank it hard (see Perez, Oliver - 2005). With that in mind, let's take a look at a couple of the surprise starts in baseball:

Chris Shelton, DET
.583-5-9, 7 Runs, 2.074 OPS
I really believe that this man will hit .500 and mash at least 200 HRs. Ok, obviously I'm using my position as the fake-authority on this issue to have some fun with you. On the plus side he was predicted by some to have a big year after his 18 dingers a year ago, and he has shown some pop in the Minors. On the other hand he seems to strike out a fair bit, and he wasn't exactly facing the mid-90's Braves so far (KC and Texas pitching is... well, they're in the majors at least). If he plays consistently all season he'll be far more productive than Carlos Pena would have been, maybe .290-30-90 if he plays well, .275-22-80 if he doesn't. Either way, those aren't terrible numbers to have in your lineup.

Ian Kinsler, TEX
.444-1-2, 3 BB, 2 K, 1.268 OPS
I liked this guy enough to draft him in several leagues. Texas only gets better for hitters throughout the summer, and Kinsler is cementing his place as their starting 2B. The bad news is they don't have much reason to move him out of the 9-spot, so everything past AVG and HR will be hard for him to boost (and he wasn't a huge power threat to begin with, through he hit 23 in the PCL last year). If he can go 15-15 in dingers and steals he'd be solid value at 2B... but Texas has little incentive to run with that lineup. More likely he'll hover around .300 all year, with pretty poor numbers across the rest of the board.

Justin Verlander, DET
7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Ok it's only one start, but I had to put this in! Detroit skipped him past AAA last season, and then this year he won out the last starter spot in spring training. At AA last year, he had 32 Ks in 32.2 IP (and only 7 BB), 11 Hits and only 1 run... a solo HR. Struggled a bit in limited action with the Tigers last year, but this guy is supremely talented. I drafted him late in eveyr draft, and I'm obviously high on my AL ROY pick. I WILL continue to shove this guy down your throats until he gives me a reason not to.

Daniel Cabrera, BAL
1.1 IP, 7 ER, 3 H, 7 BB, 1 K
Again, only one start. But it was a stinker. 7 walks? Was always a little iffy on the control, but actually looked like he had turned a bit of a corner last year (87 BB to 157 K). If he ever gets his control down, his stuff is absolutely nasty. I would definitely not expect his year to go like this... but I would be a little wary of starting him for the next few weeks as he gets it together.

Brad Wilkerson, TEX
.188-1-3, .212 OBP, 14 K
Rounding out the parade is a beloved former Expo who was destined for stardom in the friendly confines of Ameriquest Field. The only problem for the Rangers is that their leadoff man can't get on base, or even put the ball in play. Of course he had a big hit to beat the Tigers, so maybe he'll come around. Wilkerson has always had problems with strikeouts, with 147 last year and 152 the year before (though in 2004 he also had 106 BB, and exactly half of his 146 hits went for extra bases). The strikeouts will probably never go away, so if you're in a league that measures K's for hitters, you might be a little worried. But for the most part, if Texas leaves him at the top of the order (which might not make sense, but I digress) he has the tools and the eye to get on base a lot. Meaning he can still put up some big, big numbers this year.... especially when Texas starts mashing in the summer.

That's it for now as I go back to using my writing abilities for good instead of evil (or evil instead of good, I haven't decided which side school is on yet). Hooray for mondays...

Stuck in my little corner of h-e-...

2006-04-08T17:43:00.000-04:00

So no Ottawa trip for me... unfortunately the last day of classes ran long. So instead I got drunk and played poker... badly. Some random thoughts over the past couple of days...

RIP Maggie Dixon. What an awful, awful tragedy.

Mike Weir is only 5 back, Stephen Ames 6 back... and with the way the course is playing, you never know when people will come crashing down.

Get well soon A.J.... the Jays could really use you...

... but if they keep mashing, maybe you have a little while.

Felix Hernandez is the man (though a run or two in support might help)... just goes to show you that if you want something bad enough and your heart is pure... miracles can happen.

Not that I want the Canucks to fail, but it's time for that team to be dismantled. Actually, it's time for Marc Crawford to go first. Then Todd Bertuzzi... and who knows, maybe even Markus Naslund (since he'll probably cry when Bert leaves).

I can't believe I'm actually wishing a plan into motion where my team's top line will be two-thirds Sedin and one-third garbage goals.

Why can't Jeff Francis throw strikes anymore?

Please Mr. Colangelo, get yourself a real point guard this summer... and see what you can get for "I'm Mike James, Bitch" while you're at it.

Finally, to all three Florida sophmores who want to repeat in the NCAA's... good luck. If you're serious about this, Joakim Noah, enjoy getting drafted 20 spots lower next year. Though I guess he's ok for money...

Fantasy Baseball

2006-04-05T22:37:00.000-04:00

Since I didn't get to do my 2nd annual MLB Fantasy Preview, I thought I'd run down the league that I will be focusing on this season... it's a 9-team, 6x6 roto (added OPS and Holds) with 30-man rosters (C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, IF, LF, CF, RF, OF, OF, OF, Util, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL, DL), a game limit of 180 and an inning limit of 2000.

1. (2) A. Pujols, 1B
Can't really go wrong here.

2. (15) B. Abreu, OF
.300-30-100-100-30 is a bit of a longshot, but not many guys can even be in that conversation.

3. (18) A. Soriano, 2B (soon to be LF)
A little worried about hitting in Washington and his OPS, but I wasn't enamored with anyone else here and he still does have the power/speed combo.

4. (31) C. Figgins, Everywhere
I never draft this guy... don't know why I didn't before, nor why I did here. Hooray for steals I guess.

5. (34) T. Hafner, Util
A top-ten talent that loses spots because he has no position.

6. (47) R. Harden, SP
My pick for runner-up for AL Cy Young this year.

7. (50) F. Hernández, SP
King Felix, need I say more?

8. (63) J. Nathan, RP
The twinkies will still win a fair bit, and Nathan has been one of the better closers for a few years.

9. (66) B. Ryan, RP
100K closer, on a team that could challenge for the playoffs. About time the Jays had a real closer.

10. (79) H. Street, RP
I didn't plan on this closers run, but I think Oakland will be good and Street will be great.

11. (82) J. Beckett, SP
I don't know why this guy hasn't won more games, but in Boston I can't see him not winning 20 (health willing)

12. (95) J. Thome, 1B
A guy with 1.000 OPS potential in the 12th round is worth a gamble from me.

13. (98) M. Holliday, OF
Star in the making getting to play at Coors 81 times.

14. (111) J. Varitek, C
Probably a top-3 catcher... Round 14 is definitely not a stretch.

15. (114) M. Mulder, SP
Career 3.87 ERA, last 3 years went 15-9, 17-8, 16-8... and those don't count his two best years.

16. (127) J. Giambi, 1B
Again, OPS, OPS, OPS. Great eye, could hit a ton this year.

17. (130) A. Béltre, 3B
Please forget about your fat contract and play like a 2004 Dodger again!

18. (143) A. Rowand, OF
20-20? .300? .900 OPS? Pretty close two years ago... we'll see how he likes Philly.

19. (146) J. Francoeur, OF
Let the young guys begin with the Team USA alum who hopefully will play like he did in his short stint last year.

20. (159) S. Kazmir, SP
Will struggle at times, but has the stuff to be a serious #1 guy.

21. (162) R. Baldelli, OF
On the DL already, but I'm stashing him because he could be a gem if he ever plays.

22. (175) Á. Ríos, OF
The Jays have a young stud as well, look out if he starts hitting HR's.

23. (178) C. Guillén, SS
Decent value for such a late pick at short.

24. (191) F. Liriano, SP
Could be a mistake... but if he ever starts he might make me look like a genius.

25. (194) J. Hermida, OF
The parade of young outfielders continues with a popular choice for NL ROY.

26. (207) S. Shields, RP
Holds with solid peripherals.

27. (210) C. Granderson, OF
Another young OF, Baby Grand could shine in Detroit

28. (223) J. Papelbon, SP/RP
I don't care if he starts, relieves or closes, I'm happy he's on my staff.

29. (226) I. Kinsler, SS (soon to be 2B)
Not sure if he'll hit enough to stay on the roster, but it is Texas, so who knows.

30. (239) J. Duchscherer, RP
Hoping he gets some serious Hold opportunities in Oakland.

Feel free to rip any of my choices... I'm not thrilled with the team, but it's a decent start. I'll keep you posted as we move along. I'm hoping to get to Ottawa tomorrow for the Ottawa Lynx Opening Day... if I do, then I'll be back in a few days with (hopefully) some excellent tales of Minor League Baseball.

Cheers to the D-Train...

2006-04-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

Since my man was the first to post after my slightly-triumphant-return-with-one-new-comment, I'll pick up on a few of his questions.

1) The Evil Empire

Yes, their starting rotation is piss. When your 3-to-5 starters are a kid from Taiwan who's started 17 career games, a Colorado castoff and a guy with a career ERA north of 5.00... well, I've played on junior teams with a deeper rotation. However, their lineup is impressive... even die-hard BoSox fan Bill Simmons calls it relentless. I guess I'm just banking on age and poor pitching undoing the massive run tallies they'll put up. Actually, I'm not banking on anything, they could win 120 games and I still wouldn't care, you shouldn't have listened to me in the first place.

2) The Tournament

If I could have sex with any yearly sporting event, it would be the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament (2nd place: any skating event featuring Sasha Cohen, but I digress). This year was fantastic... it was a treat getting to see a lot of good ball, some great game-winning shots, and the fantastic showings from the smaller conferences. With the new age limit, things might start getting back to the more traditional model of power conference domination, but even when the studs go to college they'll probably be gone ASAP, and the roster flux may leave an opening for the steadier mid-majors. George Mason was obviously a great story, but I hope it doesn't lead to people expecting a little school to make the Final Four every year. Finally, I don't like Florida, never did, but they really put the boots to UCLA... a well deserved win, and championship. I guess the SEC didn't suffer as much from the mass defection last summer as people thought they would.

3) The NBA Draft

Guh. Get ready for months of "Noah doubt about it" stories. He's got all the right stuff to be a top pick... but I don't think he's the best one. Am I the only one who thinks that blocking shots in the tournament was overrated? Tyrus "don't call me Stro' Swift" Thomas has a big game on D, he's the #1 pick. Then Noah does the same, now he is. I'm not taking anything away from either guy, I'm just loving the hype machine. If Toronto can make it happen (ie. there's a GM dumb enough to do this with them)... I would love to see them trade their 1st-rounder for two picks... either two mid-to-late 1st's or Lottery 1st and an early 2nd. There's no #1 pick here... but the draft looks like it could be really deep depending on who declares. I think Mike James will want more money than he's worth, and I would love to see a guy like Marcus Williams go there in the mid-1st, with a second pick to come. I think that Brandon Roy is the friggin man (slight bias), and that whatever team lands him will be very, very happy. There are flaws with all the top picks, but if Rudy Gay ever got over his Marvin Williams complex of playing too relaxed, he's the best future pro.

4) The Leafs

They suck dude, get over it. However, so do the Canucks, so it looks like we might both be watching the playoffs sans attatchment.

The Not-So-Triumphant Return

2006-04-04T00:36:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I left the blog unattended for almost a year... but it doesn't matter, since no one read it anyways. It's probably better that I wasn't on here to talk about the FANTASTIC Superbowl officiating, or the Canucks rapidly decending into Leaf-style mediocrity. Now since I don't care about school anymore (despite 3 months to go), I've decided to get back in the game... or at least, back to the 12th man on the bench status I so relished last year.

So without further ado, Steve's Sports Blog's Utterly Wrong 2006 MLB Predictions:

AL EAST:
Boston*
Toronto* (I hope)
New York
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

AL CENTRAL:
Cleveland*
Chicago
Minnesota
Detroit
Kansas City

AL WEST:
Anaheim* (I'm still boycotting the worst name change in sports)
Oakland
Texas
My poor Mariners

NL EAST:
Atlanta* (I'm through predicting their demise)
New York
Philly
Washington
Florida

NL CENTRAL:
St. Louis*
Chicago*
Milwaukee
Houston
Pittsburgh
Cincy

NL WEST:
Los Angeles*
San Diego
San Francisco
Arizona
Colorado

AL ROY:
Justin Verlander, Det

NL ROY:
Conor Jackson, Ari

AL CY YOUNG:
Roy Halladay, Tor

NL CY YOUNG:
Jake Peavy, SD

AL MVP:
David Ortiz, Bos

NL MVP:
Albert "Don't Call me Pooey" Pujols, Stl

WORLD SERIES:
Cleveland over Chicago

Why Cleveland over Chicago? Well, I hate the Indians, so they're bound to be good. And since I just watched Major League, I can see them doing some real damage this year. Finally, if you're looking for another person to pick the Yankees or the Cardinals, well you've come to the wrong place my friend. In my world, if the Mariners win 70 games, I'll have my own parade.

And like that, everything changes...

2005-04-15T11:46:00.000-04:00

Today this space will house something a little different than my usual ramblings about topics such as how much Russ Ortiz sucks, how much Jeff Francis seems to be trying to pitch like him this year (walks, walks, walks) and any other sports-related issue that pops into my head. My life has undergone a complete 180 in the last two days, and while the changes are phenomenal for me personally, they do have a rather adverse affect on my work here.

Thursday afternoon I found out that I have been admitted to the Master of Public Administration program at Queen's University in Kingston. Needless to say this is a huge shock to me, because despite my best efforts to remain positive, I really never thought I had a chance. With school comes tuition, and tuition means I need to make some cash. Today I accepted a full-time job at a print reproduction company here in Ottawa, and will be starting bright and early on monday. To make my life busier, I am keeping the part-time job I was already waiting for. So in two days I went from no work and no future, to two jobs and a big challenge awaiting me in September.

I don't have to tell you that this severly cuts into my time to read about, write about, and just plain watch and enjoy sports. To go along with the new schedule, I am determined to spend as much time as possible with the love of my life, since we are now assured of spending all of next year apart. I'm not saying that I'm going to stop completely, but that new stuff here will become much more sporadic.

To anyone who has had enough time on their hands to read this space, and has enjoyed it enough to do so with any frequency... I want to thank you for helping me fill some of my days with something I really enjoy. Hopefully you'll all still make your way here every now and then this summer... and hopefully it will be to hear about things like a Mariners playoff race, Ichiro chasing .400, the NHL and NHLPA finally resolving their differences, Jeff Francis remembering that he's better than Russ Ortiz and pushing for NL Rookie of the Year, Jeremy Reed contending for that same honor in the AL, and just maybe the Toronto Blue Jays and the Ottawa Lynx having winning seasons and bringing Canadians back into baseball.

Hey, a guy can dream...

Bits and Bites...

2005-04-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to address a couple of controversies while I have a few spare minutes...

Derek Lowe: Big friggin' deal. The guy went back to Boston with his team's blessing, was given a Red Sox jersey to wear, and wore it. He's not wearing a Sox jersey around the Dodger clubhouse, or before a game... he wore it for the ring ceremony because he was a part of a team that accomplished something special. Whether it's Boston's first in 86 years, or their 86th in a row, it's something *he* had never experienced before, and deserved to go back and enjoy the day. Kudos to the Dodgers staff and players for handling it so graciously and allowing him every opportunity to enjoy it... I don't think anyone has to worry about where his focus will be from here on out. Get over it.

Jermaine O'Neal: Racism is still an important issue everywhere in our lives... the accusation that an minimum age limit in basketball has racist undertones may be a bit over the top, but I can see why he would feel that way and in a strange way he has a point. Sidney Crosby is hockey's LeBron... he gets to be drafted when he's 18, and Canadian networks have been hovering around him for years. He will play right away... or at least he would if there was a league to play in. No one wants to make him wait. Baseball players don't have to wait... golf, tennis and soccer have ridiculously young phenoms within their sports. Athletes are getting bigger, better and younger... there is no denying this.

All that being said, I think the problem here has to be qualified... no one can blame the NBA for at least examining the effects of a minimum age requirement. There are many kids who might not be cut out for the NBA who go to soon because they have that ever elusive "upside." Where JO's vision of a bias carries some truth with me is within the sports media and the general public. Most discussions I've seen in the mainstream sports media support the idea of an age limit. I don't hear that in other sports, and being that it's the only sport where those directly affected by an age limit would essentially all be black athletes... well let's just say I think if you've most likely dealt with racism at various points throughout your life, it's probably pretty easy to make that jump.

Personally I don't think there are racist undertones, especially none made knowingly or willingly, but I also don't think that a 20 year-old requirement is an answer. If your argument is the chance at a degree, be very wary of your hockey counterparts who for the most part don't experience post-secondary education at all. It is no doubt a tough decision for a very young person to make... but since it would be next to impossible to force them to finish degrees before entering the NBA, I don't think going halfway will do much good.

And some loose ends...

Pick up Joey Gathright if you have room... I don't know what the plan is with Alex Sanchez, and chances are Gathright's excellent start with the D-Rays will only make them more compelled to send him back to Durham, but he can't hurt to hold on to if you can afford to.

Someone kidnap Edgardo Alfonzo... unless he made a deal with the devil, he must've found some strange rejuvenation machine that the rest of us could use.

Did Dontrelle Willis get called overrated so much that he's now become underrated? (second straight SO today)

Before the season if you were going to hear the words "The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team to have won six games" in a sentence, would you have though to yourself: "At the end of April, the Toronto Blue Jays are the only team to have won just six games?"

Finally my Jeff Francis update: through four innings he's only given up two hits and one run... but four(!) walks. Still not showing the kind of control we expected... maybe he's scared off the plate a little after getting lit up a few times. He needs to find that groove that has eluded him thus far in the majors.

Fun with numbers...

2005-04-12T09:33:00.000-04:00

First week of baseball is in the books... here's some things I've noticed so far:

The Toronto Blue Jays house the top two RBI men in the American League.
Vernon Wells and Corey Koskie? Nope... they have 5 between them. Shea Hillenbrand and Orlando Hudson? Closer, but they only have 8 combined. Alex Rios and Frank Catalanotto? Well together they have 9. The much maligned (especially by yours truly) Eric Hinske leads the league with 10, followed by Greg Zaun at 9. Needless to say, this will not last.

The Florida Marlins lead the Majors with team ERA of 1.46.
They have three shutouts as a team. Unfortunately, they are 0-4 when they give up at least one run. Sucks to be you.

The Colorado Rockies aren't quite as good, with a team ERA of 8.64.
Whoops. They currently carry 6 pitchers with 2005 ERA's at 13.50 or higher. While the Florida Marlins have allowed 11 Earned Runs in 7 games as a team, Joe Kennedy has allowed 14 ER in 9.1 IP on his own.

The Houston Astros lead the Majors with a team batting average of .303.
Their leadoff hitter is batting .174. Their starting catcher is batting .111. Their two most recognizable hitters are 36 and 39 years old. They start Morgan Ensberg at third base. The three players they've had starting in Left and Center Field had 18 AB's of MLB experience before this season... combined. I think my head just exploded.

The current National League leader in Batting Average is Damien Miller (.471).
Huh?

Pick the leader in Home Runs: Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Todd Helton and Jim Thome as a group... or Brian Roberts?
Obviously it's 3-0 for Roberts.

Pat Burrell is off to a decent start.
He currently has more RBI's (17) than the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates do as teams, and as many or more homers (4) than the Dodgers, Orioles, Mariners, Braves and Pirates. The rest of his own team only has three themselves.

Only one pitcher that qualifies for the ERA title in the American League has yet to give up a run.
Yep, we all knew it'd be Jason Johnson, who lost 15 games with an ERA of 5.13 last season.

These are the things that haunt me at night, as my brain searches endlessly for more things to puzzle me... as if I wasn't confused enough already. We all know that none of this will last, and it's only a week into the season... but this will be fun ot look back at come September. For those of you in fantasy pools with antsy owners... keep an eye on the waiver wire through April... I've already seen Juan Pierre and Mark Loretta dropped this year, and last year I landed Bobby Abreu on waivers at the end of April (with the lowest waiver priority... so either 10 other guys didn't want him or just weren't paying attention). 99% of the time the surprises fade back to earth, and the proven stars that are struggling put it all back together... the other 1% of the time you're Oliver Perez.

A nice, relaxing Sunday...

2005-04-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

Good day of doing nothing yesterday... when you have baseball, The Contender and more baseball sandwiching the end of the Masters, you know you have a good day ahead of you.

Poor Chris DiMarco.

The Jays managed to steal two of three from the World Champs, while Seattle dropped the rubber match to Texas.

Good News...

Jays: Obvious best news being they took two of three from one of the best... currently lead the AL East by a game... Eric Hinske looks like a real-life major league ballplayer... they battled back to win two games after blowing leads... Ted Lilly looked good in his return.

Mariners: Ichiro keeps doing his thing... Jeremy Reed finally got a few hits under his belt... Richie Sexson already has 9 RBI's... *most* of the bullpen has been better than expected.

Bad News...

Jays: They blew two leads, and can't make a habit out of that if they expect to be any good this year... Vernon Wells and Corey Koskie haven't produced in the 3 and 4 spots (4 RBI's between them this year)... for all the talk about speed and green lights, they haven't stolen a base yet this year (and only attempted to steal twice).

Mariners: The starting pitching did not look good against Texas... Bret Boone and Raul Ibanez haven't produced out of the 5 and 6 spots... Matt Thornton.

The Jays are off to Oakland... Chacin vs. Sarloos, Towers vs. Haren and Bush vs. Blanton are the probables. The M's leave home for the first time to take on Kansas City... Franklin vs. Hernandez, Sele vs. Greinke and Moyer vs. Bautista in the 3-game set. The Jays could really get rolling if they win another tough series, while the M's really need to take at least two from a weak team to build some confidence.

