That's right the Nationals are now 2-0 and own a half game lead over the Mets in the NL East. The future looks bright, but let's not forget to enjoy the present. The Nationals have a great new ball park, new players, and lots of optimism following a season ago where many were predicting Washington to set a new MLB record for losses prior to last season.

Nick Johnson is back and looks like he's in the best shape he's been in since hitting town as a National with the rest of the team. His presence, fielding, and solid hitting should help provide more protection to Zimmerman as an all around hitter.

Christian Guzman even looks lighter than many in the area have seen him before. Could it be that both Johnson and Guzman helped bring a victory to the Nationals in the opener due to some running on the base paths?

Certainly the Nationals are going to go through hitting droughts causing losing streaks and without a bonafide stopper will have some losing streaks due to starting pitching that's already had a history of injury problems, but they're also capable of going on a good tear for a few good winning streaks. The team boasts its best batting order in DC yet, but doesn't have a top to bottom order like the Red Sox, Braves, or Mets that may have a bad game, but not a series and therefore fans should be prepared to watch a competitive team that battles to hang around .500 up one day and down the next. Let's all sit back and enjoy the ride, the new digs, and the prospects of a great young farm system to challenge the division foes in years to come.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"21" the movie adaptation of Bringing Down the House about a group of MIT students taking down casinos in black jack for millions of dollars should score big in the box office. The recent explosion of poker on tv and in movies has even spawned a black jack tv show. The thirst for the quick fix and gambling bug should have this movie raking it in with a solid story and stellar performances by Lawrence Fishbourne and Kevin Spacey.

The gripping and mesmerizing story loses much in the adaptation. Those that read the book may feel disappointed that the rival MIT team didn't even make it into the big screen. Certain changes were made to Mickey's character to an even more course persona. Those that haven't read the book can still enjoy a good Hollywood formulaic movie and see Fishbourne steal the show. It's great to see Kevin Spacey in a movie again. At the end of the movie you'll see Spacey get into a car and for an instance you almost want to reminisce and ask "Who is Kaiser Sose?!" Now that’s a great movie!

Posted by The Sports Freak at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wrapping up my Major League Baseball season preview by division, here are the AL East teams listed in order of predicted finish. While I admit it is not easy for me to be objective about the AL East, I’ll give it my best shot.

Boston Red Sox. It pains me to say so, but the Red Sox have done everything right over the past four plus years to build a championship contending team. It pains me so much to say that previous sentence that I can’t say any more about this team.

New York Yankees. It seems as though every year for the past several years, the Yankees start out the season with a record of 11-18 and everyone writes them off at that point. But then come October, the Yankees are still playing. I don’t see this year as being any different, at least in terms of seeing a team that at some point will hit a low – say a stretch of playing 8 to 10 games under .500 for a month. But this team is still too good to not overcome any bad spell and play the next month at 15 games over .500.

Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have been a team that pundits have enjoyed predicting will finally break the Yankees-Red Sox domination of the AL East, but I don’t see it happening. While I think that Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan will continue to improve in the rotation, this team is too fragile and the competition in the American League is just too strong for the Blue Jays to break through.

Tampa Bay Rays. The team formerly known as the Devil Rays actually has a large number of young, potential All-Stars on their roster. But there are simply too many really young and inexperienced players on this team to make an impact this year. At some point, this team needs to make the transition from a team of talented young players into a contender the way the Twins and A’s did at the beginning of this decade. But in this division, I can’t see that happening.

Baltimore Orioles. Look, I really have nothing against the D.C. and Maryland teams. It’s not my fault that they are quite bad.

Posted by Bob at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

From the pre-game festivities to the nationally televised game on ESPN, the Nationals from top to bottom delivered the goods. Channel 7 and ESPN's pregame showcased the stadium, it's view, and all it's emenities. The only thing left to accomplish in their new ball park was to bring home a win and that they did in a dramatic walk off home run by Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the 9th for a 3-2 victory.

