Royals sticking true to form

Just thought I would give an update on some thoughts I had about the last 3 games.

Saturday was a great game. Ended a 10 game losing streak. Beating Texas (always good) and getting Soria some work.

Lukkkkkkkke Hochever pitched great. He did give up 3 runs in 7 innings, but struck out 13 (notice all the k's in his name!!) and didn't walk a single batter. Hoch left with a 6-3 lead too. I would say that is quality start (generally defined as 3 runs or fewer and atleast 6 innings of work).

To finish the game, the Royals went to the bullpen and got Soria to close with a 6 out save. Very very good in my eyes, because he seems to be the only person in the 'pen who can get people out. It was nice to see our bullpen (albeit the Mexicutioner, who I have come to expect great things from) pick up a good starting performance.

Sunday was not a good game.

The Royals got 6 shutout innings from Sidney Ponson.

Let me repeat that....

THE ROYALS GOT 6 SHUTOUT INNINGS FROM SIDNEY PONSON!!!!!!

Ok, so if the Royals don't win this game it means we blew a terrific start from a terrible starter (Ponson's ERA is 6.79 after those 6 scoreless innings). So naturally, the bullpen comes in a just blows it up.

Mahay comes in, gives up 2 hits to the first two batters he faces (on 3 pitches) and gets pulled. The Royals go on (due to an error I know) give up 3 runs in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th.


Monday, against the Orioles, the boys in blue came back and got a decent start from Bruce Chen (who has not won a game since October 2, 2005 - almost 4 years ago). Robinson Tejeda came in and threw 3 innings of shutout ball, while allowing the Royals to take the lead and handed the ball off to Soria for another save.

Just to emphasize what happened to the bullpen over the weekend:
- Soria is awesome
- Tejeda pitched great
- On Sunday Mahay, Wright and Cruz all gave up runs, and Roman Colon did not

So if you check out my last blog, you will see that the two guys with the lowest percentage of inherited runners scored (Tejeda and Colon) did better. Not science, but I'm just sayin.



On another note, Billy Butler has quietly done a pretty good job for the Royals. I have to give props when props are due. He is not the power hitter we had hoped he would be, but he has a ton of doubles (on pace for over 50 this year and an outside chance at the club record) and is hitting about .300 (only one guy is over and that is Callaspo) and leads the team in OPS (on base + slugging percentage). He has become a quality starter and one that looks like a decent draft pick (for once).

Now if we could only get Alex Gordon to do the same...

DDSF

To be a fan....

Oh to be a Royals fan.

Sometimes it gets to be extremely difficult. Like now.

During a 9 game losing streak that has spanned before the all-star break, the Royals have had some of the worst relief pitching that I can remember. During the streak, the bullpen is 0-4 with an ERA of 10.05 and 4 blown saves. An ERA of 10.05!!! 10.05!!! That is more than 1 run per inning.

Which is pretty much awful. But expected at the same time.

Why is it expected?

Because of inherited runners.

Baseball-reference.com keeps an awesome list of MLB stats that includes relief pitching and many other mind blowing stats. The one that I was curious about was inherited runners. It seems like every time a relief pitcher comes in with men on base, those men score. I thought I would be wrong about this (or at least hoped I would be wrong) because up until recently our bullpen's ERA has not been terrible. Just bad. And they were supposed to be a strength to start the year.

So inherited runners... How do the Royals compare to the rest of the league and how many inherited runners score?

Answers: They are the worst in the league and as of today 46% of inherited runners score!

The league average is 33%. The leaders in the league are the St. Louis Cardinals, who only allow 22% of inherited runners to score. Half as many as the Royals.

Well, so percentages are ok, but what about hard numbers? Maybe the Royals just don't get that many inherited runners.

Wrong... The Royals have given up the highest number to score (73 and second place has 67) and have seen the 6th most inherited runners in MLB. On top of that, 3 teams who have seen more runners (Tampa Bay, STL and the Dodgers) have allowed less than 30% to score.

