Week 8 NFL Picks-Walsh

5-1 on Thursday night. Here are my week 8 picks.

Houston - 3 1/2 @Buffalo
@NY Jets - 3 1/2 Miami
San Francisco +14 @Indianapolis
@Detroit - 3 1/2 St. Louis
Seattle +10 @Dallas
@Chicago -13 Cleveland
@Baltimore -3 Denver
@Philadelphia -2 NY Giants
Oakland + 17 @San Diego
@Arizona -9 Carolina
@Tennessee -3 Jacksonville
Minnesota +3 1/2 @ Green Bay

MNF

Atlanta + 11 @New Orleans

Thursday Picks

A horrible start to the NBA season last night as I went 1-5 overall, including misses on the Yankees and the over in Game 1 of the World Series. The overall blog record is now 145-100-3. Here are some games tonight to get back on track.

NCAA Football

North Carolina +16 @ Virginia Tech

NBA

@ Chicago +4 San Antonio
San Antonio @ Chicago UNDER 193 1/2
Denver +8 @ Portland

World Series Game 2

Philadelphia +190 @ NY Yankees-The price is too good.
Philadelphia @ NY Yankees UNDER 9

The Picks are Back!

The last time I left this blog my overall record against the spread was 144-95-3. Here are some plays to get the NBA season started.

Cleveland - 5 1/2 @Toronto
New Orleans +9 1/2 @ San Antonio
@Denver - 5 1/2 Utah
@Golden State - 6 1/2 Houston

World Series Game 1

@N.Y. Yankees -170 Philadelphia
Philadelphia @ N.Y. Yankees-OVER 7 1/2

2009-2010 NBA Preview

This season a very important question will be answered, that question is if you have success the year before do you make moves? Playoff teams such as the Lakers, Rockets, Blazers, Spurs, Mavericks, Hornets, Cavs, Celtics and Magic have made some serious shake-ups, while the Nuggets, Jazz, Hawks, Bulls pretty much remained the same.

When the deal was made that paired Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neal together I thought to myself that for sure Cleveland and the Lakers would meet in the finals. The King and Shaq should have enough support around them to take the East, while Kobe will be more energized than ever to get to the NBA Finals, knowing he had a team capable of going that far and he would ultimately get a chance to finally settle the score between himself and Shaq.

After that things just got crazy. The Spurs get Richard Jefferson, DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess. Boston picks up Rasheed Wallace. Orlando re-tools and gets an agin Vince Carter to go along with Superman and a healthy Jameer Nelson. Houston learns that Yao is gone for the year and gets Trevor Arieza. Dallas picks up Shawn Marion. New Orleans trades Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor. Finally, the Lakers re-sign Lamar Odom and pick up Ron Artest...crazyness.

The biggest move of the offseason has been virtually forgotten. The Portland Trailblazers signed Andre Miller. Miller is not a superstar, hell Miller isn't even great, but Andre Miller will make a huge difference in the northwest this season.

Lets predict the 2009-2010 NBA season:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

1. Boston Celtics-Kevin Garnett is back healthy with last year's main core, add a hungry Ben Wallace to the mix Boston should run away with the division

2. Toronto Raptors-I like the addition of Hedo Turkoglu. His perimeter pressence along with Chris Bosh inside will lead the Raptors to a much better record than last season.

3. Philadelphia 76ers-Elton Brand will be healthy, but this team will take a stride back after losing Andre Miller.

4. New York Knicks-Mike D'Antoni's roster isn't that great, but a year under his belt and no sign of Isiah Thomas around the organization will get this team out of the cellar.

5.New Jersey Nets-Devin Harris and Raefer Alston is a good perimeter, but this team is obviousley in rebuild mode. 25K for some front court seats and one-hour with a player for a promotion? Ahh...no thanks.

Central Division

1. Cleveland Cavaliers-Lebron James and Shaquille O'neal alone would be enough to take this division

2. Chicago Bulls-Bulls fans will see last year's trade pay dividends this season. Chicago is looking good, especailly with Rose having a season under his belt.

3. Detroit Pistons-With Allen Iverson out of town, appropriate ego levels will be restored. Detroit will be about a .500 team

4. Milwaukee Bucks-If this team can stay healthy they can cause the Eastern Conference some problems. Milwaukee could be a sleeper

5. Indiana Pacers-Danny Granger and a hole bunch of crap.

Southeast Division

1. Orlando Magic-This team made many changes, it may not be the runaway that most expect.

2. Atlanta Hawks-Atlanta is still a solid team. As long as Joe Johnson stays healthy this team will make the playoffs.

3. Washington Wizards-Can Gilbert and the boys stay healthy? If they can, Washington may challenge in this division.

4. Miami Heat-D-Wade's decison to leave or stay will be much easier after the Heat tank this season. Miami did nothing to really improve themselves and Michael Beasley's off the court issues aren't helping things for the Heat.

5. Charlotte Bobcats-Larry, Larry, Larry.......it is time to start looking for yet another NBA coaching job. Emeka for Chandler, why?


WESTERN CONFERENCE

Southwest Division

1. San Antonio Spurs-The Spurs will win this division by default. For the record, the Richard Jefferson trade will really hurt this team. San Antonio has been successful running a system with efficient role players and now most of them are gone.

2. Dallas Mavericks-Adding Shawn Marion to put along side Dirk Nowitzki was a good move. Mark Cuban will never win an NBA Title though, ever.

3. New Orleans Hornets-Lets put aside the fact that Byron Scott should not have a job after losing a playoff game on his home floor by 58 points. The fact is the Hornets have Chris Paul, David West and now Emeka Okafor.

4. Memphis Grizzlies-Memphis has great young talent and Allen Iverson. Sleeper? Maybe.

5. Houston Rockets-No Yao, McGrady is the most overrated player in NBA history, and the Rockets get Trevor for Ron basically. Houston, you have a problem.

Pacific Division

1. Los Angeles Lakers-If you combined every other teams' best players in this division and put them against the Lakers, LA would still blow that team away.

2. Golden State Warriors-Not a great team, but Don Nelson has just enough for a second place finish in this division

3. Phoenix Suns-It is bad, if Amare or Nash goes down, it's really bad.

4. Los Angeles Clippers-The Clipps are cursed. I would have put them 2nd if Blake didn't have to go on the shelf for 6 weeks. Damn, God doesn't like this franchise.

5. Sacramento Kings-A very young team that can't compete, however I love their first round draft pick Tyreke Evans.

Northwest Division

1. Portland Trailblazers-This team is good at every position and Andre Miller will have a similar affect on this team as Chauncey Billups had on Denver last season.

2. Denver Nuggets-The same this as last year minus a few small roles. The loss Dahntey Jones will hurt on the defensive end. Denver has a great rookie PG in Ty Lawson who will benefit from watching Chauncey Billups. The Nuggets finish 2nd because of their difficult schedule at the beginning combined with JR Smith being suspended the first 7 games.

3. Utah Jazz-This team will be healthy unlike last season. Jerry Sloan is a Hall of Famer and will have his team competing in the Northwest.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves-Minnesota is too young to compete. Jonny Flynn will be a pleasant surprise for the T-Wolves this season.

5. Oklahoma City Thunder-The Thunder were heading in the right direction until draft day. James Harden will be the worst thing to ever happen to this franchise.

PLAYOFFS

EAST

#1 BOSTON OVER #8 WASHINGTON
#2 CLEVELAND OVER #7 DETROIT
#3 ORLANDO OVER #6 TORONTO
#4 CHICAGO OVER #5 ATLANTA

#1 BOSTON OVER #4 CHICAGO
#2 CLEVELAND OVER #3 ORLANDO

#1 BOSTON OVER #2 CLEVELAND

WEST

#1 L.A. LAKERS OVER #8 GOLDEN STATE
#2 PORTLAND OVER #7 NEW ORLEANS
#3 SAN ANTONIO OVER #6 DALLAS
#4 DENVER OVER #5 UTAH

#4 DENVER OVER #1 L.A. LAKERS
#2 PORTLAND OVER #3 SAN ANTONIO

#4 DENVER OVER #2 PORTLAND

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR-TYREKE EVANS-SACREMENTO
SCORING CHAMPION-LEBRON JAMES-CLEVELAND
COACH OF THE YEAR-NATE MCMILLAN-PORTLAND
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR-KEVIN GARNETT-BOSTON
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER-CARMELO ANTHONY-DENVER

NBA FINALS

BOSTON OVER DENVER IN 5

FINALS MVP-PAUL PIERCE

Monday Night NBA Playoff Picks

@Boston - 8 1/2 Chicago
Dallas + 6 1/2 @San Antonio

I went 5-3 with the weekend picks, bringing the overall blog record ATS to 142-95-3. Boston will not go down 0-2 to Chicago tonight, expect them to make a statement. I expect San Antonio to pull out a close one tonight against the Mavericks, but don't be surprised if Dallas is up 2-0 at the end of the night. This particular match-up and situation is just in Dallas's favor.

NBA Weekend Playoff Picks

After a few days of laying off the picks, the overall blog record stands at 137-92-3 against the spread.

WEEKEND NBA PLAYOFF PICKS-I picked my straight-up winners earlier in the week for the first round. Here are the weekend's first games.

SATURDAY

Chicago + 8 1/2 @ Boston
Detroit +12 @ Cleveland
Dallas +4 @ San Antonio
@Portland - 4 1/2 Houston

SUNDAY

@ L.A. Lakers -11 Utah
Philadelphia + 9 1/2 Orlando
Miami +5 Atlanta
@ Denver -6 New Orleans

I'm also happy to announce that I have been offered and accepted the 10pm-12am talk show, which will air Monday through Friday on the brand new denversportsradio.com. For more information on what this brand new company is all about visit http://www.denversportsradio.com/

Madden Calls it Quits, NBA Playoff Pairings Set

John Madden has officially ended his broadcasting career. Madden announced his retirement earlier this morning, saying "it was just the right time". Madden has called NFL games since 1979 on all 4 major networks. Madden worked on both Monday Night and Sunday Night Football. Also, lets not forget, Madden coached the Raiders to a Super Bowl Title in the 70's and is also the face for perhaps the most popular sports video game of all time.

