Opening Day is just around the corner. Thank God! That means spring is here! Not a second too soon, too. I'm not going to sit here and give you my complete preview... yet. But here are each teams win/loss over/under's for the 2006 season, and what I think they'll do.
(For those who have no idea what this is, it's simple. Vegas has set the Yankees win total at 98. You can either bet the under {they'll win less than 98} or the over {they'll win more}. That's what I'm showing you here. Each team, what Vegas has set them at, and what I think they'll do in respect to that number)
AL East:
New York Yankees: 98 under
Boston Red Sox: 92.5 under
Toronto Blue Jays: 86 under
Baltimore Orioles: 76.5 under
Tampa Bay Devils Rays: 71 over
AL Central:
Chicago White Sox: 93.5 under
Cleveland Indians: 88.5 over
Minnesota Twins: 80.5 over
Detroit Tigers: 76.5 over
Kansas City Royals: 62 over
AL West:
Los Angeles Angels: 91 over
Oakland Athletics: 90 over
Texas Rangers: 81.5 under
Seattle Mariners: 74 over
NL East:
New York Mets: 90 under
Atlanta Braves: 88 over
Philadelphia Phillies: 83 over
Washington Nationals: 76 over
Florida Marlins: 63 over
NL Central:
St. Louis Cardinals: 94 under
Chicago Cubs: 86 under
Houston Astros: 83.5 over
Milwaukee Brewers: 79.5 over
Pittsburgh Pirates: 74 over
Cincinatti Reds: 72 under
NL West:
Los Angeles Dodgers: 85.5 over
San Francisco Giants: 84.5 over
San Diego Padres: 78.5 over
Colorado Rockies: 68.5 over
My Pre-season Predictions:
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard: A's
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Astros
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: Cardinals
World Series: Angels over Cardinals (same as last year)
Friday, March 31, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
A New thesharkey Creation...
...the fantasy blog!
Last Sunday myself & 9 people I work with had our first work Fantasy Baseball draft. Good times. There were some pretty ridiculous draft-day decisions that needed to be written somewhere for permanent record, and this idea popped up. With a league full of people who have never played fantasy baseball before, plus myself & one or two other people who are sure to be absolutely dominant, why not record the entire season?
From draft day to the championship.
A permanent record of the madness that is "Chili's Fantasy Baseball."
So it's what I will do.
We have a 10-team league, head-to-head style. Each matchup runs from Monday thru Sunday. So every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is busy) I will give a weekly report on the goings on of the CFB. Matchup breakdowns, trade breakdowns, a look ahead, plus a few random jokes about Robbie's team. Good times.
So where else to start? The draft.
10 teams.
Myself (The Montaquito), Kip (The Confederate Flag), Tim (Tenacious Tim's Team) & Duke (Duke's Kunta Kintay's) have already emerged as the serious players in this league.
Chris (knuckleheads), Doug (F*ckinallstars), Josh (Josh for now), Erin (Duffy's Donkeys) & Kelly (kfairs) are players who if they stick with it should be in this thing until the end.
And Robbie (Bo-byy Knows Baseball) is the league laughingstock. For those of you who live in the northeast of the country, you know every league you join always has that one kid who drafts all Yankees or all Red Sox on their team. Robbie is this leagues culprit. A roster full of Yankees. And the jokes are just getting started.
The Draft:
Time & Date: Sometime last Sunday afternoon
Location: The Freehold Racetrack, clubhouse, smoking section
Important pieces of info: Lots of angry men betting on horses around us, a bar nearby, and the ncaa tourney games on our tvs
The draft hasn't even begun and we have our first major development. Kelly & Erin are stuck in Chicago where they are apartment shopping. Having faith in me, they've asked me to draft their teams. So before we even begin, I am now stuck with drafting 3 teams in a money league. Talk about pressure.
We pull out of a hat to decide the draft order.
Kip, Tim, Duke, Chris, Erin, Robbie, Kelly, Josh, myself & Doug is the order, with it going in reverse in every other round.
All you really need to know about the draft is that the first four people I mentioned had the best drafts, everyone else had good drafts, and Robbie had a ridiculous draft.
In fact, after the 11th round he had to go to work, so he gave Duke a list of 9 or 10 people that he wanted to be drafted on his team for him. Included in this list were Robinson Cano, Curt Schilling, Jorge Posada, Mike Mussina, a few other Yankees, and the fantasy legend himself, Bruce Chen. This was the point everyone in our league lost it. Bruce Chen? Someone seriously wanted to draft him? Apparently Robbie did. Every other fantasy baseball league in the country this year will see Bruce Chen sitting on free agency somewhere. But not ours. We all agreed that none of us would take Chen (a not so hard thing to agree on) and that we'd give him to Robbie in the 21st round.
As for everyones rosters, here they are, with their first 10 draft picks with their round number in parantheses next to their name.
The Confederate Flag (Kip), 1st pick in draft.
