Monday, April 7, 2008
NCAA Update
One upside of Kentucky being so poor lately is that I actually put together a real bracket instead of picking UK to win (though I did have them going to the sweet 16 this year). The last time I picked the final correctly was (I'm guessing) the year North Carolina beat Illinois. Well, I had Kansas over Memphis in my bracket so I guess I'm sticking with that.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
NIT Picking
Ohio State -3.5 UMass
In the NIT semi-finals, Ohio State easily handled Ole Miss while UMass brushed aside Florida. This actually looks like an interesting match-up. I still don't know much about these teams but I'll go with UMass to win straight up.
The buzz is that UMass's Travis Ford will be rolled out as LSU's new coach on Friday. With Western Kentucky's Darrin Horn (name dropper alert, a high school classmate of mine) heading to South Carolina the SEC will be infused with some new blood. Unfortunately for those guys, I think they're on the wrong side of big time basketball. Darrin, buddy, South Carolina is a graveyard, smack dab in the middle of the fiercest of SEC and ACC recruiting battles simultaneously; man, I thought Marquette would've been a better fit. As for LSU, its a football school and basketball over the years has been dedicated to zinging Kentucky every once in a while, I just don't see the upside. (Incidentally I thought the LSU job was ideal for Bobby Knight--he could've zinged Kentucky with some gusto and maybe built something interesting there but he seems to have found a home at ESPN)
In the NIT semi-finals, Ohio State easily handled Ole Miss while UMass brushed aside Florida. This actually looks like an interesting match-up. I still don't know much about these teams but I'll go with UMass to win straight up.
The buzz is that UMass's Travis Ford will be rolled out as LSU's new coach on Friday. With Western Kentucky's Darrin Horn (name dropper alert, a high school classmate of mine) heading to South Carolina the SEC will be infused with some new blood. Unfortunately for those guys, I think they're on the wrong side of big time basketball. Darrin, buddy, South Carolina is a graveyard, smack dab in the middle of the fiercest of SEC and ACC recruiting battles simultaneously; man, I thought Marquette would've been a better fit. As for LSU, its a football school and basketball over the years has been dedicated to zinging Kentucky every once in a while, I just don't see the upside. (Incidentally I thought the LSU job was ideal for Bobby Knight--he could've zinged Kentucky with some gusto and maybe built something interesting there but he seems to have found a home at ESPN)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
NIT Picking
Massachusetts-Florida
I didn't blog as such but Florida was my pre-tourney pick to win it. Billy Donovan's mind games with his players, not allowing them to wear school colors for example, looked like just the thing a great coach does to motivate so-so players for a tournament run. Florida's players are actually pretty good but they were considered a disappointment this year. That was probably unfair as they're so green. A good run through this NIT may give them just the taste of success they need to come back strong next season. (Personally I'm hoping it burns them out and they suck next year) UMass incidentally is also coached by a Rick Pitino disciple, Travis Ford. I'll always remember Ford setting himself to take a charge from Shaq; didn't get the call if I'm not mistaken but on the up-side, he didn't shatter every bone in his body either. This shouldn't be quite as physically exhausting but I'm guessing Ford comes up on the short end here too. I'll take Florida.
Ole Miss-Ohio State
I saw Ole Miss play a coupla times this year and frankly they were pretty bad. I'm surprised they advanced this far even in a mediocre tourney like the NIT. I didn't see Ohio State play this year but I'm assuming they're better. I'll take Ohio State.
Looks like we're on track for a rematch of last year's NCAA finals. Or a double disappointment for football schools trying to turn into basketball schools. Never happened before. Cool or sad?
I didn't blog as such but Florida was my pre-tourney pick to win it. Billy Donovan's mind games with his players, not allowing them to wear school colors for example, looked like just the thing a great coach does to motivate so-so players for a tournament run. Florida's players are actually pretty good but they were considered a disappointment this year. That was probably unfair as they're so green. A good run through this NIT may give them just the taste of success they need to come back strong next season. (Personally I'm hoping it burns them out and they suck next year) UMass incidentally is also coached by a Rick Pitino disciple, Travis Ford. I'll always remember Ford setting himself to take a charge from Shaq; didn't get the call if I'm not mistaken but on the up-side, he didn't shatter every bone in his body either. This shouldn't be quite as physically exhausting but I'm guessing Ford comes up on the short end here too. I'll take Florida.
Ole Miss-Ohio State
I saw Ole Miss play a coupla times this year and frankly they were pretty bad. I'm surprised they advanced this far even in a mediocre tourney like the NIT. I didn't see Ohio State play this year but I'm assuming they're better. I'll take Ohio State.