The Nationals started the first inning by touching up Hudson for two unearned runs. It also marked the return of a (much lighter) Nick Johnson. Cristian Guzman batted lead off and delivered the first hit at Nationals Park. Nick Johnson had a cracked at bat that he stretched into a double and drove in Guzman after an error on Hudson with a wild throw to first placed Guzman at third. Kearns than drove home Johnson. Chipper Jones later hit the first home run in the new ball park to make the score 2-1.

The game was a resounding success for an emerging Nationals team in a new ball park. The food looked great, the President threw some high heat to Acta for the for the first pitch, and a dramatic game winning home run for a win sets a nice taste in everyone's mouth to start the season.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Final Four is set today with a Jay Hawks two point margin of victory as Davidson's three point shot failed to hit iron. Curry was forced to give up the ball after three different screens failed to clear any room for him to shoot. Teams throughout the tourament have refused to go to a box in one defense in attempt to coral Curry. When it mattered most Kansas came up with the critical stop against Curry and his Davidson team.

History was made as Kansas punched its ticket to the Final Four. Never before has four number one seeds in the expanded field of 64 made it to the Final Four. Memphis helped turn doubters into believers with their blow out over a Barnes coached Texas team. Those in the area recall Barnes in Clemson. So in two consecutive years, Texas has had some of the best talent whether it be with Durant or the current team and failed to advance to the Final Four.

Let's tip our hat to Bill Self who finally was able to take a team to the Final Four. Now a showdown between UNC and Roy Williams vs. his former team of Kansas. This match up may be better than the championship game to come.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing my Major League Baseball season preview by division, here are the AL Central teams listed in order of predicted finish.

Detroit Tigers. Let’s get this out of the way first. The Detroit Tigers are not going to score 1,000 run this season. Every year during the pre-season, baseball writers, analysts, and fans anoint a team as being the one that will score 1,000 runs during the upcoming season. The Yankee teams of recent years have been perennial favorites to score 1,000 runs. But guess what? Even in these days of record breaking individual offensive production, only one team in the past 57 years has scored 1,000 runs: the 1999 Cleveland Indians. And while the 2008 Tigers are good enough to win their division, they won’t be scoring 1,000 runs this year.

Cleveland Indians. The media loves to latch on to an up-and-coming team and announce that they are going to make the playoffs. The problem is that they are usually two years too early. Three years ago, it was the Indians and the Brewers that were the darlings of baseball pre-season prognosticators, but those two teams didn’t have any success until last year. Even though the Indians time is now, the competition in the American League is too fierce for the Indians to repeat their division title.

Minnesota Twins. A lot rests on the left arm of Francisco Liriano, whose numbers in 2006 at age 22 were just amazing before succumbing to Tommy John surgery at the end of that year. If Liriano can return to that form, and either Boof Bonser or Scott Baker can break out at age 26, they Twins might have some success.

Kansas City Royals. After years of struggling, you can say that finishing in fourth place is a step in the right direction for this team.

Chicago White Sox. How long will it be before the White Sox get tired of Ozzie Guillen? It seems like less managers get fired in mid-season than they used to, but my vote is for Ozzie to be the first to go this year.

Posted by Bob at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With all the rumors spreading about Canseco's new book, who's mentioned, and that A-Rod was interested in Canseco's wife there's only a few things to be said. Somewhere along the way DiNero's 'circle of trust' has been broken. Has anyone seen Canseco's wife? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but who is this beauty that has Canseco making such accusations. There's defending the woman you love and then there's the old someone has a high opinion of his wife besides even getting into the A-Rod factor. Canseco shocked the world with this first book as it brought steroids into the light of day and naming names as people laughed and ridiculed Canseco. Will the sequel be quite as earth shattering?

Posted by The Sports Freak at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing my Major League Baseball season preview by division, here are the AL West teams listed in order of predicted finish.

Seattle Mariners. Despite being the Arizona Diamondbacks of the American League in 2007 (having given up more runs than they scored), the Mariners look like a real contender in the division. Yes, their lineup is aging, but the pitching is solid, with the addition of Eric Bedard being just what they need to compliment Felix Hernandez and a good bullpen.

California Angels. Essentially the same team as last year isn’t quite good enough to win the division this year.

