Motivation

If this doesn't you pumped up, nothing will:

Guess Who's Back

I can't believe blogspot just lets these blogs sit idle for this long. Cool. I may start updating again with random thoughts.

MLB 2008 Preview

Since it is the official Opening Day of the 2008 Major League Baseball season, I figured I would throw out some predictions that everyone can make fun of me for later, as well as one thought on each team.

AL East:
1. Boston Red Sox - I just don't see them failing to win the division after getting over the hump last season.
2. New York Yankees - Didn't do enough to the pitching staff to make me take them over the Red Sox and maybe even miss the playoffs.
3. Toronto Blue Jays - Keep spending, but too much competition.
4. Tampa Bay Rays - New name (sort of), new attitude, young and eager team - could be similar to 2006 Marlins, who vastly overachieved.
5. Baltimore Orioles - Just not very good.

AL Central:
1. Detroit Tigers - Huge offseason pickups and have both the hitting and pitching to win this tight division.
2. Cleveland Indians - Playoff capable, but Tigers, Yanks and Red Sox too much to overcome.
3. Minnesota Twins - This team could surprise, but the lack of Santana will doom them in '08.
4. Kansas City Royals - I just think their ever so slightly better than the White Sox this season, but have no justifiable reason why (see 2007 Cleveland Browns).
5. Chicago White Sox - 1/2 of the 2005 World Series, but will join the Astros as cellar dwellers in 2008.

AL West:
1. Anaheim Angels - Did just enough in the offseason to stay ahead of the Mariners and A's.
2. Seattle Mariners - New pitching staff will make this team competitive, but will fall just short of both the Angels and the wild card.
3. Oakland A's - Just haven't done enough to stay competitive.
4. Texas Rangers - See Baltimore Orioles.

AL Wild Card: Yankees
AL Champions: Red Sox

NL East:
1. New York Mets - They will not choke again.
2. Atlanta Braves - They are back and will be the wild card this year.
3. Philadelphia Phillies - Still strong, but NL East too tough.
4. Washington Nationals - New ballpark, same results.
5. Florida Marlins - Now minus Miguel Cabrera, so they are dunzo.

NL Central:
1. Milwaukee Brewers - This is the year they break through and break the hearts of Cubs fans for the 100th straight year (or 99th or something).
2. Chicago Cubs - When you rely on Carlos Zambrano as your ace, results may vary.
3. Cincinnati Reds - Not that they are good, but Pirates, Cards and Stros are just that bad.
4. St. Louis Cardinals - It all depends on the health of Pujols and whether the revamped rotation can win the close ones.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates - Still the Pirates.
6. Houston Astros - I don't know if I am putting them down here to hedge my fandom and thus, be impressed if they do better, or if they really deserve to be down here. Hitting and team speed is vastly improved, but pitching staff is beyond horrible.

NL West:
1. Colorado Rockies - Last year was no fluke.
2. Arizona Diamondbacks - I picked them correctly last year to win the West, but don't have the same feeling this year.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers - I just don't see them overtaking the Rockies or D-Backs this season.
4. San Diego Padres - I have trouble putting them third, but this division will come down to the waning weeks of September before a winner will be declared.
5. San Francisco Giants - Will be going against Baltimore for worst record this season.

NL Wildcard: Atlanta Braves
NL Champion: New York Mets

World Series: Mets over Red Sox in 6.

NCAA Tourney Preview

Well, the NCAA Tourney kicks off in just a few minutes now and with all bracket challenges locked, here is my pick by pick preview of the entire tournament. Please note that I have never ever won (or even came close to winning) a bracket challenge and this year will be no different. Feel free to ridicule my picks in the comments or to my face or via email or in the respective bracket pool on yahoo/cbs/espn. These are my picks from my Yahoo! bracket challenge as these were my first gut reaction picks based on my extensive knowledge.