I will remember Madden for his classic breakdowns of games, his sound effects, his drawings explaining the game, his passion, his professionalism and his seriousness regarding his turkey on Thanksgiving Day games. I had only one real criticizm of Madden, often he was a little biased toward the NFC during his broadcasts.

All in all, the NFL and the broadcasting world is losing a true classic. There was nobody like Madden before and will be nobody like Madden again. The only person you can even put in the same sentence as Madden regarding color analysis is College Basketball's Dick Vitale.

It really took all 82 games and this is the way the NBA's playoff picture sets up. By the way, horrible news for the Celtics. According to Head Coach Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett will miss the entire playoffs with that bad knee.

WEST

1. L.A. Lakers
8. Utah

4. Portland
5. Houston

3. San Antonio
6. Dallas

2. Denver
7. New Orleans

EAST

1. Clevleand
8. Detroit

4. Atlanta
5. Miami

3. Orlando
6. Philadelphia

2. Boston
7. Chicago

NBA Notes..

-The NBA playoffs does not re-seed after each round, so these brackets are set.

-Houston killed themselves by losing to Dallas, with a win they would have been #2 in the West.

-Due to the injury to Garnett, Cleveland will be in the NBA Finals.

-The West may go through L.A., however it is Denver with the easiest path to the West Finals.

-Cleveland had a chance to go 40-1 at home and tie an NBA record, however the team decided to rest its main players and the Cavs lost to the Sixers, finishing 39-2 on their home court.

NBA 1st Round Picks

West

L.A. in 5
Portland in 7
Dallas in 6
Denver in 7

East

Cleveland in 4
Miami in 6
Orlando in 5
Boston in 6

NHL-Vancouver, Pittsburgh and New Jersey held home ice by winning their game 1's. The Capitals were upset by the Rangers in that opening game. Montreal/Boston, Columbus/Detroit, Calgary/Chicago, and Anaheim/San Jose get their series started tonight.

Huge Loss....

I recentely commented on Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim. I said he really cared about his players, hence telling PG Jonny Flynn to put his name in the draft, eventhough Flynn wanted to return. Ouch. Flynn has signed with an agent and will not return to Syracuse, hence killing the Orange's chances at a National Championship next season.

What do you guys think about the NBA's round one match-ups?

Thomas, Oscar and a Break

I have no clue what Florida International is doing by hiring Isiah Thomas as their new Head Coach. I respected Thomas as a player, but since he hung up his jersey this guy has been the worst. His stint with the Pacers was horrible and hence ruined his relationshp with Larry Bird. He was responsible for destroying the CBA, a developmental basketball league. Finally, Isiah and the Knicks. He never once won a playoff game. He drove out Larry Brown, a coach respected much around the league. He was the pinpoint of a sexual harrassment scandle. He was responsible for causing the brawl at MSG between New York and Denver. The Nuggets were smoking the Knicks and Thomas warned Carmelo Anthony to stay out of the paint. That led to a hard foul, which errupted into a fight. Since that incident, I bet 99 % of all NBA Head Coaches hate him. Finally, he killed the relationship between Steph Marbury and the Knicks. I realize Mike D'Antoni is getting all the heat for it, but it was Thomas that got the pot brewing. Thomas is a punk ass and I wouldn't hire him to coach my buddy's little league basketball team. I hope he crashes and burns once again. What a jackass.

Oscar De La Hoya retired today at the age of 36. This would be a bigger deal if boxing didn't retire ten years ago. Boxing is completely off the map and this retirement doesn't matter. If you want to watch real fighting, tune into cage brawls. I don't know who to blame for the collapse of Boxing, which was once great. Don King does come to mind though.

The NFL released the upcoming regular season schedule today. Who the hell cares? ESPN presented a 3 hour show on it and it was rediculous. Fans look at the schedule and can pick the wins and losses for their favorite teams, but lets be honest, nobody knows what will happen which makes the schedule basically just a side-bar.

PICKS-After 1-3 last night ATS, the blog overall record is now 137-92-3 ATS.

I'm going to lay off the picks until the NBA playoffs begin on Saturday. It is too hard to pick when many of the games mean nothing with seeds already clinched. On the same note, MLB games are hard to pick because the season is so young. Picks will resume on Saturday.

One again, I feel sorry for everybody affiliated with Florida International, you have a real scum bag running your men's hoops team. I hope Thomas makes things worse on himself, if that is possible.

Monday Sports-A Little of Everything

All in all, a very enjoyable Masters over the weekend. Congrats to Angel Cabrera who won on the 2nd playoff hole yesterday. Kenny Perry had the title all but wrapped up, but finished with a bogey on both 17 and 18. Chad Campbell was elliminated after the first playoff hole, and Cabrera ultimately got his 2nd major win against Perry on the 2nd playoff hole. Angel Cabrera battled all day after playing horrible on the front nine. Tiger and Phil put on a pretty good show, showing life until their dreams were shattered. For Mickelson, it came on 12 after knocking his tee shot in the water and making double. For Woods, it came on 17 where his tee shot again failed him, ultimately leading Tiger to a bogey-bogey finish. Mickelson played great, turning in a 30 on the front nine. Ultimately, Mickelson again choked down the stretch. I don't think Tiger's endurance is quite back to 100 % yet. Woods without question played his worst golf of the tournament on 17 and 18 throughout the weekend. Physically, Woods is in the best shape out of any PGA Golfer, but Woods has never had a lay-off like this between majors and I think the mental toughness got to him a little bit there at the end. Hopefully the U.S. Open is just as good.

The NHL Playoffs are all set, here are the match-ups

EAST

1) Boston
8) Montreal

2) Washington
7) N.Y. Rangers

3) New Jersey
6) Carolina

4) Pittsburgh
5) N.Y. Rangers

WEST

1) San Jose
8) Anaheim

2) Detroit
7) Columbus

3) Vancouver
6) St. Louis

4) Chicago
5) Calgary

Remember-The NHL re-seeds after each round, unlike the NBA. Here are my 1st round picks.

EAST

-Boston in 5
-Washington in 6
-Carolina in 6
-Pittsburgh in 6

WEST

-San Jose in 7
-Detroit in 4
-Vancouver in 6
-Calgary in 7

NHL Good Story-Congrats to Columbus on making their first ever playoff apperance. Also, congrats to Chicago on returning to the postseason for the first time in a long time.

NHL Bad Story-The Colorado Avalanche sucked. Today the team fires GM Francois Giguerre. The team says that the season was "unacceptable". You think? Colorado finished dead last in the West.

A little Baseball.....

-The Red Sox and Angels brawl after Josh Beckett threw inside to an Angels batter after he had called time. Due to everything the Angels are going through right now with the death of teammate Nick Adenhart, why would Boston even go there? The Angels are full of emotion due to last week's tragedy and what happend yesterday was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

-Dodgers OF, Manny Ramirez wants to retire as an Indian. Ramirez has also contacted Jim Thome about joinig him. Both players could be free agents after next season. Leave it to Ramirez to say this before the Dodgers even play their home opener.

-A very bad start for Arizona Pitcher, Brandon Webb. Webb was placed on the DL because of shoulder problems.

NFL News....

The Steelers lock up their defensive stud. James Harrison agreed to a 6 year deal worth about 52 million.

NBA West Puzzle....

-The Nuggets clinch the Northwest with a win or a Portland loss. Denver should also lock up the #2 seed. Denver should beat Sacremento and would need Houston to lose one of their remaining two games. Denver can also go the easy route and just win their remaining games. In division winning purposes, if 2 division winners have the same record, Denver holds the tiebreaker against San Antonio, however Denver does not hold the tiebreaker against Houston.

To limit the confusion, unless there is a MAJOR UPSET, this is how the West will finish. Well, kind of.....but this is the best I can do.

1. L.A. Lakers
2. Denver/Houston
3. Denver/Houston
4. Portland/San Antonio
5. Portland/San Antonio
6. New Orleans/Dallas
7. New Orleans/Dallas
8. Utah

In the East-a little more easy.

1. Cleveland-Can clinch home court adavantage throughout entire NBA playoffs with win
2. Boston-Has clinched #2 seed
3. Orlando-Has clinched #3 seed
4. Atlanta-Has clinched #4 seed
5. Miami-Has clinched #5 seed
6-8-Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit have all clinched playoff births but not their seeds.

Very sad news as I am posting this. Longtime Phillies broadcaster, Harry Kalas has passed away at age 73. Kalas has also done work for the NFL and NFL Films. Kalas was one of the best in the business for sure. The last postseason game he called was the Phillies win to clinch the 2008 World Series against the Rays. R.I.P.

PICKS-5-3 on Friday night. The overall blog record ATS is now 136-89-3.

NBA

Cleveland -4 @Indiana
New Orleans +8 @Houston
Oklahoma City +14 @Portalnd
@Golden State + 5 1/2 San Antonio

Sports Going into the Weekend

There wasn't much to post about yesterday. No sporting event was bigger than the tragedy involving Angel's Pitcher, Nick Adenhart. Adenhart was the orginization's top pitching prospect and from what everybody is saying now, a tremendous guy. It should have been the greatest night of his life after pitching 6 scoreless innings against Oakland, but instead it was his last night. From time to time things like this happen in sports, unfortunately things like this happen every day in the normal world. It is a sad thing and I feel terrible for his family, friends, teammates, and fans.

Across the country, Tiger is well positioned to make a weekend run at his 5th green jacket. Tiger heads into the weekend at -2 overall, 7 shots back. Woods should be much closer but hasn't quite put everything together quite yet. Still, I believe Tiger is in perfect shape to take down this season's first major.

It was the final Masters for both Gary Player and Fuzzy Zoeller. I will miss Player, as for Fuzzy, I can manage without him.

The Lakers handled the Nuggets last night. L.A. will cost to the NBA Finals right? I'm not so sure. Kenyon Martin missed last night's game and his defensive pressence can limit the production of Pau Gasol, who absolutey went off last night.

It's pretty early in the MLB season, but the Rockies are looking good. They are 3-1 having faced Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Cole Hamels.