Oakland A’s. Everyone’s favorite Moneyball team traded away Dan Haren and Nick Swisher – arguably the A’s two best players from last year. Where does that leave the A’s this year, other than hoping Bobby Crosby and Rich Harden can stay healthy for an entire season.

Texas Rangers. The Ballpark in Arlington didn’t even play as that much of a hitter’s park last year so you can’t blame the ballpark for the poor pitching on this team.

Posted by Bob at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

ESPN Nation is having a mock draft and it appears that McShay and Scouts,Inc. provide the guidance. "Who are these people!?" and what are they thinking. Do those that voted even follow the Skins? How did McShay come to the conclusion that the Skins need more help at safety than at OL? ESPN Mock Draft I'm not saying that Mario Manningham is the next Desmond Howard or Westbrook, but let's get real here. How can safety be a higher need than DE? Does any history in the past 20 some Super Bowls Champions show you that pressure from the front line allows even more creativity than a smoke and mirrors back seven approach. No one need look any further than this year's winner, the NY GIants.

The Redskins have a lot of needs but with Jansen's injuries and Samuals both getting older who else is on the OL at LG and OT? Does anyone remember what the Skins OL looked like prior to Jansen and Samuels? It was in pure shambles. Remember Shar P. at OT? A pass rusher to go along with Wilson and Carter or OL to help win the battle up front to shed a block or hold a block is where the Redskins need to concentrate.

With Limas Sweed's injury history pushing him back in projections and other receivers that have the ability to take the hit over the middle for first downs gone then Manningham can be passed on to someone that needs a receiver and not a specific type of receiver.

The 2nd Round pick should be OL/DL/CB/WR. I'll save role players and special team players for a different rant.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There were many great games, near upsets, and indeed a few David's slaying Goliath. To wrap up a previous conversation with Bob there were a couple of 5-12 upsets, but for those that really knew something about college basketball the Villanova game wasn't a surprise. They've had more upsets as a lower seeded team in modern day history than any other school. Toss in free throw shooting by Clemson and the fact that other than coming close with UNC they played some close games with mediocre teams in the ACC that didn't make the tournament.

A lot is made of the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky making it to the sweet Sixteen, but how much of an upset is it when the selection committee pitted two Mid-Majors against each other for one less Mid-Major to challenge the power conference teams. San Diego played their hearts out and sure the loss of UConn's guard and leader played a major factor in the game, but here's where the real challenge begins for a solid WKY team. Drake was a good team than ran into the wrong style of play as most teams do when they get bounced from the tournament.

Watching USC & KSU play one another and the Duke Belmont game proved to be some of the most entertaining games of the night. Who wasn't rooting for Belmont at that point? That would have been 'the' upset of the tournament. By far this isn't the greatest Duke team as Coach K has even re-engineered his offense to a three guard spread offense. The best teams that have won six in a row usually have a mentally tough and challenged team that has an unstoppable inside/outside game with solid role players. So it shouldn't have been too surprising that a gritty bunch of players banned together to take on the juggernaut that is Duke and win. The question wasn't if WVU could beat Duke, but if Huggins could defeat Coach K.

As the party was flowing Friday night at The Sports Freak's pad, the assessment was made again this year that Duke's cheerleaders must come in 65th place in the tournament once again. It's of little consolation that this is the most beautiful looking squad in years and that's not saying a lot. Someone mentioned that it was the field hockey team. The following day Big Money Tony & I were watching the Stanford Marquette game while having some dinner when we saw a very cute girl in the Stanford band. BMT clarified that a Stanford band geek beats a Duke cheerleader. What a rough week for Duke.

Speaking of Cheerleaders every sports fan should read Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy on ESPN, but this article in particular should be read for his trip to Anaheim to watch the NCAAs and the Cornell Cheerleading squad Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy

Duke losing so early in the tournament would usually be enough for folks to enjoy but loyal Terps fans and maybe some G'town haters around the country rejoiced as Curry and his Davidson teammates bounced the Hoyas from the tournament. Curry, who scored only five points in the first half, took control of the game in the second half with poise and precision. The same player that gave UMD fits in last year's tournament gained his victory this year with more help from his teammates. Maybe Georgetown won't fear the losing recruiting territory and honor the return home game at UMD or even play for charity in the local BB&T classic that GW, AU, and GM have played in the past.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you hear it? No, everyone pretty much knows about March Madness (yeah, Georgetown is out!). The Major League Baseball season started this morning (for those of us in North America) or tonight, if you are in Japan or other parts of Asia. In not going to begin to figure it out for Istanbul. At least they didn't start the season tomorrow. The defending World Series Champion Boston Redsox defeated the Oakland A's 6-5 in 10 innings. Yes, it was also the first extra innings game for the season.

