YAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!1

HUGO SANCHEZ FIRED AS MEXICO COACH

Goodbye you JOKE. Thank you for being an inept nincompoop of a coach and helping the US continue its domination of your country's pathetic national team. I hope you get pelted by rotten vegetables on your way out. Ives is right. You'll be remembered for whining. For making all the wrong decisions. For failing to get your players' heads in the right places. For failing to beat the US, ever.

In the end, this is actually bad news for the rest of CONCACAF. With a competent coach, Mexico definitely has the talent to challenge the US for regional supremacy again. But we'll worry about that later. For now, I'm going to relish in this signal of Mexico's failures.

Those dadgum logos

As the NCAA tournament is set to resume tonight with the first four matchups of the Sweet 16, word comes that those obnoxiously large NCAA logos that Rice referred to are being removed, and won't be back for the rest of the tournament.

The decision came at the urging of UNC coach Roy Williams, who made a point to speak out about the logos after a number of players slipped on them in the tournament's first weekend. Turns out the logos were just big decals, which begs the question: what idiot thought it was a good idea to slap stickers all over the court? What is this, a kindergarteners convention? For the record, Rice and I were just annoyed by how large they were, as if people didn't realize that the tournament was run by the NCAA. Every time a point guard walked the ball up the court it looked like he was wading into a pool. Anyway, luckily that ridiculousness is over with and we can just enjoy the basketball. The Louisville-Tennessee matchup should be a great one. Let's go Big East!

FANTASY BASEBALL

Who wants to join our fantasy baseball league? Owners who check their teams are preferable. Get in touch or leave a comment if you're interested.

Of Brackets and Office Pools

If you're like me, you're probably wishing you had spent that $5 you put into your office bracket pool on a coffee and a bagel. My bracket was utterly obliterated on Friday night, and by Sunday afternoon, I tried to forget that I even filled one out. Yes, Curry and Rice's final four picks are still alive and looking pretty good, well, except for our national champion, UCLA, who squeaked out a second round win, but other than that . . . wow. I can hardly read my bracket anymore because of all the red lines crossing out my picks. However, there is a bright side to the mayhem of the first weekend. With Duke out and my bracket scattered across the four corners of the earth, I can sit and enjoy the other games with no particular loyalties toward any team (well, except for any opponent of UNC). Here are a few things I noticed this weekend.

Read more...
Curry is the man

No, not the Curry who writes on this blog (although I would consider him a pretty cool dude). I'm talking about Davidson's Curry. Yes, I know we've already crowned him the MVP of the first weekend, but you just can't sing this guy's praises enough. Dropping 40 on the Zags, including 30 in the second half, was pretty impressive. Notching 30 points and 5 assists against the lock-down defense of the Hoyas makes the fact that he wasn't even mentioned with the likes of Beasley, Hansbrough, or Love in the POY discussion a travesty. Wisconsin, a team that plays a similar brand of basketball to Georgetown, better come ready to play or we may actually be talking about a Davidson matchup against Kansas in the Elite Eight . . . that is assuming Villanova, a team I didn't even think deserved to be in the tourney, doesn't pull off the upset.

Duke is in a postseason slump

It's happened before (see: mid:90's Duke), but Duke has now struggled in the postseason four years running. ACC Championships in '05 and '06 notwithstanding, Duke has only been 5-4 in the NCAA tournament since 2004's Final Four team. One of those victories, a one point win over tiny Belmont, is almost more alarming than any of the other losses. Actually, I would argue it is definitely more alarming. Now, I don't buy what the media is saying about Duke fading from national prominence (this year's team consisted of seven scholarship freshman and sophomores who should only improve for next year). Word on the street is that some of the team was sick. Demarcus Nelson certainly wasn't his normal self as he missed at least 5 layups in the game. But, it is still telling that Nelson became only the third scholarship Duke player since 1986 to miss the final four during his entire Duke career. Perhaps this shows how outrageous the expectations are for a Duke team who's most talented players are still extremely young (Henderson, Scheyer, Singler, Smith etc). But Duke is judged like the Yankees. A four year stretch without a final four is something that needs to be fixed . . . not because the current team is failing, but because it's Duke and not a single player on that team came to Duke without also dreaming of playing in the Final Four. The problems seem to be mental/coaching/physical more than chronic personnel issues. Despite comments that Duke's teams aren't as talented as they used to be (teams consisting of three or more NBA lottery picks don't come around all that often), this team was talented enough to make it past the first weekend, even without a true low post player. A national title may have been a little bit out of their reach, but a deep run certainly was not. I will be curious to see if K and co shake things up a bit to get the team to peak at the right time . . . as in March. It's been a while since I can say that Duke has played its best basketball when it matters most. Let's hope that changes next year.