But it really can't be that bad can it? Maybe the Royals bullpen comes in with the bases juiced all the time with a 1 run lead in the 8th inning (high pressure). You can't quantify that can you?

Yes you can.

There is an average leverage index (aLi)which describes how much pressure a pitcher sees when they enter the game. Numbers greater than 1 mean high pressure and less than 1 is low pressure. The Royals score is 0.963. The league average is 1.017. They have the 4th easiest pressure when they take the mound.

Royals Relievers, their aLi, and the percentage of inherited runners scored:
Soria, 2.028, 67% (6 of 9, 3 of 3 in his last outing)
Bale, 1.414, 59% (10 of 17)
Mahay, 0.674, 57% (13 of 23)
Farnsworth, 0.514, 56% (5 of 9)
Cruz, 1.127, 54% (7 of 13)
Wright, 0.978, 52% (15 of 29)
Tejeda, 0.688 37% (7 of 19)
Colon, 0.765 27% (6 of 22)


So Soria comes in to the game in the highest pressure (8th highest in the majors) and gives up the most inherited runners. But the problem is the Royals keep sending out players (Mahay, Wright and Bale) who consistently give up runs with people on base, in easy situations.

Example: John Bale (not picking on anyone, just found a good example, even though every time Bale comes into a game with any lead I do think the Royals will lose the game) comes into the game Wednesday night against the Angels in the 7th inning with 2 out, man on first. Bannister has done a great job of keeping a lead and going relatively deep into a game (I say relatively because my memory of the Royals does not include a lot of 7+ inning starting pitchers other than Grienke and sometimes Meche). The Royals lead 6-3. Pretty comfortable, get one out, hand it off to the setup man and then the Mexicutioner to close it out.

So what does Bale do? First batter gets a single. Now 1st and 3rd. Next batter, single. Run scores. Then, he is able to get an out. In my book, if a reliever comes in with a man on 1st and more than a 1 run lead, he should get charged for that earned run. In this case Banny gets an earned run and the Royals are on their way to a loss.

Our starting pitchers have lost 11 wins becuase our bullpen has blown it (thank you baseball-reference.com). They also have 12 "tough losses" (losses in quality starts).

Now it is not all pitching seeing as how the Royals get the second least run support of any team in the majors, but today was about pitching.




That said, I am still going to watch the games on gamecast (I work evenings) and still mutter under my breath every time something goes wrong and get extremely excited when someone hits a home run or gets a timely hit. I know no other way.

Let me know your thoughts on being a fan.

Posting again soon,

DDSF

Royals make a comeback?

So it took something great from the Boys in Blue to get a brand new post.

3 game sweep of the Cincinnati Red-in-the-faces. Due mostly to some hot bats, some poor opposition, some great starting pitching and a Giant Blue Surfboard, 3 in a row has put some life back in the team that was 18-11 in May with a 3 game lead in the division.

A quick breakdown of the stats from the last three games to give some encouragement to you the fans:

Friday:
Luke Hocheaver: 9 IP (complete game), 3 hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 1 K, 80 pitches. He got a complete game with only 80 pitches!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? That's less than 9 pitches an inning. Thats less than 3 pitches a batter if you only face the minimum 27 hitters! If you want some good perspective on it read this article by Joe Posnanski (probably my favorite all around sports writer, Bill Simmons is hilarious, but needs to broaden his repitoure to reach JoePa). Just a quick glance of the article:
"First, let’s talk about rarity: Only five pitchers this decade have thrown a complete game in 80 pitches or less. It hasn’t happened in the American League since 2005. Pitch-count numbers are sketchy and unreliable, but it does appear that the complete-game-in-80-pitches-or-less trick has been pulled only five times in the American league the last 20 years."

If this somehow catapults "Hoch" into the Grienke/Meche catagory, the Royals will definitely make a run at the Central. But its too early to tell that.

Hitting: It doesn't really matter with a gem like that, but 4 runs off 6 hits. 2 RBI from Callaspo and 2 HR in the game.


