3/12: Decertification, Jimmer, Kemba, etc...

It was a busy, busy Friday in Sports....

• The NFLPA decertifies... if you haven't heard by now (and that's pretty impossible), the union has decertified, and been subsequently locked out by the owners... what does it all mean? Basically, this has gone from semi-civilized negotiation to full-on litigation with this move... the timetables are supposedly slower, their can be NO league operation basically (resulting in lay-offs, the stop of personnel moves, etc.), and the virtual shutdown of the league... I know it's tough to be invested fully in this with real, live game action nowhere near AND with basketball in full swing, but stay tuned, but this isn't good...

In actual, on-field matters...

• Jimmer Fredette is an alien... the BYU guard cemented his stranglehold on National POY honors with a 52 point performance in the Cougars' win over New Mexico on Friday... previously 0-2 against the Lobos, he pretty much wouldn't be denied... 22 of 37 (!) from the field, 7 of 14 from 3... it's really outlandish how much free reign he has in that offense, but when you shoot like this, why not?
• In the Big East was the other leading story...How bout Kemba Walker? Earlier in the day, Kemba had 33 in leading UConn to a win in a virtual road game (at MSG) over Syracuse in OT... he's been pretty ludicrous recently, and especially in this tourney... it's not the full 1-man show that some may believe it is, but he's carrying them... and Louisville will meet them in the final after knocking off Notre Dame... the story for me was Ben Hansborough shooting a putrid 3 of 17... they just couldn't overcome it...
• In the Big 10... Ohio State escapes by the skin of their teeth over Northwestern... it was a see-saw game throughout, and went to OT before the 6-point win... Michigan State put up their best performance of the season in blowing out top-10 Purdue by 18... I'm not sure that seals their tourney bid, but it was a must-win spot for them... Penn State and Wisconsin play to a virtual standstill... 36-33... that's the final score for those of you scoring at home... I can't even comment here, but it's a tough loss for Wisconsin... good gracious... and Michigan gets a big win over Illinois... cementing their tourney bid once and for all, and locking themselves in as the most overachieving Wolverines roster in 20 years... thanks fellas...
• In the ACC... North Carolina storms back from 20 down to Miami, taking their first and only lead on a Tyler Zeller layup at the buzzer... Duke holds serve over Maryland by 16, and Clemson wins a crucial bubble matchup over BC via 23-point blowout...
• In the Big 12... Kansas keeps pace with... well, themselves... as they are expected to cruise and have held serve thus far, continuing to do so with a 90-83 over Colorado behind 40 points and 21 boards combined from the Morris twins... and Texas holds serve over A&M setting up the Final that everyone wanted to see in that league...
• Out west in the Pac-10... Arizona held off USC to make the title game thanks to 20 from Derrick Williams... I really, really like that team...USC was playing without coach Kevin O'Neill who was suspended due to a fan altercation.. yeah.... and Washington beats up on Oregon to reach the final as well despite Isaiah Thomas shooting just 2 of 11... he did add 12 dimes though...
• Lastly, the SEC saw Florida, Kentucky, and Alabama get wins they were expected to get... Alabama may have knocked UGA out of the field and inserted themselves into it... crucial... other than that, not very much interest from me here...

Non-college...

• NBA Check - Boston falls in Philly 89-86 in OT... the Celtics are reeling a bit, but I think we can pretty much chalk it up to the dog days of March... Charlotte rises up and knocks off Portland in Gerald Wallace's return... S-Jax led the way for the Bobcats with 29 and 10... The Bulls hammered the Hawks in Chicago... Derrick Rose got right with 34 points, and the Hawks couldn't generate any offense all night... frustrating/maddening.... Kevin Love isn't from this planet (much like Jimmer)... 24 and 12 for him (again) and the streak continues.. and the Golden State backcourt takes down Orlando... Monta Ellis dropped 39 points, 11 assists and 6 boards while Steph Curry added 22 and 12 to overcome Dwight's 21 boards and J-Rich with 30...

And there it is... deep breath... what to watch for on Saturday...