Russ Ortiz' ERA stands at 3.27 after giving up only one earned run yesterday in a game where he allowed 7 hits and walked 3 in 5 innings. His WHIP is 1.55 and his K/BB is 4/5. He must be the luckiest pitcher I've ever seen. It really won't last... it just can't.

One guy making me look smarter is Brian Giles ... after 8 RBI's in 2 games, he has none in the last 4. At least he walks a lot.

Pat Burrell can't be this good... but a .280-30-100 season would be gigantic for himself and for the Phils, and I would be tremendously surprised if he didn't make it there this year.

Finally... the man with the best batting average in Major League Baseball, Willy Taveras (.529), is still hitting eighth. Adam Everett is hitting .111, and he doesn't walk nearly as much as Brian Giles.

First full weekend of baseball...

2005-04-10T09:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday, I had a friend in town for a couple of days.

Since I've been gone, my man Jeff Francis had himself a rough 2005 debut. I can imagine that this was not quite what he or the Rockies had in mind for the first start of the season, but it's only one, and there will be plenty more.

April 8 @ SF: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Totals against the Giants (2 Starts): 8.1 IP, 15 H, 14 R, 14 ER, 7 BB, 7 K

So the good news is the Giants appear to be his nemesis, because he hasn't been nearly as bad against anyone else. The bad news is it's only 8 starts into his MLB career, so this might be more indicative of future problems. Let's take a look at his minor league stats:

Minor League Stats (59 Games): 346 IP, 264 H, 114 R, 104 ER, 82 BB, 388 K (2.71 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 10.09 K/9, 4.73 K/BB, 22 HR allowed)

For the most part, those are unreal stats. They came mostly at Double-A or lower, but the high strikeout ratio and the impressive K/BB ratio were great signs. In addition, he didn't give up many homeruns, nor were there many baserunners to knock in with those longballs. Now it's only been 8 games in the majors, but it will be easy to spot the problems he's had so far:

MLB Stats (8 Games): 40.2 IP, 50 H, 28 R, 27 ER, 16 BB, 34 K (5.98 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 7.52 K/9, 2.13 K/BB and 10 HR allowed)

He's almost halfway to his homerun total in just one-ninth of the innings pitched. He's allowing more than another baserunner every two innings, and his K/BB has been cut by more than half. These are all problems, but the inability to keep the ball in the park (epecially considering only 2 of his starts thus far were in homer-happy Coors) compounds every other mistake to a degree that is very tough to recover from. Simple math brings a conclusion that at this pace over a season with 200 IP, Francis will allow about 50 homers (not even taking into account that three-quarters of his games have been away from Coors). That my friends is right on record-setting pace, and definitely not the good kind. Again, I can qualify all this by the extremely small sample size, because that really can't be a solid indicator of anything in itself. However, some things will have to improve (in some cases dramatically) for Francis to be an effective pitcher for the Rockies this season, especially at home where every mistake can prove more costly than anywhere else.

Elsewhere in the world of sports, the Jays and Mariners have both split the first two games of their second series' (vs. Boston and Texas, respectively). Today Ted Lilly gets his first start of 2005 in the rubber match against Matt Clement, and Gil Meche faces off with Ryan Drese. Big win yesterday for the Jays, blowing a lead and then rallying with a huge inning (capped by a Greg Zaun(!) grand slam) to take control late. I am impressed with how nicely David Wells bounced back from serving up back-to-back-to-back jacks... now if he can avoid those large miscues he'll be a solid part of the Sox rotation this year.

Batting Average Leaders: AL - Ichiro (.526, and probably to stay for the rest of the season); NL - Willy "pick me up now in fantasy leagues" Taveras (.600). The problem with Taveras is as long as he's hitting like that Garner probably won't move him up like he should. I can't blame him, Taveras' .625 OBP is nothing when put up against Adam Everett's .278 (with a .133 batting average to boot). In case you can't tell I'm not a big Phil Garner fan right now.

Questions: Is Pat Burrell really hitting .550? (maybe returning to golden boy form?)... Is Paul Konerko going to hit 40 again?... How in the world is GREG ZAUN leading the AL in RBI's?!?!?!... Why is Dontrelle Willis only really good in his first start of the season every year? (well maybe not only, but he's started the last two years off with a bang)... Are the A's really going to be terrible offensively? (chumped by Hideo Nomo(!)).

Tiger has a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Masters as Dimarco begins to fade... If Woods starts off hot in the final round, it will be over... if he take a bogey or two, look for Phil or Vijay to try to make a run... Mike Weir is at -3, eight back of Tiger, and a top-5 finish would be nice for the good Canadian.

Finally, I highly recommend everyone head over to Baseball Rants as often as they can. These guys produce some great stuff, including today's Ray Lankford Wing of the Hall of Fame, which will have me thinking for quite a while.

Glimpse into the future of the Rockies...

2005-04-08T12:26:00.000-04:00

First off, am I ever having computer problems... this is the second time I've written this, so I'll try not to rush it.

Tonight marks the first start of the 2005 season for last year's Baseball America and USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Jeff Francis. The Rockies are at Pac Bell to take on Noah Lowry and the Giants, which is where one of Francis' few starts from last year took place:

August 31, 2004 @ SF (2nd MLB start): 4.1 IP, 7 H, 8R, 8ER, 4 BB, 5 K

After that rough outing, Francis made five more starts: at San Diego, home to San Diego, at Arizona, home to Arizona and at Los Angeles:

September, 2004: 27.1 IP, 29 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 8 BB, 19 K (2.30 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 6.26 K/9, 2.38 K/BB)

Pretty good numbers for starts 3 through 7 of your MLB career. Tonight he faces a promising young pitcher who hasn't lost in the majors... ever. Granted Lowry has only made 20 appearances (14 starts), but that's still pretty impressive. It should be a good matchup tonight, and Francis gets a little lucky in drawing the Giants without Bondzilla.

The general consensus from what I've read puts Francis on course for 10-12 wins, an ERA in the mid-4's, and a WHIP between 1.30 and 1.50. I'm hoping that that's the worst he'll do this year. I don't want to fool myself into thinking that he'll be a star just yet, but if he could hit 4.00 and 1.25 in the ratio's at Coors he'll have proven himself very valuable at just 24 years old. But even with those numbers, I can't see much more than 12 wins on the young Rockies squad.

Speaking of young Rockies, with Dustin Mohr out another good looking hitter gets a chance, as Brad Hawpe should see a fair bit of time in RF over the newly acquired Michael Restovich (who though he has shown flashes of power, never impressed me when I saw him play in Ottawa for Rochester the last two years). Hawpe hit .322/.384/.652 with 31 HR's and 86 RBI's in 345 AB's at Colorado Springs last year.

I don't want to alarm anyone, but the Reds lead the Brew Crew in the NL Central by a half a game, and the Cards and Astros by 1.5. Enjoy it while it lasts (maybe a week) Reds fans.

League Batting Average leaders: AL - Tony Graffanino (.625, Career: .261); NL - Brad Wilkerson (.643, Career: .262). I love the start of the season, because when else could you write something like that!

Tonight the Jays start up at home to Boston, David Bush takes on Bronson Arroyo. M's host Texas, Aaron Sele faces Chan Ho Park(!)

Finally, another fantasy baseball question... would you deal Mark Teixeira straight up for Carlos Zambrano? Let me know...

Off and running...

2005-04-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

MLB finally got everyone playing on the same day (for one day at least), and the Triple-A season starts today... baseball didn't take long to get into full gear. If you're interested in some Minor League Baseball talk, head over to In the System (I swear I won't do that again).

The Blue Jays and Mariners lost yesterday, leaving the Jays with a 2-1 record as they head home to face the World Champs, and Seattle at 1-2 as they host the Texas Rangers.

Good news from the opening series...

Mariners: Ichiro went 6-for-12 with 2 steals... Beltre and Sexson hit the ball well... Jamie Moyer looked like the 2003 version... most of the M's bullpen looked good.

Jays: All three starters looked good, especially Gustavo Chacin and Josh Towers... Miguel Batista retired 7-of-8 batters in recording two saves... they scored runs from almost every part of the lineup.

Bad news...

Mariners: Meche and Madritsch were not sharp... Jeremy Reed went 0-for-11, and the catcher combo went 0-for-9... Matt Thornton.

Jays: Every reliever outside of Batista gave up at least one earned run... the success of the starters is tempered by the fact that Chris Singleton played every game for the D-Rays... they had no power after the first game... Eric Hinske is still starting (1-for-8, 4 K's... expect this to be a running theme for me).

In the rest of the league...

Remember Joe Randa? The guy who played third for the Royals? The one nobody ever wanted as their fantasy third baseman because he could be best described as "middling"? Well he has 2 homers and 7 RBI's in 8 AB's. I expect that to last until maybe tomorrow.

Oh and I was right... that was the only time Pat Burrell will lead the league in Batting Average. What I didn't expect was for him to be replaced by the Coors-less Vinny Castilla(!)

In fantasy leagues, expect people to get all uppity about Brian Giles... until they realize that the 8 RBI's he had were at Coors, and he will probably get about the same amount for the rest of the month.

If you need second base help... you could do a lot worse than Jorge Cantu or Todd Walker, if you haven't already scooped up Clint Barmes (who we get to see away from Coors this weekend at a pitchers park in San Francisco).

I have a question for anyone reading because this has garnered a lot of attention in one of my fantasy leagues... do you consider Pedro Martinez straight up for Randy Johnson fair? Or at the very least, close enough to not veto? Comment at the bottom or e-mail me if you have an opinion...

Finally, getting off of baseball... it's Masters weekend. I remember the thrill of watching Canada's-own Mike Weir make his improbable run two years ago, and can only hope for the same type of show this time around. He needs a good first-round to build some confidence... if he doesn't, first-timer Stephen Ames will probably be the top Canuck.

Billy Koch...

2005-04-06T09:33:00.000-04:00

Now I wasn't a Tropicana Field last night, so I can't know what he was saying to the guys he called teammates for about a month this spring... but the image of Billy Koch dancing around in full Devil Rays gear was one of the strangest things I've seen in a while. Says Koch, who the Blue Jays released after posting a spring ERA of 15.00, "Maybe (Devil Rays general manager Chuck LaMar) is up in the box and he'll see me and offer me a contract." I can't think of a better way to get yourself a new contract then to show up at your old team's game taunting them while wearing the opposing team's gear. Good on ya Billy, you've already made Ricciardi look like a smart man for dumping you. Oh and BTW, the Jays won their second straight, with Miguel Batista getting his second save. If the Jays keep giving him 3-run leads in the ninth, he'll have a pretty good season!

Last night was a night for big innings in the games I cared about... on top of the Blue Jays 5-run sixth, I got to watch John Smoltz get run from the game before the end of the second inning, partly because Juan Encarnacion(?!?) hit a grand slam in the 5-run first. Anyone who saw that game will know what I'm talking about, but before the slam Mike Lowell and Paul Lo Duca had two amazingly good at bats, fighting off pitch after pitch before rapping singles, to keep the inning alive for Encarnacion. They could really use that sort of effort from their 5 and 6 hitters all season. The Mariners gave Johan Santana a rocky welcome to the 2005 season with four in the first, but that didn't last... he settled down, and the Mariners gave up their first big inning of the season, a 7-spot in the 5th on the way to losing 8-4. Look for Santana to have an ERA of 0.27 over the next two months.

Congratulations to the #7 Windsor Spitfires for coming back from 3-0 down to win their series against #2 Sault St. Marie. The prize, getting thrashed by the London Knights in the next round.

Russ Ortiz kept runners off the bases and won against the Cubs last night... I must have been wrong about him.

Ummmm, no... I definitely wasn't wrong about him, he'll still lose 15 this year.

Why do I hate Russ Ortiz so much?

Sin City was pretty cool. Prepare yourself for some half-cartoony, half-gross gore and violence if you didn't already know what to expect... but it's something very different with an intertwining of storylines that works really well. 8.5 out of 10... a movie that can be interesting enough to run all the way through without me fidgeting in my uncomfortable movie chair must be worth at least a 7.5, with an extra point for originality and cinematography.

Finally, for anyone interested in Minor League Baseball, please check out my new blog called In the System, where I'll be following the Ottawa Lynx and the IL this year.

Quite the start...

2005-04-05T14:16:00.000-04:00

I have had trouble getting on to blogger all day so I'll have to whip out some random thoughts...

Richie Sexson's two homers and five RBI's is great, but the real good news is Jamie Moyer pitching almost 6 innings of 5-hit ball (and with no earned runs), and then Mateo, Villone and Guardado going the rest of the way without allowing a baserunner. Obviously you can't expect that every day, but it's a great way to start the season.

Dimitri Young is on pace for 486 Homers.

Joe Randa and Clint Barmes hitting walk-off homeruns on opening day are both unlikely and thrilling ways to open seasons for two lower-tier NL clubs.

Young, Sexson, Derrek Lee and Adam Dunn are all on pace for 810 RBI's.

What the heck happened to Javier Vazquez?

As a polar opposite, what the heck got into Mark Buehrle?

How did the Blue Jays hit three homeruns? And as a side note, did Eric Hinske use up his entire power output for the month of April on opening day?

This will be the only time Pat Burrell ever leads the league in Batting Average.

Does New York overreact and do the Mets pick up the pace on talks for Baez or Urbina?

Did Aaron Miles (quite possibly one of the worst starting second baseman in the league) really go 5-6 with 3 doubles? And could Ryan Speier steal the closers job while Tsao is hurt?

Why didn't Illinois do a better job of attacking Raymond Felton while he was in foul trouble? (wait, that's not baseball). And, how eery is it that Sean May went for 26 and 9 in winning the championship game after his dad went 26 and 8 in accomplishing the same feat?

Is Phil Mickelson possessed by the ghost of Tiger Woods (circa late 1999 to 2001)?

How bad do the Lakers get before they start over (currently only a half game ahead of the Clips)?

Finally, how good will Sin City be when I see it tonight? We shall see...

Opening Day... well, sort of....

2005-04-03T12:54:00.000-04:00

It's the sure sign of the end of a long Canadian winter when baseball season gets underway... though if you've ever been to a Lynx home game in April, it's definitely not as obvious while you're still wearing a parka and a tuque. Today we witness the first game of the 2005 season, before the much more inclusive opening day tomorrow. While I would like to see every team go at it on the first day of play, you can't argue with getting to watch Yanks/Red Sox, even if you hate them both. Being a Canadian obviously leaves me with some feelings for the Blue Jays, and while they aren't going to be any good this year, even if they were they wouldn't have a prayer to finish aheaad of either of these megabuck powerhouses in a 162-game schedule. The Jays will open tomorrow in Tampa with Doc Halladay facing Dewon (I could only start on opening day for the D-Rays) Brazelton, followed by Gustavo (I've started two MLB games in my career) Chacin against the mega-steal and future-star Scott Kazmir, and Josh Towers matching up with Mark Hendrickson. If you needed any hint as to why these two teams will be out of contention by May, just check out those starters. Yes, Ted Lilly is hurt right now, but then again... it's Ted Lilly. I shouldn't rag on Lilly... he did pretty well trying to hold up the entire rotation by himself last year while Doc was hurt, and he would be a great addition to a staff as a #3 or #4 guy. It's just that in Toronto he has to be a frontline starter, and I just don't see it there. However, Doc and Lilly could win 30 games between them if they both stay healthy all season (when Lilly gets back) because I see Halladay boucing back with an 18-win season.

Tomorrow the M's open at home against the Twins, who look like a good bet to win the Central once again. The Mariners will start 87 year-old Jamie Moyer, while the Twinkies counter with Brad Radke (classy move), followed Tuesday by Gil Meche(!) against some guy who last year just happened to reel off one of the most impressive pitching stretches in my lifetime, and then Wednesday by Bobby Madritsch facing Carlos Silva. I don't think the M's starters are as bad as they looked last year, but I in no way fool myself into believing that they are that good either. If by later in the season those three have ERA's hovering around 4.00 and are joined by Joel Pineiro (who must develop into some semblance of a #1, or at the very least be better than those three) and Felix Hernandez, things will look much better.

Outside of M's baseball, you will get to know Jeff Francis very well here... his first start comes Friday in San Francisco against another good looking young pitcher, Noah Lowry (who in case you weren't paying attention last year, started 14 games and went 6-0 while finishing 2 of them). These young Rockies might be fun to check out this year, if for no reason other than they're mostly guys the casual fan will have never heard of. Todd Helton and Preston Wilson have been around, but the only other two starters from last year are Aaron Miles and Matt Holliday (mostly anonymous), and then you get Garrett Atkins, former Giant Dustin Mohr, Clint Barmes and J.D. Closser. The best part is, there's a good chance that at least half of their lineup hits above .300. They won't win a heck of a lot, but Coors gives young hitters a chance to look good. In the case of guys like Atkins and Barmes who might even be decent road hitters, they could look really good.

With the season starting today, fantasy baseball shifts into gear. And since I devote quite a bit of my unemployed time to following stuff like this, it's a good time to throw out some guys who probably weren't drafted but could help out as free agents, along with their essentially-meaningless-but-interesting-to-pass-along Spring Training stats...

3B Garrett Atkins; 2B/SS Clint Barmes; C J.D. Closser; OF Dustin Mohr, COL
Since I just rambled a bit about these guys, I thought it'd be worth mentioning again. You can cover most of your problem positions with these four guys. Atkins has the best upside right now because he looks set to hit in the 2-spot (ahead of Todd Helton and Preston Wilson), but in Yahoo! leagues he's currently listed as a Util... you'll have to wait for 5 games for him to get his 3B eligibility. Mohr is worth watching for in very deep leagues or NL-only leagues because he could show some power hitting behind Helton, Wilson and Matt Holliday. Closser could hit anywhere around .280 to .300 with 10 homers this year and if Barmes should hit 10-15 HR's with around 20 steals. (Spring Training Stats: Atkins - 63 AB, .397-2-8; Barmes - 60 AB's, .333-3-12, 3 SB's; Closser - 45 AB's, .178-0-0; Mohr - 53 AB's, .263-2-7, 2 SB's)

RP Brandon Lyon, ARI
Arizona won't be that great. Lyon isn't even a closer yet. But he could be, and has looked really good in spring training. Guys with Greg Aquino should get him now, and even those who don't that wouldn't mind carrying a guy who could be a decent middle reliever... I think he's worth the risk, especially while Jose Valverde struggles with injury. He'll either pickup some early saves, or be next in line for saves behind a guy who had a Spring Training ERA of 7.36. (Spring Training Stats: 13 IP, 0.69 ERA, 0.31 WHIP, 13/0 K/BB)

SP Paul Byrd, LAA
He can win 15 games, have an ERA under 4.00 and a WHIP under 1.30... won't be the biggest help in K's, but you could do much worse. (Spring Training Stats: 5 GS, 2-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)

SP Jeff Francis, COL
I'll keep harping on this until he gives me a reason not to. Anywhere but Colorado and you'd be all over this guy. (Spring Training Stats: 3 GS, 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 10 K's in 12 IP)

SS Jason Bartlett; 1B/2B/3B/OF Michael Cuddyer, MIN
Bartlett, also listed by Yahoo! as a Util, earned a starting job with an impressive spring. He could provide a lot of Runs if he holds onto the 2-spot, and should hit for a decent average and steal some bases. Cuddyer finally gets an everyday job at third, but qualifies almost everywhere. I think the extra AB's will bring out the pop in his bat. (Spring Training Stats: Bartlett - 54 AB's, .370-2-4, 3 SB's; Cuddyer - 51 AB's, .314-4-11)

OF Willy Taveras, HOU
Steals can be overpriced in fantasy baseball due to their scarcity, so when you can get some cheap ones you should jump on it. Since Joey Gathright won't be doing his thing in the majors for a while, meet Willy Taveras. Last year in AA he hit .331 and stole 52 bases. This year he has apparently been given the Opening Day assignment in Center Field for the Astros. He probably won't play everyday as they can put Chris Burke in at second and move Biggio out, or play Orlando Palmeiro in the outfield, but when he does play you should like what you see. As a side note, keep an eye on Burke, if he gets more PT he could do much of the same but at from a much thinner second-base spot. (Spring Training Stats: Taveras - 62 AB's, .306-0-6, 10 SB's; Burke - .340-2-11, 4 SB's)

OF Jeremy Reed, SEA
If you want Batting Average, a decent Run total and potential for 20-30 steals (if he runs like he can), then take a chance on Jeremy Reed, Seattle's new #2 hitter. (Spring Training Stats: 79 AB's, .354-1-18; 2 SB's)

SP Chris Capuano, Mil
Who?? For my final super-deep pitcher pick, you might want to look at the Brew-Crew's second lefty. Last year he was only 6-8 with a 4.99 ERA, but he had 80 K's in 88.1 IP. Normally that wouldn't do much for me, but with one of the best Spring's of any back-end starter, he could be worth keeping an eye on. (Spring Training Stats: 6 GS, 2-1, 1.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 21 K's in 25 IP)

Enjoy BoSox/Yankees tonight, and if you can check out The Contender (Canadians can see it at 7pm Eastern on Global... no interference with baseball whatsoever).

