Bored

So who's everyone got for double digit seeds making it to the Sweet 16? I went with Bradley and Northern Iowa. Hey it happens every year.

NIT Brackets if anyone cares. Opening Round Fairleigh Dickinson at Manhattan, winner plays Maryland in First round Rutgers at Penn State, winner plays St. Joseph's Lipsomb at UTEP, winner plays Michigan Akron at Temple, winner plays Creighton Delaware State at Northern Arizona, winner plays Louisville Virginia at Stanford, winner plays Missouri State Georgia Southern at Charlotte, winner plays Cincinnati Butler at Miami of Ohio, winner plays Florida State First Round Old Dominion at Colorado Nebraska at Hofstra Vanderbilt at Notre Dame Oklahoma State at Miami Louisiana Tech at Clemson BYU at Houston Wake Forest at Minnesota Western Kentucky at South Carolina

Missouri State, #21 in the RPI doesn't get in. Holy shit. This is the committee officially saying the RPI is now meaningless.

I'm blind, where do you sign up for it at the site? http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod

Hey guys they are giving out free VIP passes on NCAAsports.com for on demand access to all games in the tournament online but they are limited (supposedly). I've signed up so I don't have to watch Cal's game on Friday.

Utah State and Air Force gets at large bids, that's a surprise. George Mason in. No Hofstra or Missouri State yet.

WOW UCLA gets a #2 seed and in Memphis' bracket which in theory almost says the committee thinks UCLA is the #5 team in the country. Indiana a #6 seed? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

And god dammit Cal plays Friday too so now I definently know I'll be stuck watching them. Arrrrrrrrrrrgh.

George Washington a #8 seed....Cal a #7 seed. Um ya.

The word on Lloyd was he was pretty much hated in the locker room. Of course who would be happy playing for the 49ers now? The rumor was they were gonna push strong for Randal El but whoops he goes the same place as Lloyd. Now they might go after Antonio Bryant but he's another guy who hasn't exactly made himself popular among teammates and coaches in the past.

