Final Four and Fantasy Baseball

Today is a huge day. At 6, we're getting Michigan State v. UConn, then Villanova v. UNC afterwards.

I'm picking the favorites here. Even though 'Nova and MSU have played great this season, the Huskies and 'Heels have been far and away the best teams in the nation. I wouldn't be shocked at an upset, but I would be shocked if we don't get a couple of great games.

In other news, I joined a public Yahoo!Sports fantasy baseball league, since all of my old collegiate leagues have gone by the wayside. I have always stunk at fantasy baseball. Usually, just sneaking into the playoffs was quite an achievement for the Double Baggers.

After a random draft, my team is looking really good in the pitching staff and a lot less strong in the hitting department. Quick breakdown:

BEST POSITIONS:

Starting Pitching: Led by Giants ace Tim Lincecum, my team also includes the Padres 1 and 2 guys, Peavy and Chris Young, and my homer picks John Danks and Gavin Floyd. The number six guy is former A's stud reliever Justin Duscherer, who has battled injuries since leaving the 'pen but put up excellent stats while healthy.

Second Base: I have two of the best 2b's in the league, period. Chase Utley and Dan Uggla should net me some serious trade offers.

WORST POSITIONS:

Third Base: I'm not too confident with Colorado's Ian Stewart as my only third baseman, although he is also 2b eligible. Might be time to do some work on that Uggla trade.

Catcher: I have Dioner Navarro from Tampa. Right now I also have a waiver wire pick in on Texas' Jarod Saltamacchia ('Salty' for future reference). I hate catchers in fantasy.
Others:

I've got Carlos Pena and Paul Konerko at 1b. Jason Bay, Ichiro, and Vernon Wells starting in the outfield, and Michael Young at SS. Willy Taveras and Jack Cust on the bench.

My relief staff features Jonathan Broxton and Kevin Gregg (yeah, I know, a Cub), as well as Chad Qualls. Trying to decide whether I need a fourth.

Add/drop suggestions? How about Casey Blake, who is 3b eligible?

BEARS GOT CUTLER!!!!!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!



http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1508720,bears-cutler-040209.article



http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4037373


[sadly, I think I'm going to miss this guy! - MF]

Lions, You're On The Clock!

Ross Tucker over at SI.com just posted the best idea I've heard yet for the Lions, who have the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. HINT: Think Kevin Williams, Vikings.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Bears should trade up for Aaron Curry or Michael Crabtree. Especially if Orlando Pace signs.

David Haugh at the Tribune is convinced the Bears should move heaven and earth to get disgruntled Broncos QB Jay Cutler to Chicago. I still like Kyle Orton, but Haugh has some sound reasoning here and a few very intriguing trade possibilities (Urlacher to Denver??).

Annual Cubs v. Sox Wagers

It’s time for an annual tradition; the Cubs-Sox Wagers! This is our 5th year doing it, which I believe has gone 2 for the White Sox, 1 for the Cubs and 1 Undecided (see below for reason).


So here’s the setup. To make the season a little more interesting, my friend Tim and I choose 7 categories where we each pick the team or players from either the Cubs (Tim) or the Sox (Steve) for those categories. Whoever wins a majority of the categories wins. We do have a small prize but its more for the bragging rights.

Tim and I have had a discussion and here is a summary of what transpired.

Category 1

Steve: Alright, let’s do the easy one first. Season Series with runs as the tie-breaker.
Tim: Yup just like always.


CATEGORY 1: HEAD TO HEAD GAMES (RUNS AS TIEBREAKER)

STEVE HAS: WHITE SOX
TIM HAS: CUBS

Category 2

T: Home Runs. 2 Players.

S: This is a little bit of a tough one. I know I want Carlos Quentin, but the question is who I want going with him. I don’t trust Jermaine Dye even though he was pretty good last year. So it’s got to be Paulee or Thome.

T: Thome seems to be a solid despite his age, but you know he is slated for at least one DL trip. Once he has a back injury we all know that it never goes away.

S: Yeah, Just ask Mr. Joe Crede. But Thome is the DH, which I think helps his chances of avoiding injury. Plus Paulee’s thumb might give him trouble. Alright, I am going with Carlos and Thome.

T: I will choose Aramis Ramirez.

S: No surprise there.

T: The next one is kind of tough.

S: I was thinking you were going Soriano

T: Bradley has some power and Soriano’s a frontrunner.

S: Plus Bradley will have a little more protection then Soriano in the 1 hole.

