Cry Me A River

Pat Forde thinks Joakim Noah is the coolest girl in school... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2815441&sportCat=ncb

Pat Forde seems to keep his distance from American pop culture. This is how things work here. People will be beloved, worshiped and adored one year only to be verbally assaulted, attacked by a cheerleader 2 feet shorter than you, and having your c-section scar photographed getting out of a car the next. People root for others to fail. Watching someone climb to the top is great and all, but watching that fiery wreck to the bottom is so much better...

Final Four

Here we area again and since last time, the field has been narrowed down from 16 to 4. Your final four teams are Boston College, Maine, Michigan State and North Dakota.
Wait a minute, those are the teams in the tournament I give a damn about. In the one I have been following on my blog here, the basketball tournament, The final four is made up of Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State. Can you feel the excitement? I picked Kansas to win it all, and once again they laid an egg in an important game. I am NEVER picking Kansas again, ever.
Florida and Ohio State could face each other in the championship game, but I don't think Ohio State will be able to pull another one out of their asses. I really hope UCLA beats Florida. As of right now, I am hoping John Thompson III beat Florida in the championship game and that's all I have to say about that.
Back to the Frozen Four, there were some great games this past weekend. Thanks to Altitude, I was able to watch all the college hockey I wanted to this weekend. The team I was most impressed with was BC. They looked good this past weekend and will take on a tough North Dakota team. These two teams have probably been the hottest teams the last couple months, and that semifinal game should be a great one. The only thing I am worried about on BCs end is that they take a lot of penalties, especially when teams flurry in their zone. This could be a problem as North Dakota has a very good set of forwards and could cause some problems. In the other semifinal game, Maine will take on Michigan State. Michigan State is the team I know the least about of the final four, and they will have their hands full with Maine, especially goalie Ben Bishop. Bishop is huge, 6-7 201 lbs, and has been playing well. This game will probably be a lot like the Michigan State Notre Dame game and low scoring, probably 1-0 or 2-1. Unfortunately, these games don't happen until April 5th so the anticipation will be building.

Sweet 16 & Today's Celebrity DUI

I think this is the worst bracket I have filled out in the last ten years. As we stand here on the first day of the sweet 16, I have only 7 teams remaining in my bracket. At most, I will have 5 of the Elite Eight, and half my final four is sitting at home. Some may say they are back at class, but according to the most recent graduation statistics, I have the feeling they are sitting at home.
For the first time in 12 years there are no double digit teams left in the sweet 16. The highest seed left is UNLV, and they haven't looked like a 7 seed.
In the East, Texas certainly shit the bed against USC, even though they got 30 from Durant. If they would have gotten him the ball a little more often, he could have easily dropped 40. USC looked good, but I don't know if they can handle UNC. Then again, I didn't think they could beat Texas, so that should be a pretty close game. In the other game, Vanderbilt has been playing well, but so has Georgetown, who I think is the best 2 seed in the tournament. From what I have seen, they are a very solid team, and I don't see them falling to Vandy.
I seriously screwed the pooch in the South region. Ohio State is the only team I picked to make the sweet 16 that actually made it, and in reality, they shouldn't even be here right now. Now they get a Tennessee team that has been playing extremely well. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Ohio State were to get beat by Tennessee. I have not been impressed in the least with Ohio State, and I don't believe Greg Oden is 18. He looks like the 55 year old black guy that lives in my neighborhood that yells at everyone who steps on his lawn. At the bottom of the South bracket, Texas A&M and Memphis face off. I really underestimated Texas A&M. It turns out they are a really good team. As far as Memphis, I don't like Memphis and their inflated 32-3 record, and they will be destroyed by the Aggies.
In the Midwest, we have Florida - Butler and Oregon-UNLV. I like Butler, but I don't think they have enough to beat Florida. I really don't like Florida or Billy Donovan. He reminds me of Matt Damon's character in The Departed, just a glorified con man spouting out garbage hoping everyone buys it. Oregon and UNLV should be an interesting game. UNLV has looked good, and Oregon played well against a solid Winthrop team. If I could pick a game I wanted to watch, it would probably be this one. That's my West Coast bias.
Out in San Jose in the West bracket, Kansas takes on the best team out of The Valley, Southern Illinois, and Pittsburgh battles UCLA. I could care less about UCLA and Pitt. UCLA will win. The Jayhawks will have their hands full against Southern Illinois. The Salukis are very solid on defense, and with fundamentals. For people who don't watch a lot of Missouri Valley basketball, the games are very similar to Women's games. A lot of chest passes, white people, three point shooting, and 2 or 3 dunks a game. Even though Kansas was my pick to win at the beginning of the tournament, I will be rooting for Southern Illinois. Plus, Bill Self is the exact opposite of everything you think a major college coach would be. He is nervous, awkward, stressed out, just a total mess. They will not win it all.
So that's what i have for the next couple days' games, I will check back in on it tomorrow morning to see how the night went