Memphis is really bad at freethrows

Yes, everyone knows this already, but honestly, it's almost comical. Mississippi State supposedly gave Memphis a good game because they were an underrated team coming from a power conference. What really happened is that Memphis missed a whole bunch of freethrows, so even though the Tigers vastly outplayed an over-matched Mississippi State team, the game remained interesting because Memphis left 10 points at the free throw line (and they would've left more if the game had a slightly larger margin going into the stretch, thus forcing Mississippi state to foul more earlier in the game). Of course, if they shot 100% from the line, this game would've been a total blowout. This is why they won't win the championship. I think the funniest moment of the tournament occurred when Joey Dorsey stepped to the freethrow line only to have his vision obscured by the setting sun, which sneaked into the building when an unwitting fan opened a door on the west side of the stadium. With his vision impaired by the sun, he sank his only made freethrow of the second game. Maybe if Dorsey shoots with his eyes closed he'll actually raise his percentage.

McDonalds has really bad commercials

And we are forced to watch them over and over and over and over and over . . .

The NCAA logo is distractingly large

It actually reminds me of the bouncing screensaver that my DVD player uses, only it says "NCAA" instead of DVD. I find myself watching the logo during blowouts, imagining it bouncing around the corners of the screen. Which, by the way, is a far more entertaining way to pass the time than watching the tools in powder blue romp all over Arkansas.

The Selection Committee is just plain mean

The Selection committee has a really tough job, I know. But it was very cruel of them to force Tennessee, the team that played the toughest schedule in the country (which the committee likes), beat then number one Memphis in Memphis, won the SEC regular season, and otherwise had an outstanding year, to play in a region that contains the top overall team in UNC as well as another heavyweight in Louisville (top three seed, in my opinion). Oh yeah, and they were RPI number one as well. UNC didn't get any favors, either, except that they will only need to play one game against Louisville or Tennessee, but at least they get to play that game in their own backyard. Compared to the path the other number 2's have (or had, as the case may be) to the Final Four, Tennessee's seems particularly difficult.

And these are all of my musings for now. More to come shortly.

March Madness: First Weekend MVP

Curry and Rice hereby name Stephen Curry the MVP of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Davidson is the only team that has beaten two higher seeded teams to reach the Sweet 16, and Curry has looked absolutely unreal so far. Dropping 40 on Gonzaga was absurd enough, but the perseverance he showed in fighting through a poor first half against Georgetown to bury them cold-heartedly with ridiculous threes and Ginobili/Parker/Wade/Iverson-esque drives in crunch time sealed it. He was been the single most amazing player to watch in this crazy first weekend that has made so little sense that experts like Rice and myself have seen our brackets obliterated in completely unexplainable fashion. Performances like Stephen's and wins like Davidson's are why this tournament is so amazing to watch. Stephen Curry, we salute you, in awe. Also, I like your last name.

USA qualifies for Olympics

Thanks to a dominating 3-0 victory over the Canada U-23 team in the seminfinals of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the US has booked its ticket to Beijing. There really wasn't anything to complain about in this game (except perhaps the lack of Tiffany May). The defense was solid - Michael Orozco has been a revelation and should be a major cog in the Olympic team. The midfield, though mostly quiet, kept possession and kept the ball moving, if not always incisively. Jozy got hacked time and again as usual, but played well for the most part, almost scored, and drew fouls that led to two Freddy Adu free kick goals, the second of which was absolutely sublime. He's really living up to the hype - the guy was incredibly creative and effective last night. What a soccer player. The much-maligned (of late) Sasha Kljestan closed the scoring with a class finish off a nice pass from Stuart Holden on the left wing. Holden also has been a revelation. This team should definitely be a threat to do well in the Olympics.

