Monday, March 31, 2008

Out of the Box

The original team (Cincinnati Reds) has throw out its first pitch, thus I can now officially welcome back baseball.

The Washington Nationals had a great night as they christened their new stadium in dramatic fashion. The Nats played another pointless pre-Opening day game with Ryan Zimmerman providing the fireworks with a walk-off bomb for the home team. Earlier, Zimmerman had the task handing a ball to President Bush for the ceremonial first pitch. The crowd’s reaction as Bush strode to the mound was a near-mixture of equal cheers and boos. This was a tasteless gesture toward a man who will be out of politics within a year. While Americans have the right to boo our President, I’d expect that in Philly not D.C., and not when the fans are supposed to be celebrating their franchise’s new crowed jewel (a 40,000-plus seat stadium).




Now to the most fascinating storylines entering the 2008 MLB season. Last year was a year of milestones with Barry Bonds chase headlining, but this year shaping into a different beast. In the Big Apple, can Johan Santana fix the woes in Queens and how will A-Rod fare after signing another ridiculous contract? Also, there’s the Tigers vaunted, revamped offense, and of course the next step with steroids in baseball. However, the ultimate storyline for 2008, is can the Chicago Cubs finally end 100-years of futility and frustration?

With all that as serving as a backdrop, here are the FPS Fearless MLB Picks…

American League
NY Yankees (East) – Playing their last season playing in the House that Ruth built, how could the Yanks miss the playoffs?

Indians (Central) – Cleveland returns a great one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and the bullpen will close out tight games.

LA Angels (West) – The edition of Torii Hunter upgrades the outfield and adds leadership to a youthful Angels team. Plus the Angels aren't Seattle.

Tigers (Wild Card) – Detroit has big bats top to bottom in their lineup, if Zumaya and Rodney return mid-season, the bullpen will be formidable for a late season push.

National League
Phillies (East) – Philadelphia really has three MVPs in their infield (Howard, Rollins winners, and Utley) as well as a total mental edge over their rivals to the north.

Cubs (Central) – Easy pick in a weak division. The Cubs will make trades if they need a late season boost, something Milwaukee won’t do.

Diamondbacks (West) – Arizona’s youth is more mature due to last year’s playoff time. The addition of Dan Haren makes the D-backs rotation among the NL’s best.

Padres (Wild Card) – San Diego was three outs away from the playoffs twice last year. Peavy is an elite starter and if Adrian Gonzalez can carry the offense watch out.

World Series: Tigers over Diamondbacks

If you have any predictions for the season you'd like to share, please do so by commenting on this post.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Desperate in Dallas

Never mind the fact that forward Dirk Nowitzki may be finished for the season after crumpling to the floor with a high ankle sprain. Never mind the fact the Mavs can’t seem to buy a win against teams with a .500 record or better, Dallas has bigger problems.

First, owner Mark Cuban mortgaged their future to bring in aging-star Jason Kidd in a keeping up with the Joneses West Conference deadline deal. More vital to the team’s success is getting Kidd and teammate Josh Howard on the same page. Since the trade the two have looked like characters in separate novels.

The team chemistry between the future Hall of Famer and the slashing small forward doesn't exist. In their first 11 games together, Howard has averaged nearly 15.5 points per game, roughly four points under his season average and has been shooting over 6 percent worse from the floor.

Their two respective styles should have meshed. Kidd has superior court vision and a knack for passing while Howard is at his best heading toward the hoop. Coach Avery Johnson has not shown much concern saying the two will click.

But for Dallas fans and for Johnson’s sake, they better click quickly or the Mavericks could be watching the playoffs from home, an unfathomable thought at the start of the season.

Unofficial Opening Day

A frenzied crowd and a late-inning blast got the 2008 Major League Baseball season off to a great start. The Boston Red Sox were triumphant as they began their title defense and Manny Ramirez delivered another late-inning clutch hit.

The only problem, no one was watching.

Sure a crowd of 44,628 welcomed back America’s pastime in Tokyo, but the first pitch was tossed around 6:10 a.m. Eastern. While this isn’t the first Opening Series played in Japan, 2000 saw the Cubs and Mets play and 2004 witnessed the Yankees and Devil Rays, I sure hope it’s the last.

Not only do these games in Japan detract from the ‘real’ Opening Day (March 31), but MLB is alienating fans in Oakland and Boston. Don’t me wrong, the fans will still be waiting to cheer for the Sox and A’s when they return, but asking people to wake up at 3 a.m. to watch baseball is crossing a line.

MLB continues to fail to develop the next generation of fans and this is more proof. The actual game was great, so cheers to the “Unofficial” Official Opening Day.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Northwest hoops hysteria

It’s great a time to be a hoops fan in the Northwest.

On Monday night, Gonzaga thumped Santa Clara clinching their eighth consecutive West Coast Conference title. In the opening five minutes GU harassed Santa Clara and jumped out to a 12-0 lead. It only got uglier from there. The Zags continued an unprecedented string of dominance, now having won 10 of the past 11 WCC titles. Holding rankings in both top 25 polls, the Zags are getting primed for yet another NCAA tournament run.

