"My" Blue Heaven

It was a great weekend for anyone in the chalk business, as the tournament's four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four for the first time. This sets-up what could be the best semifinal in sports history. UNC handled a feisty bunch of Cardinals from Louisville through the play of the country's best player, Tyler Hansbrough. His 28 and 13 single-handedly eliminated Rick Pitino. His ability to consistently hit an 18-foot jumper has been somewhat overlooked this season, but all have taken notice after he knocked down one after another on Saturday. This is the 17th trip to the Final Four for UNC, second to only UCLA's 18. The Bruins were impressive in dismantling an overachieving Xavier. Kevin Love continues to impress and a dream match-up of UNC-UCLA seems like a real possibility at this point. Memphis continues to advance, despite their poor free throw shooting. It will be interesting to see if this catches up with them against UCLA. Kansas squeaked out a win against the Davidson Stephen Currys. One thing is certain, that guy can shoot, but he needs someone else to create space for him. If all four top seeds were going to advance, this would be the year, as I have consistently pointed out here, there is a chasm between these teams and the rest of the field. My projection today is the same as it was at the end of the regualr season, UNC over UCLA in a great game.

Postseaon Predictions: Channeling Sparky

Rarely do the two best teams make it to the World Series, but this year will be the exception. Here are regular season awards and playoff predictions that are sure to be wrong:

NL MVP-Johan Santana
AL MVP-Vladimir Guerrero

NL Cy Young-Johan Santana
AL Cy Young-Eric Bedard

NL Divsional Playoffs:
New York Mets over Chicago Cubs
Atlanta Braves over San Diego Padres

AL Divisional Playoffs:
Detroit Tigers over New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox over Anaheim Angels

NL Championship Series:
New York Mets over Atlanta Braves

AL Championship Series:
Detroit Tigers over Boston Red Sox

World Series:
Detroit Tigers over New York Mets

For a different interpretation, go here.

AL Preview: Tiger Uppercut!!

The AL is almost as loaded as the NBA's Western Conference. There will be teams left out of the playoffs that could potentially win the World Series. There are two stories of note in the AL from the offseason. First, is the lack of action taken by the Yankees. They did not overpay for Santana or any other player, which is a rarity. They are betting that the young arms of Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain and the bats of Cabrera and Cano are the future of this franchise. Like Bob Marley said, "Time will tell. Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell." Where Yankee fans' experience ends up in the next decade rides on the decision to keep this young talent. Let us collectively hope that it doesn't work out for them. The big story was the upgrading of the Detroit Tigers. This was a good lineup before, but now it is the best in baseball, handsdown. The addition of Renteria, Cabrera, and even Jacque Jones makes this lineup potent top to bottom. They will score, but can they pitch? The addition of Dontrelle Willis is an underrated pick-up, as he, like Cabrera, will thrive with a change of scenery. It is amazing what being competitive does for an individual. And one last note on the AL, the Red Sox are still annoying. And now for more bad predictions:

AL East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

Despite being the most obnoxious brand name in sports outside of the super annoying Duke Blue Devils, the Red Sox are solid. A great lineup that will be even better this year Ellsbury getting a chance to play everyday and the deepest rotation in the AL (although, be concerned about the health of Josh Beckett, who has not been pillar of healthiness throughout his career). I made the mistake of picking the Yankees to miss out on the playoffs last season; I will not make that mistake again. This team still has the best lineup in the league with exception of the Tigers. Pitching, especially middle relief, is the big question mark for the Yankees. Can a collection of relatively untested young guns and aged veterans get to Rivera? Can Hughes stay healthy and live up to the hype? Will Pettitte be Pettitte considering the tumultuous offseason? A lot of questions, but this team is just annoying enough to sneak in. Regarding the Toronto Blue Jays, can we please stop saying this is their year? This might be their year, if they played in the NL Central. Vernon Wells peaked a few years back because of obvious steroid use. They added Rolen and Eckstein (both of whom I love for obvious reasons), who are the on the downward slope of their careers and their two best pitchers are liabilities because of injuries. The Devil Rays possess a collection of good young players who will be playing in New York and Boston in the coming years. And the Orioles will be terrible. Should Jay Gibbons' career make us question whether steroids really do anything for you as a hitter?

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AL Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Kansas City Royals

The race between the Tigers and Indians will be one to watch. This race comes down to the Tigers' bats versus the Indians' arms. Or whether the Tigers' pitching is better than the Indians hitting. The aforementioned addition of Willis as the Number 4 starter will help. Also, Zumaya and Rodney need to get healthy to setup this team's weakest part, Todd Jones. The Indians have similar concerns with their closer. Joe Borowski is not one that many would consider to be in the top 50% percentile when it comes to closers. The Twins traded away their two best players and will probably hover around .500 only because of all the games they get to enjoy against the lowly White Sox and Royals, who will both be terrible and are not worth anymore of my time.

