Raptors Have Bite

Last night the Toronto Raptors made a statement. They man-handled the Miami Heat, and I believe  they are going to be tough in the Eastern Conference playoffs. I actually believe the Raptors could beat Miami in a playoff series. Chris Bosh is a stud, Andrea Bargnani should be rookie of the year, Juan Dixon, T.J. Ford, Mo. Pete,….these guys are good. Toronto has yet to make a splash and do some damage in the playoffs, but I think this is the year of the Raptor.  Will they make the NBA Finals? Probally not. But they sure have made the Air Canada Centre a tough place to get a victory at,

and with the way the Eastern Conference is this year, anything can happen. Detroit, and Miami are the class of the conference, but after that people say Cleveland, New Jersey or Chicago could be there in the end, or even Washington. I think people over look Toronto because of guys like LeBron, Shaq, D. Wade, and Jason Kidd. The big names in the conference, but I think Toronto could beat Jersey or Cleveland in a 7 game series. They may not go far, or they may surprise, but with that talent and youth on their side, Toronto is an up an comer in the East.

K-G: Get out while you can!

The Minnesota Timberwolves hit an all time new low last night. That team is spiraling out of control and Kevin Garnett better get out if he wants any shot at a ring. Hell the way they are playing he better get out if wants a shot at the playoffs again!  Blowing a 25 point lead is bad, real bad. But doing it at home to a hapless Seattle team, without Ray Allen mind you, is just friggin aweful! And just looking at Kevin McHale sit in the crowd with a lifeless look on his face is priceless! Long way from the Garden Party days eh Kevin? I feel for you T-Wolf fans. You have in my opinion the best player in hoops, and hes melting away in Minnesota.  K-G is better then Lebron, Kobe, and others in my opinion, he just has no supporting cast to speak of, and last nights game was a total embarrassment!

G-Town all the way

Well 2 of my Final Four are gone and 2 remain. The most important one to me is Georgetown, who I have winning it all in one of my pools. But I can’t really even concentrate on the Final Four with opening day only 5 days away! I can’t wait for the opening day ceremonies, games on all day on ESPN, grilling hotdogs and drinking beer! And hoping the Yanks hand the ball to Carl Pavano and watch the almight D-Rays take batting practice.  Actually the D-Rays usually give the Yanks all they can handle. I’m sorry I know I’m just way to old-school and I have to learn to change, but I STILL can’t believe what the Yanks are paying Pavano.  WOW! Thats alot of scratch for a guy who had one year over .500. Anywho, I hope all you baseball nuts like me have a great opening day, and the best part about it is, everybody has high hopes for thier teams, and were all in first place! 

Final 4 Intact….For Now

Well my final 4 is still alive! Even though I do have Florida winning their spot in the Final Four, like I wrote a few blogs ago my heart is pulling for UNLV.  I think I was one of the few not surprised that Vegas beat Wisconsin. I almost looked like a real expert when I predicted Xavier would beat Ohio State, and they would have if it weren’t for a missed free throw and a miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to O.T.  When Xavier missed the free throw and Ohio State was dribbling down court why didn’t they foul? I was screaming FOUL HIM!!! They must have not heard me through my T.V.!

How about Butler?  That’s a great story and it could become greater with a victory over Florida. It will be tough, but they have beaten Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Maryland. And don’t forget about USC.  Not really known as a Basketball School, they are turning heads with a victory over Kevin Durant. (oops I mean Texas!) That’s not really a slap at Texas, but if they didn’t have Durant, oh boy! That guy is awesome!  And give USC Head Coach Tim Floyd some credit here. The guy who took a job nobody could win at, (The Chicago Bulls head spot right after the M.J., Phil Jackson years) deserves his credit. He’s doing a great job at USC.

