Late

Never got a chance to post this, but this was today's card. We took out one of our biggest clients tonight and got shlockered off scotch and what not. Good night. Free too.

VCU -3.5 (W)
Charolotte -1.5 (L)
Cincy -7.5 vs. South Florida (L)
WVU -1.5 (L)
Butler -4 (W)
Wisconsin -1.5 (W)
K State -3 (L)
Duke -7 (L)
Drexel/Will & Mary UNDER 120 (W)
UNC/NC State OVER 153 (W)
Auburn/Tenn OVER 155 (W)
Fordham/St Louis UNDER 116 (L)
Wisconsin/Illinois UNDER 118 (L)
Pacific -2 (L)
Cal Poly -1.5 (W)
BYU -7.5 (W)

Eh, 7-8. Unimpressive.

Also, I don't know where Grand Slam's golf post is. He's supposed to email it to me, and yet, I don't have it. Hopefully we can get it tomorrow early.

And here we go

Alright, so I had three drinks (absolut/tonic) with dinner (filet mignon, caesar salad), another at the bar, and have a few in my room, so I might as well type things because otherwise I get bored.

- I'm sitting here watching Kentucky kick the piss out of Georgia, and why not, I picked Georgia. The gambling gods have not been kind lately. I can't even tell you how many games I've lost by 1 or .5 points. Example: last night, we have Syracuse +10.5 vs. Louisville. It's a pretty tight game most of the way, but Louisville makes a bit of a run towards the end to make it dicey. With 10 seconds left, the Cuse miss a shot down 9, and decide not to foul. Well, instead of Louisville letting the clock run out, they chuck it down court for a meaningless dunk. Meaningless in game terms, but it takes the margin of victory from 9 to 11 and a win to a loss for us. This is happening all the time lately. I swear it's not happening in our favor, at all.

- At least the under in the Iowa/NW game looks good. It's 7-3 with under 10 left in the first half. What a crapfest. That god I don't have teh option to watch that game here.

- I don't even know one player on Georgia. Does Levi Stukes still play there?

- Answer: No. And looking at their roster, the only guy whose name I recognize is Sundiata Gaines. Man, sometimes I wish I did actual research before picking games.

- I swear Patrick Patterson (of Kentucky) is like 30 years old. He's like Danny Almonte. Or Lebron James.

- So I have to go watch a hockey game on Friday. $nake is making me. It will be my first ever Gopher hockey game. I've been to a couple Wild games, but they were with my former employer, on the company dime, and we mostly just drank the whole time. I also went to a North Stars game a long time ago. That was fun. We bought a bunch of mini-sticks and started playing knee hockey in my parents' basement when they weren't home. Broke a lot of shit. Was fun though.

- Another attendee of the big hockey game on Friday will be the guy who once grabbed Goldy Gopher at a game and started punching him. He's kind of a hero of mine.

- If you're wondering where Ryan Amoroso (Burnsville kid) ended up after transferring from Marquette, it's San Diego State. I actually almost went there, but stayed close to home for my high school girlfriend. Thanks Whore!

- The McDonalds All-American Rosters are out. No Gophers of course, which is fine. The only one of these guys I've seen play is Iman Shumpert, heading to Georgia Tech. Somehow one night I caught a high school game on one of the Myriad Fox Sports Channels I get, heard his name, and decided to keep watching. Really not very impressed. Of course, I also saw Tayshaun Prince play in the McD's game and thought he'd get broken in half and transfer within the year to a smaller school. I'm not exactly the world's best talent evaluator.

- Speaking of the World's best talent, how about Rico Tucker? Aside from getting his coach fired, which From the Barn attributes to not utilizing Rico's talents (see, I'm not the only one here people), he's having a solid year. Third on the team in points and leading in steals and assists, while shooting a solid 75% from the line. Sure, he leads the team in turnovers and is only shooting 28% from three, but when you have to do everything for your team, those things happen. Ask Allen Iverson. When he plays more than 33 minutes, Pepperdine is undefeated. When he doesn't start, the Waves are 1-7, with that only win vs. something called Hope Academy. They are 4-2 when he scores more than 15 points, and their 5-16 when he doesn't. Rico Tucker = the Allen Iverson of college basketball.