Saturday:
Kyle Davies: 5 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 5BB, 1 K
This is important because he had lost a career high 5 in a row, despite a complete game which he gave up 4 against the Blue Jays in his last outing. He lost because the Royals couldn't hit anything against the Cy Young favorite (it really hurts to say that with Zac getting no support) Roy Halladay.
Roman Colon (I dont really know who he is either): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 ER, and the most important stat for me Inherited runners 1, Inherited runners scored 0. The Royals pen has been terrible at allowing inherited runners. See John Bale's (I can't stand it when he comes in the game. After the Royals released H. Ramirez, he has taken the cake for the pitcher I never ever ever want to see enter the game) stat line from Thursday.

Grienke, pitches a gem, but has a high pitch count after 7 and 1/3. Bale comes in, gets a ground ball, to force a double play. Great, except he falls over at first base commits an error, allows 1 run to score (counts against Grienke) and extends the inning. So, 1/3 IP because he got an out amazingly, 1 Error (credited to TJ, but it was Bale I dont care who you are he fell down!!!!!!), Inherited runners 2, Inherited runners scored 1. Some how he got the Hold because the lead was not relinquished, only got to a tie. And we eventually lost the game. Bad story, but I am so infuriated at how poorly the situation was handled that I can hardly contain myself.

Hitting: 7 runs off 14 hits (quite an output). Every starter had a hit. Our 6-7-8-9 hitters scored 5 of the 7 runs, meaning the Royals are getting runs from everywhere in the lineup, like they should.


Sunday:
Brian Bannister: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 KO's
Juan Cruz: 1IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1K (good because he has been off just like everyone else in Blue)

Hitting: 7 runs off 9 hits. This was accomplished without a leadoff hitter (Crisp), the best hitter power hitter on the team (Guillen) and Alex Gordon.

The Royals scored 1 in the first (with 2 out) 4 in the 3rd (3 with 2 out) and 2 in the 8th (with 1 out). The two responsible for the most damage were Miguel Olivo and Alberto Callaspo. They have been the life blood of a terrible hitting team.


Just another quip from Joe Posnanski's blog because it is too good. He wrote an article about how amazing a pitcher Kyle Farnsworth is.
- Just so you know my thoughts on Kyle Farnsworth. He has single handedly LOST 4 games for the Royals. I know they are not a great team, but he has not single handedly won any games for the Royals this year. In fact, the only game he has a W in this year is when the Royals scored 4 runs off Kerry Wood in the 9th!
Anyway, the highlight of the article is JoePa doing Chuck Norris type facts in reverse:
- Every dog has his day … except Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth gets 21, it’s not blackjack.
– A rolling stone gathers no moss … it’s all on Kyle Farnsworth.
– A broken clock is right twice a day … which is more than Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth lands on Free Parking in Monopoly, he has to pay.
– Two wrongs don’t make a right. They make a Kyle Farnsworth inning.
– There’s no crying in baseball, except when Kyle Farnsworth comes in.

What's next for the Royals is a series against the DiamondBacks @ home. Grienke is pitching, but it is at home so he can not hit a home run. Grienke used tape of himself hitting a home run to inspire Alex Gordon early in his career when he was in a slump. A very winnable series at home with some give away nights so there should be decent crowds.



Now on to some other Baseball thoughts (America's Pastime and the most newsworthy):
- The Rockies have now won 11 straight games to get out of the cellar in the NL West. And are still below .500. They are now 31-32, but are getting the city excited again under a new Manager. I think the way they are winning is great. They have a young nucleus of lovable players like Troy Tulowitzki, part of the 20 game streak that led the Rox to the World Series 2 years ago, and Dexter Fowler who is a rookie playing center field and has wheels (5 SB in a game in April).

- The Rox are winning without Brian Fuentes, the closer now for the Angels. He has 16 saves in 19 chances. Do you know the MLB leader?

Heath Bell.

He plays for San Diego. He has 18 saves in 19 chances, a 2-1 record and a 1.32 ERA out of the Pen for a fairly average team. Wild.

- Juan Pierre (Manny Ramirez's replacement) is batting .343 and is 5th in the Majors.

- Raul Ibanez is tied for the league lead in HR and is second to Jason Bay in RBI.