In other news, Tony LaRussa was arrested in Florida on suspicion of Drunk Driving. Evidently, he fell asleep at the wheel at a stop light and the car in drive. Very Nice! Maybe someone can help me out, has he ever been busted for this before? If not I am very surprised, because he looks like a gentlemen who likes his booze. Come to think of it, he looks like the kind of guy who would fall asleep at a stop light, so this isn't really that shocking is it? I think his BAC was just above .09, so it's not like he was retarded hammered, he had just enough to get a solid buzz, it was midnight, and he was tired. Tired people fall asleep.

Friday Update #2

At the end of the second set of games for the day, I lost my other sweet 16 cinderella, Long Beach State. That could be the highest scoring college game I have ever seen. Tennessee dropped 121 to LBS's 86. Wisconsin struggled mightily, and for a while I thought I was going to lose my 1st final four team. After only 19 points in the first half, they came back to score 57 in the second half and move on over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 76-63. 11 seed Winthrop withstood a rally by Notre Dame and held on for a 74-64 win. This was another popular pick for an upset, and I don't think it surprised a whole lot of people. Finally, in the first OT game of the tournament, Nevada outlasted Creighton and won 77-71..
Right now Oregon has their hands full with Miami of Ohio, up 4 with 15 minutes left in the 2nd half.
To date my stats area as follows:
Bracket: 16-7
Against the Spread: 11-10-2

Friday Update #1

Well, the first set of games have ended for today. Virginia cruised past Albany as expected 84-57, this one was never close, and Virginia easily covered. The 7 seed in the Midwest UNLV was able to hold off a second half charge by Georgia Tech and scored a 67-63 win. It seems that every year, the best games in the first round of the tournament are consistently the 6-11, 7-10, and 8-9 match ups. I really thought Memphis would blow North Texas out of the water, they won the game 73-58, but I think they could be in some trouble in the second round with either Nevada or Creighton. From what I could gather at my desk, this game appeared closer than the score would indicate.
So far I am 2-1 with my bracket today thanks to UNLV and a paltry 1-2 against the spread. Winthrop - Notre Dame and Tennessee - Long Beach State are in progress.
More Later....

Friday's Predictions

I think I covered everything from Thursday, so let's just get my picks against the spread today out there. Favorites yesterday were 13-2-1, but who likes betting the favorites every game? Again, that could be a reason why I had to stop wagering real money, it pretty much became me donating my money to a website in the Caribbean.
Friday's Picks:
Virginia (-8 1/2)
Georgia Tech (-2 1/2)
Memphis (-19)
Winthrop (+4)
Long Beach State (+7 1/2)
Wisconsin (-13)
Nevada (-2 1/2)
Oregon (-9)
Virginia Tech (-3)
Kansas (-19 1/2)
Arizona (-3)
Texas (-8 1/2)
Southern Illinois (-8)
Villanova (-2)
Florida (-27 1/2)
USC (-2 1/2)
Today's a new day, and studies have shown that Cinnamon can lower blood sugar.

Thursday Recap

Well, the evening games weren't any better to me than the afternoon games. It started with VCU's 79-77 victory over Duke. Even though this was Duke's worst team in a decade, I really thought they could pull something out of their ass and get a couple wins in the tournament. Oops. Two other lower seeds won in the evening session, but they were both 9 seeds over 8s, so that doesn't count as an upset. I think everyone knew Michigan State would win, they did, and easily covered the 2 point spread. Xavier had a dog fight with BYU, I actually watched parts of this game, and was able to pull it out at the end 79-77. UCLA hammered Weber State, Pittsburgh was able keep Wright State at bay, and Indiana handled Gonzaga pretty well. Gonzaga couldn't get a stop when they needed one, couldn't get any momentum, and IU won by 13, 70-57. UNC got a scare, and showed why, Texas will beat them in the sweet 16. For 10-15 minutes, UNC was dominated by Eastern Kentucky, who trimmed a 27 point first half deficit to 4 early in the second half. I really did just write that. Then they realized they were a better team and ended up winning by 21, 86-65.
All in all, day one was pretty bland. There was one major upset as far as rankings go, but a lot of people had VCU upsetting Duke, so was anyone that surprised? As far as Vegas goes, three favorites failed to cover, including Xavier who was favored by two and won by two. We can't have another day like that today can we? I have a few more upsets lined up, so we shall see
At the end of day one, My record is as follows:
Bracket: 11-5, yuck
I have 2 sweet 16 teams on the way home
Against the Spread: 8-7-1
Let's hope Friday treats us a little better.