What's sad is along with greedy MLB, who had originally decided not to pay coaches, trainers and other support staff, they had to get this series going in Japan, despite the Washington Nationals starting the season in a brand new stadium.

OK, call me bias, but I'm not. Look at it this way. They went out of their way to schedule a single opening day game, to be broadcast on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball with the Atlanta Braves coming in for just this one game. If you are going to go to all that trouble, why schedule the Japanese series? In reverse, they could have kept the Japanese games on and scheduled the Nationals to open sometime later, without the special one game series. The Japan series are important to an extent, and I hope it leads to a "true" World Series when the best of the world battle it out, just like the Little Leaguers do. Besides, we all need a little bit of Bobby Valentine back on our TV. Who else wears the Groucho Marx glasses and 'stache better?

Posted by Big Money Tony at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing my Major League Baseball season preview by division, here are the NL West teams listed in order of predicted finish.

Arizona Diamondbacks. As usual, the NL West looks to be a very tight race, with any of four teams being able to win the division. You would expect that a team which significantly outperformed their Pythagorean record last year to have a fall back the following year, but the Diamondbacks went out and improved. Dan Haren gives this team two Cy Young contenders, along with Brandon Webb. Chris Young and Stephen Drew are a year older and now should be able to provide some much needed spark in a lineup that was lacking in runs last year.

San Diego Padres. Jake Peavy and the second Chris Young in the NL West (the one from Princeton) lead a team with a mix of veterans and young players. They look to have just the right mix to make a run in the West.

Colorado Rockies. While the Rockies have a very solid lineup, I can’t imagine pitchers Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales and Manny Corpas all having the kind of year they had last year.

Los Angeles Dodgers. While the Dodgers have some talented young players on their rosters, I can’t foresee any of them making an impact as long as Joe Torre has plenty of mediocre aging veterans to turn to in his lineup. But this team could make a run if pitchers Brad Penny, Jason Schimdt, Derek Lowe, and Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda all have decent years. I just don’t see that happening.

San Francisco Giants. The Giants young pitchers have been hyped, but Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Noah Lowry haven’t lived up to the hype so far. Even if one of them has a breakout year, it won’t be nearly enough to turn this team around.

Posted by Bob at 06:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The time is 12:50 and yet as in prior years when CBS allowed fans to watch two different games on HD TV and low definition TV, this is not the case again this year. Once again CBS tries it's best to challenge is college sports fans by showing Duke vs. Belmont in the DC Metro area. It's my theory that CBS lost some of its best sports minds when they lost the NFL years ago. Why else would the Sports Division of CBS be unwilling to move non-home team games to better games. For example, Duke is scheduled in the local area while the most hyped and maybe even anticipated game of the day USC vs. KSU isn't even being shown as the primary game here. Ok maybe if you're Peter Angelos and would like to lay claim that Carolina is your territory then you'll have a case, but Duke - really?

You're never going to be able to please everybody, but if common sense prevails then switching games without being trigger happy when the cases are warrented would keep complaints to a minimum as things go. Everyone knows when a game is lopsided so why make fans suffer in these 1-16 or 2-15 matchups?

NCAA fans aren't looking for live look ins to every game only when the game is out of reach or a 1-16 match up but if a game in our area doesn't involve a home team then why not switch the area to the best game going and provide look ins (PIP) to other competitive games if there are any others in action? It's a matter of having some sports sense.

Why does CBS insist on showing Duke or UNC until the lead hits close to 30 late in the 2nd half to change the game? In first round action, when that lead hits double digits at TEN we should be switched to a better game and if the lead is cut to five we come back to the game (highly unlikely). I understand that we're ACC and Big East country here, but it doesn't mean that college sports fans should be subjected and punished to watch blow outs when there are good games on CBS.