Next Thursday and Friday will be what I consider the best two days of the year in sports. There is simply nothing more fun from a viewing standpoint than the 1st round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 16 games both days with basketall all day long on CBS. You know you won't get through the day without seeing something exciting. I had originally scheduled both days off from work but someone in my department was let go last week and I do the work of two people as it is I might be going in Thursday so we don't fall behind. But for at least a day and a half I'll just be gorging myself on college basketball. My favorite tournament by far was the 1998 tournament, simply because Stanford had ended a 56 year drought and reached the Final Four. After being a perennial doormat on the west coast for a number of years, Mike Montgomery had legitimized the program. After 1st round losses in 1989 and 1992, in 1995 Stanford picked up their first tournament win since the 1942 National Championship. Next year they'd nearly upset Marcus Camby and UMass in the 2nd round. In '97 they would end Tim Duncan's college career by beating Wake Forest in the 2nd round before losing in overtime to Keith Van Horn and Utah in the Sweet 16. For the '97-98 season they would return with much of same team at the core but with one big loss in All-American point guard Brevin Knight. Junior Arthur Lee would take over the point with the rest of the line up being Kris Weems, Pete Sauer, Mark Madsen, and Tim Young. One of their last games of the regular season was a 32 point humiliation by Arizona. Although just their fourth loss of the season many doubted Stanford would last in the tournament. I can still remember after they were given a #3 seed, Digger Phelps whined about them getting such a high seed on ESPN's selection show and it was the only team he thought was seeded too high. Some people's doubts seemed warranted after they had a surprisingly tough game from the College of Charleston in the first round. After that they though they would blow out Western Michigan in the 2nd round and then just beat the shit out of Purdue in the Sweet 16. Now the Purdue game wasn't a blow out but the Boilermakers were expected to out physical Stanford with well publicized inside duo of Brad Miller and Brian Cardinal. But led by Mark Madsen and freshman Jarron Collins they just punished the Purdue duo the entire game. Then came the regional final against upstart Rhode Island led by their backcourt of Cuttino Mobley and Tyson Wheeler. As the #8 seed they had upset #1 seed Kansas in the 2nd round and then eliminated the feel good team of the tournament Valparaiso. I fully expected Stanford to beat them but by the end of the game was just a wreck as URI controlled most of the game. Then came one of the great individual performances in the final minute of a game. Mobely hit two free throws with 59.3 seconds left to put URI up 71-65. Arthur Lee then took over the game. -Lee hits an off balance three pointer with 52 seconds left, 71-68 URI -Stanford fouls with 49.8 seconds left, Mobely hits one out of two free throws, 72-68 URI -Lee feeds Mark Madsen inside for two with 40.7 seconds left, 72-70 URI -Stanford fouls with 38.8 seconds left, Preston Murphy hits two free throws, 74-70 URI -Lee drives the length of court, scores and is fouled with 32 seconds left, hits the free throw (didn't miss the entire tournament), 74-73 URI -Lee strips Mobely after the inbound, the ball gets knocked to Madsen, he dunks and is fouled with 26.2 seconds left, hits the free throw, 76-74 Stanford. I've watched that play on tape probably a few hundred times and I'll never get tired of it. URI would unrravel after that, turning the ball over the next posession, then Tyson Wheeler would miss three free throws, Lee would hit two more free throws, a URI half court shot at the buzzer would end the score at 79-77 Stanford. Lee scored 10 points and had the key steal of the game in the final minute. Stanford advanced to play Kentucky in the Final Four. Everyone, and I mean everyone, pretty much was preparing for a Kentucky/North Carolina final as Stanford and Utah were after thoughts. The Cardinal would lose to Kentucky in a forgotten classic 86-85 in overtime. I think it gets forgotten as one of the great tournament games because it didn't have that dramatic finish or an upset that other great games get remembered for. It was just a incredibly well played game by both teams and Dean Smith after the game on CBS said it was the best game he'd ever seen. I remember not even being upset after they lost as they weren't expected to give Kentucky any sort of a challenge and they played so well that I couldn't be mad that they came up short. It's the one game where a favorite team of mine lost that I would still watch on tape years later. 1998 Tournament Results March 12, 1998 East Region #1 North Carolina 88, #16 Navy 52 #8 Charlotte 77, #9 Illinois-Chicago 59 #4 Michigan State 83, #13 Eastern Michigan 71 #5 Princeton 69, #12 UNLV 57 #14 Richmond 62, #3 South Carolina 61 #11 Washington 69, #6 Xavier 68 #2 Connecticut93, #15 Farleigh Dickenson 85 #7 Indiana 94, #10 Oklahoma 87 OT West Region #1 Arizona 99, #16 Nicholls State 60 #9 Illinois State 82, #8 Tennessee 81 OT #4 Maryland 82, #13 Utah State 68 #5 Illinois 64, #12 South Alabama 51 #3 Utah 85, #14 San Francisco 68 #6 Arkansas 74, #11 Nebraska 65 #2 Cincinnati 65, #15 Northern Arizona 62 #10 West Virginia 82, #7 Temple 52 March 13, 1998 Midwest Region #1 Kansas 110, #16 Prairie View 52 #8 Rhode Island 97, #9 Murray State 74 #13 Valparaiso 70, #4 Mississippi 69 #12 Florida State 96, #5 TCU 87 #3 Stanford 67, #14 Charleston 57 #11 Western Michigan 75, #6 Clemson 72 #2 Purdue 95, #15 Delaware 56 #10 Detroit 66, #7 St. John's 64 South Region #1 Duke 99, #16 Radford 63 #8 Oklahoma State 74, #9 George Washington 59 #4 New Mexico 79, #13 Butler 62 #5 Syracuse 63, #12 Iona 61 #3 Michigan 80, #14 Davidson 61 #6 UCLA 65, #11 Miami 62 #2 Kentucky 82, #15 South Carolina State 67 #10 Saint Louis 51, #7 UMass 46 March 14, 1998 East Region #1 North Carolina 93, #8 Charlotte 83 OT #4 Michigan State 63, #5 Princeton 56 #11 Washington 87, #14 Richmond 66 #2 Connecticut 78, #7 Indiana 68 Midwest Region #1 Arizona 82, #9 Illinois State 49 #4 Maryland 67, #5 Illinois 61 #3 Utah 75, #6 Arkansas 69 #10 West Virginia 75, #2 Cincinnati 74 March 15, 1998 Midwest Region #8 Rhode Island 80, #1 Kansas 75 #13 Valparaiso 83, #12 Florida State 77 OT #3 Stanford 83, #11 Western Michigan 65 #2 Purdue 80, #10 Detroit 65 South Region #1 Duke 79, #8 Oklahoma State 73 #5 Syracuse 56, #4 New Mexico 46 #6 UCLA 85, #3 Michigan 82 #2 Kentucky 88, #10 Saint Louis 61 March 19, 1998 East Region #1 North Carolina 73, #4 Michigan State 58 #2 Connecticut 75, #11 Washington 74 West Region #1 Arizona 87, #4 Maryland 79 #3 Utah 65, #10 West Virginia 62 March 20, 1998 Midwest Region #8 Rhode Island 74, #13 Valparaiso 68 #3 Stanford 67, #2 Purdue 59 South Region #1 Duke 80, #5 Syracuse 67 #2 Kentucky 94, #6 UCLA 68 March 21, 1998 East Region #1 North Carolina 75, #2 Connecticut 64 West Region #3 Utah 76, #1 Arizona 51 March 22, 1998 Midwest Region #3 Stanford 79, #8 Rhode Island 77 South Region #2 Kentucky 86, #1 Duke 84 March 28, 1998 Final Four Kentucky 86, Stanford 85 OT Utah 65, North Carolina 59 National Championship Kentucky 78, Utah 69