Thursday Update #3

Well, it's official, I lost my first sweet 16 team from my bracket, and I feel like an idiot. I originally had Washington State moving on to the sweet 16, but as you can see from my bracket I crossed them out, which proves the point that you should always go with your first instinct. Vanderbilt walked all over George Washington 77-44, and from the opening tip, this one was never close. Needless to say, that 33 point win more than covered the 4 points that Vandy was giving up. With impressive first round wins by both teams, the second round game between Wazzu and Vanderbilt should be a pretty good one.
4 more games are getting ready to tip off here in the next 45 minutes, I will try and post again this evening, but chances are, I won't get anything on the late games up until the morning.
Latest Standings
Bracket: 6-2
Against the Spread: 4-4

You can contact me @ TheRealStoney@gmail.com

Thursday Update #2

And this is why I don't bet on sports anymore. Other than the fact that it is now illegal to do so. After a 3-0 start on both my bracket and my picks against the spreads, the second group of games brought out the real me. As far as my brackets go, things aren't too bad right now. I am 6-1 with my only setback thus far being Butler beating Old Dominion. That was my upset pick of the day, and it looked good until the second half. I have to tell you, I'm really glad I didn't watch the first half of this game as there were only 39 total points scored, but the second half appeared to be entertaining. This was also the last game I picked when looking at the lines this morning. Butler was two and a half point favorites, and I was banking on Old Dominion beating them outright, I should have known better. Butler came out firing in the second half and walked out with a 57-46 win.
As far as my other games against the spread I went 1-2, bringing my total for the day to 4-3. Georgetown walked past Belmont 80-55 easily covering the 17 points. I really thought Oral Roberts had a chance to keep it close against Washington State and did so for the first half. But the second half was all Washington State, and they cruised to a 70-54 win. The Texas A&M and Penn game involved two teams I knew nothing about, and it showed. A&M closed the first half with a 31-18 lead. Penn got to within 5 or 6 in the second half, but A&M pulled ahead even more at the end and was able to cover, winning 68-52.
My cinderella pick to make the sweet 16, George Washington, is in serious trouble right now. They are losing to Vandy by 16 with 2 minutes left in the first half. Uh-oh.

Official Record as of right now:
Bracket: 6-1
Against the Spread: 4-3
More later......

Thursday Update #1

The first three games have been completed, and so far I am 3-0 on both my bracket and my picks against the spreads. I haven't watched any of the games since I am at work and trying to look productive, but I have been following them with the live scoring updates on ESPN.com. I agreed with most people who thought Texas Tech shouldn't have been in this tournament, and didn't see them winning against BC, even though BC isn't the strongest team out there. BC was only favored by 3 and won 84-75. I know nothing about Maryland or Davidson. This one looked like a close game up to the last few minutes, but Maryland, 7 1/2 point favorites ended up pulling away at the end and winning by 12, 82-70. Game number three involved Louisville and Stanford. Some people were actually saying this could be an upset game, and I don't understand it. Stanford is not good, and Louisville was basically playing at home, only a couple hours away in Lexington. Plus they were only giving 6 points! Free money! Louisville was up 26 at halftime and managed to maintain it for the most of the second half, winning 78-58.
More Updates to follow.............

My Bracket

Like I said, I haven't watched a game, but I read things and I watch Sportscenter. Will that help at all? Who the hell knows. There are teams I don't like, and conferences I don't like, and I base most of picks on those biases. That's why I didn't pick Florida to win it all, I really don't like them and I hope somebody punches Joakim Noah right in the balls. Here are my picks based on Bodog's betting lines as of this morning.
Maryland (-7 1/2)
BC (-3)
Louisville (-6)
Oral Roberts (+7)
Old Dominion (+2 1/2)
Georgetown (-17)
Pennsylvania (+13 1/2)
George Washington (+4)
Duke (-6)
Central Connecticut (+20 1/2)
Michigan State (-2)
UCLA (-20)
Pittsburgh (-10)
Eastern Kentucky (+27 1/2)
BYU (+2)
Gonzaga (+1 1/2)

Don't work too hard! I'll check back this afternoon with my progress.

Tourney Time!