T: D-Lee is out, and Soto won’t put up HR hitter numbers.

S: What, the 12 Hrs he hit from June to the end of the year doesn’t impress you?

T: Not really, the 4 HR after the All-Star break is bad for a hitter like him. I am going to go with Soriano


CATEGORY 2: MOST HOME RUNS BETWEEN 2 PLAYER

STEVE HAS: CARLOS QUENTIN & JIM THOME
TIM HAS: ARAMIS RAMIEREZ & ALFONSO SORIANO

Category 3

S: Three Pitchers. Wins.

T: Yup sounds good.

S: Mine are easy. Danks, Floyd, and Buehrle.

T: No hesitations there.

S: Nope put it in the books.

T: I think I’m going to go with Zambrano, Dempster and Lilly.

S: Worried about Harden’s health?

T: I can’t count on Harden even though he has Ace stuff. Marshall is still a 5th starter. Lilly has been solid for the Cubs and pitches well in big games. He went 9-0 two season ago after a loss. He also won 17 last year.

CATEGORY 3: MOST WINS BETWEEN 3 PITCHERS

STEVE HAS: JOHN DANKS, GAVIN FLOYD AND MARK BUEHRLE
TIM HAS: CARLOS ZAMBRANO, RYAN DEMPSTER AND TED LILLY
Category 4

S: Now that the staples are out of the way, what should the next ones be?

T: Saves, holds, errors, assists, steals, any of those tickle your fantasy? (yes he actually said that)

S: Neither of us picked our 1B for home runs, so how about 1B triple crown stats?

T: I like that one.

S: Looking at this I would say Paulee has an advantage in home runs, but DLee has an advantage in Avg. So RBI’s will be key.

T: Yeah, done.

CATEGORY 4: 1B TRIPLE CROWN STATS (BEST 2 OF 3)

STEVE HAS: PAUL KONERKO
TIM HAS: DERREK LEE

Category 5

S: Saves?

T: That’s fine.

S: Gregg vs Jenks or something else?

T: Up to you.

S: I'll take it straight up, I’m not the team with the closer battle during spring training. Saying that, Jenks missed like 2-3 months last summer.

T: I think it will stay with Gregg, Lou likes to use Marmol in tight situations in the 7th and 8th.

S: Sounds good putting it in the books.

CATEGORY 5: SAVES (CHOOSE 1 PLAYER)

STEVE HAS: BOBBY JENKS
TIM HAS: KEVIN GREGG

Category 6

S: I'd like a defensive one. How about Brian Anderson vs Fukudome putouts?

T: Fukudome won’t play everyday.

S: BA probably won’t either, so probably not a good one.

T: Yeah. Do they keep track of double plays turned?

S: I am sure they do, they keep track of everything. Would we know where to find it?

T: No.

S: How about putouts by SS?

T: That’s Fine. The Riot vs Alexei.

CATEGORY 6: PUTOUTS BY SHORTSTOP

STEVE HAS: ALEXEI RAMIREZ
TIM HAS: RYAN THERIOT

Category 7

S: How about we do Managers suspensions and ejections?

T: Sounds good.

S: In the spirit of the category whoever’s team’s manager has more suspension or ejections wins.

T: Agreed

CATEGORY 7: TOTAL NUMBER OF EJECTIONS AND DAYS SUSPENDED FOR EACH TEAM’S MANAGER

STEVE HAS: OZZIE GUILLEN
TIM HAS: LOU PINELLA

Now, these bets are not finalized until the first pitch of opening day. So if anybody out there has a better idea for a category please leave a comment below. If it’s a good one, we are willing to call the audible and change one or add it.

Also if you don’t agree with any of our player choices for the categories let’s hear about them.

So I am sure you have been waiting all article to hear why we were undecided in our Cubs Sox bets. Well the first reason is because we forgot to write down our bets. We couldn’t remember who Tim selected last year in our category that was highest total or holds and saves for three bullpen pitchers. Depending on who he picked he would have won or he would have lost.

Also, we had a minor controversy around Jim Thome’s home run against the Twins in the one game playoff for the division crown. MLB tracks the stat as part of the regular season but Tim and I couldn’t agree upon if it should count for the bet. That home run would have pushed the category from a Tim win to a tie–that’s how close we were.

Bears Making Offseason Moves

I'm so freakin' glad that Jerry Angelo has decided to actually earn his paycheck this offseason! Nobody really knows whether his free-agent acquisitions will be a success or not. But at least we're doing something.