2005 MLB Predictions

2005-03-31T09:16:00.000-05:00

So here we are. Predictions have not been my strong suit of late, so maybe I shouldn't be hanging myself... but I just can't resist public humiliation. We'll do the team stuff first (though most people seem to agree on every division except the two Wests):

NL EAST
Philadelphia*
Florida
Atlanta
New York
Washington

NL CENTRAL
St. Louis*
Chicago*
Houston
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh

NL WEST
San Diego*
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Arizona
Colorado

AL EAST
New York*
Boston*
Baltimore
Toronto
Tampa Bay

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota*
Cleveland
Chicago
Detroit
Kansas City

AL WEST
Los Angeles*
Texas
Seattle
Oakland

WORLD SERIES
Boston over St. Louis (again)

I think this is finally the year Atlanta falls (I'll probably be wrong), that the Cubbies do just enough to edge out Florida in the Wild Card race, and that San Francisco falls flat without Bonds for long enough to drop to third. In the AL, well two of the spots are mortal locks, so the interest will be in Cleveland chasing Minnesota and the 4-team jumble in the wild west. Now forget that team jazz, let's look at who will be the stars this year:

NL MVP
Albert Pujols, Stl
Bobby Abreu, Phi
Aramis Ramirez, CHC

NL CY YOUNG
Mark Mulder, Stl
Carlos Zambrano, CHC
Jake Peavy, SD
Jason Schmidt, SF
Tim Hudson, Atl

NL ROY
Jeff Francis, Col
Clint Barmes, Col
Garrett Atkins, Col

No huge surprises here... I think Abreu puts up similar numbers to last year on a playoff team which will earn him consideration, and that Ramirez will keep improving but that the only thing that could stop Pujols this year is his heel(s). There are a bunch of good pitchers, but I think if Mulder holds up he'll blow by the magical 20-win plateau with good peripherals. As for the rookies, well the Colorado trio were my easy picks (Francis being my homer pick, I gotta have a little bias)... I like Chris Burke in Houston and Ryan Howard in (out of) Philly to challenge if they get chances to play full time.

AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez, NYY
David Ortiz, Bos
Vladmir Guerrero, LAA
Ichiro Suzuki, Sea

AL CY YOUNG
Johan Santana, Min
Randy Johnson, NYY
Bartolo Colon, LAA
Roy Halladay, Tor
Curt Schilling, Bos

AL ROY
Jeremy Reed, SEA
Jason Bartlett, MIN
Scott Kazmir, TB
Dallas MacPherson, LAA
Nick Swisher, OAK

MVP and Cy Young picks that are waaayyy out on a limb, I know. Johan is the man, and A-Rod will be the best player on the team with the best record in baseball. I do look for bounce back seasons from Colon and Halladay, and I think Ichiro gets some MVP votes because a better first half will have people talking .400 for most of the season (I say he ends up even better than last year... maybe in the .385 range, but maybe I just want the M's to get better). Speaking of M's, Reed is my upset pick for ROY because MacPherson won't play enough with the bad back, Bartlett won't have the same numbers, Kazmir will lose too much and Swisher won't hit as well as people think.

Some other things to watch for:

CALL-UPS
RHP Felix Hernandez, SEA
Won't dominate, but will impress when he gets the chance.

3B/SS B.J. Upton, TB
He's the real deal... he just needs a position and an everyday job to adjust to the bigs.

RHP Jeff Niemann, TB
I haven't seen one bad thing written about this guy, and well, Tampa could use the pitching help.

3B Andy Marte, ATL
Chipper is back at third, but with that outfield, Atlanta might need him to move back out and clear the way.

OF Delmon Young, TB
A good start at AA might get him the same kind of time Upton got in the bigs last year.

HOMERUN LEADERS
NL - Adam Dunn
AL - Mark Teixeira

RBI LEADERS
NL - Scott Rolen
AL - David Ortiz

BA LEADERS
NL - Todd Helton
AL - Ichiro Suzuki

WINS LEADERS
NL - Mark Mulder
AL - Randy Johnson

ERA LEADERS
NL - Carlos Zambrano
AL - Johan Santana

STRIKEOUT LEADERS
NL - Jason Schmidt
AL - Johan Santana

Nothing too surprising... maybe Teixeira leading the AL in homers or Zambrano leading the NL in ERA but I know I'm definitely not the only one to pick them. Watch for Santana to chase the AL Triple-Crown right to the end, with Randy nipping him in wins to deny it. In the NL, Pujols may win a Triple-Crown eventually, and I think he'll easily be top five in all three categories (if not top-3), but I don't have him winning any of them this year.

BITS AND BITES (AKA: Here's where I run my mouth off...)
Ken Griffey Jr. won't hit 300 AB's... neither will Austin Kearns (again)... Pedro Martinez will have an ERA above 4.50 in the second half of the season... Carlos Beltran will finish with 44 steals but only 36 homers... Kerry Wood will finish below 10 wins again... so will Josh Beckett... Matt Lawton will be a more productive outfielder than Jason Bay... Troy Glaus will get hurt before Richie Sexson does... anywhere from 6-to-8 Yankees will hit at least 25 homers... B.J. Ryan will show the talent to be one of the elite closers in the game, but won't get enough chances to hit 35 saves... Joe Mauer will stay healthy enough to challenge for (and quite possibly be) the best catcher in the AL... Jeremy Bonderman will finally become the ace Detroit has needed... Rich Harden will overtake Barry Zito for that same role in Oakland... the worst piece of Texas' infield will be Alfonso Soriano... Kansas City will have a lot of intriguing young talent, but will still run away with the mantle of worst team in baseball... and finally, the season will in no way be overshadowed by the steroid issue, that's more of an offseason thing to keep people busy.

Fantasy Busts and a few side notes...

2005-03-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Well that was quite the weekend of basketball. I thought the weekend before was great, and these four games topped it by a mile. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't drop any money on the NCAA's this year. Illinois is still on track to take it all, but how they're still alive I will never know. BTW, what's with elite teams blowing last-second chances on just piss-poor basketball?? (Arizona, Kentucky)

The Contender keeps getting better for me... Peter Manfredo looked like a new man in those final two rounds. I think he'll be tough to beat, and though Ishe was really good in his grudge match with Kaddour, I think Sergio has looked the best so far in handling Najai.

If you ever stop and think about the bigger picture in this world (and what we're doing to it), check out The Corporation, a 2003 Canadian-made documentary about... well, corporations. Be forewarned there are some digusting and depressing things in it, and I imagine it carries the typical bias of documentaries such as these, but it's a real eye-opener nonetheless.

Now for the main event... finally back to baseball! For those of you that don't know, the season is almost here... which means you have less than a week to get in on the best part of the fantasy baseball season. I've already written about some sleeper candidates based on the Yahoo! rankings, so now it's time to look at some players that I would not go near based on their ranks in Yahoo! leagues. There are very few pitchers who really look like bad bets because Yahoo! dropped a lot of them behind some questionable hitters. To be clear, this is not to say that many of these players aren't draftable, but simply that they shouldn't be going as high as they do.

1B Jim Thome, PHI (Yahoo! Rank: 18)
Missed some games this spring with a bad back... should be ok by Opening Day but is definitely a health risk. A good guy to have at first base, but I think Mark Teixeira (20) and Carlos Delgado (21) are better early picks if you really want a first baseman that high, and Adam Dunn (72) will put up better numbers.

OF Barry Bonds, SF (Yahoo! Rank: 30)
Would you like to have him? Obviously, especially in any league that carries OPS, OBP or BB as stat categories. After his latest surgery and subsequent tirade, Yahoo! dropped him from 12th to 30th. That is definitely not far enough. Anybody who cares enough about fantasy baseball to read this probably doesn't need my advice to know that 30 is too high, but it has to be said anyways. As a rough guide to where I think he's worth it, I recently took Bonds with the 106th pick in a 5x5 league. I could easily bump that up 20 or 30 spots in a league that count his more impressive stat categories, especially if you feel pretty comfortable with your first 6 or so picks, and that you're not missing out on anyone you really want at around 70.

2B Mark Loretta, SD; Bret Boone, SEA; Jeff Kent, LAD (Yahoo! Ranks: 52, 55 and 57, respectively)
I put them all together because I think that second baseman are HIGHLY overrated in Yahoo! pools unless your league requires you to carry two of them. Simply put, you can land some real studs or some ace pitchers in those higher picks. I even think that Marcus Giles (Yahoo! Rank: 39) is a bit of a stretch, but he's a much better bet to produce quality fantasy numbers than these three. Yes, second base is very thin... but the dropoff shouldn't be that dramatic if you keep the right players in mind (Castillo, Utley, Iguchi, Roberts, Infante, Barmes). For example, the top six second basemen are ranked in the top 57 picks; while the top 6 catchers (the other thin position) fall in the top 90 picks... and you could argue that the dropoff to late round catchers might be more dramatic when the season plays out. Now if these three last into the late double digit picks, or into the hundreds, then by all means get one of these guys who should be more than steady at that position.

SS Orlando Cabrera, LAA (Yahoo! Rank: 71)
Adam Dunn is ranked 72nd. Need I say more? Well I will anyways... he's the 9th highest SS on the Yahoo! list, and so if you don't have one of the first eight, Cabrera will probably be the best one left. But since you've already missed all the good ones, you're as likely to pick one up that should be almost as good (and could be better) at around 200 as you are to get a different hitter that WILL be much better than Cabrera at around 70.

OF Ken Griffey Jr., CIN (Yahoo! Rank: 145)
I will always love this guy. I own the book Junior: Griffey on Griffey. I wore my hat backwards when I was a kid solely because Junior did. But in fantasy baseball, I think it's time to let go. Even if he stays healthy for most of the year (highly unlikely), he should still be outproduced by Andruw Jones (146), Lew Ford (152), Preston Wilson (154), Matt Lawton (162) and even Richard Hidalgo (198). If you must have an injury-riddled Reds outfielder, take Austin Kearns a couple of rounds later (196). A big part of me hopes he proves me wrong... but I've hoped that many times before.

SP Roger Clemens, HOU (Yahoo! Rank: 43)
First off, I don't believe he can repeat last year's performance. Secondly, he's battling hamstring problems. Guys like Ben Sheets (50), Carlos Zambrano (60) and Tim Hudson (69) should be worth more. Again I'd like to have him on my team, just four or five rounds later.

RP Armando Benitez, SF (Yahoo! Rank: 64)
If Bonds miraculously returns soon then I take this back, but until that time the Giants won't be an elite team, nor will Benitez be an elite closer.

SP Russ Ortiz, ARI (Yahoo! Rank: 174)
Please, please don't draft Russ Ortiz. Arizona will be better this year, but not by enough to make this guy worth anything more than your LAST pick. Even then there should be better pitchers out there (Paul Byrd). His walks have increased in each of the last 3 years as his innings have decreased... not a good sign. Teams finally started to hit him last year as well.

So there are some things to think about as you prepare for MLB drafts over the final few days of Spring Training. I can't wait for the season to get started, and I'll be throwing out some predictions over the next couple of days. Let's all hope that they turn out to be a lot better than my NCAA picks were. Well, at least that's what I'll be hoping for.

Sweet 16 Friday Preview

2005-03-24T16:01:00.000-05:00

As I'm already a day late with this... we'll get right into it:

7:10pm EST, Austin Region
(1) Duke vs. (5) Michigan St.

A couple of teams I have no real interest in seeing go any further, but I guess Duke would be fun to see in a Final Four matchup with UNC. To me it looks fairly simple... if Duke can find it's range early, they should be able to ride it out. If they struggle from deep, the Spartans can run off the misses and force Duke into a hole which they will stuggle to dig out of. If the Duke stars hit early foul trouble they will be in even more trouble, because their short bench is always a concern and Michgan St. is a great free throw shooting team. I'll take Duke, but I don't like myself for it.

Duke 68, Michigan St. 65.

7:27pm EST, Syracuse Region
(6) Wisconsin vs. (10) NC State

Well this is not what was supposed to happen here. Wisconsin is the boring team that knocked out Bucknell, and NC State is the team from the ACC that no one picked. Niether team looks like the type to run away with this one, so I'll be excited to see what's happening around 9:45. I say NC State shoots well enough to be in it at the end, and Julius Hodge will anchor another win.

NC State 64, Wisconsin 58.

9:40pm EST, Austin Region
(2) Kentucky vs. (6) Utah

Hey what do you know, I picked a third Sweet 16 game right! Kentucky seems to keep winning despite not really impressing, and Utah is playing really well. I picked Utah to move through here, and I see no reason to change. I think Utah will make enough shots off of the attention Bogut draws to win a squeaker.

Utah 68, Kentucky 64.

9:57pm EST, Syracuse Region
(1) North Carolina vs. (5) Villanova

Maybe I didn't give UNC enough credit before the tournament began, but they've played extremely well so far. I had them losing to Florida here, and I was ready and willing to pick Villanova until I heard Sumpter was gone for the rest of the tourney. I can't see them take out the Tar Heels without their leading rebounder, and it's too bad because they were on a pretty good run. Maybe UNC doesn't show up mentally and keeps them hanging around, but I don't think so.

UNC 90, Villanova 76.

Back tomorrow to hopefully talk a little baseball. GO HUSKIES!

Sweet 16 Thursday Preview

2005-03-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

After a relatively dull Sunday slate of games (at least compared to Friday night and Saturday), the matchups for the Regional Semifinals have been set. Thursday's action sees two HUGE matchups, one game featuring a pair of underdogs, and the tournament cinderella facing the toughest challenge out there. Since my bracket has completely fallen apart, I won't bore you with where I stand... but judging from my previous results, you can be sure I'm only torpedoing the chances of the winners I pick here today.

7:10pm EST, Albuquerque Region
(1) Washington vs. (4) Louisville

Well what do you know, two of my Sweet 16 picks actually made it that far! This is a scary, scary matchup for the Huskies. The best looking 4-seed has been carrying that perceived slight on their shoulders through the first two rounds, and it seems to have only made them more confident. They destroyed a Georgia Tech team that many people had pegged as a sleeper after their strong ACC Tournament showing, and are a difficult matchup for UW. They have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Huskies and are by far a more accomplished team defensively. Neither team has a tremendously impressive force inside on the glass, and both can be prone to turnovers. Washington is deep enough in both energy and scoring to handle Louisville's presses and traps, but they will have to be able to adjust on offense to the different halfcourt defenses they'll see. I still see Washington winning (without Wake around the region is there for the taking), but it will be one heck of a battle.

Washington 86, Louisville 82.

7:27pm EST, Chicago Region
(1) Illinois vs. (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Simple looking enough on paper, but UWM doesn't seem to care about the underdog tag. You know where I stand on Illinois, if they play the way they're capable of they should win the whole thing. Wisconsin-Milwaukee has already won from ahead and won from behind in this tournament... a team that's unafraid to shoot big shots is always dangerous. Ed McCants has become a hero so far, and they'll need his biggest game yet to have a shot. I like their chances to put another scare into Illinois because they will go on a run at some point, but I can't see them hitting enough to win.

Illinois 76, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 69.

9:40pm EST, Albuquerque Region
(6) Texas Tech vs. (7) West Virginia

I had neither of these teams making it this far, so again don't listen to any of this. Like the other two teams left in Albuquerque, neither of these teams is built around size. However, WVU has a couple of 6-11 big men that have looked good thus far in shooting, rebounding and passing. The game looks like it will come down to two very perimeter oriented offenses, with jumpshooting becoming an even bigger factor than usual. If Tech continues to sag in their man-to-man defense, WVU has shown an ability to shoot over the top. If Tech pressures, they can get beat on backdoor cuts. On offense the Red Raiders will have to dribble penetrate against the WVU Zone, and kick it for some open looks. This may end up being the tightest game on Thursday.

West Virginia 73, Texas Tech 71.

9:57pm EST, Chicago Region
(2) Oklahoma St. vs. (3) Arizona

The other big matchup features two heavy hitters that have had very different roads to the Sweet 16. Arizona has looked very strong in dispatching Utah State and UAB, while the Cowboys have squeaked out wins over SE Louisiana and So. Illinois in what was essentially a home-court environment. Relatively similar statistical comparisons, both shoot the ball well from beyond the arc and from the free throw line. Oklahoma State can't afford to have another off night from Joey Graham, and must limit their turnovers against a sometimes overagressive Arizona defense. Arizona could get some big numbers out of Channing Frye if they actually use him, and Stoudamire to me is a much more potent and accurate three point threat than J.J. Redick. He almost single-handedly won the Pac-10 Tournament final for the Wildcats, and if he gets a little more help they could put the Cowboys in a big hole.

Arizona 86, Oklahoma St. 78.

Back tomorrow to preview Friday's games, and then hopefully some last minute MLB fantasy advice. Before I go I'd just like to tell everyone who hassn't already to check out The Contender on Sundays. I've heard all the criticisms about the fighters (not truly World Class boxers), about the reality (too much scripting) and about the show itself (dreadfully over the top); but it is easily the most entertaining "reality show" I've ever seen. I've enjoyed Survivor and the Amazing Race, but I've never been so wrapped up in a show like this. So even if you must take it with a grain of salt, it's well worth the hour to check it out.

What a day for basketball...

2005-03-19T23:33:00.000-05:00

As much as I enjoy the first round of the NCAA tournament, I may have enjoyed today even more. Perhaps the feeling is a little exagerrated after watching West Virginia play some stunningly good basketball to beat Wake Forest, but it would be tough for anyone to not feel the same way right now.

Where do you start? I'll start with #1, as both top seeds advanced to the Sweet-16. Illinois did what they had to, and Washington looked a lot better to me this time around. Has there been a more questioned #1 in recent years than UW?? (yes, I'm seriously asking). Every day I watch more talking heads discount them, today adding Seth Davis (so much for Pacific there Seth) and the entire Sportsnet crew (no one picked them for the Elite Eight. Really. Not a single one).

Loudest crowd I've heard in a long time goes to the fans in Indy watching Cincinnati-Kentucky. Just like the elevation of WWE matches and cards based on crowd heat, any game is just that much more interesting when you hear a crowd that's genuinely into it. Most of the time it's fun to hear a home crowd scream at every big play their team makes, and hush when a visitor sticks something right back... but the novelty of a place having what sounded like 20,000 fans in each corner was really something.

Best game I've seen in a long time... well you already know this one. West Virginia really showed me something tonight. They didn't necessarily capitalize on an off-night from Wake Forest becaue Wake really stepped it up when they had to, but WVU was just as close to flawless as I've seen a college team in quite some time. Even when they made mistakes (Gansey's missed free throws) they quickly responded with big plays (Gansey's three balls). They had bench players stepping up, like Darris Nichols (freshman guard) taking up the point and hitting a big jumper and drawing a charge. They had D'Or Fischer (a guy who lost his starting job midway through the season), playing step for step with an amazing big man in Eric Williams (speaking of which, how about that game-saving block). It was just fantastic to watch, and great to see them fight through Wake's reluctance to be done away with so soon. The best part of the game though had to be how well prepared each team looked. They each played so smart when they had to... they knew how to react to situations (Paul driving for 2 when down by 3 with 30 seconds left) and committed to it (Wake beginning the foul train in the second OT with a minute and a half to go which gave them a shot as WVU finally missed some free throws). So many teams have looked lost late in close games in this tournament, or have looked hesitant in just that type of scenario, so it was refreshing to see two teams play it so well right down to the wire. All in all just a riveting nightcap.

Lost in my excitement of course is the fact that in three days I lost three of my Final Four teams. But for the chance to see the games that doomed me to this horrific failure (Vermont stepping up, Bucknell bearing down and WVU lighting it up), it is so much more than worth it. I'm this pumped, and I haven't even mentioned the intense atmosphere of the UWM-BC game or the strong opener between Texas Tech and Gonzaga. Needless to say I can't wait for it all to get started again tomorrow. The chances of me getting to sleep anytime soon are worse than my chances of winning any type of NCAA pool this year, but the sooner I do the sooner it will be noon again.

At least now I can enjoy the rest of the tournament...

2005-03-19T00:46:00.000-05:00

What a bust my bracket turned out to be this year! In case you're wondering, I finished with a first round record of 20-12, plus my loss in the play-in game. I lost a Finals team (Syracuse), another Final Four team (Kansas), and two Sweet-16 teams (Charlotte, Alabama). With my picks completely shot, I can now focus on cheering purely for the underdog, except for when Washington is involved.

With the Syracuse loss (thanks to the most ridiculous shot I've ever seen with seven seconds left on the shot clock by T.J. Sorrentine), I was somewhat free to follow my heart right into the improbable hands of the Bucknell Bison. They were media darlings once already this year after wins against Pitt and St. Joes, but faded during the rise to prominence by Holy Cross. But the conference tournement changed everything, and it was Bucknell that made Patriot League history as the only team from that conference to ever win an NCAA Tournament game. Look out Badgers, you're next on the list.

Other random thoughts: Delaware State's offense for the majority of the first half against Duke was probably one of my personal tournament highlights. Taking the isolation offense to the extreme, forcing Coach K into changing his gameplan against a team he normally wouldn't even sneeze at. They still lost, but it was fantastic to see while it lasted... I was impressed at how few games were runaways, but disappointed by the number of truly close games. I expect to see more down to the wire finishes in the next couple of rounds... Finally, my buddy Eric and I found a new hero in Mississippi State's Shane Power (yes, that's his real name). Tonight he looked as if he dropped in straight from quarterbacking the All-American Pleasantville High School in 1958, and has the name to match his perfectly-coiffed looks.

Once again I remind you all to wager heavily against every team I picked that's still alive, which spells bad news for teams like Illinois and Wake Forest. Remind me not to go anywhere near the Washington game.

Not getting any better...

2005-03-18T19:01:00.000-05:00

Quick recap... 5-3 today, leaving me at 15-10 for the tourney (counting the play-in game). Lost my second Sweet-16 pick in Charlotte. What the heck happened there? I'll tell you... Bill Simmons jinxed me, and anyone else who picked Charlotte. Seriously. Read this, between 12:21 and 12:25. Pick against me from now on, you'll be glad you did.

An up and down first day...

2005-03-18T08:27:00.000-05:00

The first day of March Madness is in the books, and my prognostication skills were nearly completely discretited within the first few hours. For those of you who weren't keeping track of my picks (so all 6 billion of you), I lost on four of the first five games. I have a theory as to why this happened. Before the day started I was excited for my two biggest upset picks, (14) Niagara and (11) UCLA. So what does Clark Kellogg do on the CBS warmup show?? "I expect all the top seeds to hold, but if you're looking for an early upset I like Niagara, and later in the day look for number-11 UCLA over Texas Tech." Dammit.

