Week in Review - 2/15/2010

If you came here to talk Gophers you came to the wrong place.  Sorry.  I know we bill ourselves here as a Gopher/Twins blog, but we are officially switching over to a Twins/Ohio State blog.  I just don't see the need to cover a team anymore who, over and over again, plays well and can control the game until they suddenly realize they have the lead and go into complete panic/shutdown mode.  It's not particularly fun.  The rest of you chowder heads can continue to torture yourself by watching this abortion of a team.  I'm out.



Until Thursday against Wisconsin.  God I'm such a masochist. 


WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Purdue.  The win over Iowa on Saturday is no big deal, but the throttling of Michigan State in East Lansing was like whoa.  The Boilers thoroughly beat the Spartans 76-64 and outplayed them all the way around in their own house.  They raked Sparty's defense for 57% shooting and 43% from three, and out-rebounded a damn good rebounding team.  All three of the Boilers' triplets lit the place up, but the big gun on Tuesday was E'Twaun Moore who hit big shot after big shot.  Every time MSU started to make a run, Moore would hit a big shot to start a run right back for Purdue.  This was a huge win, and a big statement.  I'm not quite convinced that Purdue is a Final Four team, but I'm warming up to the idea.

2.  Richmond.  I don't know that anybody had a better week than Richmond, and now they're near a lock for an at-large bid.  The Spiders picked up a monster win at Rhode Island, tipping the Rams 69-67, and then avoided a letdown at St. Bonaventure, picking up the 68-49 victory.  Richmond now stands atop the A-10 standings at 9-2, is 20-6 overall with wins over Florida and Missouri, and with an RPI of 26 it would take an epic skid to knock them out of the tournament at this point.  The A-10 is looking pretty set with Richmond, Temple, and Xavier near locks, Charlotte and Rhode Island squarely on the bubble, and Dayton struggling mightily and looking more like an NIT team.  Ha-ha Dayton, you suck.  Maybe your hippy fans can all go have a good cry together.  I wonder if that Dayton bar in Chicago will be all crowded for their NIT games?

3.  Cal.  It's about time somebody started separating themselves from the pack of Pac-10 mediocrity, and Cal looks like they're the team after sweeping through Washington with wins over both schools this week.  The win over Washington State isn't necessarily a big whoopty-doo, but beating Washington by double-digits is since the Huskies are the only other halfway decent team in the conference (sorry Arizona State, I know you're 8-5 but you still suck).  It's hard to really get a read on Cal.  I mean the Pac-10 sucks worse than the Gophers and Cal hasn't exactly run the table at 9-4, and their best non-conference win was over Iowa State.  On the other hand Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, and Theo Robertson are one of the most talented backcourts in the country, and guards win championships.  I'm not really sure what to think, but I'm pretty sure whatever I ended up deciding to do with them in my bracket they'll do the opposite.  

4.  Louisville.  The win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Sunday was very important for the Cardinals not just because of the signature win-ness of it, but also because it cancels out their loss at St. Johns's earlier in the week, not to mention giving them their first win of the year over an RPI Top-25 team and probably taking them from the middle of to the good side of it.  Louisville is a really interesting team this year.  Thanks to Terrence Jennings's complete refusal to improve and try to become the next Earl Clark/Terrence Williams type player, they're basically Samardo Samuels and a whole bunch of guards. 

5.  Ohio State.  I actually had this spot all reserved and typed up for Illinois since their win over Wisconsin in the Kohl Center was the exact huge signature win they really needed, but then they followed that up by getting so blown out by Ohio State in Champaign that I had the give the propers to the Buckeyes.  Seriously you guys, I'm totally not exaggerating when I say that this team is absolutely loaded and playing out of their minds right now.  They've won six in a row after winning two road games this week (Indiana and Illinois), have won nine straight Big 10 games, and are now in a tie for first a top the Big Ten.  They are absolutely a final four contender, and hopefully you listened to me and slapped some cash down on them when they were 75-1 to win the whole thing, because they've moved to 20-1 now.  And man, if I had ever said something like "Ohio State isn't a top 100 team this year" I'd probably like, stop talking.  And not just about sports, I'd just stop talking all together.  I'd feel like I owed the world that much, you know what I mean?  Like, it would just be the right thing to do.


WHO SUCKED

1.  Texas.  In a wide open season it's been difficult to figure out your final four teams.  Kansas is pretty much the only team I'd call a "lock" right now, mainly because I don't trust how young Kentucky is.  One team I had penciled in was Texas even during their recent skid, but after Monday night's embarrassing loss against Kansas it's painfully obvious that this Longhorn team isn't nearly as good as I thought.  I was ignoring the losses at Oklahoma and Kansas State and even the loss to Baylor at home, but this loss was unignorable in it's ugliness - kind of like Sarah Jessica Parker.  And it's not ugly because they lost to the #1 team by 12 at home, but it was the way they lost - absolutely Gopher-esque.  Terrible decisions with the ball, poor defensive effort, not getting back in transition, and missing open shots were the story of the day.  When the #1 team comes into your house and you're supposed to be a Final Four contender you can't turn the ball over 17 times and shoot 37% - you just can't.  I still think they have talent - Damion James is one of the best players in the country - but they are looking like more of a "ripe for a first round upset" team right now than a "sleeper final four team."  And no, beating Nebraska by 40 on Saturday does nothing to change my mind.

2.  West Virginia.  As long as we're talking about teams I had in the Final Four who had shaky weeks, we might as well throw the Mountaineers in here too.  They started the week out by losing at home to Villanova (allowing the Wildcats to shoot 57%), and then they dropped a road game at Pitt in which they led by seven with 43 seconds left, only to end up losing in triple-overtime.  Neither loss by itself is necessarily a huge red flag, but the combination of the two and the poor defense and late game meltdown are pretty telling, and actually remind me of how Huggy Bear's Cincinnati teams nearly always underperformed their seed.  Like Texas, there is still a lot to like with this team and they are still in the Final Four discussion, but now my faith is shaken.  And can a team without a real point guard get to the Final Four?  Jesus, at this rate I'm just going to pick random teams, everybody sucks this year.

3.  Rhode Island.  I mentioned above that Rhode Island is still probably in good shape to grab an NCAA bid - and they are - but they whiffed on a couple of big chances this week.  First, they had Richmond come in to their place and walk out with a two point victory, and then on Saturday they went into Temple and got their asses completely handed to them 78-56 in a game where Temple shot 68.6% - a Temple school record.  I say the Rams are in good shape because they have a good record and a nice RPI, but what they are really missing is any kind of signature win.  They have a couple nice wins - one over Dayton and one over Oklahoma State - but those are the team's only victories over RPI top 50 opponents and winning either of their games this week would have given them another.  With just one more crack at a top 50 team this year (Charlotte), it will be interesting to see how the committee treats them.  Good numbers, but is the profile too empty?    

4.  UNLV.  I don't know if it's the DWG Jinx or just some kind of natural let-down, but just one week after making a huge statement by whooping some Mormon ass they whiffed on two more opportunities to take down their top MWC competitors.  First, New Mexico came to Vegas and beat the Rebels 76-66, and then the Rebs traveled to San Diego to take on SDSU and lost that one as well, 68-58.  Neither of those are bad losses, and UNLV should be able to win their last five to finish out at 12-4 in the MWC and 24-6 overall so they'll be ok, but pretty much a huge letdown week following up that monster win. 

5.  Siena.  Unlike the other four teams on the suck list this week, the Saints might have actually lost their at-large bid with their play over the weekend, in this case a loss to Niagara by the count of 87-74.  What really hurts is that Niagara isn't the good Niagara they've been the last few years - they're under .500 in the MAAC and have an RPI in the 150s.  Although it's just Siena's first conference loss, that might be all it takes to eliminate them from at-large consideration.  They don't have any wins over the RPI top 50 and they whiffed on every opportunity they had in the non-conference schedule to get a big win.  Next weekend is Bracket Busters, and the Saints were lucky enough to draw Butler, but unfortunately they have to go on the road.  No matter, this game has gone from a "would be a really good idea to win" to an "absolutely must-have win" for the Saints.  In any case, at least they aren't the Gophers.  That would really suck for them.