Here are some picks for tonight. The overall blog record ATS is 131-86-3

NBA

@Orlando -10 1/2 New York
@Boston -6 Miami
@Atlanta - 5 1/2 Indiana
New Jersey + 8 Detroit
Charlotte @ Oklahoma City-UNDER 189 1/2
@Dallas -6 New Orleans
L.A. Lakers + 1 1/2 Portland
@Golden State + 8 Houston

Wednesday Sports

Congrats to the UCONN women, who destroyed Louisville last night to win their 6th National Championship. Was this 39-0 team the greatest in Women's College Basketball history? No. The best team was UCONN's undefeated 2002 team. This season UCONN was very talented, but nobody else in the country recruited well enough to put up a serious fight against them.

The economy has taken its toll on the MLB. Payrolls have dropped 47 million since 2008. Hopefully, many teams stay close to playoff contention so attendance can be up. If not, payrolls will be cut again after this 2009 season.

Do you believe Jose Conseco? Jose has said that he is 90 % sure that Dodgers OF Manny Ramirez is on the same list that Alex Rodriguez was on. Manny a possible cheat to? Bad news.

Hall of Fame QB John Elway's son, Jack Elway has quit football at Arizona St. Head Coach Dennis Erickson says that the younger Elway is tired of football and wants to do something else with his life. Erickson went on to say that Elway would have probably played at Arizona State. I wonder what Johnny is thinking about his only son?

Athletes are usually thrilled to be named to the Hall of Fame, well not Michael Jordan. During his Hall of Fame press conference, Jordan voiced his displeasure, saying being named to the Hall of Fame was not a good day for him because the honor solidifies the end of his playing days. Something tells me MJ thinks he can still out play 90 % of today's NBA players.

Andrew Bynum is supposed to be back in action for the Lakers tomorrow night against the Nuggets. If Bynum can pick up where he left off before the injury, L.A. should cost to the NBA Finals. If Bynum is not fully healthy and has chemistry issues after a long layoff, L.A. is no sure bet to make it through the West. Either way, tomorrow night should be a great match-up as Denver tries to prove they are for real in Los Angeles.

The Masters begins tomorrow. This will be the final one for the great Gary Player. By the way, Player had a hole-in-one today at the Par 3 competition. I will take Tiger against the field. Tiger has proved that he is back, healthy, and capable of putting together his game well enough for 4 days to win his 5th Green Jacket. If you are thinking about players other than Tiger that have a shot, here are a few.

-Justin Rose
-Henrick Stenson
-Adam Scott
-Steve Stricker
-Geoff Ogilvy

I know I didn't put the names of Phil Mickelson or Paddy Harrington in that goup. Phil is a choke and Paddy doesn't have the right type of game to win Augusta.

PICKS-3-2 ATS last night, the overall blog record ATS is 128-83-3

NBA

Washington + 16 1/2 @Cleveland
Memphis + 14 1/2 @ Orlando
@Boston -10 New Jersey
@New Orleans -2 1/2 Phoenix
@San Antonio - 2 Portland
@Dallas -3 Utah

A Detroit Whooping

I wasn't surprised at all by North Carolina's run away win against Michigan State last night. My thought when the bracket was released was that UNC goes out in round #2 or doesn't go out at all. This was a very talented basketball team, that when healthy was unbeatable. Credit kids like Hansborough, Lawson and Green for not declaring themselves for the NBA draft last year and coming back and getting that National Championship. North Carolina now has to rebuild for next season. We will see if Roy Williams can do next season what Bill Self did for Kansas this year.

The What if moment of the tournament? I pick 2 of them.

1. What if Ty Lawson doesn't play in the 2nd half of UNC's win over LSU, does North Carolina hold on and win that one?

2. What if Scotty Reynolds of Villanova doesn't make the game winning lay-up against Pittsburgh and that game goes to overtime with Pittsburgh winning?

Looking ahead to 2010....Right now, I think it is a 4 horse race.

1. Syracuse
2. Kansas
3. Michigan St.
4. UCLA

What a great day for Michael Jordan. He gets elected to the Hall of Fame on the same day his alma-mater wins the National Championship. Joing MJ in the Hall are David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and C Vivian Stringer. By the way, MJ's son, Marcus Jordan decided yesterday to play his college ball at the University of Central Florida.

Don't forget about the women tonight. Louisville takes on UCONN as the Huskies go for National Championship #6. I really wanted to see an Oklahoma/UCONN showdown, but this match-up isn't bad. Louisville was blown out by UCONN and nobody is giving them a shot in tonight's match-up. I think UCONN wins, but not by more than 20.

The NBA draft got a little more interesting today. Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair have thrown their names in the mix.

Sean Miller heading to Arizona to take over the Head Coaching job, leaving Xavier. Both teams aren't all that and this will have no impact on the 2010 season.

My NCAA tournament bracket was terrible, but I did manage to pick every game against the spread. The final record was 31-30-2, I'll take it.

Opening day was OK. It was hard to get into baseball with the NCAA Championship going on. I took in the Rockies and D-Backs. Good game, lots of home runs. Aaron Cook and Brandon Webb looked terrible. Only 161 games to go. I finally got to look at my fantasy baseball roster, it sucks. Corbu, I need pitching and another 2B/SS, make me a trade proposal.

The Raiders signed free agent QB Jeff Garcia, good luck with that.

Bad news for San Antonio. Manu Ginobili is out for the year with a stress fracture in his leg. My title contenders list has shrunk again. Cleveland, L.A. Lakers, Denver and Houston are now the only teams that I think have a chance.

With the NCAA's over the focus is now on the Masters, NBA and NHL playoff races and the NFL Draft. This sports stuff never ends. I'm going to continue to pick NBA games and will get into MLB picks once I get an idea of what is going on.

PICKS-2-0 last night, overall blog record ATS is now 125-81-3

NBA

@Charlotte - 4 1/2 Philadelphia
@Miami -4 New Orleans
@Memphis +7 Portland
N.Y. Knicks +8 @Chicago
Orlando @ Houston-UNDER 188 1/2

The Game

The overall blog record ATS now stands at 123-81-3, after going 6-1 over the weekend. The blog NCAA Tournament picks ATS are now at .500 (30-30-2).

Tonight it will be North Carolina's time. Michigan State has had a great run and Tom Izzo has done a fantastic job, but in the end North Carolina has just too much talent and better players. North Carolina should run away with this game.

North Carolina - 6 1/2 Michigan State
North Carolina-Michigan State-OVER 152 1/2

Weekend Picks

The overall blog record is now 117-80-3 ATS, after going 2-1 last night. Here are the picks.

NBA-Tonight

@Boston - 4 1/2 Atlanta
Cleveland @ Orlando-UNDER 188
@Phoenix -13 Sacremento
@Golden State +5 New Orleans
@L.A. Lakers - 5 1/2 Houston

NCAA-Tomorrow

Michigan State +4 UCONN
North Carolina -7 Villanova

2009 MLB Picks

The 2009 MLB regular season begins on Sunday night. Here is the way I see things going this season.

AL EAST

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. New York Yankees
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

AL CENTRAL

1. Minnesota Twins
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Detroit Tigers
5. Kansas City Royals

AL WEST

1. Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

NL EAST

1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Florida Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Nationals

NL CENTRAL

1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL WEST

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

AL WILDCARD-Tampa Bay Rays

NL WILDCARD-Philadelphia Phillies

AL CHAMP-Boston Red Sox

NL CHAMP-Chicago Cubs

WORLD SERIES CHAMP-Chicago Cubs

Major Friday News

-The New York Giants have officially released WR Plaxico Burress.

-The Detroit Pistons have announced that G Allen Iverson will be out the rest of the season (back)

-The N.Y. Mets and Gary Sheffield have agreed to a deal.

Careers in Limbo, Cutler and Iverson

All the drama in Denver has finally ended. The Denver Broncos completed a deal with the Chicago Bears of all teams.

Chicago gets:
-QB Jay Cutler
-2009 5th Round Draft Pick

Denver gets:
-QB Kyle Orton
-2009 1st Round Draft Pick (18th overall)
-2010 1st Round Draft Pick
-2009 3rd Round Draft Pick

I will get to the deal in a minute, but what was up with last night? Jay Cutler told Foxsports.com that he didn't want to get traded and that the trade was not his idea. What is that? I respected Cutler for holding his ground against his new idiot Head Coach and GM, but why back off the trade demand? Players get screwed all the time by NFL orginizations, getting cut and let out of their deals for whatever reason. Cutler was the player that finally stood up to his orginization, saying enough is enough in the middle of his deal. Cutler had every right to be furious with Denver's lies and constant B.S., but Cutler shot himself in the mouth with his quotes last night. We may never know who was telling the truth between the Broncos and Cutler, but in the next couple years when the Broncos put up 2 to 4 wins, nobody will care.

If you look at the trade in Cutler's eyes, it's OK. He gets to play for one of his favorite teams growing up. On the other hand, Cutler is now the man leading one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Cutler will have about half the talent that he had in Denver to work with.

For the Bears, they are banking on that Cutler will be an all-time great QB. Chicago is solidified on defense and special teams, but after shipping out all those draft picks, how do the Bears plan to put weapons around Cutler?

For the Broncos, this is the end of them for a few seasons. Hopefully, Denver will use these draft picks to get their defense back in order. At QB, the Broncos are now left with Kyle Orton and Chris Simms. Wow, fantastic. This will give Josh McDaniels a chance to prove that he can put points on the board with anybody behind Center. Denver also has the option of packaging their two draft picks in this year's first round and move up to get QB Mathew Stafford or QB Mark Sanchez. Lord, I hope they don't go that route. Denver probably got the better of this deal long-term, however this orginization has much to do in order to make up for this debacle.

The spotlight now is on Josh McDaniels much more than Jay Cutler. McDaniel's has created this disaster and now he must prove he can win with this behind him. I don't see Orton or Simms being Denver's starting QB this season, unless Denver completely decides to pack in the upcoming season. Will Denver sign a Byron Leftwich, Jeff Garcia, or maybe even a Michael Vick? Yes, I said the dog killer. All I know, is that nothing is out of the question with the idiotic pair of Brian Xanders and Josh McDaniels running the Broncos show. I'm just glad it's finally over.