March Madness: Day 1

Well, the greatest single sport event outside of the World Cup is underway, and we've seen some fantastic games so far - and some bracket busters... ouch.

Read more...

The tournament started off by inducing heart attacks in a number of us who expected Xavier to reach the Sweet 16. Georgia, which was coming off of a stunning and unexpected run to the SEC championship wherein they won 4 games in 3 days and weathered the tornadoes in Atlanta, came out looking good, and Xavier, the highest ranked mid-major in the country, came out flat. Georgia doesn't really have a whole lot of talent, but they seemed to be riding on emotion, and Xavier seemed unprepared. Luckily, Xavier righted the ship and came out on top, but that would have been quite an upset.

Kansas, Michigan State, and Marquette all followed with fairly easy victories, all of which I expected. I did not, however, expect UNLV to beat Kent State, let alone comprehensively. UNLV has done well this year relying on all grit and defense, but they have no offense. Kent State, meanwhile, was a balanced team, with good scoring inside and outside and solid D. But UNLV strangled Kent State in the first half, and by the time the halftime whistle blew, the score read 31-10 UNLV. They then cruised to the victory.

Pitt advanced easily, as did Purdue. Stanford absolutely embarrassed Cornell, holding them to 15.6% shooting in the first half. That should have been Princeton getting blown out in the first round, not Cornell! Ugh, let's not get started on the state of Princeton basketball.

Then came a couple of pivotal games. USC-Kansas State was given top billing going into the day, and it didn't disappoint. It was a back and forth battle, Michael Beasley each living up to the hype in his tournament debut - OJ Mayo not so much. In watching USC this year, I decided that they were a great threat to make a deep run in the tournament, not because of Mayo but because of his supporting cast. With Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett finally rounding into shape leading into the tournament, I figured they were underseeded at 6. But in this game, Beasley's supporting cast came up huge, and K State pulled off the upset, hurting my bracket significantly, as I had USC in the Elite 8.

At the same time that that game was playing out, Duke was holding on for dear life against Belmont. I did not see much of this game, mostly because I watched the other, expecting Duke to pull away at some point. Rice will probably have more insights on this game, but from what I saw, it was just a case of Belmont playing really well and matching Duke shot for shot. It came down to the very end, with Gerald Henderson driving the length of the floor for a layup with 12 seconds left to give Duke a one point win. Here's Rice's take on the game, sent to me in an email:

Belmont played a great game . . . it was a combination Princeton offense wed with a spread . . . ironically, it was essentially Duke's offense. And Belmont's defense was solid. They couldn't keep up with Henderson and Nelson was definitely off of his game, but they stayed at home on the three point shooters and never were caught out of position. But I agree, Duke didn't play too terribly. The only thing going out of that game that I can say is that Demarcus Nelson has the flu, which is the only way I can explain how he got beat off the dribble so much. It's the only way to explain why the ACC defensive player of the year coudn't guard Belmont's point guards. Singler also apparently has the flu, but he didn't play too terribly. Definitely not a vintage Singler game, but still. Duke had far too many unforced errors and we certainly failed to hit our threes, but besides Nelson's paltry 2 points and 4 turnovers, we didn't look terrible. Talk about a maddeningly inconsistent team. We absolutely dominate Carolina, Wisconsin, Clemson, and cruise to relatively easy victories over Maryland and VaTech only to lose to UNC and Clemson and then win by one against Belmont. I just hope the confidence of the team isn't shot going into tomorrow's game. We need to regain the swagger we had earlier in the season. And if you happen to find the real DeMarcus Nelson wandering lost through the streets of DC, please direct him to the correct basketball venue.

