I have to say, considering the direction that the NCAA tournament has gone in, I think I have done pretty well. Especially in the last couple rounds. So here are my probably correct next round picks:
First Game:
University of Kentucky(4) vs University of Connecticut (3). Both of these teams have played amazingly to get to this point, whether through last second shots by Smith to get them past OSU or big step up play by the freshman Lam to push UCONN past Arizona. This game is going to be very entertaining, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing which team is able to step up through the pressure of being in the final four to make the Championship game. My prediction for this game: UCONN. I have been backing UCONN to win this tournament from day 1 and I still believe that with great coaching by Jim Calhoun and clutch shooting by Kemba Walker it will be very hard to take them out. The only thing to worry about is that UK does have strong inside play from some of their younger guys, and with UCONN big men often getting in foul trouble, UK may be able to capitalize. Hopefully fouls do not become a problem and UCONN can breeze through this game.
Second Game:
Butler University (8) vs Virginia Commonwealth University (11). Yes that is not a typo, and 11 seed is in the final four, a team that so many analysts criticized for making the tournament have battled through big conference team after big conference team to make it to the final four. However, there next road block is going to be tough. Much of the reason VCU has made it this far is because of their young gutsy coaching, unfortunately, Butler has the same exact style of coaching, and with close win after close win, it is hard to say that Howard and the Butler Bulldogs will not find a way to sneak through this game as well. My prediction Butler wins and continues through to their second straight Championship game.
Title Game:
UCONN (3) vs Butler (8)
Butler lost in a heart breaker last year to Duke in the final game. Unfortunately for the Bulldog fans I think history will repeat its self, and the UCONN Huskeys will walk away with the title. Yes Butler unarguably has the heart, but when it comes to talent, they just cannot stand up against the UCONN powerhouses. They are too fast, too clutch, and too good to not win this title.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
March Madness
This NCAA tournament has been nothing short of entertaining, with last second wins, big upsets and unbelievable plays. Although just about everyones bracket has been completely destroyed, there is no doubting that this tournament is probably the most entertaining month of sports.
Even though my bracket has been pretty brutalized like everyone else's I do want to talk about what I think will happen in the rest of the tournament.
First of all lets start in the east:
We have (1)Ohio State vs (4)Kentucky and (11)Marquette vs (2)North Carolina.
I believe that Ohio State will beat kentucky. They have way to much fire power. There is a reason why they are the number 1 over all seed, they are big, fast and can shoot teams out of the gym. They have proved that by winning their last 2 games by an average of 30+ points. Next I think that Marquette will continue their run by taking out the North Carolina Tar heels. With smart inside play and good coaching they have managed to take down 2 very talented teams in Xavier and Syracuse, both which play very similarly to North Carolina.
That leaves us with the (1) vs (11) seed. As much as I would love to choose Marquette, I cannot see Ohio state loosing to a team that can match up so well with them inside.
Next we will go with the West:
We have (1) Duke vs (5) Arizona and (3) Uconn and (2) San Diego State.
I believe that Arizona will take out the number 1 seed Duke blue devils. They have been playing very well as a team, and with duke coming off a very unimpressive "win" over a pretty week Michigan team, they have a lot to prove. Next I think that Uconn will take out San Diego State. Uconn has the 3 things i look for when i look for a championship team. 1. good coach who has been there before. 2. good inside players and 3. a player that can make the clutch shots (Kemba Walker) this player is by far the most amazing player in the tournament and can take over a game. For this reason I think that Uconn will go on to beat Arizona and make the final four.
Next is the South West:
This section gives us the (1) Kansas v (12) Richmond and (11) VCU vs (10) Florida State.
This section has been by far the most entertaining. Unfortunately i think the run for the (12)Richmond spiders (who i called to pull up the upset over the (5) vanderbilt team) will lose. Kansas is a very good team and with the brother connection it is hard to see them losing to anyone soon. Next I think that VCU will continue their amazing run by beating florida st, unfortunately this is where it will end. Kansas is too strong and will make it to yet another final four.
Finally is the South East.
We have (8) Butler vs (4) Wisconsin and (3) BYU vs (2) florida.
I think we will see Butler beat Wisconsin. They have somehow found a new gear once the tournament started, with 2 close wins over Old Dominion and Pittsburgh. I also think that florida will knock out BYU. Although BYU has looked strong i think that florida has too much size and is simply too deep for BYU to keep up with.
With Butler v Florida i think florida will edge out butler. Again i think that the size of florida will be their key.
Let me know what you think...agree dissagree. I'll write again soon to let you know what I think for the final 4.
March Madness
This NCAA tournament has been nothing short of entertaining, with last second wins, big upsets and unbelievable plays. Although just about everyones bracket has been completely destroyed, there is no doubting that this tournament is probably the most entertaining month of sports.
Even though my bracket has been pretty brutalized like everyone else's I do want to talk about what I think will happen in the rest of the tournament.
First of all lets start in the east:
We have (1)Ohio State vs (4)Kentucky and (11)Marquette vs (2)North Carolina.
I believe that Ohio State will beat kentucky. They have way to much fire power. There is a reason why they are the number 1 over all seed, they are big, fast and can shoot teams out of the gym. They have proved that by winning their last 2 games by an average of 30+ points. Next I think that Marquette will continue their run by taking out the North Carolina Tar heels. With smart inside play and good coaching they have managed to take down 2 very talented teams in Xavier and Syracuse, both which play very similarly to North Carolina.
That leaves us with the (1) vs (11) seed. As much as I would love to choose Marquette, I cannot see Ohio state loosing to a team that can match up so well with them inside.