Just 90 miles south in Pullman, typical Pac-10 doormat Washington State is almost a lock for its second-consecutive NCAA bid. The Cougars hit a rough patch in late January dropping four of five games, but bounced back winning four in a row. A disappointing loss at No. 8 Stanford over the weekend wasn’t a bad thing. Guards Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low will lead the stingy Cougs into March again. It’s a surprise, considering the recruiting mecca the Palouse is.

And yes, even Idaho Vandal fans have reason to smile. Not only has the men’s team doubled its win total from a year ago (four to eight), but the team boasts a two-game win streak heading into their regular season finale. Also, former Vandal women’s star Leilani Mitchell is thriving in her new home in Salt Lake. Mitchell transferred to Utah after her high school and Idaho assistant and her two high school teammates left. The 5-foot-5 guard is fifth in the nation in assists per game (7.2) and paces the No. 15 Utes. Mitchell is garnering national attention, first by SI’s Kelli Anderson and then by ESPN’s Graham Hays. Great to see her playing well and getting credit where credit is do.

Unfortunately, there’s little solace to be found in Seattle. However, ESPN’s Bill Simmons did a fantastic job accumulated nearly 15,000 words of anguished e-mails from Sonics fans finally giving a voice and national publicity to the pending departure of Seattle’s beloved NBA franchise.

Simmons writes “…This isn't a case that you can say, ‘You know, I kind of understand both sides here.’ There is only one side. An NBA team is getting hijacked and there's no way of sugarcoating it, defending it or justifying it. Again, if it happens to the Sonics, it could happen to your team. That’s why you should care.” And that’s why you should read on.

Now, Simmons published a sequel to his "Save The Sonics" piece, including a possible solution David Stern could facilitate – “assuming he cares at all about not murdering the Sonics in Seattle.” That is eerily familiar to another solution brought to light here.

In parting, ESPN’s Jim Caple takes a humorous shot at David Stern and his passive approach to keep Seattle a viable NBA market in this biting piece, which I highly recommend.

Blogger’s Note: How could I leave out my Alma mater. That’s right the Whitworth men’s basketball team, champions of the Northwest Conference, earned a first round bye in the NCAA Division III Tournament. That was a truly shocking development, due to a recent number of snubs by the NCAA for past brilliance. Can someone say make-up call? Anyway, the best of luck to them, go Pirates!

Monday, March 3, 2008

On the Bubble: The Rest of the Pac

Tucked away in an oft-forgotten time zone, the Pac-10 is quietly one of best basketball conferences again. Perennial power UCLA is back in form, Stanford has another great team and freshman sensations have taken over in the desert. So does the Pac-10 stand in terms of NCAA bids?

Punched Ticket Already…

UCLA (26-3, 14-2) – Ben Howland’s Bruins are again the best team in the West. Lead by freshman Kevin Love, UCLA has deep bench with a plethora of past tournament experience. Guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook form a solid backcourt-duo. The worst of their three losses was on the road at Washington. Projected Seed: 1 (or 2 if they lose to Stanford)

Stanford (24-4, 13-3) – Hard to imagine this team lost to Siena at the beginning of the year. Twin 7-footers Brook and Robin Lopez have matured to become the emotional leaders for the Cardinal. But they’re backing that emotion up, Brook leads the team in scoring (19.3 ppg) while Robin leads the team in blocks (63). A win at UCLA would give even more credibility. Projected Seed: 2 or 3

Washington State (22-7, 10-7) – The Cougars were exposed in January, but have since corrected the ship winning six of eight. Wazzu’s win total (22) and weekend split in northern California assured them a NCAA nod. The senior laden team could make a splash in March, but probably lack the scoring to make a big push. Projected Seed: 5 or 6

On the Bubble…

USC (18-10, 9-7) – The Trojans are in great shape to make the tournament after another weekend split. USC is assured to finish at least .500 in league play. Season-opening loss to Mercer hurts, but four-point losses Kansas and Memphis look good. Freshman guard O.J. Mayo is one of the most talented in the country and leads the team in scoring. Verdict: USC gets in as a 7 or 8 seed

Arizona (17-12, 7-9) – The Wildcats boast top 25 RPI and the nation’s top SOS. Two home losses to the So Cal schools hurt. Now they probably must win at least one game in the Pac-10 tourney to feel remotely at ease. Arizona will probably be rewarded with a tournament slot, but they can’t close the season with eight losses in 12 games. Verdict: Zona is the fifth Pac-10 in

Oregon (16-12, 7-9) – Ernie Kent’s squad is on knife’s edge. Their season-ending road trip to Arizona will determine their fate. Nonconference wins over Kansas State and Utah look good, the loss to Oakland is just painful. Although the Ducks have a sub-500 conference record, they own a better RPI and stronger SOS than the Sun Devils. Verdict: TBD, win and the Ducks are in period

Arizona State (18-10, 8-8) – The Sun Devils 14-point victory over USC kept hope alive in the Valley of the Sun. ASU scored a big win over Xavier in December, but RPI and SOS both remain in the 60s. The Sun Devils must douse Oregon’s at-large chances to remain in contention. Verdict: TBD, but could be the sixth team from the Pac-10