Fans shouldn't be relegated to watching games on their laptops at home or Starbucks. If CBS really wanted higher ratings and advertising revenue from the higher ratings then they should GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT. It's a pretty simple and successful concept.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

"It's go time", as Mendlebaum said on Seinfeld. People may not be trying to lift a heavy TV and throw out their back right now but they're probably frantically figuring all the permutations and scenarios dancing in their heads with only an hour to complete their brackets.

Did you ever feel like as soon as the word spread about the 5-12 upset it would eventually become such common knowledge that every Joe Schmo in the office that knew nothing about sports would even know this rule until it virtually no longer occurred? Well a couple of years ago I made mention of this to some friends that it looks like the 6-11 is the new 5-12. The way the selection committee is taking fewer Mid Majors and even pitting them against each other makes for a tournament more like chalk and one in favor of the power conferences.

When I pondered the brackets I kept certain things in mind such as WV. When reviewing websites and articles and the major pundits, some believe that WV is a strong threat to defeat Duke. Although this isn't the strongest Coach K team, I recalled that Huggins has lost many games and clutch games in the tourney never breaking through.

Baylor can play tough and could give Purdue a wild ride to the finish - nice 6-11 match up here. Being and ACC fan, it's hard to say this but neither I nor BMT have any confidence in Miami.

Some great possible matchups in the South could occur such as Pitt/MSU, Pitt or MSU vs. Mem. and Marq. vs. Stan.

Another area that could destroy some brackets is the Clemson and Vandy region in the mid west. Throw in some upsets with USC and this region could explode second only to the West with Xav, Ga, Pur. Baylor, Ariz. and WV all picking each other off.

Good luck to all and let the games begin.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Well this is certaintly not the entry I wanted to write in mid-March about the Maryland Terrapins. In any case, the Terps travelled to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. After a close first half, at which Maryland led by 1 point, the Terps continued to work hard and won 68-58

If they had only played this hard in the ACC Tournament or the end of the regular season. I'm happy that my team is back on the winning track.

BTW, for those who watched, what's with that weird configuration at Williams Arena, with the trench around the court. That's kind of dangerous for the players, isn't it?

Posted by Big Money Tony at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, this is not local, and I would not even care about this team if The Sports Freak and I had not seen the interview. But really, who is going to root for the Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament?

The SEC Tournament was delayed during the quarter finals. On Friday night, a tornado struck the Atlanta area, including the Georgia dome, where the tournament was being held. Georgia and Kentucky's game was postponed. After discussing with the NCAA, it was determined the only way to preserve the SEC's automatic bid was to have the championship game done by Sunday afternoon. To facilitate that, Georgia and Kentucky would have to play early Saturday and the winner would have to play a semi-final game on Saturday evening. Essentially two games in one day.

Georgia won both games, advancing to the SEC finals. I would have been happy for them. It felt like a good story. But then, on ESPN, Georgia coach Dennis Fulton decided to lash out during a press conference. That it was unfair to make them play twice in one day, even though it was signed off by both teams coaches and athletic directors. That it seriously damaged Georgia's chances of winning the SEC.

Boy, he should just suck it up and get his team ready. Fulton did and won the SEC Tournament over Arkansas. This is one of those feel good stories. But Fulton left a bitter taste in my mouth. The Sports Freak wanted me to root against the Bulldogs. I didn't. Now, that they won their glorious SEC title, I'm happy they made it. But if Xavier rolls over them in DC on Thursday, I have no problem with that.

I have no problem with them complaining about playing two games in one day. But they made it out like only Georgia was in that position. Had Kentucky beat them in the quarter finals, it would have been Kentucky up to the task. What did Georgia want the NCAA to do? Move Selection Sunday to Monday? Award Georgia an undeserved at-large bid?

Posted by Big Money Tony at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I really feel like I'm doing a disservice by discussing UMBC's first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. They won the America East Championship over Hartford. I've never followed them other than the times the Maryland Terrapins scheduled them for one of those non-conference December games. You know, the ones that drag down RPI?