Looks like we're on track for a rematch of last year's NCAA finals. Or a double disappointment for football schools trying to turn into basketball schools. Never happened before. Cool or sad?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friendlies & Qualifiers
USA 3-0 Poland
Did you see that beatdown that team USA laid on Poland? That was downtown Krakow, you know, not like the Poles got dragged off to some farflung burg like Columbus for that, they got their asses firmly paddled in front of the home folks. I was a little surprised because the Polish team looked big and fairly speedy at every position, I suspected USA would be lucky to get out with a draw. But frankly USA dominated the ball, consistently pushed forward and held the Poles to only a handful of decent scoring opportunities. This is the result of so many Americans playing in Europe now, they're not intimidated by foreign locales or fearsome-looking squads. It was just a friendly and I have no idea how representative this was of Poland's A-team but still this was a good solid victory for USA.
USA 0-1 (OT) Honduras (U-23 Olympic Qualification)
Too bad the Americans couldn't pull out the final Olympic qualifier but no biggie, the top two qualified for Beijing. Honduras put in a game effort and got it done in OT with a brilliant strike from by a forward named Welcom that I suspect will turn up on an MLS roster by the end of summer. I generally thought the Americans were the better squad but not decisively so--and they did get outscored!--but it was a skeleton crew since there was little to play for. Jozey Altidore came in late in regulation and saw little action and Freddy Adu sat out after pitching in 2 goals and an assist in the semi-final drubbing of Canada. That was the money game and Freddy shined out just like ya like.
I know you Americans probably don't care because you've been told you hate soccer all your life. But Freddy went out there and got it done while wearing a jersey with YOUR flag on it. You're getting well-represented whether you like it or not. I'm not saying USA's gonna win South Africa 2010 or even Beijing 2008 but the Americans don't suck at soccer.
Did you see that beatdown that team USA laid on Poland? That was downtown Krakow, you know, not like the Poles got dragged off to some farflung burg like Columbus for that, they got their asses firmly paddled in front of the home folks. I was a little surprised because the Polish team looked big and fairly speedy at every position, I suspected USA would be lucky to get out with a draw. But frankly USA dominated the ball, consistently pushed forward and held the Poles to only a handful of decent scoring opportunities. This is the result of so many Americans playing in Europe now, they're not intimidated by foreign locales or fearsome-looking squads. It was just a friendly and I have no idea how representative this was of Poland's A-team but still this was a good solid victory for USA.
USA 0-1 (OT) Honduras (U-23 Olympic Qualification)
Too bad the Americans couldn't pull out the final Olympic qualifier but no biggie, the top two qualified for Beijing. Honduras put in a game effort and got it done in OT with a brilliant strike from by a forward named Welcom that I suspect will turn up on an MLS roster by the end of summer. I generally thought the Americans were the better squad but not decisively so--and they did get outscored!--but it was a skeleton crew since there was little to play for. Jozey Altidore came in late in regulation and saw little action and Freddy Adu sat out after pitching in 2 goals and an assist in the semi-final drubbing of Canada. That was the money game and Freddy shined out just like ya like.
I know you Americans probably don't care because you've been told you hate soccer all your life. But Freddy went out there and got it done while wearing a jersey with YOUR flag on it. You're getting well-represented whether you like it or not. I'm not saying USA's gonna win South Africa 2010 or even Beijing 2008 but the Americans don't suck at soccer.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Mr. Clemens goes to Washington
Right off: I couldn't care less about steroids. If Roger Clemens wants to do steroids or HGH or smoke angel dust in the dugout before the game, its his choice not mine and I don't believe for 1 second that it actually makes him better at anything. These drugs are not 'performance enhancers', they just make you bigger not better. For all the hand-wringing about the influence on the children the moralizers are completely missing the point--they're making it worse! By dragging Mark McGwire in front of Congress you're tacitly telling the children that if you do steroids you'll hit 500 HR's when nothing could be further from the truth! Why not bring up schlubs like Ryan Anderson? He actually got busted for steroids--unlike McGwire, Clemens or Bonds--and he stunk! What kind of 'performance enhancement' did he get? None because he stunk and it don't matter how many drugs he does, he's still gonna stink. Women in America have fought for decades for the right to control their own bodies, why don't these athletes stick up for their rights once in a while instead of pretending to not be guilty?
Tomorrow Clemens goes before some relatively unimportant Congressional committee (*) to proclaim his victimhood at the hands of Brian McNamee and the blood-sniffing American media that lives to point out the faults of others while ignoring its own culpability. Is Clemens a liar? I don't know and I don't care. To me he's a Hall of Famer and he always will be regardless of how many packs a day he smokes or what websites he peruses in the off-season. He played baseball at a very high level for a long time and contributed to a lot of good teams over the years, that's all I know. His 'morality' is his own problem, its not like I'm buying a used car from the dude.
