As of right now, I would say the "short list," comprised of teams in the top 20 in both offense and defense, would be:
North Carolina (15/4)
Kansas (10/1)
Texas A&M (12/1)
UCLA (8/1)
Ohio State (10/1)
Florida (7/2)
Memphis (18/1)
Notable omissions are Georgetown (a fast pace lends itself better to a deep tourney run, and their defense is 30th) and Wisconsin, who are without Brian Butch, their best rebounder. They could have someone step up through the first three rounds, but I just don't think it'll happen. And yes, I'm on the Memphis bandwagon even with their cruddy strength of schedule. Also, Joakim Noah better step up his game if Florida wants to have any chance. Any word on what's been going on with him lately? I know Donovan benched him for the majority of the second half of the Vanderbilt game, but I'm still not sure why.
Wednesday, February 28
2/28 Daily And
Ok, here goes folks, I have class at 11 am so this will be the usual time for this post (2 or 3ish) as opposed to in the morning. Anyways, onto the Mon/Tues activities.
1) College Wrap Up - (yes, its no coincidence, this category is growing faster than the national debt) Here is the important action: Michigan beat Mich St, ticket punching-ly good? eh, tough call, its a good win, but keeping up with Ohio St Saturday would almost get them there, congrats to Tommy Amaker for digging this program out of the depths (no bids since 1998) have the Dookies found their Roy Williams? Pitt stepped out of their funk (2-2, with wins over middling UW and S Hall) and beat sometimes dangerous WVU (they're only dangerous if you don't know how to handle their O or you take them lightly), this could save Pitt as a 2-seed, but only because of the poll-love, did you know that in KP land Maryland is better than Pitt?, see folks its OK to lose at Maryland.LOOK WHO'S ALIVE, its the Pokes down there in the Big XII, actually winning against a team with a winning record (KSt) will they make the tourney? (God I hope so, it makes picking the 6 over the 11 eeeeeeeeasy, and I mean EEEEEEEEASY). AFA lost to the Cougars, ending a long home winning streak, and slipping the Falcons into bubble land. Oh, yeah, the Gators lost, again, they're still a team to beat, one of the 8ish who have decent odds to win the whole thing (John lets make a short list). Also, G'town lost to a jacked up 'Cuse who really needed the win, and who's 2-3 is tailor-made to combat the Princeton offense, (they're still on the short list). To me, some of the incentive in winning a #1 seed for the Heels is going to East Rutherford, and NOT having Georgetown as a #2 since that would give the 'Hoyas a regional advantage. Also, Oklahoma acted just as expected by choking on Senior night against the Jayhawks. Also, the bubblicious local team Winthrop advanced to the Big South Quarters, and a new Forde Minutes.
Some articles via ACC Basketblog - Andrew Jones, Heel's potential, Ginyard attempts to motivate
2) NFL Combine/News - Clayton wraps up the combine with a great winners/losers section, and the Houston Chronicle weighs in on discipline, though a little draconian I would be in favor of a more strict off field incident on field punishment system (especially lost pay going to charities or something of that nature). Also, I've found that Hail Redskins has a great mock draft compilation with links and dates of a large array of mocks, its what I'll be using until the Mock Draft Muncher is reopened for this year. As of now I'd like the Panthers to target LSU S Landry or Florida S Nelson one of whom should be available at #14. And if you didn't know, the Browns won the coin toss and will pick 3rd, leaving the Bucs to pick 4th.
And-1) World Cup 2018 - The world's largest (but not best) sporting event is looking for a 2018 home, the FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that, assuming 2014 goes to Brazil or Columbia, the 2018 World Cup would be in North America (read US, Mexico, or Canada). The 2010 Cup will be in South Africa which is when the 2014 host will be announced. The Cup is moved through the main Football bodies around the world Europe UEFA ( France 1998, Germany 2006), Asia (Korea/Japan 2002), Africa (S. Africa 2010), and then North America CONCACAF which hasn't hosted since the US in 1994.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC @ GT 3/1
Dook @ UNC 3/4
Ladies
Duke 67 UNC 62
UNC vs. BC/VT Winner 3/2 (ACC Tourney)
Bobcats 102 76ers 87
Raptors 93 Bobcats 76
Clippers 100 Bobcats 93
@ Sacto Kings Wed
West coast trip: 1 game down, 0-1
NOTABLES
wed
Maryland @ Duke (this should be a good one)
Texas A&M @ Texas (ditto as above, hook 'em horns)
'Nova @ UConn
UGA @ UK
Miss St @ Arkansas
thurs
asdf
UNC @ GT
VT @ UVA (go 'Hoos)
Memphis @ UTEP (the Tigers are beefing up their schedule again)
UCLA @ Wazzu (tasty)
USC @ UW
now, wasn't that better than a tuesday post and a wednesday post? let me know what you think
1) College Wrap Up - (yes, its no coincidence, this category is growing faster than the national debt) Here is the important action: Michigan beat Mich St, ticket punching-ly good? eh, tough call, its a good win, but keeping up with Ohio St Saturday would almost get them there, congrats to Tommy Amaker for digging this program out of the depths (no bids since 1998) have the Dookies found their Roy Williams? Pitt stepped out of their funk (2-2, with wins over middling UW and S Hall) and beat sometimes dangerous WVU (they're only dangerous if you don't know how to handle their O or you take them lightly), this could save Pitt as a 2-seed, but only because of the poll-love, did you know that in KP land Maryland is better than Pitt?, see folks its OK to lose at Maryland.
Some articles via ACC Basketblog - Andrew Jones, Heel's potential, Ginyard attempts to motivate
2) NFL Combine/News - Clayton wraps up the combine with a great winners/losers section, and the Houston Chronicle weighs in on discipline, though a little draconian I would be in favor of a more strict off field incident on field punishment system (especially lost pay going to charities or something of that nature). Also, I've found that Hail Redskins has a great mock draft compilation with links and dates of a large array of mocks, its what I'll be using until the Mock Draft Muncher is reopened for this year. As of now I'd like the Panthers to target LSU S Landry or Florida S Nelson one of whom should be available at #14. And if you didn't know, the Browns won the coin toss and will pick 3rd, leaving the Bucs to pick 4th.
And-1) World Cup 2018 - The world's largest (but not best) sporting event is looking for a 2018 home, the FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that, assuming 2014 goes to Brazil or Columbia, the 2018 World Cup would be in North America (read US, Mexico, or Canada). The 2010 Cup will be in South Africa which is when the 2014 host will be announced. The Cup is moved through the main Football bodies around the world Europe UEFA (
LOCAL
UNC @ GT 3/1
Dook @ UNC 3/4
Ladies
Duke 67 UNC 62
UNC vs. BC/VT Winner 3/2 (ACC Tourney)
Bobcats 102 76ers 87
Raptors 93 Bobcats 76
Clippers 100 Bobcats 93
@ Sacto Kings Wed
West coast trip: 1 game down, 0-1
NOTABLES
wed
Maryland @ Duke (this should be a good one)
Texas A&M @ Texas (ditto as above, hook 'em horns)
'Nova @ UConn
UGA @ UK
Miss St @ Arkansas
thurs
asdf
UNC @ GT
VT @ UVA (go 'Hoos)
Memphis @ UTEP (the Tigers are beefing up their schedule again)
UCLA @ Wazzu (tasty)
USC @ UW
now, wasn't that better than a tuesday post and a wednesday post? let me know what you think
We all knew there was a reason for that career year
Gary Matthews, Jr. has been linked to the recent discovery of an illicit steroid distribution network in Florida.
Gym gems
On College Gamenight:
Rece, Digger, and Jay are discussing whom they'd rather have - Kevin Durant or Acie Law IV. Digger says he'll take Law IV, because you can go to him in the second half, unlike Durant. He cites the second half of the Texas-Villanova game, in which Durant had one point.
Rece: "Digger, when your boys at Notre Dame had one bad half, did you throw them under the bus?"
Jay: "He backed it up! He ran over them with the bus, then backed it up over them!"
Rece, Digger, and Jay are discussing whom they'd rather have - Kevin Durant or Acie Law IV. Digger says he'll take Law IV, because you can go to him in the second half, unlike Durant. He cites the second half of the Texas-Villanova game, in which Durant had one point.
Rece: "Digger, when your boys at Notre Dame had one bad half, did you throw them under the bus?"
Jay: "He backed it up! He ran over them with the bus, then backed it up over them!"
Tuesday, February 27
Stupid computers and their new-age stats
I give you a portion of the article written by Murray Chass, of the New York Times. The New York Times.
"Things I don’t want to read or hear about anymore:
Statistics mongers promoting VORP and other new-age baseball statistics.
I receive a daily e-mail message from Baseball Prospectus, an electronic publication filled with articles and information about statistics, mostly statistics that only stats mongers can love.
To me, VORP epitomized the new-age nonsense. For the longest time, I had no idea what VORP meant and didn’t care enough to go to any great lengths to find out. I asked some colleagues whose work I respect, and they didn’t know what it meant either.
Finally, not long ago, I came across VORP spelled out. It stands for value over replacement player. How thrilling. How absurd. Value over replacement player. Don’t ask what it means. I don’t know.
I suppose that if stats mongers want to sit at their computers and play with these things all day long, that’s their prerogative. But their attempt to introduce these new-age statistics into the game threatens to undermine most fans’ enjoyment of baseball and the human factor therein.
People play baseball. Numbers don’t."
Murray has now been ridiculed by, among others, Baseball Prospectus, Fire Joe Morgan, and the Thrice Fortnight Sports Blog. What an old scout.
"Things I don’t want to read or hear about anymore:
Statistics mongers promoting VORP and other new-age baseball statistics.
I receive a daily e-mail message from Baseball Prospectus, an electronic publication filled with articles and information about statistics, mostly statistics that only stats mongers can love.
To me, VORP epitomized the new-age nonsense. For the longest time, I had no idea what VORP meant and didn’t care enough to go to any great lengths to find out. I asked some colleagues whose work I respect, and they didn’t know what it meant either.
Finally, not long ago, I came across VORP spelled out. It stands for value over replacement player. How thrilling. How absurd. Value over replacement player. Don’t ask what it means. I don’t know.
I suppose that if stats mongers want to sit at their computers and play with these things all day long, that’s their prerogative. But their attempt to introduce these new-age statistics into the game threatens to undermine most fans’ enjoyment of baseball and the human factor therein.
People play baseball. Numbers don’t."
Murray has now been ridiculed by, among others, Baseball Prospectus, Fire Joe Morgan, and the Thrice Fortnight Sports Blog. What an old scout.
Sunday, February 25
2/26 Daily And-1
Alright folks, we're back in action (well, I'm back, John's been in action all weekend). The break, if you must know, was due a party-planning/throwing heavy weekend. Also, this is more of a random note, but I think I may start taking Tuesdays off of the Daily And-1, then I'm more likely to post on the weekends, and besides, the Tuesday morning posts are pretty weak as it is. So, on Mondays I'll be sure to preview Monday and Tuesday games, and the Wednesday recap will be slightly more extensive. Now, onto business.
1) Changing Seeds - As the second to last weekend of basketball is upon us, several teams were playing their way up or down the seeding ladder. Ohio State beat (Butch-less) Wisconsin by 2 in Columbus to allegedly wrap up a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (flip-flopping with Wisc), I'd say that this is the case assuming they make it further than the Badgers in the Big 10 tourney, however, the Badgers can still make a case that they deserve the seed by winning out.