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AL West

1. Anaheim Angels

2. Seattle Mariners

3. Texas Rangers

4. Oakland Athletics

This is another intriguing race at the top. Both the Angels and Mariners made smart moves that have bettered each team respectively. In adding Erik Bedard, the Mariners have added a guy who, if healthy, could be the best pitcher in the AL (now that Santana has left). Torii Hunter is a great pickup for a young lineup that is packed with potential. The Angels could be the most exciting team to watch. The Mariners have an edge when it comes to pitching with Bedard, Felix Hernandez (who is could breakout this season), and MLB's best closer, JJ Putz. The Rangers cannot pitch. Having Kevin Millwood as your opening day starter 5 years ago would have been questionable. In 2008, it is a disservice to that team's hundreds of fans. Is Billy Beane still working in Oakland? How are those sabermetrics working out now?

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For a different take, go here.

NL Preview: Not My Year, But Probably My Brother's

The 2008 baseball season started early this morning with a whimper. Will professional sports stop playing regular season games overseas, especially the opening games of the baseball season. In case you weren't aware, the two games in Japan will in fact count as Oakland home games, not Boston. When talking about the National League, it is important to remember how vastly inferior this league is to the American League. I say this as a long time NL guy. It is difficult to envision a scenario where any NL team is competitive with any AL team in the World Series, but let us not forget how absolutely wonderful the 2006 season was when many thought the same thing (see here, in case you forgot). What is going to be particularly troubling about this year in the NL is how my beloved Cardinals are not going to be too competitive, even in the worst division in the history of professional sports. A lack of decent starting pitching (at least until June), guys who can hit more than five home runs, and no speed to speak of is not a recipe for success. The biggest story in the offseason in the NL was the New York Mets acquisition of Johan Santana. This team already had solid starting pitching and Santana replacing Glavine seems like a pretty good upgrade for the Mets. With that being said, here is the latest installment of picks that are sure to be wrong:

NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

The Mets are the class of the NL. They will win this division by at least 10 games. The Phillies backed into the playoffs last year when the Mets imploded in the final weeks of the season. It has been argued by some that one player cannot make the difference. This might be true in certain cases, A-Rod could not make the difference on bad Texas Rangers teams. But with the Mets and the acquisition of Johan Santana you have a team that lost the division by one game to a team that was not that good. I will go out on a limb and say that Johan adds at least two wins to the Mets win total of a year ago. The Braves and Phillies will compete for the Wild Card. The Braves have the edge here because of a better pitching staff. Their offense will be an unknown until we get to see it in action. I like giving Yunel Escobar a chance at shortstop with the league's best hitting catcher, Mark Texeira, and the league's most underrated player from last year, Chipper Jones (.337/29/102). The Phillies will score but not pitch well. The Nationals will be a non-factor for the near future as they are equipped with a collection of minor league pitchers posing as a big league staff. At least they have a new stadium. The Marlins will compete for the worst record in all of baseball. If the Mets stay healthy (I mean you Pedro), they will not face a team in its class until the World Series. This is more of a testament to how bad the NL is than how good the Mets are.

NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Houston Astros
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cincinatti Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

As mentioned above, this is the worst division in the history of professional sports. The Cubs get the nod here because of their offense and pretty good starting pitching (Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Lieber). This team has serious issues in the bullpen. Any time your closer's first name is Kerry with a last name of Wood, you should be concerned. The Brewers will make the race interesting with what is probably the best lineup in the NL, but pitching is this team's Achilles Heel. Eric Gagne as a closer is never a good sign at this stage of his illegitimate career. The rest of the division will be below .500 by year's end. Houston has a decent lineup with Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee and one good pitcher (Roy Oswalt). Albert Puols will have a great year in a bad lineup. He might get six pitches to hit all year long. This will be a big year in the development of Adam Wainwright who pitched pretty well last year. He is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of this staff until at least June, he is "our only hope." The Reds have Dusty Baker as a manager. I am not sure if that is good or not. Adam Dunn will probably hit a lot of home runs and strike out even more. The Pirates are the odds on favorite to finish with the league's worst record. If they played in the Carolina League's Northern Division I would pick them to finish behind the mighty Wilmington Blue Rocks and the scrappy Potomac Nationals.

NL West
1. San Diego Padres
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Francisco Giants

This division contains the most Wild Card hopefuls. The Padres are the second best team in the NL and should win this division comfortably. What amazes me about this division is how one division can possess suck a lack of power. These teams have had this same issue over the last five years and done little to address it. The Dodgers have a good staff that could get better if Schmidty can get it together and stay healthy for more than a minute. The lineup lacks pop, but the addition of Andruw Jones should help. He needs to hit for a much higher average if this team is going to make the playoffs. Nomar is already out, so get ready. The Rockies got into the playoffs by seemingly winning their last 50 games. They are in the same boat as the Phillies, Letdown City, population 2. The Diamondbacks meteoric rise last year had nothing to do with the team's ability to hit. It is difficult to envision a repeat performance. The Giants begin the post-Barry era with a bad team that will not be competitive.

For all things baseball predictions, go here.