The games tip off in a little over an hour. I didn't watch one complete college basketball game this year, and I am wondering how that will affect my bracket this year. We'll find out. I am going to try and post it shortly

For Tommy Boy

The last couple weeks have seen a couple nasty plays on the ice, plays the league needs to do something about. Cam Janssen's hit on Tomas Kaberle .. Definitely was late and Kaberle never saw it coming.

and Chris Simon's Tomahawk
Not to defend Simon, but he did get run from behind. Hits like the one Hollweg put on Simon have become more and more prevalent this year. Guys have no respect for other guys when they are facing the boards. With that said, he didn't deserve to get a stick in the mouth.
People want to debate whether or not fighting should be allowed in the NHL. If fighting is outlawed, you can expect more of this crap coming out as a form of retaliation. So take your pick, two grown ups fighting like for a purpose, or a guy getting a stick lodged in the side of his face. It doesn't really seem like like it could be a relatively close call. At the same time, the role of the fighter in the league is quickly becoming extinct. If that happens, the result will be the same as outlawing fighting. You're gonna have a bunch of cowards swinging sticks like light sabers instead of dropping gloves and settling like gentlemen.

Random Thoughts for The Week

Random thoughts from the last week…..

TV.. Wednesday’s episode of South Park, “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson”, may have been one of the funniest TV shows ever made in the history of the world. Everyone’s reaction to Randy’s appearance on Wheel of Fortune had me laughing for a solid 5 minutes. If you missed it, it is definitely something to look out for on reruns. Survivorman, on Discovery, has become another TV favorite of mine. Canadian Les Stroud strands himself in some of the most desolate and unforgiving places for seven days and finds a way to stay alive using what he has on him and what he can scrounge up in the wild. The guy is out there all by himself with no camera crew, hauling 60 pounds of camera equipment with him. He does all the filming and setting up of the shots by himself. It’s a pretty sweet show, and yet another reason to love Canada. Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator continues to be one of the funniest shows on TV

Movies.. I haven’t seen a movie in a theater in a long time, I’m talking months, so new movies to me are ones that have been seen by millions already. Also, I’m not a film critic, and I only categorize films in two ways, either good or bad. I saw two “new” movies this week, The Departed and Borat. The Departed was great, but would you expect anything less from Scorcese and a cast like that? Even though it was a pretty long flick, it was definitely awesome all the way through. Borat was great as well. Nothing beats cringe humor, plus it made the best use I’ve ever heard of the words “wizard’s sleeve”. That’s all I got on that subject, definitely see these if you haven’t already.

Everything else.. I saw a clip online today of a baby duck with four legs. Why when a human or animal is born with an extra appendage or two, they aren’t normal and 100% functioning? The three armed Chinese baby from a while back was as close as I’ve seen, but arm #3 was still a little fucked up…. I saw a picture of new basketball jerseys that a few colleges are going to be trying out during the conference tournament. They are skin tight (like a tiger) like under armour gear. Why? I can’t see one practical reason for this except to arouse your run of the mill, gay, basketball fan. Grrrrr…. Did you hear Anna Nicole Smith died? .... NY Islanders forward Chris Simon probably won’t see the ice for a LONG time… Anthony’s Pizza makes a killer chicken parm sandwich…. Don’t forget, Daylight Savings Time springs us forward this weekend making it that much more difficult to get up for work Monday morning

2007 Rockies Outlook - Take 1

With another Spring Training comes the annual thoughts and predictions on how your favorite team is going to fare in the coming season. Last year the Rockies gave us hope for the first 3 ½ months of the season only to go into their common swoon and finish 12 games back in the division. But this year is different, good things are going to happen.

I like the offensive lineup the Rockies are putting together this year. From everything we’ve seen and heard thus far, the lineup is going to look something like this:

1. Willy Taveras – He has the speed all teams look for at the top of the lineup and has the potential to steal a ton of bases. The problem is that his approach at the plate isn’t what you would like to see at the leadoff spot. He doesn’t take a lot of walks or even pitches for that meaning, and he needs to raise his on base percentage to make better use of his threat as a base stealer and set up the big guns behind him to drive him in.

2. Kaz Matsui – Matsui looked good at the end of last year and proved that he should have a shot to be the everyday second baseman, at least to start the year. He can handle the bat pretty well and should be able to take pitches to let Taveras run or move him over.

3. Garrett Atkins – Atkins was the Rockies’ best overall hitter last year, and there is no reason that he can’t continue that this year. Atkins has the type of swing that is going to produce a lot of singles and doubles, but I think he could show more power than he has in the past couple years

4. Todd Helton – This year Helton is moving into the cleanup spot, and remains the wild card of this offense. I don’t think anybody knows what to expect out of Helton this year. He bulked up in the off-season to try and regain some of the power and strength he lost last year due to injury and illness, but he has been battling a swollen knee this spring. If Helton remains strong, I don’t see how a 30 HR year is out of the question.