Edit: Andy Katz writes that the Buckeyes are finally where they thought they'd be preseason, an affirmed #1 in the nation. Also among the other "#1" seeds, some slip sliding went on both close to home (UNC loses @ MD, Florida loses @ LSU). (Warning rationalization ahead) Because so many of the top seeds have lost recently, and no one has seemed terrifically impressive, I'd venture a guess to say that the #1 seeds haven't actually changed due to an overall weak field, but thats just me. Edit: Looks like Joe Lunardi agrees, sort of, the Heels are obviously 1D and the Gators 2A (he has them paired in the East in his latest B-tology), I'm a bit biased, but I'd take either team for the title over OSU AND Wisconsin, but what have you done for me lately, also, Joe and I agree Florida's loss was worse than UNC's. Ok, onto tier 2 of teams changing positions, there were a couple of impressive teams, Georgetown beating Pitt and Vandy holding off a resilient UK side, Vandy may have played their way into a top-4 seed (and out of the dreaded 5-12 game), and is G'town a #2 seed? (Lunardi says yes) Put it this way, whether a 2 or a 3, they're in my Elite 8. Our favorite cool hand Luke balled out as ND upset Marquette, and a certain team from Niketown has earned the right to not be called "OverratedU", for 2 whole blog posts (while more importantly grabbing onto a fast sinking seed in the tourney). Several other results from the weekend, Byron's OverratedU (the hard luck Sooners) lost at home to Texas, Air Force slipped up against TCU (these smaller teams, Butler/AFA/Gonzaga can't afford these losses, it hurts their seeding too much). Also, 'Bama and OverratedSU (0-6 on the road for the year) continue to back their respective ways out of the tourney.
Tickets Punched - Maryland (sadly) Edit: Marck Schlabach agrees with me, funny that about 2 weeks ago I linked to a Baltimore article lamenting Gary's wasted recruited oppurtunity coming off the NCAA Championship 4 yrs ago, SIU (for a top 4 seed), and Texas (they can improve their seed by hanging in for their next 2 games, A&M and @KU, but even if they blow them, they're in)
2) NFL/Panthers News - Combine/Meat Market News, Fox's opinion on the team Herald and Charlotte Observer and tons of Mock Drafts, Edit: Jared Zabransky is getting a bit of press and PFR debates the "Workout Warrior"
And-1) MLB Camps - things are heating up down south, Cactus, Grapfruit, Bonds, Manny, MO Rivera, and even Bartolo Colon
(Everything in italics above was added just after lunch, wanted to tack on the Monday morning articles and comment on Lunardi's moves)
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Maryland 89 UNC 87 it really hurts to outrebounded by such a poor rebounding team, though i'm personally not a fan of a 14-5 foul edge to Maryland with 3 mins to go in the 1st half. (PS: Still #1 in KP land, anyone know how to change Craig Littlepage's homepage? KP Blog)
UNC @ GT 3/1
Dook @ UNC 3/4
Ladies
UNC 96 Wake Forest 47
Duke 67 UNC 62
UNC vs. BC/VT Winner 3/2 (ACC Tourney)
Bobcats 102 76ers 87
Raptors 93 Bobcats 76
@ LA Clippers Mon
@ Sacto Kings Wed
West coast trip (6 games) starts for the Bobcats this week, look for them to increase their stakes in the Greg Oden lotto as they (probably) go 1-5, sorry for the pessimism.
NOTABLES
mon
KU @ OU - can the Sooners step up, unfortunately unlikely
G'Town @ 'Cuse - Hoyas continue their romp through the Big East
Gonzaga @ San Diego - can the 'Zags hold onto a good seed?
tues
Mich St @ UM
KSt @ OkSt - 51 @ 69, thats right, ESPN's faaaaavorite team is #69
WVU @ Pitt - can Pitt right the ship, I mean, they're still a good team
Florida @ Tenn - I almost feel sorry for the Vols
1) Changing Seeds - As the second to last weekend of basketball is upon us, several teams were playing their way up or down the seeding ladder. Ohio State beat (Butch-less) Wisconsin by 2 in Columbus to allegedly wrap up a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (flip-flopping with Wisc), I'd say that this is the case assuming they make it further than the Badgers in the Big 10 tourney, however, the Badgers can still make a case that they deserve the seed by winning out.
Edit: Andy Katz writes that the Buckeyes are finally where they thought they'd be preseason, an affirmed #1 in the nation. Also among the other "#1" seeds, some slip sliding went on both close to home (UNC loses @ MD, Florida loses @ LSU). (Warning rationalization ahead) Because so many of the top seeds have lost recently, and no one has seemed terrifically impressive, I'd venture a guess to say that the #1 seeds haven't actually changed due to an overall weak field, but thats just me. Edit: Looks like Joe Lunardi agrees, sort of, the Heels are obviously 1D and the Gators 2A (he has them paired in the East in his latest B-tology), I'm a bit biased, but I'd take either team for the title over OSU AND Wisconsin, but what have you done for me lately, also, Joe and I agree Florida's loss was worse than UNC's. Ok, onto tier 2 of teams changing positions, there were a couple of impressive teams, Georgetown beating Pitt and Vandy holding off a resilient UK side, Vandy may have played their way into a top-4 seed (and out of the dreaded 5-12 game), and is G'town a #2 seed? (Lunardi says yes) Put it this way, whether a 2 or a 3, they're in my Elite 8. Our favorite cool hand Luke balled out as ND upset Marquette, and a certain team from Niketown has earned the right to not be called "OverratedU", for 2 whole blog posts (while more importantly grabbing onto a fast sinking seed in the tourney). Several other results from the weekend, Byron's OverratedU (the hard luck Sooners) lost at home to Texas, Air Force slipped up against TCU (these smaller teams, Butler/AFA/Gonzaga can't afford these losses, it hurts their seeding too much). Also, 'Bama and OverratedSU (0-6 on the road for the year) continue to back their respective ways out of the tourney.
Tickets Punched - Maryland (sadly) Edit: Marck Schlabach agrees with me, funny that about 2 weeks ago I linked to a Baltimore article lamenting Gary's wasted recruited oppurtunity coming off the NCAA Championship 4 yrs ago, SIU (for a top 4 seed), and Texas (they can improve their seed by hanging in for their next 2 games, A&M and @KU, but even if they blow them, they're in)
2) NFL/Panthers News - Combine/Meat Market News, Fox's opinion on the team Herald and Charlotte Observer and tons of Mock Drafts, Edit: Jared Zabransky is getting a bit of press and PFR debates the "Workout Warrior"
And-1) MLB Camps - things are heating up down south, Cactus, Grapfruit, Bonds, Manny, MO Rivera, and even Bartolo Colon
(Everything in italics above was added just after lunch, wanted to tack on the Monday morning articles and comment on Lunardi's moves)
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Maryland 89 UNC 87 it really hurts to outrebounded by such a poor rebounding team, though i'm personally not a fan of a 14-5 foul edge to Maryland with 3 mins to go in the 1st half. (PS: Still #1 in KP land, anyone know how to change Craig Littlepage's homepage? KP Blog)
UNC @ GT 3/1
Dook @ UNC 3/4
Ladies
UNC 96 Wake Forest 47
Duke 67 UNC 62
UNC vs. BC/VT Winner 3/2 (ACC Tourney)
Bobcats 102 76ers 87
Raptors 93 Bobcats 76
@ LA Clippers Mon
@ Sacto Kings Wed
West coast trip (6 games) starts for the Bobcats this week, look for them to increase their stakes in the Greg Oden lotto as they (probably) go 1-5, sorry for the pessimism.
NOTABLES
mon
KU @ OU - can the Sooners step up, unfortunately unlikely
G'Town @ 'Cuse - Hoyas continue their romp through the Big East
Gonzaga @ San Diego - can the 'Zags hold onto a good seed?
tues
Mich St @ UM
KSt @ OkSt - 51 @ 69, thats right, ESPN's faaaaavorite team is #69
WVU @ Pitt - can Pitt right the ship, I mean, they're still a good team
Florida @ Tenn - I almost feel sorry for the Vols
Saturday, February 24
Ouch
Toe-stepping ahoy!
Top 50 Games for Saturday
Clemson at Boston College (Clemson needs a win here to get back on track in the ACC; they stand at 5-8 right now, with a slim chance of making the tournament)
Georgia Tech at Virginia (will Georgia Tech be able to win their second ACC road game??)
Indiana at Michigan State (Michigan State gets an excellent chance to prove it's for real real to the nation by taking down Indiana in Michigan. game of the day, as it's an 14-11 matchup)
Texas at Oklahoma (choking ahoy! another victory shitted away by Oklahoma!)
Marquette at Notre Dame (Notre Dame gets a chance to solidify its bid for the Tournament ["punch its ticket," if you will] with a victory over slightly-overrated Marquette)
Pittsburgh at Georgetown (Georgetown ROLLS over Gray-less Pittsburgh)
Stanford at UCLA (go Cardinal! make it twice this season, and 10 victories in the Pac-10!)
Florida at Louisiana State (they're still in the Top 50? How??)
Mississippi State at Georgia (easily the most boring matchup of all these, at 30-43)
Tennessee at Arkansas (I stand corrected: 47-40)
Top 50 Games for Saturday
Clemson at Boston College (Clemson needs a win here to get back on track in the ACC; they stand at 5-8 right now, with a slim chance of making the tournament)
Georgia Tech at Virginia (will Georgia Tech be able to win their second ACC road game??)
Indiana at Michigan State (Michigan State gets an excellent chance to prove it's for real real to the nation by taking down Indiana in Michigan. game of the day, as it's an 14-11 matchup)
Texas at Oklahoma (choking ahoy! another victory shitted away by Oklahoma!)
Marquette at Notre Dame (Notre Dame gets a chance to solidify its bid for the Tournament ["punch its ticket," if you will] with a victory over slightly-overrated Marquette)
Pittsburgh at Georgetown (Georgetown ROLLS over Gray-less Pittsburgh)
Stanford at UCLA (go Cardinal! make it twice this season, and 10 victories in the Pac-10!)
Florida at Louisiana State (they're still in the Top 50? How??)
Mississippi State at Georgia (easily the most boring matchup of all these, at 30-43)
Tennessee at Arkansas (I stand corrected: 47-40)
Thursday, February 22
2-22 Power 16
Power 16 for 2-22
#1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Ohio State
#2 Seeds
5. Kansas
6. Wisconsin
7. Texas A&M
8. Memphis
#3 Seeds
9. Georgetown
10. Pittsburgh
11. Washington State
12. Duke
#4 Seeds
13. Butler
14. Louisville
15. Air Force
16. Texas
Ryan, I'd like to see (if you're up for it) a mini- State of the NBA, focusing specifically on Wade, the Bobcats, and whatever else you'd like to comment on. This can be part of your Daily And-1 or *gasp* a different post altogether! Also, let's get a little golf love in the house. If not included in the Daily And-1 tomorrow (don't know how slow the news day will be), I'll do a post on recent match play.