Brook Lopez Is Taller and Better Than You

Stanford's overtime win over Marquette was the best game of the second round, a game that was only topped by the fantastic Western Kentucky-Drake game on Friday in the race for the best game of the weekend. The Cardinal seemed to have a plan in OT, consistently dribbling the ball to the right side, where Brook Lopez established superior post position and scored time after time. A double team might have helped here, but Tome Crean seemed to think that Lopez would eventually start missing. This almost worked, until Lopez's uber-athletic game winner with a few seconds left. Like most younger brothers, Robin is not nearly as good as his older brother, but played well nonetheless with 18 and 9. While the Lopez brothers certainly possess some talent on the basketball court, I would like to think if they took on me and one of my brothers we would be able to exploit them with our quickness and exceptional outside shooting. Sure, these guys are at least a foot taller than each of us, but don't underestimate the influential power of the forearm shiver to one's kidneys. Brook will think twice before he comes back to my block. I am not saying we would blow them out, but I am not sure it would be too close.

In another great game, Butler let me down in OT against Tennessee, which sets the stage for a great game with Louisville next Thursday, who crushed the over-seeded Sooners from Oklahoma. UCLA was less than impressive against Texas A&M, but Kevin Love demonstrated why he is sensational with two great shots in the game's waning moments. Memphis advanced despite the fact that they cannot shoot free throws. I don't care what Calipari says, this team does not make them when the game is on the line. The Shaq defense does not play here. I had mentioned Duke was about to lose in an earlier post, but it feels great to say again that Coach K will not make it to the second week of the tournament for the second year in a row after losing to West Virginia. I have to agree with experts who say that WVU will advance to the Elite Eight (see here). UNC demonstrated that it is the best college basketball team on the planet by annihilating a bad Arkansas team. I must offer a correction to a previous post where I said that everyone on UNC's roster scored in Friday's rout of Mount St. Mary's. In fact, only 15 of the team's 16 members scored. It is worth noting that Marc Campbell (the 1 of 16 who didn't score) managed a hit a three late on Sunday so that everyone on the roster scored in the tournament's first weekend. The weekend's biggest shock came when the Davidson Stephen Currys beat Georgetown, despite trailing by 17 in the second half. The only thought that comes to mind is Stephen Curry is good.

Cinderella Lives

After seemingly ignoring day one, Cinderella reared her ugly head on Friday, launching an all-out war against brackets everywhere. Western Kentucky beat the overrated Drake Bulldogs in overtime in the game of the year. In the second round, WKU will not meet Connecticut, but the San Diego Toreros (if your not smart like me, you need someone to explain to you that a torero is a bullfighter), who also won in overtime. If that was not enough for you, Sienna took out a Vanderbilt team that is not that good. Vandy seemed to peak when they beat Tennessee in UT's debut as the #1 team in the country. As predicted here, Villanova beat Clemson. This upset is not quite as sexy as the others. Regarding my other upset predictions, St. Mary's proved they should not have been in the Top 25 for most of the season and Stephen Curry proved he is the most exciting player in the tournament with 40 in an "upset" win over Gonzaga. So, 2 for 3 on the day and 3 for 6 in the opening round, that kind of winning percentage would get me the seventh seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference. UNC answered UCLA's challenge by taking it to poor Mount St. Mary's. Everyone on UNC's roster scored in the blowout.

My bracket is laden with chalk for the weekend. My one big pick is Butler over Tennessee tomorrow. Hopefully, UT will come out lethargic like they did against American. Duke is currently handing West Virginia its ticket to the Sweet 16. The theory seems to be just keep throwing up thee-pointers, they will eventually fall. They haven't. If I was going to lose an Elite Eight team, I would rather it be the super annoying Blue Devils.

Day One Dud

The first day of the tournament has come and gone with a wimper. It was a very good day for anyone in the chalk business. The only exciting part of the day was the annoying Blue Devils' near lose to Belmont. It was not a difficult decision when it came to choosing between pulling for Duke to lose or pulling for my bracket (I inexplicably have Duke in the Elite Eight), not pulling for Duke to lose is not allowed in my house. It is not clear why Belmont decided to stop playing defense while Gerald Henderson drove right down the middle of the court to hit the game winning lay-up. I guess sometimes evil does triumph over good. As for my three "upset" picks, I was 1 for 3 (a rare good day if you are hitting lead-off for the L.A. Dodgers). Michael Beasley won the day with 23 and 11 to O.J. Mayo's 20 and 5 assists. This was probably the last we will see of Mayo at the college level, despite recent reports to the contrary. West Virginia continues to be the most annoying team not named Duke. I thought their stock might fall in this category without Mike Gansey's oversized t-shirts and Kevin Pittsnogle, but I was wrong. Bayless was nowhere to be found in his game, thus why they lost. It is inexplicable why this team is not better. I would like to take this opportunity to remind the Baylor Bears that it is common courtesy to call if you are not going to show up for work. I have a strict policy when it comes to no-call/no-shows, basically I won't pick you.

As for today's games, CBS has done a good job of putting most of the day's most intriguing matchups on at the same time (Davidson-Gonzaga, Miami-St. Mary's, Drake-Western Kentucky all tip-off in the first session). Regarding "upsets," this is what I have today:

--Davidson over Gonzaga-If Curry scores more than 25 points, Davidson will win. Davidson played as impressive an out-of conference schedule as any team in the country. Their six losses include losing to UNC by four, Duke by six, UCLA by eight, and N.C. State by one. This is a dangerous team.
--St. Mary's over Miami-These team's could just as easily have their seeding reversed. Neither team is really that impressive, thus there is no real analysis behind this pick.
--Villanova over Clemson-There is always a 12 that beats a 5 and Clemson seems ripe for the picking here. While Clemson played well in the ACC tournament, this team is not a legitimate #5 seed. Look for Scottie Reynolds to shoot this team into the second round.