Thus far, the Bears have picked up two offensive linemen in Frank Omiyale (T/G) and Kevin Shaffer (T) to replace the departed Johns, St. Clair and Tair. The news today out of Halas Hall is that Lovie Smith has finally had Orlando Pace in for a long-overdue visit. Pace would be a nice addition to an improving offensive line.

In the secondary, Angelo added Josh Bullocks, a guy I liked out of Nebraska but who hasn't been great at the pro level. He also recently picked up S Glenn Earl (from?). Veteran Ken Lucas, a member of many of my old Madden teams, was also in for a visit today.

Addressing depth in the line and secondary frees up the Bears to go after the best available wideout with the eighteenth pick in the draft and hopefully get somebody that's ready to contribute right away. Nothing against Earl Bennett or Bernard Berrian, but it would be nice to get somebody who could step into the starting lineup from Day One (or at least the slot!). Your options are basically; Darius Heyward-Bey, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, or Kenny Britt (Maclin and Crabtree will be gone). Of these guys, I prefer the last three over DHB, since they are more prepared for NFL level competition.

The second round will be a good place to grab a young lineman like OG Duke Robinson, C Alex Mack, or T Phil Loadholt.

I would really like to see the Bears grab a free-agent LB (Derrick Brooks?) and a veteran back to spell Forte (Warrick Dunn?) in the remainder of the FA period. We'll see what happens. Might be wishful thinking.

Thoughts?

Predictions gone right and some quick thoughts about the weekend that was.

Predictions

If you are reading this, then I assume you read my “how to pick a bracket” article. In it I state my theory that to be successful in your bracket you should pick 2 schools from 1 conference and 1 school that was there the year before. Well UConn and ‘Nova from the Big East, Check. North Carolina returning to the Final Four, Check. So my theory was correct this year. How did my bracket do? Well I correctly predicted UNC to the Final Four. I also predicted the Big East would send two teams to the Final Four! However, my two teams were Pitt and ‘Ville. Bummer.

Pre-Season predictions: UConn and UNC. Sure, a lot of people thought that these were two of the best teams in the country in the beginning of the year (remember when UNC was going to be the first school to go undefeated since these guys, yeah that was fun) and these were the safer picks of my four, but two of four pre-season, that’s pretty good. It’s a shame I didn’t listen to myself, I only put UNC in my Final Four.
Random Thoughts

The event caught my attention the most I didn’t even have listed on the weekend watch. I hopped on a machine at the gym for a quick warm up and was just flipping around when I stumbled upon Tiger making his Sunday charge at Bay Hill in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I had missed most of the tournament up until this point, but got to see them putt on 17 and then the drama that was the 18th hole. Zach Johnson still with an outside shot of tieing, and Sean O’Hair and Tiger tied for the lead. Seeing Tiger make that shot, just another one of the long line or memorable moments for Tiger Woods. Could have barely asked for a more picture perfect moment; Dusk is upon us Tiger is lining up to putt right next to the water at 18, the place where he hit the tournament clinching putt the year before. He hits it, stares it down, starts backing up and then fist pump. Great great ending.

Most of the NCAA games were just ok.

MSU Kansas was a pretty good game. I couldn’t believe MSU won. It seemed like every time they came back Kansas would get up by 5 again. If MUS doesn't win this game, then that would have been 4 Big East teams and 3 Big XII teams in the Elite 8. Glad to see MSU make it to the Final Four. Calm down some of the Big Ten haters.

Pitt vs ‘Nova was another exceptional game. Watching my bracket hopes go down the tubes was disheartening, but what a game. I can’t believe ‘Nova almost blew it with the full court pass and then the foul. Clutch free throw shooting by Levance Fields. He looked like Pitts best player all tournament long and is a real fun player to watch. My one question is, how with 5 seconds left does nobody stop the ball. It’s inexcusable that ‘Nova got to attempt a lay-up in that situation. With that play, Pitt deserved to loose.

Jamie was on fire going into this weekend. She had 15-16 in the sweet 16 and 8-8 in the elite eight. She then went down in flames going 0-4 in the Final Four. That’s got to hurt.

Here’s a cool link for Chicago Sports fans

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=dameshek/090327&sportCat=nfl

And here's a fun one featureing Bob Knight, Coach K, Roy Williams and Rick Pitino

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0TPodgomLs

Finally can you believe opening day is only a week away. Sometime before Friday I will discuss what I think the White Sox could/should with their lineup and rotation.