#1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Ohio State
#2 Seeds
5. Kansas
6. Wisconsin
7. Texas A&M
8. Memphis
#3 Seeds
9. Georgetown
10. Pittsburgh
11. Washington State
12. Duke
#4 Seeds
13. Butler
14. Louisville
15. Air Force
16. Texas
Ryan, I'd like to see (if you're up for it) a mini- State of the NBA, focusing specifically on Wade, the Bobcats, and whatever else you'd like to comment on. This can be part of your Daily And-1 or *gasp* a different post altogether! Also, let's get a little golf love in the house. If not included in the Daily And-1 tomorrow (don't know how slow the news day will be), I'll do a post on recent match play.
2/22 Daily And-1
1) College Recap - A&M went to and smoked OverratedSU; OSU squeaked one out over Penn St, as KP said "It’s not often you see a cellar-dwelling team lose a starter in the first minute and still hang with the #1/#2 team in the nation in their building for 35 minutes."; Miami upset UVA and put UNC officially firmly in the drivers seat to an unshared ACC Reg Season Title. Miss St. pulled off the "upset" over Vandy (the Bulldogs were at home and had a 15 point higher KP rating); also, Andrew Jones out in Wilmington thinks the ACC won't get but 7 bids.
2) UNC/State Game - I'd like to provide my thoughts since I actually got to go to the game. In the second half we turned up the defensive intensity and started to rebound the ball on the offensive end of the floor. The Wolfpack didn't shoot any worse in the 2nd half, but I'm pretty sure their TOs increased. Too bad tarheelblue doesn't have that nifty intense box score with everything split to halves. Line of the game, Danny Green: 3-6, 2-3 (3pt), 4ORb 8TRb, 3 Blks, 1 steal, and all in 17 mins. Good Lucas article too.
And-1) NFL News Lineup - The Panthers are keeping Mike Rucker, the Lions tagged DT Redding (yeah, who?, apparently when you have one 8 sack year you're a top-5 DT), Also, the "NFL Meatmarket" starts in Indy soon here is a list of players to watch (well, you can't see yourself, so watch Mel Kiper Jr. or SportsCenter) and a good article on interview prep for the players.
Also - Women will get equal pay at Wimbledon
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 83 State 64
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/22
Bobcats 100 Bulls 85
Bobcats 104 Hornets 100 Felton 21/11, Okafor 5 BS
Bobcats 100 T'Wolves 95 - Morrison scored 26 and 13 in a row to lead the comeback from 17 pts down
THATS 3 IN A ROW!!!
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
VT >> BC
FSU >> Maryland (someone should fear the turtle)
Michigan < Illinois
'Bama < Tenn
Duke @ Clemson
Stanford @ USC
Wazzu @ OverratedU (snicker snicker)
2) UNC/State Game - I'd like to provide my thoughts since I actually got to go to the game. In the second half we turned up the defensive intensity and started to rebound the ball on the offensive end of the floor. The Wolfpack didn't shoot any worse in the 2nd half, but I'm pretty sure their TOs increased. Too bad tarheelblue doesn't have that nifty intense box score with everything split to halves. Line of the game, Danny Green: 3-6, 2-3 (3pt), 4ORb 8TRb, 3 Blks, 1 steal, and all in 17 mins. Good Lucas article too.
And-1) NFL News Lineup - The Panthers are keeping Mike Rucker, the Lions tagged DT Redding (yeah, who?, apparently when you have one 8 sack year you're a top-5 DT), Also, the "NFL Meatmarket" starts in Indy soon here is a list of players to watch (well, you can't see yourself, so watch Mel Kiper Jr. or SportsCenter) and a good article on interview prep for the players.
Also - Women will get equal pay at Wimbledon
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 83 State 64
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/22
Bobcats 100 Bulls 85
Bobcats 104 Hornets 100 Felton 21/11, Okafor 5 BS
Bobcats 100 T'Wolves 95 - Morrison scored 26 and 13 in a row to lead the comeback from 17 pts down
THATS 3 IN A ROW!!!
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
VT >> BC
FSU >> Maryland (someone should fear the turtle)
Michigan < Illinois
'Bama < Tenn
Duke @ Clemson
Stanford @ USC
Wazzu @ OverratedU (snicker snicker)
Wednesday, February 21
Now if only I had access to BP's MORP figures
Carlos Zambrano's last four seasons have all been 200+ IP seasons (average IP = 215, with PRAR (Pitching Runs Above Replacement) scores of 78, 91, 77, and 85, equaling an average of 82.75 for the last four seasons. He's getting $12.4 million this year. Let's take a look at the top pitchers signed in this offseason as free agents, not counting Matsuzaka or Gil Meche, for (hopefully) obvious reasons.
Carlos Zambrano
215 IP Avg, 82.75 PRAR Avg
1 year, $12.4 mil
$12.4 mil/yr
Ted Lilly
170.5 IP Avg, 52.5 PRAR Avg
4 years, $40 mil
$10 mil/yr
Jeff Suppan
194 IP Avg, 48.25 PRAR Avg
4 years, $42 mil
$10.5 mil/yr
Vicente Padilla
167.5 IP Avg, 45.75 PRAR Avg
3 years, $34 mil
$11 mil/yr
Jason Schmidt
204.25 IP Avg, 76.25 PRAR Avg
3 years, $47 mil
$16 mil/yr
Barry Zito
223.25 IP Avg, 68.75 PRAR Avg
7 years, $126 mil
$18 mil/yr
As you can see, the only comparables on this list for Zambrano are Zito and Schmidt. They all average 200+ IP/yr, and Zambrano has been a much better pitcher for the last four years than either. Zito may not be in a state of decline yet, but he certainly will be soon. Definitely before seven years are up. Schmidt certainly is, as his last four PRAR yearly totals are 94, 94, 45, and 72. Zambrano shows no signs of slowing down yet, and he's only 26 (Zito is 29, and Schmidt is 34). Better to throw an extra $1 mil to your ace pitcher than go to arbitration, and have a better chance of having him stay in Chicago for another few years. At any rate, he seems to be a steal this season at $12.4 million, especially given his IP track record. As they say in MVP, "This guy's a horse. When he's on the mound, the relievers usually get the night off."
Carlos Zambrano
215 IP Avg, 82.75 PRAR Avg
1 year, $12.4 mil
$12.4 mil/yr
Ted Lilly
170.5 IP Avg, 52.5 PRAR Avg
4 years, $40 mil
$10 mil/yr
Jeff Suppan
194 IP Avg, 48.25 PRAR Avg
4 years, $42 mil
$10.5 mil/yr
Vicente Padilla
167.5 IP Avg, 45.75 PRAR Avg
3 years, $34 mil
$11 mil/yr
Jason Schmidt
204.25 IP Avg, 76.25 PRAR Avg
3 years, $47 mil
$16 mil/yr
Barry Zito
223.25 IP Avg, 68.75 PRAR Avg
7 years, $126 mil
$18 mil/yr
As you can see, the only comparables on this list for Zambrano are Zito and Schmidt. They all average 200+ IP/yr, and Zambrano has been a much better pitcher for the last four years than either. Zito may not be in a state of decline yet, but he certainly will be soon. Definitely before seven years are up. Schmidt certainly is, as his last four PRAR yearly totals are 94, 94, 45, and 72. Zambrano shows no signs of slowing down yet, and he's only 26 (Zito is 29, and Schmidt is 34). Better to throw an extra $1 mil to your ace pitcher than go to arbitration, and have a better chance of having him stay in Chicago for another few years. At any rate, he seems to be a steal this season at $12.4 million, especially given his IP track record. As they say in MVP, "This guy's a horse. When he's on the mound, the relievers usually get the night off."
2/21 Daily And-1
yet another slow news day, here goes
1) College Recap - MSU "upset" Wisconsin (that's called a 5 spot KP difference and playing on the road), John's favorite lock is actually a lock now (the beat AFA), UK did what they had to and beat LSU at home (must have been haaaaaard), and WVU slipped up at Providence, 9-41 3FGs? (feeling a little more bubbly Mountaineers?). Oh yeah, the chokers (OverratedU) went into Mizzou and, well, choked.
2) Pro News Wrap-Up - The new prodigy Jason Garrett has been named O-Coordinator for the Cowboys, Cubs pay Zambrano 12.4 mil, why not just go to arbitration, that figure would probably be lower (is he worth it? John? anyone?)
And-1) Uh-oh - Kevin Durant is planning on attending classes through May, sucks for that #2 lottery winner
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/22
Bobcats 104 Hornets 100 Felton 21/11, Okafor 5 BS
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
BC @ VT (Go Eagles, b/c we'll need VT to beat UVA later)
FSU @ Maryland (someone should fear the turtle)
Michigan @ Illinois
A&M @ Overrated SU
'Bama @ Tenn
Vandy @ Miss St.
1) College Recap - MSU "upset" Wisconsin (that's called a 5 spot KP difference and playing on the road), John's favorite lock is actually a lock now (the beat AFA), UK did what they had to and beat LSU at home (must have been haaaaaard), and WVU slipped up at Providence, 9-41 3FGs? (feeling a little more bubbly Mountaineers?). Oh yeah, the chokers (OverratedU) went into Mizzou and, well, choked.
2) Pro News Wrap-Up - The new prodigy Jason Garrett has been named O-Coordinator for the Cowboys, Cubs pay Zambrano 12.4 mil, why not just go to arbitration, that figure would probably be lower (is he worth it? John? anyone?)
And-1) Uh-oh - Kevin Durant is planning on attending classes through May, sucks for that #2 lottery winner
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/22
Bobcats 104 Hornets 100 Felton 21/11, Okafor 5 BS
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
BC @ VT (Go Eagles, b/c we'll need VT to beat UVA later)
FSU @ Maryland (someone should fear the turtle)
Michigan @ Illinois
A&M @ Overrated SU
'Bama @ Tenn
Vandy @ Miss St.
Tuesday, February 20
2/20 Daily And-1
Yeeesh, what a slooooooooooooooow day. But never fear folks, I'll dredge up some kernels of news from here and there.
1) NFL News - The Chargers hired Norv Turner as Head Coach (not a bad move, they really just needed a servicable coach to use the current talent to win) and snagged Ron Rivera as LB's coach. The Colts franchise tagged Dwight Freeney and FO has a story about how tagging began. Lastly, Minter apparently played every minute for the Panthers last year for the first time.
2) College Wrap-Up - Marquette beat 'Nova, Bob Knight is pissed about the age rule (thats all he thinks about every time Durant snags a board or swishes a 3), and the cover story on ESPN poses the amazingly confusing conundrum of how OSU can be the #1 overall team but not a #1 seed according to Joe Lunardi. Wow, its as if the voters poll has NO IDEA what its talking about, and only reacts to short-term winning streaks and not overall ability of a team. Gee, whould have thunk it?
And-1) NBA News - Jordan finally said something about the Bobcats, and a good something, "We will spend to win", via a letter to Bobcat Season Ticket Holders (yeah, all 12 of them). Felton and Paul will reunite tonight as the Hornets come to town.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/20
Hornets @ Bobcats 2/20
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
Wisconsin @ Mich St (12? how'd THAT happen)
T Tech @ Texas
DePaul @ ND
Air Force @ John's favorite lock for the tourney
OverratedU @ Mizzou
LSU (47? how'd THAT happen) @ UK
new note: when not in a title, italics denote sarcasm
1) NFL News - The Chargers hired Norv Turner as Head Coach (not a bad move, they really just needed a servicable coach to use the current talent to win) and snagged Ron Rivera as LB's coach. The Colts franchise tagged Dwight Freeney and FO has a story about how tagging began. Lastly, Minter apparently played every minute for the Panthers last year for the first time.