(* To be fair, I consider all Congressional committees to be 'relatively unimportant')
Virtually all of the input I've gotten on this story is from the sports media which has its own point of view, its own narrative structure for this story that may or may not be relevant to reality. None of these sports talk guys have mentioned that today that committee had a hearing on Human Growth Hormone. Do you see? These Congressmen probably aren't interested in the he said/he said sportsy bullshit. This committee is interested in HGH and baseball (for whatever reason) is the high profile HGH case. Prediction: This committee is likely to conclude that HGH is the medicine of the future and won't give a shit about Clemens or McNamee or Major League Baseball (probably a good 2 years down the road when we've moved on to a gajillion other things and forgotten all this noise). You gotta remember: Congressmen spend most of their day listening to old people complain about health care costs. HGH may well be what keeps people alive longer for cheaper. Roger Clemens may be the test case for the wonders of the medicine of the future and what Congressman could pass up a health care victory? Clemens may become a Babe the Blue Ox for the ever-increasing elderly voting bloc, the new Matlock, the new Joe Dimaggio--he'll go down as the man who made Obama's health care plan look prescient! And what first term president could pass up a health care victory?
If this committee even notices Clemens at all it may be for what makes life better. Are you ready for Roger Clemens to be hailed as a hero?
Tomorrow Clemens goes before some relatively unimportant Congressional committee (*) to proclaim his victimhood at the hands of Brian McNamee and the blood-sniffing American media that lives to point out the faults of others while ignoring its own culpability. Is Clemens a liar? I don't know and I don't care. To me he's a Hall of Famer and he always will be regardless of how many packs a day he smokes or what websites he peruses in the off-season. He played baseball at a very high level for a long time and contributed to a lot of good teams over the years, that's all I know. His 'morality' is his own problem, its not like I'm buying a used car from the dude.
(* To be fair, I consider all Congressional committees to be 'relatively unimportant')
Virtually all of the input I've gotten on this story is from the sports media which has its own point of view, its own narrative structure for this story that may or may not be relevant to reality. None of these sports talk guys have mentioned that today that committee had a hearing on Human Growth Hormone. Do you see? These Congressmen probably aren't interested in the he said/he said sportsy bullshit. This committee is interested in HGH and baseball (for whatever reason) is the high profile HGH case. Prediction: This committee is likely to conclude that HGH is the medicine of the future and won't give a shit about Clemens or McNamee or Major League Baseball (probably a good 2 years down the road when we've moved on to a gajillion other things and forgotten all this noise). You gotta remember: Congressmen spend most of their day listening to old people complain about health care costs. HGH may well be what keeps people alive longer for cheaper. Roger Clemens may be the test case for the wonders of the medicine of the future and what Congressman could pass up a health care victory? Clemens may become a Babe the Blue Ox for the ever-increasing elderly voting bloc, the new Matlock, the new Joe Dimaggio--he'll go down as the man who made Obama's health care plan look prescient! And what first term president could pass up a health care victory?
If this committee even notices Clemens at all it may be for what makes life better. Are you ready for Roger Clemens to be hailed as a hero?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Africa's game is the world's game
Al-Jazeera has a checkered reputation in the western world. Sure, their news items morbidly dwell on the Gaza Strip or the shifting winds of Iraq (and the Business Editor is lamentably unimpressed with their reportage on international commerce). But we dwell on Britney Spears, steroids and real estate crises in a pessimism-inducing manner when they could just as easily be seen as examples of what a stunningly varied culture and vibrant economy we have at our fingertips.
And westerners are a mildly (and thoroughly) paranoid lot. Good god, how many of us detest Fox News or CNN or PBS or the BBC or Bloomberg, Sky Sports, ESPN, CNBC? So you can see western skepticism of Al-Jazeera as a product of xenophobia but I prefer to see that western skepticism permeates everything in the free world. Its annoying when it leads to paralysis of self-doubt but it comes in handy for driving innovation and expanding cultural choices. So to me Al-Jazeera is just another news organization, no more anti-American than any of the American news outlets.
Here is a good overview of the African Nations Cup courtesy of Al-Jazeera's fine sports page. They're all over international soccer and auto racing and Olympic events. When it comes to cricket they're second to none (I'd love to admire that but I kinda hate cricket) and they also have a curious fascination with the NBA routinely and breathlessly updating the exploits of Kobe, Dirk, Nash, etc., in a manner I find quite encouraging for b-ball as an international sport. And they're plugged into You Tube as well as any news outlet I've encountered. Bravo to you, Al-Jazeera! And being hated for your radical views is the American way of welcoming you to the world, like a dog that growls before humping your leg.