UNC needs to win big to answer UCLA's challenge.

Deep in the Heart of Texas...

Last night the Celtics completed a season sweep of the current 3, 6, and 7 seeds on a whirlwind road trip through the state of Texas with a win over the Dallas Mavericks. Defeating the Spurs in a tight game on Monday night and putting an end the Rockets' amazing 22-game win streak in blowout fashion on Tuesday the Celtics have seemingly answered the question about how they might fare against the superior competition offered from the Western Conference. The Celtics are 23-4 against the West, including 10-3 against the teams currently in the playoffs in the West. At this point they are clearly the best team in the NBA, possessing size, sharpshooting, great defense, and a very underrated bench. Sam I Am has started playing better after a dreadful start to his tenure as a Celtic, he had 17 points and a clutch three pointer in the game's waning moments in the win over the Spurs this week. Last night, he only had four points but had six assists while playing most of the fourth quarter. It seems that Doc Rivers will utilize the experience of Cassell and Posey with the big three in the fourth quarter of a close game. And now for my favorite past time senseless rankings, the NBA edition:

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1. Celtics
2. Lakers

3. San Antonio

4. Detroit

5. Phoenix

It is worth mentioning the play of the Philadelphia 76ers, a team's who's best players are Andre Miller and Andre Igoudala. This team should be in the lottery not in a position to potentially (but unlikely) host a playoff series in round one. They currently sit in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, one game behind Washington for fifth and 4.5 behind Cleveland for fourth. Andre Miller is playing like he belongs in the conversation about top 5 NBA point guards. This team is one star player away from being a strong team in a weak Eastern Conference. Mo Cheeks is the coach of the year at this point.

My current projection-Celtics over Lakers

Countdown to the Madness: T-minus 51 Minutes and Counting...

There not a more nerve-wracking time than the final hour before the start of the tournament. Should I really have Memphis going that far? Is Baylor really capable of reaching the Sweet Sixteen? O.J. Mayo or Michael Beasley? I have disciplined myself to not look at my bracket and make sudden changes right before the 12:20 tip-off of Georgia-Xavier. I had a hard time finding the upsets in this draw and Cinderella seems to be going the way of Sleeping Beauty, resting peacefully, maybe her prince will come this time next year. There is one game most people want to see and that is UNC-UCLA. Most of the time our collective wishes do not come true, but 2005 serves as an example that it can happen (UNC over Illinois). There are a few "upsets" that I see, which are:

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--Baylor over Purdue-I cannot claim to know a whole lot about either team, but Baylor was among the top echelon of the Big 12 for the first half of the year before sputtering at the end and Purdue seemed to overachieve by all standards. I like the Baylor story, seemingly rising from the dead to make the tournament.

--Kansas State over USC-Mayo v. Beasley. Mayo has not enjoyed as much attention as some of the other hyped freshmen, but he has been fantastic this season. Beasley will secure his position as the #1 overall pick with a big showing on the big stage. I am not sure this is really an upset.

--Arizona over West Virginia-This really is a coin-flip game. Arizona should be better than they played this year, but I like them here for one reason-Jerryd Bayliss. If Mayo is not getting as much press this guy is getting none. When it comes to freshman guards, he might be the best of the bunch.

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It is almost time to settle in for the best 12 hours on the sports schedule...

And Then There Were 64...Finally

In what has to be the stupidest sporting event on the calendar, Mount St. Mary's defeated Coppin St. in the NCAA Opening Round last night. The NCAA does not like calling this affair a play-in game, despite the fact that it is a play-in game. The team that loses is not in the tournament (Coppin State), thus the winner (Mount St. Mary's) is in the tournament. I am all for leaving St. Joseph's or Villanova out so that both Coppin State and Mount St.Mary's can both enjoy the experience of being slaughtered in the first round. The NCAA expanded the field in 2001 so that they did not have to reduce the number of at-large teams when bids were needed for both the MWC and WAC. Would it really be a tragedy if that eighth team from the Big East didn't get in? There are plenty of calls to expand the field to 80, 96, and even 128, which defies logic in my mind. The NCAA tounrnament is the perfect sporting event and there is no need to tinker any further. Now that we have the required even number of teams with Mount St. Mary's being sent to Raleigh to meet the Tar Heels, the madness can officially commence...

Five Years and 3,990 American Lives Later...

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the American journey into the abyss that is Iraq. I can vividly remember watching Dan Rather late into the night five years ago after the United States launched a surprise attack utilizing bunker buster bombs on Dora Farm, where it was thought Saddam Hussein was visiting his children. He wasn't and American forces moved in the very next day to depose the dictator, who supposedly possessed stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and supported al-Qaeda. Remember the line that news agency drew around the center of Baghdad, which when crossed, Saddam Hussein would unleash an arsenal of biological and chemical on the rapdily advancing American forces. This never happened, as we have since found out, there were no weapons. Remember the staged scene of the Saddam Hussein statue being toppled in Baghdad by overjoyed Iraqis. Remember "Mission Accomplished" and the president in that orange jumpsuit aboard the U.S.S Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, a mere 41 days after the bombs were dropped on Dora Farm. The president's speech that day started with:

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country."