• Big 12 Title Game - #10 Texas vs. #2 Kansas - ESPN 6:00 - It's the matchup the Big 12 would've drawn up... Kansas is the better team and the Morris twins have no match on Texas, but they're def. capable of knocking them off...
• Big East Title Game - #19 UConn vs. #14 Louisville - ESPN 9:00 - It's pretty much a test of shutting down Kemba Walker... good luck with that, but Pitino has the horses to do it...
• Pac-10 Title Game - Washington vs. #15 Arizona - CBS 6:00 - Shame they have to go head-to-head with the Big 12, but this is probably the best matchup for the league...
• Mountain West Title Game - #8 BYU vs. #6 San Diego State - CBS College 7:00 - I wish this was on a channel everyone could see, but it may be the best game of the day... SDSU has 31 wins and 2 losses... both of which are to BYU... and oh yeah, there's that guy Jimmer who had 52 yesterday (see above)...
• Big Ten Semis - #1 Ohio State vs. Michigan - CBS 1:30 - Well, the rivalry is enough to sell it, but Michigan has played both games incredibly tight this year... Go Blue...
• Big Ten Semis - Michigan State vs. Penn State - CBS 4:00 - Would anyone else NOT be surprised if Michigan State won the whole tourney?
• ACC Semis - #7 North Carolina vs. Clemson - ESPN 1:00 - All signs point to the dream matchup...
• ACC Semis - Virginia Tech vs. #5 Duke - ESPN 3:00 - And that dream matchup includes the tobacco road rivals...
• SEC Semis - #16 Kentucky vs. Alabama - ABC 1:00 - Apparently, Alabama's OT win over UGA wasn't enough... so they'll need this one...
• SEC Semis - #24 Vandy vs. #12 Florida - ABC 3:30 - Pretty good game here actually... Florida is one of the more under-discussed teams in the country...
• Blazers @ Hawks - SportSouth 7:00 - Lamarcus Aldridge and the boys come to town... Atlanta is very much reeling right now, and I'm not sure Portland is the best medicine...
• Jazz @ Bulls - WGN 8:00 - Derrick Rose is worth watching...
• Lakers @ Mavs - NBA-TV 9:00 - Awesome game that'll get lost in the shuffle thanks to the college action, but Dallas is scorching right now, and LA is, well, LA...
• WAC Final - Boise State vs. #17 Utah State - ESPN2 10:00 - Oh, you thought the day was over with the Big East nightcap? Wrong... Utah State is worth the watch too...
• C-USA Final - Memphis vs. UTEP - CBS 11:30 - Live hoops at 11:30 am? With legit teams? Nice... Randy Culpepper can put up 40 at any time for UTEP...

Seize the day... it's a busy one...

3/11: Conference Tourneys Revving Up, etc...

Greetings all.... College Hoops rules the day...

• The Big East Tourney gets top billing with 8 tourney teams taking on each other... Kemba Walker knocked down a giant stepback jumper at the gun to beat Pittsburgh 76-74... Not a whole lot to gleam from that one since both teams are solidly in, but Kemba is one of the only guys in the country capable of totally strapping his team to his back... Notre Dame blew out Cincy... 89-51 was the most shocking score of the day for me... Cincy was hot coming into the game, but ND is just in a rhythm right now, and they have serious talent/experience... Syracuse outlasts St. John's... crazy atmosphere at MSG for that one, and I really like St. John's going forward, but Cuse got some impressive play from Triche and a random cameo from Fab Melo (career-high 11 points) to get the win... and Marquette gets run over by Louisville... another surprising score since Marquette had been very, very hot coming in... I don't think it affects Marquette being solidly in the field, but it doesn't help...
• Elsewhere... Kansas squeaks by Ok State... they shot only 36% from the field and got a win, pretty much showing how much the talent edge overwhelms other Big 12 teams... San Diego State wins their 30th game of the year... it's a game they were supposed to win over Utah, but it's worth noting... 30 wins is 30 wins... and Colorado upsets K-State... they've beaten them 3 times this year, and Colorado's resume is pretty impressive now...

Elsewhere...