What also sucked was the All-Star H.O.R.S.E. event.  A really good idea, but they've commercialized it and regulated it to the point that it just sucks to watch.  There's like a 30 second break between every shot so Barkley and the TNT crew can yuck it up, so there's no flow to the game at all.  I wondered why they only had three people, and it's because they take so many breaks and there is so much "witty banter" that there's really only about one shot per minute.

Great idea, terrible execution.  Like the exact opposite of the last Indiana Jones movie, which had a terrible script that was executed well.  Neither one works.  Much like this edition of Gopher basketball, which is a terrible idea executed terribly.  Seriously.  This year's team is like that Paris Hilton movie "The Hottie and the Nottie" - just a horrid idea that was awful in its execution.  Jesus, I just compared the Gophers to that movie and I don't think that's being harsh enough.  Remind me why I'm going to the game on Thursday?  Oh, right.  I'm really stupid.    

Week In Review - 1/11/2010

I have a lot of words to write so let's just get to it.  No time for love, Dr. Jones.

WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Gopher basketball.  If you are like me and consider the Purdue game not a failure and actually a pretty good effort you have to consider this a pretty good week in Gopher hoops after they spanked Ohio State 73-62.  Although I'm pretty sure I overrated Ohio State by a good margin, I also think a lot of that had to do with the Gopher defense (and the fact that there wasn't a full moon so we got more of a Scott Howard Evan Turner than a Teen Wolf Evan Turner).  I was baffled by Turner.  I have no idea if he just isn't all the way back or what, but I really wasn't impressed.  His 19-8-7 stat line looks great, but he wasn't in control of the game the way I expected and made some really poor decisions (4 turnovers) and basically just seemed completely baffled by the Gophers double-team press thing.  I thought I'd be blown away.  Instead I was disappointed.  I'm guessing it's similar to how Mrs. W felt the first time we were "together."

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about things like that, and you shouldn't be so interested, perv.  Let's talk Gopher awesomeness.  Blake continues to be completely unconscious.  At this point there literally isn't a single shot he could take that would upset me.  He could pull up from 40 feet on a 2-on-1 break and I would applaud.  I've never seen anything quite like this run he's on.  And he only needs the smallest window to get his shot off.  It's hard to not love him at this point.  Plus he's white.  Everybody loves white people.

Speaking of white people, everybody needs to get back on the Ralph Sampson bandwagon with me.  There is a huge difference when he is in there compared to Colton.  I live Colton, but he's no Ralph.  One will end up being a good center, the other is already good and could end up being a star. Join the fan club now folks, we might be all full up by season's end, and you don't want to miss out.

2.  Garrett Gilbert.  It's a horrible name, no doubt, but Gilbert looks like he might end up being a hell of a quarterback down at the U of Texas after getting thrown into his career in the most high pressure way possible.  When Colt McCoy pinched his nerve in the National Championship game and decided not to risk his NFL prospects and sold out his team by not even trying to come back in, it was up to Gilbert to do something.  He was a bit uneven, and ended up throwing four interceptions and completing just 15 of his 40 pass attempts, but there was something there.  He made some excellent throws against a very good defense, and would have had better numbers but Longhorn receivers dropped at least three balls and their running back was directly responsible for one of those picks when he decided not to hold on to a shovel pass.  Don't forget that he also managed to throw a couple of TDs and not only kept Texas in a game they shouldn't have been in but actually had a chance, however slim, to win (a chance derailed by a big time missed block).  If he can do all that as a freshman with only 27 pass attempts coming into the game, I'd look for big things from him next year.

3.  Louisiana Tech.  I've tried to avoid spotlighting these guys because I figured I was a bit too attached after watching them play Utah State in person last year and falling hard for Magnum Rolle as if I was Ben Stiller and Rolle was that one chick in that one movie, but it's probably time to point out that La Tech is dominating fools all over the place.  Ok, dominating fools is maybe a little strong considering they have a loss to Arizona on their record, but they are now 3-0 in the WAC and that includes wins over both league favorites, Nevada and Utah State, and the win over the Aggies was a 22-point massacre earlier this week, mainly thanks to Rolle.  Magnum (tell me that isn't a sweet name) dominated the white guys USU trotted out in the paint to the tune of a 22 point, 14 rebound performance and is now leading the WAC in blocked shots at 2.6 per game.  And he's not alone, guard Kyle Gibson (not the Twins' pitcher) leads the conference in scoring and wing Olu Ashaolu is third in rebounding and put up a 21-board effort earlier this year against Houston.  With that weak non-conference schedule the Bulldogs will probalby have to go pretty damn near undefeated to secure an at-large, but it's suddenly looking like it might be possible.

4.  Wisconsin.  You know what pains me?  Writing this.  But it's time we all step back from our completely justified hatred of the neanderthals who reside in the world's worst state and acknowledge not only that the team is good this year, but also that Bo Ryan might be a really good coach.  I mean, Tubby still owns Bo, but Bo might not be that bad considering this year's version of the Badgers has almost no talent but still managed to beat Purdue this weekend.  The Badgers are now 3-1 in conference play, and have two of the toughest challenges out of the way.  With wins over Maryland, Duke, Marquette, and Purdue in their pocket and a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, it looks like the gay-ass Badgers will almost certainly be in the tournament once again.  At least Trevon Hughes is fun to watch, because none of these other guys are (and now it sounds like Leuer is hurt pretty badly, so maybe no tournament after all, but I can't bring myself to count Bo Ryan out - unless he's facing Tubby).

5.  Manabu .  First the story:

DANIA BEACH, Fla.—A man was being credited with tying the 77-year-old world record for catching the biggest largemouth bass. The International Game Fish Association announced Friday that it had confirmed the 22-pound, 4-ounce fish caught by Manabu Kurita. The Florida-based group said Kurita caught the fish July 2 on Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake.

Kurita's fish tied the record of George Perry, who caught his bass on Georgia's Montgomery Lake on June 2, 1932.  Kurita used 25-pound test line and a live blue gill

And now the picture:

Holy.  Effing.  Crap.

Although using a live blug gill is kind of BS if you ask me. 




WHO SUCKED

1.  Paul Hewitt.  You know, he may be a hell of a recruiter there at Georgia Tech but he sure as hell can't coach.  The level of talent at Tech the last few years has been almost as good as anybody:  Anthony Morrow, Thaddeus Young, Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack, Will Bynum, and noted gun enthusiast Javaris Crittenton, but his team's have done nothing due to his mismanagement.  Now he might be wasting yet another top level talent in Derrick Favors, who his incredibly talented and is porbably the best player on the team, but is getting just 8 shots a game despite shooting 58% and being the most talented big man in the ACC.  A team with Favors, Iman Shumpert, Gani Lawal, Mfon Udofia, D'Andre Bell should coast to the NCAA Tournament, but instead with Hewitt at the helm they lose to the world's crappiest team (and their in-state rival) Georgia.  Of course after the one year he managed to luck himself into the Final Four he was rewarded with a giant ass contract, so the Jackets are pretty much stuck with him.  Shame.  
[NOTE:  I wrote this before the Jackets picked up a huge win by beating Duke on Saturday.  A more respectable and responsible blogger would probably delete this and type something else up, but I already did a lot of work here so just deal with it.  Once game doesn't mean Hewitt doesn't suck - Favors still only got 6 shots.  And a Georgia Tech fan I know said about that game,  
"They won that game in spite of him.   FT shooting bailed Hewitt out for wasting all our timeouts again. Could have used one with just under a minute left when trapped underneath Duke's basket. Instead give up the easy dunk and put them right back in it.
GT would be just fine if we just played street ball and let the talent determine the results."   

So I'm sticking with "sucks."]