2) College Wrap-Up - Marquette beat 'Nova, Bob Knight is pissed about the age rule (thats all he thinks about every time Durant snags a board or swishes a 3), and the cover story on ESPN poses the amazingly confusing conundrum of how OSU can be the #1 overall team but not a #1 seed according to Joe Lunardi. Wow, its as if the voters poll has NO IDEA what its talking about, and only reacts to short-term winning streaks and not overall ability of a team. Gee, whould have thunk it?
And-1) NBA News - Jordan finally said something about the Bobcats, and a good something, "We will spend to win", via a letter to Bobcat Season Ticket Holders (yeah, all 12 of them). Felton and Paul will reunite tonight as the Hornets come to town.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/20
Hornets @ Bobcats 2/20
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
Wisconsin @ Mich St (12? how'd THAT happen)
T Tech @ Texas
DePaul @ ND
Air Force @ John's favorite lock for the tourney
OverratedU @ Mizzou
LSU (47? how'd THAT happen) @ UK
new note: when not in a title, italics denote sarcasm
Monday, February 19
No one likes Clemson anyway
North Carolina jumps to the #1 spot in this week's Baseball America poll after a three-game sweep of Seton Hall this weekend.
2/19 Daily And-1
1) UNC/BC Game - "I fully expected us to go up there and lay an egg", was the quote via Byron after the game. Well, he was half right, the Heels' usually tight defense allowed the Eagles to shoot too well and visit the FT line too often but fighting fire with fire usually works, and the Heels own offense proved to be mightier bolstered by offensive rebounding (nearly half of UNC's misses fell back into their own hands, 26 FGM + 4 FTM, 13 ORs). The win coupled with a VT loss to insanely hot (67% hot) NC State put the Heels slightly in the drivers seat for the ACC reg season title and (in my opinion) the #1 seed that would surely follow. Observations. Other ACC action - Duke beat the hapless version of the GT team (the one that plays on the road) also the reminder of impending Coach K praise, if I hear you complaining about it I'm just going to yell at you the same way I yelled at you when you said things like "Duke sucks, they won't make the tournament" or "We should beat them by 20 points" consider yourselves warned, UVA beat FSU to stay in the 3-loss club (or should I say duo), Clemson continued to "play poorly with a target on its back", and Wake clawed their way out of the basement.
2) College review - the Overrateds lost again this weekend (yes OU and OSU), I'll, for clarity's sake, stop referring to Ohio St as Overrated-SU so we all know which two teams are Overrated U and Overrated SU. Vandy topped Florida, ruining their perfect SEC season but having little other real affect (besides punching their own dance ticket). SIU "upset" Butler, and the 2 Carolina BracketBusters toppled their Valley foes. Georgetown held off a quality Villanova side whose gameplan was excellent (Hibbert a non-factor, guarding the passing lanes well, switching defenses does anyone have tape of this for that big tournament in a month or so?). Florida is now #4 in KP-land, new order of business UNC, KU, A&M, FL, OSU, after the Jayhawks held the Huskers to 39 pts, they're the new #1 DE. The fall by Florida shows their weak SOS, comparable to Memphis. Ok, I know the last thing this site needs is another gimmick, but, I think that on Mondays and Fridays (after the majority of college games has been played Tue/Wed/Thu or Sat/Sun) I'm going to list the 2 or 3 teams that have "punched their ticket" to the dance. These will not repeat themselves (once your ticket is punched, thats it), nor will they be obvious teams that are current locks, but instead teams that have recently won a game/series of games that should get them in.
Tickets punched this weekend:
Vandy - beat Florida
Louisville - beat Pitt and Marquette, both on the road
Duke - won 2, essentially assured of a .500 ACC finish
(John, feel free to comment)
And-1) All-Star Weekend - John and I watched the Saturday activities via DVR and were pretty entertained, here's a recap. The Detroit team (Chauncey Billups, Bill Lambeer, and some chick) took the "Shooting Stars Challenge", Jason Kapono tied a final round record (24) to win the 3 pt shootout, D-Wade took the Skills Contest, and Gerald Green dunked his way over Nate Robinson (literally and metaphorically) Dee Brown style to win the dunk contest, though the best dunk was Dwight Howard's "12-6 Sticker Dunk" in which he dunked the ball and left a sticker up on the backboard at 12' 6". The West easily won the All-Star game 153-132. Observations.
News
Golden Boy Expecting
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 77 BC 72
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
UNC 93 Miami 70
State 72 UNC 65
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/20
Hornets @ Bobcats 2/20
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
Villanova @ Marquette
2) College review - the Overrateds lost again this weekend (yes OU and OSU), I'll, for clarity's sake, stop referring to Ohio St as Overrated-SU so we all know which two teams are Overrated U and Overrated SU. Vandy topped Florida, ruining their perfect SEC season but having little other real affect (besides punching their own dance ticket). SIU "upset" Butler, and the 2 Carolina BracketBusters toppled their Valley foes. Georgetown held off a quality Villanova side whose gameplan was excellent (Hibbert a non-factor, guarding the passing lanes well, switching defenses does anyone have tape of this for that big tournament in a month or so?). Florida is now #4 in KP-land, new order of business UNC, KU, A&M, FL, OSU, after the Jayhawks held the Huskers to 39 pts, they're the new #1 DE. The fall by Florida shows their weak SOS, comparable to Memphis. Ok, I know the last thing this site needs is another gimmick, but, I think that on Mondays and Fridays (after the majority of college games has been played Tue/Wed/Thu or Sat/Sun) I'm going to list the 2 or 3 teams that have "punched their ticket" to the dance. These will not repeat themselves (once your ticket is punched, thats it), nor will they be obvious teams that are current locks, but instead teams that have recently won a game/series of games that should get them in.
Tickets punched this weekend:
Vandy - beat Florida
Louisville - beat Pitt and Marquette, both on the road
Duke - won 2, essentially assured of a .500 ACC finish
(John, feel free to comment)
And-1) All-Star Weekend - John and I watched the Saturday activities via DVR and were pretty entertained, here's a recap. The Detroit team (Chauncey Billups, Bill Lambeer, and some chick) took the "Shooting Stars Challenge", Jason Kapono tied a final round record (24) to win the 3 pt shootout, D-Wade took the Skills Contest, and Gerald Green dunked his way over Nate Robinson (literally and metaphorically) Dee Brown style to win the dunk contest, though the best dunk was Dwight Howard's "12-6 Sticker Dunk" in which he dunked the ball and left a sticker up on the backboard at 12' 6". The West easily won the All-Star game 153-132. Observations.
News
Golden Boy Expecting
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 77 BC 72
NC State @ UNC 2/21
Ladies
UNC 93 Miami 70
State 72 UNC 65
Wake Forest @ UNC 2/20
Hornets @ Bobcats 2/20
Bobcats @ T'Wolves 2/21
76ers @ Bobcats 2/23
Raptors @ Bobcats 2/24
NOTABLES
Villanova @ Marquette
Sunday, February 18
UNC Honored Jerseys
Here is the actual answer to the question posed last night "what does it take to get your jersey number honored". The answer is from this Adam Lucas mailbag in 2005 about why Ed Cota's number isn't in the rafters. The short version is, to be retired you have to win national player of the year. Jordan, Worthy, Jamison, etc, all did that (no player can ever wear the number again). To be "honored" you have to meet one of the 4 following criteria:
1. the most valuable player (as voted by his teammates) of an NCAA championship team,
2. a first- or second-team All-American,
3. ACC Player of the Year, or
4. a member of a gold-medal winning Olympic team.
so, obviously McCants, May and Felton all have met those requirements. Apparently in 1994 these requirements were relaxed (they were previously tighter) and 25 additional jerseys were honored (7 already were), the number is now 43. Also, Byron was right, Tyler was a 1st Team All-American last year (voted by some outlets, you don't have to get AP or to sweep for it to count) so his jersey will be honored.
1. the most valuable player (as voted by his teammates) of an NCAA championship team,
2. a first- or second-team All-American,
3. ACC Player of the Year, or
4. a member of a gold-medal winning Olympic team.
so, obviously McCants, May and Felton all have met those requirements. Apparently in 1994 these requirements were relaxed (they were previously tighter) and 25 additional jerseys were honored (7 already were), the number is now 43. Also, Byron was right, Tyler was a 1st Team All-American last year (voted by some outlets, you don't have to get AP or to sweep for it to count) so his jersey will be honored.
Friday, February 16
2/16 "Daily" And-1
Sooooo, since my computer decided not to inform me that the battery was about to die, you all get a shortened version of my previous post. Ok, back from work, this post has officially been elaborated upon.
1) College BBall Update - duke beat bc: looks like missing sean williams finally caught up with them i guess all it takes is a post presence and the eagles look a lot weaker that and Nelson's assumingly crushing defense on Jar-red Dud-ley, purdue upset indiana (big help to their tourney cv, the rest of their schedule is easy so this may have paved the way), 'zona flashed-back to 2 weeks ago losing to USC: the pac-10 is obviously giving itself handouts again, making sure they all get in, and a couple of Overrated U's (OSU and OU) got scared/beaten (by penn st/cal respectively) you know, I wouldn't mind UNC being a 2 seed to OSU's #1.
2) Other news - roy is up for the hall of fame (isn't it weird how coaches get in before they retire? i guess its only fair b/c if you waited until after they retired it might be too late), the bengals franchise tagged DE justin smith, along with Bears - LB Lance Briggs and Pats CB Asante Samuel (smart moves). Keith Foulke retired, Jason Whitlock wants LJ traded, great KenPom blog about Coach K, and FO got around to reviewing the Panthers
From Saturday's Observer & Herald-Sun:
Ty Lawson
Inside ACC
Carolinas BBall
Winthrop
NBA Rookie/Soph Game
And-1) see the weekend preview below:
SCHEDULE
UNC @ State (ladies) 2/16
UNC @ BC 2/17 (uh-oh?)
College Weekend Preview
BracketBusters
Saturday
FSU @ UVA (go 'Noles)
UNC @ BC
Indiana @ UMich (indiana needs to bounce back strong)
T A&M @ OU (i think i can hear the choking from here)
UConn @ 'Cuse (back end of the bubble-icious)
G'Town @ 'Nova (nova's quickness/technique on defense seems to be neutralizing G'Town's O)
L'Ville @ Marquette (louisville looks to move into the "should be in" category after the pitt win)
Memphis @ Gonzaga (poor memphis, can't schedule a winner to save their life)
UCLA @ 'Zona
Florida @ Vandy (if the gators win, look for a 16-0 SEC run)
UK @ 'Bama
GT @ Duke (the jackets don't have a prayer)
Maryland @ Clemson (as the 5-6 ACC teams continue to beat up on each other)
comments added
BBusters round 1: Winthrop shocks Mizzou St., go BIG SOUTH, show the valley where its at
1) College BBall Update - duke beat bc: looks like missing sean williams finally caught up with them i guess all it takes is a post presence and the eagles look a lot weaker that and Nelson's assumingly crushing defense on Jar-red Dud-ley, purdue upset indiana (big help to their tourney cv, the rest of their schedule is easy so this may have paved the way), 'zona flashed-back to 2 weeks ago losing to USC: the pac-10 is obviously giving itself handouts again, making sure they all get in, and a couple of Overrated U's (OSU and OU) got scared/beaten (by penn st/cal respectively) you know, I wouldn't mind UNC being a 2 seed to OSU's #1.