• Miami gets a win... 94-88 over the Lakers at home... Chris Bosh showed up for the Heat with 24 and 9 to lead the way, but the key was winning on the glass 46-37 (somehow), and holding LA to 40% shooting... encouraging if you're a Heat fan.... if there are any of you out there...
• Elsewhere in the league... Dallas crushes the Knicks 127-109... thoroughly dominating them on one end led by Dirk's 23, and they were able to bottle up the NYK offense enough... and Denver keeps rolling along... 116-97 on the road, winning for the first time in Phoenix in their last 13 tries, and that unit is still impressing... one note on Phoenix, Marcin Gortat is grabbing every rebound in sight after having another 18 rebound performance yesterday...
• The NFL countdown is on... that's all I got...
• David Stern publicly shuts down Stan Van Gundy... saying that "we won't be hearing from Stan anymore"... one of the more blatant shakedowns I've ever seen from Stern publicly lol... I liked it...

What to watch for on a jam-packed Friday...

• Big East Semis - #14 Louisville vs. #4 Notre Dame - ESPN 9:00 - A pair of pretty awesome games at the Garden... ND is a well-oiled machine right now, but Louisville has the athletes...
• Big East Semis - #19 UConn vs. #11 Syracuse - ESPN 7:00 - The opener of the night pits Kemba vs. that Cuse Zone... a rematch of the 6-OT game in the Garden 2 years ago...
• Big 10 Quarters - #1 Ohio State vs. Northwestern - ESPN Noon - A nice appetizer for the day... the Bucks should have no trouble...
• ACC Quarters - #5 Duke vs. Maryland - ESPN2 7:00 - Huge opportunity for Maryland, but I don't think Duke has any issue here, especially in their own backyard...
• Illinois vs. Michigan - ESPN 2:00 - No one cares but me... but alas, Go Blue... for the right to guarantee a tourney spot...
• Hawks @ Bulls - SportSouth 8:00 - Pretty good matchup here if you want to avoid the college mayhem... another shot for the Hawks to contain Rose (after doing a great job in their last meeting)

Enjoy it...

3/10: Madness in MSG, NFL Labor, etc.

Greetings all....

• Well I guess I have to start with Rutgers/St. John's... First off, the only reason why this is a national story to this level is because the game was on ESPN... okay then, now that that is out of the way, it was certainly a calamity... a missed over-the-back call, a questionable (but not awful) no-call on a floater in the lane, and then the travesty of the STJ player taking 3 steps out of bounds (with no dribble) before the clock expired... na, we're good... fortunately for everyone involved, the stakes are pretty low here (comparably), but wow...
• Elsewhere in college hoops... UConn beats up on Georgetown behind Kemba Walker's 28... Georgetown isn't quite the enigma that Villanova is seeding-wise, but I'm not sure how to deal with them either... Baylor goes down in a heap... without freshman star Perry Jones (suspended for benefits, etc.), the Bears got blitzed and will likely be out of the tourney... Long Island gets a tourney bid with an OT win over Robert Morris in the Northeast conference.. yeah... Marquette seals their tourney fate (in all likelihood) with a huge win over West Virginia... and congrats to Northern Colorado on their first ever tourney bid as the Big Sky winner...
• NFL Players Union Head DeMaurice Smith will reportedly "not agree to an 18-game schedule"... that's big news simply because if it's a sticking point, it can hinder negotiations even further...

The NBA is on the back-burner for a few weeks because of the NCAA Tournament... it happens every year, and there's no avoiding it... but make no mistake, it's a crucial time for the playoff push... at any rate...

• Carmelo Anthony bangs home a game-winner after NYK blew a 17-point late lead to Memphis... Melo led the way for the Knicks with 31, and Toney Douglas filled in admirably for Billups with 10 dimes...
• Elsewhere in the Assocation... Kevin Durant put up a 34 point, 16 rebound performance in beating Philly on the road in OT... real nice game up there, and Philly has kind of made a leap to relevance... The Clippers beat the Celtics... in Boston!?... and Blake Griffin only had 12 points?... Wow... Mo Williams led the way for LAC with 28 and Deandre Jordan put up a 21/9 for the Clips as well... really nice win for them... New Orleans shocks Dallas without Chris Paul... 93-92 final in NO, and the Hornets scored the last 8 points in the last 1:13 to win it by 1... Marco Belinelli and Jarrett Jack combined for 42 in the win... and San Antonio improves to 30-3 at home with a win over Detroit.. no one played over 34 minutes for SA... it's what they do...