For those that don't know, UMBC is the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers. I did not know they were the Retrievers, although I think I saw them once or twice in my 17 years of going to Maryland games. Probably at good old Cole Field House. OK now I'm really doing a disservice to the Retrievers. Back to them.

15th seeded UMBC will take on 2 seed Georgetown in Raleigh, NC on Friday. While most will look at this game as an easy layup for the Hoyas to win, remember there have been 15-2 upsets in the past. And UMBC will have the backing of many Terrapins, since we don't have our team in the Dance. That and most of us can't stand Georgetown.

Posted by Big Money Tony at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We are living in a golden age of baseball writing, as evidenced by all of the enjoyable, thought-provoking and engaging content being written about all aspects of the game in many different media (books, newspapers, and the internet). The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 is yet another example of this high quality writing in what is already a crowded market for baseball books.

Written shortly after the end of the 2007 season, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 is a good mix of content, broken down into the 2007 season review, commentary, analysis, history, and team statistics. While at first glance, you might think that The Hardball Times Baseball Annual is similar to Baseball Prospectus, the two are fairly different, even if the opinions and focus on statistical analysis by the writers is similar. The Hardball Times Baseball Annual is more of an interesting read than Baseball Prospectus because the focus is on articles from various writers instead of BP’s team-based player analysis and predictions.

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008 has a little bit of everything: articles on new ways to evaluate player production, the impact of managers, the globalization of the game, and the business of baseball report are just a few of the enjoyable articles from the first half of the book. Bill James himself contributes a look into his current research around clutch hitting (which doesn’t exist IMO, no matter what he says).

While I found that not all of the content demanded my full attention, such as the 2007 season review and an article about how Derek Jeter is a below average fielder (which even Yankee fans know by now), there is a good mix of varied content in The Hardball Time Baseball Annual 2008 to make it worth reading in the early part of the 2008 season.

Posted by Bob at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally, we can all say, American Eagles can dance.

American University, with former Virginia coach Jeff Jones guiding them, got an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the defeat over Colgate in the Patriot League Final.

This is AU's first ever NCAA appearance since they joined Division I. A great event to continue their season after some highlight wins including a win over Maryland earlier in the season. Granted, after the Terps season, that does not look so impressive, but still, a Patriot team beating an ACC one can make headlines, not to mention fodder for local trash talk.

Another local team makes it. I guess there is one more, but as a Terp for Life, I can't root for them. Go American! Go George Mason! Down with Georgetown!

Posted by Big Money Tony at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Maryland Terrapins lost to Boston College Thursday night in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. It was a punch in the gut, but at the same time, all us fans felt that this was how it was going to end. Not a loss to BC, but more that it would end in dissapointment. This is not how they wanted to end the season. After nearly 12 minutes, BC had only scored 9 points and Maryland was in a double digit lead.

But like much of the season, against Virginia Tech, Clemson, and others, the Terps let the lead go. With less than 10 to go, they were down 10 and put together a comeback. But it was too little too late. Too many missed shots, terrible turnovers, and no sense of urgency doomed the team.

The season had a high with a win over then #1 North Carolina, but more lows like losses to American University and Ohio University. Another season, another NIT berth. I just hope at this point, critics don't ask for Gary Williams head, as they did early in the season. Gary is in rare air where likely he will decide when it's time to go, like his counterpart and rival Coach K at Duke.

Posted by Big Money Tony at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing my Major League Baseball season preview by division, here are the NL Central teams listed in order of predicted finish.

Chicago Cubs. Kosuke Fukudome will round out this team quite nicely. The pitching staff is nothing special but is deep enough and good enough to lead the Cubs to the division title.

Milwaukee Brewers. Solid young hitters in the lineup like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun proved to be the real deal last year, along with starters Ben Sheets and Yovani Gallardo bring about decent balance on this team. While there is lots to be excited about here, in the end I think the bullpen may fall just short of the Cubs.

Houston Astros. The Astros are an intriguing team, led by one of the consistently best pitchers in baseball in Roy Oswalt and some big bats in the lineup: Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee. Add in a couple of former Diamondbacks to the bullpen (Jose Valverde and Oscar Villarreal) and you have a team that could surprise some people.