5. Matt Holliday – Holliday will again be the Rockies’ biggest power threat and with the potential the guys have in front of him to get on base, he could drive in a lot of runs again this year, and 35-40 home runs is very possible

6. Brad Hawpe – The biggest concern surrounding Hawpe is how much better he will be this year against lefties. He is a good hitter with some pop, but if he continues to struggle against lefties, there is a good chance he will platoon in right field with Jeff Baker

7. Yorvit Torrealba – This is assuming Torrealba wins the starting catching job over Chris Ianetta. Torrealba, before he got hurt, last year hit the ball pretty well and drove in key runs at key times. Production from the bottom half of the order was a major issue last year, and Torrealba is key in trying to change that this year

8. Clint Barmes/Troy Tulowitzki – Who is going to start the year at shortstop? Barmes hasn’t been the same since his injury midway through the 2005 season when he looked like he would be the Rookie of the Year. Last year was brutal, but he was still strong defensively. Tulowitzki is young and has shown power through the minors, but he struggled a little bit, especially with strikeouts, during his callup at the end of last year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tulowitzki wins the job out of camp, but Barmes will still get his chances.

The Rockies bullpen is focused on depth again, and pretty much has to be at Coors Field. LaTroy Hawkins looks like he will be the main setup main to Brian Fuentes and will probably get a few spot chances to close. Like every year, they have to do a better job of holding leads then they did last year.

The biggest question mark of this team will be the starting rotation, especially since the trade of Jason Jennings. Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis, and Rodrigo Lopez look to be the top three starters and Josh Fogg, Byung-Hyun Kim, Taylor Buchholz, and Jason Hirsh battling for the last two spots. Nobody knows for sure what to expect out of this staff, but with the potential of the offense, the key will be keeping the team in the game and giving the offense a chance to outscore their opponents. That is not going to be an easy task, however, with the strength of the rotations in the NL West. That’s why they play the games, so once again, we will wait and see.

Rushing for 1,000 and Beating Up Baby's Mamas

Your 1,000 yard rusher for the 2007 Broncos will be Travis Henry. While it's not the back many fans were hoping for as rumors of landing Willis McGahee had been floating around the last week or so, Henry fits this running scheme very well, and barring injuries is pretty much guaranteed around a 1200 yard season. This is especially true as the Broncos will continue to let Jay cutler become more accustomed to the league and the offense. Now all they have to do is sign Patrick Kerney.
By the way, Ron Artest was arrested for alleged domestic violence... "I Love This Game!"
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2788871

No More Interceptions

According to a message on Jake Plummer's website, he has decided to retire. Personally, I feel he didn't want to be a backup quarterback, and due to his struggles in recent years with consistency, that was probably going to be his role no matter where he went. The Broncos had been attempting to finalize a trade with the Buccaneers, and I think that trade along with the fact that the Bucs signed Jeff Garcia pretty much sealed Jake's fate. I don't blame Jake for making that decision, I mean who would want to go to Florida, let alone Tampa Bay? The state that brings you hurricanes, Larry the Cable Guy, old people, AIDS and Disney World isn't quite the place for a guy from Idaho.
From the day the Broncos drafted Jay Cutler, Plummer's days with the Broncos were numbered, and any little mistake he made would be magnified, and that was definitely the case. Although he did lead the Broncos to the AFC championship game two years ago, his performance that season wouldn't be classified as amazing. He threw for 18 touchdowns and 9 picks, efficient, but not mind boggling numbers. All of last year, the Broncos offense struggled with Plummer at the helm, and it seemed he was tentative in his decision making and his willingness to use all of his weapons. Just look at the production TE Tony Scheffler had after Cutler took the reigns compared to what he did with Plummer.
By no means was Plummer in the same category as Payton Manning, but he was a terrible quarterback. Just look at some of the other jokers taking snaps around the league. Evidently the time had come where no team felt he had what it takes to be a starting quarterback, and rather than being relegated to holding a clipboard, Plummer opted for retirement.
Now that this saga is over, the Broncos HAVE to sign DE Patrick Kerney. They have to, and more on that is to come.

Ever Wonder Why Stereotypes Exist?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6520690

Nothing like going after a dead man's wife and kids to try and pull a profit. I really doubt that Dr. Rosenpenis is out $ 7 million, but he is pulling out that ancient Hebrew tactic of fighting fire with litigation.