- NW/Iowa 17-15 at half. Are they testing out no shot clock games?

- Nevermind. Combined shooting is 11-44. 25%. Great teams here.

- Whoever showed me the trick where you fill the sink in your hotel room up with ice and keep your beer in there should be recognized as a hero. I just don't remember who it was.

- Dan Coleman has scored in single digits in only 7 games this year. Pretty good, right? Doesn't seem right. Every single one of those games though, other than the games against Central Michigan and Cal-Riverside, which don't matter at all, was a game where he needed to step up. Florida State, twice against Michigan State, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Rebounds in those games (the ones that mattered): 5,2,3,4,3. Not to mention the 10 point/1 rebound performance against Wisconsin. Dude just disappears when they need him. I don't know, maybe I'm too hard on Coleman. It's certainly possible.

- Wow, Baylor chokes away what would have been a big win over Oklahoma on the road by fouling on a three pointer, up three, with ten seconds left. Oklahoma makes the free throw, but fouls, and Curtis Jerrels misses both free throws with 1 second left to lose by 1. I like Baylor a lot, but they seem to blow every big chance. Huge game with massive tournament implications. Both OU and Baylor are listed as "work left to do" to get into the tournament on ESPN's Bubble Watch. Gophers not included.

- NW and Iowa have really turned it on. 49-45 Iowa with 3:21 to go. That easy under win has turned a bit interesting. Not the good kind.

- At 104 with 19 seconds left. Please no overtime.

- Finished at 53-51 iowa. How fun would that game have been to watch?

- This sucks. I'm sitting here with nothing to do, and there's no late game. It should be mandatory that every single night of the week the Pac 10, WCC, Big West, WAC, or Mountain West have a late game. And it's on TV. Think of the poor business travelers people.

- I'm going to have to miss the Michigan game Thursday, due to traveling. But I'll tell you what happens. The Gophers come out flat, and DeShawn Sims destroys them in the first half (not Manny Harris because L-Dub shuts him down.) Down by 9 at half, the Gophers make a run to start the second half and cut it to two at one point, place goes crazy. Then Minnesota does a bunch of stupid idiotic crap and the Wolverines capitalize and end up winning 71-65. Book it.

- Speaking of Wolverines, go vote in the poll to the right.

- Georgia somehow manages to only lose by 6, leading to a 5-1 night. Maybe the tide is turning. I doubt it.

- For tomorrow: VCU -3.5, Charolotte -1.5, Cincy -7.5, WVU -1.5, Butler -4, Wisconsin -1.5, K State -3, Duke -7

- I should probably have more to say but I'm tired and have a big important meeting tomorrow and it's 11:34. Wow. Only 11:34. I should be embarrassed. Please accept this picture of Heidi Klum as Jessica Rabbit as an apology.

From Jersey

I'm in New Jersey this week. Unfortunately, I'm with a bunch of other people from my job, which means I most likely won't get drunk alone in my room and randomly write the stupid things that come to mind. Or will I?

Georgia +7.5 @ Kentucky
Northwestern/Iowa UNDER 115
Baylor +6 @ Oklahoma
Drake -7 vs. Bradley
Northwestern +8.5 @ Iowa
San Diego State PK @ Wyoming

Yesterday: 3-6
Season: 224-206

Big Ten Rankings

A quick thought before I get to this week's rankings:

Bump both Duke and Georgetown down just a bit, as both have weaknesses that could be exposed. I watched Duke get shredded - again - by quick guards who can penetrate. That could kill them in the tournament. Not quite as big a concern, but Georgetown's Roy Hibbert got killed by Syracuse's Arinze Onuaku. Onuaku was only able to play 25 minutes due to fouls, and thus only scored 13, but put on a clinic everytime he got the ball in the paint against Hibbert. It was so bad, that at one point Hibbert was fronting Onuaku. Hibbert stands 7-2, while Onuaku is 6-9. He was fronting him. I said it last year, and I'll say it again: whoever drafts Hibbert is going to get an all-time bust of a player. Yet he's still projected late lottery. I don't get it.