In the remainder of the day's action, Washington State beat up on Winthrop, Texas A&M squeaked out a win against BYU, and Notre Dame took out George Mason. Wisconsin was able to pull away from CSF in the second half, so the upset I was hoping for didn't happen. CSF, oddly, chose not to push the tempo, walking the ball up the floor on their possessions, which played right into Wisconsin's hands. Here's some advice, kids: when tournament time comes around, don't get away from what got you there. Speed would have rattled the Badgers; instead, they walked away with a fairly comfortable win. West Virginia then beat Arizona in a game I hope shut some experts up. Look, I know Arizona is a strong program and had some big wins this year, but they also had quite a few losses - 14 of them, to be exact. At their best, they're obviously very good, but their best doesn't show up very often and I don't know why analysts thought it would yesterday. They were vastly overrated and were rightfully beaten by a better WVA squad. In the final game of the night, UCLA trounced Miss Valley State 70-29... ouch. Yeah, that was a bit of a mismatch.

Anyway, that's it for day 1. I picked 13 out of 16 games correctly in my bracket (the bracket I played in my pool at work had the BYU-A&M game right), but it really wasn't a very good day because I lost an Elite 8 team, and all 3 of my misses were in the Midwest, so that region is already fouled up. I have to hope that Clemson and Gtown join Kansas in that region's final four. But I'm not too worried overall, because last year I had a bad day 1 and then was nearly perfect the rest of the way and finished 2nd out of over 100 brackets at work, netting me a nice chunk of change. Hopefully the same happens this year. Day 2 games start in a few minutes, so here's to another exciting day of college basketball.

The Curry and Rice Final Four Picks

UNC, Texas, Kansas, and UCLA.

Champion: UCLA over Kansas

Not only did Rice and I each come up with this independently, we each decided it was difficult to see any other Final Four. The one seeds are strong, except Memphis, which isn't going to survive against Texas in Houston if it even makes it that far.

My big first round upset is Cal St. Fullerton over Wisconsin. Likely? No. But CSF and its uber-uptempo guard oriented offense will match up well against the Badgers and jarr them out of their slowdown style. Wisconsin is probably still good enough to win, but I feel like this particular matchup helps CSF enough that I'm going to roll the dice with them. I think either team will be overwhelmed by USC in the second round anyway. The other minor upset I can see is St. Joseph's over Oklahoma.

OK, time to eat lunch and see if Xavier can remember how to play basketball in the second half. If not, I'm going to lose a Sweet 16 team in the very first game of the tournament.

How far can the Rockets go?

I'm sitting here smiling and shaking my head. I just finished watching the Rockets win their 22nd straight game. This is the second longest winning streak in NBA history, and after watching them beat the Lakers today and take over first place in the West, I see why - though I still have a hard time believing what I just saw, especially considering that the last 10 wins in this streak have come without Yao, and the last few without Carl Landry, their surprisingly effective rookie power forward.

Read more...

The first thing you need to realize about the Rockets is that their defense is excellent. Throughout this game, all of their players were active on the perimeter, ad Dikembe is an imposing force down low. They held Kobe to 24 points on 33 shots, which is fantastic.

Also, the whole team has a swagger to it. Bobby Jackson is looking like the dangerous scorer he was with Sacratomato, which is a bad sign for the rest of the West. Dikembe's finger has never wagged more vigorously. And at the end of today's game, as Rafer Alston was dribbling out the clock, he went a little Skip 2 My Lou on Sasha Vujacic, who didn't appreciate it and fouled him. Alston then got in his face. There was no need for it, really, but it's the kind of thing you see from a really confident team that really demoralizes its opponents. Also, you're allowed to play around a little bit in the final seconds of a game where you scored 31 points and went 8/11 from three.

And T-Mac has really raised his game and is playing at an All-Star level. If the Rockets win the West, this really confounds the MVP vote. It's probably still Kobe, but now you really have to seriously consider McGrady along with Garnett, Chris Paul, and probably Dwight Howard as well. (LeBron is not in my top 5 - the Cavs don't have nearly a good enough record considering that they're in the East.)

So how far can the Rockets go? Frankly, at this point, there's no way they're not a title contender. The stretch of games they're in now is their toughest test to date, and if they fare poorly, then I may revise that statement, but having just beaten the Lakers, they clearly deserve to be considered amongst the best of the West, which puts them amongst the best in the league. Also, no team has ever gone on a winning streak like this and not won the title. The '72 Lakers, '71 Bucks, 2000 Lakers, '96 Bulls, '70 Knicks - all champions. The '82 Celtics are the only team ever to win 18 or more and not win the title (they lost to the eventual champion Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals that year), and the Rockets are on 22 and counting. Watch them and you'll see - this team just knows how to play basketball.