In hindsight this seems confusing, as to date, 3,990 Americans have died in Iraq, of which 3,851 have died since the president's victory speech. This was the president's "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment. Like the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948, President Bush did not wait to see how things played out before declaring victory. What has ensued since the president declared victory can be best described as chaotic. The United States was not welcomed as liberators and civil war quickly broke out. The Rumsfeld Defense Department possessed no plans for a post-invasion Iraq, thus military commanders had no guidance on how to proceed. Reports of American abuse of Iraqi prisoners and civilians emerged when Seymour Hirsch published photographs from Abu Ghraib in the New Yorker in April 2004. While these incidents should be viewed as exception to how Americans conduct themselves in a war zone, it is still significant, as it undermines American creditbility in a part of the world that is not as enamored with America as we are. If George Bush's approval rating is only 30% here, imagine what it must be in Iran, Syria, and Jordan. The Iraq War lacks the great battles like wars past that are glorified on the History Channel. There is no Veracruz, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Somme, Verdun, Ardennes Forrest, or Normandy in Iraq. It is a more static war zone where improvised explosive devices dominate the day. In January of last year the president launched his "surge strategy," which is complex military code for escalation. While this is certainly a better strategy, it has come too late. A recent uptick in violence makes this point.

The lack of weapons notwithstanding, the way the Bush adminstration linked this American misadventure with the attacks of September 11, 2001 is the ultimate betrayal and is unforgivable. With Vice President Cheney leading the way, the administration embarked on a campaign of deception and misinformation that played to the fears that engrossed many Americans in the aftermath of those attacks. It was at this point five years ago today that the United States lost its way in its War on Terror. A war that was initially waged to find Ossama bin Laden. This war has created a safe haven for al-Qaeda in Iraq, not disturbed one that already existed. It has led to the death of nearly 4,000 American service personnel and there is no end in sight. This war needs to end...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident..."

Barack Obama has given the speech. Like how Mitt Romney was dogged by the media about his Mormonism and eventually had to speak about the state of his religion (a very good speech at that), Senator Obama, the first truly viable black candidate in the history of the United States, has been forced to deliver a speech about race. This is something the media has wanted him to do from the outset, especially since President Clinton's relatively tame statements on race before the South Carolina primary and Geraldine Ferraro's even tamer comments last week. The satutaration coverage of Jeremiah Wright this week provided the media with the means to force the senator into giving this speech. My views on the speech are simple, I would rather Barack Obama give a speech like this and lose than win and capitulate to what people wanted him to say. We need to get to a point where we can discuss race without Rush Limbaugh providing a sermon of his own on how we need to merely move on and forget about the past or Al Sharpton boycotting anyone who says something that the reverend himself deems inapprporiate. The scrubbing of America's checkered past prevents those growing up today to learn about those mistakes and make a better future. Does it mean that I hate America or am racist against white people if I merely acknowledge the existence of racial strife in American history? This is not the distant past. Are there not people alive today who knew Jim Crow personally? It was only 54 years ago (the year after before my mother was born) that the Supreme Court declared that school's should be integrated and it took decades for this to be put into practice. It was only 44 and 45 years ago respectively that blacks were granted full protection under law and ensured the right to vote. On the historical timeline, 50 years is the blink of an eye. And this country has made sizable gains with regard to race in that single blink, this is what makes this country great. While social change is always slow, this country has always responded to social injustice in time. But to say that there are not residual effects on society from the old structure today is ignorant. I cannot do the speech justice by describing it here, it is best to read it (here) or watch it in its entirety before media outlets dice it up into five second sound bytes to meet their respective agendas.

Countdown to the Madness:The Selection Committee Gets It Right

The final weekend before the start of the world's greatest sporting event never disappoints. Georgia made an improbable run to win the SEC, doubling their number of SEC wins in a span of four days to steal a bid from the Daytons and Virginia Techs of the college basketball world. Pittsburgh surprised G'town in the Big East final on Saturday night. UCLA won an exciting PAC 10 final against a tall Stanford team (don't sleep on Brook Lopez at the next level). Wisconsin won the Big 10 in a game that no one had any interest in watching. And most importantly, UNC retook the record for most ACC tournament championships from the ultra annoying Duke Blue Devils, winning its 17th such title over the scrappy Tigers from Clemson. As for the tournament, the committee did a solid job in selecting which teams should and should not be in. The number one seeds were exactly what I have been advocating here for several weeks. There are four great teams (UNC, UCLA, Kansas, and Memphis) and there is everyone else (Texas should a 4a on this list). Normally there are those three or four teams who's being left out of the field leads to universal scorn and admonition of the process, but not this year. The only selection really quibbled over is Arizona in over Arizona State. Who cares you might ask? Not me. The seeding is always tricky, it is not clear why Tennessee is the #2 seed in the East with UNC, as the Tar Heels are the #1 overall seed and Tennessee had to be the highest rated #2. Even more puzzling, how is Butler a seven seed? They ended the year #10 and were consistently in the top 15 all year. Also, if the script plays out as it is supposed to, they would have to play Tennessee in the second round. This was an odd decision to say the least. The final pre-tournament Top 5 is:

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1. UNC

2. UCLA

3. Kansas

4. Memphis

5. Texas

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I have mixed reviews of the addition of Bob Knight to the ESPN crew. Few can provide as much insight into men's college basketball than Knight, but at times it is clear that his fellow analyst are attempting to goad him into saying something controversial. His idea to expand the field to 128 teams is ridiculous, which was only rivaled by his Pittsburgh to win-it-all pick. For expert analysis go here.