- Jason Bay is leading the league in RBI and the player the BoSox lost for him (Manny) is serving a 50 game suspension. Great move by the Sox.



Other sports thoughts:

The US is playing the in Confederations Cup in South Africa starting today and are playing Italy, Egypt and Brazil in group play. If they make it past group play they will have accomplished something. If not, they will be the same old US of A in Soccer.

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup, by winning Game 7 on the road in Hockey Town USA.

The Lakers won against an overmatched team in the Orlando Magic. The Finals were so un-exciting I highlighted baseball, soccer and hockey before it. Kobe is good, but how quickly we as the American people are to forgive a star athlete for crimes they have committed because of success.

Hope this gave y'all a fill for a few days. Peace.

DDSF

We are all witnesses

As my faithful readers know, I don't regularly post on the weekend. Too busy, too much time I actually get to spend with the Mrs., too much fun stuff to do. But when something extraordinary happens, I believe it is necessary to let everyone know the impact and the sheer extraordinary-ness that has occurred.

Last night I got to see about 2 plays in the Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game. But I saw the only play so far in the series that matters. Let's see if I can set the stage for y'all:

Cleveland has the best home record just about ever in the regular season. They have steamrolled through the playoffs going 8-0 in the first 2 rounds and winning every game by double digits. Cleveland has the best player in the world in Lebron James (LBJ from now on... I'm stealing from the Sports Guy, but who cares) and is not sure how long the home grown product is going to stick in town. The summer of 2010 is when LBJ is a free agent along with a slew of other young superstars waiting to go on to bigger things. If they want any chance of keeping him, they need to win; they need to win a championship.

Game 1 against Orlando was the epitome of Cleveland sports. The hype, the belief, the excitement, subsequently followed up with the disappointment, the shame and feeling of hopelessness.

How could a team with the best player in the world, the best home court record ever, and the experience of being there before lose to a team without their starting point guard, a coach who looks like Ron Jeremy and only one superstar who is too nice and can't make a shot further from 5 feet from the basket? (I'm asking the question too. I don't get it.)

The Cavs talked like they were confident after game 1. They knew what they had to do and they were determined. Game 2 comes along and in the first half it looks like it is over. Cleveland with a 23 point lead. Welcome back Cleveland, the series is yours for the taking.

Not so fast.

With a barage of 3's and hustle, the Magic pull some magic and not only come back, but take a 2 point lead with 1 second left in the fourth quarter. The air is dead in Cleveland. The bars are full of people swearing, saying how they've seen it before and there is no hope for the city. Ever. Not even Lebron, the best player alive. He's gone in 2010.

Except they didn't count on seeing something they had never seen before. The Cavs tried to run an inbounds play that isolated Lebron on an alley oop because he is a freak of an athlete and can jump over buildings.

Good move.

Too bad the Magic knew it was coming (ok, everyone did but when your coach looks like a porn star, you can never be sure) and defended it well.

It looked as though Cleveland may not even get the ball in. Lebron was figured out and Mo Williams (the 2nd best scoring option) was throwing the ball in.

Then Lebron changed direction, going away from the basket. Mo saw him because LBJ was the only option. He wasn't looking anywhere else. Mo passed it in to a fading away LBJ. With one second left his only option was to shoot. He's not the best shooter in the world. He has missed before. Plenty. Except this time, the best player in the world did something he had yet to do.

He buried the shot.

Big deal. People hit game winners all the time.

LBJ has too.

But not like this.

If he missed that shot, all hope in the city would be lost. The Cavs would not have been able to recover. The series would be over and Lebron would be lost in 2010. Guaranteed. Lebron has been dominant, but he has not truely been clutch.

That shot was so monumental, it most likely changed the outcome of the series. That shot most likely won the series for Cleveland. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go for a title. That shot made it possible for LBJ to repeat next year. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go down in history as not only one of the greatest athletes of all time, but also the most clutch player of all time.