What to watch for on Thursday...

• 51 games... 51 college hoops games on Thursday... good gracious...
• Big East Quarters - #19 UConn vs. #3 Pittsburgh - Noon ESPN - two top-20 teams... top-5 player in the country in Kemba, and a "team" in Pitt... at noon on a Thursday!
• Big East Quarters - #18 St. John's vs. #11 Syraacuse - Awesome scene here... any time Syracuse plays at MSG it's a default home game... unless they're playing St. John's... raucous...
• Big East Quarters - Cincinnati vs. #4 Notre Dame - 7:00 ESPN - Cincy couldn't be any hotter right now... but ND has had it going for weeks, really nice game
• Big East Quarters - Marquette vs. #14 Louisville - 9:00 ESPN - Probably the worst game of the 4... but still an awesome one lol... 2 tourney teams...
• Big 12 Quarters - #2 Kansas vs. Oklahoma State - 12:30 ESPN2 - Kansas is the class of that league... worth watching, especially midday...
• Big 12 Quarters - Missouri vs. #23 Texas A&M - 9:30 ESPN2 - Pretty decent matchup
• Pac 10 Quarters - Oregon vs. UCLA - 9:00 FSN - UCLA is underrated somehow... despite being UCLA...
• Pac 10 Quarters - Washington St. vs. Washington - 11:30 FSN - If you're up late night... this is an awesome matchup... rivals squaring off
• Lakers @ Heat - 7:00 TNT - Obviously a huge game here... the 2 most-hyped teams in the L this year, and Miami really needs this one... alas, I don't think they get it...
• Knicks @ Mavs - 9:30 TNT - Dallas is scorching hot, but kind of laid an egg on Wednesday in New Orleans.... both teams on back-to-back though...

Enjoy... the madness is brewing...

3/9: Tressel, Heat, etc...

Aloha... My apologies for the lack of posting... it's been a long one... at any rate, let's get to it... and don't forget to check out Parts 1-3 of the MLB Preview...

• Jim Tressel suspended 2 games and fined for a perceived cover-up of the Terrelle Pryor memorabilia scandal... "The Vest" would've been the last guy I'd think would get caught up in any NCAA scandal, but this is a blackmark for him... any talk of him being fired seems wildly speculative, and that rumor has already been squashed, but this type of turmoil is pretty severe when you consider that I can't even think of the last time an SEC head coach was suspended... and I don't feel the least bit bad about smiling when I heard this news... Go Blue...
• The Miami Heat have lost 5 straight games... 6 out of 8 games overall, and the last 4 (!) at home... this after a 105-96 loss to rejuvenated Portland last night... in typical fashion, Lebron and Wade were pretty impressive (69 total points, 13 assists), but the Heat got literally nothing off of the bench (just 8 points total), and Chris Bosh shot 3 of 11 for 7 points... The story is played out at this point in that they just don't have reliable role players, their end-game situations are predictable, their bigs are woeful, and they haven't executed... there it is.... on Portland's side?... People forget how scary of a team this could be... Brandon Roy had a spring in his step last night (14 points on just 8 shots in 23 minutes), Aldridge has become a legit superstar, and that's a crunch-time 5 that's as good as anyone's... if I'm an upper-echelon West team, that's the team I want to avoid in Round 1 because I feel like they could beat anyone sans LA, and even then, with a healthy Camby/Aldridge, they match up decently...
• Zach Greinke has a broken rib... that he broke playing basketball... these are always fun stories... apparently, Greinke is in week 2 of a 4-6 week recovery time, and while his new team probably isn't happy, he'll be okay for Opening Day...
• College Hoops!... Champs first... Arkansas Little-Rock hit a game-winning triple at the buzzer to win the Sun Belt (big-ups)... Butler cruised over UW-Milwaukee by 15 in a virtual road game to win the Horizon... and Oakland held off Oral Roberts to win the Summit League behind Keith Benson's 28 and 14... he's a legit NBA talent...
• Elsewhere in CBB... Villanova goes down in a heap... they've lost 10 of their last 15 including 5 in a row, and honestly, I have no idea what the committee does with them... they could be down around the 9-10 seed at this point, and there's a legit argument for leaving them out of the field (which won't happen, but still)... Marquette seals their bid (it seems) with a drubbing of Providence in Round 1... and Princeton beats to Penn to force a 1-game playoff with Harvard for the Ivy League crown... only in the Ivy!...
• Cam Newton and Nick Fairley had their pro day in Auburn yesterday and it was carried live on ESPN3.com.... Come... On.... The thing about this is? I'm sure they got excellent ratings... I just don't understand it... at any rate, both reportedly looked good, as Cam impressed in his throwing display, and Fairley worked to shed complaints about his size/technique...
• NBA (Non-Heat) Check... The Lakers beat up the Hawks 101-87 to win their winning streak to 8... as usual, Atlanta had no answer... and while I was pleasantly surprised by Larry Drew's rotations (i.e. burying Josh Powell, etc.) but the Hawks couldn't overcome another lackluster game from Johnson (4-14 fg) and another Jamal Crawford stinkbomb (2 of 8)... Philly stayed hot with a 10-point road win against reeling Indiana... Thaddeus Young led the way with 18 and 9 for the Sixers... and Phoenix got a big win over Houston behind 64 combined points from Hakim Warrick (whattt?!) and Vince Carter... overcoming 32 from Kyle Lowry on the other end (who apparently eviscerated Steve Nash)...