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My current projection-UNC over UCLA

The Seattle Supersonics Are Not Good at Basketball

How could the NCAA tournament selection committee not include the Seattle Supersonics? I am guessing Baylor got the 11 seed in the West because they have won five more games than the Sonics (21 to 16). The Sonics would probably lose in the first round to Purdue, but it is the NCAA tournament, thus they could have been this year's George Mason. Seattle lost by 52 to the Denver Nuggets last night, 168-116. This was the the fourth most points ever scored in a non-OT game in NBA history (Suns with 173 against the Nuggets in 1990 hold the record). Had it not been for a sluggish second quarter in which they only scored 36 points, the Nuggets would gotten the record. Are people in Seattle really too sad this team is going to move to Oklahoma City? Eight Nuggets scored in double figures, even Yakhouba Diawara (who?) scored 11. But the most impressive stat coming from this game other than the points scored is the fact that Marcus Camby was able to get a triple double in only 27 minutes (13/15/10/4 blocks). No one thought the Sonics were going to be all that competitive, but this team is pitiful. Kevin Durant has played good, not great, Chris Wilcox is the team's #2 scorer (13.5), and some guy named Johan Petro is the team's starting center. I know Shawn Kemp is a bit out of shape these days, but it is hard to imagine that this team would not be better if he made a comeback.

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."-Bertrand Russell

Does anyone remember that there are more than 150,000 American troops currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are the daily movements and utterances of Senators Obama, Clinton, and McCain so important that those who report the news cannot afford to spend a passing moment to mention those who are fighting in this ridiculous war? To date, 4,272 men and women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan (those serving in Afghanistan, who are closer to Osama bin Laden than those in Iraq, should not be relegated to second-class status) and more than 29,000 have been wounded. Since Monday, nine U.S. soldiers have been killed and three more wounded in three separate attacks in Iraq. At least the violence is down, right? Wars are like most things in life, they ebb and flow over time but never go away. When this war is over, it will continue on in the psyche of those that served, whether through mental anguish or physical handicaps. The news agencies have decided that electioneering is what consumers want, thus the sacrifice of these tens of thousands of Americans is secondary. I consume a lot of what these entities dole out and cannot recall more than a passing reference to these attacks over the last four days. Not enough carnage for those on left? Afraid that a mention of these incidents will hurt the purported lily-white image of a post-"surge" Iraq for those on the right? It was not so long ago that right-wing commentators would deride those on the left for focusing on every attack and every casualty, claiming this reporting was an attempt to undermine the troops and American support for an already unpopular war. Has the left been scared off or is the coverage of the Obama-Clinton War of 2008 that much more important?

While I am vehemently opposed to the Iraq War and believe that the next president, whoever he or she might be, should take immediate steps upon being inaugurated to fix the problems the Bush administration will inevitably leave behind and pull all troops out of the Middle East, those troops, many of who did not ask or want to go to Iraq, deserve better from media among all parts of the ideological prism. They are more than merely pawns in a disreputable game of chess played by politicians in Washington who seem to possess the capacity to think of nothing more than their legacy or what their next gig might be. This war should not have taken place and the time has come to put an end to it. Let no more brave American men and women die in vain like their grandfathers and fathers did a generation earlier in another foolish war that went on far too long. It is the job of the news media to report the news and since when is someone dying for their country not newsworthy? A few weeks ago, my mother asked me, "What are they dying for?" I still can't answer her...

*Credit to Photo-Reports for the photo.

Hoping For Hope Can Be an Annoying Process

Two more victories this week in Wyoming and Mississippi have wiped out the Clinton victories a week ago in Not-So Super Tuesday. Pending on how one defines victory, we can call Texas a draw, as Senator Obama won 98 delegates to Senator Clinton's 95 despite the latter winning the popular vote (the same thing happened in Nevada). To date, Senator Obama has won 30 contests to Clinton's 14 (these figures give Senator Clinton Texas and Nevada and include Obama's crushing win in the Virgin Islands, Clinton's narrow victory in American Samoa, and Obama's big win amongst the all-important Democrats Abroad). The Clintonistas seem to be doing a fine job of continuing a process that started with President Clinton in South Carolina, a process of gutter politics that has no place in the primaries. Senator McCain can gallivant around the country collecting money, while the Clintons continue to employ every utterly ridiculous talking point that essentially does the presumptive Republican nominee's job for him. Geraldine Ferraro is the latest casualty of this vicious process. The former congresswomen is an historic figure, as she was tagged as Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 landslide loss to President Reagan. One can understand why she supports the Clinton campaign, but her utterances about Senator Obama are odd to say the least:

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"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position...And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

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It is odd that she made similar remarks in 1988 about Jesse Jackson (see here). Personally, I do not think Ms. Ferraro is a racist and I think we need to stop using that label every time someone makes a comment about race. For a country that wants to exude strength around the world, we can act like sissies sometimes when someone says something we do not like. And why should we care more about what she said than the senator himself? Knowing how the game is played, Senator Clinton should have shelved Ms. Ferraro when this happened. Her comments yesterday were disingenuous at best and came a little too late.