Rankings:

1. Purdue - I don't see any way you don't have them at the top. Leading the Big Ten and have won 11 straight games. With only 2 tough games remaining, they could end up with a pretty nice seed in the NCAA tournament. Not sure if they're tournament ready, but then again, I didn't think they'd own the Big Ten either.

2. Wisconsin - What I like about the Badgers is they just take care of business. Not a single bad loss on their record, although I'm sure they expected to beat Purdue in Madison. They could surprise in the tournament.

3. Indiana - Obviously they drop like a rock if D.J. White is hurt for the season, which wouldn't exactly be a total shock. The guy is an absolute stud, the best player in the Big Ten, and more fragile than Fred Taylor. It looks like it's just a sprain, and that's good news. As good as Eric Gordon and the other guards are, there's nobody on the team that can even come to close to stepping in for DJ.

4. Michigan State - This team freakin' baffles me. After a very impressive non-conference showing, they've turned into a middle of the road Big Ten team. Losses to Iowa and Penn State are absolutely brutal for a supposed top team. They're only road wins are against the two worst teams in the conference in Northwestern and Minnesota. They're either making a run to the elite 8 or getting bounced in round 1, more likely the latter.

5. Ohio State - No team is more firmly entrenched in their spot than the Buckeyes, even after the loss at Michigan yesterday. I don't see them moving up, or down, anytime soon. I also don't see them getting in the tournament, meaning only four from the Big Ten this year. They still have time to do some damage, with Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State coming to Columbus and a game at Indiana, but they'll have to play well. If they end up 2-2 in that stretch, that leaves them 20-11 and 11-7 in a weak Big Ten, with wins against Syracuse and Florida (bubble teams as well) in the NC. Good enough? Maybe.

6. Michigan - Don't look now, but the Wolverines are streaking with three straight wins and have a cupcake of a schedule the rest of the way, starting by going to visit the helpless and hopeless Gophers on Thursday. The one-two punch of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims is starting to get it done.

7. Iowa - It gets pretty tough to rank teams 7-10, as they're all pretty schizophrenic. I'm going to go with Iowa at the top, as you can pretty much count on them to be tough on their home court, and their defense and style at least makes them a threat to beat teams. Not good teams, but teams, nevertheless.

8. Illinois - I still can't believe how bad these guys are. Weber should probably be fired. Still, a 24 point road win and a 1 point road loss out of any team in this bottom group should have them pretty jazzed.

9. Penn State - Could easily flip them with the Illini, especially since they beat them by 1 at home. I chalk it up to Illinois still be giddy after winning the easiest game in the history of their program.

10. Minnesota - Let's move on. Nothing to discuss.

11. Northwestern - If there was any possible way I could move them up to #10, I would. But there isn't. Worst basketball team ever.


Syracuse +10.5 @ Louisville
Texas A&M +5.5 @ Texas
San Diego +7.5 vs. Gonzaga
Rhode Island PK vs. Xavier
Providence +6.5 vs. Georgetown


yesterday: 3-3
Season: 321-300

Santana vs. Bedard

Someone somewhere on this stupid blog asked about a breakdown of the Santana trade vs. the Bedard trade. Since I have nothing better to do this afternoon, and there isn't any basketball on until Duke/Wake at 6:30, I'll see what I can do.

