Bored

For the first time this year Barry Zito has put together three quality starts in a row and today had probably his best start of the year with eight shutout innings against Tampay Bay. Maybe it's time to at least temporarily change my avatar.

Screw moral victories and even though Lithuania is very good, the NBA should once again be completely embarrassed by the performance of this team in the Olympics. Two losses in the history of Olympic play, two losses in this Olympics alone. Winning the Gold doesn't even salvage this Olympics now.

I'm a bit confused - should we guess the total points for Wash. St./NM? And #1 and #3 are a bit confusing. Are you asking the same question? Please in the future PM me with a question. The first two tiebreakers are based on who you pick to win that game. Example if your your match-up does end in a tie, if Miami wins and you picked Miami and your opponent picks Florida State, you win the game. If you both had the same pick for the game it will go to Tiebreaker #2 and who picked the Washington State/New Mexico game correctly. If again you had the same pick as your opponent for that game it will go to the tiebreaker questions. I'm having four tiebreakers to do my best eliminate any possiblity of ties since there are none in college football.

Not saying he should but after last night I think Adrian Beltre is going to be pushed as the favorite for MVP.

#19: Adam Vinatieri's kick wins Super Bowl for Patriots

You'd think so but then two moments just popped in my head that there is no way at all they won't be on the list: -Mike Tyson convicted of rape -Pete Rose banned from baseball Now I don't know how the '94 strike can't be on the list so something in the other 17 can't be on there. Maybe Norman's collapse or Cabrera's hit although both belong somewhere on the list. Anyways no surprise something major is going to get snubbed. The only argument against the '94 strike would be since again they are focusing on singular moments so maybe there wasn't a singular moment that stood out. I would think the day the strike happened and the events it kicked off would stand out.

I can't believe I forgot it but the Stanford band play from the 1982 Stanford/Cal game obviously will be there. Edit: Another one we forgot...Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig's consective game record. Okay here the 17 likely locks we've put together, again in no particular order: -Miracle on Ice -Bill Buckner play -"The Catch" -Doug Flutie's hail mary -Kirk Gibson's homerun -Vinatari's winning field goal against the Rams -N.C. State's upset of Houston, 1983 NCAA final (dunk to win) -Laettner's winning shot vs. Kentucky -McGwire breaking homerun record -Bonds breaking homerun record -Francisco Cabrera's game winning hit, '92 NLCS -Magic Johnson announcing he's HIV positive -O.J. chase and/or verdict -Bills 32 point comeback against the Oilers -Greg Norman's '96 Masters collapse -Stanford band play -Ripken breaking Gehrig's record

Good luck getting the majority of teams to allow any of their top pitchers to participate.

Your comparing little league to the Majors? If you made it to the Majors you probably know how to do things right already. Oh and as for getting along the '72-'74 A's say "hi".

If Bowa is still the manager of the Phillies tommorrow night then that's probably them officially throwing in the towel. Of course it's too little, too late at this point. Losing nine out of ten on a homestand and blowing a 7-2 lead in the final game? Woof.

Okay we're already 0 for 1 trying to guess the Top 20. #20: Nicklaus birdies 17, wins Masters at 46

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1852364

This was pretty much set in stone a couple of weeks ago. http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=59135

Also add first base prospect Dan Johnson who was a 2nd round pick in the "Moneyball Draft". Him, Blanton, and Swisher will all likely be key players on next year's team.

I do hope the A's finally win a playoff series this year. Obviously beyond the obvious reason of being a fan but also to shut up the crowd who write off the way the A's run their team because of their Game 5 failures. If their philosophy wasn't working for them then they wouldn't be making it to the playoffs every year.

Barry Bonds hits all those homeruns because his heart is just really, really big. All these years I kept hearing he had no heart!

No I wasn't saying OBP was going to lose it's value as more teams try to acquire players with good plate patience but to just use it as an example of it being so engrained into people's minds on how the A's run things. Some people think Moneyball is just about acquiring guys who walk a lot and can't run.

Another thing to say is what Moneyball is though of now will change as the years go by. As more teams adopt the A's strategy the less effective the strategy actually works when you have more and more teams doing the exact same thing (emphasizing on base percentage, not using "small ball"). Think of Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense in football. It became so synonymous with the 49ers during the 80's. By the early 90's it seemed most of the NFL was running their own West Coast Offense and those teams didn't exactly all produce the results of the 80's 49ers. In the end Moneyball is more about buying low and selling high than it is about on base percentage.

To add to that Moneyball is acquring what is undervalued by the market and getting the maximum out of your investment. Rant you know I'm kidding. Well sorta. Your telling me you wouldn't want to read Bavasi talking about Rich Aurillia's veteran presence and how Carlos Guillen was bad for team chemistry?

The sequel to Moneyball should be about Bill Bavasi running the Mariners.

Erubiel Durazo was literally the entire team for the A's tonight as he hits three homeruns and knocks in all their runs in a 5-4 win over the Orioles. Mark Mulder's struggles continue though as he does go eight innings but finishes with zero strikeouts and three walks. He has just 15 strikeouts and 17 walks in his last five starts. I still think he may be pitching hurt.

Definently. I'd say the chase would make it since it also caused a delay in the Rockets/Knicks NBA Finals game. Obviously something O.J. related will be there. Maybe. It's hockey so not a chance. Definently. You'd think it would be on the list some where. Since they're are focusing on singular moments I'm not sure if it will make the list. There was no one single moment about the Dream Team that stands out. Hell what I remember the most was Barkley elbowing some player. No chance, if it was going to make the list it'd be on it already. Same as above. Possibly but I'd be surprised to see it so high. For tennis Jimmy Connors surprise run at the 1991 U.S. Open (I think that was the year) hasn't been listed or Monica Seles being stabbed. One more to add that's a lock is the '94 baseball strike. For me personally Jerry Rice breaking Jim Brown's touchdown record should be Top 100 but since it hasn't been on the list yet I'm kinda doubting it will crack the Top 20.

Miracle on Ice is pretty much a lock for #1. Add Francisco Cabrera's series winning hit in the '92 NLCS to the list above. Nine more to guess.

Since there is only 20 left I'm gonna guess as to what is left. This is off the top of my head and in no particular order. -Miracle on Ice -Bill Buckner play -"The Catch" -Doug Flutie's hail mary -Kirk Gibson's homerun -Vinatari's winning field goal against the Rams -N.C. State's upset of Houston, 1983 NCAA final (dunk to win) -Laettner's winning shot vs. Kentucky -McGwire breaking homerun record -Bonds breaking homerun record That's all I got for now.

I think this is an example, along with Sosa's corked bat, of them voting on this probably at the end of 2003 so moments like these were fresh in everyone's memory. This is a bit high in my view (especially being so far above Joe Carter's homerun) but I'm not a Cubs fan. #21: NLCS turns when fan interferes with foul ball