2.  Cincinnati.  Freaking DWG Jinx strikes again, and suddenly the Bearcats are a big ole barrel of suck nation, losing both of their conference games this week to crappy Pitt and terrible Seton Hall to fall to 2-2.  I'm not ready to totally write them off quite yet or anything but I mean, come on guys, what the hell?  Pitt sucks.  Seton Hall sucks.  How are we going to cash in on my 200-1 bet if you dickheads can't even beat bottom middle-tier Big East teams?  And when, exactly, does Lance Stephenson plan on becoming Carmelo Anthony?  Six turnovers against the Pirates isn't going to get it done my friend.  And four points against CS-Bakersfield (a Cincy win sandwiched between the two shameful losses)?  Carmelo would have lit a team like that up for forty.  I'm getting awfully close to dumping them as my second favorite team and jumping on the Ole Miss bandwagon, and lord knows I don't want to do that.  Just beat St Johns and Notre Dame this week and we can all be happy.

3.  Michigan.  We had our first "must-win" game for both teams in Big Ten play this season on Sunday between the Wolverines and Northwestern, and the Wolverines came out on the bottom, 68-62.  Northwestern needed to win because after a great start that included wins over Iowa State, Notre Dame, and Stanford they had started conference play with two losses (including a rout by Michigan State in Evanston) and really needed a win not only to avoid falling to 0-3 but also to get some confidence back.  Michigan was predicted to be an NCAA tournament team and was ranked #15 in the country to start the season but has been awful so far.  They had won back-to-back conference games to get to 2-1 in the Big Ten, and need to win every single game they should win, especially at home, to have the slimmest prayer at a tournament bid.  And, as I said a couple sentences ago, Northwestern won, essentially ending the Wolverines season and it's just early January.  You want to see disaster?  In a ten day span starting January 17th Michigan plays UCONN, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State.  Ouch.

4.  Washington.  If it seems like a Pac-10 team ends up in this section every week it's probably because they freaking suck, and after a disastrous week by the Huskies it's suddenly gone from a 2-team league to a one teamer and might as well be the WCC at this point.  Washington took a little trip down south to take on the combined 1-4 in the conference Arizona State and Arizona and walked out after getting killed twice.  On Thursday they got beat 68-51 by the Sun Devils after shooting just 36%, totaling just 8 assists, and getting beat on the boards 38-27 and then followed it up by losing to the Wildcats 87-70 after letting Zona shoot nearly 50% from there and getting killed once again on the boards 36-22.  It turns out this really isn't a good team.  I guess when your two best players combine to have a 1-to-3 assist-to-turnover ratio and you have zero post presence you aren't going to have much success.  Want a gambling tip?  Fade Washington the rest of the year.  The public is going to keep thinking they are good, keeping the line a point or two further in Washington's favor than it should be.

5.  Kansas City Royals.  I realize it probably seems a bit odd to have a baseball team in this spot, but there are reasons and said reasons are numerous.  Most recently, and this week which is what qualified them for this spot, they signed Scott Podsednik to a $2 million dollar deal with an option for another year at another $2 million, which altogether is about $3 million too much for a guy with a career OPS+ of 87 coming off a best since 2003 OPS+ of 98 thanks to a silly batting average on balls in play of .342 (league average is about .300 which means he had a very, very lucky year).

This follows up other excellent moves such as signing Jason Kendall (last year OPS+ = 72) for 2 years/$6 million (seriously, I'm not making this up) and trading for Yuniesky Betancourt (OSP+ = 67).  In fact, the Royals lineup this year could, very seriously, end up looking like this:

LF Scott Podsednik (2009 OPS+ = 98)
CF Brian Anderson (69)
RF David DeJesus (106)
1B Billy Butler (124)
DH Jose Guillen (80)
3B Alex Gordon (86)
2B Chris Getz (74)
C   Jason Kendall (72)
SS Yuniesky Betancourt (67)

Wow.  Just wow.  That's like four Matt Tolbert's, two Delmon Young's, an Orlando Cabrera, a Jose Morales, and a Mike Cuddyer.

Zack Greinke must want to kill himself.


Finally, I want to leave you with four discussion topics, and if you've read this far you might as well go a step further and comment on one of these:

1.  I watched Jennifer's Body this weekend (which I enjoyed the hell out of by the way), and found Amanda Seyfried far more attractive than Megan Fox.
2.  Dawger claims "Ohio State isn't even one of the top 100 teams in college basketball this year."
3.  Dawger claims "Cedric Benson is more of an MVP candidate than Philip Rivers."
4.  Dawger claims "Alan Trammell deserves to be in the Hall of Fame just much as Cal Ripken."

Thoughts?

Twins v. Gay Sox

Hey folks, with the Twins making a run at the stupid little Tigers, I figured I might as well tackle doing a blog of tonight's tilt against the hated White Sox.  Of course, it's a little difficult because Mrs. W is actually in control of the remote on Tuesday nights on account of The Biggest Loser about fat people crying a lot, I think.  So what am I to do?  I'm streaming the game using Stream Torrent.  What's Stream Torrent?  I have no idea, but it means I can watch the game.  I might be downloading several different viruses which are stealing my identity as we speak, but dammit I can watch the game.

-  Span out tonight with a mild concussion, which sucks but is probably a best case scenario after getting hit by a projectile moving 90 mph in the melon.  Gomez in and, is Gardy's style, plugged right into the spot of the guy he's replacing.  He hasn't been playing much lately, but the improvement he's shown this year gives me hope.

-  And right off the bat he shows why I'm starting to have faith in him, drawing a walk.  I'd be willing to bet Gardy goes with a bunt here with Cabrera.

- Nevermind, Cabrera unloads on one for a 2-run home run in what must be just his second or so homer since joining the Twins.  That moron PA spent an entire segment this morning discussing if the Twins should re-sign Cabrera after this season.  No, of course they shouldn't.  He'll be 35 next season, and will probably get at least $3 million a year to give you the exact same skills you are already getting from Brendan Harris, only more ethnic.  And you could resign Harris for half or a third what you'd need to get Cabrera.  You'd probably like that, racist. 

-  Yet another Kubel double (that guy is better than Jesus at hitting, FYI), a Cuddy single, and a sac fly by Delmon and it's 3-0 Twins already.  I just checked and the Tigers are winning 1-0 in the fourth.  Come on Cleveland.

-  A lead off walk to Podsednik, one of the worst hitters in baseball history and a notorious hacker who never walks.  This is a less than inspiring start for Mr. Manship.  Although I was expecting the Twins to need about six runs tonight anyway, so my world hasn't been exactly rocked.

-  Sure enough, pillow-biter Pods steals second, moves up to third on a grounder and scores on a grounder.  I wish I had sound right now, because I'd be willing to bet that the Hawk is extolling the virtues of small ball right now and holding up the Twins as the ideal of that philosophy, despite the fact that they rank 13th in the majors in homers, 19th in steals, and 20th in sac bunts.  Note:  that's not small ball.  Note2:  small ball is for girls and queers.

-  Just having Matt Tolbert in the lineup makes me physically ill.  It must be terrifying for Danks to get to the end of the lineup and have to face that Harris/Tolbert/Punto bottom of the lineup (Harris is DHing for some reaosn that I can't come up with).  It's like the old Yankee teams, who were forced to trot out Tony Lazzeri, Joe Sewell, and Bill Dickey at the end of their order. 

-  A nice 1-2-3 second inning for Manship with no balls particularly hit hard.  I literally can't remember if I've been impressed by Manship or not.  Like, seriously, somehow I can't remember watching him pitch, even though I know I've seen him multiple times.  Odd.

-  I just found out Placido Polanco (Det still up 1-0, now in the seventh) is a free agent after this year and the Tigers might not sign him.  How good would he look in a Twins uniform?  Based on his last contract (4 years, $4.6 million per year), his age (34), his production (declining), and the economy (toilet), I'd be they could get him for 2 years, $8 million.  Think about it.

-  Alex Rios just parked one about 10,000 feet to make it a 3-2 game.  There is no way 3 runs are going to hold up with Manship pitching.  And now Scottie Podsednik just got on base - again.  I'd be willing to bet he hasn't been on base twice in the same game more than three times this year.

-  Two run home run for David Beckham.  4-3 White Sox.  Is Manship really all we have as an option here for a pennant drive?  I'd rather toss Liriano out there.  Incidentally, just how far has Liriano fallen that I have to explain I'm not kidding that I'd rather have him than Man "look at how far that ball goes the other way" ship.

