Kickin' It Over To The Sports Desk
Okay folks, let's re-cap.
As you may have remembered, my predictions for the NCAA Tournament did not start out especially well. Neither of my two 1st round upsets, Old Dominion and Oral Roberts, was particularly competitive. Meanwhile Virginia Commonwealth and Winthrop, two teams I advised against picking in the 1st round, were able to pick up close wins.
Things did look up in the 2nd round as UNLV did knock off #2 seed Wisconsin. All told I picked up 12 of the Sweet 16 with two of my misses being Maryland and Virginia, each of whom had a shot to tie their games at the buzzer.
Things have progressed even better from there. I hit on 7 of the Elite 8, missing only Texas A & M who lost by a point to the Memphis Tigers, the team I was most singularly wrong about in the tournament.
I am now happy to report that for the first time in my life I have also picked the entire Final Four correctly. Yes, thanks to the total choke job by Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Georgetown Hoyas have returned to the Final Four for the first time since 1985 where they join Ohio State, defending champ Florida and UCLA.
For those who don't recall I have UCLA defeating Ohio State in the title game.
So if you had gone with my picks prior to the tourney, you'd probably being doing quite well right now. Let that be a lesson.
Moving on, the baseball season opens one week from yesterday. The World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals will open the year when the host the New York Mets and I will be in attendance. In recognition of such, I have the following predictions for the baseball season.
Division Champs:
AL East - The Boston Red Sox starting pitching is just too good. With Jonathan Papelbon back in the closer's role you can count of the Sox for 100 wins, even in a division with the Yankees and much improved Blue Jays.
AL Central - The best division in baseball will be a total dogfight. Look for the Indians and their wealth of young talent to win out over the Tigers and Twins. Don't fret too much Detroit fans, your Tigers will earn the Wild Card berth in the AL, keeping the Yankees from the postseason for the first time in 13 years. On a side note, Fuller's Kansas City Royals will be more competitive this year as Alex Gordon is unleashed on the league, but in a division with the Indians, Tigers, Twins and White Sox it's gonna be hard for K.C. to avoid a 4th consecutive 100-loss season.
AL West - I like the Angels here. They have a ton of young talent and Vlad Guerrero is still in the upper tier of all-around players. I have concerns about their offense but they have the prospects to get a deal done to bring in a quality bat at some point this season. The A's have a nice team, but ultimately will have problems scoring runs. The Rangers can pound the ball, but can't keep teams off the board. The Mariners are a mess and will bring up the rear in this division.
NL East - Look for the Mets to repeat. There is much reason to question a rotation that will include the antiquated El Duque Hernandez and Tom Glavine along with the enigmatic Oliver Perez, but the Mets still have far and away the best lineup and bullpen in the division. They'll have enough to outlast the pitching rich Phillies, who will finish as the NL Wild Card. I expect the Braves to finish above .500 and place third while the young Marlins will have a tough time following their surprising 2006 campaign. Meanwhile the Washington Nationals follow in the losing ways established decades ago by the Washington Senators as they make a run at the record for most losses in a season (currently 120 by the 1962 New York Mets).
NL Central - This division gets dogged on for being the worst in baseball, but it's worth noting the NL Champion has come from this division the last three seasons. The Cubs made a lot of headlines with their offseason spending, but their rotation still goes only two guys deep and they don't have anyone outside of Derrek Lee who gets on base at a high percentage. That said, they have the bats to score a bunch of runs, but it won't be enough to finish better than third place.
No I have to say I like the St. Louis Cardinals to take the division for the 4th straight year. I know they lost a ton of starting pitching, but their starters have all looked good to great in the spring. Scott Rolen is completely healthy and Jim Edmonds has recovered faster than thought from offseason surgery.
The end results won't look pretty as the top four teams are all close to equal and will beat up on each other all season, but I see the Cards finishing ahead of the Brewers, who have the division's best rotation but lack the run scoring capability to win out. Houston will see a return for Roger Clemens, but it won't keep them out of fourth place. The Cincinnati Reds will score in bunches but that will only serve keep them ahead of the last-place Pirates.
NL West - This is the easiest to pick as the Los Angeles Dodgers are just stacked on offense, defense and the pitching staff. Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf were added to an already deep staff. Nomar will lead a young and very talented offensive attack. The Padres won't score enough runs. The Giants added Barry Zito, but still have a team way too old to stand up through the entire season. I like what the D-Backs and Rockies have done, but neither comes close to matching what the Dodgers have on their roster.
AL Champion - Boston Red Sox
NL Champion - Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series Champion - The Los Angeles Dodgers
AL MVP - Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians
NL MVP - Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals
AL Cy Young - Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins
NL Cy Young - Jason Schmidt of the Los Angeles Dodgers
AL Rookie of the Year - Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox
NL Rookie of the Year - Jason Hirsch of the Colorado Rockies
AL Manager of the Year - Eric Wedge of the Indians
NL Manager of the Year - Grady Little of the Dodgers
There you go kids...call your bookies now.