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• Big East 2nd Round - #19 UConn vs. #22 Georgetown - 12:00 ESPN - Best matchup of quality teams on the day... and it's a noon start on a Wednesday... awesome
• big East 2nd Round - Rutgers @ #18 St. John's - 2:00 ESPN - I don't see the Johnnies dropping a "home" game to Rutgers....
• Big East 2nd Round - Marquette vs. West Virginia - 9:00 ESPN - Everyone assumes that Marquette is in... but if they got this one, it would no longer be an assumption...
• Big Sky Final - Montana vs. N. Colorado - 9:00 ESPN2
• Knicks @ Grizzlies - 8:00 NBA-TV - If you don't like college hoops... not a bad game here

Enjoy...

2011 MLB Preview Part 3: AL East

Okay... So I lied about the upcoming "daily" post... forgive me... and instead, be indulged with Part 3 of the MLB Preview... Enjoy...

1. Boston Red Sox (97-65) - Best team in the AL for me...

• Lineup - Man, this is a pretty impressive unit... the duo of newly acquired superstars in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez is pretty scary... Crawford is a 5-tool guy who will steal 60 bases if you let him, and Gonzalez moves from the worst hitter's park in the league, to one of the better ones (especially for a lefty)... add them to the existing core of Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, and Ortiz? Special unit... there are 2 spots of concern.... the catcher's spot of Saltalamacchia and Varitek is not one I'd expect a ton from, and the shortstop battle is ongoing between Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie... either one of them will be at least league average, so it's not too much of a concern... I think I may like this lineup even better than the more vaunted Yankees version...


• Starting Pitching - Here's the key for the Sox... we know they're going to hit... there's just too much talent for them not to... but the pitching has questions... Jon Lester is a bonafied stud, and there's not a lot of risk... Cy Young candidate... After that, it gets fun... Josh Beckett (former World Series MVP, blah, blah blah) looks to be primed and ready in Spring but is coming off the worst season of his career with an ERA over 5... the same is true for John Lackey, but there were much more encouraging signs for Lackey (still threw 210 innings, sub 4 ERA after the break)... Clay Buchholz had his breakout in 2010 and should be expected to be above-average, but the strikeout rate is pretty low (120 Ks in 173 innings), and I'm not sure a 2.33 ERA is sustainable... at any rate, he's a good pitcher... the 5th spot is the crapshoot... Dice-K... the "national treasure" (lol) was horrendous in both 2009 and 2010 when he was even pitching and memories of his 18-3 year in 2008 are fading... they have Wakefield for insurance though...