-  Two more singles, and I get my wish, here comes Liriano.  Actually, my wish was that somebody could pitch decently tonight.  That's also a lie, my real wish is that Sarah Michelle Gellar would show up on my doorstep in a babydoll nightie with a bottle of champagne vodka, feathered handcuffs, some sort of edible body lotion, and a bucket of chicken wings.

-  While I was typing that Liriano got out of the inning.  Now Cuddyer, the next Morneau, leads off the inning with a double.  They need to get him home to tie it up.  Delmoney, Harris, and Tolbert don't fill me with confidence.

-  Delmoney with an infield hit on a Baltimore chop-style hit, which reminds me in a lot of ways getting rid of the metrodome is going to suck.  Not just because the Twins are more comfortable there than any other team, what with the roof and the baggie and all the other intricacies, but because of the mental advantage they have over the Sox and the Tigers.  Players don't say much, but Ozzie Guillen, the Sox announcers, and the fans on both sides are all convinced they can't win in the dome, and the records bear that out.  Make no mistake, the Twins will be giving up a significant home field advantage next season and beyond.  They should be able to make up that difference, however, by spending more on free agents.  Ha ha.  I'm kididng of course.  Their won't be any additional monies spent to bring in talent.

-  Harris gets the run home by grounding into a double play.  So it's tied at 4-4, but that wasn't exactly awe-inspiring.  Also, Jason Bartlett probably goes yard there.  Just saying.

-  Mrs. W made Caramel-Apple Banana Bread tonight, and it's becoming increasingly clear to me that she's not all that bright (hi honey) because she is complaining that all she can taste is the banana.  There are clearly strong apple and caramel flavors, and the banana taste is actually quite minor.  I guess not everyone can be the kind of banana bread connoisseur I am.  I could be a banana bread sommelier, no joke.  Oh, you're having the filet mignon au poivre tonight?  Let me recommend the banana bread with either walnuts or macadamia nuts.  Grilled Salmon with Asparagus?  You'd probably have a good time with the cream cheese banana bread.  Although everyone knows banana bread with chocolate chips is the best, right?

-  In case you're wondering, suddenly my internet feed isn't working.  According to the always exciting yahoo gametracker, the Twins managed to take the lead after a Cabrera walk and a Mauer double.  By the way, it seems the national media is ALL on board with Mauer definitely being the MVP.  We'll see.  I trust the national media less than I trust The Todd around a burrito.

-  Also I want to mention here that it appears Dawger and Super Sioux Fan (and baby Dawger) will be coming over to the W casa on Sunday for a little Vikings/Twins/food day.  And also probably my murder.  If SSF does kill me, somebody throw out the shoe box under my side of the bed.  Don't open it.  Just throw it out.  

-  Liriano walks Beckham with one out (internet feed is back).  This guy is still so afraid to throw a strike.  It sucks, and this is the exact same thing that happened to my dad in the early 70s.  Hot shot prospect gets hurt, career never the same - or in his case, over.  If the pattern repeats itself Liriano will one day be a math teacher with one child who is a lawyer and another who is a drunken blogger.  Geez, dad.  Sorry.

-  I think I see why he hates throwing strikes, because he just threw one and Konerko Konorked it about 400 feet.  Luckily the wall is at 401 so it's just a double, but it's still 5-5 and both Liriano and my self-esteem are in the toilet.

-  The TV claims Liriano just hit 95 on the radar gun.  I call so much bullshit, like Zack Morris talking to Belding levels here.

-  Jessie Crain on his way to the mound.  That's always the answer.

-  Ok, he got the last out.  Also that necklace is fabulous.

-  Cuddyer with ANOTHER home run.  Talk about rising to the occasion.  This is incredible.  Looking at home runs only.  Which as we all know are the most impressive thing about baseball.

-  I think my internet feed is messed up.  It looks like Matt Tolbert just went yard.  That can't be, can it?  Weird how this feed is still running fine, but made somebody else look like a weiner with giant nostrils.  Never really seen that before.

-  Cabrera just made a play going to his right and doing that gay Jeter jump throw.  That better be on sportscenter as a great play, and then replayed for years.  We also should start calling Cabrera "the Captain" and a "True Twin", as well as maybe consider giving him an MVP as like a lifetime achievement award.

-  1-2-3 inning for Crain as we roll to the 7th.  Think about that.  What are the odds?

-  Tiggers won.  Can't afford to give this one away.

-  Mijares out to throw the seventh.  I assume this means we'll see either Rauch or Guerrier in the 8th.  I also want to use this space to admit that Matt Guerrier has had an awesome year and I didn't realize it.  WHIP of 0.91, ERA 2.18, and 70 innings in the books?  That's Paul Quantrill like, man.  I mean that is straight up awesome.  And I wrote this right before he is probably going to pitch an important 8th.  Good on me.

-  Shocker!  Fatties are crying on The Biggest Loser.  Fatties.  Are.  Crying.

-  KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

-  We're going with Guerrier here.  Hopefully the DWG jinx is no longer in affect.

-  First batter is Konerko.  He konorks one over the fence.  DWG jinx looking strong.  Still 8-6 Twins.

-  Mrs. W just told me Sarah Michelle Gellar had a baby today.  Freddie Prinze's baby.  For both of these reasons, let's substittue Christina Aguilera in my dream scenario above.

-  Guerrier gets it done.  Either get a couple more or let's just hope the suddenly mortal Nathan doesn't F this up.

-  No runs in the 9th for the Twins.  Nathan in.  61 innings this year, 81 strikeouts, 39 hits.  Holy god.

-  That was deceptively easy.  Twins win again.  With the Tigers win, they remain 2.5 back.  The one big thing on the Twins side?  The Tigers are on the cover of SI.  I don't believe in curses (other than the Curse of King Tut, the Curse of the Billy Goat, and throwing salt over your shoulder if you spill it), but I think it's pretty obvious the Tigers are screwed.  Just keep winning twinkies, just keep winning.

Weekend Review

WHO WAS AWESOME

1. Providence. I mentioned this previously, but the Friars win over Pitt on Tuesday was a huge lift to the Friars’ postseason chances. They still have a lot of work to do, but that was a step in the right direction. They also picked up a huge win at Rutgers on Saturday – not hard as in Rutgers is any good, they aren’t, but good to go on the road at a traditionally tough place to play and not show any letdown, going in and winning 73-66. They are doing it with defense, forcing both Pitt and Rutgers into 16 turnovers, a very good sign. Plenty of work left to do, and they close out the season on the road against a surprisingly very good Villanova team (despite Scotty Reynolds) in a game they probably have to win to have any hope. But if the Friars can pull that upset off and win a game in the Big East tournament, I don’t see any way they don’t make it.

2. BYU. Another team looking for a bid, the Cougars had a huge week coming up with wins over fellow Mountain West contenders San Diego State 69-59 and Utah 63-50. The win over the league leading Utes is huge, giving BYU its third victory over an RPI Top 50 opponent. With games at Wyoming and at home versus Air Force remaining, BYU should end up finishing 12-4 and second in the Mountain West. The real question is will that be enough? The computer numbers are pretty good, but they are just 3-5 against RPI Top 50 teams, which looks bad when compared to fellow conference bubble team UNLV who is 5-2. There isn’t much here outside the conference, so BYU better get to at least the MWC tournament finals, although the RPI ranking of #21 will certainly help.

3. Oklahoma State. Here’s a weird team that has come out of nowhere to suddenly be included in the bubble conversation, and they just got a signature win they badly needed by beating Texas 68-59 on Saturday, running their winning streak to five straight and pushing their conference record to 8-6, good enough for fourth in the Big 12. A pretty aggressive non-conference schedule and a slow start had them off the radar, but with the recent winning streak that same aggressive schedule has them with some pretty good numbers (#30 RPI, #11 SOS). They haven’t fared well against top teams, going just 3-8 vs. RPI Top 50 and 7-9 vs. The Top 100, but if they can split the last two (home vs. Kansas State, @ Oklahoma) that would put them at 20-10, 9-7 in conference. Take that, along with the good computer numbers and strong finish, and the Cowboys are looking pretty good for a bid.

