ESPN has apparently misplaced the Midwest, possibly due to an intern error. For those of you not currently residing in a landlocked area, after careful scientific study, there are people inhabiting the areas West of the Boston-New York-DC megalopolis. I'm uncertain if people would realize that since apparently baseball has contracted and has left only the Yankees and Red Sox to play or think about playing on another. After watching ESPN and Dan Patrick, the smarmy egotistical, unfunny, host of SportsCenter for several weeks I would be hard pressed to figure out who was in the World Series besides Boston ( the Saint Louis Cardinals) or if LA has a team (they technically have 1.5 ) or if the Windy City has electricty (yes but you still don't want to go to South side). So its easy to see how a spillover effect could lead one to bemoan not seeing the 2-3 zone of Syracuse or players so stupid that they leave a college campus to score some pot (UConn).
But I for one am fairly happy with Illinois v UNC. The two best teams all season squaring off for one game. Both up tempo style, both laden with NBA talent, both public schools (enjoy that while it lasts). Three keys the game : 1) Illinois: hot or not? UNC doesn't rotate well on defense, if Illinois can make them pay from 3 point land its all over ; 2) Rebounding - Louisville beat up Illinois on the boards pretty bad before they imploded. UNC is a far better rebounding team. Illinois can't give up too many second chance points; 3) Turnovers - Illinois beat Arizona by stealing the ball eleventy billion times in a row, UNC needs Raymond Felton to run the show.
Also since today is the start of baseball season here's my list of predictions. I'm sure the baseball crowd will have far better predictions but here goes:
AL EAST: Red Sox
AL CENTRAL: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Yankees
AL Suprise Team: Detroit
NL East: Florida
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: San Francisco
NL Wild Card: San Diego
NL Suprise: Hart catches a fly ball.
World Series: Red Sox over San Francisco (if Bonds returns, if not over the Cards)
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3 comments:
My post about the NCAA finals matchup wasn't really supposed to be too much of a dig on parts west of the center of the universe. I'm actually quite satisfied with the matchup since it is #1 vs. #2 and should be a fun game to watch. Also, don't insult Dan Patrick. Not only is he one of the few serious journalists left at ESPN, he's also a native Ohioan and one of your state's foremost basketball and baseball prodigies from the mid-70s. Daniel Patrick Pugh (his real name) is a stud.
PS -- Your baseball predictions make me want to hurl. The Red Sox will not win the division. Anyone that believes that Wells-Clement-Miller for Pedro-Lowe was a good trade should probably take their head out of the sabermetric book and realize that you can't discount a career's worth of experience. Wade Miller and Matt Clement have combined to win exactly ZERO big games in their entire careers. As for Boomer Wells...he'll be sorry he crossed over to the other side.
You know I really don't have a problem with Dan Patrick except he has these really annoying hair product commercials. I don't demand a lot but hair spray commercials should be illegal.
While I'm sure everyone will be posting their own predictions. I am fairly torn between the Yanks and Red Sox. The deciding factor was: as Hart always tells me, "error on the side that makes Mo hurl". I don't have a lot of confidence in the back end of the Red Sox pitching but I'm not as sold on the Yanks pitching either. Brown, Johnson and Wright all have serious potential for injury. Similiar to Boston w/Clement & Miller , Pavano has a short career (not to say he won't perform but its just a whole different ballgame in the big apple). The balance as always could come down to midseason trades for the extra starter or reliever between these two teams.
You know I really don't have a problem with Dan Patrick except he has these really annoying hair product commercials. I don't demand a lot but hair spray commercials should be illegal.
While I'm sure everyone will be posting their own predictions. I am fairly torn between the Yanks and Red Sox. The deciding factor was: as Hart always tells me, "error on the side that makes Mo hurl". I don't have a lot of confidence in the back end of the Red Sox pitching but I'm not as sold on the Yanks pitching either. Brown, Johnson and Wright all have serious potential for injury. Similiar to Boston w/Clement & Miller , Pavano has a short career (not to say he won't perform but its just a whole different ballgame in the big apple). The balance as always could come down to midseason trades for the extra starter or reliever between these two teams.
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