Cincinnati Reds. I’d love to pick the Reds as a sleeper team in the National League, but I’m afraid they aren’t quite good enough. Prospects such as Homer Bailey and Jay Bruce may bring some excitement to the team in the future, but other than Aaron Harang, the rest of the team leaves little to get excited about. Look for Adam Dunn to be traded by the deadline.

St. Louis Cardinals. Where is this team heading? World Series champs just two seasons ago, you can’t blame all of the current woes on injuries. The latest prognosis on Albert Pujols looks like if this team isn’t in the race in July, he’ll have surgery. There’s a very good chance he’ll be having that surgery in July.

Pittsburgh Pirates. Do they still play baseball in Pittsburgh?

Posted by Bob at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

As I was watching one of my HD channels, one of my favorite recent sports movies was on TV. How can you not watch Roy Hobbs come through in the clutch? He could have been the best there ever was if not for Barbara Hershey.

March is a perfect time where college basketball/basketball and the grapefruit leage in MLB intersect. The NFL draft isn't far behind in April, so you can plug in Rudy or Brian's Song anytime. This started me thinking what are some of the best sports movies in recent years.

One of my other favorite sports movies is Hoosiers. It's a fantastic movie and who can stop Jimmy Chipwood? A man of few words who lets his actions speak for him. Can you think of any other team Jimmy would play for other than Duke running around a double screen and burrying a three. Even the Boston Three Party a ala ESPN and ESPN commercials discuss the movie Hoosiers.

Another fantastic movie is Field of Dreams which I really didn't fully appreciate until later in life. The scene where Ray realized his father was in the field. Ray Liotta then says, "no Ray..it was you" referring to "ease his pain" and "if you build it he will come." When Kevin Costner finally enjoys a catch with his dad, which he denied his day years earlier you really understand the film on a much higher level.

There are several other sports movies. What sports movies do you watch over again and which ones move you?

Posted by The Sports Freak at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A blip came across the headlines and I thought for sure that Bob (the Yankeeeeeeeeeeeeees win!) would have posted an article about Billy Crystal signing a minor league one day contract with the Yankees. Billy Crystal - A Yankee?. Crystal isn't the first celebrity to do this but probably the oldest as he's about to turn 60. It will be interesting to see what he has left, but I'm sure the players are loose and loving it.

"What is with this?" and what is with the Red Sox making Hank Steinbrenner a member of Red Sox Nation? Well at least he received an autographed cap from big poppy.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm not exactly a fan of the team, but Jim Larranaga, their coach seems like one cool coach. I've seen his interviews on Pardon the Interruption during their unbelievable run to the Final Four a couple of years ago. His team, the George Mason Patriots, got their ticket stamped by winning the Colonial Athletic Association's tourney.

Congrats to the Patriots for being first from the DC area.

Posted by Big Money Tony at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

What started as a terrible season with back to back losses to Ohio (no, not Ohio State) and American, then great with a win at North Carolina, the Terrapins lose twice to end the season. First in a heartbreaker a week ago to Clemson on Senior Day and yesterday to Virginia at Charlottesville.

MD now heads in to the ACC tournament, which starts Thursday, as the #6 seed against #11 Boston College. The Terps could have been seeded as high as #3, but the late season letdown burst that bubble and is on the verge of bursting the NCAA bubble as well.

Based on popular talk, it appears the MD men need to win at least 2 games in the ACC Tournament to attract the selection committee. Certainly the win over North Carolina mid-season will help, but those losses - ugh - just weigh that win down.

The BC Eagles will likely give MD a tough turn, given that the Terps split with them this year in slim margin wins. Getting past them, MD will have to face #3 Clemson, who beat them just a week ago and will be rested as they get a first round bye. Of course there was no rematch in the brilliance that was the ACC raid of the old Big East in an effort to increase football TV revenue..but I digress.

It's going to be interesting, and I'm for one very happy we're looking at 9PM games Thursday and Friday night, if we make it that far.

Posted by Big Money Tony at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Part one of my Major League Baseball season preview by division begins with the NL East. Teams are listed in order of predicted finish.