That shot could concievable change the landscape of the NBA for the next decade. I'm not kidding. If Lebron wins the series, then wins the NBA title, he might stay in Cleveland. He might make a dynasty that we have yet to see from one player. The NBA title repeats have been about multiple greats on one team.

Shaq and Kobe.

MJ and Scottie.

Olajuwan and Robert Horry (ok, bad example).

The Lakers and Celts of the 70's and 80's had a slew of stars.

But no one has been able to dominate solo.

Is it possible that a star player takes a pay cut to go to Cleveland to be guaranteed a title with LBJ?

Absolutley.



The ramifications of one shot by one player in one game will not be able to be judged for years. But it could be the biggest shot in the history of the NBA. It could change the future beyond anyone's imagination.




LBJ took a series with one shot.



What's next?



We are all witnesses. (yes, I know its cheesy to steal that slogan but it works so well.)


DDSF

Fridays are good

The most amazing thing happened last night.

Carmelo Anthony played hard. And not just to score points. He grabbed a ton of rebounds and played tough defense on the games best offensive player (Kobe).

The NBA, despite the worst officiating of any professional sport, has suddenly resurrected itself with powerhouses (LA, and Boston was in the mix) and historically unsuccessful franchises with awesome fan bases and a ton of studs (Cleveland and Denver). I don't think that I have ever been this jacked about NBA basketball. Yeah, I know it helps that I live in the Denver area and have tickets with the Mrs. to Game 3 of the western conference finals on Saturday, but its awesome basketball right now.

**Side note**
Fellas,
Here is how you know you've got a keeper. When looking for tickets to an awesome playoff series, you get mad at yourself for not buying the tickets earlier. Then you check the prices of tickets on eBay and ask yourself if its worth it. When your little lady steps in and tells you that you have to go regardless and "I just want tickets" you know you have a keeper.

Ok, so back to the NBA. There are a ton of jump balls (hustle), good defense, amazing offense and a slew of starts lighting up the night (Melo, Chauncey - Mr. Big Shot -Billups, Kobe, Dwight Howard, and the greatest of the all Lebron).

Just so everyone knows, in Game 3 look for Chris Anderson to have a HUGE game. He has been relatively quiet so far in the series, but when he returns to the mountains he will find new life and will destroy the Lakers soft big men.



Baseball
I thought this might be a different Royals team. We came back from 3 down in the 9th to beat the Indians with Kerry Wood as their closer. The next night down 6-5 headed into the 9th, we had a chance and came up short. Last night, down 8-3 in the 9th... bases loaded... 1 out... just getting to the heart of the order with Callaspo up and batting about .340... ground into double play. I hate to say it, but as far as the bats are concerned it is still the same old Royals. The pitching is a different story.

The boys in blue have quality starters and a superstar who is currently 2nd in the rotation (Greinke). The problem so far has been the overpaid bullpen. Farnsworth alone has cost the team 3 games and Cruz, Mahay and Horacio Ramirez pitch well when it is not needed. I have yet to see the killer instinct on the mound from anyone other than Grienke (who I think takes it personally when someone scores on him, which is awesome to see from a kid who has been around for over 5 years and is still younger than me) and possibly Soria (who is on the DL).

How I long for you Raul Ibanez........


RBI (as he will now be called regardless of his middle name because it is too good) would have led the Royals in RBI's for the last 8 years if they had kept him. I think he was the worst non-resigning in recent history, especially with concerns to the outfield. Beltran wanted too much, Dye wasn't quite what the Royals needed and he got hurt, Damon throws like a girl.

The Royals were led in RBI's by Emil Brown two years in a row! Aaron Guiel was considered a good player (Steroids much)! Joey Gathright! Do I even need to go on?!?!? Shane Costa!?!?! Oh RBI.... I miss thee.



Real quick for your weekend, a bonus song of the day...

"The gift of paralysis" by Envy On The Coast

Awesome song. Great driving bass beat with sweet complex chords from both the guitar and vocals. Also, has one of the greatest lines I've heard in a while. "Throwing punches at ocean waves." We've all been there.


Sretan Petak!