4. Kansas. They certainly don’t need any help to get in the tournament, but suddenly a “depleted” Kansas team is playing for a possible two seed and took a good step in the right direction this week. They are 13-1 in the Big 12, and just beat the only other two ranked teams in the conference this week, taking down a Blake Griffin-less Oklahoma on the road 87-78 and followed it up by whooping #11 Missouri 90-65 in Lawrence. You knew Sherron Collins would be a stud this year, but the biggest reason for the team’s success despite losing so much talent after last year’s Championship has been Cole Aldrich – and yes, it pains me greatly to say that. After minimal playing time last year, he’s jumped to 30 minutes, 15 points, and 10 rebounds per game, put up 19 and 14 against Missouri, and is projected to be a top five NBA after next season by NBAdraft.net There are a bunch of newcomers who are also helping out, but Cole is definitely the biggest reason the Jayhawks are an unexpected Final Four contender.

5. Geoff Ogilvy. Ogilvy didn’t just win the Accenture Match Play Championship, he dominated it. In a week when Tiger Woods was the main story, Ogilvy moved passed him into first place on the all-time Accenture winning percentage, going 6-0 to push his record to 17-2 overall, a .895 winning percentage – ahead of Woods who is 32-7, .821. Ogilvy beat Paul Casey in the championship 4 & 3, following a run that saw him beat the gay Stewart Cink, teen phenom Rory McIlroy, Dr. Acula’s boyfriend Camilo Villegas, the Chinese Cowboy Shingo Katayama, and Kevin Sutherland. Ogilvy shot a combined 25 under in his last 66 holes (3 matches worth) and never trailed against any of his last three opponents. Ogilvy tends to play better in big events, this is his second time winning the Accenture, winning in 2006 as well as winning the US Open that year. He’s definitely one to watch in the majors this season.


WHO SUCKED


1. Siena. Well, the good ole DWG Jinx strikes again. This time hitting the MAAC leading Saints who, after last weekend’s win over Northern Iowa in Bracket Busters, looked to have a chance, however slim, at an at-large NCAA bid if they didn’t win their conference tournament. You can pretty much forget it now, as Niagara’s Purple Eagles knocked off Siena on Friday, 100-85. The Saints played a tough schedule, but were unable to grab a signature win, with their best win on the season coming against the previously mentioned Purple Eagles. Unfortunately, letting Niagara shoot 52% from the floor was too much to overcome, and the talented, and dangerous, Saints will have to win the conference tournament in order to get a chance to repeat their success from last season.

2. Utah State. The Aggies were in a similar situation as Siena, most likely needing to win their conference tournament to get in, but having an outside shot at an at-large. And, just like Siena, those hopes are now over with their loss at Nevada on Thursday night. It’s just the Aggies second WAC loss, the other being at Boise State, and losing on the road to the #2 and #4 teams in your conference isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but when your at-large resume contains only one win over a RPI top 50 opponent and your strength of schedule is 133, you can’t really afford any losses. So Utah State will now need to win the WAC tournament, and, bad news Aggies’ fans, it’s held in Reno on Nevada’s home floor. Ruh roh.

3. Kentucky. Another team that really hurt itself, the Wildcats haven’t completely locked themselves out of at-large consideration, but it’s really, really close. They completely bombed this week, going into South Carolina and getting steamrolled 77-59 and then following that up on Saturday by dropping a home game to LSU 73-70. Kentucky has been done in by poor perimeter shooting and sloppy ballhandling, as they shot just 7-26 from three in the two games and turned it over 20 and 15 times – trends that need to stop if they have any chance of making the tournament. They have Georgia at home in an easy win, and then close out the regular season by traveling to Florida in what will be a must win. If they can’t win both of their remaining games, the Cats might need to win the SEC tournament to get in.

4. Arizona. Another Wildcat team that didn’t do themselves any favors, Arizona also went 0-2 this week in getting swept by the Washington schools. This was following up a loss to Arizona State, and their safe NCAA hopes are suddenly looking a little more precarious. Losing on the road to a very good Washington team is nothing to be ashamed of, but they needed to win at Wash State, and unfortunately didn’t even bother to show up, getting blown out 69-53. The Wildcats have two home games to close out the season, playing Stanford and Cal this week, and probably need to win both or head into the Pac 10 tournament very nervously. Arizona has some very good scorers in Wise, Budinger, and Jordan Hill, but they need to fix their rebounding issues. Both Washington schools outrebounded them by 9 in their most recent games, and it’s been a season long issue with Arizona being one of the worst in the country in keeping team’s off their offensive boards. Couple that with their inability to turn other teams over, and they are giving up a boatload of shots every game.

5. Marquette. They certainly aren’t in any danger of not making the tournament at 12-4 in the Big East, and actually their 0-2 week wouldn’t normally land them in the WHO SUCKED column since those two losses were at Louisville and versus UCONN. The reason they are here is because they lost their senior leader, starting point guard, and top four conference assist man Dominic James for the season thanks to a broken foot suffered against UCONN. This takes the Golden Eagles from a sleeper final four contender to a sweet 16 max upside type team. They still have their top 3 scorers, and Jerel McNeal and Wes Mathews are still one of the top guard tandems in the country, but it will be very difficult to replace James. Even though they managed to hang tough with Louisville yesterday, losing just 62-58, but they also managed to scrounge up a total of just seven assists in the whole game, where James averaged five per contest by himself.

Weekend Review

I certainly can't say the Gophers are awesome after that horrid showing against Michigan, but I also can't say the sucked since the did everything I could have asked against Northwestern. More on the games here and here.

WHO WAS AWESOME

1. Siena. The Saints went out and did what the needed to do, beating Northern Iowa in their bracket buster game 81-75 in Albany. It ended up looking less impressive than it started out, as Siena took a 40-19 lead into the half, only to let Northern Iowa make a game of it in the second half, but it’s a win, and a big win at that. UNI isn’t an elite opponent, but they are close to the same level as Siena, and their RPI of 88 makes them the second best win the Saints had in non-conference, and just their fourth win over a top 100 opponent.

The Saints have dominated their conference, at 15-1, and played a good non-conference schedule, which ranked the 24th toughest in the nation thanks to games against Tennessee and Oklahoma State at a neutral site, and games at Pitt and Kansas. That’s pretty much all you can do, short of winning the conference tournament. They’ve already wrapped up the MAAC regular season crown, and if they can get to the finals of the conference tourney, they should be in. With Kenny Hasbrouck and the rest of the crew back from the team that upset Vandy in the first round last year, they could do even more damage this time around.

2. Florida State. The Seminoles may have just guaranteed themselves a spot in the NCAA tournament this week, going 2-0 with wins at home over Miami and on the road at Virginia Tech. Those two wins moved them to 8-4 in the ACC, tied for second just a game behind North Carolina. Toss in non-conference wins at Cincinnati, at Cal, and home over Florida, and they are suddenly a surprising lock for the dance.

Interestingly, they’ve done it through defense. Old school FSU teams, going back to the Cassell and Bobby Sura days even, relied more on offensive fire-power to win, but this year’s version play tough defense (ranked 11th in the country in defensive efficiency) and relies on the senior leadership of point guard Toney Douglas. He leads the team at 20.5 points per game, second in the ACC and the only double figure scorer on the Seminoles, and also leads the team in assists and steals. Not only all that, but he hasn’t committed a turnover in the team’s last three games.

The last four aren’t particularly easy, with home games against Clemson and Virginia Tech and road games versus Duke and Boston College, but they likely need to win only one of those to go dancing, and might not even need that.

3. DeJuan Blair. Ok, fine, you want me to say it? I will: Pitt is for real this year. But it has nothing to do with the eternally overrated LeVance Fields, it’s all about that incredible front line for the Panthers. Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young are awesome as well, but Blair has established himself as one of the best players in the country.