East:
1 UNC over 16 Mount St. Marys - No brainer
9 Arkansas over 8 Indiana - Too much turmoil with replacement coach, but this could come back to bite me in the ass
5 Notre Dame over 12 George Mason - These aren't your 2006 GMU Patriots and this ain't your 2007 Irish
4 Washington State over 13 Wintrhop - I just don't see any 13 seeds winning this year for some reason and especially not in this game as WSU is too strong on defense
11 St. Joseph's over 6 Oklahoma - OU has too many injuries and St. Joe's finished the season strong in a solid A-10 conference
3 Louisville over 14 Boise State - This ain't football and Ian Johnson ain't proposing to his cheerleader girlfriend again
7 Butler over 10 South Alabama - I hate when the committee puts two good mid-major conference teams together because they can then use it as an excuse that X team can't even beat a mid-major, so we don't need to put them in the field next year, so what I am saying is that this was a coin flip
2 Tennessee over 15 American - Tennessee = really good

UNC over Tennessee to reach Final Four, but I have waffled on this over and over

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Midwest:
1 Kansas over 16 Portland State - No first round upset as Bill Self figures out how to coach in the tourney
8 UNLV over 9 Kent State - A virtual coin flip, but UNLV has won better games than Kent State has
12 Villanova over 5 Clemson - Scottie Reynolds will go crazy from three and Clemson will be spent after a great ACC run
4 Vanderbilt over 13 Siena - Vandy has enough firepower to withstand the Saints and move along on their way to the Sweet 16
6 USC over 11 Kansas State - USC has won at Pauley Pavilion and K State is (a) inconsistent in general and (b) not the same team away from home
3 Wisconsin over 14 Cal State Fullerton - If this were the College World Series, then I might go with CSF, but Wisconsin is way too strong to lose in the first round even though I have the Badgers bowing out in round 2
10 Davidson over 7 Gonzaga - Got to go with who is hot and Davidson is scorching, plus Gonzaga is sooo 2006
2 Georgetown over 15 Maryland - Baltimore County - JT III won't let his Hoyas lose this early

Kansas over Georgetown to reach Final Four

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1 Memphis over 16 UT-Arlington - Memphis will not reach the Final Four, but they are not losing to a 16 seed
9 Oregon over 8 Mississippi State - These 8/9 matchups are really tricky and my philosophy when you have really no idea and the coin lands on its edge, go with the 9 seed
5 Michigan State over 12 Temple - This could be the classic 5/12 upset, but MSU is not inconsistent enough to lose to a Temple team that but for the A-10 tourney wasn't even on Lunardi's radar all season
4 Pittsburgh over 13 Oral Roberts - Pitt is inconsistent, but ORU was a 16 seed a few years ago and like their fate then, so shall be their fate herein
6 Marquette over 11 Kentucky - So many of these 3, 4, 5, and 6 seeds are extremely inconsistent, but I have seen Kentucky play this season and my Coogs wiped the floor with them, plus UK is still without freshman Patrick Patterson
3 Stanford over 14 Cornell - Lopez Brothers = 'nuff said
10 St. Mary's over 7 Miami (FL) - St. Mary's has looked good all season (I love those WCC games on weeknights that don't end til after midnight) and Miami just doesn't strike me as a strong 7 seed
2 Texas over 15 Austin Peay - DJ Augustin will do what Kevin Durant couldn't last year and get this Longhorn team to the Final Four (did I jinx them? I hope I jinxed them. Sorry Keller ;))

Texas over Pittsburgh to reach Final Four (and yes, I will be watching the South Regional's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games at Reliant Stadium with some decent seats - it pays to be a UH season ticket holder)