George Mason is at #26 and Hofstra is stting at #30 in the RPI and as mentioned before a Top 30 RPI team has never been left out. Personally I think it'd be quite the upset if they are left out. RPI fun fact: Mid-Eastern tournament champ Hampton has the lowest RPI of any team with a winning record in the country at #284. They are only two spots ahead of 6-24 TCU. Yay, conference tournaments.

Well god dammit. Now I just hope Cal gets an early Thursday game so they can be eliminated quickly.

Cal/Oregon going to double overtime. Pleasssssssssssssssse Oregon wins this. I do not want to be stuck watching a Cal game next Thursday or Friday. ESPN, CollegeRPI.com, and CBS Sportsline all had Cal projected as getting in coming into today although that may have all been under the assumption they'd beat RPI #144 Oregon.

Three teams tied, two teams advance, the three teams won and lost a game against the other. What are you not understanding?

I'm not someone to get overly sentimental about someone famous dying. If I didn't know someone personally I just don't have a lot of emotions. Sure it's sad they died but in the end I can't feel an overt emotional connection to them, whether it be Eddie Guerrero or now Kirby Puckett. Being that I'm 27 years old, Puckett was of course in his prime when I was a kid. I personally don't have any unique Puckett memories, everyone remembers his Game 6 homerun against the Braves, and my perspective on him is a little odd being an A's fan. The Twins were their biggest rival during the late 80's and early 90's in what was really a great, forgotten rivalry. Naturally I couldn't stand the Twins or Puckett and I would dread the A's every trip to the Metrodome. So in an attempt to do some sort of "memory" post I figured I'd go to retrosheet.org and scan Puckett's daily lines and pick out some of his great games. May 8, 1984 - Twins 5, Angels 0 Puckett's MLB debut where had four hits. He'd hit safely in 19 of his first 20 games. April 22, 1985 - Twins 9, Mariners 5 Puckett hits his first career homerun off of Matt Young after not hitting one his rookie year, he went 3 for 5 on the day. July 18, 1986 - Twins 7, Orioles 3 Puckett's first multi-homerun game, leading the game off with a homerun off of Scott McGregor. August 1, 1986 - Twins 10, A's 1 In the same game where Bert Blyleven gets his 3,000th strikeout, Puckett hits for the cycle getting it with a homerun in the 8th off of Darrel Akerfelds. August 30, 1987 - Twins 10, Brewers 6 After going 4 for 5 with two homeruns the previous day he follows that up with a 6 for 6 two double, two homeruns performance. October 24, 1987 - Twins 11, Cardinals 5 Goes for 4 for 4 as the Twins force a Game 7. May 13, 1989 - Twins 10, Blue Jays 8 Puckett goes 4 for 5, all of his hits are doubles. June 26, 1989 - Twins 4, A's 3 Puckett goes 3 for 5 and hits a walk off homerun against Todd Burns in the 10th inning. October 13, 1991 - Twins 8, Blue Jays 5 Went 4 for 5 the previous game, hits a 1st inning homerun off of Tom Candiotti, finishes this game 3 for 5 as the Twins win the ALCS and he wins the series MVP. October 26, 1991 - Twins 4, Braves 3 Needs no introduction. August 14, 1992 - Twins 9, Mariners 6 Hits two homeruns, six RBI, includes a grand slam in the 3rd inning off Brian Fisher. July 13, 1993 - American League 9, National League 3 Wins All-Star game MVP, 2 for 3 with a homerun off Terry Mulholland. August 15, 1993 - Twins 12, A's 5 Goes 5 for 5 with a two homeruns in the second game of a double header. August 10, 1994 - Twins 17, Red Sox 7 Matches his career high with seven RBI, which he did against the Red Sox earlier in the season, hitting two homeruns with a grand slam in what would end up being their last game of the '94 season before the strike. Puckett's Year-by-Year Win Shares 1984: 16 1985: 19 1986: 26 1987: 29 1988: 32 1989: 27 1990: 22 1991: 21 1992: 31 1993: 18 1994: 20 1995: 20

I wish he'd come back to Stanford. Only took them until his second year gone for them to wind up in the NIT. The way the Warriors season has fallen apart I do think he'll be fired at the end of the year. Still to this day I can't figure out why he even bothered.

