Hey there guys,
Trying something new for the next week or so. I am going to rely some thoughts and opinions and basically just rant on here and than I will give my picks down at the bottom of the page. I am also going to start comparing how I am doing against the spread. Try to make this a little more entertaining. Since there were no games that I pick on yesterday there really is not much..well anything to recap. What I can tell you is that in my daily thoughts I cover the Olympics, Danica's Debut, College Basketball (Men's and Women's), and how the NBA All-Star Weekend went. This is the first one so it is most likely going to be the biggest. As far as games go we've got an interesting match up with Kentucky at Mississippi State, as the Bulldogs fight for their playoff lives and Kentucky tries to keep a hold on to first place in the SEC East. There are also some good games as the NBA picks back up with red hot Miami traveling to Philadelphia, Dallas hitting the road and playing Kevin "Durantula" (god awful nickname) and the Thunder, the Suns traveling to Memphis while the Grizzlies fight to remain in the playoff hunt, Utah goes to Houston, and Boston tries to get back their game with a road test at Sacramento. Hope you enjoy.
Daily Thoughts.....
Ok so the first thing I'm going to start off on is the general lack of support or care that Americans have for the Olympics. I mean I realize that it is really only just a big reality show and that a lot of these competitions are subjectively judged (Figure Skating) and some do not require any real necessary skill (Ski Jumping, unless you count staying skill in the air a skill). But this is still a chance for America to show that is a great world power and I for one will always be there to root on my country. This year just under 70% of Americans said that they watched the Olympics over opening weekend. And while that number is down from two years ago during the Summer Olympics it is up from the previous Winter Olympics. And while I realize that the last Olympics had the Michael Phelps story line I also realize that the last Winter Olympics in Turino did not really have a story line. At least not one so great that I can remember. Maybe a little bit about the Flying Tomato? Bode Miller's Failure? And this year opened up with a death. Nothing like getting more Americans to watch the Olympics than someone dying. Than it does become like reality TV. Lindsey Vonn getting hurt also caused Americans to pay a little more attention. But seriously we as Americans should be focused on the Positive like Apolo Ohno going for, and tying, the most Medals ever won by an American in the Winter Games. Rooting for Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) and the United States Hockey Team (a bunch of really young guys with canada/RUSSIA as the favorites... sound like a movie that anyone has seen??) and about how the USA won more Medals on the First Day of Medals than ever before. Here's a little Pop Quiz: How many Medals did the United States win on that Opening day?? 4. Barely half of the United States even knew that we won that many on opening day yet 70% watched the Olympics this past weekend?? What were you watching for? Maybe when Hockey and Curling start up more Americans might actually pay attention to what AMERICA is doing up in Canada..
I have been hearing two things about Danica since her NASCAR debut this past weekend. A) that it was her first time and that this can happen to new guys (girls) all the time B) or "I knew she wasn't ready hell she never even cracked the top 20!" Well I'll just say that I agree with option A. Hell this was her first time ever racing in the NASCAR series! She just made the decision to appear in this race a week ago! She is having to learn the tendencies of 42 other drivers in about a weeks time. She is also having to get used to a different kind of car and this is not even her main focus. She has come out and said on more than one occasion that she is still focusing on the Indycar series and that winning the Indy500 was her first and foremost priority. Now I am no NASCAR expert and I don't claim to be but this seems like common sense. This is like expecting a professional softball player to immediately step into the Major Leagues and be a star. It would've taken an exceptional athlete, in NASCARs case, an exceptional driver and crew, to pull that off.
Ok I am wondering why people are even questioning as to whether or not Louisville is going to be in the Tournament. I mean yes their record is 16-9 but with as weak a group as their is this year? Hell they are barely going to be able to fill all 65 spots. I realize that Louisville's record is not impressive and they seem to be struggling on the road going 2-6 and that against ranked opponents they are 1-4. But let's have a look at those 4 losses. They lost to #3 Kentucky ON THE ROAD by 9, 9 days later they hosted #4 Villanova and lost by 8, then on the road at #20 Pittsburgh and #9 West Virginia they lost by 5 and 3 respectively. They're not getting blown out by top teams. Hell it seems as if they are fighting them till the very last second. That also counts as 4 of their losses. And 3 of them were by less than 10 to top Ten ranked teams. There are two more losses in the conference, which by the way they play in the Big East, which is far and away the best conference in basketball this season with 5 ranked teams (all 5 are essentially locks to get in to the NCAA Tournament) and, depending on which poll you look at, up to 2 other teams receiving votes. Yes they have some rough losses to St. Johns, Seton Hall, Charlotte, and Western Carolina. But they also have a 16-9 record with the 4 toughest schedule in the country playing in the toughest conference in the country. And I read today that Louisville has a 60% chance of making the tournament. In their last 6 games they get 2 ranked teams (Georgetown and Syracuse) both at home. All of their final 6 games are going to be on National TV. I give em a 80% chance. Louisville is going to be in the NCAA Tournament.
