Archive for the 'Miscellaneous' Category

This is the best news I’ve heard in a looooooong time. So good that I had to figure out the log-in and write about it here on my otherwise inactive sports blog.

Seattle Times: Mariners fire GM Bill Bavasi

What this means: I can watch the Mariners again. Not that I want to, but I can.

There’s a bit of a party happening over at USS Mariner. And Lookout Landing just got their post online. Celebration sure to ensue….

I’m not making this up:

The weekend sports gal on our local NBC station just did about 30 seconds on the passing of Red Auerbach — his Celtics history, the championships, drafting Larry Bird, etc. She explains that he died of a heart attack, etc. And then she ends with this:

On a brighter note, at least he’s in a better place tonight.

For real!

In case you missed it, occasional Fan commenter Monk Mojo has started a league on PicksPal, the no-money sports betting site I mentioned a couple posts back.

Here’s Monk Mojo’s comment explaining how to join.

See ya there!

Have I really not posted at all this week? Well, I did start a new job this week and also did some traveling, too — crazy week, but I had no idea The Fan has been a ghosttown since Sunday’s Seahawks recap.

Well, here’s one sports-related thing that I’ve been doing instead of blogging:

Picks Pal

It’s a free, no-money-involved, show-off-your-smarts sports betting site. You simply pick winners, pick against point spreads, pick various props, etc. and you earn points based on how well you do. It’s quite addictive.

Here’s my profile if you want to add me as a friend. Before you start, the Help Page should be helpful.

And here’s a big tip: When you can, bet your points on games/events happening early in the day. Then come back during the day and re-bet the new points you’ve won on stuff happening later in the day. That’s the quickest way to rack up big single-day points.

You really have to see this photo.

Amazing!

I can’t agree more with this Dan Simon article about the current (poor) state of ESPN. What used to be a great, GREAT sports network is ever so slowly starting to become like MTV — lots of distractions, lots of sports-related programming, but not enough about the actual games. SportsCenter gets harder to watch every week. Says Simon:

Other than its broadcast coverage of professional sporting events — “World Series of Poker,” “World’s Strongest Man” and bass fishing not withstanding — ESPN has become repetitive, bland and irrelevant. It no longer focuses on the wealth of games, replays and brief insightful commentary that were its calling cards throughout the 1990s.

When I was on vacation a couple weeks ago, I had no access to Mariners games on TV. This was when they were playing at San Diego and then at Arizona.

So each night I tuned in to ESPN to get some highlights. For three straight nights, they didn’t even mention the Mariners on either SportsCenter or the 20-minute long mini-Baseball Tonight show. Didn’t even mention them! Sure, I saw the score on the scroller at the bottom, but other than that? Nothing.

On the 4th night, they finally showed a Mariners highlight — it was the game where the M’s scored in the 9th to beat Arizona (on the semi-controversial Ibanez HR). But by then, I’d had enough of ESPN. What happened to the good, old days?

Thx to Phil again for the link…

Adam Morrison Successfully Misses Easy Layups During Workout For Raptors

As a favor, I’ve waited until the absolute last minute to post this. No one needs to see this and let it influence his/her own tourney pool. You’ll thank me, later. Trust me.

The Fan’s Picks

ATLANTA BRACKET

1st round: Duke, G.W., Syracuse, LSU, W. Virginia, Iowa, Cal, Texas
2nd round: Duke, LSU, W. Virginia, Texas
Regional final: Duke, Texas
Final Four: Duke

OAKLAND BRACKET

1st round: Memphis, Arkansas, Pitt, Kansas, Indiana, Gonzaga, Marquette, UCLA
2nd round: Memphis, Pitt, Indiana, UCLA
Regional final: Memphis, UCLA
Final Four: UCLA

D.C. BRACKET

1st round: Conn., Kentucky, UW, Illinois, Michigan St., NC, Seton Hall, Tennessee
2nd round: Conn., Illinois, Michigan St., Tennessee
Regional final: Conn., Michigan St.
Final Four: Connecticut

MINNEAPOLIS BRACKET

1st round: Nova, Wisconsin, Nevada, BC, UW-Milwaukee, Florida, G’town, Ohio St.
2nd round: Nova, BC, Florida, Ohio St.
Regional final: BC, Florida
Final Four: BC

FINAL FOUR

Duke over UCLA
Connecticut over BC

CHAMPIONSHIP

Connecticut over Duke
—————————–
Random thoughts….

1) This is my favorite 2.5 weeks of the sporting year.

2) Yes, I’m drinking the UCLA kool-aid. Love the defense they play, and love the guard play — two keys to March Madness success.

3) Yes, I have both UW and Gonzaga losing this weekend. In truth, I haven’t seen enough of UW to have a strong opinion either way. I just don’t like the matchup against Illinois. As for Gonzaga, I dislike them for the same reasons I like UCLA — defense and guard play. The Zags don’t play enough ‘D’, and I’ve already outlined my thoughts on Derek Raivio before.

I wish them both well, and I’ll be rooting for both … but I think it’ll be a short tourney for both teams.

I was telling my son this about a week ago: This is probably the best football season I’ve ever lived through*. Both of my favorite teams are having great years: Notre Dame and the Seahawks. I cannot wait each week for the weekend — Saturdays are great, and Sundays even better. I’m getting ZERO fall yardwork done. Running errands? Heh. Only in the morning if the Irish or Hawks are playing later.

Among a great many more important things, I’m thankful for this incredible football season. Let’s hope it lasts through January.

Hot on the heels of my recent rants about the college football poll system and Notre Dame’s position, Pat Forde’s latest column on ESPN.com offers some more fuel for ND’s fire: The Irish are ranked 16th (!) in the opening BCS poll. What a joke….

But as dumb as the polls are, it’s the computer rankings that kill Notre Dame. The microchips rank it 25th.

That’s because the Irish’s three victories over ranked teams — Pittsburgh, Michigan and Purdue — have all lost their luster as those teams have fallen apart. But maybe, just maybe, Notre Dame had something to do with those collapses. All three looked legit until Charlie Weis’ team skewered them on their own home fields.

Very well said…..