Another former Denver athlete is having his own problems. Allen Iverson has stated that he would rather retire than continue his role with the Pistons coming off the bench. A.I. may not be the most liked player in the world, but the guy leaves everything out on the floor and for that I respect him. Iverson went to the Pistons in one of the most lopsided trades in NBA History. When Iverson was shippped out to Detroit, how did any logical fan of the NBA expect this to work except for salary cap relief for the Pistons? Detroit is system oriented, while Iverson is far from that, which is not a knock on Iverson. I just hope Iverson rides out the season with the Pistons without losing his mind and gets a fresh start some place else. Iverson deserves to end his career happy. It may be impossible to put Iverson on a championship roster, but the guy has more to offer than what he currently is presenting in Detroit.

QUESTIONS

1. WHAT ARE YOUR FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BRONCOS DEBACLE AND THE TRADE OF CUTLER TO CHICAGO?

2. WHERE CAN IVERSON SIGN NEXT SEASON? ARE THERE ANY GOOD FITS FOR HIM AT ALL OUT THERE?


PICKS-2-2 last night ATS, overall blog record ATS is now 115-79-3

NBA-3 games tonight, I like all the favorites.

@Philadelphia - 7 1/2 Milwaukee
Cleveland -10 @Washington
@Denver -5 Utah

Syracuse, Boeheim, Doing it the Right Way

Things right now in College Basketball are a little messed up. John Calipari just up and bolted for Kentucky, while leaving a very good Memphis team in bad shape. Calipari recruited a very good class for the 2009-10 season and now these kids don't have their Head Coach. These kids who committed to Memphis are now forced to play for a coach that didn't recruit them or sit out a season and transfer. Why can a coach bolt anytime they want, while a kid can't unless they sit out a year? It just isn't right. I don't blame Calipari for bolting to his "dream job", I just blame the system put in place by the NCAA. In situations like this, a letter of intent should be taken as seriously as a Head Coach's contract, which isn't saying much. If a coach can just switch schools without sitting out a season, players should have the same freedom.

On a positive note, if you want to see a Head Coach who really cares about his players, look at Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. The Orange made a nice run at the end of the season, losing in the Big East Championship Game and in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The biggest reason for Syracuse's success was PG Jonny Flynn. The sophomore has said that he wants to be back, however Boeheim has told Flynn to put his name in the draft. Why would a Head Coach want his best player to possibly go pro? Well, because Boeheim actually cares. Boeheim has said that if Flynn is a high projection in the 1st round of the NBA draft, he should go to the NBA. Flynn right now is projected to be a late first round pick and will most likely return to Syracuse, however the fact that Jim Boeheim is actually looking out for his player's best interest is great and college basketball needs more of this.

If Flynn does return to Syracuse, watch out. The Orange are only losing one senior, F Kristof Ongenaet. Ongenaet was a good bench player and was 4th on the team in rebounding. If Flynn comes back, Syracuse will have all it's major pieces back, a good recruiting class coming in, and a key transfer from Iowa State in Wesley Johnson who had to sit out last season.

Other Notes....

-I posted the news about the Broncos and Cutler yesterday. My opinion hasn't changed regarding the situation. I'm not going to go off on it again, I've said enough on my previous posts. It is just funny how the Broncos quit their pursuit after only 10 days. A few days ago, I thought I saw Josh McDaniels smiling while displaying Cutler's throwback jersey on TV.

-The Women's Final 4 is set. L'Ville, UCONN, Stanford and Oklahoma. You can take the stars of L'Ville, Stanford and Oklahoma, put them on the same team, and UCONN would still win by double digits.

-Browns WR Donte Stallworth will be charged with manslaughter DUI, stemming from a car accident last month in which a pedestrian was killed. If convicted, Stallworth is looking at possibly 15 years in prison.

-The Nuggets have clinched a playoff spot due to their ugly 111-104 over the Knicks last night. Denver has a very favorable schedule down the stretch and should get the #2 seed out West.

-Officer Robert Powell has resigned from the Dallas Police Department, this coming after his incident with Texan's RB Ryan Moats. If you are unfamiliar with the situation, Powell detained Moats in a hospital parking lot after Moats ran a traffic light in attempt to see his dying mother-in-law. Powell went way over the line and according to reports it wasn't the first time Powell crossed the line. There are very good cops and there are cops who abuse their authority, thankfully now Dallas has one less bad cop.

PICKS

3-2 ATS last night puts the overall blog record ATS at 113-77-3

NBA

@Memphis - 2 1/2 Washington
@Dallas - 5 1/2 Miami
@Phoenix - 1 1/2 Houston
@L.A. Clippers + 3 1/2 New Orleans

Cutler Done in Denver

Broncos Owner, Pat Bowlen has said that the Broncos will grant QB Jay Cutler a trade. Bowlen said that Cutler and his agent Bus Cook, have made it clear that Cutler does not want to be a part of the Denver Broncos. Cutler has refused to answer messages left by Bowlen and new Broncos Head Coach, Josh McDaniels. Denver is expected to be listening to offers immediately.

Calipari on the Move

According to reports, John Calipari has accepted the Head Coaching position at Kentucky. The deal is worth $35 million for 8 seasons, making Calipari College Basketball's highest paid coach. Calipari and Memphis lost last season's National Championship to Kansas after blowing a 9 point lead with just over two minutes left, and this season fell to Missouri in the Sweet 16. Kentucky missed the tournament this season for the first time since 1991, and had recentley fired Head Caoch Billy Gillepsi after just 2 seasons into his contract.

All Around Notes

-The Miami Heat got it right last night as the orginization retired Alonzo Mourning's number. Mourning had a great career despite having a kidney transplant. This guy was dominant on defense and had all the onions you would want in a player as he came back from not only the transpant, but other serious injuries as well.

-Giants WR Plaxico Burress went to court this morning. A plea in his gun charge case was not reached and court has been ajourned for another 60 days. It is unlikely Burress will be on the field in 2009 at this rate. The Giants might draft a WR or look into a trade for one. Some names on the market include Marvin Harrison, Braylon Edwards and Anquan Boldin.

-John Calipari to Kentucky is still not done. Things could get very bad in Memphis if Calipari leaves. It is reported that as many as 3 players would consider transefering if this deal gets done. Memphis also has the most top 10 McDonald's All-Americans coming in next season.

-The Detroit Tigers have released OF Gary Sheffield. It looks like he will end up back in the NL with the Phillies. I'll have a 2009 MLB preview on Friday.

-The N.I.T. Final 4 begins tonight. The match-ups are Baylor vs. San Diego State and Notre Dame vs. Penn State. Not a bad Final 4 for MSG.

-The Celtics have announced that F Kevin Garnett will miss atleast the next 4 games because of continued problems with his knee. I'm officially calling the NBA's Eastern Conference. The NBA Finals will most likely be Cleveland vs. L.A. Lakers, if not it will be Cleveland vs. one of the following teams I have ranked after 2.

NBA Ranks

1. Cleveland
2. L.A. Lakers

3. Houston Rockets
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Utah Jazz

These are the only teams that have a chance at the title.

-In the NHL things are also coming to an end in the regular season.

East

IN
-Boston, Washington, New Jersey

WILL BE IN
-Philadelphia, Carolina, Pittsburgh, N.Y. Rangers

RACE FOR #8
-MONTREAL, Florida, Buffalo

West

IN
-San Jose, Detroit

WILL BE IN
-Calgary, Chicago, Vancouver

RACE FOR # 6-8
-COLUMBUS, NASHVILLE, ST. LOUIS, Anaheim, Edmonton, Minnesota

#1 DRAFT PICK WATCH
-N.Y. Islanders, Colorado,Tampa Bay, Atlanta

-The great thing about the NHL is that you have no idea what will happen in the playoffs. Out of the 4 major sports, home advantage means the least in the NHL.


PICKS-1-1 last night, overall blog record ATS is 110-75-3.

NBA

Lakers -5 @ Bobcats
Thunder + 13 @ Spurs
@Nuggets - 11 1/2 Knicks
Jazz @ Blazers OVER 192 1/2
@Kings +7 Hornets

Down to 4, Tiger Back

I admit it, I missed all Final 4 teams in by bracket and I'm kind of glad I did. This Final 4 of UNC, Villanova, Michigan St. and UCONN should be a good one. All 4 of these teams have great storylines and motivation to win it all. Which team has the most motivation to win it all going in?

-Villanova-Can they pull of what they did in 1985 against Gerorgetown? Nova is the clear underdog out of the 4 remaining teams and this is clearly their best shot to win it all, considering they will probably lose most of their core players. Jay Wright has really made a name for himself as Head Coach at Villanova and may have a few more tricks up his sleave.

-UCONN-The scandal has nothing to do with the players that Jim Calhoun will put on the court. As for UCONN Men's Basketball as a whole, this will be the last time this team will be in this position for a while, providing the recruiting violations are proven true. Can UCONN get one more championship before their program gets blown to pieces?

-Michigan St.-The Spartens destroyed Louisville who was the number one overall seed in the tournament. Michigan St. has a chance to revive a state for a short period of time, that has perhaps been hit the hardest by this country's economic problems. This is the first time a team will play in the Final 4 in their home state since Duke in 1994, and this is the closest any team will play a Final 4 game from their home campus since Kansas of 1988. Can the home team deliver Detroit and the state of Michigan a championship? Also, this could be Tom Izzo's last run at Michigan State, if Kentucky can't get a deal done with Memphis Head Coach John Calipari.

-North Carolina-This team wouldn't be here if players like Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansborough didn't decide to return to school. These players returned for one reason, to win a championship. Can Hansborough and Lawson lead North Carolina to another title?

One thing is for certain, this Final 4 is full of big time coaching. Jim Calhoun has two titles, Roy Williams and Tom Izzo have one title a pIEce, and Jay Wright is on the big time rise with Villanova. The storylines and motivation for these teams is also great, which I noted earlier.

In the end, North Carolina cuts down the nets over hometown favorite Michigan St.

Tiger Woods did it again. He slammed down a 16 foot birdie putt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods began the day 5 strokes back of Sean O'Hair and beat him on the 72nd hole. This ties the biggest comeback in Tiger's career, matching his 5 stroke comeback at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2000. I would say Tiger is ready for Augusta.

Liberty G Seth Curry has decided to sit out next season and transfer to Duke. Just what the Blue Devils need, another outside threat. Coach K....you need big men.