This season the sophomore is averaging 15.7 points and 12.8 rebounds (leads Big East, fourth in the nation) and is still getting better. In Pitt’s games this week, he put up 22 points and 23 rebounds in their 76-68 win in Storrs. And these numbers came against Hasheem Thabeet, a guy I touted on here as a Dikembe Mutombo clone. He just attacked and attacked and I don’t think Thabeet was used to it, as he ended up in foul trouble the whole game and finished with just five points and four boards. And just in case that wasn’t enough, he followed up Saturday with 20 and 18 in the team’s 80-61 win over DePaul. Kind of a tweener, so who knows what his NBA future might hold, but for now, he might be Big East Player of the Year.

4. Phoenix Suns. I know they lost to Boston on Sunday, and I don’t really care. They fired some guy as coach and let some other guy coach instead (and I’d love to tell you their names but it’s the NBA so I don’t’ know) and now sine they aren’t under the restraints of guy #1 the team is going crazy to Mike D’Antoni levels. They scored 140+ in three straight games, which is unheard of since 1989 Loyola Marymount (RIP Hank Gathers.) And also went 3-0 in those games, so it’s not like we’re talking the mid nineties Nuggets here (I heart Michael Adams).

Nash is back, with 10-12-8-11 assists in their last four games versus a season average of 9. Three players hit twenty points in game 1, Stoudemire hit 42 in game 2, Barbosa hit 41 in game 3, and, well, game 4 (vs. Celts) didn’t go so well as they gave up 63% shooting to Boston. But who cares, a team who scores that much is just plain old fun.

5. Bill Smith. The Twins’ GM has quickly changed my mind about him – well, not completely, but I feel a lot better than I did a week ago, when I had the team in the “who sucked” category.

It’s not only the signing of Crede that made this an awesome weekend, but the fact that Smith managed to sign him for just $2.5 million guaranteed (with incentives that could push to $7 mil) when it was reported that Crede wanted $7 mil guaranteed (with incentives to $11). I wanted him at $7, and to get him at $2.5 is nothing short of brilliant. Yeah, he doesn’t walk much or hit for a very high average, and in fact, if I was starting a team from scratch I would want nothing to do with him, but he brings a skill sorely lacking on the Twins’ roster – power. He can slug, and if he’s healthy he will bring another dangerous power bat to the team.

Additionally, it’s now being reported that the Twins have officially made an offer to reliever Juan Cruz, who would instantly become their top setup man if it works out. If an agreement is struck, they would have to work out a trade with the Diamondbacks to make it happen, due to MLB rules and their desire to not give up a number one draft pick.

Finally, it’s also being reported that the Twins are watching reliever Chad Cordero, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and is a free agent. Cordero saved over 100 games in three seasons for the Nationals as an elite closer from 2005-2007, but hurt his shoulder early last season and hasn’t pitched since April of last year. He’s still not at 100% yet, but he had a bullpen session that the Twins were reported to have watched with interest on Friday. If he looks like he’s recovered, and they can get him cheap, he would be another way to upgrade the bullpen in a hurry.

Crede, Cruz, and Cordero? No complaints here.


WHO SUCKED

1. Davidson. The Wildcats have no officially put themselves in a bad position, losing to Butler in their bracket buster game on Saturday which followed up a loss to Citadel earlier in the week, giving them two losses in the SoCon and six for the season. The Butler game might hurt the most, since it was not only at home, but Stephen Curry had returned and was fully healthy and it was Davidson’s last chance to get a second win over a top 75 team (Butler’s RPI is 28th). Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Curry decided to suck once again against a good team, shooting 6-23 for the game, including 2-13 from three, and turning it over 7 times.

In his games against teams in the RPI top 120 (Oklahoma, NC State, West Virginia, Purdue, Duke, Butler, and Charleston x 2) he has shot 70-208 (34%) including 23-100 from three (23%), with a 47-44 assist to turnover ratio. Meanwhile, in his other games, he has shot 174-324 (54%) including 79-163 (48%) from three, and has a 105-47 assist to turnover ratio. Read that again. Thank god Blake Griffin is having the season he has had, otherwise this pretender might win player of the year. What a joke.

Feel free to pick Davidson to upset somebody in the first round (if they make it), because it ain’t happening this year.

2. Utah State. Looks like DWG Jinx is alive and well, as Utah State has been on the skids since I praised them after attending their game against Louisiana Tech. Since then, they lost their first conference game of the season, at Boise State, and then lost their bracket buster game to a Patty Mills-less St Mary’s team 75-64, the combination of the two may be enough to keep the Aggies from an at-large bid if they don’t win the WAC tournament – not an easy thing to do in Reno. Their best win is over #9 RPI Utah, and that I sone that will still hold up, but other than that the resume is pretty sparse, wins over Boise State (#86) and Nevada (#90) are the only other top 100 wins here. Combine that with a strength of schedule that ranks 179th, and USU is on shaky ground. I would think the WAC should be a two-bid conference, but there have been plenty of other years with just one. They would be wise to win the tournament.

Oh, and remember how I said Utah State had the quality inside guys to give Blake Griffin some difficulty? I take it all back, as they got shredded by Diamon Simpson (18 and 7) and Omar Samhan (17 and 12) of St. Mary’s who shot 15-22 between them; good players, but not Blake Griffin. Oklahoma would kill these guys worse than Michigan State against the Gophers. I’m such an idiot.

3. Ohio State. Did the Buckeyes just play their way out of the tournament this week? Could be, with losses at Northwestern at vs. Illinois at home. They are still on the bubble, but rather than being at the top – which is where they were prior to this week – they are now squarely in the same mix as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State, all just behind the Gophers. With such a tight race and comparable resumes amongst the middle tier teams in the conference you can’t afford to lose winnable games, which includes any home game, even against Illinois, and even though going into Northwestern is tougher this year, you still need to walk out of Evanston with a win if you’re in the Buckeye’s situation.

Despite all that, Ohio State is still in pretty good shape thanks to how the schedule lines up. They probably only need two more wins to get themselves in, and have two home games left against Penn State and Northwestern. If they falter in one of those, they still have a road game at Iowa (and one at Purdue) to make up for it. In short, OSU is probably in pretty good shape, but they are making this a lot tougher than it needs to be.

4. Michigan. The win they picked up over the Gophers earlier this week was huge, but they erased that and then some losing to Iowa on Sunday. The big wins against UCLA and Duke will still hold up, but the Wolverines are on their last legs by continuing to struggle in Big Ten play. With just a home game against Purdue and two roadies at Wisconsin and Minnesota left, things look bleak considering there’s a good chance the Wolverines have to win all three. At a minimum they have to win 2, and then do some good in the Big Ten tournament.

5. Top NFL Prospects at the Combine. The NFL combine was this weekend, and all kinds of weird stuff happened with three of the top prospects: WRs Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin, and OT Andre Smith.

First, likely top five pick and top receiver prospect Michael Crabtree was examined by doctors at the combine, who discovered he had a stress fracture in his foot that he apparently has had for a year. According to reports, rather than have surgery immediately, Crabtree plans to run a forty at the Texas Tech Pro Day on March 26th, and then have the corrective surgery that would keep him out of action for 10 weeks. That would keep him out until June or July, right up to the beginning of training camp. This means whichever team takes him in April’s draft will be taking him without really knowing how he’s recovering from surgery, which may cause Crabtree to fall (and probably be a bargain for somebody).

Of course, he may still end up being the first receiver picked, as there was some weird injury news that came out about 2nd ranked WR prospect Jeremy Maclin out of Missouri. While running a route in a drill, Maclin tripped and wend down hard – and didn’t get up. He was helped off the field and brought to a training table, and it was reported he wouldn’t be finishing his drills, fueling speculation on the extent of the injury, especially since he had blown out his knee previously in 2006. Of course, it turned out to be nothing more than a bruise, and Maclin ended up finishing the same drills it was reported he wouldn’t be able to get back to. Wrong again, liberal media.