So doomed to lose my two big upset picks (which was of course the case), I was forced to hope the all the seeds I picked to hold did in fact hold. Like (5) Alabama (crushed by the shooting of UWM) and (6) LSU (just plain crushed). The final tally for the day: 10 wins and 6 losses... not a total disaster in winning percentage terms, but in the first round of the NCAA's you just have to do better. The one thing I have to be thankful for is only one team I had making the sweet 16 is gone (Alabama), so not all is lost but i need a much better showing today.

Random first-day thoughts: Washington looked rather uninspired against Montana (at least in the parts I saw, running out to a 16-2 edge and then not stretching it at all for the rest of the game?) They have to smarten up for a pretty good looking Pacific team... Why Niagara kept the ball out of Juan Mendez's hands for extended periods of time I'll never understand. He may not always make the best decision but everytime he had a few chances he led them on a mini-run and was much more effective than Alvin Cruz launching leaning-pull-up three's everytime down the court... My first extended look at Andrew Bogut was a good one, but he disappeared a bit when Utah needed him most and they were lucky to squeak through. He'll have to be better in the endgame for them to make the Elite Eight as I predicted... Finally a tip of the cap to Fairleigh Dickinson, who probably scared the bejeezus out of Illinois in the first half. I'm hoping that little wake up call is what the Illini need to romp through the rest of the tourney.

Here's to a better day for me today... my only real big upset pick is (10) St. Mary's, so I need some strong showings by the high-seeds. Enjoy the rest of the first-round... may all your picks be good ones (if they happen to be who I picked too).

Addendum

2005-03-16T19:03:00.000-05:00

I just have a couple of things I had to get out... first off, the tournament hasn't even started and I'm already 0-1. Like I said, I'm completely full of it.

Secondly, I just want to draw attention to the NIT before the big dance gets underway... where the hard-luck Patriot League Tournament runner-up Holy Cross Crusaders beat Notre Dame last night 78-72. Sure it would have been nice if the win was an NCAA game, but it's great for them nonetheless.

FInally, I hope to get out a little more on fantasy baseball over the next couple of weeks (because draft season is the best time of the fantasy year), but it might be tough while I'm glued to the TV for the next four days. Just watch me go 63-1.

Tourney Time

2005-03-14T15:40:00.000-05:00

One of the best times of the sporting year, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is only a few days away. As you may have noticed, I was a little excited yesterday when the Huskies landed the fourth and final #1 seed. I was not expecting them to get the kind of respect that I thought they deserved, but apparently the whole country has noticed them now. Life may be tougher for the Huskies now that the Bullseye has been firmly pasted to their collective backs, but they are a 1-seed for a reason and will not be easy to knock off.

Here's my quick look at each region...

CHICAGO

#1 Seed: Illinois - The biggest favorites can be a risky pick in a 64-team field, but as I've said before I think the loss to Ohio State will only help them.

Best First Round Matchup(s): I wanted to only pick one, but (3) Arizona vs. (14) Utah State and (7) Southern Illinois vs. (10) St. Mary's are both matchups that I would love to see.

Most Likely Upset(s): Most people are jumping on the traditional 12-seed upset here in the form of Wisconsin-Milwaukee over (5) Alabama, but I think St. Mary's and (13) Penn have shots too. I would be all over Utah State in a number of circumstances but Arizona is a scary team.

Canadian Content:
Sr. C Nate Doornekamp, Boston College (5.3 Pts, 4.8 Rebs, 2.3 Ast, 1.0 Blks)

My Picks:
(1) Illinois over (16) Farleigh Dickinson
(8) Texas over (9) Nevada
(5) Alabama over (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee
(4) Boston College over (13) Penn
(6) LSU over (11) UAB
(3) Arizona over (14) Utah State
(10) St. Mary's over (7) Sourhern Illinois
(2) Oklahoma State over (15) SE Louisiana

(1) Illinois over (8) Texas
(5) Alabama over (4) Boston College
(3) Arizona over (6) LSU
(2) Oklahoma St. over (10) St. Mary's

(1) Illinois over (5) Alabama
(2) Oklahoma State over (3) Arizona

(1) Illinois over (2) Oklahoma State

SYRACUSE

#1 Seed: North Carolina - Probably the most talented team in the country, stuck in a region full of scary middle-bracket teams.

Best First Round Matchup(s): (8) Minnesota vs. (9) Iowa State is a matchup of two teams that could have easily been counted out after their early conference schedules, but the biggie is (5) Villanova vs. (12) New Mexico - two very hot teams... Villanova was a popular sleeper pick and New Mexico was a popular upset pick before the brackets were released.

Most Likely Upset(s): I like the higher seeds to hold the first round here (I'm such a risk-taker), but if I had to pick upsets they'd be the aformentioned New Mexico over Villanova or (10) NC State over (7) Charlotte.

Canadian Content:
Jr. G/F Denham Brown, UConn (10.8 Pts, 4.0 Rebs, 1.5 Ast)

My Picks:
(1) North Carolina over (16) Alabama A&M (who I pick to beat Oakland in the play-in game)
(8) Minnesota over (9) Iowa State
(5) Villanova over (12) New Mexico
(4) Florida over (13) Ohio
(6) Wisconsin over (11) Northern Iowa
(3) Kansas over (14) Bucknell
(7) Charlotte over (10) NC State
(2) UConn over (15) UCF

(1) UNC over (8) Minnesota
(4) Florida over (5) Villanova
(3) Kansas over (6) Wisconsin
(7) Charlotte over (2) UConn

(4) Florida over (1) UNC
(3) Kansas over (7) Charlotte

(3) Kansas over (4) Florida

AUSTIN

#1 Seed: Duke - Probably the shallowest roster of the title contenders, but seemingly hellbent on proving everyone wrong.

Best First Round Matchup(s): (6) Utah vs. (11) UTEP should be a good game, and (4) Syracuse vs. (13) Vermont could be too.

Most Likely Upset(s): Again most people like the (12) Old Dominion over (5) Michigan St., but I prefer (14) Niagara over (3) Oklahoma.

Canadian Content:
Sr. F Juan Mendez, Niagara (23.6 Pts, 10.5 Rebs, 1.3 Ast)
So. F Greg Noel, Niagara (0.7 Pts, 0.6 Rebs)
Sr. G David Hehn, Vermont (4.6 Pts, 3.9 Rebs, 2.0 Ast)
Jr. C Janko Mrksic, Old Dominion (0.9 Pts, 1.3 Rebs, 0.3 Ast)

My PIcks:
(1) Duke over (16) Delaware St.
(8) Stanford over (9) Mississippi St.
(5) Michigan St. over (12) Old Dominion
(4) Syracuse over (13) Vermont
(6) Utah over (11) UTEP
(14) Niagara over (3) Oklahoma
(7) Cincinnati over (10) Iowa
(2) Kentucky over (15) Eastern Kentucky

(1) Duke over (8) Stanford
(4) Syracuse over (5) Michigan St.
(6) Utah over (14) Niagara
(2) Kentucky over (7) Cincinnati

(4) Syracuse over (1) Duke
(6) Utah over (2) Kentucky

(4) Syracuse over (6) Utah

ALBUQUERQUE

#1 Seed: Washington - the surprise entry to the top line with Kentucky's SEC Championship loss has a draw that looks tougher than most people are giving it credit for, with teams like (4) Louisville and (5) Georgia Tech that have been playing better than their seeds would show (Louisville was even getting talk of a top seed!).

Best First Round Matchup(s): (8) Pacific vs. (9) Pittsburgh could be a beauty as long as the Panthers don't revert to the evil twin that lost at home to Bucknell and showed up repeatedly over the course of the season.

Most Likely Upset(s): (13) Louisiana Lafayette is getting a lot of hype, but I like (11) UCLA or (10) Creighton as better upset choices.

Canadian Content:
So. F Levon Kendall, Pittsburgh (3.6 Pts, 2.7 Rebs, 0.4 Ast)
Fr. G Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes, Gonzaga (2.1 Pts, 1.2 Rebs, 2.4 Ast)
Jr. C Chris McKay, Montana (2.0 Pts, 2.8 Rebs, 0.2 Ast)

My Picks:
(1) Washington over (16) Montana
(9) Pittsburgh over (8) Pacific
(5) Georgia Tech over (12) George Washington
(4) Louisville over (13) LA Lafayette
(11) UCLA over (6) Texas Tech
(3) Gonzaga over (14) Winthrop
(7) West Virginia over (10) Creighton
(2) Wake Forest over (15) Chattanooga

(1) Washington over (9) Pittsburgh
(4) Louisville over (5) Georgia Tech
(3) Gonzaga over (11) UCLA
(2) Wake Forest over (7) West Virginia

(1) Washington over (4) Louisville
(2) Wake Forest over (3) Gonzaga

(2) Wake Forest over (1) Washington - :(:(:( (at least it shows I'm not picking purely on bias)

FINAL FOUR

(1) Illinois over (2) Wake Forest
(4) Syracuse over (3) Kansas

(1) Illinois over (4) Syracuse

There it is... I'm sticking with Illinois (not going back on my word this time). I obviously wanted to pick Washington, but I just can't do it this year... but I would LOVE to be wrong. Not a lot of early upsets on my card, which means you can most likely count on me being wrong more than a few times... especially on the 5 vs. 12 matchups. I saw more upsets happening later, as the gap between the top seeds and the 3's, 4's and 5's of the world doesn't look that big. The lesson will be as always, don't trust anything I have to say.

Part Two

2005-03-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

Washington Huskies - #1 SEED!!! Tough draw though, having to go through either Pitt or Pacific in the 2nd round, possibly Louisville in the Regional Semis and then either Wake or Gonzaga in the Regional Finals... but none of that matters today!!

Savour it UW fans - you're moving up in the college basketball world.

Pac-10 Champs!

2005-03-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

They did it, they finally toppled the Wildcats. Living in the East and being too poor to afford the College Sports Digital Channels here in Canada, I haven't gotten a chance to see the Huskies play live yet this season. Everytime CBS was showing them they were trumped out here by the Big East or the SEC. After finally seeing them (and Arizona), I'm left to wonder just how bad the media bias is in college basketball. If you're out west, do you still here as much more about J.J. Redick than you do about Salim Stoudamire? Do you hear anything at all about Nate Robinson? Heck, do you hear anything about the Huskies at all?? That's what it is like to live out here and follow sports in the West... they tend to just not exist if something is happening out East. If hockey was on, I'd be writing daily about how I missed another Canucks game so I could see the Sens and Carolina or the Leafs battle the Panthers.

About the game... I always kinda liked Dick Enberg. Just he had one of those familiar voices... but his call was agonizingly off last night. Add Bob Wenzel not getting ANYONE's name right all game and you have a recipe for disaster. From the start of the game Enberg called Channing Frye "Franning" as he picked up a rebound, which Wenzel topped when he congratulated Mustafa Shakur on breaking the Pac-10 career 3-point record (when it was of course Stoudamire). I won't keep harping on them only because it was a really fun game to watch otherwise. Washington started so cold, and after beginning to pull it together were absolutely destroyed by Salim Stoudamire. The best shooting performance I've seen this year. Granted I don't watch a lot of Duke, but last night showed me that Stoudamire can take over a game with the longball just as easily as Redick. No easy shots, always a guy in his face, always an inch from being fouled, usually moving left or right... and yet always in balanced in his shot and almost always finding the twine. I thought we were dead... he looked like he could've gone for 50. But in the second half Washington came out and completely dissected the 1-3-1 Zone... by the time Lute Olsen adjusted the game was destined to go down to the wire. Nate Robinson did nothing in the second half until they needed him the most, and Will Conroy (who had only put up 68 3's all year) hit four 3's in a row (the only 4 of the 10 he took on the night) to help push the Huskies ahead. After a lucky play where Stoudamire tripped on a defender's foot and lost it out of bounds, the Huskies sealed their first ever Pac-10 tournament championship. Where do they get seeded? Sitting at 27-5, 5-2 vs. the RPI Top 25 and two wins over Arizona (27-6) looks like it might be enough for a #2. Despite the win, I have the funny feeling they won't be seeded higher than Arizona... look for a 3-seed.

Some other thoughts on Championship Week:

A lot of bubble teams looked on in agony as Pacific fell to Utah State in the Big West Tournament. I don't know who exactly this will cost, but it will definitely cost someone... and that someone won't be Pacific.

Boise State could have had the most magical tournament run and sent UTEP to an at-large bid as well, but came up just short. In a way it assures the best teams are getting in, but in a way it's sad to see a team beat a couple of really strong teams only to be upended so close to that dream that seemed so far away only a few days earlier.

If you read this often you'll remember a little while ago when I was writing about what would happen to one of the top two Patriot league teams if they ran the table only to lose in the Conference Tournament final? Well sure enough, it happened. The Holy Cross Crusaders finished a brilliant season at 24-6 after a loss to Bucknell in the finals of the Patriot League tournament. ESPN has them listed in the Bubble Watch... it would be nice to see them land a surprise bid, but there's no chance of it happening. Maybe if every mid-major lock won their conference tourney, but with teams like Pacific, Utah and Nevada taking at-large bids there is almost no hope.

Will Darius Washington Jr. be this decade's Nick Anderson?? Can you feel more sorry for a kid than you do for him right now? A 71% free throw shooter with three free throws for an automatic bid his team needs to have any shot of getting in... and then he misses two to miss out on OT. Will he ever be the same player after this? BTW, Calipari did the right thing I think... you can't call a timeout in that situation... you'd be criticized even more for making him think harder about it.

Does Alando Tucker's last second bomb knock Iowa out? Most people think it doesn't, that Iowa showed enough against Wisconsin and Michigan State to warrant a spot... one of the last spots, but a spot nonetheless. I say it'd be almost as heartbreaking as Memphis' fate if they were left out today.

Enjoy Selection Sunday... UW for a #2!

There goes what little credibility I had left...

2005-03-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

This morning I took part in my first ever Yahoo! Winners League Draft. You heard me, my first (I've only been playing Yahoo! leagues since last year's baseball season). I was hoping to find some impressive draft strategy, and I came away believing that I will definitely have an uphill climb to win this league. Before I get to the draft, I want to remark on how unbelievably bad my morning was leading up to the draft. After getting barely any sleep, I finally got up only to find my computer would not stay on for longer than five seconds. So I cracked 'er open and plugged away at some stuff until I get it running again, but not before I opened up a nasty gash on my finger. I proceeded to spill my girlfriend's lunch all over the floor, which was very smooth on my part right before she had to brave the horrendous cold to get to work while I sat on my unemployed ass at home. So you can see why I was slightly hesitant on what awaited me at my upcoming draft.

Sure enough, I arrive at the online draft to find that I have the #1 pick. The second time this year (and second time EVER) that I've landed the top pick. I HATE the top pick... I'd take the 12th and 13th pick over the 1st and 24th almost every time. But since I don't have a choice in the matter and I can't trade draft picks, I was left to my own devices. Those of you who read this garbage on a regular basis (what's wrong with you?), will remember me backpedaling into a top pick of Albert Pujols (because that's what I had done the first time I had the top pick). Of the consensus top 4 picks, I had Pujols ahead of Vlad, Beltran and A-Rod respectively. So take a wild guess at what I did today!?!

Round 1 - Alex Rodriguez, 3B (Next 3 picks: Vlad, Pujols, Tejada)
I might just be the stupidest man alive. Or maybe something I do today will balance out my terrible morning. Here's why I took him - there are too many good first basemen and outfielders... while there are solid third basemen as well, I have to believe he'll get some of his mojo back and stand out above the crowd (yes, Pujols' heels scared me away).

Round 2 - David Ortiz, 1B (Previous 3 picks: Prior, Beltre, A.Ramirez)
I think the gamble just may pay off, as Ortiz falls to me at the tail end of Round 2. I can't say I'm the biggest Papi fan, but you can't argue with the numbers.

Round 3 - Eric Gagne, RP (Next 3 picks: Rivera, Thome, Huff)
At least here I did what I said I would do... Gagne was there in the 3rd, and I took him. There are a lot of good closers to be had, but in this tough league I wanted some of the best. I really wanted to take Renteria in this draft as I had in all my others, but 25 was too early for it.

Round 4 - Edgar Renteria, SS (Previous 3 picks: Giles, Rollins, Zambrano)
I saw him falling, and thought a Giles-Renteria turn would be huge... I missed out on it by a few picks, but I still got my man at 48. I still say he'll be the second-best SS this year behind Tejada.

Round 5 - Francisco Rodriguez, RP (Next 3 picks: Foulke, Clemens, Nathan)
I start the run on closers when everyone realizes I just took a second. I would've liked a starter here, but I was hoping I could catch a decent one later.

Round 6 - Roy Halladay, SP (Previous 3 picks: Wells, B.Boone, Beckett)
Again I was looking for a double whammy... this time Wells and Halladay. In case you can't tell, the guy who keeps stealing my players is building a team I'd love to have.

Round 7 - Mark Mulder, SP (Next 3 picks: Damon, F.Cordero, M.Ordonez)
Pretty good consolation prize... I land a second potential ace right after my first. I could get used to this two straight picks thing.

Round 8 - Joe Mauer, C (Previous 3 picks: Burnett, Varitek, Kent)
I took my catcher right around where I was hoping... I felt pretty solid with my hitting and my pitching, so I felt landing the guy I wanted most behind the plate would fit in well here. If he stays healthy he's easily a top-3 catcher this year in my eyes, but I admit it's a big IF.

Round 9 - Garret Anderson, OF (Next 3 picks: C.Lee, Pavano, Mota)
Round 9 before I finally take an outfielder. There is some depth out there, but I am a little worried about how late I left it. Again if you read this often you'll know how happy I am with this guy though.

Round 10 - B.J. Ryan, RP (Previous 3 picks: B.Giles, Looper, Lo Duca)
Another guy I am happy to get, and my third potential big save/100 K closer.

Round 11 - Torii Hunter, OF (Next 3 picks: Walker, Graves, Colon)
He's not exceptional at anything, but if he goes .275-20-80 with 80 runs and 20 steals (right in line with last year) he'll be a solid piece of the puzzle.

Round 12 - Steve Finley, OF (Previous 3 picks: Penny, Escobar, Giambi)
I don't know if he can keep doing it, but he was the best guy left after a lot of my other choices flew off the board.

Round 13 - Brad Wilkerson, 1B/OF (Next 3 picks: Buehrle, Od. Perez, Mi.Sweeney)
I was happy to get the former Expo here... he should be solid no matter where he hits, but if he drops down to the 3 spot he may be worth a lot more than I planned.

Round 14 - Brandon Webb, SP (Previous 3 picks: Lane, Ford, Petitte)
Round 15 - Joel Pineiro, SP (Next 3 picks: Nevin, Bradley, W.Miller)
Good third and fourth starters in the later rounds... if Webb gets his control down and Pineiro is over his injuries I may have landed two guys more worthy of a second-starter slot.

Round 16 - Mike Adams, RP (Previous 3 picks: Lowe, Lawton, Donnelly)
Round 17 - Dallas Macpherson, 3B (Next 3 picks: Womack, R.Hernandez, Closser)
Adams looks like the closer in Milwaukee (my fourth - great shape there if I need to deal), and Macpherson was a pure potential pick... I was set everywhere but second (and someone took Roberts in the 12th!!), so I took a guy who could blow up (maybe AL ROY) and allow me some room to pursue some deals.

Round 18 - Omar Infante, 2B, 3B, SS (Previous 3 picks: Baldelli, Overbay, Linebrink)
Round 19 - Richard Hidalgo, OF (Next 3 picks: Borowski, Lilly, Padilla)
Round 20 - Kiko Calero, RP (Previous 3 picks: Marte, Sanders, Eckstein)
Round 21 - Jeff Francis, SP (Next 3 picks: Benson, Koskie, Ho.Ramirez)
I got a second baseman who could turn out to be huge or could turn out to be Angel Berroa, some outfield cover with the potential to do some damage in Arlington, a guy who could turn out to be the stud of the A's setup men and of course my pick for NL ROY to complete my ROY set.

So here's what the final product looks like:

C - Joe Mauer
1B - David Ortiz
2B - Omar Infante
3B - Alex Rodriguez
SS - Edgar Renteria
OF - Garret Anderson
OF - Torii Hunter
OF - Steve FInley
Util - Brad Wilkerson
Bench - Dallas McPherson
Bench - Richard Hidalgo

SP - Roy Halladay
SP - Mark Mulder
RP - Eric Gagne
RP - Francisco Rodriguez
P - B.J. Ryan
P - Mike Adams
P - Kiko Calero
Bench - Brandon Webb
Bench - Joel Pineiro
Bench - Jeff Francis

I'm obviously looking to shore up the outfield, and I think I have the pieces to go after one... especially if my closers look really strong early. I don't think my roster looks quite a strong as the last one I posted on here, but I think things look decent considering the caliber of the competition here. I'm interested to see how it shakes out.

More Bits and Bites...

2005-03-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

The end of an exhausting weekend leaves me back at home with no job and nothing to do. It's disgustingly white outside so I don't plan on going anywhere either!

Is it wrong of me to hope that the NHL doesn't settle anything before the draft? If only because this country's obsession with Sidney Crosby will probably single-handedly cause the collapse of the 3 major Canadian sports networks as they air 24-hour coverage of what will happen to the prodigy of our generation. I don't think it matters because even if he becomes a perennial all-star I think he'll be lucky to even get halfway to the Great One.

Illinois is way better off now that they've lost. They might even lose again in the conference tournament, but I think they're in great shape to win the one that matters.

MLB 2K5 has been redeemed. Thanks to some very helpful folks on the ESPN Video Games message boards, an illogical adjustment to the sliders has rid me of the dreaded passed ball bug. My M's are currently 5-1, led by Richie Sexson's 3 HR's and 8 RBI's. If he can hit like that in real life this year they'll be in good shape... but the real key will be a big step forward by the generally unchanged pitching staff (as I'll get to eventually in a season preview).