Congradulations to Bemidji St. on getting to the Frozen 4. Air Force nearly made it as well, but lost to Vermont in double OT. There is a very unusual Frozen 4 this year.
-Miami (OH)
-Vermont
-Bemidji St.
-Boston

PICKS-2-2 in the tourny ATS putting my overall tourny record ATS to 28-30-2. Over the weekend I went 5-4 overall ATS, putting the overall blog picks ATS to 109-74-3.

NBA

Orlando @ Miami-UNDER 193
N.Y. Knicks @ Utah-OVER 212 1/2

How Not to Pick a Bracket

To find out this information, visit my previous post titled "Bracket". This was the worst bracket I have ever picked in my life. This morning I am left with 3 teams out of the Elite 8. Lousiville, UCONN and Pittsburgh. I still have my championship team left, however I lost my pool and I am done.

Going into Friday, I had no more straight-up match-ups due to previous poor picking. I finished at 29-13.

Against the Spread, I went 0-4 again and the overall running total during the tournament is 26-28-2.

The good news is that my bracket is over. I can stop looking at my bracket and just watch the hoops. I'm going to continue to pick against the spread in hopes to get the overall tourny record back above .500.

The NCAA Men's College Hockey Tournament is wack too. #1 seeds Michigan and Denver both lost yesterday in their openers.

Overall Record on this blog Against the Spread is now 104-70-3. 1-4 last night, with the one winner being an NBA game. Here are the picks for the rest of the weekend.

SATURDAY

ELITE 8 GAMES

Villanova +2 Pittsburgh
Missouri +5 1/2 UCONN

NBA

@Miami - 8 1/2 Milwaukee
L.A. Clippers + 16 @Houston
@Denver -12 Golden State
Phoenix +9 @ Utah
Memphis +13 @ Portland

SUNDAY

Louisville -6 Michigan State
North Carolina -6 Oklahoma

BRACKET HURT

I apologize for my 0-4 ATS performance on Thursday night. I thought the UCONN scandal would keep Purdue within 7 last night. Pittsburgh evidentely doesn't like to play basketball until there is 2 minutes left in the game, which is why they didn't cover the 7. Duke played their worst NCAA Tournament Game of all time and didn't cover the 2. Finally, Memphis was just blasted as favorites against Missouri.

OVERALL STRAIGHT UP IN TOURNY (GAMES BASED ON MY BRACKET) 1-2 last night, 29-13 overall in tourny.

OVERALL AGAINST THE SPREAD IN TOURNY- 0-4 last night, 26-24-2 overall in tourny.

Give Villanova and Missouri credit, they can have something to say about who cuts down the nets. Memphis at least had the heart to make a run late in the game to make the outcome respectable against Missouri. Duke on the other hand, was terrible. As soon as the 2nd half began, you knew the game was over. I talked to Austin Dufault, a Colorado starter at the end of the regular season and he told me on this blog that Missouri was the best team he played against. That includes the likes of both Oklahoma and Kansas. I should have listened to him.

The NCAA Tournament has again baffled me. I have never watched more college hoops than I have this year, and my bracket looks like a spider web. I have one team left in the Midwest, which is Louisville, I had them losing to Memphis in the Final 4. I have UCONN left in West, but I don't have them winning another game. In the East I only have Pittsburgh left, but I do have them winning it all, I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Finally in the South, I have Gonzaga and Syracuse left with the Orange winning that region.

The bracket is hurt but not dead. I need this to happen tonight:

1)Michigan St. has to lose to Kansas
2)Louisville needs to lose at any point prior to the title game.
3)Gonzaga has to beat North Carolina
4)Syracuse has to beat Oklahoma

This is just for me to basically stay alive in my pool. Am I asking too much? I am, but it is the tournament and it can happen.

PICKS-0-4 last night. 103-70-3 overall ATS

Arizona +9 Louisville
Kansas + 1 1/2 Michigan St.
Gonzaga + 8 1/2 North Carolina
Syracuse +1 Oklahoma

NBA

Denver +4 1/2 @Dallas-If Denver doesn't get this win, their win Wednesday in New Orleans means nothing.

Strange Things and Back to the Brackets.

I was expecting to just throw in my tourny picks for tonight, however I came across some strange stories. First, after browsing through the Dallas Morning News I came across a bizzare story. Dallas Police Officer, Robert Powell was caught on tape holding up Texan's RB Ryan Moats as he had rushed to the hospital to see his dying mother-in-law. Moats had run a red light and given the circumstances, Powell probably could have been more sensative. This video clip courtesy of the Dallas Morning News is just wrong.

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/index.html?nvid=345818&shu=1

It is hard to look in the mirror today if you are New York Knick, Al Harrington. What are the odds of this? The Knicks and Clippers play eachother only twice all season. The Knicks had both games wrapped up against the Clipps thanks to Harrington making which many thought were game winning dunks during both games. The problem is that both times this has happend, Harrington was T'd up for hanging on the rim which ultimately gave the Clippers both wins. Wow, if I'm Knicks Head Coach, Mike D'Antoni, I send Harrington back to pre-school for being so stupid. If the Knicks had 2 more wins on their resume, maybe they would be able to compete for the #8 seed out East.

Speaking of the NBA, things are getting pretty tight out West. A game and a half separates seeds 2-4, 2 1/2 games separate seeds 4-8, and only 4 games separate seeds 2-8. This is not a good time for any West playoff contender to hit a losing streak.

Tiger Woods is beginning to come along. Woods finished round 1 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at -2, right now the lead is -4. Woods hit the ball pretty bad, but turned in a good number. This is the first time since his comeback that he has battled through bad ball striking and posted a good number. Look for Woods to be in the mix for the win come Sunday.

Now back to the brackets.....

Sraight Up Picks from my only bracket-28-12 (you can view the bracket by clicking on "BRACKET" from my previous post list)
Tourny Picks ATS-26-20-2
Overall Blog Record ATS-103-66-3

TONIGHT'S SWEET 16

Duke -2 Villanova
Pittsburgh -7 Xavier
Memphis - 4 1/2 Missouri
Purdue +7 UCONN

UCONN Stunned, Questions to Readers

I can honestly say I could not believe what I heard this morning about UCONN Men's Basketball. According to reports, UCONN committed recruiting violations and had a so called "middle man" help get a recruit. As a dedicated follower of the Big East Conference, I always assumed that UCONN was clean, at least on the Men's side. UCONN Head Coach, Jim Calhoun is a Hall of Famer, however his legacy is in serious jeopardy if these reports are proven true. My favorite college basketball team is in this conference and is one of UCONN's biggest rivals. I can honestly say that I respected everything that UCONN was about, but if this report is proven true, I will hate this team.

Other Notes....

-My South Dakota St. Women's team went down to Baylor last night. The 'Rabbits gave everything but fell 2 points short. Hell of a story. The slipper also fell off of Ball States' foot last night as they lost to Iowa State after beating Tennessee in the first round.

-Many people are making a big deal about the Orlando/Boston match-up tonight in the NBA. I have said it for a long time on this blog, Orlando is not a contender without their All-Star PG Jameer Nelson. It doesn't matter who wins this game, Orlando will not be a player as far as a championship.

-After last night's one point win at home against Golden State, the Spurs look terrible. I know I picked them a long time ago on this blog, but they are really playing like crap.

-The Nuggets will be short-handed tonight in a critical game at New Orleans. Nene is out because of suspension. He got screwed on a bad call Monday in Phoenix and now the Nuggets are getting screwed with this suspension.

Questions to the Readers

1) With the NFL Owners meetings going on, are you in support of a 17-18 game regular season schedule beginning in 2011?

2) The Duke Women were a #1 seed in the tourny. In a 2nd round match-up, they had to play on Michigan State's home floor, when the Spartens were a much worse seed in the tournament. With the parity shown in Women's College Basketball, is it time that the NCAA gets serious and elliminates these kind of situations from happening? It never happens in the Men's tourny.

PICKS-I was 1-1 last night, bringing the blog overall record ATS to 103-66-3. Tonight.......everything is bad, layoff.

I will talk to you tomorrow with tomorrow night's Sweet 16 picks.

USA Baseball Must Step it Up, McDaniels Must Step Down

The WBC is finally over and Japan has repeated after beating Korea in 10 innings last night. For people in Asia this game was a huge deal. If you are a fan of Korea or Japan and didn't get one of the 54,000 seats at Dodger Stadium last night, you were packing the streets to watch the game on a jumbo-tron across the Pacific.

For Japan and Korea this was a true world championship game, for USA it was an embarassment. Baseball is supposed to be America's past time and USA hasn't even made the championship game in each of the first two WBC Tournaments. This is just how the world caught up to the USA in basketball, by not putting out the best of the best in these world tournament situations. I understand most major leaguers have a season to get ready for right now, but USA needs to man up and talk about rescheduling this event so it can put the proper team on the field to beat Asia's powerhouses. Team USA thinks they can just assemble any group of players and win a championship, they thought that in basketball and now baseball. It doesn't work! USA baseball should take a meeting with Coach K and find out what it takes to put a world championship team together. As a U.S. citizen it was embarrassing to see the U.S. get hammered by Japan, and even more embarassing to see the championship game hosted on U.S. soil. Get serious about this tournament or get out of it.

New Broncos Head Coach, Josh McDaniels reffering to QB Jay Cutler-"He's our quarterback". McDaniels then told the media that Cutler hasn't returned a text message that he sent him. Can people finally start seeing what I see in McDaniels? He is adding to the drama by putting himself on television, and as for text messaging you have to be kidding me. With a problem this big the guy can extend an e-mail, maybe a phone call, or maybe he should do the proper thing, get on a plane and sit down with Cutler man to man and apologize for screwing up the orginization before even coaching a game. Give me a break, a text message to fix the problem. What a joke.

UNC PG, Ty Lawson is expected to play in North Carolina's Sweet 16 match-up against Gonzaga.

The South Dakota St. Women are in action tonight against the #2 seed Baylor. I'm all about the Jackrabbits. I know many people knock the women's tourny, but this team is a great story.