Lastly, and most bizarrely, was OT Andre Smith out of Alabama. He is the top tackle prospect in the draft, but has had some questions surface about his character after being suspended for the Sugar Bowl after having improper talks with an agent, which sounds kind of sexy but really isn’t. He certainly didn’t answer the character questions, as instead of working out at the combine as scheduled he instead decided to fly home, and didn’t bother to inform anyone. He was supposed to work out on Saturday, but was completely MIA and wasn’t located until 30 minutes prior to his work out time. By then, he was already at home in Atlanta, claiming he decided he would rather just try to get back into shape by his pro day on March 11th, saying that he wasn’t in shape. So what amounts to basically your biggest job interview either, and not only are you not prepared, but you decide to just bail? Almost sounds like another Dimentrius Underwood here. Hell, let somebody else draft him, I wouldn’t touch him anywhere near the first round.

Greetings and Salutations from the Windy City

Yes, I am once again on the road, this time in the Greatest City in the World, the lovely Chicago. Unfortunately I am only here for tonight, and had no time to get together with Bogart (I'll see you in a month good buddy). Instead, we went to a Sports Bar called Mother Hubbards and ate some wings and played some Golden Tee. The Golden Tee was ok, I sucked the first game and rocked the second game, but the real issue I have is with the wings. Seriously, who wants their wings not separated? It's like doing minor surgery to get to any actual food. If I wanted to work this hard, I would go somewhere and get crab legs. Places that have non-separated wings seriously need to put that somewhere on the menu. Total BS. And also some weird dude next to us was playing the Tee, and he called himself "Da Govna" and tried to mack on all the waitresses and it was just brutal. I want to stab him in the face. Anyway, I have several other bones to pick with you people.

- The first thing I want to talk about is Bracket Busters, which happens this weekend. It is a pretty cool deal, there is no doubt, but in reality there is not much here that will impact the NCAA tournament. There are 51 games, and other than a few at the top, most are relatively meaningless. I mean, Georgia State (RPI rank 289) vs. Eastern Michigan (RPI #320)? What the bloody hell? There are only 343 teams in Division I. What bracket exactly is this supposed to be busting?

64 teams go to the NCAA tournament, 32 to the NIT, and 16 to the CBI. There would (theoretically, of course) have to be 3 other 64-team tournaments before either of these teams would be invited. I mean, jesus, South Dakota State is involved in this thing (RPI 275) playing the exciting 6-15 Cal Poly Schillings (RPI 285). The best though, is definitely the 6-16 Northern Illinois (RPI 323) traveling to the 2-22 Southeast Missouri State (RPI 336 - OUT OF 343!). I'm starting to think they just pick the teams out of a hat.

Now, there are some pretty solid matchups as well. The Butler/Davidson tilt is the marquee matchup, although with Curry hurt it loses some of the luster of watching Curry shoot 4-54 and still get praised. Both teams are likely already in the tournament, but this would have a good effect on seeding. Even better are the Utah State/St Mary's and Northern Iowa/Siena games. None of the four teams are a lock at this point, and all are squarely on the bubble. A win for any of them would go a long way - pretty much what I thought the point of this whole exercise was. George Mason vs. Creighton is another good one, although neither team is really on the bubble just yet, a win in this game would give that team a boost towards it - especially for Creighton. That's pretty much it for NCAA ramifications (although I find the NDSU/UW-Milwaukee game a bit intriguing).

Never fear, however, I have a solution. Open this baby up to all non-BCS conferences, bringing in the Mountain West, Conference USA, and the Atlantic 10. You know who really could use a big win? Temple (RPI 34), New Mexico (RPI 75), UAB (RPI 39), Houston (RPI 87), and Tulsa (RPI 70). According to Joe Lunardi at ESPN, none of those teams are in the tournament right now, and all are having pretty good seasons and could use a bigger chance to prove themselves against a team in a similar position rather than beating up on the dregs of their conference.

Also weird, there's not a single Sun Belt team involved here? Troy (RPI 126), Western Kentucky (RPI 65), and Little Rock (RPI 93) are all in a position where they could benefit from one of these games. Yet, there's nothing. Chalk me up as one who loves the idea, but doesn't get the execution of this event. And since I've already written 500 words on this, I'll just let it go for now.

- I'm almost positive Purdue has a direct line to the biggest floppers/can't stay on his feet ever kind of guys. First Brian Cardinal, now Chris Kramer. That has to the top two of all-time, with Greg Paulus coming in a distant third:


- Speaking of Paulus, what is it exactly that he does well? He doesn't score (6ppg), can't shoot (38%, 33% from three), and isn't a wizard with the ball (1.7 assists to 1.0 turnovers). He can't play defense, as I've more than once heard them reference "Duke having to play Nolan Smith here for defensive purposes). I mean, Wojo was annoying back in the day - as many dukie PG were, but at least he served a purpose, I think. This guy just straight up sucks. He's worse than Ron Powlus.

- Angry thing number 2 is how I heard on the radio the other day some jackass saying, "The Yankees hands down have the best rotation in baseball." What? For reals? I haven't even done any research but I bet that's not true, especially the "hands down" part. It's just more Yankee loving around the world. Makes me sick.

You have: Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Pettitte, Chamberlain. I have no quibble with Sabathia. I still think he's heading for an injury after all the innings he's piled up, but I can't assume one, so he's definitely good. I will go ahead and assume an injury for Burnett, the Fred Taylor of MLB. No way in hell this guy stays healthy for another year, especially after getting all that fat cash. Seriously, you're going to give a 32 year old that kind of money after a season where he pitched a career high in innings and was barely above league average? No wonder the Yankees are down the shitter. Wang is fine, especially as a non-ace, but he's also coming off an injury. Pettitte is like, 45, and is actually fine as a number 4 - he'll give you 200 innings but he's coming off the worst three years of his career, I have no idea how you expect that to turn around. And Chamberlain is a hell of a set-up man who they are, again, going to try to shoehorn into a starter.

I'm not saying it's a bad rotation, it's actually quite good if Sabathia, Burnett, and Wang all stay healthy (not likely) and they keep Chamberlain out of the bullpen (slightly more likely), but it's no where near the best rotation - "HANDS DOWN."

I won't even try, let's just pick a team. I'll pick the Rays. How bout Shields, Kazmir, Garza, Price, Sonnastine. Plenty of questions, but which would you take, Rays or Yankees? Hell, even the Cubs shitty rotation is on the same level: Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly, and Marshall. I'm not sure I wouldn't take the Cubs. You want young? Even beyond the Twins? How about the Reds? Harang, Volquez, Arroyo, Cuerto, and Bailey? That's pretty solid. Indians? Royals? Angels?

Point being, the Yankees are in good shape but there are a lot of teams with a rotation I would call in the same class, if not better. Hell even the Padres and Phillies are in good shape, but with a total stud who doesn't have the injury question mark of Sabathia - who, yes, hasn't had injury issues but jesus look at the dude. Call me crazy, but I'm going to go ahead and say the national media are idiots.

- Did you see how the Curse of DWG hit Thabeet in the biggest way? You might also say it said something to do with DeJuan Blair, but I prefer to blame me.

- Did you know that Dominique Keller of Illinois full name is Dominique DePaul Keller? Like, his middle name comes from the school called "DePaul" in Chicago. And yet, he chose to go to Illinois over DePaul. Wow. Even still, Krys Faber chose that dumpster school over the gophers. Good job Krys.

- Jesus Christ, professional wrestling is on ESPN Classic right now.

- So I never really gave a breakdown of my casino visit at Turtle Lake. I finished up 52 dollars, the only one to win money. Mainly thanks to stellar craps rollers like Skip to My Bones, the Golden Bear, the Milwaukee Kid, and Joe the Attorney, as well as myself and Snacks. We all did fairly well rolling, and it feels like I (we) should have been up way more, but there were a lot of really bad rollers who killed it. Especially the blonde fonzi who slid in at the very end and starting betting $100+ on the don't pass and killed the whole vibe. I bet Bogart bets the don't pass. What a dick. Yet in his defense some crazy Indian lady was there in a wheelchair and had a Cade McNown jersey on, and Bogart owns a McNown jersey, so I'm no really sure of the proper protocol here.