Is anyone else psyched that Rob and Amber are on the Amazing Race?? The general irrational hatred they face from every other team (and the advantages their celebrity seems to bring - as the first episode showed) should be a blast to watch. I'm not a huge reality TV fan, but I loved Rob on Survivor and I can't help but get excited to see him back on TV. If you stopped reading me now I wouldn't hold it against you.

When did Phil Mickelson go superhuman on everyone?? Yes he couldn't quite beat the the circa 2001 version of Tiger yesterday, but just look at the PGA scoring average statistics. Colin Montgomerie is second at 67.50... while Lefty is sitting at a staggering 62.70!! It's like a video game. Ridiculous.

Baseball America's Top 20 rookies has Jeff Francis listed at #10... seems about right going in, but I still think he's got a great shot at NL ROY honors. They also have the M's Jeremy Reed at #3 behind Swisher and McPherson... he won't put up the biggest numbers but he should be a solid outfield piece and #2 hitter for years.

Finally I pay my proper respects to Sheffield United... who played Arsenal even for over 210 minutes, only to finally fall on penalties. They're currently 3 points out of the playoffs with 2 games in hand, so with that kind of effort and a little better finishing over the rest of the season they may just get to play Arsenal twice again next year.

Five Early Draft Questions

2005-03-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I rambled on a bit about some potential draft day steals... that is truly where many public leagues are won and lost. However, there is a lot to be said for making those first few picks count as well. Do you jump at an ace on the hill, do you solidify key hitting categories or do you go after potential 5-caetgory stars? Of the top-30 Yahoo! ranked players, only 5 are pitchers... do they know something we don't? Does this mean that there are better pitchers to be had in later rounds, or that the top pitchers are so head and shoulders about the rest that you should look to make sure you get at least one of them on your team? If I had a DeLorean time machine I could tell you with certainty what to do, but since I haven't built one yet you'll have to settle for my opinion. If you take this advice and I'm wrong... well that's what you get for believing some guy who can't even come up with a catchy name for his blog.

Question #1: Who is the number one pick?
We'll start with the obvious... and there are four obvious choices - A-Rod, Pujols, Vladdie and Beltran. As much as I would like to say A-Rod because of his sheer talent (and from watching him grow up as an M), I don't think he'll put up the best numbers... he won't run as much this year, but may pick up a little power and average. Pujols was my gut instinct pick, but when you hear people in the Cardinals organization talking about how if he has pain in his foot like last year that he'll have to sit down for a while... well that's a scary proposition for a #1. Vlad should do something very similar to last year... though maybe not quite 15 steals. Beltran is the guy I would want to pick because of his potential in all 5 categories, but I worry about his average and his power at Shea. Since you can't really go wrong with any of them, I'm going with Pujols (as I did in my first ever draft with the first overall pick). The foot is a concern, but when you think he is as close to a lock as you can get for .330-40-125 with 125 runs scored... well it's worth the risk. After that I'd say Vlad, Beltran and A-Rod.

Question #2: Who is the best pitcher, and where should he go?
I'll say the same thing I said last year when I landed him in the 5th round... Johan Santana will win the AL Cy Young. I think Randy Johnson will miss a few starts, get dinged up a bit more and just won't quite have enough to keep up with the Twins ace. To think I almost dealt him away when he struggled so mightily through the first two months last year... that would rank right up there with someone dropping Bobby Abreu after his April struggles (much to my benefit).

Question #3: Is Alfonso Soriano really worth a first-round pick?
Not quite. I know what every "smart" person will tell you... he's so far ahead of any other second baseman that he's worth it on that alone, factor in the potential for 30-30 or better and you've got an easy first-round choice. And yes, it's a valid argument that he's worth a late 1st-rounder. But to me, it seems as though Mark Prior's injury from last season has scared everyone off of taking pitchers early... that's why you see so few in those top-30 and that's why someone like Soriano is so high in most drafts. I'm not saying I would drop him far from the first round (I'd most likely snatch him up in the second round if he was there), but I think he's definitely not the 6th pick... Abreu, Santana, RJ, Prior, Manny and Helton are guys that I'd definitely take over Soriano because I feel like I really know what I'm getting (save for unforseen injury that can derail anyone). He's probably moving to the top of the order which cuts his production down, and I'm not sure how much they'll run him with so many good bats behind him. No one matches what he can give you at second, but Marcus Giles might do everything but the power better this year, and you could probably get him in the 3rd or even 4th.

Question #4: Who would you stay away from in that top-30?
Jim Thome looks ripe for a downfall any day now... injuries could take him down and Ryan Howard could keep him down. Aramis Ramirez scarez me too... too much for a second-round pick anyways. I think Derek Jeter is an overrated fantasy commodity with so many good SS behind him (especially Renteria, who has landed on every team I've drafted so far), and I worry that Melvin Mora isn't quite as good as he's shown the last couple of years. Finally, I think that Eric Gagne will go too high. If he's there in the 3rd round and I have solid hitters in the first two, then yes I'll pull the trigger (you know my stance on relievers)... but he's not a first round choice, and probably not a second round choice either. There are a lot of very good closers... I don't like jumping on one and missing out on star hitters that might not be so easily replaced.

Question #5: What players in the second-tier deserve to be in those first few rounds?
The aformentioned Renteria and Giles would both be strong 3rd round choices... depending of course on what you took in the first two. Jim Edmonds can easily put up 2nd-round type numbers, but he could also slump to something much worse. On the mound... I think Oswalt, Hudson and Mulder are all worth a high pick (but like I said you might be able to wait on them). And if Ben Sheets played just about anywhere else, he might be ahead of all three of those guys... even with the potentially improving Brew Crew he could be worth a look.

Again, dont be surprised if everything I've said here today is wrong. But I am carrying around 23+ years of life experience around with me so I know.... well, nothing really. I do think lots of stuff though, and that counts for... well, nothing again I guess. So the moral of the story is, despite how bad their team will be, draft Roy Halladay and Vernon Wells at some point... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised (wait... that didn't have anything to do with this did it?).

Yahoo! Baseball Draft Day Steals

2005-03-02T12:23:00.000-05:00

Fantasy drafts in public leagues are a strange creature... you never know what you'll get each time because you never know who you're up against. It can be thought of as a science by some, but I prefer to play it much more on instinct. The reasons are simple, I always felt that if you had a specific strategy (especially if you go so far as planning out how long you'd wait on certain players to fall) that you'd be in a much worse position if your plan doesn't come to fruition. I try really hard not to lock on someone that I hope drops, because it stops me from thinking straight on what my strategy would be if things don't work out.

A lot of people talk about the importance of middle relievers in fantasy baseball, on both sides of the fence. If you are playing in a public league like Yahoo!, you will have an innings limit for the entire season. Star middle relievers can get you hopefully 5-10 wins (close to a mid-level starter) with much better ratios, and using much less of your limit. Lately I've been trying to target at least 2 very good closers, 1 or 2 other closers and 1 or 2 middle relievers (depending on if I have 3 or 4 closers), to go with 4 starters. If you can get 4 starters who average 200 innings, and 5 relievers that average 80, that's 1200 innings (leaving you 50 to play with). If you draft 6 starters and 3 relievers at the same inning average, you have about 1440 innings (way over the 1250 limit). This is good if you play matchups with your starters, but you may end up with worse ratios and possibly less saves at the expense of a few more wins, and that's only if your starters do well in the matchups you play (which is never a given). The added bonus is you can almost always get a great middle-relief guy late... guys like Otsuka, Donnelly or Ryan Madson can be very helpful late.

How important are thin positions? Well that depends on a few things. If the first couple of rounds see the top catchers fly off the table, then sit tight. Most of the mid-level catchers are interchangeable, and reaching for one of them is not going to help you. But if it's the fourth or fifth round, and I-Rod or Vic-Mart are sitting there while your other choices are second-tier pitchers or first-basemen, then it might be worth pulling the trigger if you feel you can get essentially what you're giving up in the coming rounds. I personally don't like drafting a catcher or second baseman early, because despite the obvious gap between the top-tier and the second-flight there are often good bargains to be seen later in the draft. Again it's my personal instinct that tells me it's a bargain though so maybe I'll end up flopping, but it's not necessarily a waste if you're 18th pick is a guy like Brian Roberts who will probably lead off and play every day in Baltimore.

So now that you know a bit about how and why I make my decisions the way I do, here are some players who I've seen fall in Yahoo! drafts that would definitely be worth a look at:

OF Garret Anderson, LAA (Yahoo! Rank: 129)
Hitting in the middle of a potent lineup, always thought of as a perennial .300-25-100 type guy fell in the rankings because of injuries last year. I start with him because I think he might become a top-10 outfielder this year, and if you can land him somewhere from rounds 8-10 you won't regret it.

OF Andruw Jones, ATL (Yahoo! Rank: 146)
TALENT... but always falls short of expectations and seems to almost be regressing. But would you be surprised if he went .280-40-100? I wouldn't... and finding that around the 10th round could be the steal of your draft.

C Johnny Estrada, ATL (Yahoo! Rank: 161)
I'll put one thing on the record right now, I don't like the Braves. But, while everyone else is reaching for the thin crop of catchers, Estrada might fall right into your lap. A slight uptick in power and better seasons from other hitters in the lineup (that'd be the Joneses) could make his numbers fall into the .300-15-80 range with maybe 75 runs scored... good from any late pick let alone at the catcher spot.

2B Brian Roberts, BAL (Yahoo! Rank: 243)
I've already mentioned him so I'll be brief: .280 and 30-40 steals, 100 runs and if a few of those 50 doubles climb a bit higher he might hit double-digit homers... and you can get him later than the 15th round.

RP B.J. Ryan, BAL (Yahoo! Rank: 113)
The new closer in Baltimore is a strikeout machine... I think he'll become a star closer in no time, this year's Brad Lidge.

SP Bartolo Colon, LAA (Yahoo! Rank: 163)
If he drops his ERA to around 4.00 he'll win 20 with that offense. Definitely has the talent to do that if not more... worth a shot from around the 12th round on if he lasts.

SP Brad Penny, LAD and Wade Miller, BOS (Yahoo! Rank: 202 and 204, respectively)
One in the same in rank and situation... both coming off injuries, both might not be ready for the start of the season, both playing for teams that will win, both capable of ERA's in the mid-3's and WHIP's under 1.30...could be worth a late pick to hold on to because spring reports have been favorable on both.

SP Jeff Francis, COL (Yahoo! Rank: 698)
Unless you're in a league with me, he will not get drafted. Your 21st pick could be the NL ROY... if he didn't pitch in Coors people would be itching to land this guy. Yes, I'm biased and yes he pitches in Coors... but he went 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA in his last five starts, and 16-3 with an ERA in the low 2's and 196 K's in 154.2 IP at AA and AAA last year. You could do worse with a 21st pick, and if he struggles there are always low-average pitchers on the waiver wire.

Three things before I go... first in keeping with this theme if you're thinking of grabbing the other ROY favorite Dallas MacPherson, I like the idea just don't jump at him before the good third baseman are gone... if you're desparate to waste a high pick on a young guy at the hot corner save it for David Wright. Second, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder are both ranked too low in my opinion... you might be able to land Hud in the 4th or 5th and Mulder as late as the 7th, and I think both will be top-5 pitchers this year. Finally, to continue my MLB 2K5 review... lots and lots of bugs. The lineups can get screwy very easily, so if you pick it up and make some roster changes be sure the computer generates a proper lineup before you save over a good roster file. Sometimes you end up with lineups that will drop some of your players to limbo... like when I tried to play as the Mets this morning and found that Jose Reyes had mysteriously disappeared. You get what you pay for, but the rest of the game is still pretty good.

MLB 2K5 and Chaneygate

2005-03-01T07:08:00.000-05:00

Quick note before I get started... in my excitement on Sunday I forgot all about Jordan Snipes from Guildford College hitting a baseball throw from 90-feet off a missed free throw to win a game... and he followed it up by hitting the exact same shot on a newscast the next night!

I went 6-for-8 on my Oscar picks here... not too shabby. Big night for Million Dollar Baby, which was the only movie of the big 5 that I had seen. I liked it... it's typical Clint Eastwood - slow building, methodical but not so much that you lose interest. As some of the people I watched the show with noted, Hilary Swank has now won two Oscars for similar roles (a boy and a butchy boxer). When people think of top actresses of our generation, she doesn't seem to pop into anyone's head right away, but she seems to be forcing herself in. Oh, and Morgan Freeman is the coolest. He should narrate every movie period. And they should get him to record every word in the english language so they can splice it all together for movies years after he's gone.

The John Chaney thing... yes he was very wrong. It's never smart to send out a goon. But I have two problems with the outlash here. Number one, I do think you should take his whole career into account, for better or worse. Those saying "don't treat Chaney different just because he's a college basketball coaching icon" are completely off. People have their boiling point, everyone can make a bad decision. Duke thought Shavlik Randolph would be a star... even Coach K doesn't win them all. Now Chaney hasn't been an angel throughout his entire career, but I don't think this is punishable by firing him. Which leads to my second thought, that he is definitely not the only coach to have done this. He was just unlucky enough to get caught because the foul led to a serious injury. I wholeheartedly agree with him missing the remainder of the season, considering that seems to be what the victim will miss. But I think it's awfully naive to believe that Chaney is a total renegade in taking the law into his own hands so to speak. I don't have the time or resources to do deep research here, and if you disagree please let me know, but I really think that some coaches send in very similar orders when they feel them needed. I'm not saying it's right, I just think it happens... no different than telling Roger Clemens to unleash one at a guy's thigh or Tie Domi to go start a fight.

I landed MLB 2K5 yesterday... I'm loving it so far. There are some graphic quirks that maybe could have been avoided (close up replays have a tendancy to highlight how far a ball is away from your glove on certain catches, and sometimes players standing will look like their glove hand is twisted the wrong way), but they are minor concerns. The franchise mode seems fun and deep, and the added GM Career mode is pretty interesting. I jumped in one just to see what it was like (with the M's of course), and the owner gives you goals to reach to start the season (including gettind rid of Dan Wilson!). Completing them raises your budget and reputation (you can take a job with a different team), so it's kind of a neat twist. The game itself is pretty awesome, with a lot of variation to how it's played (2 different hitting styles or a custom one, and 5 different pitching styles), and many sliders to tweak the perfect game for you. And the ESPN presentation is always a plus... with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan really giving it a great feel. It's only one day, but so far I give it a strong 9 out of 10.

So if you want to know just how big of a loser I really am... I'm totally hyped for the new season of the Amazing Race that starts tonight because Rob and Amber make their reality TV return. I just thought you all might like an excuse to stop reading this.

Tripleheaders and Oscar Night

2005-02-27T11:01:00.000-05:00

Nice little day of TV planned today. Because I don't watch enough of it already. Seriously.

I didn't get a chance to write anything about the NBA trade deadline... I'm surprised that there were so many deals done, but not so surprised about Isaiah Thomas. A total genius... adding payroll and undersized powerfowards by dealing his one solid big-man is exactly what the highest paid team in the league needs. Nazr Mohammed actually began to look like a player this year... well so much for that. At least we get to watch Isaiah f*^k up some more draft picks. Thomas vs. Babcock, who would you rather have running your team? As much as I've ragged on Babs this year, at least he didn't make his totally screwed up team any worse at the deadline. But they aren't going to get any better either. Speaking of which, I had to listen to Chuck Swirsky scream "BREAK UP THE RAPS!" after their second-straight road win in Milwaukee... I proceeded to cut my ear off. I'll be sure to mute their games for the rest of the season.

Flight of the Phoenix was definitely the worst movie I've seen since Catwoman, and is high up in the crappiest of the decade. Too bad because I really like Dennis Quaid, I thought the idea behind the story was interesting, and it was nice to see Giovanni Ribisi play someone so different. But all you have to do is watch the last 5 minutes to understand the depths of its patheticness. Yes, it's so bad I made up a word for it.

The new baseball games are out!! Except in Canada?!? MVP made it to 2 or the 5 stores I looked in, but apparently the advanced release of MLB 2K5 didn't quite make it past the border. So instead of fully immersing myself in it this weekend, it'll be more of a midweek deal. If ESPN did anywhere near as good of a job improving this game as they did with their basketball and football titles, it will be among the best 30 bucks I could ever spend.

Thoughts from yesterday's College Hoop action... Patrick Sparks is like a poor man's J.J. Redick, when he's bad he's useless but when he's good he can carry the whole team... Chevon Troutman can't shoot free throws coming out of a timeout, I felt like Calhoun should've iced him every time he went to the line down the stretch (not that it mattered)... when did Charlie Villanueva realize he was good?... why can't Ronald Ramon make a layup?... finally, my much-too-early-but-I'm-sticking-with-it-anyways vote for finish of the year in 2005 goes to GW/Dayton - if you didn't see the replays, find one, you won't regret it.

Speaking of votes - my Oscar picks:

Adapted Screenplay - Sideways
Original Screenplay - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman
Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen (my mild upset pick)
Actor - Jamie Foxx (seemingly unstoppable)
Actress - Hilary Swank
Director - Martin Scorcese, The Aviator
Picture - Million Dollar Baby

Huskies finally took one form Arizona... could be co-Pac-10 champs. Today I'll be watching Michigan St./Indiana, UCLA/Notre Dame, and the biggie OKST/Kansas. Thank you CBS. But please no more ads during timeouts for CSI: Miami... people like the show, I get it. Now can I stop hearing Kevin Harlan or Ian Eagle deadpanning how heartstoppingly exciting it is?

Let the Fantasy Baseball Season Begin...

2005-02-24T09:32:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to get this all out last night, but yesterday was the day for my first MLB fantasy draft of the season. Fantasy sports are great no matter what the sport, but there just seems to be something that much more special about baseball. Maybe because stats are so much more of a basis for the sport than in others, maybe because there are so many games almost every day, and maybe because rosters can change so fluidly that no one is ever truly out of it. Last year's baseball season brought me my undeniably best team ever... my four top starters were Santana, Hudson, Oswalt and Oliver Perez; my four outfielders were Beltran, Abreu, Bonds and Ichiro. My infield had 3/4 of the stud Texas infield (only missing Teixeira), and I had Kolb, Foulke, Looper and Takatsu ringing up saves. A 40-point win in a roto league is something I had never seen before, and I know I'll never see it again. This year (if my NBA and NFL seasons are any indication) I will be very happy to win a league, period. My first draft of the season was interesting, as the teams I was up against went pitcher heavy to start the draft. I usually advocate a solid balance in a 5x5 league, but my first 6 picks were on the offensive side. You can then well imagine that my team looks solid in the hitting categories, but my starters are suspect but for the most part full of potential. I drew the 6th pick of the 12-team league, so I sat and watched the biggest names go off the board before I began. Here are my picks, along with some of the guys I passed up in making my choices...

Round 1 - Bobby Abreu (Next 3 picks: Soriano, Tejada, Santana)
I comitted myself pre-draft that unless I had a shot at Pujols or A-Rod, I would target one of Beltran or Abreu. Beltran is the bigger name and flashier player with more potential, but Abreu is a top contributor in all 5 categories where Beltran's BA dropped hard. I can't seem him duplicating last year, but then again last year he had a HORRIBLE first month and a half. If I get .300-25-100 with over 100 runs and 25 steals (all below last years numbers), it will be well worth it.

Round 2 - Ichiro Suzuki (Next 3 picks: Bonds, Schilling, Rolen)
Starters were flying off the board between my first two picks, and I didn't feel comfortable with Schilling here, nor did I see Oswalt as a 2nd-rounder yet. With Ichiro my BA should be in very good hands, with some speed and hopefully runs (with the improved lineup behind him) to boot.

Round 3 - Edgar Renteria (Next 3 picks - Ortiz, Sheffield, Oswalt)
Maybe a stretch to take at 30, but I think he'll be huge in Boston... could post numbers in all 5 categories as an "Abreu-Lite" from the SS position.

Round 4 - Victor Martinez (Next 3 picks - Foulke, I-Rod, Young)
Probably my biggest stretch, but good catchers are hard to come by. I missed Tim Hudson by two picks, but I am looking for Vic-Mart to keep getting better on a still improving Indians team.

Round 5 - Hank Blaylock (Net 3 picks - Sosa, Dotel, Izzy)
Bolsting my stock of hitters here, I love Hank Blaylock and just couldn't pass him up. The Rangers at home put up Coors-like numbers, and I think they'll keep getting better on the road.

Round 6 - Derrek Lee (Next 3 picks - Peavy, Rollins, Kolb)
The most underrated first baseman. He could hit .300-30-100 with 20 SB's and no one would notice because of the studs at his position... and he might just do it.

Round 7 - A.J. Burnett (Next 3 picks - Hoffman, Patterson, Loretta)
Finally a pitcher! Big time hit or miss here... talent to win 15, have an ERA in the mid 3's and hover around 8 or 9 K's per 9IP. Or he could struggle to hold the form for a full year, or worse, get hurt again and miss most of it altogether.

Round 8 - Braden Looper (Glaus, Damon, Morneau)
Round 9 - Guillermo Mota (Alou, H. Matsui, Berkman)
Round 10 - B.J. Ryan (Graves, Vidro, Garcia)
I had 3 closers tabbed for mid-round picks, and I took them all in rapid sucession. I try to avoid doing this exact thing, but there was more talent elsewhere that I could wait for as you'll see. Looper should get more chances this year, and the other two are first time closers with big-time potential... boom or bust.

Round 11 - Garret Anderson (Ja. Wright, Castillo, Drew)
Round 12 - Brian Roberts (Sabathia, D. Roberts, Bradley)
Round 13 - Andruw Jones (Morris, Casey, Pettite)
I thought this was one of my better parts of the draft. If Anderson stays healthy all year, he belongs in the 4th round at worst... Roberts will score 100 runs and steal 30 bases starting and leading off for Baltimore... Jones seems to always fall short of expectations, but he's got the talent to do something big and a 13th round pick is definitely worth the risk.