2) Other news - roy is up for the hall of fame (isn't it weird how coaches get in before they retire? i guess its only fair b/c if you waited until after they retired it might be too late), the bengals franchise tagged DE justin smith, along with Bears - LB Lance Briggs and Pats CB Asante Samuel (smart moves). Keith Foulke retired, Jason Whitlock wants LJ traded, great KenPom blog about Coach K, and FO got around to reviewing the Panthers
From Saturday's Observer & Herald-Sun:
Ty Lawson
Inside ACC
Carolinas BBall
Winthrop
NBA Rookie/Soph Game
And-1) see the weekend preview below:
SCHEDULE
UNC @ State (ladies) 2/16
UNC @ BC 2/17 (uh-oh?)
College Weekend Preview
BracketBusters
Saturday
FSU @ UVA (go 'Noles)
UNC @ BC
Indiana @ UMich (indiana needs to bounce back strong)
T A&M @ OU (i think i can hear the choking from here)
UConn @ 'Cuse (back end of the bubble-icious)
G'Town @ 'Nova (nova's quickness/technique on defense seems to be neutralizing G'Town's O)
L'Ville @ Marquette (louisville looks to move into the "should be in" category after the pitt win)
Memphis @ Gonzaga (poor memphis, can't schedule a winner to save their life)
UCLA @ 'Zona
Florida @ Vandy (if the gators win, look for a 16-0 SEC run)
UK @ 'Bama
GT @ Duke (the jackets don't have a prayer)
Maryland @ Clemson (as the 5-6 ACC teams continue to beat up on each other)
comments added
BBusters round 1: Winthrop shocks Mizzou St., go BIG SOUTH, show the valley where its at
Thursday, February 15
Byron loves these posts
Top ACC players, according to ORtg (using 20% poss):
1. Ja-red Dud-ley (clap clap cl-cl-clap), Boston College (It's not even close. He has to be considered for POY at this point, and will almost certainly get ACC POY.)
2. K.C. Rivers, Clemson (still coming off the bench? Ryan?)
3. Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech
4. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
5. Ben McCauley, North Carolina State
Any qualms with this as a first-team All-ACC list? Rivers probably won't make it because he (I think) still comes off the bench, which would get Brandan Wright a look at #6.
Edit: Oh wait, Sean Singletary has to be on first team All-ACC. He probably takes Dowdell's or Wright's spot. Also, Al Thornton is the only other player worth mentioning in this team too. So it seems there are eight players vying for five spots: Dudley, Rivers, Dowdell, Hansbrough, McCauley, Wright, Singletary, and Thornton. The final list will probably consist of Dudley, Hansbrough, Singletary, and Thornton, with either Dowdell or McCauley picking up the #5 spot.
1. Ja-red Dud-ley (clap clap cl-cl-clap), Boston College (It's not even close. He has to be considered for POY at this point, and will almost certainly get ACC POY.)
2. K.C. Rivers, Clemson (still coming off the bench? Ryan?)
3. Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech
4. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
5. Ben McCauley, North Carolina State
Any qualms with this as a first-team All-ACC list? Rivers probably won't make it because he (I think) still comes off the bench, which would get Brandan Wright a look at #6.
Edit: Oh wait, Sean Singletary has to be on first team All-ACC. He probably takes Dowdell's or Wright's spot. Also, Al Thornton is the only other player worth mentioning in this team too. So it seems there are eight players vying for five spots: Dudley, Rivers, Dowdell, Hansbrough, McCauley, Wright, Singletary, and Thornton. The final list will probably consist of Dudley, Hansbrough, Singletary, and Thornton, with either Dowdell or McCauley picking up the #5 spot.
The Buffaloes are who we thought they were
IT'S DIVISION I FOOTBALL
IT'S THE BIG XII
IT AIN'T INTRAMURALS
IT'S THE BIG XII
IT AIN'T INTRAMURALS
Prospect Juiciness
Just a couple of quick refresher links for all your prospect needs.
Baseball America Top 10 Prospect Lists
Baseball Prospectus Organizational Rankings
Baseball America Top 10 Prospect Lists
Baseball Prospectus Organizational Rankings
Surely you jest
Might be stepping on some Daily And-1 toes, but since today's edition hasn't hit my doorstep yet, I'm posting this. Apparently, Pop Durant says his boy might not go to the NBA after this season. Please, spare me your posturing. Nothing you could say will convince me that Kevin will not hit the NBA after his POY season, coming in his freshman year.
Happy Pitcher-Catcher Day
Pitchers and catchers report today! Baseball posts will be coming soon (maybe).
2-15 Power 16
#1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. Ohio State
4. UCLA
#2 Seeds
5. Wisconsin
6. Texas A&M
7. Kansas
8. Memphis
#3 Seeds
9. Pittsburgh
10. Georgetown
11. Washington State
12. Butler
#4 Seeds
13. Air Force
14. Arizona
15. Southern Illinois
16. Marquette
Now we're starting to get a little less nonsensical with this exercise. I think I'd be pretty happy if these were the seedings given if Selection Sunday were today. Thoughts? Anyone too high/too low? The only really notable omissions are Kentucky and Oregon (no, I don't think Duke would get a top-4 seed at this point). Do you realize Kenpom gives Kansas a #1 seed at this point? Routing Colorado helps, it seems. Losing to Colorado (AHEMOVERRATEDSTATEUNIVERSITYAHEM) doesn't. Damn Pokes.
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. Ohio State
4. UCLA
#2 Seeds
5. Wisconsin
6. Texas A&M
7. Kansas
8. Memphis
#3 Seeds
9. Pittsburgh
10. Georgetown
11. Washington State
12. Butler
#4 Seeds
13. Air Force
14. Arizona
15. Southern Illinois
16. Marquette
Now we're starting to get a little less nonsensical with this exercise. I think I'd be pretty happy if these were the seedings given if Selection Sunday were today. Thoughts? Anyone too high/too low? The only really notable omissions are Kentucky and Oregon (no, I don't think Duke would get a top-4 seed at this point). Do you realize Kenpom gives Kansas a #1 seed at this point? Routing Colorado helps, it seems. Losing to Colorado (AHEMOVERRATEDSTATEUNIVERSITYAHEM) doesn't. Damn Pokes.
Wednesday, February 14
<3-day And-1
Ok, I'm going to apologize in advance for the next few weeks of blogging, because it is going to be amazingly one-sport tinted. The main sport on the docket now is college basketball, which is what I'll be writing up, the And-1 will be an attempt to honor some other sport. As soon as the NFL Draft rolls around or free agency I'll try and include some of that, but otherwise the well is pretty dry. On to the posting.
1) Hokies sweep Heels - Ouch, that one hurt. Experience > Talent? As I rationalized to John, you can't make only 1 FG in the last 7:30 of Reg/OT and expect to win a close game. The Heels are showing a disturbing trend (1-3 in games of 6pts or less) of either blowing a team out, or not winning. The reason UNC handled Duke is that none of their players could contain Ty Lawson, so down the stretch he put up several huge FGs. Well, the Hokies ain't no slow white boys, and thus defended Lawson better and more physically down the stretch. Doesn't it suck to know that if you swap the performances of the Wake and VT games, the Heels probably come out 2-0? Anyways, to keep dibs on their #1 seed the Heels need to: 1) win the ACC Reg Season OR 2) show up in the ACC Semis/Final (not sure which), doing either of these things makes UNC a lock for a 1 seed. Also, hoping that Ohio St takes care of Wisconsin in the Big 10 would help, since head-to-head we actually beat OSU. Heels fans, just keep one thing in mind: one game a team does not make. (PS: still #1 in KP-land, and a luck driven down to 286)
2) Other College News - GT wins on the road snapping a 17 game streak, I knew it was bad, John and I tease them all the time, but 17 games? Wow, and at FSU none-the-less. Big win for the bubbly Jackets. Tennessee capitalized on UK's letdown and beat them in Knoxville, Texas Tech must have printed out this blog and used it as BB material b/c they responded by upsetting A&M on the road (thank god, maybe this will allow UNC to stay as a 1-seed). SIU creates some separation within the Valley by beating Missouri St.
And-1) Well, And-2 in honor of that BS play in the UNC-VT game - 1) Carlos Zambrano wants to be paid, and NOW. Otherwise he will leave via free agency after the year. 2) Bobcats send Melvin Ely to the Spurs for Eric Williams (no, not that Eric Williams) and a 2nd round pick. Good move, the Bobcats got back what they initially gave up for Ely and a player to fill in.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
VT 81 UNC 80, OT
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
NOTABLES
Duke @ BC (watch as Byron cheers for the Dookies)
MD @ NCSU
Indiana @ Purdue
Marquette @ DePaul
Wazzu @ UW (bubblicious)
'Bama @ Florida
Arkansas @ Miss St.
1) Hokies sweep Heels - Ouch, that one hurt. Experience > Talent? As I rationalized to John, you can't make only 1 FG in the last 7:30 of Reg/OT and expect to win a close game. The Heels are showing a disturbing trend (1-3 in games of 6pts or less) of either blowing a team out, or not winning. The reason UNC handled Duke is that none of their players could contain Ty Lawson, so down the stretch he put up several huge FGs. Well, the Hokies ain't no slow white boys, and thus defended Lawson better and more physically down the stretch. Doesn't it suck to know that if you swap the performances of the Wake and VT games, the Heels probably come out 2-0? Anyways, to keep dibs on their #1 seed the Heels need to: 1) win the ACC Reg Season OR 2) show up in the ACC Semis/Final (not sure which), doing either of these things makes UNC a lock for a 1 seed. Also, hoping that Ohio St takes care of Wisconsin in the Big 10 would help, since head-to-head we actually beat OSU. Heels fans, just keep one thing in mind: one game a team does not make. (PS: still #1 in KP-land, and a luck driven down to 286)
2) Other College News - GT wins on the road snapping a 17 game streak, I knew it was bad, John and I tease them all the time, but 17 games? Wow, and at FSU none-the-less. Big win for the bubbly Jackets. Tennessee capitalized on UK's letdown and beat them in Knoxville, Texas Tech must have printed out this blog and used it as BB material b/c they responded by upsetting A&M on the road (thank god, maybe this will allow UNC to stay as a 1-seed). SIU creates some separation within the Valley by beating Missouri St.
And-1) Well, And-2 in honor of that BS play in the UNC-VT game - 1) Carlos Zambrano wants to be paid, and NOW. Otherwise he will leave via free agency after the year. 2) Bobcats send Melvin Ely to the Spurs for Eric Williams (no, not that Eric Williams) and a 2nd round pick. Good move, the Bobcats got back what they initially gave up for Ely and a player to fill in.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
VT 81 UNC 80, OT
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
NOTABLES
Duke @ BC (watch as Byron cheers for the Dookies)
MD @ NCSU
Indiana @ Purdue
Marquette @ DePaul
Wazzu @ UW (bubblicious)
'Bama @ Florida
Arkansas @ Miss St.