SANTANA vs. BEDARD:

They are both 28, actually being born only 8 days apart, so age is no factor. Santana has been one of the best pitchers in the majors, if not the best, for the past five years. Bedard made a major leap into the upper tier of pitchers this season, after steadily improving for the past four seasons, lowering all his metrics year vs. year for that period, topping out with a 3.16 ERA (146 ERA+), .212 OAV, and 11 K's per nine. Compare that to Santana's 3.33 (130), .225 OAV and 10 Ks per. Add in Johan atrocious HR rate this season, and Bedard may have had a better year - although Santana pitched more innings, 219 vs. 182.

This was clearly Johan's worst season since becoming a full-time starter, and he still finished fifth in Cy Young voting, while it was Bedard's best season, and he tied Johan for fifth. Looking at the contracts they signed after the trades, where Bedard went for 1 year at $7 million and Johan went for 6 years, $137 million, Johan is prohibitively more expensive. Johan had a no trade clause, while Bedard did not. I didn't really get this at first, but after looking into it, it appears there are many reasons why Bedard would be more attractive to certain teams. Of course, if they aren't able to hammer out a long term deal with Bedard, it becomes a very costly trade on their end. Bedard should get somewhere in the $100 million range, so certainly not cheap, but not Johan money and he could end up being every bit as good for the rest of their careers. But I doubt it.

CENTERPIECES:

OF Carlos Gomez to the Twins vs. OF Adam Jones to the Orioles.

Gomez comes to the Twins and is instantly their number 1 prospect. The bad news is that he wasn't the top Mets prospect, but was #2. Adam Jones was not only the #1 prospect in the Mariners system, but was ranked the #44 prospect in the Major Leagues last season, and, if he hadn't played in the majors too much, would be in the top ten this year (Gomez is ranked 65 this season). Jones is known as a five-star, while Gomez is a four-star. Both have limited time in the majors, where Jones hit .246/.300/.400 in 65 at bats last season and Gomez hit .232/.288/.304 in 108 at bats. Similar, but in the minors Jones hit .314/.382/.586 while Gomez hit .281/.350/.423 in his last full minor league season. Hitting isn't everything, and Gomez is faster, steals more bases, and is generally known as a top flite fielder, but it's pretty clear any way you look at it that the best prospect traded in either deal was Jones.

EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to include this when I originally typed it up, but in case the previous paragraph hasn't depressed you enough, the Mariners were supposedly interested in Santana, but pulled out when the Twins asked for Jones. Great.

SECONDARY TALENT:

P Deolis Guerra to the Twins vs. P Chris Tillman.

Guerra immediately becomes the number 2 prospect in the Twins' system. Guerra dominated A ball two years ago, but had trouble adjusting to the jump up to high A. He has pitched in 23 games in high A (22 starts) lasting a total of only 97 total innings - yikes, that's awful - and last season in 21 games there had an ERA of 4.01 and a WHIP of 1.17. He's generally regarded as an excellent prospect, ranking #79 in the top 100 prospects list. He's only 18 years old, and could climb the list, or flame out.

Chris Tillman ranks #44 on the list, and is similar to Guerra since he also got a bit rocked in high A ball, though scouts love him, and is only 19. He's a step ahead of Guerra, however, because Guerra has a great changeup but needs to develop other pitches, while Tillman already has an excellent fastball and curveball. That, as well as ranking 35 spots higher on the top 100 list, give the edge here to the Mariners as well.

THROW-INS:

P Phil Humber and P Kevin Mulvey to the Twins vs. P Kevin Mickolio, P Tony Butler, and P George Sherrill.

Neither Humber nor Mulvey are anything to get hyper about. Both rank as three star prospects and project to back of the rotation types. They have each had some minor league success, and will start the season most likely in AAA. I expect both to get a shot with the big club at some point, but neither will become a star. Humber is the #5 in the Twins organization, Mulvey is #8.

Mickolio and Butler are a step below Humber/Mulvey, with Butler a two-star prospect ranking 8th in the Mariners system, with Mickolio not ranked in the top 11. Butler is a big lefty who can throw 94 mph, and could develop into a star level pitcher some day. Mickolio isn't expected to be much.