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West:
1 UCLA over 16 Mississippi Valley State - Eventual champ UCLA will make it three straight trips to the Final Four and will finally win it all this year
9 Texas A&M over 8 BYU - I have watched A&M play multiple times this season and their defense is solid and the MWC was somewhat overrated this season
5 Drake over 12 Western Kentucky - Another match-up of good mid majors, but Drake has been so solid all season that I think they have the ability to beat UCONN and get to the Sweet 16
4 Connecticut over 13 San Diego - Why does this seem to be the 13 over 4 upset that people are expecting? Despite their showing in the Big East Tournament, Calhoun will have these guys prepped for the Toreros, but not enough to beat Drake over the weekend
6 Purdue over 11 Baylor - Baylor should not be in the tournament, but the BCS conference bump probably got them in over Davidson and Illinois State. Baylor had a stretch in the middle of the season where they looked good, but once they played better teams, they folded like a wet paper towel
3 Xavier over 14 Georgia - Nice little run by the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament, but this team won only 4 games in a very weak SEC, while Xavier ran through a strong A-10, losing only twice.
10 Arizona over 7 West Virginia - WVU has been strong as of late, but Zona has so much talent that it is a shame Lute Olson is not coaching here or else they would've been a 3 or 4 seed at worst and the Wildcats will beat Duke and Xavier to get to the Elite 8
2 Duke over 15 Belmont - Duke can beat anybody in the country and Belmont is in the country, but they are too reliant on the three to make it past Zona in the round of 32

UCLA over Arizona to reach the Final Four

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Final Four:
Tennessee over Kansas - I think Bill Self gets to the Final Four, but I will take Bruce Pearl here
UCLA over Texas - UCLA takes the rematch despite Texas having some home court advantage playing in San Antonio (and having played the South Regional in Houston)

UCLA over Tennessee - UCLA is just so strong on both sides of the ball that I do not see them being challenged much in this tournament if they play to their abilities

It's Been Awhile

Well, it has been a long time since I last posted and there are a number of reasons. First and foremost, I am lazy. Second, too much stuff was happening that I didn't know what to write about and then more stuff happened and it became overwhelming. Third, my Coogs were in the process of throwing away their season (though, congrats on the first round victory over Nevada last night in the College Basketball Invitational). Fourth, the Rockets were in the midst of a 22-game winning streak that I was afraid of jinxing by posting something about it, but that ended last night (more to come on this below). Fifth, I am lazy.

And to further my laziness and for a good take on the game last night (which I unfortunately predicted would be a 20-point loss to the Celts), check out The Dream Shake.

I will be posting more later, including a March Madness post that will boggle your mind (and give away all of my picks for the world to see and laugh at because as much as I know about college basketball, I suck at picking winners in these brackets and why I don't gamble).

Update

Been really busy lately with work and a nice trip to the Big Easy last weekend, but hope to have some posts up by the end of this week. In the meantime, with the Rockets losing Yao Ming for the rest of the season and my Coogs making a push towards a NCAA invite, I decided to post this little video of my favorite basketball player of all time (seeing as how he played for both the Coogs and the Rockets): Hakeem Olajuwon!

Friday Floetry X 2/22/08

This past weekend, one of my peeps reintroduced me to this track. I'm pretty sure I saw the video for this back when it came out. Everyone asks who the girl in the jersey is. Thats all I'll recap. Check YouTube for the rest.

I've included a snippet of one of Fabolous' parts. P. Diddy (at least that was his name back then)and Jagged Edge also contributed parts. Jagged Edge's part is the chorus I have included after the Bloomies line.


Floetry:


Hot storm, I'm so into you
Cause even before we hit the bedroom I was friends with you
If they ask, I ain't gotta say whom in them interviews
My sweet thing never believe them rumors that been true
In fact I had no more expence, it's true
But you was wifey could change me into a groom in a mintue boo
Maybe my sense of humor gets into you
But girl, they can make a perfume from the scent of you
I wanna take you there, feel like June in December too
So what you think about Cancun till the winter through
I don't know whatever consumes you gonna do
I put a daytime to go to Bloomies and spend with you...

Girl, I'd trade it all, money, cars and everything
All, even give up my street dream
All, anything to have you on my team
All, baby girl, I'd trade it all

Even give up my good green
All, and I'd give the watch and pinky ring
All, anything to have you on my team
All, baby girl, I'd trade it all


Taken from Trade It All, Pt. 2 by Fabolous featuring P. Diddy and Jagged Edge