PICKS...4-1 last night, I knew there was a reason I didn't pick NIT games. Overall record ATS is now 102-65-3

NBA

Lakers - 7 1/2 @ Thunder
@Spurs -8 Warriors

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE WOMEN

We had pretty much chalk through the first weekend of the Men's NCAA Basketball Championship, so how about the women? The first round of the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship was fantastic. For the first time maybe ever the women's game is showing some serious parity. Tennessee went into the tournament as a #5 seed and lost to #12 Ball St. It was the first time ever Tennessee lost in the first round. As for Ball State, that was their first ever NCAA tournament game. Some are calling the upset, the greatest in women's basketball history. A #2 seed in the women's tournament has never gone down to a #15 seed. Last night, UTSA (University of Texas-San Antonio) took Baylor to overtime before getting knocked off. Minnesota, a #10 seed, is trying to become the Arizona men's team. Perhaps one of the last teams in, the Gophers upset #7 Notre Dame in South Bend. Other upsets included #12 seeded Gonzaga over #5 Xavier and #11 Michigan St. over #6 Texas. The best story of this tournament is a #7 seed, South Dakota St. In their first year of elligibility they put it on #10 seeded TCU 90-55. In a tournament that will probably be dominated by UCONN, go Jackrabbits. South Dakota St. has only two losses and could be a big time cinderella story.

-Team USA's run in WBC is over. Japan took it to the Americans last night setting up a Japan vs. Korea final. This tournament lost a lot of juice once the NCAA's started. In the future the WBC might want to think about rescheduling. This was a good tournament, it just got over shadowed by bigger things at the time.

-Pitcher Curt Schilling officially announced his retirement on his blog. Screw this guy, he should have been a media guy instead of a ball player given the way he continues to shoot of his mouth. I will always look at Schilling not for what he did on the field, but for how he would always shoot off his mouth during situations that had nothing to do with him. Schilling was a pretty good pitcher and a pretty bad human being. Thanks for finally going away Curt.

-What a surprise, Buffalo WR Terrell Owens was a now show during the team's first voluntary workout session. It's not that big of deal, however Owens did tell management he would be there. This will be the first issue of many between TO and Buffalo.

-Lance Armstrong crashed during a race in Spain today. Armstrong fractured his collerbone and should be OK. I'm rooting for this guy to come back and win the Tour De France. This news really kind of sucks.

-Wizzards Guard, Gilbert Arenas is finally going to put on a uniform. The injury plagued Arenas is expected to suit up for Washington on Saturday. It has been so long since Arenas has played, I forgot he was still in the NBA.

PICKS-After the weekend blitz, the overall blog record against the spread stands at 98-64-3.

NBA

@Atlanta -11 1/2 Minnesota
@Miami -9 Memphis
Denver @ Phoenix UNDER 237
Philadelphia +8 @ Portland

NCAAM-I don't usually pick NIT games, but get on this one.

@Creighton -2 Kentucky

NCAA BRACKET UPDATE 4

SUNDAY'S RESULTS-It turns out that there isn't much to picking the bracket. Every team left is seeded #1-#4, besides #5 Purdue and #12 Arizona. Syracuse dominated Arizona St. and the Orange look strong heading into the Sweet 16. The only problem for Syracuse is they have to first go against Blake Griffin and Oklahoma, and if they win that they will most likely meet UNC in the regional final. Cleveland St. didn't take Arizona by surprise, the Vikings cinderella run came to an end today at the hands of the Wildcats. Arizona was perhaps the last team in and they are in the Sweet 16. Xavier took care of business against Wisconsin, the Badgers may be the most boring team to watch in college basketball. Pittsburgh struggled again but found a way to get buy Oklahoma St. Pittsburgh has a lot of work to do this week if they want to advance to the Final 4. Missouri beat a pesky Marquette team in the final moments, setting up a great 2/3 match-up against Memphis next week. Michigan St. won ugly against USC, look for them to get beat by Kansas in the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks had no problem putting away a bad Dayton team which I have no idea how they got by West Virginia in round 1. Finally, Louisville looked less then sharp getting by Sienna.

Sweet 16

Midwest

Louisville
Arizona

Kansas
Michigan St.

West

UCONN
Purdue

Missouri
Memphis

East

Pittsburgh
Xavier

Villanova
Duke

South

North Carolina
Gonzaga

Syracuse
Oklahoma

TOP QUESTIONS GOING INTO SWEET 16

1. Pittsburgh and Louisville have looked less than impessive as #1 seeds. Can they get their focus and swagger back?

2. Kansas has had an easy run to this point. How will the Jayhawks respond when they face Michigan St. Kansas had the easiest run to this point, beating North Dakota St. and Dayton.

3. Can #12 Arizona continue to surprise? I don't think so.

4. Does Missouri and Purdue have an edge over their opponents because both survived tight 2nd round games?

5. Duke and Villanova have some of the best guard play in the country. Which backcourt will be better?

6. Can the Big 12 beat Syracuse? As a #3 seed in 2003, Syracuse beat 4 Big 12 teams in route to a titile. Will Oklahoma be able to handle Boeheim's 2-3 zone?

7. How healthy will UNC's Ty Lawson's toe be?

With the lack of upsets this weekend, it will set up a great Sweet 16. I'm sticking with my original picks, but I think Louisville, Kansas, UCONN, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Duke, UNC and Syracuse win.

MY BRACKET-I did not have a great weekend because I over-thought the process of picking my bracket. I still have 10/16 teams left, 7/8 Elite 8 teams and all Final 4 teams. I guess I'm OK since none of my big dogs went down.

SUNDAY STRAIGHT UP-I could only play 4 out of the 8 games straight up because of previous misses in my bracket. I went 3-1 in those games. I hit Syracuse, Missouri and Pittsburgh. I had Louisville goint to the Sweet 16, but not against Sienna. I did not have Kansas and Dayton even getting to the 2nd round. I had Xavier losing to Maryland in round 2. Finally, I had Arizona and Cleveland St. originally in their match-up, however I took Cleveland St. and lost.

SUNDAY AGAINST THE SPREAD-2-5-1.....Sometimes you lose, I got smoked today.

OVERALL TOURNAMENT RECORD STRAIGHT UP-28-12

OVERALL TOURNAMENT RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD-26-20-2

OVERALL RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD ON THIS BLOG-98-64-3

YOU CAN VIEW MY ORIGINAL BRACKET BY CLICKING ON MY PREVIOUS POST TITLED "BRACKET"

Time now to take a deep breath and step away from the tourny. I will pick up coverage again beginning Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Between now and then I will focus on the other sports. Have a good week and talk to you tomorrow.

NCAA BRACKET UPDATE 3

SATURDAY'S RESULTS-Everything went according to plan except my pick of LSU over North Carolina. When I filled out my bracket, I felt that North Carolina would win it all if they were 100 % healthy. Ty Lawson's toe injury is why I picked LSU to upset UNC. I figured the only way UNC would go out is if they went out early in the tournament bacause of the Lawson injury. LSU had a 5 point lead in the 2nd half, but UNC proved to be too much. Ty Lawson now has nearly a week to get back to 100 % and North Carolina is going to be next to impossible to beat.

BY THE NUBMERS

SATURDAY'S RESULTS STRAIGHT UP-3-1 (There was only 4 games I could play because of previous misses in my bracket.) I did have Purdue, Villanova and Gonzaga advancing to the Sweet 16, but not against their opponnents today. I missed on Oklahoma, I had them losing to Clemson in round 2. I'm still looking OK having 11/16 Sweet 16 teams, 7/8 Elite 8 teams, and all Final 4 teams.

SATURDAY'S RESULTS AGAINST THE SPREAD-5-3

OVERALL TOURNAMENT RESULTS STRAIGHT UP-25-11

OVERALL TOURNAMENT RESULTS AGAINST THE SPREAD-24-15-1

OVERALL RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD ON THE BLOG-96-59-2


SUNDAY'S 2ND ROUND NCAA TOURNY PICKS

Syracuse -2 Arizona St.
Cleveland St. +3 Arizona
Pittsburgh -8 Oklahoma St.
Louisville -11 Sienna
Dayton +8 Kansas
USC +4 Michigan St.
Missouri -3 Marquette
Wisconsin +4 Xavier

NCAA BRACKET UPDATE 2

FRIDAY-It wasn't a good morning to say the least. I dropped 3 games out of the 8 played. First my cinderella pick, North Dakota State went down to Kansas. The Bison were competitive and very well could have pulled that one out. I think we can now officially say that the Kansas first round curse is over. Utah St. fell by one point to Marquette. I only picked Utah St. because they were overlooked and Marquette entered the tournament without perhaps its' best player in Dominique James. The other game I lost really hurt in West Virginia. I knew Dayton had a chance, but I decided to pick West Virgina based on history and coaching. West Virginia had the better coach in Bob Huggins and had went to the Sweet 16 the previous 4 seasons. Based on the bracket set-up, I had West Virginia going to the Elite 8....ouch. The night session started OK, I hit 3 out of the first 4. Boston College made things hard on me in the Midwest Bracket. In the lower part of the Midwest, I have now lost both Sweet 16 teams and the Elite 8 team. USC wouldn't have made the tournament without winning the Pac-10 tourny and I thought Boston College was the better team, my bad. The last part of the night session was OK. I hit my #2 cinderella pick as Cleveland St. smoked Wake Forest. Michigan St. took care of business as expected, however they looked a bit sluggish. I had Florida St. going to the Sweet 16 and they just collapsed down the stretch against Wisconsin in OT. The Badger win should have not happend, this team will get rocked in round 2. Finally Sienna beats Ohio St. in double OT. How? 2 miracle 3-point shots. Ohio St. was in Ohio and got beat by Sienna, they suck. Here's to a good Saturday! I will update this weekend unlike previous weekends, but I will focus just on the NCAA unless something huge happens.

BY THE NUMBERS

FRIDAY'S RECORD STRAIGHT UP- 10-6

FRIDAY'S RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD-10-6

OVERALL TOURNY RECORD STRAIGHT UP-22-10

OVERALL TOURNY RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD-19-12-1

OVERALL RECORD AGAINST THE SPREAD ON THE BLOG-91-56-2

I did not have a good first round straight up, I did against the spread. The good news is I still have 12/16 Sweet 16 teams, 7/8 Elite 8 teams, and all Final 4 teams.