The highs and lows of rooting for Spurs

On the morning of February 24, 2008, Sir James and I woke up at the obscenely early hour of 8:30, had a meeting with a certain Mr. Daniels at 9:00, and were ON OUR WAY TO WEMBLEY... ahem... I mean, LUCKY BAR... by 9:30. It was the day of the Carling Cup Final, and it would be one of the best days of my life.

Read more...

The sight at Lucky Bar was pretty amazing - the supporters split was about 70-30 in favor of Spurs. And the place was pretty packed. I didn't see an empty seat when we went in. James and I pulled up the last two chairs in the place right in front of the big screen in the back (a little too close, but I can't really complain).

We came out flying early on. Keane got a chance less than a minute in on a poor giveaway by Belletti (who might have been the worst player on the pitch), but his shot went wide. Chimbonda also hit the crossbar on a header off a corner in the 9th minute, and Berbatov and Woodgate also had decent chances off headers. The first half rhythm that was both steady and unsettling. Spurs had a good share of the possession and threatened often, but our pretty passing couldn't help us break through in the final third. But it wasn't because of a lack of fan support at Lucky Bar. James lead the Spurs fans in song from kickoff to the final whistle.

Chelsea ended up breaking through first with a 39th minute free kick by Drogba from about 26 yards out. He had just tried a free kick a few minutes before and come close, and Robinson should have known he was going to try something similar. Instead he stood basically in the part of the goal that was protected by the wall, leaving the right side more or less open. He stood rooted there as Drogba curled the kick just right of the wall into the lower right corner of the net, and Chelsea had an undeserved 1-0 lead. One of the few Chelsea fans hiding in the corner of the bar came out and did some weird silent dance in front of us and shoved his flag in James's face and then ran back. Before we could figure out exactly what the guy was doing, he halftime whistle blew.

After politely waiting for me to finish my breakfast of eggs, beans, and chips, the game resumed and Chelsea promptly went into their defensive shell. Our chances dried up until midway through the second half, when Wayne Bridge forgot that the game was soccer and not hot potato, and his odd play, which didn't even gain him any sort of advantage, resulted in a penalty kick. Berbagod, the silent Ukranian assassin, hit the coolest penalty you will ever see (aside from any of his other penalties), and the game was level.

With Chelsea lacking the will/talent to respond, regulation time ended with the teams at one goal apiece (but not before Zokora totally blew a breakaway, which left me on the floor, pounding it with my fists). Roman "I'm not a Russian mafia boss, no really guys" Abramovich was unable to buy any other players for $20 million more than their worth during the intermission, and so Chelsea was forced to take the field for extra time with the same obscenely-salaried team that had ended the first 90. It didn't take long for Abramovich's gaffe to be exploited, as Woodgate scored the go-ahead goal on a somewhat fortuitous play. Jenas struck an excellent free kick that Woodgate got a head on unmolested. Cech parried the attempt - but straight into the still onrushing head of Woodgate, who, with his eyes closed, nodded the ball into the back of the net. It was a bang-bang play, but it gave Spurs a much deserved lead they would not relinquish. The rest of the game felt like a coronation. We sang and chanted til the final whistle blew, and then the roof came off Lucky Bar, as all of us who have waited so long for a trophy, after so many close calls, were finally to celebrate. We were so dazed that we sat and watched rugby for the next hour or two, though James first ran outside and declared "LET'S GO BURN DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE!" After James left for Princeton with his pyromania unsatisfied, I took the longest bus route back to my house, still in a stupor, still incredibly happy about the victory. Silverware... beating the Chelski scum after beating the Arsenal scum... it was a happy, happy day.