Round 14 - Brad Radke (Estrada, L. Hernandez, Leiter)
Round 15 - Joel Pineiro (Rogers, Millwood, Castilla)
Round 16 - Steve Finley (Wickman, Otsuka, Speier)
I finally got around to more starters here... Radke should win 10-15 with a good ERA and WHIP, while Pineiro will be the "Ace" of the M's staff. Instead of closing out my pitchers I took my first bench player in Finley, who could command a decent trade bounty if he can fly out of the gates again.

Round 17 - Randy Wolf (Urbina, Dempster, Lowry)
Round 18 - Dimitri Young (T. Walker, Lawton, Miles)
Round 19 - Adam Eaton (Lawrence, Blanton, Mi. Sweeney)
Round 20 - Chin Hui Tsao (Big Hurt, Arroyo, Borowski)
Round 21 - Jeff Francis (Silva, A.Boone, Lane)
My last five picks were what they were. Randy Wolf can be a steal (again if he stays healthy), Young should be solid in the middle of the Tigers order, and Adam Eaton was better than last year's numbers show. With my last two picks I may have become the first person ever in the history of the world to draft two Rockies pitchers back-to-back. Tsao will probably be the closer... nothing is for certain but if he isn't then I can drop him and it won't hurt too much. Francis isn't even guaranteed a spot in the rotation apparently, but I'm hoping he beats out Darren Oliver for the last spot and keeps improving.

So the final roster looks like this...

C - Victor Martinez
1B - Derrek Lee
2B - Brian Roberts
3B - Hank Blaylock
SS - Edgar Renteria
OF - Bobby Abreu
OF - Ichiro Suzuki
OF - Garret Anderson
Util - Andruw Jones
Bench - Steve Finley
Bench - Dimitri Young

SP - A.J. Burnett
SP - Brad Radke
RP - Braden Looper
RP - Guillermo Mota
P - B.J. Ryan
P - Joel Pineiro
P - Randy Wolf
Bench - Adam Eaton
Bench - Chin Hui Tsao
Bench - Jeff Francis

I think it was a pretty solid first go this year. I would've liked to land at least one ace, but it just didn't fall the way I had hoped. I knew it would be tricky to pick up arms when Eric Gagne went 4th overall... it set the whole train in motion. As soon as people saw big name pitchers coming off the board, they panicked and started a big run. There were times that I could've jumped on a good one, but I like my stacked lineup and if one or two of my question marks on the hill make the leap I should be in pretty good shape. Feel free to tell me what you think... I appreciate the other schools of thought. And to anyone who is going to be in a league with me this year, congratulations you now know some of my draft strategy... I'll expect better showings from you this year!

So seriously, it's over this time... we mean it

2005-02-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

What's worse than cancelling an entire season and killing your already dwindling fan base? Doing it twice in one week.

You know, this basketball thing might not work out for him... but I think Steve Nash could find a place for himself on a professional soccer team.

After the all-star game my two big basketball pools are polar opposites. In my head-to-head league I'm currently in first by 16.5 games. In my roto league I'm in ninth (or more accurately LAST), trailing the leader by 40 and trailing eighth by 7.5 points. The moral of this, don't listen to any advice I have on fantasy sports.

Chris Andersen deserved 10's because that was the most elaborate, longest-running pre dunk routine I've ever seen.

Speaking of advice on fantasy sports, my first baseball draft of the year is tomorrow morning and I couldn't be more excited. In a 5x5 league, I can't see any hitter worth more than Albert Pujols... it's amazing that someone that good can almost be underappreciated (especially the way baseball clings so hard to potential stars nowadays), but with Bonds doing his thing you just don't hear as much about him as you will eventually. With all that being said, I'd probably underappreciate him too. I rode Beltran in the first round last year, and it would be very hard to pass him up this year (especially if a healthy Reyes and an improving Matsui set the table in front of him like they can... three swtich hitters all capable of hitting for average and stealing bases). Someone who seems to always fall is Bobby Abreu, but he was so good last year that he should be an automatic first rounder this year. If he somehow falls to the second he might turn out to be the best pick of the draft. Speed guys are very important, but I don't like reaching for a Crawford or Pierre in the first two rounds, I'd prefer to take a slew of guys who can chip in 10-20 steals if I can land a Beltran or an Abreu. Guys like Lew Ford, Aaron Rowand should be handy in that regard later in the draft. As for pitchers... don't reach on a stud closer because there are a lot of good ones. If he drops a bit because of his injury last year, I see Tim Hudson as a possible steal if you can land him after the third round... he might be a Cy Young candidate in ATL (75-2 in his career when he gets at least 4 runs of support). I am also continuing my 3-year Brandon Webb bandwagon... they will be better offensively and defensively this year, and he's just a solid, solid groundball pitcher. Of course I'll take Jeff Francis late, and despite my obvious bias towards him he will be a seviceable fantasy pitcher this year... very potentially the rookie of the year, with a winning record and close to 9K's per 9 not out of the question (which should be more than enough to offset a Coors-inflated ERA in a late-round pitcher). I'll be back tomorrow with my team... what I liked and inevitably what I didn't like.

The Darkest Day

2005-02-16T18:55:00.000-05:00

And just like that... it's gone. After months of stalled negotiations, bitter rhetoric and the delay of the seemingly inevitable, the NHL finally closed up shop for the season today. Everyone was ready for it... we've seen it coming since long before the lockout even started. But that doesn't make it any easier to swallow, nor make it feel any more real. Today I can't help but hate everyone involved in this debacle. I was glued to my TV all day, and as much as I cannot stand how this has turned out, I still can't help but think how much I will miss the league. It truly will never be the same.

I was up late last night as Bettman and Goodenow negotiated through letters published by the media. The sides continued to get closer... from the $12 million when I wrote yesterday to $6.5 million. Despite the harsh tones in Goodenow's letter late last night, there was reason for hope as my head hit the pillow at 3am. I woke up very unsure, but hopeful that the miracle would come... the press conference would be delayed as the two sides ironed out a stay of execution. Let's be clear, an execution is exactly what today was. Perhaps not for the league as a physical entity, but certainly as a top-flight professional sport. The big four are now the big three, and hockey will be forced to live on the fringes for a while, if not for the rest of its existence.

As we neared the 11am deadline Bettman had set passed, There was commentary on both sides of the fence. There was wiggle room, this can be saved. The players wouldn't budge, the season is lost. Mike Modano went on the score believing it would be saved. Bryan McCabe went on the same network talking about how this "wasn't about the money." Sure Bryan, you don't miss your $4.5 million, but I bet there are a lot of guys that could've used their $500,000. If it really is about getting on the ice, then take the $42.5 Million and suck it up. But IT IS about the money. Not philosophical differences like we've been hearing for months, but money.

1:03pm. The unimaginable comes to pass. The season is over... or is it? Bettman throws a bone when he dodges a question about whether the season was truly 100% over. TSN played it up to the max, spending the majority of the two hours following Bettman's press conference to discuss whether or not it was meant as an invitation to Goodenow, only briefly interrupted by montages of the two set to what can only be described as spooky Halloween music. Whether it was or not, at 4pm Bob Goodenow let everyone know that there was to be no magical 13th hour resolution. And the best part was, both sides were pulling back their concessions so we're back at square one. 5 months of jabber, and an entire season, WASTED.

What did we learn from this? First, they would have been better off calling off the season a week ago. With concessions came hope, with movement came optimism. When it came to be so close and yet still unresolved, the fans that are left are forced to wonder how they couldn't close the rest of that gap. Second, Goodenow and Bettman are playing pure gamesmanship, no matter how much they profess to be working solely for the good of their respective employers. The season is in jeopardy, you're so close after so much movement, and yet you stay in completely separate cities?? You approach a final deadline without even speaking to each other?! How does this happen when over $2 billion in revenues and the livelihoods of so many people (far beyond simply the players and owners) are in the balance?? They simply do far more harm than good. What harm could have come from one last all-or-nothing session? Forget that even, what harm could have come from one more lousy phone call?!? Do the owners and players hold all-night gossip sessions about how one of the two cracked first and made that call? Do neither realize that if they had made that call, and a compromise had come at say $45 or 46 million, they would be hailed as a hero by the remaining hockey FANS? Finally, we learned that each side only has one realistic gameplan that has any semblance of logic. Goodenow and the players must think that the owners will resort to replacement players, and (as Dave Hodge so elegantly put it) that they will fall flat on their asses. Bettman and the owners must see that as the lockout continues, revenues will continue to shrink, making linkage a much more realistic and viable option to everyone involved.

Every poll I've seen has public opinion drastically siding with the owners (over 70% blame the players in almost every poll I've seen), and it's easy to see why. The average NHL salary is $1.8 Million. Even with the rollback and a cap, they will make more than almost every single one of the people who drop $100 a night to see them play. It's tough to make your case with that against you, especially with Bryan McCabe continually putting his foot in his mouth (he said the same things on Sportsnet after his Score interview). Yes, the owners dug much of their own grave. But CBA negotiations are their one chance to change the way the system works, and they look to be seizing that opportunity as much as they can. I don't like either side very much, but as you can see my real problem lies in the way the negotiations were handled, rather than the sides doing the negotiating. I'm a sucker, and the next time they talk I'll be there watching. When this all happens again next fall, I'll still be watching. And whenever they get this figured out I'll throw on my Canucks gear and buy NHL Centre Ice. Unfortunately for the NHL I'm only one fan... and if the rest of my life is any indication, I tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

12 Million...

2005-02-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

That's where we are right now. The players offered up a cap of $52 Million, the owners say they won't go much higher than $40 Million. With almost exactly a day left until the announcement that's expected to cancel the season once and for all, there was finally some promise. For those of you who haven't been paying attention to hockey (so all 6 billion of you), the players finally look ready to negotiate a cap, and the owners appear to be ready to back off the premise of linking salaries to revenues. After ALL this time, the two sides have finally decided to come up with a little movement. The sad thing is, instead of spending these last 6 months negotiating where a cap could and should be placed, they spent it proclaiming to the world that they would not negotiate when the other side was not ready to seriously compromise. I wouldn't even think of myself as the biggest hockey fan I know, but I can't help but be drawn into this last day of negotiation. I'm still pretty pissed about what's been going on, but I think that a last-second resolution and some fan-friendly PR work afterwards could salvage at least some of the fans put off by this mess. However, failure to do so and the resulting disaster (outrage over no Stanley Cup presentation, confusion about draft status, old stars being forced to hang 'em up instead of getting to play out their days, and the thought of the same things happening all over again next fall) would probably shatter every bit of credibility the league has in the States and, I suspect, in a lot of Canada too. As much as I've ragged on both sides of this debacle, I'm still a hockey fan and here's hoping they smarten up at last.

Baseball season is coming... please oh please let Richie Sexson's shoulder hold up, and let Jamie Moyer throw it so slow that no one can hit the ball far enough to get it out of the park (unlike last year's 44 homers allowed). And maybe Beltre could keep on doing what he did last year. Yeah, that'd be ok too. And provided Boom makes the Rockies rotation (which he should)... well I'll have a team in both leagues to follow.

Admirals update: 35-14-2-3 on the year, 75 points... first in the West division by 9 points and 3rd overall. Brandon isn't setting the league aflame in his first full season, but 15 points and a +3 rating in 47 games isn't bad at all.

Does the fact that Pitt (17-4) keeps beating good teams (another win last night at Syracuse) give Bucknell (17-7) a stronger argument to get into the NCAA's?? Almost certainly not... but should they win the conference tournament, does Holy Cross (19-5, RPI: 38) get in? Probably not... but it's an interesting scenario for a League that has never had two berths, nor ever won an NCAA game. Bucknell is at Villanova (RPI: 19) tonight... another upset could really throw things off. Bucknell still has to visit Holy Cross in league play, and then the consensus opinion is that the two will meet in the finals of the conference tournament. What if Bucknell wins both those games and all the others but loses in the Conference final to end up 23-8 (but with wins versus Pitt, Nova, St. Joes and 2 over HC)? What if Holy Cross runs the table until the finals and loses to finish 24-6 (with a win over Boston U., 2 over Bucknell and a tight loss to BC)? Which one would look better? I'd have to say Bucknell with their array of wins, but I'm usually wrong. Either way if they do beat 'Nova tonight it would make people notice... again. Of course chances are there won't be much hope for 2 berths from such a small conference, but it should be one heck of a final if all things go the way they look right now.

His mind is already made up...

2005-02-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

Another weekend coming and going with me parked in front of whatever basketball game I can find on tv. I got to see Wake run through Florida St., and the Spartans handle the Wolverines... but the big game (and one of the best I've seen this season) was Duke and Maryland. I have to get this out off the top... Nik Caner-Medley has to be one of the worst players I've ever seen when it comes to game saavy. Yes, he's talented. He's big enough, makes strong post-moves and can hit outside shots. But man does he ever look foolish A LOT. He's a total robot. When I first saw them this year getting thrashed at UNC, I thought he might have just been having a rough game. Wrong. He gets the ball, and IMMEDIATELY you know if he's going to shoot or pass, because he can't think far enough ahead to change his mind. Good determination I suppose, but it gets him into a lot of trouble. He scored 11 points and collected 9 rebounds... nice enough numbers to have against Duke but he only hit 5-of-18 field goals, and most of the misses were ugly. Doesn't matter where he caught it, he would force his way into someone or launch wild turnaround fadeaways from 18 feet. I was watching with my roomate and the two of us cringed every time he touched the ball as he almost single-handedly sabotaged the Terrapins comeback attempt in regulation and their winning run in OT. He's a smaller, younger and whiter Kevin Willis or Antonio Davis with a better shooting stroke.

For any Raptors fans... I feel for you. I actually get to enjoy the Sonics playing like a real NBA team this year, while you have to watch the circus. Every night Sam Mitchell is bodyslamming someone (according to all the sports news around here), and no one wants to play in Toronto. Alston, E. Williams, Leo Rautins' favorite Aaron Williams, Donyell Marshall and Jalen Rose... soon the Raptors will be playing with Chris Bosh, 10 draft picks and Milt Palacio.

Did anyone see Tony Gonzalez dropping everything at the NFL skills competition? And did anyone see UNLV come back from 10-down with 21 seconds to go and win in overtime?? I feel bad for that poor kid from SDSU who airballed the free throw in OT when he needed to hit both to force double OT. Consolation for him is that that's not a mid-major phenomenon, as John Gilchrist almost did the same thing towards the end of the MD/Duke game. But no matter how that game ended, watching Gilchrist and Ewing trade shots at the start of the game with the crowd going beserk will be one of my favorite basketball moments of 2005, I'll put it down right now.

Chilly day in Ottawa, but the sun is out and I'm heading downtown for our own little Valentine's Day celebration. There aren't many better ways to spend a day.

Luck of the Dukies...

2005-02-10T16:41:00.000-05:00

I watched yesterday in amazement as UNC blew an amazing chance to beat Duke in Cameron. How you don't get a shot off on that last possesion (especially when Felton had plenty of room to penetrate witharound 10 seconds left) is beyond me. Looking a little deeper... UNC shot the ball better (43.9-35.7) and outrebounded Duke 38-24. What went wrong? Tempo was a big key, turnovers were another... and McCants looking beaten after missing threes didn't help either. Duke played a smart, controlled game, and I saw one play in particular that only happened once but I loved it in it's simplicity... in the first half, Duke set up what could almost be described as a triangle offense on the left side of the court, while on the right side Ewing held the ball and Redick set up towards the corner. As Williams moved up to the left corner of the key (taking May with him), Ewing crosses over and dribbles right towards the basket. As Ewing explodes, Jackie Manuel has a choice: either leave Redick to help, or stay at home and watch Ewing take it to the hole. Because UNC was SO keyed on Redick (and manning tight everywhere else), Manuel stayed, and Ewing gets fouled to avoid the easy layup. This is the kind of thing that wouldn't have worked as well against Georgia Tech, who switched off screens and left Redick more to roam (which is why he took 15 threes), but against UNC there was so much attention paid to where he was that it might have worked for a while.

Everyone is sick of Hockey. They blew it this year, and the pie they have been fighting over will be cut by a significant amount whenever they do smarten up. Is it just me, or has Bob Goodenow been getting killed in the public relations battle ever since their 24% pay cut proposal? I thought that might swing public opinion the players way, but since then I still haven't heard a lot of sympathy for them, and with his short, sharp answers I think Bob knows it too.

Wheel of Fortune on MSN messenger is fun... try it sometime.

Two good nights of hoops...

2005-02-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Tonight on the Score the Raps are taking on the Cavs and then the Sonics should demolish the Hornets. Tomorrow I get to see Duke/UNC. It's safe to guess where I'll be over the next two nights... and also safe to say that I'll spend the rest of today and all of tomorrow thinking about those games because I just don't have anything better to do.

The all-star reserves were named today and there isn't too much to complain about. I probably would have taken Miller over Ginobli, but you can't argue too much with Manu because he's played very well on the best team in the league. My biggest problem lies in the east, where (as much as I still hate him) Steve Francis was left out this year. He's had a great season on a resurgent Orlando team, but was left off in favor of Ben Wallace. Besides the fact that he was a big baby a couple of months ago, does a team that has Shaq, Z and JO really need Ben Wallace? In the West they're saying that Miller lost out because the voters made Amare a center (rightfully)... but in the east they take a second centre in Wallace plus a centre-capable PF in O'Neal and leave out Francis? Maybe cause Orlando already has Grant Hill there? Maybe because coaches hate Francis as much as I do? Even if that were true, I still think he deserves to be there (despite the big turnover numbers, he's got great numbers and is exciting to watch).

For tonight's big Sonics/Hornets tilt... well there's only one way this should go. However we all know that seems to be when the Sonics forget that they're actually good this year. Courtesy of the Stats Pimp (check out the Milt-O-Meter on the left Raptors fans), the Sonics are 2nd in the NBA in Offensive Efficiency (114.1 points per 100 possessions), and the Hornets are 26th in Defensive Efficiency (107.1 points allowed per 100 possessions). One problem... the Sonics are just as bad defensively. It should be a walk when you play the worst team in the league, but the Sonics like to make their collective lives (and those of their fans) difficult. One neat stat for Sonics fans (well technically two stats I guess), Antonio Daniels and Danny Fortson are #2 and #3 in the NBA individual offensive efficiency.

Seattle 112, New Orleans 105.

The Hawks will get 'em next year... won't they??

2005-02-07T10:20:00.000-05:00

So that was the Super Bowl... and it went pretty much as expected. The only thing that soured it was TO shoving everything I'd been saying back in my face. He was pretty amazing last night, I was completely wrong about it. That being said, I still don't like the Eagles and I'm glad the Patriots won. The Sports Guy is slowly and discreetly becoming what I was waiting for...

I'm just not sure how to react. After the Rams game in New Orleans, I was hugging random strangers, chugging hurricanes and singing TV theme songs in crowded bars. Three years later, I found myself sitting in a ballroom at the Patriots post-game party -- held at the Renaissance in St. Augustine -- quietly cutting into a piece of prime rib. What can you say? We won again. Nobody expected anything less."

You're right Bill, nobody expected anything less. The Patriots truly are the first dynasty of the 21st Century, because you can't win 3 of 4 SB's in the current economic system without a momentous effort. Without knowing what will happen during the offseason, do you really give anyone a chance to stop Philly from getting another shot next year? At least in the AFC chances are at least half (if not more) of the other 8 teams that finished 9-7 or better will be just as good if not better. Who are you scared of in the NFC? Maybe if the Falcons can host the NFC Championship... but I can't see them winning 13 or 14 games during the year. After that there just isn't a lot of teams striking fear in the hearts of opponents in that Conference... and if you're the Seahawks you're just used to other teams feeling safe in the knowledge that you'll end up blowing it in the end... again.

My tape blew out on Saturday night so I didn't get to watch Syracuse squeak by the Irish, but I did see some great hoops on Saturday afternoon. First off Ohio State looked great in continuing their March to Nowhere this year, and Michigan looked absolutely lost. Michigan State looked pretty good, but I was impressed with how well Iowa fought back in the second half after everything that happened with Pierce this week. My big attraction though was Duke, as I gota taste of them before their showdown with UNC on wednesday. Eric, I know you've been asking me about Redick... he's an amazing shooter. One of the few guys I've ever seen where every shot looks like it's going down out of his hand, and you're surprised when it doesn't. He can definitely change the flow of a game in an instant and can hit the NBA 3 with ease. That being said, he just didn't impress me as that big of a deal. I think he'd be a nice guy to have around for those days when he's feeling it... and a big detriment on those days that he's not. He launched *15* threes and hit 6. Not too bad, but coupled with 1-for-6 from inside the arc and the 7-for-21 afternoon doesn't look too great. He did have 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 turnovers... decent but not overwhelming numbers. When he drives to the bucket he can get to the line, and that's where he can really shine. But I don't think he wants to do that anymore than is necessary to give himself a bit of room to launch more 3's. More than half of his shots are 3's, but he is getting to the line more than he did last year. If he keeps it balanced, he may end up being better than Kyle Korver... if he doesn't, well hopefully he's quicker around a screen to get those shots off cause he won't be tall enough to fire with guys up on him.

Thank goodness it's almost over...

2005-02-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, and all that means to me is that we're only 2 days from the Super Bowl... and almost as important, only 2 days away from getting the "Super Hype" over with for another year. It is the biggest single day in North American sports, and so very deserving of the press coverage it gets. But as hard as this is to admit for someone who does little other than follow sports, I have avoided all mention of the Super Bowl this week. Only yesterday did I let myself be drawn into any football talk, and that was only to see Emmitt Smith say goodbye. Today I made my first venture into the media frenzy that is Super Bowl week, and that was only to read Bill Simmons from Jacksonville (talk about a selling job... for any Super Bowl other than this one). Even that was tough to look at in some parts because The Sports Guy can't get over trying to sell why we should like the team that keeps beating everyone. They really are the most likeable dynasty-in-the-making I've seen in my short time as a sports freak, but I can't help but keep waiting for Simmons to make the inevitable full-blown heel turn and become the equivalent of those Yankee fans he's always despised. Maybe it's from the same deep-seeded mental illness that always makes me want to see the bad guy win in movies, but I would love to see him snap after the Pats win on Sunday and declare his bond to Yankees fans in feeling that championships are now a birthright as a fan of the Patriots. Everyone would still read it because he's one of the best and funniest writers any of us will ever get to enjoy. He'd ride out the coming years as the likeable foil (the DX of Page 2), until finally a few years without a ring would see him turn his back on the cockiness and ruthlessness that overcame him through a seething column that would rip Yankee fans and all they stand for. The circle of life would then be complete... but for now I'll have to settle for him being smart and funny instead of the uber-heel I seem to crave.