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The most annoying aspect of the campaign right now is the Florida/Michigan situation. The idiots that run those respective state's Democratic Parties are getting exacltly what they wanted when they move the primaries up in the first place, added importance. How the Clinton campaign can say with a straight face that those results, especially Michigan, are in any way legitimate is comical. Anyone that follows that line of thinking needs to remove the blinders they are wearing for the senator and think a bit more logically. The fact remains, she will not win with pledged deleagtes or the overall popular vote. Can the same people who decried the results of the 2000 election when President Bush defeated Al Gore without the popular vote honestly say that Senator Clinton should be the nominee of the Democratic Party in spite of the will of the people? One can hope not...

20????

If someone had asked me before the start of the season which NBA team had the best chance of winning 20 games in a row, I would have listed these teams, in this order:

1. Boston--The Eastern Conference is embarrassingly bad.
2. Detroit--The Eastern Conference is embarrassingly bad.

That's it. I would have laughed at the notion of any Western Conference team being able to pull it off. "The conference is too deep," I would have stated authoritatively in my best NBA expert voice. Well, the Houston Rockets have done the impossible, tying the second longest winning streak in NBA history last night with a tough win over the Atlanta Hawks. While they are a long way from the '71-'72 Lakers 33 game streak, this streak is nothing short of amazing, especially when one considers that they have played the last eight without Yao Ming. Also, Tracy McGrady is having his lowest scoring output (22.1 ppg) since the '99-'00 season with Toronto (15.4 ppg), his assists are down from last year, and his rebounding is well below his career average. It is not clear how this team is within one game of the best record of the best conference the NBA has seen in quite some time. This team cannot win the title without Yao Ming, but they are the story in the NBA right now. In somewhat related news, the Mighty C's of Boston won their 10th in a row with a thrashing of the lowly Supersonics. This is the first such streak since '85-'86 when the Celtics, interestingly enough, beat the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals.

My current projection: Celtics over Spurs

Countdown to the Madness: The Tarheels are coming, the Tarheels are coming!!!

Nothing is more rewarding in all of regular season sports than a UNC victory over the super annoying Blue Devils from Durham. UNC beat Duke on Saturday, thus clinching its 26th ACC regular season crown (Duke is second with 18) and securing the #1 seed in this week's ACC tournament. With Lawson healthy, the Tarheels will be the prohibitive favorite heading into both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. The tournament commences one week from today in the pointless play-in (or opening round) game in Dayton. The winner of that game will be the sacrificial lamb for either UNC or UCLA. Conference tournaments are all the buzz this week, as Sienna is in, Drake is poised to potentially play spoiler, George Mason returns with a target on its back, and San Diego's win over Gonzaga has fans in Syracuse and Gainesville somewhat uneasy about their position on the bubble. These conference tournaments will play a big role in seeding those teams not in the Top 5 and getting bubble teams in and out of the tournament. The Big East provides the best example of this, as the loser of tomorrow's Syracuse-Villanova game is undoubtedly out, West Virginia is probably in but would benefit from beating Providence, and Pittsburgh could use another win. This tournament is wide open with any of the conference's top six teams possessing the capacity to win in MSG. This week's Top 5 is:

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1. UNC

2. UCLA

3. Kansas

4. Memphis

5. Tennessee

My current projection-UNC over UCLA

Au Revoir

Brett Favre is finally gone. I was one of the people that had been calling for him to go the past three years. Before turning it around last year, he had played two terrible seasons (38 TD/47 INT) and was seemingly serving as a drag on the franchise's future. He turned it around last year and led the Packers to a surprising finish. While I can appreciate his talent (his streak of consecutive games is nothing short of amazing), he has always annoyed me. I will never forget watching Super Bowl XXXII with utter indifference as two of the five most annoying players to ever play in the NFL faced off-Brett Favre and John Elway. I recently conducted a scientific survey in my head and came up with the five most annoying players in NFL history:

1. Tom Brady
2. Thurman Thomas
3. John Elway
4. Brett Favre
5. (tie) Damon Huard, Jay Fielder, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, John Beck, and anyone else that has started a game for the Dolphins since Dan Marino retired that I might have missed

Good ridance Brett, you hung out just long enough to break some records.

Not So Super Tuesday: The Politics of Fear Wins the Day

Last night, the Clinton campaign got much needed wins in Ohio and Texas. Senator Obama had the opportunity to issue the deathknell to the Clintonistas, but ultimately did not prevail (it is worth noting that Senator Clinton possessed 20+ point leads in both states about a month ago and won Ohio by 10 and Texas by 4). This further proves how effective negative campaigning can be. Silly pictures designed to make the feeble-minded think that Senator Obama is Muslim, attack ads that indicate that your children will die if Senator Clinton is not president (the ridiculous 3 am, red phone ad), and the continued talking point that the only thing Senator Obama brings to the table is speeches are commonplace in the Clinton campaign. My favorite utterance of the campaign thus far:

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"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."