That was to be the highlight of the season, however - there is no more cup glory left for Tottenham. Last week, we faced PSV Eindhoven - leaders of the Eredivisie - in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup. We blew a number of chances and lost the first leg at White Hart Lane, 1-0. There was still hope for the return leg - the last time Juande Ramos was there, he was lifting the UEFA Cup itself - but the game ended up being frustrating more than anything. PSV came out in a defensive shell, and stymied our numerous attacks through the first half. When all seemed just about lost, Berbagod broke through with an absolutely stunning strike in the 82nd minute to level the tie at one all. He volleyed a high ball out of the air on the first touch from near the edge od the 18 yard box, and deposited it coolly into the far bottom corner of the net. All of a sudden we had a lifeline.

Fitness would undo us, however. Just a few days before we'd a game against West Ham. It was something of a laugher, as we sent the Hammers to their 4th straight 4-0 loss, but it was still 90 minutes we had to play, much of it with our first XI. Meanwhile, PSV's weekend clash with Ajax was canceled thanks to a Dutch police strike (seriously, what the hell?). The result was that they were completely fresh, and we were unable to make much headway in extra time. Not much, that is, until the final minute, when Steed Malbranque (Steeeeed!) hit an absolutely perfect dipping volley that the PSV keeper was just barely able to touch over the crossbar. It was excruciatingly close.

With extra time a stalemate, it came down to a penalty kick shootout. The order was Berbatov, O'Hara, Huddlestone, Bent, and Jenas. Berbatov was a no-brainer, and I had been hoping that O'Hara would be called upon, as I had faith that the youngster had the confidence not to shrink from the pressure - he has shown himself to be a player who always wants to be a part of decisive plays. Huddlestone was no sure thing, but he's got a good shot so I wasn't too worried. Bent worried me greatly as he's shown little finishing ability in a Spurs shirt. Jenas worried me even more, as he has neither the mental fortitude nor the shooting ability to be a good penalty taker. Weak mental approach + finesse rather than power on the shot = small chance of success.

Spurs ended up kicking second, which is the much more difficult position. Berbatov coolly hit his kick (as usual), and O'Hara muscled in his shot powerfully after Robinson saved PSV's second shot to give Spurs the upper hand. Huddlestone and Bent also put away their kicks, giving Jenas a chance to win it all. Naturally, he lazily kicked a mid-height floater to the right side (giving away his side by opening up his hips on the approach to the penalty spot), which PSV's excellent keeper Gomes saved. In the second portion of the shootout, Zokora nailed his shot, but with Chimbonda up needing to score to keep it going, he missed far to the left, coming nowhere close to the goal. And just like that, our UEFA Cup dreams were over.

I was really depressed after this game, as the season was effectively over. The Premier League season means little, with us sitting in 11th and already qualified for UEFA next year via the Carling Cup win. Many people tried to console me with my Gmail status set as "gutted." though few were really able to comprehend the emptiness I felt. It's not that I was upset about the season overall, but it was hard to come to grips with the fact that there wouldn't be another Spurs game that mattered until next season.

However, I've come out of my funk. This is a good time in sports. As Jonathann pointed out, the NBA is awesome again. March Madness is about to explode. MLB spring training is well underway, as is the MLS preseason, and both will be starting up come April. Right now, I'm watching the ACC final between UNC and Clemson and listening to the Mets spring training game against the Tigers on the radio. Soon I'll switch to watching the Rockets-Lakers game on the TV and the Red Bulls-Charleston game on the computer, thereby hitting all four of those sports in the same short span. In addition, the Olympic qualifiers are going on, and the US has won its first round group. It's a good time for sports, and you can expect more posts on all of these topics from us in the weeks to come.

Jair Up There

For all you Braves fans reading this (which I think refers only to my parents), Jair Jurrjens is the real deal. I got a chance to watch JJ's four innings of shut-out work against the Cardinals yesterday and am extremely excited to see what the kid from Curacao can bring to the Braves staff this year.

Read more...