That all being said, there is no way short of the Pats getting stuck in the Jacksonville traffic and missing the kickoff that Philly wins on Sunday. The newest NFL dynasty will take shape... TO will catch 2 passes for 15 yards, Westbrook will be beaten up, and the defense will hold up just enough to see them get murdered by Adam Vinatieri. Couple that with Brady making those two big deep throws that always come down complete, and I see it finishing somewhere around 26-16. Of course I know nothing, and am mostly rooting for what I described above so please don't listen to me. Unless I'm right. In that case I told you so.

I'm talking about the NFL to kill time because the NHL is still talking as I write this. They picked a great time to hold meetings late into the night in an attempt to save the season. I, for one, am pissed right off. I mean how long have they had to show this type of commitment? I didn't expect it to get solved right away, nor did I expect them to meet every day... but I can't shake the thought that after months of this crap, they've just now decided that it's time to make a good go of it? I love hockey and I miss hockey, but in my opinion that's a pretty big slap in the face to all the people that dish out their hard earned money so that these professionals have something to fight over in the first place. But I guess I didn't take mediation and negotiation in the third grade, where walking out if you didn't get what you wanted was a major bargaining ploy.

Now that I've vented my frustrations I'll leave the 3 of you that still read my ramblings to go off into the world in high spirits. This weekend looks like a prime one for me... 4 NCAA games tomorrow (including my first chances to see Duke, Michigan State and Syracuse... hooray for Canadian TV!), and then the biggie on Sunday. I also found out, as a special treat for NCAA Hoops fans in Canada (all 12 of us), The Score picked up UNC/Duke on Wednesday!!... and I just drooled all over my keyboard. Enjoy your Friday.

Old Mr. Sneeze, the miracle Cougs and college hoops outside this space

2005-01-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

Congrats to the Orioles, they have gone and gotten this year's version of Rafael Palmeiro (circa 2004)... an aging future hall of fame slugger that will probably put up mediocore numbers on a mediocore team. While they didn't give up much to get him, I'm slightly sad to see that Mike Fontenot is probably part of the package. He was a crowd favorite in Ottawa last year (the little guy with big hustle), and the few times I met him he struck me as a pretty nice guy. Hopefully as he grows as a player he'll get to see some time in Wrigley, and possibly become a nice fit for a National League team like the Cubs.

While the Huskies failed to take out Arizona this week, their little neighbours from Pullman pulled off the upset of the Pac-10 season, ending a 38-game losing streak to 'Zona in a 70-63 win on the road. My Mom and her fiancee are big Cougar fans (they used to live about 30 minutes north of WSU), and while football was always much larger on the radar, a win like this has got to feel pretty good. Although I'm sorta pissed it wasn't the Huskies, if anyone else had to take down the Wildcats I'm glad it was the most unhearalded team in the Conference.

While watching Kentucky-Arkansas yesterday I spent a good bit of time talking with my buddy Eric about the culture of NCAA Hoops, especially as it relates to Canadian College Basketball. I went to Carleton University where there is currently a Men's B-Ball mini-dynasty... and this year that team was thoroughly trounced by South Carolina at home. We were talking about a team of kids who love playing basketball playing against a team of kids who had enough talent to grow up thinking that they are meant to do nothing BUT play basketball. I've talked before about "The Last Amateurs" by John Feinstein, and it really does show a small dose of what it is to play College Ball in Canada... only here there is no prize like the chance to participate in the NCAA tournament. If you're into the lesser-knowns of NCAA hoops, check out the Patriot League Hoops Blog.

Oh and if you're a wanna-be stats nerd like I am... check out College Hoops by the Numbers, especially the stuff on offensive effectiveness per possesion, using the Utah game I just talked about as an example.

Return of the Karl

2005-01-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

George Karl is back in business. This time he has the task of steering the undoubtedly-talented-but-oh-so-mediocore-as-a-team Denver Nuggets back towards the playoffs. These aren't the same overachieving Denver Nuggets that handed the Sonics the most disappointing playoff loss I've ever witnessed in my short lifetime; these guys should be better. WAY better. K-Mart, Melo, Miller and Camby are pretty solid pieces... but this team is not in good shape. 17-25, 12.5 back of the Sonics in the Northwest and 6 out of a playoff spot. With the Western Conference seemingly leveling off this year, two things could happen: Denver could take advantage of the logjam of .500-ish teams and sneak into a low-seed, or the teams currently holding the 7 and 8 spots (the Lakers and Minnesota) could finally figure out that they should be better too... not to mention the surging (and still hated by yours truly) Grizzlies who are tied with them. I'm not a big fan of the Nuggs, but I'm interested to see what Karl can do with them. I think they improve, but only make the playoffs if Houston and the Lakers fall off the table.

I'll say it again: hockey's "secret" meetings are "secret" because they don't want anyone to know they aren't getting anywhere. And yes, part of me is trying to reverse jinx this whole deal, but there's no way this gets solved.

I don't get to talk soccer very much here, but a German referee involved in a match-fixing scandal has admitted his guilt. This somewhat small story concerning a crooked referee has now exploded into a country-wide investigation. Robert Hoyzer has been accused of placing bets on games he officiated, particularly one where a third division side defeated a top-flight team in the German Cup after two penalty-kicks and a red card (those who aren't familiar with European League set-ups, imagine a Single-A team beating a MLB team and you'll get the picture). The loss actually led to the losing team's manager losing his job as well. Apparently as of yet there is no ban on referees placing bets in Germany and until today the referees for a match were known 10 days in advance... that's just awesome for making money, I mean if you're into that sort of thing. I''m not, I'm unemployed remember? Maybe I should start fixing intramural games at Carleton... I could make enough to buy some more beer.

The OC is on tonight and apparently Marissa is getting "closer" to the hot girl bartender (aka Seth's ex). I am a big loser for liking the show, but I do. Sue me.

Carlos Delgado is now going to be swatting homers in Florida where he feels comfortable being closer to home and living in a community with a large latin-american population. I hope he still feels that way when they move to Vegas.

YES!! 2 weeks of talking about T.O.!! barf

2005-01-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay once again... internet problems kept me from getting into Blogger the past couple of days. I'm in today and lots happened over the weekend...

I was hoping for a New England-Atlanta Superbowl... but instead I get to hear about T.O. for the next two weeks. I don't think it matters if he's there or not, New England will continue to build it's legacy as one of the premier dynasties in NFL history. Aside from my irrational dislike for the Eagles (the only reason I can think of is they always seemed to stuff Tampa Bay), New England just knows how to win. No Secondary? No Star Receiver? Banged up Front 7? Nothing seems to faze these guys (except for that debacle against Miami). I think that the only way to beat them is to throw deep... and not once a quarter to keep them honest but rather early and often. T.O. would be the ideal foil in this plan, but with the questions of how much he'll play and how effective he'll be it might not be enough. The only Eagle I really enjoy is the People's Champ... who gets my award for best after the catch celebration. If T.O. makes it back, I worry that all the progress made by the Eagles receivers might be lost. Look for a lot of jamming of the Philly wideouts at the line (something Atlanta failed to do effectively) which might throw them off. For now I'll call 31-17 Pats, maybe 31-24 if T.O. plays a lot.

Before getting off football... I gotta say, poor Ben Roethlisberger. The guy is still a rookie... from the same class as Eli "piss-poor" Manning, and he's gotten ripped apart from a lot of people the last two weeks. Yes, he bombed against the Jets. Yes, he wasn't that much better against the Pats, but he wasn't any worse than Peyton "MVP" Manning has been the past few years against them. He's playing against probably the best tactical football mind of our generation... did you expect a miracle? The Pats capitalize on their chances, and they confound even the best offenses... Pittsburgh's offense isn't a juggernaut to begin with. Big Ben will be very good for a long time... but may have to wait out the lifespan of these Pats before he can take that next step, and even then it might finally be Peyton's turn. It sure was tough watching Hines Ward break down though... that guy is awesome.

In Hoops... the Baby Bulls may finally be growing up. 20-19 after last night's win to go above .500 for the first time in two years. I've liked the Bulls more post-Jordan than I did when he was still around because I have an abnormally large spot in my heart for the underdog. And well, that team was one heck of an underdog. It's fun to see a team win a game while Othella Harrington leads them in rebounds... if only because you know they must have done a lot of other things right.

Hockey is done. Anyone clinging on to hope, get over it. I'm pretty sure the owners will NOT come into this next meeting and say, "you know what, you guys totally have a point. This salary cap was pretty outrageous of us to propose... sorry for taking so long to come around, let's just go back to the way things have been the last 10 years."

Utah shot 80% in a win over Air Force last night. 80%!! Take away the 4-7 they shot from behind the arc and they shot an incredible 20-23 (87%). I can't even make 87% of uncontested layups... but I guess that's why I don't play college basketball. As a side note, from the free throw line they only shot 68%. As a completely unrelated side note, don't look now but UW is 16-2 and creeping into the top 10.

That's it for today... Sonics and Lakers are on the Score tonight so hopefully tomorrow I'll be running down a recap of the barrage of 3's I plan to see tonight.

Bits & Bites... or Nuts & Bolts...

2005-01-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

So here I am a couple of days later... still not a productive member of society. Eventually I will be... just not today.

For anyone who plans on watching Catwoman... please do. Do it for me. Do so with an open mind. It is without a doubt one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It's worth owning. It's really that bad... you have to see this movie. I will say no more.

Beer is getting too expensive... I don't want a case of Blue for 38 bucks. I'm unemployed! Looks like I'm going to be enjoying the champagne of beers for a while.

EA and ESPN reached a 15-year agreement in the video game industry. Now EA will have ESPN commentators and likenesses "in the game." If this makes the games better then it's a great thing... if the lack of competition causes a slowly developing product and inflated prices... well I guess I'll be playing the 2004-2005 games for a while.

I need a haircut.

My fantasy teams are tanking. 4 of my top 6 NBA draft picks have been out for extended periods (Kobe, RJeff, Magloire and Crawford) and I've dropped out of the top half of the standings. At least I have Lee Nailon putting up 30 and 10.

Trevor Linden is a trooper and a god-like figure to many from Vancouver, but I don't think he's going to save this hockey season (sorry Trev). I do hope something gets settled... and that instead of a season they just drop everyone into a playoff bracket and create the most unique championship tournament ever seen.

Maybe Rob Babcock knew what he was doing... the Raptors are 7-2 in January. They're almost as good as the Chicago Bulls!

I hope I have something better to tell you 3 readers tomorrow. Maybe the champagne of beers will help...

What's this, something new???

2005-01-17T09:11:00.000-05:00

After a prolonged absence that has probably cut my readership from 3 to.... well I guess 2 or 1... I'm finally back. I don't know where to begin or what to say. My trip home to see my family and friends was fantastic... more than I ever could have asked for. But when I came back to Ottawa I caught some kind of superbug that had me stuck in bed for quite a while. If I had a real job that might have worried me, but because I'm a slacker things weren't so bad. I did have a big job interview last week at a law firm, so I may become a productive member of society yet.

Since I've been gone there has been a lot of action left unmentioned by yours truly... not that my opinion matters but I like to rattle it off anyways. First off, I know it's old news and they aren't even in the playoffs anymore, but that whole Randy Moss thing was unbelievable. It's a good thing the United States are humming along so perfectly as a nation that a man *pretending* to moon a group of raucus fans in the midst of an emotional playoff game qualifies as disgusting. Being a Canadian, there are many things that bug me about our neighbours to the South, but there are also many things that I admire. Their hypocrisy in what qualifies as "morally decent" is definitely not one of those things.

Now that that's out of my system... on to the more important business at hand. The NFL provided some exciting action this weekend, including the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS folding before the might of a shaky rookie quarterback, the Falcons carving through the Rams like a hot knife through butter, the Eagles setting up for their annual NFC Championship game loss, and finally the continuing failure of the NFL's golden boy against the NFL's best TEAM. But beyond that, the most exciting game of the weekend had to be a college basketball game between two of the most mediocore teams in the country.

Let's face it, Indiana and Purdue isn't exactly a marquee matchup this year with both looking already doomed to a season of playing out the string... but it was on The Score, and it was one of the wildest finishes I have ever seen. Forget Indiana making a big stop at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime... after a game of sloppy offensive play, OT all of a sudden saw these juggernauts trading amazing plays... double clutch three's and strong finishes inside led the game to once again be tied with 5 seconds to play in the first OT. Bracey Wright lost the ball on a drive to the bucket and after the ball was recovered by Indiana a foul was given with 0.9 seconds remaining. First free throw... good. Miss the second and the game is essentially over... but that one is good too. Purdue (with no timeouts) hurl a bomb from their own baseline which is caught in the key and put back up and in for the apparent game tying score! But wait... after further review the basket looks like it won't count as time expired just before the shot was off. Instead of Indiana piling on the court in celebration, it looks as though Purdue is lining up for a free throw... the video showed a foul as the shot was going up at 0.2 seconds... meaning the shot counts AND they have a free throw to win. Of course, they miss. Another overtime later, Indiana survives a last second three point attempt by Purdue and escape with a 75-73 2OT win in what should hold up as one of the wildest finishes of 2005.

Besides watching far too many Big Ten College Hoops games and the excitement of NFL divisional playoff weekend, we've been hearing here about a fantastic NBA trade rumor. Apparently stated on TNT (which I never get to see but I miss cause their NBA crew is fantastic), the Raptors would send Jalen Rose to the Knicks and Donyell Marshall to the Timberwolves who would also get Eddie Jones in return for sending Spree to the Heat... and for this the Raps would land... Penny Hardaway?!? It just goes to show Toronto fans that if you want something bad enough and your heart is pure that miracles can happen... except that it's not 1995 anymore. Is there any way I can force this trade to actually happen?? Carrying 'Zo and Penny would be fantastic... maybe they could follow up with luring Glen Rice north. Of course, there is no way this trade ever happens... even Rob Babcock isn't that dumb... right??

Heading Home...

2004-12-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

So I've managed to get myself a cheap flight back to Vancouver for Christmas this week. Pretty exciting to be going home for the first time in a year, but I will really miss my annual trip to the Garage to see the Canucks. With everything that has happened lately between the NHL and the Player's Association I may be back this time next year and still be missing hockey. Some bits from the few days I was away...

Brandon Roy returned to help the Huskies beat NC State 68-64 on the weekend. Needless to say this is a huge, huge win despite meaning relatively little in the grand sheme of things. Andy Katz calls them the favorite in the Pac-10 with Roy healthy. My concern is the focus of the article on how Roy frustrated Nate Robinson in practice (acting as Julius Hodge) with his length... and how Hodge still proceeded to shut Robinson down for the most part. Robinson will have to produce even against longer, tougher defensive matchups for this team to go deep in the tournament this year.
The Seahawks looked terrible... again. And yes, they still lead the NFC West.
Vince Carter was dealt for (no offense to the Williamses) a whole lot of nothing. Yes, they get two picks. Yes, if they can dump 'Zo they will have some cap room. Yes, they get two guys who will play hard. But the picks may not even end up being lottery picks, the cap room will be useless if no one wants to come to Toronto, and two guys who play hard will not replace a guy with VC's talent (as much as I am glad to see him gone because I was sick of the pouty face).
I managed to parlay two Sweet-16 appearances with Navy into a job with TCU in my CH2K5 game. Needless to say my talent pool is much stronger, but so is my competition. I can't tell you how thoroughly addicting this game is to me. However, the Xbox has a bug that makes it impossible to import my draft class into NBA2K5 without a patch that is available on Xbox live (which I don't have). If any of you, my 3 loyal readers, have an idea as to how to get around this problem I would love to hear it.
I'm still not ready to write about Adrian Beltre. With rumors of Odalis Perez possibly on his way as well, my head might explode. On top of that, Oakland is selling off their starters, which gives the M's some light in the West to chase down the Angels. However, I will never discount the A's... and I don't doubt that even if they miss the playoffs for the next year or two, they will right there again after that with all their young talent.

Hopefully I'll make it back before my trip out West, but if not I hope you all have a Merry Christmas (yes all 3 of you). Enjoy the Holidays...

A heck of a lot of money...

2004-12-16T07:48:00.000-05:00

Anyone who was watching the Raptors/Timberwolves game last night was treated to an unbelievable final few minutes. After Matt Bonner got tossed (and we listened to Chuck and Leo complain about it), the Raps played some of the best basketball I'd seen them play in years. The team was fired up, the crowd was fired up (an even bigger surprise), and then as they pulled away, the Raps looked as if they almost liked each other. Almost.

EA Sports got their asses handed to them this year. Madden has been the gold standard of sports games for years, but this year ESPN and Sega made a product that I will cautiously call "just as good," and then sold it for 30 bucks less. EA's response? To make a renewed commitment to creating THE BEST football game possible? Nope. They decide to pull a Microsoft and monopolize the market. That's right, for those who haven't already read about this, EA has exclusive rights to the NFL and its players next year. This means that any other football video game will be without those rights and thus, without the players names. That makes it pretty tough to sell any sports game, let alone one in direct competition with Madden. My response? If ESPN and Sega make another football game next year and spend as much time improving as they did this year, I'll buy it.

Finally, Richie Sexson and his torn apart left shoulder are now property of the Seattle Mariners at the cost of $50-million dollars. What can I say about this? I can definitely say that he's from Washington... and well, that's a lot of money. Actually, M's Chariman Howard Lincoln called it "a heck of a lot of money." And now he's going to play left field? Awesome.

Maybe he was better off...

2004-12-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

Remember me hoping that Chris Chandler would pull out one good final game? Well the good news is that he was 16 of 29... the bad news is that almost half of the incompletions went for interceptions. Poor poor Chris Chandler. At least the Seahawks woke up (finally) and took back the division lead. But if you saw that game (and I was lucky enough to get them out here), you saw a weird final drive.

With 40 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Seattle guarded the sidelines as tight as possible and dropped their deep coverage about 40 yards. That left the biggest hole in the middle I've ever seen. Smart enough in theory, except that two plays later Minnesota had the ball inside the Seattle 30 and with time for one last shot. On top of that, Seattle dropped their defense to the goaline believing that they could step up and stop any 20 yards completions before the receiver got to the endzone. So in what was one of the strangest plays I've ever seen, Culpepper apparently gets sacked by Antonion Cochrane. As he's going down, the defense drives forward to stop any of the shorter routes, leaving Jermaine Wiggins alone towards the back of the endzone. Culpepper is never ruled down, and if Wiggins holds on the Seahawks lose yet another unbelievable finish. For some reason the football gods decided that Seattle fans had had enough of that over the past two years, the ball slipped through Wiggins fingers and Seattle managed to reclaim top spot in the NFC West. With the Jets and Atlanta sandwiching a winnable game at home against Arizona, the Seahwaks now have to prove that they deserve it.

A few quick notes:

Corey Koskie looks to be heading back to Canada to play for the Blue Jays... always liked him as a player (and as a Canuck), but the Jays will need much more to do anything in the AL East.
Gary Payton (21 points) and the Celtics did in the Sonics for the second time this season. But they can't seem to beat anyone else. Maybe the Supes should play San Antonio more often.
Tyrone Willingham is the new coach of UW's football program, making Washington the only 1-A program with black head coaches in the two major sports. The Huskies are a mess, but this looks like a great move.
Finally the big news: Richie Sexson looks set to become a Mariner. Jeff Shaw over at Mariner Musings sees it as a horrible move, and he's not alone. Everyone wanted the M's to make a move, but it seems that this wasn't what they had in mind. For me... well I'll wait to see how much he costs before deciding how horrific it is.

I'm very happy to see that Chris managed to outlast the 6 women and become the Sole Survivor... but was it just me, or was he possibly the least popular winner yet? Jeff wouldn't even talk to him, and when he mentioned him it was always a rip. And Julie came off holding way to big of a grudge towards him. Either way, I'm still a sucker for Survivor finales.

They have to lose sometime....

2004-12-12T10:44:00.001-05:00

I wasn't planning on writing until later, but this has got to be said. I'm watching ESPN's Sports Reporters this morning (as I always do on Sundays) and something hit me. Reporters should not make predictions. Forget about the fact that the people who are supposed to tell us what happened are trying to tell us what's going to happen. Forget about the fact that most people have their own opinions anyways and so the "expert" predictions are pretty meaningless. Concentrate only on the fact that they are just plain bad.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 11-1. They beat the World Champions handily, and then gave it to the clear-cut top team in the NFC. So today on the Sports Reporters, Michael Kay (of the YES Network) hits us all with a shocker: his "sources" tell him that today's game with the Jets is the best chance for Pittsburgh to lose a game (crazy that the Jets have the best record of the Steelers last 4 opponents but whatever). Of course because of this he figures Pittsburgh will win, but that's another story. To me, simply telling someone that a team is set up to lose for no apparent reason is not good enough.