Next we will go with the West:
We have (1) Duke vs (5) Arizona and (3) Uconn and (2) San Diego State.
I believe that Arizona will take out the number 1 seed Duke blue devils. They have been playing very well as a team, and with duke coming off a very unimpressive "win" over a pretty week Michigan team, they have a lot to prove. Next I think that Uconn will take out San Diego State. Uconn has the 3 things i look for when i look for a championship team. 1. good coach who has been there before. 2. good inside players and 3. a player that can make the clutch shots (Kemba Walker) this player is by far the most amazing player in the tournament and can take over a game. For this reason I think that Uconn will go on to beat Arizona and make the final four.
Next is the South West:
This section gives us the (1) Kansas v (12) Richmond and (11) VCU vs (10) Florida State.
This section has been by far the most entertaining. Unfortunately i think the run for the (12)Richmond spiders (who i called to pull up the upset over the (5) vanderbilt team) will lose. Kansas is a very good team and with the brother connection it is hard to see them losing to anyone soon. Next I think that VCU will continue their amazing run by beating florida st, unfortunately this is where it will end. Kansas is too strong and will make it to yet another final four.
Finally is the South East.
We have (8) Butler vs (4) Wisconsin and (3) BYU vs (2) florida.
I think we will see Butler beat Wisconsin. They have somehow found a new gear once the tournament started, with 2 close wins over Old Dominion and Pittsburgh. I also think that florida will knock out BYU. Although BYU has looked strong i think that florida has too much size and is simply too deep for BYU to keep up with.
With Butler v Florida i think florida will edge out butler. Again i think that the size of florida will be their key.
Let me know what you think...agree dissagree. I'll write again soon to let you know what I think for the final 4.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
5 Reasons I hate Baseball
I know I'm totally hating on this sports, which is kind of ironic because I really do love all sports, but with baseball starting up, I honestly find myself rolling my eyes every time they show a spring training game on ESPN.
So...reason number 1 that I hate baseball. It's pretty predictable, but its the LENGTH. There is no reason why a season needs to be more than 100 games long. All this does is takes away from the meaning of the game. Who cares if you lose 1 game, you have 99+ more games to make it up. This takes away the intensity. Look at the NFL or college basketball, every single game feels like the play offs because they know that losing that game could mean the difference between a successful season and a bad season. Also there are only so many different ways a game can go, so when you are watching 100+ games for 32+ teams it starts to get a little bit predictable.
Reason number 2. The money. Have you ever looked, I mean REALLY TRUELY LOOKED at how much these players get payed. It's even more disgusting when you realize that they are really not on the field for that long. I saw somewhere once that A-rod gets paid something like $2500 for every minute that he is on the field. Are you kidding me? Honestly, I understand that a lot of these guys are amazing athletes, but you cannot tell me that what these guys do is worth more than guys that are in the NHL.
Reason number 3, athletes. About 50% of the guys on the field are not exactly what I would call athletes. I understand that Prince Fielder can just about hit the leather off the ball, but I honestly believe that an 8 year old could run around the bases faster than he could. Also, there is no way you should be able to chew "tobacco" or even gum, while you are playing a sport.
Number 4 the top 10. As sad as it is, the best part of my morning is watching the Top 10 on ESPN. I would bet good money that this is the same for a decently large percentage of the male population. And during baseball season you can guarantee that 8/10 plays are going to be catches from baseball games that are really not that exciting to watch.
Reason number 5. It has honestly become expectable for these players to cheat. So many of the best players in this game are steroid users, and in all honestly, it's not even a big deal anymore. People have just started shrugging it off because they hear about it so often. The sport is tainted, and the commissioner not doing enough to fix it.
As much as I may hate it, I do still love sports, it just disappoints me that this game is being taken advantage of.
So...reason number 1 that I hate baseball. It's pretty predictable, but its the LENGTH. There is no reason why a season needs to be more than 100 games long. All this does is takes away from the meaning of the game. Who cares if you lose 1 game, you have 99+ more games to make it up. This takes away the intensity. Look at the NFL or college basketball, every single game feels like the play offs because they know that losing that game could mean the difference between a successful season and a bad season. Also there are only so many different ways a game can go, so when you are watching 100+ games for 32+ teams it starts to get a little bit predictable.
Reason number 2. The money. Have you ever looked, I mean REALLY TRUELY LOOKED at how much these players get payed. It's even more disgusting when you realize that they are really not on the field for that long. I saw somewhere once that A-rod gets paid something like $2500 for every minute that he is on the field. Are you kidding me? Honestly, I understand that a lot of these guys are amazing athletes, but you cannot tell me that what these guys do is worth more than guys that are in the NHL.
Reason number 3, athletes. About 50% of the guys on the field are not exactly what I would call athletes. I understand that Prince Fielder can just about hit the leather off the ball, but I honestly believe that an 8 year old could run around the bases faster than he could. Also, there is no way you should be able to chew "tobacco" or even gum, while you are playing a sport.
Number 4 the top 10. As sad as it is, the best part of my morning is watching the Top 10 on ESPN. I would bet good money that this is the same for a decently large percentage of the male population. And during baseball season you can guarantee that 8/10 plays are going to be catches from baseball games that are really not that exciting to watch.
Reason number 5. It has honestly become expectable for these players to cheat. So many of the best players in this game are steroid users, and in all honestly, it's not even a big deal anymore. People have just started shrugging it off because they hear about it so often. The sport is tainted, and the commissioner not doing enough to fix it.
As much as I may hate it, I do still love sports, it just disappoints me that this game is being taken advantage of.
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