SATURDAY'S NCAA 2ND ROUND PICKS

LSU +11 North Carolina
Duke -7 Texas
UCONN -10 Texas A&M
Villanova -1 1/2 UCLA
Maryland +9 Memphis
Okahoma -6 1/2 Michigan
Purdue + 1 1/2 Washington
Western Kentucky +10 1/2 Gonzaga

NCCA BRACKET UPDATE

THURSDAY'S RESULTS-I began the day with 7 in a row and all was good. CBS took a break from their coverage for a brief period of time and when they got back things began to turn a little south. Mississippi St. did not come to play and were blown up by Washington. I thought that would be a much closer contest with Mississippi St. coming up on top. Clemson just baffled me and it could screw up my bracket. I thought they would get by Michigan and beat Oklahoma. Michigan got it done and the Wolverines will be a much easier match-up in round 2 for the Sooners. Clemson should be disapointed in themselves, they could have made a nice little run. I thought that I would give Illinois the benefit of the doubt who took on Western Kentucky, however not the same Western Kentucky team that won a few games in last year's tournament. The result, Illinois showed up too late and got beat. I went back and forth on that game but in the end I made my worst pick of the day taking Illinois. My other miss was VCU over UCLA. The Rams hung tough, but in the end UCLA showed that they should not be picked against in round 1 of the tourny.

BY THE NUMBERS

-RECORD STRAIGHT UP-12-4 (I still have 15/16 Sweet 16 teams left)

-RECORD VS. THE SPREAD-9-6-1

-OVERALL RECORD VS. THE SPREAD NOW 81-50-2

I have a heads-up match going on with a buddy. Dude dropped 14 winners today out of 16 games and he still has all Sweet 16 teams left. A-Hole.


FRIDAY PICKS ATS

Arizona +1 Utah
Cleveland St. +8 Wake Forest
Syracuse -10 Stephen F. Austin
Temple +6 Arizona St.
Louisville -21 Morehead St.
Ohio St. -3 Sienna
Pittsburgh -20 East Tennessee St.
Oklahoma St. + 2 1/2 Tennessee
Robert Morris +17 1/2 Michigan St.
Boston College + 2 1/2 USC
North Dakota St. + 11 1/2 Kansas
Dayton +9 West Virginia
Missouri - 12 1/2 Cornell
Utah St. +7 Marquette
Florida St. - 2 1/2 Wisconsin
Xavier -10 1/2 Portland St.

To see my straight up bracket picks, it is listed on the blog.

Bracket

FIRST ROUND WINNERS

MIDWEST

LOUISVILLE
OHIO ST.

ARIZONA
CLEVELAND ST.

WEST VIRGINA
NORTH DAKOTA ST.

BOSTON COLLEGE
MICHIGAN STATE

WEST

UCONN
TEXAS A&M

PURDUE
MISS. ST.

UTAH ST.
MISSOURI

MARYLAND
MEMPHIS

EAST

PITTSBURGH
OKLAHOMA ST.

FLORIDA ST.
XAVIER

VCU
VILLANOVA

TEXAS
DUKE

SOUTH

NORTH CAROLINA
LSU

ILLINOIS
GONZAGA

ARIZONA ST.
SYRACUSE

CLEMSON
OKLAHOMA

2ND ROUND WINNERS

MIDWEST

LOUISVILLE
CLEVELAND ST.

WEST VIRGINIA
BOSTON COLLEGE

WEST

UCONN
PURDUE

MISSOURI
MEMPHIS

EAST

PITTSBURGH
FLORIDA ST.

VILLANOVA
DUKE

SOUTH

LSU
GONZAGA

SYRACUSE
CLEMSON

3RD ROUND WINNERS

MIDWEST

LOUISVILLE
WEST VIRGINIA

WEST

UCONN
MEMPHIS

EAST

PITTSBURGH
DUKE

SOUTH

GONZAGA
SYRACUSE

4TH ROUND WINNERS

MIDWEST

LOUISVILLE

WEST

MEMPHIS

EAST

PITTSBURGH

SOUTH

SYRACUSE

FINAL 4

MEMPHIS OVER LOUISVILLE
PITTSBURGH OVER SYRACUSE

CHAMPIONSHIP

PITTSBURGH OVER MEMPHIS-TOTAL POINTS 141

PICKS-0-2 yesterday, now 72-46-1 ATS

One game tonight sticks out

Nuggets -5 1/2 @ Memphis

Thursday's NCAA picks

Binghamton + 21 1/2 Duke
Texas -4 Minnesota
Radford +25 North Carolina
LSU - 2 1/2 Butler
UCONN -20 Chatanooga
Texas A&M + 4 1/2 BYU
Villanova -16 1/2 American
VCU +9 UCLA
Memphis - 18 1/2 CS-Northridge
Maryland +3 California
Oklahoma - 16 1/2 Morgan St.
Clemson -5 Michigan
Northern Iowa +8 Purdue
Miss. St. + 5 1/2 Washington
Western Kentucky + 6 Illinois
Akron + 13 Gonzaga

Who's Fault is it?

The Jay Cutler vs. Josh McDaniels fued has blown up and gotten out of control, not only in the Denver media but across the nation.

Who is to blame in your opinion for the disaster in Denver? Should #6 go, and if so where and for who? Broncos fans, does this affect your fan support for this team? The conversation is open.

Other Notes.....

-New England is about to get DE Julius Peppers from Carolina for a 2nd round draft pick.........wow!

-Team USA vs. Puerto Rico tonight to avoid ellimination in the WBC.

-Alabama St. vs. Morehead St. tonight in the play-in game. What a prize for the winner! They get the right to be humiliated by Louisville.

PICKS...1-1 last night, 72-44-1 overall ATS

NBA-play the powerhouses tonight

@Cleveland -6 Orlando
@L.A. Lakers - 9 1/2 Philadelphia

The NCAA Did Well

The NCAA did a fantastic job of piecing together this year's bracket. The field is one of the most balanced and most competitive of all time. The NCAA had a few issues in order to get this puzzle solved. First, who deserved the last #1 seed? The NCAA chose UCONN, however put Memphis as a #2 in the same bracket. This was a great decision, let the teams battle it out to see who is better. The Big East got 3 teams in as #1 seeds. Due to the flops of other powerhouse teams in their conference tournaments, it gave the NCAA virtually no choice but to give 3 #1 seeds to the Big East.

The NCAA did a great job with the bubble. Arizona is the only team in the bracket that anybody can question. If you put Arizona against the snubbs, (Penn State, San Diego State, St. Mary's and Creighton) there is no huge discrepency on why they are in the tournament instead of the others. It is not Arizona's fault that the other bubble teams didn't get in, it is the fault of USC, Mississippi State, Temple and Cleveland State for winning their conference tournaments and taking away bids. All in all, great job by the NCAA on their bracket. I will post my bracket on Wednesday night.

Broncos QB Jay Cutler has demanded a trade after weekend talks with the orginization went bad. Denver Owner, Pat Bowlen must step up. He told the Denver Post that he is very disapointed with the entire situation and that he is not just disapointed in maybe losing his star QB. Bowlen now must act and not speak. Bowlen has to force Josh McDaniels and Jay Cutler to sit down, just the two of them with no agents or GM's in order to work things out, or Bowlen has to make a choice. If Bowlen wants Cutler to be his guy, he needs to fire McDaniels, just like I said when this whole thing started. If Bowlen believes in his new hire, he must publically put Cutler on the trade block. It doesn't matter what side you're on, but Bowlen must end this debacle. Cutler may be acting like a baby, but this is McDaniel's fault. Football is a business and Cutler understands that, he is just upset that McDaniels wasn't up front with him and that McDaniels didn't immediately come clean with him after the fact. The bottom line is when you want to make a trade this big you must do two things. 1) Talk to the franchise player that you want to deal first, and 2) Get the deal done, so things like this don't happen. I've been a Broncos fan since 1986, and I want to get a ticket as a fan to the home opener so I can boo. I'm so disapointed in this team right now, I don't think I can longer be a fan. Jay Cutler is a good player but not a perfect human being, it is Josh McDaniels who I can't stand. Go back to New England you 32 year old idiot.

Phil Mickelson won Doral over the weekend. Doral was the first regular tournament Tiger Woods has played since the knee injury last June, and Phil won it. I'm not going to say it was a statement win, I just think it's a funny story. Mickelson went into the hospital because of heat stroke/deydration/stomach virus after Saturday's round and still held on to win. Was he trying to one-up Tiger winning the U.S. Open with a torn ACL and fractured leg? Of course he wasn't, but it is a strange coincidence that this happens at the exact time Tiger comes back to stroke play action after his long lay off. Tiger is still the man and his accomplishment of winning the U.S. Open last year was the greatest accomplishment in sports. Phil, sorry you were sick but you are still soft and not even in the same zip code as Mr. Woods.

NBA last night...Phoenix 154, Golden State 130. Good D there.

The Houston Astros have just signed Pudge Rodriguez.

PICKS-3-2 on Friday night. I missed 2 games by a combined 1 1/2 points. Overall I'm 71-43-1 ATS.

NBA

@Memphis + 6 1/2 Portland
@Denver -9 1/2 New Jersey

More Hoops.......

As a sports fan you had to appreciate the show that Syracuse and UCONN put on last night. In 6 overtimes there was only one lead change as the Orange beat the Huskies 127-117. Outside of the NCAA Tournament this was the best game of all time, it would be the best of all time but it wasn't in the tournament.

Putting last nights game against other sports is hard to do. In the NBA it is hard to top Boston's 128-126 triple overtime finals win against Phoenix in the 70's. The NFL has Super Bowls 3 (Bal/NYJ), 5 (BAl/DAL), 13 (PIT/DAL) 23 (Cincy/SF), 25 (NYG/BUF), 32 (DEN/GB), 34 (TEN/STL), 36 (NE/STL), 38 (NE/CAR), 39 (NE/PHI), 42 (NYG/NE) and 43 (AZ/PIT). There has also been great games such as "The Catch", "The Catch Part 2", "The Drive", "The Ice Bowl", "The Immaculate Reception", and "The Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Giants and Colts back in '58. If you compare the game to baseball, I think of the the 1991 World Series and game 7 between Minnesota and Atlanta. I also think back to 2007 and game 163 between the Rockies and Padres. Other great games in baseball include Joe Carter's blast to win the '93 series in Toronto and Kirk Gibson limping around the bases in game 1 of the '88 series. Baseball has also brought us Carlton Fisk waving his hands inside the foul poul, Buckner's error in '86 and the Yankees amazing collapse in 2005. Also, don't forget the shot heard around the world. In hockey you have "The Miracle on Ice". In the NHL you have the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoff game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia that went 5 overtimes. College Football you have "The Band Game" between Cal and Stanford, you have Flutie's miracle throw to beat Miami, Kordell Stewart's miracle throw to beat Michigan, Texas over USC in the 2006 title game, and many others. Was last night's game between UCONN and Syracuse the best game ever? No, but nothing is the greatest ever, it is too hard to compare. The point is the game will be talked about and remembered for years. 50 years down the road people won't immediately recall who won the 2009 championship in college basketball, but they will recall last night's game at the Garden.