Tuesday, February 13
2/13 Daily And-1
1) NFL House Cleaning - Two franchises did a bit of business yesterday. The Chargers fired their previously not fired coach, I guess losing coordinators made them figure why not. (Dan Shanoff has Pete Carroll pegged for the job, bad idea Pete). Also, the Giants released LB Arrington, LB Emmons, and OT Petitgout. The first two make sense, but Petitgout just had a little injury trouble, maybe the Panthers will take a look? Line depth is an annual issue.
2) College Wrap-Up - Things went precisely as I planned yesterday within the college bball scene. OverratedSU lost to Texas, I mean, Kevin Durant. Sigh, HOW ARE THEY STILL RANKED, THEY'RE A FREAKING 55 ON KP, AND HAVEN'T BEATEN ANYONE (3 Home OT wins and beating OU does NOT count). Not to mention they're 11th in luck. Let's scan the other top-40 luck teams, Alabama, UNLV, Stanford, hmmmmm, is there a THEME HERE. (Wisconsin is 48th, interesting). My GOD people, LUCK JUST DOESN'T CUT THE MUSTARD. Sorry, back to normal now. The Hoyas continued their dominance over the Big East 71 pts on ~57 possessions = OE ~130. Pitt was shocked at home against L'ville. In other news: Bama A&M won the battle of the bottom-5 and Bethune-Cookman beat SC State 46-44, in OT. Yes folks, that game happened this century, and yes that's one point per minute per team (can't wait for the GamePlan link to that one). Lastly, at press time Santa Clara seemed to be cruising to a victory over a Heytvelt-less Gonzaga (42-29), I'll update that in the morning. Final 84-73 Santa Clara
And-1) The loose ends of the day - Braves finally sold to Liberty Media Corp and there's a fun article from the Observer about the Bobcats' future with Bickerstaff and Jordan. More Duke fallout, and a set of midseason ACC grades (UNC a B my ass).
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Lady Heels 80 Lady 'Noles 59
VT @ UNC 2/13 Preview
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
NOTABLES
GT @ FSU
Mich @ MSU
TTech @ T A&M (Raiders, want me and John off your back? Try winning a game once in a while)
SIU @ Missouri St. (Valley lovefest, John drools)
UNLV @ SDSU (use above comment, insert Rebels for Raiders)
UK @ Tenn
2) College Wrap-Up - Things went precisely as I planned yesterday within the college bball scene. OverratedSU lost to Texas, I mean, Kevin Durant. Sigh, HOW ARE THEY STILL RANKED, THEY'RE A FREAKING 55 ON KP, AND HAVEN'T BEATEN ANYONE (3 Home OT wins and beating OU does NOT count). Not to mention they're 11th in luck. Let's scan the other top-40 luck teams, Alabama, UNLV, Stanford, hmmmmm, is there a THEME HERE. (Wisconsin is 48th, interesting). My GOD people, LUCK JUST DOESN'T CUT THE MUSTARD. Sorry, back to normal now. The Hoyas continued their dominance over the Big East 71 pts on ~57 possessions = OE ~130. Pitt was shocked at home against L'ville. In other news: Bama A&M won the battle of the bottom-5 and Bethune-Cookman beat SC State 46-44, in OT. Yes folks, that game happened this century, and yes that's one point per minute per team (can't wait for the GamePlan link to that one). Lastly, at press time Santa Clara seemed to be cruising to a victory over a Heytvelt-less Gonzaga (42-29), I'll update that in the morning. Final 84-73 Santa Clara
And-1) The loose ends of the day - Braves finally sold to Liberty Media Corp and there's a fun article from the Observer about the Bobcats' future with Bickerstaff and Jordan. More Duke fallout, and a set of midseason ACC grades (UNC a B my ass).
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Lady Heels 80 Lady 'Noles 59
VT @ UNC 2/13 Preview
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
NOTABLES
GT @ FSU
Mich @ MSU
TTech @ T A&M (Raiders, want me and John off your back? Try winning a game once in a while)
SIU @ Missouri St. (Valley lovefest, John drools)
UNLV @ SDSU (use above comment, insert Rebels for Raiders)
UK @ Tenn
Monday, February 12
2/12 Daily And-1
We start the week with a bit of sad news, my co-author's computer has to be in the shop for the week. So, John will likely be contributing solely via the comments section while simultaneously getting more work done than usual. On to the weekend wrap-up.
1) Duke's slip and slide - Problem #1, Greg Paulus 5-12, 12 pts, 7 TOs 14 wasted possessions (out of 69 total, ouch). Problem #2, remaining schedule, Maryland was a gimme 3 more away games in conference (only away W's Miami, NCSU), and home against MD & GT. Hopefully for their sake St. John's will keel over for them and Gerald Henderson will develop his point guard play. (Observer Article)
2) Other College Wrap-up - I guess BC is for real real, since they won @ FSU looks like Saturday's show down with UNC will put the winner in the driver's seat for ACC Regular Season crown though BC does play @ VT, host Clemson, and @ GT. On another coast, the Pac-10 finally started beating up on its self like the other major conference. VT reigned in UVA, Purdue almost beat OverratedSU (haha, that works for 2 teams), G'Town showed they're 'bout it 'bout it by handling Big East 3rd placer Marquette, West Virginia suprised UCLA, 'Zona showed some teeth beating OverratedU in Niketown, Florida flexed a little bit, and GT confirmed the ACC's superiority (when they're playing at home). (21 of the top 25 played Saturday)
And-1) The NFL has a Pro-Bowl? - Yeah, AFC won on a last second FG, but honestly who really cares.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 104 Wake 67
Blazers 108 Bobcats 100 OT
Rockets 104 Bobcats 83
UNC @ FSU (ladies) 2/12
VT @ UNC 2/13
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
COLLEGE NOTABLES
OkSt getting blown out at Texas (5 bucks says its on ESPN)
L'ville @ Pitt
WVU @ G'town (can the 'neers stay hot?)
(331) Winston-Salem St. @ (335) Alabama A&M
Santa Clara @ Gonzaga (GOY in the WCC)
1) Duke's slip and slide - Problem #1, Greg Paulus 5-12, 12 pts, 7 TOs 14 wasted possessions (out of 69 total, ouch). Problem #2, remaining schedule, Maryland was a gimme 3 more away games in conference (only away W's Miami, NCSU), and home against MD & GT. Hopefully for their sake St. John's will keel over for them and Gerald Henderson will develop his point guard play. (Observer Article)
2) Other College Wrap-up - I guess BC is for real real, since they won @ FSU looks like Saturday's show down with UNC will put the winner in the driver's seat for ACC Regular Season crown though BC does play @ VT, host Clemson, and @ GT. On another coast, the Pac-10 finally started beating up on its self like the other major conference. VT reigned in UVA, Purdue almost beat OverratedSU (haha, that works for 2 teams), G'Town showed they're 'bout it 'bout it by handling Big East 3rd placer Marquette, West Virginia suprised UCLA, 'Zona showed some teeth beating OverratedU in Niketown, Florida flexed a little bit, and GT confirmed the ACC's superiority (when they're playing at home). (21 of the top 25 played Saturday)
And-1) The NFL has a Pro-Bowl? - Yeah, AFC won on a last second FG, but honestly who really cares.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
UNC 104 Wake 67
Blazers 108 Bobcats 100 OT
Rockets 104 Bobcats 83
UNC @ FSU (ladies) 2/12
VT @ UNC 2/13
Bulls @ Bobcats 2/14
COLLEGE NOTABLES
OkSt getting blown out at Texas (5 bucks says its on ESPN)
L'ville @ Pitt
WVU @ G'town (can the 'neers stay hot?)
(331) Winston-Salem St. @ (335) Alabama A&M
Santa Clara @ Gonzaga (GOY in the WCC)
Friday, February 9
2/9 And-1 Weekend Style
This is going to be a quick And-1, and I apologize for the late post but I had a Linear Algebra test today. Anyways, I'm dropping the usual style and posting several interesting commentary pieces since yesterday was slow game-wise. Also, I'll line up the weekend's action so you know "What 2 Watch 4".
Top Stories:
1) Duke avenges men's loss at Cameron, taking battle of unbeatens.
2) Wazzu for real? - takes revenge for OT loss (too bad no FSN)
3) Depaul holds off ND - Bubblicious
Edit: Showing off the Duke education: "As long as you don't bring your gayness on me, I'm fine" Shavlick Randolph
Selection Committee - Pat Forde, Andy Katz, and others go inside the process to pick the field of 65 for the Tournament.
Cavs for real?
Wade Phillips - several commentaries on the hire, most signs apparently point to wanting a head coach that wouldn't cramp Garrett's style (the previously hired OC) in developing as a play caller.
Dr. Z rates the NFL commentary teams - high praise for the low sample size of ESPN's B Team, the bashing of the usual suspect (ESPN's A Team)
The many faces of John Scheyer, as further evidence by his pics in the UNC-Duke game slideshow. Some are also concerned about Duke's NCAA chances (ha), speaking of here is the CBS Sportsline Bubble Watch, and the ACC tourney will be in HD (do they have HD in Puerto Rico?)
Bush at it again? More sketchy behavior from the former Trojan, apparently allegedly interfering with Joe McKnight's decision.
John Clayton peeks at the 2007 NFL, yeah, yeah, I know I said no more, but THATS IT.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Wake @ UNC 2/10
UNC @ FSU (ladies) 2/12
Blazers @ Bobcats 2/9
Bobcats @ Rockets 2/10
COLLEGE
Saturday
UVA @ VT
Illinois @ Indiana
Purdue @ OSU (coming off MSU win, can they upset the kings of the overrated?)
Kansas @ Mizzou (will the rivalry matter?)
TTech @ OkState (interesting matchup, both HIGHLY overrated)
Marquette @ G'Town (can the Hoyas keep it rolling and step into the top 10?)
UCLA @ WVU (good late year out of conference matchup)
Creighton @ SIU
Ariz @ Oregon (Biscuits for both teams?)
Florida @ UK (easily game of the week, a very underrated Wildcat team could tag the Gators with their only SEC loss)
Arkansas @ LSU
Vandy @ UT
Sunday
Duke @ Maryland
UConn @ GT (Jackets can get revenge for '04)
BC @ FSU (are the Eagles for real real?, we'll see FSU's lone home L is Clemson 66-68)
and just for John
Stanford @ UW
Top Stories:
1) Duke avenges men's loss at Cameron, taking battle of unbeatens.
2) Wazzu for real? - takes revenge for OT loss (too bad no FSN)
3) Depaul holds off ND - Bubblicious
Edit: Showing off the Duke education: "As long as you don't bring your gayness on me, I'm fine" Shavlick Randolph
Selection Committee - Pat Forde, Andy Katz, and others go inside the process to pick the field of 65 for the Tournament.
Cavs for real?
Wade Phillips - several commentaries on the hire, most signs apparently point to wanting a head coach that wouldn't cramp Garrett's style (the previously hired OC) in developing as a play caller.
Dr. Z rates the NFL commentary teams - high praise for the low sample size of ESPN's B Team, the bashing of the usual suspect (ESPN's A Team)
The many faces of John Scheyer, as further evidence by his pics in the UNC-Duke game slideshow. Some are also concerned about Duke's NCAA chances (ha), speaking of here is the CBS Sportsline Bubble Watch, and the ACC tourney will be in HD (do they have HD in Puerto Rico?)