• Bullpen - Papelbon anchors the back-end... but I'm not sure he's the best pitcher down there anymore... young gun Daniel Bard sported a sub-2.00 ERA and electric stuff last year... also, they signed Bobby Jenks for insurance, and bring back Hideki Okajima and Dan Wheeler... very nice unit here...


• Bench - Pretty darn deep for an AL team... Mike Cameron and Darnell McDonald are serviceable in the outfield, whoever loses the SS battle (Lowrie or Scutaro) is very nice, and either catcher would be a fine backup...

They should cruise IMO...

2. Tampa Bay Rays (88-74) - I just heard the Yankees fans gasping from here...

• Lineup - I'm not someone that's going to tell you how they won't miss Carl Crawford all that much... because they will miss him dearly... but this is such a deep roster that they can patch it up a bit... Evan Longoria is a top-2 3B in the league with David Wright (sorry A-Rod)... BJ Upton is a boom-or-bust guy, but even when he "busts", he'll steal 40-50 bases and hit 20 bombs... Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez can both still hit... so even if they both miss significant time and can't field? Just need to patch them together for one spot... and do-everything guy Ben Zobrist is someone I'm really high on... not a great unit, but serviceable at least...


• Rotation - Here's where they separate from the Yankees... David Price is a beast in the #1 starter mold, and I don't expect a fall-off... Wade Davis had a 3.28 ERA after the break last year and has huge upside... Jeremy Hellickson was the #1 prospect pitcher in the majors last year and now takes over a full rotation spot after being very effective in spot duty... Jeff Niemann and James Shields round out the rotation, and while they aren't spectacular by any means, they are significantly more solid than the back-end for the Yanks...


• Bullpen - Jake McGee... a name that AL East fans will know soon enough... the young pitcher is the front-runner for the closer job in Tampa following Soriano's departure... he's got elite stuff, and was dominant in his 8 outings last year in the Majors.. following him are some solid vets like Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta, JP Howell, etc... it's not an elite pen, but it's been overblown on falling off the table...


• Bench - So, so deep... they have 6 outfield options with Damon, Ramirez, Upton, Zobrist, Joyce, Jennings that are all quality, a nice backup catcher in Kelly Shoppach, and the versality of guys like Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez to play multiple spots... love it...

There it is...

3. New York Yankees (86-76) - Mass hysteria!....

• Lineup - Well, you know they've got bats... the vaunted infield of A-Rod/Jeter/Cano/Teixeira is in tact, but let me just do this PSA right now... the best player on that infield? Also the least discussed... Robinson Cano is a better baseball player than any of the other 3 at this point... just thought you should know... Cano is the best 2nd basemen alive after a ridiculous .319/29/109/103 stat line last year... anyway... age is the big issue here... Jeter fell off a lot in 2010, A-Rod is slowly declining, Posada has already declined to the point where he's pretty much DH-only, and they signed Andruw Jones to be their 4th OF... yikes... Granderson/Swisher/Gardner is decent out there, but none of them will hit for average, and with the exception of Gardner's speed, they aren't table-setting for the big guns...


• Starting Pitching - Other than shear age, this is the big concern... Sabathia is a horse.. we don't even need to discuss him... but after that... wow... I do like Phil Hughes, and he was very good last year early but his ERA ballooned north of 4 by the end of the year, and he's not over-powering... the 3 through 5 is woeful... AJ Burnett can't be trusted (as any Yankee fan knows), but he has to pitch, and the back-end is currently Ivan Nova and either Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, or Sergio Mitre... this is the Yankees!... It's an abomination and it can't be overlooked... it's the single biggest visible weakness I can remember the Yanks having since the late 90's run...


• Bullpen - This is a strength... Mariano Rivera never ages somehow... and as much as the caveat needs to be inserted that he WILL at some point fall off, I'm tired of predicting it every year... Rafael Soriano is violently overpaid at $13 million per, but if he's your set-up guy? You're in fantastic shape... he's elite in that role... elsewhere is uninspiring with guys like Feliciano and Joba, but the back 2 is enough...