JeffRey
As you may have remembered, my predictions for the NCAA Tournament did not start out especially well. Neither of my two 1st round upsets, Old Dominion and Oral Roberts, was particularly competitive. Meanwhile Virginia Commonwealth and Winthrop, two teams I advised against picking in the 1st round, were able to pick up close wins.
Things did look up in the 2nd round as UNLV did knock off #2 seed Wisconsin. All told I picked up 12 of the Sweet 16 with two of my misses being Maryland and Virginia, each of whom had a shot to tie their games at the buzzer.
Things have progressed even better from there. I hit on 7 of the Elite 8, missing only Texas A & M who lost by a point to the Memphis Tigers, the team I was most singularly wrong about in the tournament.
I am now happy to report that for the first time in my life I have also picked the entire Final Four correctly. Yes, thanks to the total choke job by Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Georgetown Hoyas have returned to the Final Four for the first time since 1985 where they join Ohio State, defending champ Florida and UCLA.
For those who don't recall I have UCLA defeating Ohio State in the title game.
So if you had gone with my picks prior to the tourney, you'd probably being doing quite well right now. Let that be a lesson.
Moving on, the baseball season opens one week from yesterday. The World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals will open the year when the host the New York Mets and I will be in attendance. In recognition of such, I have the following predictions for the baseball season.
Division Champs:
AL East - The Boston Red Sox starting pitching is just too good. With Jonathan Papelbon back in the closer's role you can count of the Sox for 100 wins, even in a division with the Yankees and much improved Blue Jays.
AL Central - The best division in baseball will be a total dogfight. Look for the Indians and their wealth of young talent to win out over the Tigers and Twins. Don't fret too much Detroit fans, your Tigers will earn the Wild Card berth in the AL, keeping the Yankees from the postseason for the first time in 13 years. On a side note, Fuller's Kansas City Royals will be more competitive this year as Alex Gordon is unleashed on the league, but in a division with the Indians, Tigers, Twins and White Sox it's gonna be hard for K.C. to avoid a 4th consecutive 100-loss season.
AL West - I like the Angels here. They have a ton of young talent and Vlad Guerrero is still in the upper tier of all-around players. I have concerns about their offense but they have the prospects to get a deal done to bring in a quality bat at some point this season. The A's have a nice team, but ultimately will have problems scoring runs. The Rangers can pound the ball, but can't keep teams off the board. The Mariners are a mess and will bring up the rear in this division.
NL East - Look for the Mets to repeat. There is much reason to question a rotation that will include the antiquated El Duque Hernandez and Tom Glavine along with the enigmatic Oliver Perez, but the Mets still have far and away the best lineup and bullpen in the division. They'll have enough to outlast the pitching rich Phillies, who will finish as the NL Wild Card. I expect the Braves to finish above .500 and place third while the young Marlins will have a tough time following their surprising 2006 campaign. Meanwhile the Washington Nationals follow in the losing ways established decades ago by the Washington Senators as they make a run at the record for most losses in a season (currently 120 by the 1962 New York Mets).
NL Central - This division gets dogged on for being the worst in baseball, but it's worth noting the NL Champion has come from this division the last three seasons. The Cubs made a lot of headlines with their offseason spending, but their rotation still goes only two guys deep and they don't have anyone outside of Derrek Lee who gets on base at a high percentage. That said, they have the bats to score a bunch of runs, but it won't be enough to finish better than third place.
No I have to say I like the St. Louis Cardinals to take the division for the 4th straight year. I know they lost a ton of starting pitching, but their starters have all looked good to great in the spring. Scott Rolen is completely healthy and Jim Edmonds has recovered faster than thought from offseason surgery.
The end results won't look pretty as the top four teams are all close to equal and will beat up on each other all season, but I see the Cards finishing ahead of the Brewers, who have the division's best rotation but lack the run scoring capability to win out. Houston will see a return for Roger Clemens, but it won't keep them out of fourth place. The Cincinnati Reds will score in bunches but that will only serve keep them ahead of the last-place Pirates.
NL West - This is the easiest to pick as the Los Angeles Dodgers are just stacked on offense, defense and the pitching staff. Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf were added to an already deep staff. Nomar will lead a young and very talented offensive attack. The Padres won't score enough runs. The Giants added Barry Zito, but still have a team way too old to stand up through the entire season. I like what the D-Backs and Rockies have done, but neither comes close to matching what the Dodgers have on their roster.
AL Champion - Boston Red Sox
NL Champion - Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series Champion - The Los Angeles Dodgers
AL MVP - Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians
NL MVP - Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals
AL Cy Young - Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins
NL Cy Young - Jason Schmidt of the Los Angeles Dodgers
AL Rookie of the Year - Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox
NL Rookie of the Year - Jason Hirsch of the Colorado Rockies
AL Manager of the Year - Eric Wedge of the Indians
NL Manager of the Year - Grady Little of the Dodgers
There you go kids...call your bookies now.
JeffRey
posted by The Crazy Leftist at 6:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home