It is quite possible that in a short amount of time, Jurrjens, not Jones, will be remembered as the best player from Curacao to don a Braves uniform. This is meant as no disrespect to Andruw, of course, but after watching an evening replay of JJ's spring training performance against the Red Birds, I couldn't help but see a parallel between the trade that landed Smoltz with the Braves two decades ago and the current trade that brought Jurrjens to Atlanta. In 1987, the Detroit Tigers sent then-prospect John Smoltz to Atlanta in exchange for veteran hurler Doyle Alexander. Alexander was excellent for the Tigers in the short run while Smoltz struggled initially with the Braves. However, I think any Atlanta fan would make that trade a thousand times over if given the chance. The same is true this year. Edgar Renteria has a great chance to be an important cog in the Tiger's offensive machine. He will be a productive player for the Tigers for a number of years. However, Jurrjens has the potential to be great. He's got excellent movement and velocity on his fastball. His change is excellent and he's developing a nasty slider. More importantly, he seems to have the swagger and work ethic that is necessary to be a successful starter at the Major League level. Obviously, it's premature and unfair to compare Jurrjens to Smoltz. He still needs to gain better command of his pitches. Plus, he's only 21 years old and not only must he continue to develop, but also he must avoid the injury bug that too often bites promising young pitchers. However, Jurrjens certainly has the potential to be a very good and possibly great starting pitcher at the major league level. His progress this spring has almost certainly assured him a spot at the backend of the Braves rotation this year, making him an X factor that could help restore the Braves to the top of the NL East. As with any young prospect, there is a far greater chance he will fail to live up to his promise. Nevertheless, his swagger, work ethic, and talent could very easily propel him to a successful big league career.

We Want a Pitcher, Not a Belly Itcher

If there is one thing that has been difficult to get used to for all Braves fans, it's been the lack of quality starting pitching in Atlanta over the past few seasons. Some of the problems have been due to bad luck (Hampton's seemingly endless string of injuries). Some have been due to disappointing prospects (Kyle Davies). But most have been due to Atlanta's relatively frugal ownership. The Braves, to this day, have one of the healthiest farm systems in all of baseball . . . even after trading away four supposedly surefire prospects for Mark Teixeira. There once was a time when that healthy farm system would have made the Braves a frontrunner in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. A Braves package that included two top pitching prospects plus some other solid position players (perhaps Lillibridge and Brandon Jones?) plus perhaps a little more filler would have looked much better than anything the Twins were offered by the Mets, Yankees, or Red Sox. Such a trade would have given the Braves a rotation of Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton, Glavine, and Santana -- which would be quite the formidable group and about as close as the Braves could come to the Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux group of the '90's. But alas, the Ted Turner ownership days are long gone and the Braves have to fill the rotation using entirely different methods . . .

Read more...
The Braves offense has a lot of potential coupled with a lot of risk. The pitching staff is even more extreme. The Braves have a huge disparity in age between the veteran starters and the young guns. Smoltz is still one of the best pitchers in the game and, as one of the greatest post season starters of all time, could lead the way to playoff success. Glavine is no longer a frontline starter, but he and Smoltz have both been in the top five for quality starts the past two years. Tim Hudson is not a star, but is a solid #2 and as long as he keeps his sinker low, is one of the best groundball pitchers in the game. Hampton, before his series of injuries, was extremely effective with the Braves and could be one of the best #4 starters in baseball. The thing is, all these guys are getting up there in age. The time to win with this group is now. While Hudson still likely has a number of quality years remaining, Smoltz and Glavine are both over 40. For Hampton, this is a make or break year. It's the last year of his megacontract that he signed with Colorado seven years ago. If he pitches poorly or is injured again, his career could be finished. The time is now for this group of starters.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Braves have a crop of youngsters that have the potential to be really, really good. JoJo Reyes and Jair Jurrjens certainly have the stuff to succeed as frontliners in the big leagues. A second tier of prospects, including Chris Resop and Jeff Bennett among others, could also provide quality depth at the 4 and 5 spots. The question is, are these guys ready for the show right now?

The fact is, it is entirely unrealistic to think that the four veterans will all stay healthy for the whole season. Simultaneously, it is unrealistic to think that Reyes and Jurrjens will become the Cy Young candidates some scouts believe they can become soon enough to offset the loss of Smoltz, Glavine, or Hampton to injury. And that is why the success of the Braves in '08 may fall on the sore left shoulder of Chuck James.