• Bench - Andruw Jones... Ramiro Pena... Francisco Cervilli/Russell Martin.... Not a lot to get excited about here... but again, American league... the only issue is with the relative age of the regulars, these guys may have to see extended time...

Feel free to kill me on this one... but I'm taking my stance against Ivan Nova, AJ Burnett, Sergio Mitre, and company...

4. Toronto Blue Jays (77-85) - The cliff....

• Lineup - Here's a little Blue Jays rant... Okay... you've just rid yourself (somehow) of the Vernon Wells contract albatross that no one thought you'd ever be able to move.. congratulations!... How are you going to celebrate?... Oh, I'm going to give a giant 5-year extension to Jose Bautista because he had one fluke power year in a hitter's park, WHEN I DON'T HAVE TO PAY HIM FOR ANOTHER YEAR... what are you thinking!?... Anyway... This is a weird lineup... there's so much power... Bautista, Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Travis Snider, Edwin Encarnacion, JP Arencibia... all guys with pretty high power ceilings... but the issue is, I don't think there's a single one of them that you can absolutely count on... Bautista could be a 1-year aberration, Hill hit sub-.200 last year... Adam Lind has shown glimpses, but nothing sustained, Snider and Encarnacion are sort of middling, and Arencibia is a rookie... there are makings of a potentially big-time lineup here... but there's no way to really gauge it... especially when the peripherals aren't even guys you can pencil in (cough, Yunel Escobar)....


• Starting Pitching - This could actually be a brightspot... Ricky Romero was excellent in 2010 and there's no reason to think he regresses... Brandon Morrow has always been an elite prospect, and there were signs (like the 20-K extravaganza) that he's putting it together... Brett Cecil is a nice, young pitcher, and Kyle Drabek (the prize of the Roy Halladay deal) has some very nice upside... this is another development year for them as they are all young, but it's definitely competitive...


• Bullpen - Interested to see how this shakes out... They have 4 guys with closing experience... the front-runner for that job seems to be Frank Francisco, but Jon Rauch, Jason Frasor, and Octavio Dotel have all done it before with varying degrees of success... do the math, and it's a pretty good overall unit when you have 4 guys with closer profiles...


• Bench - Not a whole lot of appreciable depth here, but they have interchangeable parts in Bautista, Encarnacion, and Rivera that can help them out a little...

Another year or 2 away... if they stop spending 8 figures on Jose Bautista and the like...

5. Baltimore Orioles (75-87) - There honestly isn't a bad team in this division...

• Lineup - Actually really nice here... the O's went and spent a lot of money on offense in the winter... Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, and JJ Hardy add to their existing young core of Markakis, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters to form a really nice lineup... There seems to be a conflict as to whether they are building for the future by playing youngsters or trying to win now i.e. signing high-priced vets, but it makes them better this year and they haven't blocked any of their high-level guys... the key to the offense is Brian Roberts... the former top-3 second basemen has been battling injury issues, but looks to be 100% and he makes their offense go when he's getting on base and running at the top... an underrated unit...


• Starting Pitching - Lots of talent, not a whole lot of experience at this level... Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz are the default 1 and 2... Guthrie has been a solid major-leaguer for a while now, and he will continue to be that... Matusz is their prized prospect who had a nice debut in 2010 (10 wins, 4.32 ERA)... they've taken a shot at Justin Duchscherer.. the highly-talented former A's pitcher who just can't stay on the field with injury... and they have Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta, two of their home-grown prospects, at the back-end to get them some experience...


• Bullpen - Mike Gonzalez, Koji Uehara, and Kevin Gregg are in a battle for the closer spot.. Gonzalez is paid the most, Uehara has the best stuff, and Gregg has the most recent closer experience (in TOR)... I don't think it matters a whole lot...


• Bench - Felix Pie is a solid 4th OF... Jake Fox has 20-HR upside if nothing else, and I've always liked Cesar Izturis... it could be worse...

Not quite there... but they won't lose 100 this year barring anything catastrophic...

There's the AL East... Stay tuned as we head to the NL later in the month...

Late Post Coming...

Crazy work day... stay tuned...

