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What a March it has been for college basketball, as Dick Vitale would say, "It's awesome baby, with a capital "A." We have some diaper dandies in this tournament baby!!"
I couldn't disagree with the words of Dick Vitale any more than how much I disagree with my parents. Who would have thought that the University of Northern Iowa would knock off Kansas, the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Cornell making it to the Sweet 16, St. Mary's beating Villanova and Washington is finally playing to their ability in the tournament.
But now that we are in the Sweet 16, are the games going to continue to be upsets or are they going to go back to the higher seeds beating the lower seeds?
It is a tough one for anyone to call. The only ones that can determine that are the 16 teams that are left in the tournament, but even then they can never be sure of that.
With Kansas gone now, most brackets are in for it. But with Kansas gone now, who is the favorite?
Some would say that Kentucky is, but others would argue that West Virginia, Syracuse, K-State and Ohio State have just as much of a shot at winning as Kentucky does.
But even all of these teams have been shak'y throughout the regular season as well as in the tournament.
The fact of the matter is that all of us can try to predict who will win the National Championship this year, but even our picks now still might not be as accurate or even come close to what we picked before. Don't sleep on some teams though.
For some reason, most people don't believe that the Duke Blue Devil's, Baylor Bears or the Michigan State Spartan's can make it to the Final Four or even to the National Championship game.
Kalin Lucas may be hurt for the Spartan's, but don't overlook them and their coach Tom Izzo, who has had a tremendous coaching career so far at Michigan State. Every player he has coached has made it to the Final Four at least once in their basketball career at Michigan State. With Lucas out, look for Draymond Green to step up and be the vocal leader out on the court and watch how Korie Lucious responds in the game against Northern Iowa after making the game winner against Maryland.
When watching Duke remember your three "S's", Singler, Scheyer and Smith. When these guys start making their shots they are very difficult team to catch. On top of their great shooting, they defend well and they also have the height to get them far in the tournament. For some reason, one player no one on the opposing team and people in the country seem to respect is Brian Zoubek. Zoubek has given the Blue Devil's big minutes in the tournament and had 14 points and 13 total rebounds in 23 minutes of playing time against the California Golden Bears. Another two players to watch for Duke are the Plumlee brothers who can post up and shoot from outside the paint.
Finally, the Baylor Bears are a very athletic team that have height. The Bears shoot 72.6 percent from the free throw line, shoot 48.9 percent from the field and shoot 38.6 percent from 3-point. They are lead by #24, LaceDarius Dunn. He is only a junior and he shoots 42 percent from 3-point and averages 19.4 points per game.
As March finishes up and we await to see who will be crowned the new NCAA Men's Basketball champion, don't forget to enjoy the "Awesome" games, as Dick Vitale would spell awesome, and watch out for your teams diaper dandies as teams finish out the post season.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Becoming a Great Sports Journalist
If a sports journalist were to star in the movie The Karate Kid, he or she would play the role of Daniel La Russo.
Sports journalists, have to deal with celebrities, athletes, coaches and CEO’s that believe they are better than everyone. Not every celebrity or athlete is as hot headed, loud mouthed or arrogant as Johnny Lawrence was in The Karate Kid. Behind the articles, interviews and all the events they attend, lies a humorous and friendly individual with a passionate love of sports.
The biggest challenge sports journalists’ face is their schedule. The hours are long. The travel schedule is grueling. It is not unusual to visit four or five cities in one week. But despite their grueling schedule, true sports journalists, rarely grow tired of telling readers about the sports they love through the daily newspaper and online articles.
Fearlessness, the ability to draw out facts and the ability to use multiple writing styles are what make a great sports journalist.
Vince Ellis, a sports journalist for the Detroit Free Press, covers the Detroit Pistons. He says that, “fearlessness,” is important in becoming a great sports journalist. “You need to care, but you cannot let people intimidate you. You have to write what you see and not be afraid to ask the tough questions,” says Mr. Ellis.
Style is an important tool to have when writing articles, columns, features and profiles. Having more than one type of writing style is necessary when learning how to become a great sports journalist.
Laura Geist, who started as a sports journalist and is now a business journalist for Automotive News, says “Stretching your style is a good thing to do because you have to adapt your style to the story. You have to ask yourself, ‘are you getting too comfortable to the point where you are not developing your writing style as a journalist?’”
