3/31 Braves, Madness on Hold, Opening Day, etc.

Here we go...

• To wrap up the madness for a week (at least a little)....I've read more than one take (especially Dan Shanoff who claims the Final 4 is ruined) complaining about all 4 #1s being in the Final 4...I see nothing wrong with it...if anything it produces the highest level of play and some very nice matchups...Problem for CBS is there is no Cinderalla story but that should be quickly made up by the Huge mega-programs of UNC, Kansas, and UCLA....No worries here...Full predictions late in the week.....

• Just for the record....I went back and looked at the Davidson last trip and my basketball reference point helped me to see there was no real way to get Curry the ball unless he brought it up....I can see that....and in reference, a pretty makeable shot for Davidson, just real deep....Congrats to them on a crazy run and at last word Curry is coming back....which brings an interesting debate....


• Should Stephen Curry go pro? It brings about 2 different arguments....The first being the fact that his stock will likely never be higher...no, he's never going in the lottery because he's about 6'2, rail thin, and isn't a point guard....but he could conceivably ride this tourney run to a late 1st round pick, some guaranteed money and a better shot at staying the league....OR he could come back...play at least one more great college season, probably not have the same type of team success, improve his game and try to earn the NBA spot based on merit rather than the reputation of this tournament.....I think he should stay....but I do think it's not a ridiculous thought to leave b/c of the stock argument....Just thought this is an interesting case b/c it's not one of lottery-bound nature but rather one of NBA possibilities (for employment really) being highest potentially now....Rambling now....

And now something COMPLETELY different....

• Baseball? What? Oh yea....My team (The Braves) opened up last night....little interest beforehand...got caught up in the game during the festivities and was let down late when latest Braves' nemesis Ryan Zimmerman (see above) bashed a walk-off HR after the Braves had set down 24 straight Nats to that point...really didn't help me with my baseball excitement level...maybe when the final 4 is over?


• Opening day for every team in the league outside of Boston, Oakland, ATL, and Washington today....lots of first pitches and a full-slate of ESPN/ESPN2 games...I'll catch some for sure....Intriguing at least....

And back to the comfort zone...

• The NBA is winding down and there are some huge storylines (especially out West)....the 3-way tie for the 7th/8th/9th seed is crazy...First for the fact that 45-28 gets you the 7th seed in the West while that same record would place you easily in 4th in the East with a real shot at 3rd (laughs)....2nd because it seems quite logical that Dallas has very to little shot here but I can't guarantee it b/c Denver is so wildly inconsistent and downright bad at times....Common sense tells me there's no way Dallas stays in this thing without Dirk but I could be wrong....And oh yea...5.5 games between 1 and 9 in the West...so every game in the next week or 2 until the season ends can sway homecourt...really a raucous atmosphere
  
• Sunday Recap: San Antonio beats up on Houston at home by 21....I think you'd be crazy to not want to play Houston in Round 1 of the west playoffs....well, or Dallas/Denver....Miami sets a new record for least FGs in the shot-clock era with 17...they're just bad....New Orleans wins #50 with yet another impressive road win in Toronto..man they're good and my love for CP3 heightens daily....The hawks hold serve at home against New York and claim a 2.5 game lead for the East 8 spot and the right to get swept by Boston....only 3.5 behind Philly...but that seems like a pipedream.....Utah continues to show why it can't be taken seriously as a title contender...just putrid on the road in losing in Minnesota...granted they are almost unbeatable in Salt Lake but they'd have to show me the ability to win on the road for me to hitch my wagon to them in any series not involving Houston

Much more later i'm sure...