Some Monday Things

Just some things while I watch the National Championship game, in which I have a 14-to-1 betting slip on Louisville to win the title I bought back in December when I became convinced the Cardinals were the team to beat.  It is the largest futures bet I have ever made, and that is by quite a lot.  Needless to say, I'm a pretty big Louisville fan tonight . That being said, I also have some on Michigan +4 because that's what I actually think will happen, so let's hope for a Louisville win by 1-3 points please thank you drive through.


- First off, this Aaron Hicks thing is really a bummer so far.  I know it's not like his career is over or anything and technically he's off to a better start than Willie Mays and everything, but I was hoping this whole Hicksy thing would be exciting and sexy, not stressful and a little bit depressing.  The good news is that he doesn't seem like it's bothering him as much as it's bothering me.  He's still got his little bit of swagger out in center and his approach at the plate hasn't changed so it doesn't seem like he's pressing or anything.  Today actually was the first time he's looked frustrated at all after his strikeout in the 8th.  No doubt the numbers are ugly, particularly the strikeout numbers, but lots of crazy things happen with small sample sizes early in the season - you only have to look at the Twins' pitching thus far to see that.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Vance Worley is horrendous, we already know Kevin Correia is horrendous, and Liam Hendriks aspires to be horrendous.  That means the only starters in the rotation right now who might not be horrendous are Mike Pelfrey (who is probably horrendous) and Pedro Hernandez (I'm not even sure who this is).  Yet they're 6th in the American League in ERA.  Man that regression to the mean is going to be swift and painiful.

-   This Spike Albrecht shit is crazy.

- As far as Gopher hoops recruiting goes there are two interesting names to pay attention to - Alvin Ellis and Shavar Newkirk. 

Ellis is the dude who had already committed to the Gophers but asked for, and was granted, his release from his Letter of Intent after Tubby was fired and apparently nobody in the athletic department got around to even making a phone call (according to some reports).  I definitely think the Gophers are better off with Ellis than without, but it's not like losing a Royce White type of loss at all.  Ellis will probably end up being a pretty quality four-year player but he's not a program changer, and although his game sounds like it fits what Pitino wants to do if he bails and it just gives Pitino another scholarship to get one of his own guys well, we might as well let the kid do his thing.

Newkirk is a guy I'm really excited about, simply because he's a NYC point guard and I've always loved NYC point guards (I miss you Eric Harris!).  He's a 2014 recruit (obviously I'd rather have Tyus but Newkirk is a solid fall back) who ranks at #125 on the Rivals Top 150, and the reason he's popped up as a possible future Gopher is that our new coach already offered him a scholarship to FIU.  He also carries offers from Iona, Hofstra, Manhattan, Seton Hall, UMass, Providence, and Iowa State.  Really the only competition prestige-wise here is the Cyclones, and the Gophers should have an inside edge since Kimani Young is now on board Pitino's staff and he has deep roots into NYC and is a big reason FIU was on Newkirk in the first place.  As with many NYC point guards he's a great ball-handler and exceptional passer with a terrible jump shot, but I will gladly sacrifice that for a true distributor type and hope he can learn to shoot with time - it worked for Harris.  Let's do this.

-  I watched Weird Science today, and I think it's the first time I've watched the entire thing from start to finish since like, the 90s and you know what?  That is one weird as hell movie.  I'm not even sure if I think it was good or bad.  Somehow I think I blocked out the weird futuristic biker gang scene from my memory.  And all the magic and stuff at the end.  So bizarre.  I'd rather watch License to Drive.  That movie rocked your face off.

-   Half-time and after a huge comeback by Luke Hancock the Spike Albrechts lead 38-37.  Great game.  Especially if you have the Over 138.

-  I haven't really given much thought to the Masters yet (I should probably get Grand Slam in here to write up a Masters preview) but rest assured I'll have a little coin on a couple of players.  Just glancing at the list and without doing any research some of the guys who look interesting are Poulter at 50/1, Mahan at 50/1, Stricker at 66/1, and Immelman 500/1 (those odds are crazy).  Snedeker at 44/1 is another one I need to look at, along with Keegan Bradley (23/1) and Kuchar (40/1).  I don't really like any of the big favorites just because their odds suck.  Tiger is 4/1, Rory is 8/1, Phil is 11/1 and Justin Rose is 17/1.  I don't know.  I'll be back to let you know because I know you want to know.

-   I really expected to write more but this game is way too entertaining.  Bye.