Finally, the ability to draw out facts makes or breaks a great sports journalist. “Great sports journalists paint a picture of the drama and get into the mind of an athlete to entertain their readers,” says Mrs. Geist.
Few people want to only read the facts and numbers about athletes and sports teams. Facts are great, but the real entertainment comes from writing the story with the athlete’s thoughts, not only the journalist’s.
Successful sports journalists never stop working on their journalistic skills. A sports journalist who writes for the New York Times website says, “If you want to attend a great graduate journalism school like the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, you need to build a good portfolio of articles because they want people with experience.”
Every sports journalist has their “Johnny Lawrence.” Sometimes the only way up the ladder is to take on your opponent and defeat them just as Daniel did to earn the title “Karate Kid” and to back up these words, “you’re the best around.”
Sports journalists, have to deal with celebrities, athletes, coaches and CEO’s that believe they are better than everyone. Not every celebrity or athlete is as hot headed, loud mouthed or arrogant as Johnny Lawrence was in The Karate Kid. Behind the articles, interviews and all the events they attend, lies a humorous and friendly individual with a passionate love of sports.
The biggest challenge sports journalists’ face is their schedule. The hours are long. The travel schedule is grueling. It is not unusual to visit four or five cities in one week. But despite their grueling schedule, true sports journalists, rarely grow tired of telling readers about the sports they love through the daily newspaper and online articles.
Fearlessness, the ability to draw out facts and the ability to use multiple writing styles are what make a great sports journalist.
Vince Ellis, a sports journalist for the Detroit Free Press, covers the Detroit Pistons. He says that, “fearlessness,” is important in becoming a great sports journalist. “You need to care, but you cannot let people intimidate you. You have to write what you see and not be afraid to ask the tough questions,” says Mr. Ellis.
Style is an important tool to have when writing articles, columns, features and profiles. Having more than one type of writing style is necessary when learning how to become a great sports journalist.
Laura Geist, who started as a sports journalist and is now a business journalist for Automotive News, says “Stretching your style is a good thing to do because you have to adapt your style to the story. You have to ask yourself, ‘are you getting too comfortable to the point where you are not developing your writing style as a journalist?’”
Finally, the ability to draw out facts makes or breaks a great sports journalist. “Great sports journalists paint a picture of the drama and get into the mind of an athlete to entertain their readers,” says Mrs. Geist.
Few people want to only read the facts and numbers about athletes and sports teams. Facts are great, but the real entertainment comes from writing the story with the athlete’s thoughts, not only the journalist’s.
Successful sports journalists never stop working on their journalistic skills. A sports journalist who writes for the New York Times website says, “If you want to attend a great graduate journalism school like the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, you need to build a good portfolio of articles because they want people with experience.”
Every sports journalist has their “Johnny Lawrence.” Sometimes the only way up the ladder is to take on your opponent and defeat them just as Daniel did to earn the title “Karate Kid” and to back up these words, “you’re the best around.”
Monday, March 15, 2010
It's Tournament Time Baby!!! Part 2 3/15/2010 2:30-3:15
What did you think of the show? Please leave any suggestions, comments, or topics you want to hear about. Thank you for your time.
Show 3/15/2010 12:00-12:45
How well did I do? Did I help lessen the confusion of picking NCAA tournament teams? Please leave a comment and advice for how I can make my show better. Thank you for listening.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cavaliers Battle but Fall Short
The Virginia Cavaliers, a 9 seed in the ACC tournament, charged into the Blue Devil's, but ended up suffering a defeat at the end of the game.
The Cavaliers, entered today with a win over the 8th seeded Boston College Eagles yesterday. The Cavaliers came alive yesterday without their star player Sylven Landesberg who is on academic probabtion and out for the rest of the season. Sammy Zeglinski, stepped up for Virginia yesterday by scoring 21 points and going 5 for 10 from the 3-point line.
Unfortunately, Zeglinski's performance was horrendous today against Duke. He went 0 for 8 shooting the ball and had a few trunovers in the process.
Duke, the favorite to win the ACC tournament, started the game struggling to score a field goal. It took Duke 4 minutes into the first half to score their first points of the game. Virginia wasn't any better, it took them five minutes into the first half to score their first points of the game.
Both teams continued to play horrendously throughout the first half, which resulted in a tie of 27 points a piece at the end of the first half. Nolan Smith lead the Blue Devil's in scoring in the first half with 11 points.
The second half turned out to be a tad better than the first half, but both teams still had their problems shooting from the field.