(Happy Friday in Bosnian)

DDSF

Yep, I'm Back

After the loss to Michigan State by my Jayhawks (yes, that long ago), I determined sports were dead to me.

Then baseball started and the Royals got off to a hot hot hot start. I thought about blogging, but got weighed down by work stuff.

Finally, I was checking in the the Kansas City Star blogs about the Royals come from behind victory over the hapless Indians (down 5-2 in the 9th and get a W, awesome!) and their blogging reminded me what I started this for. A forum to express my opinions as well as give insight into sports and hear from the boys back home.

First a quick catch up of the major events with as short of a summary as I can make:

NCAA Tourney: Boring (Ok, just upset still about the MSU game, but the championship sucked)

Chiefs Draft: D-Line = good, but not enough. Hooray for Tony G going to a contender.

Kansas Recruiting: Yep, 2010 champions

Royals Hot Start: Greinke

Manny on women's Fertility Drugs: Ha... reap what you sow

NBA Playoffs: Lebron will not be stopped and go Nuggets!

NHL playoffs: I actually care a little bit!

NBA Lottery: Finally, something the Clippers CAN'T screw up, and are the Kings destined to return home to KC?


On the topic of the Royals, I have to give some thoughts about the year so far.

- If Greinke had any run support, he would be 8-0. He is still amazing and I will try to do anything I can to get to see him this year. Through 8 games started, he has 65 strikeouts. If he starts as many games this year as he did last, that will put him on pace for 260 k's on the year. Last year Greinke was 15th in the majors (tied with the 55 million dollar man Gil Meche) with 183 K's. Only 9 pitchers had over 200 and only 2 had over 230 (AJ Burnett 231, and Tim Lincecum with 265). That would put him up there with the dominate pitchers in the game. Every hitter should fear him. And Greinke is only 25.

- So far I have loved the in season moves the Royals have made. Bringing up both Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister to work the rotation was brilliant. Horacio Ramirez was not going to be a starter and that was evident after spring training. Sidney Ponson is too inconsistent and we needed to bring up Hoch if we wanted any chance of him becoming a quality starter.

- I think that Royals fans don't realize what they have in Coco Crisp yet. With all the hype surrounding Greinke, Crisp's solid play has gone relatively unnoticed. Crisp has been the leadoff hitter that the Royals have tried to make David Dejesus be for years. He is leading the team in AB's, Runs scored, Triples, Number of Pitches seen (by almost 100) Stolen Bases and Walks! He has also been very solid in center field and has been a great acquisition.

- On the same page is Alberto Callaspo. This is his first year being an everday player and he has responded well. Everyone knew he had the ability on defense, but his offense has always seemed weak. He leads the team in average (.338) hits (44) Doubles (15) Xtra Base Hits (18), has more walks than strike outs (amazing for any Royals hitter it seems) and is second on the team in total bases (1 behind leader Mike Jacobs). So far, this is a much better alternative than Teahan at second base.

That is enough for now. Just a taste.

You stay classy internet,

DDSF

Welcome to Tipoff

Today begins the culmination of all the excitement of the regular season. The NCAA tournament starts (ok has started, and I am late) today and starts a 3 week journey to one shining moment. I tried to keep the suspense high making the readers sweat it out to find out my expert (ha) picks. Since I am late, you don't have an opportunity to redraw your brackets and if I cost you thousands of dollars you could have won by getting all the picks right, you are ridiculous for listening to anything that I have to say.



Let's begin. Region by region with explanations about the upsets/non-upsets.



Midwest:

First round winners:

1 Louisville

8 Ohio State (Siena just is too small, but I am excited abou tthe game)

12 Arizona (The MWC is bad in the tourney, I dont have the numbers, but they are bad)

4 Wake Forest

6 West Virginia (If you picked Dayton, I'm sorry that you picked this game wrong)

3 Kansas (Really good game especially because it is more of a home game for NDSU, but KU knows what defeat smells like, and it smells like rotten chinese food)

7 Boston College (I dont like the Pac-10 this year and BC is a good team who has a win over UNC this year)

2 Michigan St.



Second Round winners:

