Some bemoan the lack of drama on Sunday at the Masters but I dug it. Early on I had my eye on Snedeker but he started piling up bogeys and was out of it by the turn. Paul Casey disappeared quickly, Mickelson never got into it, Steve Flesh did not have a good day and Stewart Cink stepped up enough to collect 3rd place money. I kept waiting for Tiger to come around and he had his moments--beautiful stick on 16 but he didn't finish the birdie--but he just never looked comfortable out there. He looked like that last year against Zach Johnson too--has Augusta become his Waterloo?
So basically it was a waiting game to see if Immelman would yack it up and he did give up 2 strokes late and 75 on Sunday was the highest by a winner in 40 years. Nobody took it from him and he didn't give it away. He had the steady nerve and did what needed to be done. What's boring about that? That's good solid Sunday Masters golf.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
NHL playoffs predicted
East
Canadiens over Bruins in 6
Penguins over Senators in 5
Caps over Flyers in 7
Devils over Rangers in 7
West
Red Wings over Predators in 4
Sharks over Flames in 5
Avalanche over Wild in 7
Stars over Ducks in 6
I know, I know: only 1 upset in the first round? The NHL doesn't have the home-ice advantage that you look for in other sports so upsets are fairly routine. I just don't see it coming this season, the top sqauds are too dangerous. That's good for now, I'll check back before the conference semi-finals.
Canadiens over Bruins in 6
Penguins over Senators in 5
Caps over Flyers in 7
Devils over Rangers in 7
West
Red Wings over Predators in 4
Sharks over Flames in 5
Avalanche over Wild in 7
Stars over Ducks in 6
I know, I know: only 1 upset in the first round? The NHL doesn't have the home-ice advantage that you look for in other sports so upsets are fairly routine. I just don't see it coming this season, the top sqauds are too dangerous. That's good for now, I'll check back before the conference semi-finals.
NCAA B-Ball updates
Kansas 75-68 (OT) Memphis
Memphis had it and didn't close it. John Calipari is a great recruiter and a snappy dresser but he's not an in-game tactician. Derek Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts are 2 of the best guards I've seen in a while and they'll both be excellent pro players. I like Brandon Rush, probably a little undersized for what will be expected of him at the next level but I think he'll be pretty good.
North Carolina was disappointing but if you think about, the Tarheels have a long history of making the Final Four and then doing nothing. UCLA was just outmatched at every position by Memphis. I like Kevin Love but I think he'd be better served by another year in college and Darren Collison basically proved he can't play at the next level by getting his ass handed to him by Rose. I like Tyler Hansbrough, he's got good hands, good feet and plays with intensity but I just don't think he's got the skills to be an all-star; he could contribute along the lines of what Chuck Hayes is doing with the Rockets.
Tennessee 64-48 Stanford
UT's defense was too stifling for Stanford's attack. Gotta admit defense may win championships but in the ladies' game I'd rather see offense, cutting to the basket, crisp passing, clutch jumpers. Tennessee is a great champion (as usual) but it was a pretty dull game. Candice Parker went on to be the #1 pick in the WNBA draft this afternoon. Damn, they have the draft the day after the championship? No combines? No hype? No fun!
Memphis had it and didn't close it. John Calipari is a great recruiter and a snappy dresser but he's not an in-game tactician. Derek Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts are 2 of the best guards I've seen in a while and they'll both be excellent pro players. I like Brandon Rush, probably a little undersized for what will be expected of him at the next level but I think he'll be pretty good.
North Carolina was disappointing but if you think about, the Tarheels have a long history of making the Final Four and then doing nothing. UCLA was just outmatched at every position by Memphis. I like Kevin Love but I think he'd be better served by another year in college and Darren Collison basically proved he can't play at the next level by getting his ass handed to him by Rose. I like Tyler Hansbrough, he's got good hands, good feet and plays with intensity but I just don't think he's got the skills to be an all-star; he could contribute along the lines of what Chuck Hayes is doing with the Rockets.
Tennessee 64-48 Stanford
UT's defense was too stifling for Stanford's attack. Gotta admit defense may win championships but in the ladies' game I'd rather see offense, cutting to the basket, crisp passing, clutch jumpers. Tennessee is a great champion (as usual) but it was a pretty dull game. Candice Parker went on to be the #1 pick in the WNBA draft this afternoon. Damn, they have the draft the day after the championship? No combines? No hype? No fun!
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.
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