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What is her party affiliation? At least for those of us who believe that there can be an effective candidate that does not find it necessary to employ the "kitchen sink" (if I hear this one more time I will scream) in a political campaign, Senator Obama is winning. There seems to be little the Clinton machine can do to overtake him short of rounding up a high percetage of the remaining utterly ridiculous superdelegates. Her advantage from last night, including wins in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island and a loss in Vermont, only nets Senator Clinton 17 delegates (not all results are in). She will lose convincingly in Wyoming on Saturday and Mississippi in Tuesday. I cannot imagine this will go on for three more months, especially considering that Senator McCain will have his day at the White House today, taking the endorsement of the man who attacked his integrity in order to win the naomination in 2000. There has been one interesting development this morning, with Senator Clinton seemingly enertaining the notion of an Obama-Clinton (or vice versa) ticket . I have a hard time seeing her taking the #2 spot, but wo knows at this point. There's still hope for hope...

Countdown to the Madness: Channeling Harold Arcineaux

Two weeks from today the NCAA tournament kicks off in Dayton, Ohio. Teams seem to be regaining focus with conference tournaments right around the corner and the incessant debates about seeding and snubs (for exceptional analysis of tournament seeding, look here) begining in earnest. UNC regained the top spot in the polls in spite of the the efforts of BC's Tyrese Rice. In my lifetime there are two college basketball moments that really stand out vividly in my mind, one good and one so very, very bad. The 1993 Championship game provided the apex of joy, the sharpshooting of Donal Williams and the infamous Chris Webber timeout brought an end to a long 11-year hiatus for championships in Chapel Hill and the beloved Coach Smith. The Tar Heels 1999 first round loss to the mighty Wildcats of Weber State (of Big Sky fame) was the single worst sporting event I have ever suffered through. Harold Arcineaux palyed the role of the assassin that crushed the hopes of the #3 seeded Tar Heels. Scoring 36 of his team's 76 points, Arcineaux provided the most impressive display of shooting I have ever seen, until Saturday. Tyrese Rice scored 23 points in the game's six minutes (hitting his first six three-point attempts) before ending the half with 34 points (8-10 from behind the arc) and his team up by 15. Fortunately, Rice is the only somewhat competent player on that roster and UNC was able to come from behind and win comfortably. But for 20 minutes, Tyrese Rice was Harold Arcineaux.

The return of Lawson makes the Tar Heels an even more formidable team heading into tournament season, but UNC needs to dispose of the ultra-irritating Blue Devils on Saturday to clinch the ACC's regular season title and top seed in the tournament. Kansas continues to win, UCLA is healthy and starting to hit a good stride of their own, and Memphis continues to beat subpar opponents. Texas suffered a bad loss to Texas Tech, which ends their chances at a #1 seed. Tennessee struggled with a bad Kentucky team after losing earlier in the week to Vandy, who subsequently lost to Arkansas. And Indiana decided to not show up for its game with Michigan State on Sunday. This was also a bad week for many of the top mid-major schools that most love to hate with Drake, Saint Mary's, and Kent State all losing. This week's Top 5 is:

1. UNC
2. Kansas
3. UCLA
4. Memphis
5. Tennessee

One would have a hard time convincing me that the top four teams listed above are not going to the Final Four, as there is a chasm between these teams and the rest of the field. Of these four, Memphis is most vulnerable because of an overall lack of tough competition leading into the tournament (paging St. Joe's) and its poor, poor, poor team free throw shooting.

My current projection: UNC over Kansas

Welcome Sam I Am

The Celtics have added an sometimes disgruntled, yet very veteran point guard. Sam Cassell is a proven commodity on good teams with a significant amount of playoff experience. In 2003-2004, his first year in Minnesota, Sam I Am teamed with Kevin Garnett (and Troy Hudson, remember him?) to lead that franchise out of the wilderness into the Western Conference Finals. While they were subsequently discarded by the Shaq-Kobe juggernaut, this seemed to mark a formative step in the development of a team that had been steadily getting better (the Timberwolves have not made the playoffs since and are currently one game behind Miami for the right to own the most ping pong balls in the silly draft lottery). In 2005-2006, his first year with the L.A. Clippers, Cassell teamed with Elton Brand to lead that lowly franchise further than it had ever been, within one game of reaching the Western Conference Finals. The mighty C's currently have one glaring hole, depth at the guard position. Currently, Eddie House and Gabe Pruitt are the only other point guards on the roster. House is not known for his deft passing ability and Pruitt plays less than six minutes a game. Rajon Rondo garners mixed reviews in my opinion. While he has proven to be a solid defender and a surprisingly good shooter (48% FG), he barely averages five assists a game on a team with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. His play has been very uneven, which is where Cassell enters the picture. He can teach young Rondo how to better play the position, provide a player who can handle the ball when Rondo is on the bench (Eddie House bringing the ball up-court can be quite unnerving), and be a seasoned playoff veteran to run the offense in the game's waning moments.