Moving on, there were no major upsets this afternoon, however UNC was nearly knocked off by Virginia Tech. North Carolina got a generous whistle at the end to hang on and get the win. The last 24 hours have put the future #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament in a tailspin. UNC is likely the only lock right now on a #1 seed. UCONN, Pitt, Oklahoma and Kansas all lost their conference tourny openers. Teams like Michigan State, Louisville and Memphis are all looking better as far as getting a #1 seed.

PICKS- 2-0 last night puts me at 68-41-1 ATS overall.

NBA

@Philadelphia -3 1/2 Chicago
Houston +1 @ Charlotte
@Boston -11 Memphis

BIG EAST

Louisville - 4 1/2 Villanova
Syracuse + 6 1/2 West Virgina

SYRACUSE 127, UCONN 117-FINAL 6 OT'S

Putting your favorite sports and favorite teams to the side, where does this game rank on the list of all-time great games in sports??? If it's not close to the top of your list, what tops it???

Hoops

Put Notre Dame in the same class as Georgetown, they are so incredibly bad they don't even deserve an N.I.T. bid. I picked them + 5 1/2 against West Virginia last night, thinking they would ignite a spark in the Big East Tournament. Wrong, the Irish were down 20 points 7 minutes into the game. Notre Dame is poorly coached, bad defensively, lazy and soft. How Notre Dame and Georgetown were once top 10 teams is beyond me, they both just suck.

What happend with Texas A&M? They blow a 19 point halftime lead to Texas Tech and let Mike Singletary score 29 consecutive points, this guy wasn't even a starter. I picked A&M -6 and stopped scoreboard watching at half thinking that the game was over. How does a bubble team let that happen?

As for today, more crazyness is going on. Kansas fell to Baylor, and Clemson lost to Georgia Tech. Villanova blew a 16 point halftime lead against Marquette and then went on to win the game 76-75, on a buzzer beating lay-up. The Villanova win sets up a great semifinal game tomorrow against Louisville, that should be a great game. Also, don't forget about tonight. Pittsburgh and UCONN are both in action, look for one of those teams to be upset. Out west, Arizona St. beat Arizona by a dozen. I think Arizona should be on the wrong end of the bubble due to that loss. The Big 10 also got going today, is it just me or is Big 10 hoops that bad to watch?

The hoops going on right now are great and you just have no idea what will happen from day to day. I did OK last night going 4-3 in the picks, but these conference tournaments are the hardest thing to pick in sports, even harder then the opening round of the dance. I would lay off until the tourny starts and just enjoy the college ball.

Picks-66-41-1 ATS overall

NBA

L.A. Lakers + 2 1/2 San Antonio--Lakers are playing the 2nd game of a difficult back-to-back on the road. This team has found a way all season to win games that seem impossible, they will do it again tonight in a statement game.

Cleveland - 3 1/2 Phoenix--The Cavs defense will shut down the Suns' offense. Shaq is starting to get mad and Phoenix is beginning to realize that they are done in the west.

Sports Since Friday

T.O. in Buffalo. If this isn't an indication that this guy is on his last leg, I don't know what is? Nothing against Buffalo, but T.O. in Buffalo? It doesn't make sense, the only logical explanantion is he got absolutely no interest from other teams. T.O. won't even be the number one WR, Lee Evans has a hold on that position. If this guy was mad in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas, T.O. is really going to hate Buffalo. I feel bad for Bills QB Trent Edwards, the guy was doing good things for the Bills last season and this is his gift? Talk about a lump of coal. I guess it is good publicity for Buffalo though, up until now they have been the NFL's forgotten franchise.

The Broncos bosses' had a conference call with QB Jay Cutler in attempt to smooth things over from the trade debacle. A source inside the originization says that things have gone from bad to worse. Denver did sign QB Chris Simms. Things are looking up on his end, at this rate Cutler will never be in a Denver uniform again. There isn't much in the free agent market if you are looking for a QB. Aging QB's Jeff Garcia, Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich top that list. Denver could maybe trade Cutler to Detroit for the #1 draft pick, but I don't see the point in that. Denver has screwed up so bad, they might get the #1 draft pick in 2010.

Has anybody been watching the WBC? It has been pretty good baseball. The Nederlands elliminated powerhouse Dominican Republic, the USA has looked dominant, and defending champ Japan looks beatable, hence their loss to Korea on Monday. This is actually a good tournament to watch. The countries involved have been passionate about the tournament and you are seeing great games and upsets. The Nederlands have been a great story and it is hard not to root for them, but the flops from the Dominican and Canada have been humiliating, and those two teams should be ashamed of themselves.

Alex Rodriguez will be out for an extended period of time after hip surgery. The Yankees will manage, as for Rodriguez, you kind of get what you deserve.

The NCAA conference tournaments have been fun to watch. Two teams grabbed my attention last night as they gained their automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. In their first year of elligibility, North Dakota State beat Oakland to take the Summit Championship. This is the first time this has been done since Long Beach St. of 1970. I expect the Bison to get in as a 12 or 13 seed and be a difficult out for their opponent. This team is #2 overall in the nation in 3 point shooting, and they play a fast paced type of game that if they make their shots, they will pull off an upset or two.

The other team that grabbed my attention was Cleveland St. who beat Butler to gain their automatic bid. This team is athletic and passionate. Cleveland St. refuses to lose and can pull of an upset in the first round. It doesn't matter what the circumstance, this team will give whomever it plays all it can handle. On the opposite end, Butler has been a "cinderella type" favorite the last few years to win their first round game. It won't happen this season, this is a team that is overrated and should not even be ranked. They will get in as an at large, but expect a quick exit.

Depaul was a nice story in Big East. They took down "bubble team" Cincinnati and gave another "bubble team"Providence all it can handle this morning before losing, not bad for a team with an 0-18 conference record. Georgetown should be ashamed of themselves. Once ranked very high, the Hoyas fell to lowely St. Johns in the opening round of the Big East. G-Town doesn't even deserve and N.I.T. bid, they are horrible. Due to the new format, this Big East Tournament is just brutal.

Who will get the #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament? Ink in UCONN, Pittsburgh and North Carolina. I don't know who will get the 4th #1 seed. Expers are saying Louisville, but I can't see the committee giving the Big East 3 #1 seeds. I'll throw in Oklahoma, Kansas and Memphis. I think one of those 3 teams will get the 4th #1 seed.

The UCONN women are incredible and still undefeated. They had Louisville by 40 + in the Big East Championship last night. I would take this team against a handful of mens' teams. I don't know who can trip them up in the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma-no. Duke-no. UNC-no. Maryland-no. The rest of the field should just give up and hand the Huskies the trophey.

I'm officially ruling out the Phoenix Suns as a playoff contender in the NBA's Western Conference. Your playoff teams in the West will be the Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Jazz, Blazers, Nuggets, Rockets, and Mavericks, in no particular order. The West is brutal, hence the Denver Nuggets. Denver was in a virtual dead heat with San Antonio for the number 2 seed, then the team loses 5 out of 6, and are now 7th in the West and 3rd in their division. If the Nuggets are going to do anything to get back into the upper part of the West, they have to win their next 5 games, all against bad teams.

The Eastern Conference is horrible. Seeds 1-6 are locks in my opinion. Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami and Detroit will all be in the playoffs. Philadelphia should get in, and then the # 8 spot is up for grabs. Seeds #8-14 are within 6 games of eachother, so I'm saying that Chicago, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Charlotte, Indiana, New York and Toronto will all be playing for the right to bring their sub .500 record into the playoffs and get their head kicked in by Boston or Clevleand, fun stuff.

Picks....I put out 8 games last Friday and went 5-3. The overall record stands at 62-38-1. Many games are going on in the afternoon today, so my picks will begin with games that start at 7 eastern.

NBA

@Atlanta -1 Utah
@Philadelphia - 6 1/2 Toronto
LA Lakers @ Houston OVER 201

NCAAM

Syracuse - 6 1/2 Seton Hall
Oklahoma St. -10 Iowa St.
Notre Dame + 5 1/2 West Virginia
Texas A&M -6 Texas Tech

Just Some Picks

I was too busy yesterday to post, but it seems the headlines are pretty bad anyway. Coverage I have seen has been dominated by Terrel Owens and Manny Ramirez. T.O. is coming up on his last years. His agent says many teams are interested, I see him in a Redskins uniform next season. Manny will lift the Dodgers to an NL West title next season and contend for NL MVP honors. In the off season next year, Manny and the Dodgers will go through the same thing since Manny has an opt-out clause after next season, even though it is a 2 year deal. LA will benefit short term, but expect the same type of circus next season.

Good night tonight for NBA Hoops.....Cavs v. Celtics, Nuggets v. Jazz, Phoenix v. Houston. Also, a good weekend of college hoops coming up. Keep an eye on those mid-major conference tournaments, if your favorite team is on the "bubble", you want no part of any upsets. There are also some key Big East, ACC and Big 12 showdowns that could determine #1 overall seeds in the tournament. Duke and UNC also, but UNC will destroy them.

I like a handful of games tonight.......Here are the picks....I went 3-2 on Wednesday, putting me at 57-35-1 overall.

NBA

New Jersey @ Orlando UNDER 203
@Boston - 1 1/2 Cleveland
@Houston - 5 1/2 Phoenix
Phoenix @ Houston UNDER 226
@San Antonio - 12 1/2 Washington
Denver +9 @ Utah
Minnesota @ L.A. Lakers UNDER 215

NCAAM

@Notre Dame -11 1/2 St. John's

Have a good weekend.