At this point, it looks like the Twins win this category, but the difference is in the third pitcher, reliever George Sherrill. Sherrill is thirty, has been in the majors for four years, and certainly isn't considered a prospect. What he is, is a shut down middle reliever who really came into his own last season. In 46 innings, he allowed 28 hits while striking out 56, with an ERA of 2.36 and a WHIP of 0.98. In 128 career innings pitched, Sherrill has allowed just 10 home runs. It may seem weird that a crappy team like the Orioles would want a middle reliever, but if they're smart, they'll turn around and deal Sherrill. If he can even come close to repeating his numbers from last season, he'll be a valuable commodity at the trade deadline and could net the O's yet another prospect.

So, in conclusion, this sucks.

Picks

Michigan +6 vs. Ohio State
Boston College -5 vs. Virginia
Miami +4 @ Georgia Tech
St Louis +8 @ UMass
Duke -9.5 @ Wake Forest
UCLA -5.5 @ USC

And I still hate the Gophers.

Yesterday: 5-8
Season: 318-297

Stupid Gophers

After a pretty good first half which saw the Gophers trailing Wisconsin 27-26, they fell apart in the second, ultimately losing 65-56.

Ok, fell apart might be a bit strong, but they essentially turned their offense into the three guards (Westbrook, McKenzie, and Nolen) running around the three point line until one of them got "open" for a three pointer. I'd be more critical, but every time a guard penetrated and dished, whichever Gopher big man was the recipient of the pass would either let it go through his hands (DJ) or miss the layup/dunk (Williams). It was to the point where BTN even did a montage of all the easy shots missed by the Gophers. Incredibly frustrating.

The defense fell apart in the second half, as Wisconsin was pretty much able to get to the rim whenever they wanted. Luckily, they weren't shooting the ball well either, and Minnesota had opportunities to make a move but wasn't able to capitalize.

They played tough, and every time Wisconsin seemed to be ready to take control had an answer - up until about the four minute mark.

The Good:
Might have been Lawrence McKenzie's best game. Seemed to finally find that balance between scorer and game manager. Attacked and shot the ball when needed, and penetrated and got the ball to open players when it was available. Excellent game.

The Bad:
Dan Coleman decided once again not to show up in a big game. Finished with 10 points, but five came in the last minute when the game was already decided. If you just watch him he appears lost at times. Landry abused him every time he got the ball on the block, and I saw Butch miss a shot, and rather than block out Coleman just wandered away, letting the rebound come right to Butch and leading to an easy layup. Additionally, when the Badgers scored with 6 second left in the first half, Coleman was closest to the ball and instead of hurrying to get it in to try to get a good shot at the end of the half, he just walked to the ball while the clock continued to run. He's a senior with some talent, and his head is turning him into the most average of the average. He drives me crazy.

The Ugly:
Jon Williams. Forced to play a lot of minutes by Tollackson's foul trouble and Wisconsin's size, and now has me praying Sampson and Iverson can play immediately. Williams was 0-5 shooting, and somehow it was even uglier than that. All five misses were from inside 3 feet, including a missed dunk. He's completely overmatched in the Big Ten, and I don't know if he's fixable at this point.

Overall, this game was very similar to the Indiana and Michigan State games, with the Gophers making it tight but not being able to get over the hump in the end. I guess you could be satisfied with the effort, but I'm pretty god damn sick of moral victories, and tired of stupid play.

Also, for those homers complaining about the refereeing - give it a rest. The game was called evenly, and there were calls missed on both sides. If you have to resort to blaming the refs, you're missing a lot. Don't even bother pointing out the 33 vs. 20 free throw attempt advantage the Badgers add. Think about for just a minute, and remember the Gophers had something like the first ten free throw attempts in the game, and then spent the rest of the contest flitting about the three point line while Wisconsin continually attacked the basket. Use your friggin' heads people.