New York Mets. The Mets have a lot of question marks for a team predicted to win their division. Can you really expect to get much production out of Pedro Martinez and El Duque in the starting rotation? Can Oliver Perez and John Maine have the consistency they’ve lacked in the past? Besides Billy Wagner, who is going to solidify the bullpen? Does their high priced, aging lineup have enough left in the tank? David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana are bona fide stars, but the Mets are going to need production from other guys as well. The one thing the Mets have going for them is that the NL East is a relatively weak division.

Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are built very similar to the Mets in terms of their star players. Those players consist of one starting pitcher, Cole Hamels, and two young infielders, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Last year Jimmy Rollins had one of the most mediocre seasons that an MVP has ever had. If the Phillies get some good years from Brett Myers (who is still only 27 years old) and Adam Eaton, they could win the division.

Atlanta Braves. A starting rotation of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton and Tim Hudson would have been great 7 years ago.

Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins. Does it really matter which of these teams finishes fourth and which finishes fifth? Each team will be hard pressed to top last year’s 73 and 71 wins, respectively. While the Marlins have some nice young hitters led by Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla, what happened to some of the young pitchers that brought a little excitement to this team in 2006? We’ll see if Scott Olsen and Anibal Sanchez can improve. As for the Nats, all I can say is to enjoy your new stadium.

Posted by Bob at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Stan Kasden has done it again. He already improved RFK with the food court. He brought in some of the best minds in baseball and improved the farm system from one of the worst to a top ten farm system making it one of two teams that had the biggest leaps in grading MLB farm systems. With Stan's committment to winning and improvements made in the outfield, how can Stan mark another big win for the Nats?

Stan did it again by dumping Aramark one of the worst concession stand organizations in sports and bringing in vendors with a local flavor to fill Nationals Park Local Flavor at Nationals Park. The only thing missing would be a nice tasty burger from 5 Guys. Gifford's ice cream on a hazy hot and humid day in August would sure go down well watching the Nationals and the new and improved outfield in the new park. Stan is indeed the man.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The group of prized free agents in this offseason appears to be less than in years past. The few legitimate immediate impact unrestricted free agents led me to look at some of the franchise tagged players and one in particular. Naming someone a franchise player denying someone the ability to truly be a free agent unless compensated by 1st Round picks instantly vaults a player into elite status, so why have some teams labeled players with this designation?

In particular, why did the Philadelphia Eagles name LJ Smith as a franchise player? This is almost as perplexing as why Aquaman's villains never attacked him on land or why no one ever thought Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same due to eyeglasses. Is Smith better than Shockey, Gates, or Gonzo? Certainly not even close so why invest the money of a top three player at his position in Smith? Do the Eagles have a great group of wide outs? Not even close and will the Eagles throw ten passes a game to Smith? Probably not either and when you think top flight player you think of an elite player that can take over a game. The real question is can the Eagles win without him. He's not the missing link that brings them a title so basically you can lose with him lose without him.

The Titan's understood the meaning of the franchise tag as they designated Haynesworth with this tag. Out of all of the unrestricted free agents, can you possibly see anyone any more worthy of this tag then Haynesworth. Then you have your LJ Smith's with the tag. Seattle could have labeled Hutchinson with the tag a few years back but didn't so I guess the Eagles will try to just prove everyone wrong about the meaning of the franchise player.

Posted by The Sports Freak at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, the man, the legend, the "good guy" has decided to retire.

Is it a surprise? Yes and no. No because he's been contemplating this for a few years now. At 38 years old, he will not be able to recovery as quickly as others. He also does Green Bay a great service by allowing them to test out Aaron Rodgers and/or give them time to evaluate QB talent in the draft. From the ESPN report, it appears his decision was made partially because did not pursue Randy Moss for the upcoming season.

On to the yes answer. WHY NOW? He seems to say he is mentally fatigued. The Moss non-signing should be a minor thing as Green Bay had an excellent 2007 season without him. One has to believe 38 is the magic number. Favre certainly does not need the money.

In any case, Favre is likely going to be a first ballot inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his time is due. He is leaving on his terms, so hopefully he will enjoy his retirement and not itch to come back in a year or two.

Posted by Big Money Tony at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)