Good rule of thumb with the RPI is if you're in the Top 30 you're a lock and if you're outside the Top 70 you're NIT.

Gonzaga is going to be an early exit if Morrison shoots like he has the last two nights. At least they held on, no team with a losing record should be allowed in the tournament.

Because it's the funniest part of the show. "I've heard of him, I'll clap...wait an editor, who's that guy?"

As someone who enjoys taking time to post useless facts, fully realizing most will completely skip over the post, good job SliverPhoenix.

I have to say I'm shocked ESPN isn't televising the United States exhibition game against the Giants today as they did televise the Puerto Rico/Mets game. It'd give them a chance to hype the tournament some more and give them a chance to get up to the minute Bonds updates from Pedro Gomez on what he's doing in his recliner.

South Africa lost to the A's yesterday 13-1 with Bobby Crosby and Nick Swisher as their only regulars playing in the game. If they manage to be within 15 runs after five innings (when the mercy rule would go into effect) against the U.S. it'll be a major upset.

This Tuesday the United States plays its World Baseball Classic opener against Mexico. As widly documented by now several top players have pulled out from the U.S. squad and other countries thus we aren't getting a true showing of the world's best. The best example of this is now the inclusion of the ancient and no longer effective starting pitcher Al Leiter to the U.S. roster. As much as George Steinbrenner has voiced his displeasure with the tournament he didn't say anything about being upset over Leiter being added to the team as he is not even expected to make the Yankees. Now even with Leiter on the team the U.S. still should win the um, whatever they give away to the winner, but the U.S. men's basketball team should always win the gold in the Olympics too. So I've decided to pick my own United States roster. Every U.S. born player is available to me in this fictional scenerio. I'll use the same roster set up as the current U.S. team has: 4 starting pitchers, 10 relievers, 3 catchers, 7 infielders, and 6 outfielders. Starting Pitchers Roger Clemens Roy Oswalt Jake Peavy Dontrelle Willis Relievers Neal Cotts Justin Duchscherer Brad Lidge Scott Linebrink Joe Nathan B.J. Ryan Scot Shields Huston Street Billy Wagner Dan Wheeler Catchers Michael Barrett Joe Mauer Jason Varitek Infielders Travis Hafner Jeff Kent Derrek Lee Alex Rodriguez Mark Teixeira David Wright Michael Young Note: Let's be real, A-Rod is the best shortstop in baseball even if he plays 3rd now so I'm putting him at short. Hafner doesn't play the field really but there is the DH in the tournament and the way he rakes righties you'd need to have him in there. Outfielders Adam Dunn Jim Edmonds Brian Giles Aaron Rowand Gary Sheffield Vernon Wells Ya, Aaron Rowand. I was having hard time picking the 6th outfielder so I went with a defensive specialist. It does give me three center fielders but really you can stick Rowand in a corner late in the game for someone like Dunn or Sheffield. Ya, ya no true lead off hitter on the roster but with this many big bats you don't need one. Giles would make a good lead off hitter with his excellent plate patience. ****BONUS MATERIAL**** Just as I finished this I figured, why not pick the Un-American team? No, no not Venezuela. I'm gonna pick a team of U.S. players you wouldn't want representing Team U.S.A. I'm only taking into account players who regulars last season as obviously I could pick an entire team filled with bench scrubs or guys who had cups of coffee in the Majors. Starting Pitchers Mark Hendrickson Al Leiter (oh the irony) Joe Mays Eric Milton Relief Pitchers Doug Brocail Jim Brower Brian Bruney Jason Christiansen Mike DeJean Alan Embree Travis Harper Dan Kolb Braden Looper Matt Thorton Catchers Brad Ausmus Chad Moeller Chris Snyder Infielders David Bell Aaron Boone Bret Boone Royce Clayton Doug Mientiewicz Aaron Miles Kevin Millar Outfielders Eric Brynes Steve Finley Terrence Long Corey Patterson Scott Podsednik (ya I said it!) B.J. Surhoff

And if this past offseason is a sign of things to come, the A's new ownership isn't going to be a heavy handed when it comes to the payroll. People forget that 15 years ago the A's had the highest payroll in baseball but that's because they had an ownership group, the Haas Family, who was willing to spend money. Playing one of the big three markets helps but at the end of the day it's all about how much the ownership wants to spend. Of course after this season when Barry Zito leaves through free agency to sign with the Yankees or Mets everyone will be screaming that it shows that they can't stay competitive rather than he isn't worth the $12-14 million/year he'll get.