I'm seriously pissed off right now. I'm going to go try to kill my feelings with beer.

Today's Picks

I'm back with a vengeance:

Syracuse +4 vs. Georgetown (W)
Baylor -2.5 vs. Texas (L)
North Carolina -13.5 vs. Virginia Tech (W)
Wisconsin -10 vs. Minnesota (L)
Louisville -6 @ Providence (W)
Arizona -2 vs. Stanford (L)
Northwestern +8.5 vs. Purdue (L)
Illinois -3.5 @ Penn State (L)
Michigan State +5 @ Indiana
Vanderbilt -5.5 vs. Florida (L)
Texas A&M -13 vs. Oklahoma State (L)
Oklahoma +3.5 @ Texas Tech (W)
Mississippi State -5.5 vs. Arkansas (W)

Yesterday: 1-0
Season: 313-289

Guess Who's Back?

Yep, made it back safe and sound from Pasadena. Was even somewhat responsible, staying out drinking only until 9:30, 11:30, 12:30, and 2:00 the four nights we were there. I deserve all that free booze having to be in meetings from 8am to 6pm for three straight days. Trip Highlights:

1. Kicked a thirty yard field goal at the Rose Bowl. With room to spare. I've now been to the Rose Bowl more than the Gophers in the past 46 years.

2. The free IPOD speaker station they gave us.

3. My team won the Chili Cook-Off. I can't cook, but I was "Official Taster" since I'm a bit of a chili connoisseur.

4. Seeing Keanu Reeves' star on the walk of fame.

5. They rented out Warner Brothers studios, and the second floor of the museum was all dedicated to Harry Potter props.

Of course, with all of this going on, I was completely unable to keep up with any sports at all, other than the text messages from Snacks from the Gopher/Illinois game such as "Wow. The Gophers just plain suck" and "The place just went absolutely nuts when the gophers managed to get the lead down to four. That's how sad this is" and his phone call which consisted of, "It's the eight minute timeout and they're losing by 22. We're leaving."

Also saw the Twins signed Livan Hernandez for one year at $5 million. I like this signing. I'll probably write more at another time, but I'm really tired. I'll be back tomorrow to jabber on while watching the least winnable game in Gopher history against the Badgers.


Marquette -4.5 vs. Pitt

Season: 312-289

Grades For Hockey Team

- The following conversation took place at Williams are.......Jimmy's Bar during the Gophers vs Iowa game.

WWWWWWW- "Hey Snake, You better turn out a hockey post next week or your fired."

Snake- "But Boss Man, The hockey team is on bye next week."

WWWWWWW- "I don't care I want more hockey. I love hockey. Why don't you do a report card for all the players."

Snake- "I guess I could do that"

WWWWW- Thinking to himself, "God that report card idea is so good I will steal it back and use it for the hoops team. Then Snake will look like a complete ass when he posts his grades at the end of the week."

WWWWW- "Also, I am thinking about granting Dawg blogging rights so he can review movie's. How bad to you think they could be?"

Snake- "Ummmm??????Ahhhhh??????Ummmmmm????????"

- Wednesday afternoon.

Snake- Thinks to himself when he sees WWWWW's hoops report card, "God I hate WWWW and his irrelevant blog. I am going to punch him in his slightly over weight gut next time I see him for sand bagging me. What an ass."

Snake- Thinks to himself after reading Dawgs blog, "Man, Dawgs review really sucked. Did he really pick Balls of Fury for his first post?" "God that was bad, it was like he blanked on bits after the first paragraph."

- Here are the grades I have given the Gophers for the season thus far. Thanks again for stealing my thunder WWWWWW! Hope you like your F'ing hockey report card.

Kangas and Wheeler (A)

Rest of team (F)

Frazee (F-) "Leave the program already!" "You Suck!"

W, There are your grades you indian giving SOB.