Chuck James followed up a successful rookie campaign with a disappointing sophomore effort. His struggles in '07 were largely due to his inability to keep the ball in the park as he gave up 32 HR's in only 160 innings. This number combined with a .316 average against leadoff batters meant that James allowed far too many HR's with runners on. While Chuck James does not have killer stuff like Jurrjens or Reyes, he does possess a fastball with decent movement coupled with a plus changeup that he can use to dominate as long as he manages to locate it correctly. James and Tom Glavine have a lot in common in that neither has an overpowering fastball or a back-breaking slider. However, they both can throw extremely effective changeups. When Chuck James can paint the corners at knee level with his change and his fastball, he is extremely effective. When he leaves either pitch over the plate or belt high, they resemble batting practice lollipops that even low-order hitters can turn into 420 foot shots. What's worse is that James has a greater tendency to throw such pitches after he has walked a batter by missing outside with his fastball and/or change. James will never be a star. However, he does have the ability to post a sub 4.00 ERA if he is able to gain better command of his pitches. If he is able to work the corners with his fastball and changeup and avoid walking too many batters, he will keep his pitch counts lower, allowing him to go deeper into games and reducing his tax on the bullpen. Simply keeping the ball in the lower half of the strike zone should prevent a few more balls from leaving the park. James stands as a safeguard that can reduce the risks associated with having a simultaneously old and young staff. Strong outings from James will take pressure off of vets like Smoltz or Hampton who may need an occasional day off to stay strong. Similarly, a strong year for James will allow Jurrjens and Reyes to make spot starts in place of resting vets from time to time without requiring them to assume the pressure of being full time members of the rotation, thus easing them into the big leagues. A healthy and effective Hampton would be wonderful. Early success from Jurrjens and Reyes would be fantastic. But a resurgent year from James may be the key on both ends of the spectrum.

James played through a torn rotator cuff last season that has now healed. He is currently locked in a battle with Jurrjens and Reyes for the rotations fifth spot. However, I would be surprised if Bobby Cox doesn't have him on the 25 man roster. If the Braves are to succeed this season, Chuck James must rise to the occasion.

Ronaldinho is god.

The Mavs are still a great team

I am watching a most excellent Lakers-Mavericks game and wanted to make a few observations:

Kobe Bryant is an amazing player. There's no other way to put it. As much as I dislike him, he does things I've only seen Michael Jordan do.

Kobe and Nowitzki are both absolute clutch players. At the end of regulation, Kobe made a huge play to grab an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw by Lamar Odom and then coolly made both free throws after he was fouled. With the Lakers up three with 6 seconds to go, the Mavericks came back with a beautifully designed play. The ball was inbounded to Jason Kidd, who had his back to the basket just inside the three point line. Another Mav came over and set a pick next to Kidd as Kidd tossed the ball out to Nowitzki, who came across the double screen set by Kidd and the other Mav and got an open look at a three, which he nailed with 2 seconds to go. Absolutely clutch.

Read more...

Reports of Jason Kidd's defensive demise have been greatly exaggerated. People forget that he used to be considered one of the very best backcourt defenders in the game. So what if he got torched by Chris Paul? Everyone gets torched by Chris Paul! I don't understand this idea that Kidd is somehow fast enough to be an asset on the fast break but too slow to keep up with most NBA point guards. He's fast enough, and more importantly, his defensive instincts are excellent. He reads the game exceptionally well, and thus is great at blocking off passing lanes and knocking the ball away when his man not paying attention. He's an excellent rebounder. And at 6-4, he's big enough to guard taller point guards.

I also think that people who think that Kidd is a bad fit for the Mavs are missing something. Just because Dirk doesn't really run the floor doesn't mean that other Mavs don't. Stackhouse? Howard? Terry? These guys have looked great running the wings with Kidd leading the break. Similarly, I don't understand how people think that Kidd is going to continue shooting so poorly. He's never been a good shooter, but shooting 35% or whatever he was at prior to joining the Mavs is obviously an aberration.

I do think that overall, the Kidd trade was good for Dallas. Devin Harris is a good young player but Kidd is most definitely an upgrade. With the revised version of the deal leaving Stackhouse and Devean George on the Mavs, they didn't have to give up too much to get him. Make no mistake: the Mavs are still a quality team and most definitely are legit contenders for the NBA championship.