Al Jazeera's African Cup round-up
And westerners are a mildly (and thoroughly) paranoid lot. Good god, how many of us detest Fox News or CNN or PBS or the BBC or Bloomberg, Sky Sports, ESPN, CNBC? So you can see western skepticism of Al-Jazeera as a product of xenophobia but I prefer to see that western skepticism permeates everything in the free world. Its annoying when it leads to paralysis of self-doubt but it comes in handy for driving innovation and expanding cultural choices. So to me Al-Jazeera is just another news organization, no more anti-American than any of the American news outlets.
Here is a good overview of the African Nations Cup courtesy of Al-Jazeera's fine sports page. They're all over international soccer and auto racing and Olympic events. When it comes to cricket they're second to none (I'd love to admire that but I kinda hate cricket) and they also have a curious fascination with the NBA routinely and breathlessly updating the exploits of Kobe, Dirk, Nash, etc., in a manner I find quite encouraging for b-ball as an international sport. And they're plugged into You Tube as well as any news outlet I've encountered. Bravo to you, Al-Jazeera! And being hated for your radical views is the American way of welcoming you to the world, like a dog that growls before humping your leg.
Al Jazeera's African Cup round-up
Super Bowl XLII (NYG 17-14 Pats)
My thought was that the offensive lines would both be marvelous and Brady and Eli would both have great games and the Pats would pull away in the 4th. Thinking back on it, they both moved the ball very well, they just didn't score. They were both consistently converting on 3rd down until they got near FG range and then they'd falter. Not til the 4th did the offenses finally break through. And on that last drive I knew the Pats would be looking long for Moss but with 3 timeouts I thought they could've tried at least one underneath route for Welker or Faulk. Not sure why they pissed their time away like that, very unlike what the Pats offense has been like this year.
Brady wasn't sharp. A fair amount of credit for that goes to the NYG pass rush which was in his face all night and the Pats o-line which picked a bad time for their worst game of the year. Funny, for all the talk of Brady's walking boot nobody noted Moss's comment about Brady's high ankle sprain--in all that endless talk about the boot I never anyone heard anyone say 'high ankle sprain'! That said, I thought Brady moved well he just wasn't sharp on his passes, man, he was spraying balls all night. Looked more like a shoulder problem which could've been exacerbated by that pass rush.
So are the Giants the best team in the league? Sure, dude, they won the championship which is how we determine who the best team is. I don't see much room for an argument there. Winning the Super Bowl is what it's all about and the Giants did it. And the Pats didn't. Good season but they didn't win the game that everybody's trying to win so in a lot of ways it was all for naught. Funny, the 2 highest score teams in NFL history, 1998 Vikings and 2007 Patriots, both featured Randy Moss and both failed to win the championship. Oh well. Nobody remembers that the 1995 Indians had the best winning percentage ever or that Manny Ramirez hit 7th or that Sandy Alomar hit 30 HR's in the 9 spot--shit, most don't even remember that they were the victims of the Braves' only World Series title. You don't win the big one, you don't get remembered.
Early pre-pre-pre-season pick for next year: Cowboys over Steelers. We'll see if I still think come draft day (April 26).
Brady wasn't sharp. A fair amount of credit for that goes to the NYG pass rush which was in his face all night and the Pats o-line which picked a bad time for their worst game of the year. Funny, for all the talk of Brady's walking boot nobody noted Moss's comment about Brady's high ankle sprain--in all that endless talk about the boot I never anyone heard anyone say 'high ankle sprain'! That said, I thought Brady moved well he just wasn't sharp on his passes, man, he was spraying balls all night. Looked more like a shoulder problem which could've been exacerbated by that pass rush.
So are the Giants the best team in the league? Sure, dude, they won the championship which is how we determine who the best team is. I don't see much room for an argument there. Winning the Super Bowl is what it's all about and the Giants did it. And the Pats didn't. Good season but they didn't win the game that everybody's trying to win so in a lot of ways it was all for naught. Funny, the 2 highest score teams in NFL history, 1998 Vikings and 2007 Patriots, both featured Randy Moss and both failed to win the championship. Oh well. Nobody remembers that the 1995 Indians had the best winning percentage ever or that Manny Ramirez hit 7th or that Sandy Alomar hit 30 HR's in the 9 spot--shit, most don't even remember that they were the victims of the Braves' only World Series title. You don't win the big one, you don't get remembered.
Early pre-pre-pre-season pick for next year: Cowboys over Steelers. We'll see if I still think come draft day (April 26).
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