NCAA Football needs brackets

Everybody I know loves the NCAA Basketball tourney. Exciting action and upsets make it fun. But aren’t college sports being pretty hypocritacle? Don’t you think fans would go hog wild if college football had this playoff system? Let the top 10 or 20 teams settle it on the field, like this great basketball tourney they have every year? Look, no offense to teams like Long Beach State, or Texas A&M Corpus Christi, but if they can make the field of 64, how can you snub Rutgers or Boise State in football? Boise went undefeated and should have played for the Championship. But the BCS will say their strength of schedule wasn’t good enough, or they barely beat so and so college…..THAT’S BS! Sorry, but I bet Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s schedule wasn’t as tough as Georgetowns’, but yet they are still competing for the same prize! The Championship of college hoops. If you make a “BCS Bowl” are you supposed to be excited? You can’t be college footballs’ champion unless you are in THE Championship bowl game, the other bowls are just BS! College Football needs to take a page from College Basketball and get it right, let the players decide the outcome, not a computer!

$$$$$

Maryland -7,  Louisville -5.5,  Gonzaga +1 Duke -5

Let the Madness Begin

So the madness of March begins tomorrow. It is a fun time of year. I’m not really a huge basketball fan but the tourney of 64 is awesome. (And lots of fun to wager on!)  It’s always easy to pick a Final Four in your brackets because you usually figure the one or two seed will be there. So I’m going to try to be different and see who could be there in the end who’s not a number #1 seed, and I’d love to hear feedback from people who are into the tourney! Florida is #1 in the Midwest, but watch for UNLV or Maryland to make some noise, and Wisconsin has fire power also, and it helps the Badgers to be playing close to home. The West is tight. Kansas is the #1 seed, but this part of the Final Four could go to Pitts, UCLA, or my sentimental favorite Villanova. Villanova is the best free throw shooting team in the country, and things like that matter in a one game elimination tournament.

The East is  going to #1 N. Carolina, but I like Georgetown. The size on Georgetown is Awesome! Roy Hibbert is a monster and Jeff Green can get hot and shoot lights out! Texas will go as far as Mr. Durant can take them, and look for the Michigan State/Marquette winner to give N. Carolina a good game in the second round.

The South is wide open! Don’t be so quick in filling out that bracket with Ohio State all the way to the Final Four! Louisville, Stanford, and my pick Memphis all have good teams. But the best thing about the tourney is pull for your bracket to win, meet up with your buddies and drink some beers and eat tons of pizza and wings and have fun!

My Picks….

Mid West —Florida  (pullin for UNLV)

West –Kansas

East — Georgetown

South — Memphis

Stardust 1958-2007

Just a tribute to one of my favorite casinos in Vegas. The first hotel casino to let you gamble on sports. I know I’ll miss the Dust.

Ramblings of an Angry Fan

I wrote in 2004 when the Detroit Tigers were going to offer the moon for Carl Pavano it would be the biggest mistake since trading all our future prospects for Juan “I play when I feel like it” Gonzalez. Thank God he chose to go to New York. 39 Million for a guy that had one wining year and a career ERA over 4.50. WOW!  Good luck New York, your going to have to score 10,000 runs to win the AL East this year with that pitching staff! 39 Million for Pavano, that makes my blood boil. No wonder why sports fans are getting turned off more and more each year.  What would Mickey Mantle get in todays market? The first 100 million dollar player,….per year! 

Another thing thats making me shake my head is the NCAA Tourney picks. How in the hell does Syracuse and Drexel get left out of the big dance, and Purdue and Arkansas make it? Who’s  on the selection committee? Curious George? Those teams got screwed! Just like the BCS Selections in football it’s all BS!

And what’s with Chris Simon of the New York Isles? Rough day at home so you thought you’d try to kill a guy on the job? Twenty-five games is a joke. Take the rest of his salary for the year and give it to charity. If I did that to some one at a pick up game in the park or on a league I’d be in jail! F@#k this clown and send a message, hit him where it hurts and where most players will pay attention, in the wallet!!

$$$$ Vegas Rollin’ With Home Cookin’

The UNLV Runnin rebels are reliving their glory years of Larry “Grandmama” Johnson and Greg Anthony and may be a force to reckon with in the NCAA tourney.  Today they are layin 3.5 points to BYU, who are having a good year themselves. But I look for UNLV to take care of BYU at home and win the Mountain West Championship.  Other plays I like today are Oaklahoma State +4 vs. Texas, Georgetown -2  to win the Big East tourney tonight, and the Akron Zips -5 to win the MAC tourney. Special bonus play is Arizona -1.5 in the Arena Football League.