Bush at it again? More sketchy behavior from the former Trojan, apparently allegedly interfering with Joe McKnight's decision.
John Clayton peeks at the 2007 NFL, yeah, yeah, I know I said no more, but THATS IT.
SCHEDULE
LOCAL
Wake @ UNC 2/10
UNC @ FSU (ladies) 2/12
Blazers @ Bobcats 2/9
Bobcats @ Rockets 2/10
COLLEGE
Saturday
UVA @ VT
Illinois @ Indiana
Purdue @ OSU (coming off MSU win, can they upset the kings of the overrated?)
Kansas @ Mizzou (will the rivalry matter?)
TTech @ OkState (interesting matchup, both HIGHLY overrated)
Marquette @ G'Town (can the Hoyas keep it rolling and step into the top 10?)
UCLA @ WVU (good late year out of conference matchup)
Creighton @ SIU
Ariz @ Oregon (Biscuits for both teams?)
Florida @ UK (easily game of the week, a very underrated Wildcat team could tag the Gators with their only SEC loss)
Arkansas @ LSU
Vandy @ UT
Sunday
Duke @ Maryland
UConn @ GT (Jackets can get revenge for '04)
BC @ FSU (are the Eagles for real real?, we'll see FSU's lone home L is Clemson 66-68)
and just for John
Stanford @ UW
A bit late this week
2-8's Power 16
1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Ohio State
2 Seeds
5. Texas A&M
6. Wisconsin
7. Kansas
8. Pittsburgh
3 Seeds
9. Memphis
10. Duke
11. Butler
12. Marquette
4 Seeds
13. Georgetown
14. Kentucky
15. Air Force
16. Washington State
1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Ohio State
2 Seeds
5. Texas A&M
6. Wisconsin
7. Kansas
8. Pittsburgh
3 Seeds
9. Memphis
10. Duke
11. Butler
12. Marquette
4 Seeds
13. Georgetown
14. Kentucky
15. Air Force
16. Washington State
Thursday, February 8
2/8 Daily And-1
1) Rivalry Week Con't - KU put upstart KState to sleep, OU SHOCKED Ok State by playing the way we all (read KP-heads), know they could, and UNC's bench finally outlasted the 6-man Blue Devils. Also, UCLA held serve over local rival USC (19th? How'd that happen?)
2) Signing Day Suprises - Several teams benefitted from signing day suprises, USC, Alabama, Miami, and UNC. Butch Davis landed a couple of suprises, Marvin Austin #1 DT, Dwight Jones #4 WR pulled away from the likes of FSU and Tennessee. Here is the whole class list.
And-1) Cowboys Coach - WOW, dodged a bullet there, the Cowgirls are naming Wade Phillips their new head coach. As I said when the Norv Turner rumors were floating around, the Cowboys defense that fell apart as the season went along (Wk 1-12 4th, 13-16 32nd). Thank GOD they hired a defensive coach, now maybe they'll sign/draft some linemen and be in business (but I hope not).
Edit: USA 2, Mexico 0, Brilliant!
Schedule
Local
UNC 79 Duke 73
Philly 92 Charlotte 83
Duke @ UNC (Ladies this time)
College
Clemson 71 FSU 58
Purdue 62 MSU 38
KU 97 KState 70
OU 67 OKState 60 (shocker)
G'town 73 L'ville 65
Pitt 60 WVU 47
UCLA 70 USC 65
Florida 71 331 Cons UGA 61
ND @ Depaul (don't you just love this time of year, bubble teams EVERYwhere)
Stanford @ Wazzu
2) Signing Day Suprises - Several teams benefitted from signing day suprises, USC, Alabama, Miami, and UNC. Butch Davis landed a couple of suprises, Marvin Austin #1 DT, Dwight Jones #4 WR pulled away from the likes of FSU and Tennessee. Here is the whole class list.
And-1) Cowboys Coach - WOW, dodged a bullet there, the Cowgirls are naming Wade Phillips their new head coach. As I said when the Norv Turner rumors were floating around, the Cowboys defense that fell apart as the season went along (Wk 1-12 4th, 13-16 32nd). Thank GOD they hired a defensive coach, now maybe they'll sign/draft some linemen and be in business (but I hope not).
Edit: USA 2, Mexico 0, Brilliant!
Schedule
Local
UNC 79 Duke 73
Philly 92 Charlotte 83
Duke @ UNC (Ladies this time)
College
Clemson 71 FSU 58
Purdue 62 MSU 38
KU 97 KState 70
OU 67 OKState 60 (shocker)
G'town 73 L'ville 65
Pitt 60 WVU 47
UCLA 70 USC 65
Florida 71 331 Cons UGA 61
ND @ Depaul (don't you just love this time of year, bubble teams EVERYwhere)
Stanford @ Wazzu
Wednesday, February 7
2/7 Daily And-1
1) AF Looses - must have been the negative karma from Forde saying they'd run the table. Extra Credit: Who coaches SDSU? Other results, State blew a huge lead @ GT, UVA strengthens grip on ACC #1
2) Pregame reading material - need I say more?
And-1) USA/Mexico - starting up the Bradley era in US Soccer, we all wish the era had a better name, say the "Klinsman Era". Here is a small sampling of articles about the game: NY Times, USA Today, AZ Republic
Links
KP Blog
UNC Signing Day / National Signing Day
Schedule
Local
UNC @ Duke
Charlotte @ Philly
College
FSU @ Clemson
MSU @ Purdue
KState @ KU
OKState @ OU
G'town @ L'ville
Pitt @ WVU
USC @ UCLA
Florida @ 331 Cons UGA (HA)
2) Pregame reading material - need I say more?
And-1) USA/Mexico - starting up the Bradley era in US Soccer, we all wish the era had a better name, say the "Klinsman Era". Here is a small sampling of articles about the game: NY Times, USA Today, AZ Republic
Links
KP Blog
UNC Signing Day / National Signing Day
Schedule
Local
UNC @ Duke
Charlotte @ Philly
College
FSU @ Clemson
MSU @ Purdue
KState @ KU
OKState @ OU
G'town @ L'ville
Pitt @ WVU
USC @ UCLA
Florida @ 331 Cons UGA (HA)
Tuesday, February 6
2/6 "Daily" And-1
So, I'm back after the weekend (and yesterday) off. I'll just sum up some recent events, sorry for being light on the links.
1) Colts win Super Bowl - The Bears offense didn't do enough against the "weak" Colts defense and within the main matchup Colts O nickel and dimed Bears D. Congrats to Peyton for never having to answer "the question" again.
2) ACC Upsets - When was the last time both Duke and UNC came into the big game off losses? Does anyone know? Well, I guess we'll find out during the broadcast. (first time since 1989 that Duke comes in with 2 straight losses).
And-1) Aggies on a tear - Looks like I was wrong about the Aggie/Jayhawk matchup and then A&M rubbed it in my face, earning biscuts last night against the 'Horns. I guess we should have all seen that one coming though, with Texas' ~100th ranked defense. I guess they're kind of like an inverse Duke, well, thats Arizona, but a poor man's inverse Duke.
Texas 8/103
Duke 48/1
Arizona 2/64
For compairison/prediction sake, lets look deeper at a couple of recent matchups, 2 balanced teams (UNC/A&M) playing an offensive focused team: A&M 100 Texas 82 and UNC 92 Arizona 64, arguably similar results. Both teams again playing a defensive focused team: A&M 69 Kansas 66, UNC ?? Duke ??, I'd predict a similar result (under 5 pt game) and restate what I've said in the past, defense is much much much more hard to coach, a team concept, and important to winning than offense.
A couple of random links to finish off the day:
Super Bowl 42 odds
John's a big liar, Stanford is his fave Pac-10 team
Schedule
Tonight's College B-Ball
UVA @ MD
State @ GT (is someone going to "lose their legs" or "not play well with a target on their back"?)
LSU @ Tenn (LSU has lost 5 in a row, the last 3 by a total of 14 pts)
Local
State 83 UNC 79
UNC @ Duke 2/7
Lady Heels 82 BC 60
Duke @ Lady Heels 2/8
Cleveland 101 Charlotte 81
Charlotte 98 Golden St. 90
Miami 113 Charlotte 93
Charlotte @ Philly 2/7
Edit: Forde Minutes added today, and Iona jumped up to 313KP and dropped to 2nd Cons (bumped by 11-11 Manhattan). On the other end of the spectrum, OU is still the least consistent team, despite beating TTech.
1) Colts win Super Bowl - The Bears offense didn't do enough against the "weak" Colts defense and within the main matchup Colts O nickel and dimed Bears D. Congrats to Peyton for never having to answer "the question" again.
2) ACC Upsets - When was the last time both Duke and UNC came into the big game off losses? Does anyone know? Well, I guess we'll find out during the broadcast. (first time since 1989 that Duke comes in with 2 straight losses).
And-1) Aggies on a tear - Looks like I was wrong about the Aggie/Jayhawk matchup and then A&M rubbed it in my face, earning biscuts last night against the 'Horns. I guess we should have all seen that one coming though, with Texas' ~100th ranked defense. I guess they're kind of like an inverse Duke, well, thats Arizona, but a poor man's inverse Duke.
Texas 8/103
Duke 48/1
Arizona 2/64
For compairison/prediction sake, lets look deeper at a couple of recent matchups, 2 balanced teams (UNC/A&M) playing an offensive focused team: A&M 100 Texas 82 and UNC 92 Arizona 64, arguably similar results. Both teams again playing a defensive focused team: A&M 69 Kansas 66, UNC ?? Duke ??, I'd predict a similar result (under 5 pt game) and restate what I've said in the past, defense is much much much more hard to coach, a team concept, and important to winning than offense.
A couple of random links to finish off the day:
Super Bowl 42 odds
John's a big liar, Stanford is his fave Pac-10 team
Schedule
Tonight's College B-Ball
UVA @ MD
State @ GT (is someone going to "lose their legs" or "not play well with a target on their back"?)
LSU @ Tenn (LSU has lost 5 in a row, the last 3 by a total of 14 pts)
Local
State 83 UNC 79
UNC @ Duke 2/7
Lady Heels 82 BC 60
Duke @ Lady Heels 2/8
Cleveland 101 Charlotte 81
Charlotte 98 Golden St. 90
Miami 113 Charlotte 93
Charlotte @ Philly 2/7
Edit: Forde Minutes added today, and Iona jumped up to 313KP and dropped to 2nd Cons (bumped by 11-11 Manhattan). On the other end of the spectrum, OU is still the least consistent team, despite beating TTech.
Monday, February 5
Big Nick
While wasting time, I looked through the ORtgs of several big men, and found that actually, there are only two players I'd rather have on my team than Greg Oden - Nick Fazekas and Aaron Gray. Based solely on a combination of ORtg, rebounding ability, and shot-blocking ability, those are the only two that I'd rather have on my team than Oden. I still say Nick Fazekas is the best player in college basketball right now.
I <3 Prospects
Good post on two prospects of note right now; one is in the minors in the Braves organization, one is in the majors and will be battling none other than our own Javy Lopez during Spring Training for a starting job come April. The best part is, Ryan might know both of them! Take a look at this post if you're at all interested in how these rankings are compiled.
Note: something must be wrong with Baseball Prospectus! Free PECOTA cards for everyone!
