Sweetness

East
#1 North Carolina will handle Washington St with the score being much closer than it should be
#3 Louisville is on a roll while Tennessee still can't hit free throws
South
#1 Memphis will get by Michigan St...Barely!
#3 Stanford's front court will equalize Texas' back court
Midwest
#1 Kansas should easily defeat Villanova
#3 Wisconsin will end Stephon Curry's run
West
#1 UCLA will not struggle against the Hilltoppers
#7 West Virgina will make yours truly seem like Nostradamus

Baseball Preview

With Orioles being as bad as they have been for the past 10 years it is very hard for me to get excited about the up-coming season. I admit I have put baseball on the back burner so I can not offer much insight about into what may or may not happen for this season. Here are a few thoughts:
-The Red Sox and Yankees will battle for the national limelight as well as the AL East crown
-The Rays will finish 3rd
-The Orioles will finish 61-101
-The Tigers and Indians will both be very good
-Don't sleep on the Twins (I'm having flashbacks to the 2001 Mariners)
-The AL West will come down to whose pitching stays healthy (Bedard has a knack for crumbling in late August)
-The Braves rotation is very old (Mike Hampton!?)
-Johan is guaranteed to spend some time on the DL
-Cole Hamels will either win the Cy Young or have Tommy John surgery
-The National League is like the NFC: all the good teams are in the East and the rest of the league is garbage
-I am sincerely intrigued to read the attendance figures for the Royals/Marlins series in Miami

World Series: Tigers over Phillies

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

After studying the bracket here are a few comments:
-UCLA's path to San Antonio is way too easy. They are paired with the weakest #2,#3
-UNC is the overall #1 yet they are paired with Tennessee, the best #2, and could have the toughest second round match-up of any high seed with the intriguing Indiana Hoosiers. Louisville versus Tennessee could be good.
-UNC will have a very weak Sweet 16 opponent but will have to go through Indiana(ATop 15 all year),Tennessee/Louisville,Kansas,and UCLA to win the title. That will be very difficult.
-Memphis will have their hands full with potentially having to face the red hot Pitt Panthers(19-1 with Fields) then either Texas(no depth concerns me) or Stanford(Brook = overrated. Robin = underrated) in the regional final.Very tough.
-Kansas looks good to advance but Clemson(tough as hell) or USC(high on talent but low on consistency)could play spoiler. Wisconsin and Gerogetown are too slow and don't have enough athletes to play with Kansas.

-Some excellent First Round Match-ups:
East Region
#7 Butler/#10 South Alabama- not only did Butler get a bad seed but they now have to play S. Bama in Birmingham! ouch
South Region
#6 USC/#11 Kansas St-This proves that the committee has a great sense of theater.
#7 Gonzaga/#10 Davidson- Everybody loves Davidson, Gonzaga is pretty good though.
Midwest Region
Not really any great match-ups on day one but if the bracket holds form the sweet 16 could be special.
West Region
#7 West Virginia/#10 Arizona- The winner of this one will go to the Elite 8.

Seduced By Kobe.

Well after watching Kobe yesterday I realized that he is officially my current favorite athlete not named Donovan McNabb or Tiger Woods. I say this because he is the first player since MJ that I honestly expect to carry their team to victory anytime they have to. His performance was impressive but wasn't shocking he is simply doing what everyone thought he would: dominate the sport. He would be my favorite athlete if he played for the Bulls. Here are my 5 favorite current players not on the Bulls:
Honorable Mention Ray Allen- Ever since UConn I have admired his game, he has that perfect stroke(flawless),but I wouldn't say he's an elite player but rather an all-star. Sherman Douglas would be proud.
#5 Dirk Nowitzki- It's been fun watching him evolve from foreign shooter into superstar, his performance against the Spurs in 2006 was one I will never forget, still don't know how they lost to the Heat.
#4 Lebron James- I have him this low because he is the Bulls rival but his passing makes him elite. He is officially in MJ 1987-90 mode (putting up silly numbers on teams that are good but not great) remember the Bulls fired Doug Collins in 1989 after repeated failures in the playoffs. He and Tiger Woods actually EXCEEDED their massive hype.
#3 Allen Iverson- How can you hate on this guy? Come on. It's a shame he won't get a ring.
#2 Kevin Garnett- All I have to do is watch him and just by the way he runs the court you know he is one of the greatest ever. Kevin Garnett was put on this planet to play basketball.
#1 Kobe- The end of this NBA season could be his coronation. We shall see.

Current Finals Projection
Celtics versus Lakers

Ahhh. March!

Well March got off to a great start with the slightly overrated Texas Longhorns(no depth plus Rick Barnes is a good recruiter but his coaching is questionable at times) going down to Texas Tech on Saturday. Barring Injuries I already have my team that I think will cut down the nets. That being said this is how you should break down the top 12 teams as of right now:
#1 Seeds
North Carlina-only way it loses seed is if it loses at Duke and doesn't win ACC tourney.
Memphis-only way it loses seed is if they lose two games between now and tourney.
Tennessee- they have the best computer rankings so if they win SEC tourney they are a lock to be a #1.
UCLA- just win baby.
#2 Seeds
Kansas/Texas- locks to be at least a 2 but both need help and win Big 12 tourney.
Duke-lock to be a 2 could move up but needs to beat Carolina two more times, thats not happening.
The final 2 seed comes down Wisconsin, Georgetown, Xavier, and Stanford. This will go to whoever closes the season out with the most style.
#12 Louisville will be a 3 seed.
If I ran the tourney my regions would look like this
East
1. North Carolina
2. Texas
3. Louisville
South
1. Tennessee
2. Kansas
3. Stanford
Midwest
1. Memphis
2. Wisconsin
3. Georgetown
West
1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. Xavier