1 Louisville

4 Wake (This is going to be a great matchup)

3 Kansas (I know, I am a homer, but KU will be ready for this)

7 Boston College (MSU is struggling to get scoring from one of their stars -Raymar Morgan - and the Eagles played in the tougher ACC and are primed for a big win)



Semi Winners:

1 Louisville (Wake is too inconsistent, but I already said I am psyched for the game)

3 Kansas (Bill Self is way too good when he has time to plan for an opponent)



Regional winner:

1 Louisville (Pitino is a good coach -with a hideous white suit- and they are the better more experienced team)



West Regional

First round winners

1 UConn

8 BYU ( I konw this game already started, but that is who I would have picked and I would change it now in a heartbeat)

5 Purdue (MVC is weak this year and UNI won't beat the Great Lakes 11 Champs)

13 Mississippi State (I love the center Varnado for MSU and don't like the inexperience of UW's point guard)

6 Marquette (Utah State doesn't have the experience and the golden eagles will be playing for Damion James)

3 Mizzou

10 Maryland (I had to do something interesting and make this entire sub region all teams with M's to start their name)

2 Memphis (They look bad right now against Cal State Northridge)



Second Round

1 UConn

5 Purdue (They have good leadership and are a very tough team)

3 Mizzou (Marquette can't handle their pressure without James)

2 Memphis (another fun thing with Tigers matched up in the Sweet Sixteen)



Regoinal Semis

1 UConn

2 Memphis

*This is the way it should be the fourth #1 seed versus the best #2 seed*



Regoinal Winner

2 Memphis - They are hungry from last year



East Regional


First Round Winners

1 Pitt

9Tennessee (I like this team and I think they are starting to play good once again)

5 Florida State (After the ACC tourney they are primed for good things)

4 Xavier (Good stats to be a contender this year)

11 VCU (UCLA looks lost other than the occasional huge game from either Shipp or Collison, but VCU has a good team and you always have to like the Colonial Athletic Association)

3 Villanova
7 Texas
2 Duke

Second Round winners
1 Pitt (I like Tenn but I like Pitt more)
4 Xavier (I think they will do good things this year)
3 'Nova (VCU only gets one win, they are not George Mason)
7 Texas (Yes, Texas. I like the way they have been getting play from Dexter Pittman, and I think that Abrams is due for a big game. Plus, their athletes can guard all the Dukies and do it well)

Regional Semis
1 Pitt
3 'Nova
*Setting up a Big East rematch that will be big news*

Regional Winner
1 Pitt
* I think they are the best team in the nation and will take care of business*

East Regional

First round winners
1 UNC
8 LSU
12 Western Kentucky (They beat Louisville on the road this year and Illinois is without their point guard)
4 Gonzaga
6 Arizona State
3 Syracuse
7 Clemson (I like the ACC)
2 Oklahoma

Second Round Winners
8 LSU (I know this hasn't happened in a long time, but without Ty Lawson, I like the Tigers to surprise the world)
4 Gonzaga (The hilltoppers don't get to beat a 13 seed this year to get to the Sweet Sixteen)
6 Arizona State (I like the Sun Devils chances against the 2-3 Zone run byt the 'Cuse and James Harden will be a star after this game)
2 Oklahoma (OU is good and Blake Griffin can take care of Clemson)

Regional Semis
4 Gonzaga (I like the Zags. They have experience, inside play and outside play and are primed to give Mark Few a big raise)
6 Arizona State (Again, James Harden.... remember that name)

Regional Winner
4 Gonzaga
*Crazy I know, but I like it and they have waited a long time to get to this point

Final Four
Memphis vs. Louisville
Pitt vs. Gonzaga

Champoinship Game
Louisville vs. Pitt
These are two of the best teams around and proved it all year. They play tough, have leaders at the guard position and experience.

Winner
Pitt

They have never made it past the Sweet Sixteen, until this year and what a sweet way to do it.


I could have gone a lot of different ways with the bracket and I am sure you won't agree with me, but I'm sticking to it. We will keep you posted as the tourney progresses.

DDSF