When it was all said and done, Duke scored 57 points, while Virginia came up short with 46 points. Kyle Singler lead Duke in scoring with 18 points, 14 of the 18 points coming in the second half. Jeff Jones lead the Cavaliers in scoring with 15 points and Mike Scott scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss.
Virginia will be hanging up their jersey's for this season and the Blue Devil's will be marching on in the ACC tournament. Duke will play the winner of the Virginia Tech v. Miami (FL) game today and will be heading to the NCAA tournament as a possible #1 seed.
The Cavaliers, entered today with a win over the 8th seeded Boston College Eagles yesterday. The Cavaliers came alive yesterday without their star player Sylven Landesberg who is on academic probabtion and out for the rest of the season. Sammy Zeglinski, stepped up for Virginia yesterday by scoring 21 points and going 5 for 10 from the 3-point line.
Unfortunately, Zeglinski's performance was horrendous today against Duke. He went 0 for 8 shooting the ball and had a few trunovers in the process.
Duke, the favorite to win the ACC tournament, started the game struggling to score a field goal. It took Duke 4 minutes into the first half to score their first points of the game. Virginia wasn't any better, it took them five minutes into the first half to score their first points of the game.
Both teams continued to play horrendously throughout the first half, which resulted in a tie of 27 points a piece at the end of the first half. Nolan Smith lead the Blue Devil's in scoring in the first half with 11 points.
The second half turned out to be a tad better than the first half, but both teams still had their problems shooting from the field.
When it was all said and done, Duke scored 57 points, while Virginia came up short with 46 points. Kyle Singler lead Duke in scoring with 18 points, 14 of the 18 points coming in the second half. Jeff Jones lead the Cavaliers in scoring with 15 points and Mike Scott scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss.
Virginia will be hanging up their jersey's for this season and the Blue Devil's will be marching on in the ACC tournament. Duke will play the winner of the Virginia Tech v. Miami (FL) game today and will be heading to the NCAA tournament as a possible #1 seed.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Nathan injured, but don't count Twins out
Joe Nathan, relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow pitching against the Boston Red Sox last Saturday. Nathan had bone spurs removed before last season in his right elbow to protect from this injury. Nathan has not decided if he will have season-ending surgery or if he will rehab the right elbow.
Last season Nathan finished with 47 saves, which was second in the American League and in the MLB, Brian Fuentes of the Los Angeles led the MLB in saves with 48 in 2009.
Nathan's injury has Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire, deciding on who will take Nathans place as the Twins closer. Jon Rauch has 26 saves in his MLB career so far and he would be the first candidate in the running for the closer role.
Never doubt the Twins minor league system though. Every year the Twins call-up a minor league player or two and they end up becoming key players for the ball club. The Twins are known for having a tremendous minor league system that successfully develops minor league players into hard-working day-to-day players in the MLB.
With Nathan possibly out for the season, does that mean that the Twins are not the favorite anymore to win the AL Central? Absolutely not in my mind.
The Twins have the offensive power to knock in runs left and right. With a line-up that will feature Denard Span, Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy, Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young and Nick Punto, the Twins have little to worry about.
The Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox have a shot at winning the AL Central, but they will have to produce great offensive numbers and pitch well against the Twins in order to win the AL Central.
Last season Nathan finished with 47 saves, which was second in the American League and in the MLB, Brian Fuentes of the Los Angeles led the MLB in saves with 48 in 2009.
Nathan's injury has Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire, deciding on who will take Nathans place as the Twins closer. Jon Rauch has 26 saves in his MLB career so far and he would be the first candidate in the running for the closer role.
Never doubt the Twins minor league system though. Every year the Twins call-up a minor league player or two and they end up becoming key players for the ball club. The Twins are known for having a tremendous minor league system that successfully develops minor league players into hard-working day-to-day players in the MLB.
With Nathan possibly out for the season, does that mean that the Twins are not the favorite anymore to win the AL Central? Absolutely not in my mind.
The Twins have the offensive power to knock in runs left and right. With a line-up that will feature Denard Span, Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy, Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young and Nick Punto, the Twins have little to worry about.
The Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox have a shot at winning the AL Central, but they will have to produce great offensive numbers and pitch well against the Twins in order to win the AL Central.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Warm-Up
Did you like the radio show? Do you have any suggestions about what topics I should talk about? Leave your comments and let me know how you feel. Thank you.
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