- You know what sucks? When you get in your cab at the airport and say "Marriott Magnificent Mile" and the dude's like, "address?" and you're like, "the Marriott on Michigan Avenue" and he's like, "I need the address" so you have to take a bunch of shit out of your bag to get the paper with the address. So you tell him and he's like, "oh yeah" and you're like "no shit, the only Marriott on Michigan ave" and then you finally get there and want to pay by credit card - which their sign says you can - and you try and he's like, "Man it will take ten minutes" so you go ahead and pay by cash and hope to god you don't lose the receipt. Then when you get to the room you realize you took your book out of your bag to get your papers you shouldn't have needed and managed to leave it in the cab. Especially when you were half way through it and even though it was a shitty stupid book "Clive cussler - shock wave" you still want to finish it and now you're going to have to re-buy it. Damn it. I mean, I have an extra book with me, of course, "Children of Hurin - Tolkein" but still.

- This basketball season seems exceptionally weird, no? BC beats Duke AND UNC, yet loses to Harvard. Arkansas beats Oklahoma and Texas, yet loses pretty much every SEC game. Michigan beats Duke and UCLA, yet is struggling in the Big Ten. And Michigan State rolls through everybody in conference, unless it's Northwestern or Penn State. And suddenly Wisconsin is relevant again and in contention for an NCAA bid, but they lost to Minnesota at home. Dogs and cats living together, I tells ya.

- I really hope Devron Bostick doesn't transfer, but hell, I can't blame him if he does. He's shown some serious talent, at least in the Wisconsin game, and I really think he needs more of a chance. I mean, seriously, we're playing Shamala and Busch over him? I don't get it. Why recruit him then? I'm not saying he's some sort of savior, but I really think he should get more time. I've seen a bit of a defensive deficiency in there, but that's kind of par for the course when it comes to JuCos, so I would assume Tubby has seen that and/or knew about it. I don't get it. I mean, the dude hasn't played more than 10 minutes since the game at Wisconsin when he played 21 and dominated. That was also the only time he played more than 19 minutes this year. He's hit double digit minutes in less than half of the games this year, and that's got to be frustrating. Wouldn't you transfer if you were him?

- I really hate to question Tubby, but at this point, I kind of have to, don't I? Since that genius weave at Wisconsin (which I was there for) I can't remember any other time I've been particularly impressed with anything he's done - save recruiting. I mean, Busch played 28 minutes against Penn State. 28 minutes. More than Bostick has played in a single game this year. MORE THAN PAUL CARTER HAS PLAYED IN A GAME THIS YEAR. I'm having trouble coming up with any situation where Busch should play over Carter, and yet, here we are. I OFFICIALLY don't get it.

- I'm depressed and I have to go to bed. Here is a picture of Wonderbaby to make it up to you:

And just in case that's not what you're looking for here's some random LSU fan for you (I still reserve the right to use this later)


- [ ed. note: ah crap, I stepped on the rare sidler post. Please still read. he's much smarter and less drunk than me. And smarter.]

Weekend Review

WHO WAS AWESOME:

1. Gopher Football. Nice to finally be able to put them up in this category instead of down below, but they belong here after a very nice win at Illinois on Saturday. I won’t even emphasize how the Illinois were pretty much able to move up and down the field at will, and basically did everything in their power to give the game away and still managed to almost win. Instead, I’ll focus on the Gophers’ ability to make the big play when needed, whether the big run by Eskridge or VanDeSteeg getting after The Juice and causing yet another Illini turnover. Any way you want to slice it, this is a huge win for the program, and it really shows that they have come along way, even since last season. Although let’s not start talking Rose Bowl just yet, nerds. For a better breakdown on the game, check out Buck Bravo and The Gopher Football blog's takes.

2. Baseball Playoffs. How awesome are the baseball playoffs? It’s this time of the year when I really don’t understand those folk who dislike baseball. I can kind of get it during the regular season, since it is quite long with the 162 games – even though it’s perfect to me. But during the playoffs here? The awesome fun of the couple of extra inning games already? Watching Evan Longoria in his first playoffs, leading the young, awesome, fun Rays against the dirty evil Red Sox. Watching Cole Hamels and Dice K slice up the opposing batters, and just the whole overall dynamic where every game means so much. It’s just so awesome.

3. Andre Johnson. Speaking of awesome, did you see how the incredible and uncoverable Andre Johnson run around the Miami Dolphins secondary like they were children? The guy is just straight up amazing. Ten catches for 178 yards and a TD and it doesn’t even look like he’s trying. So good.

4. Penn State. Maybe the Big Ten does have an actual good team this year, just not the one everyone thought it would be at the beginning of the season. The Nittany Lions dismantled Wisconsin 48-7 over the weekend in Madison, running their Big Ten record to 3-0. With a win in the books over Illinois as well, they only have a game at Ohio State and a home game against Michigan State left to deal with. After everything else that happened this weekend, Penn State is up to #3 in the country and has a shot to end up in the National Title Game. Woo hoo! Go Big Ten!

5. Indianapolis Colts. If you're going to make a statement, why not make it against a top defense when your starting running back gets hurt after just two carries? Peyton shredded the overrated Ravens defense to the tune of 271 yards and 3 scores in a 31-3 Colts' win that ended up pretty much being a game of call your own score.

WHO SUCKED

1. Vikings. Wow, just wow. And not in a good way. A 13 point favorite at home against a team that is bottom five in the league in passing yards allowed, rushing yards allowed, and points allowed and you manage to come up with 12 points, 10 by the offense? And pretty much need to be bailed out by the refs to end up winning this game? Might was well forget about the playoffs at this point. Sure it’s a win, but this can’t be a proud day for that weirdo we saw at the Fridley Legion Saturday night wearing a Vikings hat, Vikings shirt, and Vikings pants. Yes, Vikings pants.

2. Patriots. I guess at least the Vikings won, unlike New England, who embarrassed themselves all over national TV against the Chargers last night, going down 30-10. I guess Tom Brady is pretty important to that team after all, especially since, with the exception of one long TD against Miami, Randy Moss has pretty much turned into Bobby Wade with Cassel running the show. Or maybe the problem last night was that Maroney was hurt? That's probably it.

3. Top 4 Ranked College Football Teams (Except Alabama). Now, as Snacks mentioned to me, some of these probably shouldn't be called "upsets", but three of the top four teams went down hard (insert your own joke) this weekend. #1 Oklahoma lost to Texas, #3 Missouri lost to Oklahoma State, and #4 LSU got beat by Florida. The only real upset here was the Mizzou loss, particularly being at home. Losing to Texas at a "neutral" site or losing at Florida is nothing to be ashamed of and shouldn't really be considered at upset, but because college football's way to crown a national champion is so awesome, these teams are probably screwed now. I LOVE THE BCS!!!!!!11

4. Josh Beckett/Scott Kazmir. I was all excited to watch this big Kazmir/Beckett matchup on Saturday night, expecting a nice, tight, low scoring game, probably well under the post Over/Under of 8 runs. Instead I got Livan Hernandez vs. Carlos Silva. Kazmir "outdueled" Beckett, both not even getting out of the fifth, Kaz giving up five runs, Beckett eight. Beckett was pretty much the opposite of his big-time playoff pitcher reputation, getting absolutely smashed, while Kazmir, an excellent strikeout pitcher (led AL in K/9) suddenly turned into Nick Blackburn*, continually getting two strikes on guys and then letting them hit the ball very hard where there wasn't a fielder or sometimes even over the fence like that little weiner nerd Dustin Pedroia. Anyway they both sucked. And why the hell is the Tampa/Boston game at 3:30 today? Super irritating.

5. The DWG Jinx. I'm not exactly sure if this is awesome or sucks. Sometimes it happens to teams I actually like and/or talk up and it sucks, but to have this kind of power is pretty awesome. Last week, I mentioned Missouri, Vanderbilt, and the NFC East all as being awesome. Both Missouri and Vandy lost to inferior teams, while the Cowboys were upset by the Cardinals and the Skins gave the Rams their first win. Previous version of the Weekend Review talked up CC Sabathia who then got bombed in the playoffs, Scott Baker and the Twins who then lost to the White Sox, and East Carolina who were then upset by a crappy team to kill their BCS hopes. Now, I'm not saying this is all proof of a DWG Jinx or anything, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on. And let me just say, The Red Sox are totally awesome and will kick the crap out of everyone.


* comparison originally made by Snacks