Note: something must be wrong with Baseball Prospectus! Free PECOTA cards for everyone!
NFL Playoff Pick'em Final Results
I'll get to a "weekend And-1" some time later this afternoon, as of now I just want to finish out the NFL Pick'em season.
Ryan +32 (10-1) (37-43)
John 0 (7-4) (44-36)
key: pts (playoff record) (season record)
Not sure what motivated John to pick the Bears, his post wasn't very clear, then again neither was mine. This is somewhat the opposite of our regular season results with John cleaning house and myself holding my head above the .500 mark, well, above the .400 mark. However, much like his beloved Chargers, John suffered a minor letdown in the playoffs. Anyways, it was a good year for pick 'em, this is the last you'll hear about the NFL until, say, late March when the pre-draft camps roll around.
Ryan +32 (10-1) (37-43)
John 0 (7-4) (44-36)
key: pts (playoff record) (season record)
Not sure what motivated John to pick the Bears, his post wasn't very clear, then again neither was mine. This is somewhat the opposite of our regular season results with John cleaning house and myself holding my head above the .500 mark, well, above the .400 mark. However, much like his beloved Chargers, John suffered a minor letdown in the playoffs. Anyways, it was a good year for pick 'em, this is the last you'll hear about the NFL until, say, late March when the pre-draft camps roll around.
Sunday, February 4
Friday, February 2
Selection Committee Ruling
According to this Charlotte Observer blog, Craig Littlepage and the rest of the selection committee will consider the Duke-Clemson timing error when weghing their case for the NCAA tourney, well, their seeding, b/c I think Clemson is in like Flynn. Anyways, good for Littlepage.
Selection Committee Ruling
According to this Charlotte Observer blog, Craig Littlepage and the rest of the selection committee will consider the Duke-Clemson timing error when weghing their case for the NCAA tourney, well, their seeding, b/c I think Clemson is in like Flynn. Anyways, good for Littlepage.
2/2 Daily And-1
Warning: What Follows is a very weak post, I am heading to bed and going on a weekend field trip tomorrow, so John can And-1 over the weekend if he feels the need.
1) DUKE LOST - called it, well, I call all Duke road games as losses
2) UCLA whipped Oregon - called it, though I was off by 7 pts. (and Wazzu held up at Arizona, weak legs anyone?)
And-1) Ryan picks the Colts in the Super Bowl (10) - If only to keep things interesting, I mean, the whole defense wins championships thing is just a saying right? And my fantasy team can't afford for Indy to be the Super Bowl Losers.
There's a funny story over on Deadspin ripping Bill Simmons and other ESPN personas.
Lady Heels 82 BC 60
Weekend
UNC @ NC State
Bobcats @ Cleveland
Warriors @ Bobcats
Edit: #1 DEFENSE #1 DEFENSE, after Duke allowed 104 DE last night, UNC BLEW by them, (well Duke was the one who moved, but its a technicality)
1) DUKE LOST - called it, well, I call all Duke road games as losses
2) UCLA whipped Oregon - called it, though I was off by 7 pts. (and Wazzu held up at Arizona, weak legs anyone?)
And-1) Ryan picks the Colts in the Super Bowl (10) - If only to keep things interesting, I mean, the whole defense wins championships thing is just a saying right? And my fantasy team can't afford for Indy to be the Super Bowl Losers.
There's a funny story over on Deadspin ripping Bill Simmons and other ESPN personas.
Lady Heels 82 BC 60
Weekend
UNC @ NC State
Bobcats @ Cleveland
Warriors @ Bobcats
Edit: #1 DEFENSE #1 DEFENSE, after Duke allowed 104 DE last night, UNC BLEW by them, (well Duke was the one who moved, but its a technicality)
Thursday, February 1
Power 16 for 2/1
I got tired of seeing my tables crash and burn, so you just get 1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds this week.
#1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
#2 Seeds
5. UCLA
6. Kansas
7. Texas A&M
8. Duke
#3 Seeds
9. Pittsburgh
10. Memphis
11. Butler
12. Oregon
#4 Seeds
13. Air Force
14. Marquette
15. Indiana
16. Oklahoma State
#1 Seeds
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
#2 Seeds
5. UCLA
6. Kansas
7. Texas A&M
8. Duke
#3 Seeds
9. Pittsburgh
10. Memphis
11. Butler
12. Oregon
#4 Seeds
13. Air Force
14. Marquette
15. Indiana
16. Oklahoma State
Go Bears
10 points - Chicago Bears.
Don't ask me why, because I won't have an answer for you. Gut-check time tells me Chicago will win Sunday.
Don't ask me why, because I won't have an answer for you. Gut-check time tells me Chicago will win Sunday.
2/1 Daily And-1
1) State upsets VT - Or should I call this entry ACC Parity part 2? State nails down its second win of the season (2-5) and hands VT only their second loss (other was @FSU). Seems like the GT/Wake game, except it should have been GT's 2nd loss but they're busy sucking it up. Anyways, I've scoured the box score, and NOTHING. VT took care of the ball (5-14 TOs), FTs were equal (13-21 to 14-21). The only discrepancy was FG% (18% diff) and eFG% (21%). That's it, pretty stunning. Its well put by McFarling of the Roanoke Times.
Edit: to John and all of you out there swooning over the PAC-10, KP and I agree ACC>PAC-10 and props to KP for upping the posting.
2) College B-Ball results (see below) - A) a fraud was uncovered, B) a slippery slope steepened, C, D & E) a championship case asserted (x3), F) rising star discovered (a: x1 team, b: x1 player). Feel free to play along at home, answers in tomorrow's And-1. Oh, and um G) none of the above?
(ok, this is proving to be too difficult for some of you: A) fraud team, B) slippery slope team, C) Champ case team 1, D) Champ case team 2, E) Champ case team 3, Fa)Rising star team, Fb) Rising/risen star player, G) Game below that meets none of above) I can't believe I just typed that all out.
And-1) Panthers Sucked - In 3 different ranking (Page 2, FO, PFR) systems the 2003 Panthers were the 2nd worst Super Bowl team of all time. I guess this reflects how well they had to play in the playoffs.
Schedule
UNC 105 Miami 64 - Did anyone outside of Dade county expect anything different? Also, Frank Haith is a true gentleman "I really don't want to talk about the officiating because I really don't want to take anything away from Roy's club. He's got a great team and they really took it to us tonight." (Lucas Article) Also, UNC is within .1 AdjDE of the previously unreachable Duke, thanks to the performance last night coupled with Miami's prior OE improved our defense.
Bobcats 104 Knickerbockers 87 - Gerald Wallace 42 points, he's turning into quite an expansion draft find adding scoring to all the other things he does well. In other Bobcat news Felton and Morrison will be playing in the Rookie-Soph game. The Bobcats are also 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Lady Heels @ BC
Other Results
Indiana 71 Wisconsin 66 - noise made
Ohio St 78 Purdue 60
KState 80 Mizzou 73
Texas 76 TTech 64 - Durant 37/23 WOW, ok, maybe I'm sliding towards the "the Bobcats would be happy with both" category, but in 5 years everyone will look back on Durant talk and LAUGH
Florida 74 Vandy 64 - The 'doors kept it close, and lead by 12, but Florida was just toying with them, I guess they wanted the SEC to look better, quite altruistic of them, no?
Depaul 66 UConn 58 - bleeding worsened, as I predicted to John last night, UConn will go on a run, get the 11th spot in the Big East Tournament, wax the weak field while someone else takes care of Pitt for them, and promptly lose in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney
Gonzaga 90 Stanford 86 - (see John's post for commentary)
Duke @ UVA
Oregon @ UCLA - 25 points, EASY, UCLA is pissed and Oregon is OVER-RATED
Wazzu @ Arizona
Edit: to John and all of you out there swooning over the PAC-10, KP and I agree ACC>PAC-10 and props to KP for upping the posting.
2) College B-Ball results (see below) - A) a fraud was uncovered, B) a slippery slope steepened, C, D & E) a championship case asserted (x3), F) rising star discovered (a: x1 team, b: x1 player). Feel free to play along at home, answers in tomorrow's And-1. Oh, and um G) none of the above?
(ok, this is proving to be too difficult for some of you: A) fraud team, B) slippery slope team, C) Champ case team 1, D) Champ case team 2, E) Champ case team 3, Fa)Rising star team, Fb) Rising/risen star player, G) Game below that meets none of above) I can't believe I just typed that all out.
And-1) Panthers Sucked - In 3 different ranking (Page 2, FO, PFR) systems the 2003 Panthers were the 2nd worst Super Bowl team of all time. I guess this reflects how well they had to play in the playoffs.
Schedule
UNC 105 Miami 64 - Did anyone outside of Dade county expect anything different? Also, Frank Haith is a true gentleman "I really don't want to talk about the officiating because I really don't want to take anything away from Roy's club. He's got a great team and they really took it to us tonight." (Lucas Article) Also, UNC is within .1 AdjDE of the previously unreachable Duke, thanks to the performance last night coupled with Miami's prior OE improved our defense.
Bobcats 104 Knickerbockers 87 - Gerald Wallace 42 points, he's turning into quite an expansion draft find adding scoring to all the other things he does well. In other Bobcat news Felton and Morrison will be playing in the Rookie-Soph game. The Bobcats are also 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Lady Heels @ BC
Other Results
Indiana 71 Wisconsin 66 - noise made
Ohio St 78 Purdue 60
KState 80 Mizzou 73
Texas 76 TTech 64 - Durant 37/23 WOW, ok, maybe I'm sliding towards the "the Bobcats would be happy with both" category, but in 5 years everyone will look back on Durant talk and LAUGH
Florida 74 Vandy 64 - The 'doors kept it close, and lead by 12, but Florida was just toying with them, I guess they wanted the SEC to look better, quite altruistic of them, no?
Depaul 66 UConn 58 - bleeding worsened, as I predicted to John last night, UConn will go on a run, get the 11th spot in the Big East Tournament, wax the weak field while someone else takes care of Pitt for them, and promptly lose in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney
Gonzaga 90 Stanford 86 - (see John's post for commentary)
Duke @ UVA
Oregon @ UCLA - 25 points, EASY, UCLA is pissed and Oregon is OVER-RATED
Wazzu @ Arizona
Apparently he's not thinking of his grandchildren's children like Andruw
Good article from mlb.com about Gabe Kapler, who retired as an active player with the opportunity to win a role with the Red Sox during Spring Training (likely only as a bench player) to manage at Class A Greenville. Thought it was really interesting.
I just finished my Stats homework at 3:30, having delayed due to two overtimes tonight. Go Stanford.
I just finished my Stats homework at 3:30, having delayed due to two overtimes tonight. Go Stanford.
Well played, Bulldogs
Props to Gonzaga, played very well tonight, especially in the second overtime, even though the refs were trying their hardest to give it to my boys. I thought they made four very questionable calls late in favor of the Cardinal, but in the end poor free-throw shooting and low-percentage shots doomed Stanford. Especially good play came from Pargo and Raivio. We all knew how good Raivio was (although I didn't know he was such a good free-throw shooter), but Pargo really impressed me tonight. I don't remember much of his play from the UNC game, but apparently he dropped 16 on us as well. Oh well, Stanford's got Cal, Washington, and Oregon State in their next four games to regain some confidence.
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