Is there a better team out there right now, in their respective sport, than the UCONN Women's Basketball team? I mean these chicks are ridiculous. They are undefeated this season at 25-0 (12-0 BE) and are they are beating teams by a ridiculous 38 points per game!! And if you look at their schedule it is almost not even funny to look at how badly they are beating teams. Lets take a gander at the scores against RANKED opponents this season: AT #13 Texas 83-58, vs. #2 Stanford 80-68, AT #11 Florida State 78-59, vs. #7 North Carolina 88-47, vs. #3 Notre Dame 70-46, AT #7 Duke 81-48, vs. #8 West Virginia 80-47, vs. #24 St. Johns 66-52, and AT #12 Oklahoma 76-60. Oh my god. They are just destroying anything that gets in their path. They have held #1 in both polls all season long. In fact NO OTHER TEAM HAS EVEN RECEIVED A SINGLE FIRST PLACE VOTE. They face 2 more ranked teams in their last 4 games. vs. #13 Georgetown and at #3 Notre Dame. The Notre Dame game is on ESPN2. I for one will be watching to see how bad the Huskies dominate the Irish to cap off an undefeated season.
So how about this NBA All-Star Weekend? I actually really enjoyed it. I could do Skills challenge and, Hell, even the Dunk Contest, I mean did anyone else get so bored they just changed the channel? God I felt bad for Gerald Wallace. He was pretty much ignored by the crowd. They called his name and I'm pretty sure I could hear a couple of crickets. I like the Celebrity Game mainly because, like Major League Baseball's Celebrity Softball game, I find some comedic entertainment in it, though I would like to see the NBA get some bigger names to participate. And I like the Rookies vs. Sophomores game as well but I think this is a game best suited for Post Season, after the Playoffs, as more of an evaluation of how the players are coming along kind of game. Give them a week of practice and some more game experience where everyone gets an even amount of time. Probably not a big money making event but I like the idea nonetheless. The Game itself however was tremendous. Not only was it a great Basketball game, where the East, who led by 9 after 3 Quarters held off a great 4th Quarter by the West to win 141-139, and where Dallas Stars, current Dirk Nowitzki dropped 22 points, and former Steve Nash dished out 13 assists, but not only was the game great but it was also the largest crowd ever for a Basketball game with 108,713 watching inside the ridiculous new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. And while I'm sure that many more watched from home I still want you to imagine what 108,000 fans feels like. College Football is THE game of the south and we can't even pile 108,000 to watch a football game down here. And to here people talk before the game that it was going to be awful without Kobe, and hell some even said it would be bad without Shaq. I don't think this game needed Kobe's presence or Shaq's mouth. This also did something else. Now we go back to the big stories. Can Lebron finally get his first NBA title? How bad is Kobe's injury? Is Durant the next great young player? Can Boston regain that Championship form? and are the Nets the worst of All-Time? Yes, Not that bad, Yes, No, and Yes but is mostly from coaching. Those are all topics for another day.
My Picks
updated 3:59pm
SEC Men's Basketball
#2/#2 Kentucky 24-1 (9-1) @ Mississippi State 18-7 (6-4)
8:00pm
TV: ESPN
Line: Kent -2.5
Players to Watch: MSU G Dee Bost 12.0ppg 5.2apg 1.2spg, MSU F Jarvis Varnado 13.3ppg 11.3rpg 5.0bpg Kent G John Wall 17.0ppg 6.4apg 1.9spg, Kent G Eric Bledsoe 10.9ppg 3.4apg 1.5spg, Kent F DeMarcus Cousins 15.9ppg 10.2rpb 1.8bpg, Kent F Patrick Patterson 14.7ppg 7.3rpb 1.0bpg
Preview: This looks like an Amazing match up with the conferences two best rebounders in Varnado and Cousins squaring off tonight in the "The Hump" in Starkville. These are two of the better defenses and better rebounding teams in the conference and both have something to prove tonight, as Kentucky has had articles written on different major websites talking about how Alabama and Tennessee have shown that by slowing the pace of the game that above average basketball teams can really compete with them, and Mississippi State gets a Nationally Televised game against thee #2 team in the country in hopes to impress some people that could determine where they are playing this post season. This should be a great game but I feel as if the 'Cats have had their eyes opened a bit recently and while this won't be a blowout I do expect Kentucky to come out victorious in the end.
Kentucky by 5
NBA
*upset*
HEAT by 2 @ 76ers (-2)
nets @ BOBCATS (-11.5) by 33
*good game*
timberwolves @ PISTONS (-5.5) by 9
knicks @ BULLS (-6.5) by 12
mavericks @ THUNDER (-3.5) by 11
*upset*
SUNS by 2 @ grizzlies (-1)
*good game*
JAZZ (-2.5) by 8 @ rockets
clippers @ TRAIL BLAZERS (-6) by 14
*good game*
CELTICS (-5.5) by 10 @ kings
warriors @ LAKERS (-14.5) by 16
Alright guys as always I would love to hear what you have to say. If you have any topics you want me to discuss, games you want me to go in more detail about, or just general questions just let me know.
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