Since beating Philly, I've listened to 4 weeks of garbage about the Steelers. They played Cleveland after Philly in the classic "trap game." It's not a classic "trap game," there's no such thing! It's the biggest cop out a "sports reporter" can make! If the favorite wins, well they were supposed to. But if they lose... look out world because *I* predicted their downfall! After that they played Cincy in the classic trap game, part deux. Since they were in the middle of a 3 game stretch against bad teams, and playing a Cincy team that would be fired up (like last year when they took out unbeaten KC), this was the game the Steelers would lose. Not so much. Then came Washington in the game where the great all-around team plays a team with one great part (defense) and one awful part (offense), and so if that awful part turns it around... look out Steelers! Of course they didn't turn it around, and the Steelers kept on winning. Which brings us to last week. Big Ben starting in the bright lights of Sunday night against a good team with another great defense... well surely this was the time they would lose. But they didn't. Not only did they win, they won on a clutch final drive.

The next time you hear someone talking upset, please remember that it's much easier to be wrong in a "trap game." Remember that upsets make for sexier picks... and most of all remember that sports reporters can often be full of crap. Oh but guess what? My "sources" are telling me that New England is one heck of a team too, but with Carson Palmer really turning things around there are signs pointing to that big upset today! But if it isn't today, at least they have a classic trap game with Miami next week... eventually they'll lose, and I'll be the guy that told you so. At least I would be if I wanted to be full of it too.

A future worth fighting for?

2004-12-10T16:27:00.000-05:00

For the first time in a long time, people (in Canada) are talking hockey again. I'm pretty sure the majority of the American public cares a lot less about hockey than they do about the next episode of the Apprentice (yes, it apparently does qualify for front page news on CNN.com... and yes, I can read the news). The Players Association have come up with heck of a proposal in their eyes, but will everyone else see it that way? You can see a handy breakdown of the main points at TSN.ca, but the real point here is how the fans (the big revenue source these two titans are trying to corral) see this in the long run.

Let's get the one major certainty out of the way. If Bettman and Co. decide on Tuesday that they have to have a hard cap, the season will be lost. Now the problem for the Owners is that up to this point they have been the side that most people sympathize with. In fact, a pretty good majority of people I've talked to (or listened to on the radio or watched on TV) think that salaries have escalated to a point where it's bad for competition in the league, and more importantly bad for the fans who cannot afford to keep up with the associated rising costs.

So does this proposal by the players represent enough of a shift that history would remember the Owners as the reason why there was no hockey this year? It's half a billion dollars right off the bat. That's one heck of a shift. But the real key for the players here was that they have made the hard stance on a salary cap much more difficult for Bettman and the Owners. Obviously the salary rollback is by no means permanent, and agents will probably be able to manipulate the newly restructured market, but it's still a huge cash boon for the Owners. If they throw that away by demanding this long term linkage of revenues to salaries, the future strength they seek may be undone by the loss of many many present fans. Most people still understand their need for that linkage, but they also see that this proposal gets hockey back NOW with the possibility of building towards a better league in the future. If this season is completely lost, the NHL as we know it will be as well. This isn't baseball in America, and the process of rebuilding a relationship with the fans will not be sped up by a magical home run chase or an ironman streak.

It's somewhat of a stretch to compare the 1994 MLB season with the current NHL situation, but there is one eery parallel that I can't stop thinking about. I was at the final Expos homegame this year. I had never been to one before, so it was a very bittersweet experience. The emotion I saw pouring out that night made me really question a lot of the business side of sports I've spent much of my life following. It's tough to say that one thing was the main cause of the Expos' demise, but losing what was an apparent lock for a playoff berth and a very real possibility at a World Series was something that Montreal never recovered from. The strike crippled baseball in Canada. Now with the Expos gone and the AAA Edmonton Trappers moved to Texas to become the Round Rock Express, there are 3 recognized professional baseball teams in Canada: The Toronto Blue Jays, the beloved (and rumored to be moving as well) AAA Ottawa Lynx, and the Single-A (formerly AAA) Vancouver Canadians.

The point is, while baseball in Canada may not be the same as hockey in (most of) the US, it may be much more similar than people think. There were 2 MLB teams in Canada when the 1994 strike hit, one is now gone and the other is not exactly prospering. In addition, Minor League Baseball is all but an afterthought in this country. During the current lockout, there are 24 NHL teams in the United States. While some were very strong and will most likely continue to be whenever the league resumes, many are not. Even once strong franchises were already declining... the Chicago Blackhawks were outdrawn by the AHL Chicago Wolves on the same night last season! If it can happen in Chicago, what happens in all these cities where the NHL was never established like the Blackhawks were in the first place?

The lowest-ranked Canadian team in NHL home attendance last year was Calgary (16th), and Ottawa had the lowest percent of capacity per home game among Canadian teams (96.0%). But no one really worries about hockey in Canada, the fans most likely will come back as soon as the first puck is dropped. However, the 14 worst teams in total attendance were American, as were the 16 worst in percentage of capacity per home game. While no one expects all of these 14 to 16 teams to be doomed by this lockout, how many can be reasonably expected to survive? 12? 10? Half? If and when these teams dissolve, what does that do to the league? What happens to the chunk of players who eventually find themselves without a National Hockey League paycheck? What happens to a league that spent so many resources reaching out to the lucrative American market?

I guess the real question is, will there even be a future for many teams to secure if this season is lost for good? Or worse yet for hockey fans in those cities, is the damage already beyond repair?

Taking Notice

2004-12-08T16:38:00.000-05:00

The Sonics are going National... check out Eric Neel today.

The Huskies moved to 6-1 last night by routing the Aztecs. Tre Simmons and Nate Robinson combined for 47 points and went 8-14 from beyond the arc. The loss to Gonzaga shows that they aren't a power yet, but this team must be fun to watch.

Chris Chandler Lives!

2004-12-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

It's official... less than a week in and CH2K5 is my favorite video game of all time. The Navy Midshipmen were led by Patriot Conference POY Kueth Blanks to a 24-8 record... making the Sweet 16 of the NCAA's as a 15-seed after beating #2 Washington and #10 Wisconsin. After losing to #3 UNC (who went on to win it all), a strong recruiting class came in and currently have them sitting at 7-1 in year two (losing only to #3 Syracuse badly). Not that anyone cares about the game as much as I do... but BUY IT NOW! In real life the Huskies are 5-1, and Nate Robinson is a machine. Facing 4-1 San Diego State at home tonight... but the big game is the 19th at home to Julius Hodge and unbeaten NC State.

Last night the Seahawks lost. Again. Apparently no one wants to win the NFL's version of the Atlantic Division. The one bright spot if the Seahawks do continue to falter (and I see no reason why it will stop) is Chris Chandler. This may be the last start of his career next week, and it's a chance to push the Rams into the divisional lead (and with it a home playoff game). I have no reason to have any love for this guy, except I just loved watching him play during his Atlanta Falcons days. Every time I watched him I marveled at some of the precision and just plain beauty of his passes. Here's hoping he puts on one more great show this weekend (but that the Seabags pull it together and finish atop the division by the end of the season).

The Sonics are 15-3. I cannot describe how amazing this is for someone my age. I never saw the Champions but my love for basketball was shaped by Kemp, Detlef, Nate and Co., and since then there hasn't been a lot to cheer about. Now they're finally good again and I can't watch them. In the year that there's not even Canucks hockey to compete with, and I'm out of school! At least I get to watch the Raptors suck all the time.

College Hoops 2K5. Get it NOW!

2004-12-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

The title really says it all. My girlfriend (yes the best ever) bought me ESPN College Hoops 2K5 for Xbox on thursday and then left for Toronto on Friday morning... so you can see why I was not here to write yesterday!

First about the game. It's wicked. There's no other way to describe it. For $30 Canadian. Anyone who likes College Ball should get it NOW. I grew up playing Coach K College Basketball for Sega Genesis... so you can see the step up here. It has every Division 1 team, plays a lot like ESPN NBA 2K5 (even a little better), and has Mike Patrick on play-by-play (who is one of my all-time favorites... I don't know why, he's not the most knowledgable or in-depth but to me he makes the game seem better). There's two legacy modes... an open one where you choose any school, or a career mode where you create a coach and take control of one of a handful of awful, awful programs. I took Navy (because I'm reading 'The Last Amateurs' by John Feinstein that is a year in the life of the Patriot League), and currently have a 10-3 record (2-0 in conference play after a blowout win at Lafayette and a squeaker at home against American). I went to Indiana and got hammered by 40, so it's not one of those "I always beat the computer no matter who I am playing as or against" games... and I'm only at 'Starter' difficulty. Anyways enough about the game for now... though you will hear more about it as the Midshipmen sail forth to glory.

Some random thoughts from the past couple of days...

Bonds. Steroids. No one is really suprised, but no one can stop talking about it. I say no one can make a big deal about this when there is such a horrible "system" in place to curtail their use... to me it's implicit acceptance that borders on ridiculous. They're basically saying that if you're willing to possibly ruin your life after baseball, you can be a star for as long as you want to be. In that case, it can't be a big deal when it comes out that some players have been using steroids, knowingly or not.
Rafer Alston might be leaving the Raptors... and leaving my fantasy teams mired in obscurity. He's not a star, but he's been a great fantasy PG and should make the Raps a better team. But if things aren't working at least they have Milt Palacio (hello high lottery pick!).
The NFC is just bad. The Seahawks don't deserve a playoff spot unless they turn things around fast... everyone's favorite NFC pick in the preseason is now a laughing stock (see Bill Simmons). But they could probably go 1-4 the rest of the way and still have a shot at the playoffs... even at winning their division the way the Rams are playing. Awful.
Dirk vs. T-Mac. Didn't see it, but Dirk Nowitzki is making a big leap this year. For a team with so many "scorers" they sure do rely a lot on one guy. He'll get them to 50 wins but they'll do nothing in the playoffs. And as for T-Mac... 48-9-9 in a loss?! I didn't know the Magic moved to Houston. What happens when the Rockets play the Hawks? T-Mac and Walker cancel each other out as the "big stats on a team that doesn't win" and the game ends in a tie? Is Yao Ming even progressing? (17.5/9.0/1.5 in 2003-04, 17.6/8.0/1.1 this year)
Old Navy commercials make me want to stab myself in the neck. No surprise there.
I hope the top three College Football teams win today... I love watching the yearly BCS fiasco. That's how you know it's almost Christmas.
Finally, I hope Jeff George plays this season and plays well. Don't ask me why.

I'm out... it's back to CH2K5... if you haven't already left to go buy it, do it NOW!

Overrated... or just misunderstood?

2004-12-02T19:31:00.000-05:00

So the Raps got destroyed in the third quarter, leaving me to watch Chuck Swirsky and Leo Rautins try to awkwardly cover an entire quarter of meaningless basketball with even more meaningless chatter. At least I found out why Stacy Augmon wears jersey #2, and saw many panned shots of Dwight Howard as one of our esteemed commentators yelled out "that's a MAN! You wouldn't think he's 18, that's a MAN right there!" Yes, Howard is friggin huge for an 18 year-old kid. I get it. As a player he will be a star though. Defensively he's weak on the outside if a quicker guy is facing the basket (or even away from the basket), but he's a good shot blocker and coupled with Cato they never let anyone have easy looks in the lane. Offensively he's still limited, but if he catches deep enough he's about as good as anyone I've seen at getting to the rim. The real talent (obviously) so far is rebounding. The kid knows where to be and he works as hard as anyone to get to the ball. Maybe it was just the Raptors lackluster interior effort but he looked like the man among boys many times last night.

My Sonics beat the the Jazz 129-119 in overtime to push their record to 14-3. Just keep believing... Allen had 38 (17 from the line) and Ridnour dished 10 more assists. I really wish I could watch that kid more... he was fun to watch at Oregon, so maybe he's one of the few who's actually making that jump from stud College PG to solid NBA PG. The other Sonics PG, the immortal Antonio Daniels (who went from draft bust with the beloved Vancouver Grizzlies to crucial role player for the Spurs and Sonics), my buddy Eric let me know that as of that game Antonio Daniels was leading the league in fourth-quarter minutes. Don't forget this team is now 14-3. With Antonio Daniels running the floor at crunch time. Maybe they are this good... I mean if Eric Neel can believe it, then why can't I!

As far as Eric goes (my buddy, not Eric Neel), he sent me an interesting note after rejecting a trade of Steve Francis and Gerald Wallace for KG (I don't blame him).

I've got a new basketball theory/conspiracy for you. I think maybe the PG is the most overrated position in sports. As long as the guy is solid (even if they're Charlie Ward) and dosen't screw up too much, no problem. No PG but Isiah has even come close to leading a team to a title (don't hold your breath on Marbury) and if the PG gets 40, no one else is involved and the team often loses. The NBA is a big man's game.

Fine. So why does everyone speak so highly about point men (point gods)? Well, it's because 98% of us, if we were in the NBA, we would have to run the point, and so everyone tells themselves that the point guard is the greatest and blah blah blah. We all think we could have been point guards so we made up this story that they're the most important piece of every basketball team. Having Kidd or Nash clearly makes a big difference, but even those guys move around a lot and Garnett and Duncan stay put, and their coaches will never lose their jobs.

I think that Charlie Ward might be stretching it a bit, but I think he's definitely got a point. I mean, I'm 5'9 on a good day. I played the two in High School because I had range, but I was playing against other short white kids... in Canada. For sure, most of us can only imagine being Steve Nash (nationality aside), and not Kobe Bryant (infedelity aside) or Shaquille O'Neal (rapping talent aside). I think a great Point Guard can lead a team, and like any other player can take a game on his back either with clutch shots or smooth passes. However, teams win series... and since Jordan left the Bulls there hasn't been someone who can carry a team night in and night out to win on his own. In that way the PG may be overrated. Billups won a title and a finals MVP award averaging about 21 points and 5 assists. Would a "better" PG have been just as good, or was Billups the right guy in the right system? Think I can go back in time and force Joe Dumars to make a trade for Marbury to see how things played out? Yeah... me neither.

Shooting the lights out...

2004-12-01T20:26:00.000-05:00

Another night, some more NBA action on The Score. A special doubleheader tonight with the Raps/Magic followed by the Cavs and Suns. After a day of ridiculous snowfall here in Ottawa, it pained me to see people in sundresses and shorts entering the TD Waterhouse Centre where they were greeted by the Orlando Magic Dancers. I live in the wrong city.

Tonights game starts with some video of the Raptors hitting each other with some hand-shakes that came straight out of my grade 5 gym class, but maybe they're starting to like each other.
Leo Rautins informs us that Vince Carter has a bruised ego... I mean heel.
They show GM Rob Babcock in the stands modelling his "I drafted Rafael Araujo 8th?!?" face.
Watching the Magic pains me, because Steve Francis is going off. I will always hate him for the pouty face at the 1999 Draft, but having him on my fantasy team (strictly a business decision) makes me hate myself instead.
At a commercial break I stumble over to TSN... and I have to say, how sad is it that the TSN hype machine has been rolling at full force this week for the AHL?! I mean it's Stajan vs. Spezza! I love hockey too, but this has got to stop.
After settling for jumpers for most of the 2nd quarter, the Raps fall behind by 15... only to make it a 67-60 game at the half. The Magic shot a ridiculous 66%. Francis couldn't miss. Turkoglu hit everything. Dwight Howard dunked on people. Grant Hill strolled through the lane a few times. But yet it's only a 7-point game. That's passion and desire on the defensive end... and some people wonder why the Pacers keep winning with a team full of nobodies that work hard.

That's it for now... it's time for some Xbox, and the second half.

Heating up

2004-12-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

So I watched the Raptors and Heat last night on the Score. Yes I have somewhat adopted the Raptors because they're on free TV all the time, while my Sonics keep winning on some channel I can't afford (although a fourth-quarter collapse last night saw their record drop to 13-3). The Raptors meanwhile, were 6-9 (1-7 on the road, losers of their last 6 there). They were in Miami to face the 10-5 Heat with Shaq looking lively and Dwyane Wade being Dwyane Wade. So of course the Raptors pulled out a 94-92 win, despite shooting only 40% from the field and being outrebounded (again). The weirdest part is, every time it looked like the Heat were finally going to take over, someone for the Raps hit a shot. And I mean everyone... Alston, Rose, Marshall... even the "bust-of-the-draft" Araujo hit 4 free throws to double his season point total! Wade played superhero again, and nearly hit an off-balance three at the end to pull it out, but finally missed. Throughout the fourth quarter he was deadly, especially with the Raps up 92-87, when he calmly jacked a three and then after a turnover came straight down and popped an 18-footer. Again, the Raps should have folded as per the agreement they've seemed to have with teams like Washington and New York, but instead Jalen Rose coralled a long rebound, hit two free throws, and then Vince Carter altered two shots on the final possession. Vince Carter. Playing Defense. After struggling all game and only scoring 5 points. I think monkees just flew out of my butt.

Sonics Update: Lose 100-94 to Portland, now 13-3 (lead Minny by 3.5 in the Northwest)

My Box Score Positives (good stuff I see in the stats, because I can't see them live unless they're playing Toronto)

Ray Allen hit the free throw line 10 times (making all 10). He's money at the line, so if he's driving and drawing fouls, the points are almost guaranteed.
Rashard Lewis shot 60%. He really opens things up when he's hot.
Reggie Evans had another 10 boards, probably the most unheralded starter at Power Forward in the league, but is doing everything they need him to do (even chipped in 10 points for the D-D)
Luke "I miss my curly locks" Ridnour dished 10 assists in 32 minutes... if he grows into a legitimate point guard this team may really be good.

My Box Score Negatives

Vladimir Radmanovich was 1-6 from the field. Streaky. Very Streaky.
Evans had four turnovers. Like those rebounds, but maybe he shouldn't have the ball in his hands that much or that long.
The team shot 24% from beyond the arc. They have to shoot the three well, that's just their thing.

In keeping with the tone from yesterday, Gerald Wallace is really starting to bug me. When I landed him fairly late in the draft I thought I had stolen a gem... so did everyone else in the league. Now I can't find anyone who would want him. Including me. 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist last night... he's playing like Jason Kapono! But maybe soon Kapono will be playing Wallace's minutes if he doesn't pick it up. Then at least I'd feel comfortable dropping him. Instead I'll hold out hope all year and watch him cripple me at the Small Forward spot.

Fantasyland

2004-11-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

I figure you can tell a lot about someone by looking at their fantasy teams. Some guys love to buy into the heavily hyped players, some guys are all about the rookies. Some pile up with proven-but-over-the-hill vets, others play for potential. Some guys completely boggle my mind... they're usually the ones that end up winning! I LOVE fantasy sports, as you might have guessed from the link to rotoworld just off to my left there. Other than video games and/or computer sims, it's really the closest any of us will ever get to play GM... and if you're a sportsgeek like me, that's probably all you've ever wanted to be.

This year there have been some mixed results for me. It started after Christmas, when I was over 100 points behind in my hockey pool (the leader called it the century club). Needless to say I was somewhat angry, and channeled it in a useful way (no, not by damaging his car... although...) I ended up winning the thing, carried by some stellar goaltending down the stretch. This luck carried into my baseball roto league in the summer, which was nothing short of a triumphant success, culminating in a 41.5 point win in a 11-team league. It might have had something to do with me being obsessed with baseball while everyone else was just kinda there for the hell of it, but victory nonetheless! This was by far the best team I have ever put together, and unfortunately probably the best I ever will put together!

Which leads to the present, where football and basketball (2 of each) dominate my time. I'm 1st and 4th in football and 1st and 5th in the basketball... which all in all isn't too bad. Of course the names of my basketball teams are I Hate Stu Jackson, in honor of the man who helped bring down the Grizzlies from the inside. However, I am sad to say that despite my moral objections I did pick Steve Francis (Stu's sidekick in the Grizzlies demise) for the team that's in fifth, so maybe I deserve whatever I get there. Of course, that team's centers are Jamaal Magloire (gone for a month), Nene (huge bust) and Brendan Haywood (sadly the only one doing anything right).

I'm the kind of guy who picks potential, so sometimes things don't always go your way. You find some diamonds (Rafer Alston), you hit some busts (the already discussed Nene). I mean I knew that he wouldn't start ahead of Camby and KMart, but then he's hurt for 3 weeks (including sitting while Camby was out... big no-no Nene) and comes back to average 5.4 points and 3.4 boards in the five he's been back? Nazr Mohammed is averaging 15 and 10 in the same span. 15 and 10! It'll getcha every time.

It all has to start somewhere...

2004-11-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

Anyone who is reading this probably knows me personally, but just in case someone got lost while they were looking for something that would actually be worth reading, I'll give a brief introduction.

I'm originally from Vancouver, BC... which goes a long way in explaining my allegiances to the Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners and Seattle Supersonics. Yes, being a sportsfan in the Northwest can be a difficult proposition, especially when you're Canadian. While the Sonics are redeeming my faith slightly so far this year (13-2), it comes as a small consolation because my heart will always be with the Vancouver Grizzlies. But instead of getting to enjoy them FINALLY get better, I got to see them move to Memphis. So after invoking a condition in Bill Simmons' Rules of Fandom (unfortunately you have to have ESPN Insider to read it), I chose to rejoin the NBA scene and landed with the Sonics mainly because they were my team before the Grizzlies got there.

As far as personally, I moved out to Ottawa to study at Carleton University, from which I graduated in order to work... nowhere! Well, I did get to spend a season working for the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx (Baltimore's farm team), which was a definite rush. Minor League Baseball can be a rough sell anywhere (especially Canada), but the people I met there were among the best I may ever meet and they will always have my respect. So of course I have some interest in the Orioles because it's always nice to see someone make the majors after playing in your backyard.

Speaking of backyards, I grew up playing basketball after school every day with Jeff Francis, the Minor League Player of the Year. You will hear a lot about him here, because he's one of those guys who always had his head on straight, and deserves everything he accomplishes. You'll also hear a lot about Brandon Segal, a winger playing for the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville's farm team) in the AHL, who has 7 points (6-1-7) in 15 games this year. I grew up with the Segal's as well, and Brandon is a fantastic kid. In his first year in Milwaukee they won the Calder Cup, so I can only hope that kind of success follows Brandon for the rest of his career.

I can only imagine that if you're still reading you either have less to do than I do, or (hopefully) you're enjoying it. If that's the case, well I hope you'll be back again.