3/7: Miami Fizzles, Lakers Soar, etc...

Greetings... My apologies on missing Sunday... I had a nice little run going too...

• Chicago 87, Miami 86... So, if you've had a TV in the last 18 hours (at time of print), you've seen/heard about this Miami loss... crying in the locker room... vows to "stop failing teammates"... what does it all mean?... Well, for one thing, Chicago is very, very good... Derrick Rose (27 points on 11-23 shooting) led the way in a road win for the Bulls, and I don't think it should be news that Chicago is better than Miami... if you've been tuning in, that's kind of a given... One note for the Bulls, did you happen to notice who drew the Lebron assignment on the last possession? Mr. Joakim Noah... iso'd at the top, wow... anyway, on Miami's side, Lebron had a typical Lebron game (26/8/6), Bosh played pretty well (shooting 9-14), and Wade had 20 despite shooting 8 of 19... I can't stand having this team seemingly boiled down to whatever happens on the last shot simply because it's a heavily flawed situation... Mike Bibby, as any Hawks fan can attest, is D-O-N-E... Mike Miller? I championed the signing in the offseason but he's honestly been about as bad as he could've been, so far... there's just not any role players here... on the Lebron/closing games issue... Dwyane Wade is the better half-court player, and always has been, but it's not as though we've never seen Lebron hit clutch shots before... unfortunately for him, he's had a slew of opportunities in a short period of time, and now he's "the guy who can't hit a big shot"... let it breathe people....


• LA Lakers 99, San Antonio 83... Here they come... the Lakers are scorching hot with their 7th straight win, and cue the "Spurs are a mirage, Lakers are champs" non-sense... it's a one-game sample and San Antonio is 2-1 on the year in this series... but for one afternoon, LA had it going... Kobe was an efficient 12-25 for 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists... Andrew Bynum grabbed 17 boards in 27 minutes (impressed by him), and Pau/Lamar added 36 between them... San Antonio's starters just couldn't get anything going... Duncan (1-7), Ginobili (3-10), Blair (2-7), and Jefferson (0-3) combined for just 15 points... that won't get it done...


• Jon Diebler is from another planet... the Ohio State guard is 17 of 20 from 3-point distance in their last 2 games... 17-20! 85%!... The Buckeyes, as a team, shot 14 of 15 in their blowout win over Wisconsin yesterday including an NCAA-record 14 straight makes after Diebler's initial miss... it's honestly one of the craziest shooting displays I can ever remember... the guy hit 10 on Thursday night... jeez...


• NBA Check - Chris Paul is concussed... it was a scary moment for NO when Paul was carried off on a stretcher, but reportedly, it is "only" a concussion, and he never lost consciousness... good news... and btw, the Hornets won by 15 in Cleveland... Andre Iguodala has back-to-back triple-doubles for Philly... impressive stuff as he led them to an OT win over GSW with 20/11/10... New York gets a road win in Atlanta thanks to 6 guys in double-figures, and 10-23 shooting from 3-point land... and they did it with Melo shooting just 6 of 18... bad news for Atlanta when that's the recipe... Jamal Crawford shot 5 of 13 (again!?), and they couldn't overcome a lackluster game from Horford (2-8 shooting, only 7 boards).... Russell Westbrook led OKC to an OT win over Phoenix with 32 and 11, helping them get past Durant's 3 of 14, 18-point performance... and finally, Zach Randolph puts the nail in Dallas' at the buzzer...104-103.... Z-Bo had 27 points in the win...

What to watch for...

• CAA Title Game - VCU vs. Old Dominion - ESPN 7:00 - This is an underrated league, but the real story is George Mason falling in the Semis, guaranteeing this is a 2-bid league, and with Old Dominion fairly entrenched in the field as well, if VCU can win, the Colonial can get 3 in...


• WCC Title Game - Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's - ESPN 9:00 - Ah, the West Coast... this is the matchup you'd wanna see, and it's one of the higher-level mid-majors in the country... Go Zags...

Slow day in live sports on Monday unless you have the NBA package (Blazers/Magic, Thunder/Grizzlies, etc.)... Stay tuned...