C Joe Mauer (8)
1b Todd Helton (5)
2b Jeff Kent (10)
3b Alex Rodriguez (1)
SS Bobby Crosby
OF Bobby Abreu (2)
OF Ken Griffey, Jr (9)
OF Vernon Wells
Util Chone Figgins (3)
Bn Jeremy Hermida
Bn Ryan Zimmerman
Bn Prince Fielder
SP Rich Harden (4)
SP Andy Pettitte (6)
SP Mark Prior (7)
SP Scott Kazmir
RP Derek Turnbow
RP Bob Wickman
Bn Mike MacDougal
Bn Ervin Santana
Bn Chris Young
Tenacious Tim's Team (Tim), 2nd pick in draft
C Jorge Posada
1b Albert Pujols (1)
2b Chase Utley (3)
3b Troy Glaus (8)
SS Felipe Lopez (10)
OF Carlos Beltran (4)
OF Juan Pierre (6)
OF Cliff Floyd (7)
Util Nick Johnson
Bn Edgar Renteria
Bn Nomar Garciaparra
Bn Mike Jacobs
SP Jake Peavy (2)
SP Josh Beckett (5)
SP Cliff Lee (9)
SP Jose Contreras
RP BJ Ryan
RP Francisco Cordero
Bn Fransisco Liriano
Bn Brandon Backe
Bn Chin-Man Wang or whoever you spell his name
Duke's Kunta Kintay's (Duke), 3rd pick in draft
C Bengie Molina (10)
1b Paul Konerko (5)
2b Brian Roberts (8)
3b Eric Chavez (7)
SS Julio Lugo
OF Ichiro Suzuki (2)
OF Hideki Matsui (4)
OF Jim Edmonds
Util Richie Sexson
Bn Willie Taveras
Bn Mike Sweeney
Bn Garrett Atkins
Bn Yadier Molina
SP Johan Santana (1)
SP Roy Oswalt (3)
SP Tim Hudson (6)
SP CC Sabathia (9)
RP Eric Gagne
RP Chris Ray
Bn Roger Clemens
Bn Rodrigo Lopez
knuckleheads (Chris), 4th pick in draft
C Viktor Martinez (4)
1b Carlos Delgado (7)
2b Jorge Cantu
3b Hank Blalock (3)
SS Clint Barmes
OF Vladimir Guerrero (1)
OF Johnny Damon (6)
OF Pat Burrell (10)
Util Carlos Lee (5)
Bn Jose Video
Bn Moises Alou
Bn Sean Casey
Bn Milton Bradley
SP Roy Halladay (2)
SP John Lackey (9)
SP Zach Duke
SP Matt Morris
RP Chad Cordero (8)
RP Bobby Jenks
Bn Greg Maddux
Bn Tom Glavine
Duffy's Donkeys (Erin), 5th pick in draft
C Javy Lopez (8)
1b Ryan Howard (4)
2b Ronnie Belliard
3b Melvin Mora
SS Michael Young (2)
OF Manny Ramirez (1)
OF Scott Podsednik (9)
OF Brian Giles
Util Rafael Furcal (7)
Bn Shawn Green
SP Pedro Martinez (3)
SP Mark Buehrle (5)
SP John Smoltz (6)
SP Freddy Garcia
RP Billy Wagner (10)
RP Trevor Hoffman
Bn Noah Lowry
Bn Keith Foulke
Bn Doug Davis
Bn Chris Capuano
Bn Daniel Cabrera
Bo-bby Knows Baseball (Robbie), 6th pick in draft
C Pudge Rodriguez (10)
1b Jason Giambi (7)
2b Robinson Canu
3b Chipper Jones (5)
SS Derek Jeter (3)
OF Gary Sheffield (4)
OF Torii Hunter (9)
OF Jermaine Dye
Util David Ortiz (1)
Bn Jose Guillen
Bn JD Drew
Bn Andrian Beltre
Bn Mike Lowell
SP Randy Johnson (2)
SP Barry Zito (6)
SP Jon Garland
SP Curt Schilling
RP Mariano Rivera (8)
RP Ryan Dempster
Bn Mike Mussina
Bn Bruce Chen
kfairs (Kelly), 7th pick in draft
C Jason Varitek (8)
1b Mark Teixeira (1)
2b Bill Hall
3b David Wright (2)
SS Jose Reyes (4)
OF Aubrey Huff
OF Jeff Francoeur (9)
OF Grady Sizemore (5)
Util Jim Thome
Bn Johnny Gomez
Bn Luis Gonzalez
SP Chris Carpenter (3)
SP Mark Mulder (7)
SP Danny Haren (10)
SP Kevin Millwood
RP Brad Lidge (6)
RP Huston Street
Bn Javier Vasquez
Bn Jake Westbrook
Bn Gustavo Chacin
Bn Carl Pavano
Josh for now (Josh), 8th pick in draft
C Kenji Johjimi (10)
1b Derek Lee (1)
2b Marcus Giles (8)
3b Aramis Ramirez (4)
SS Jimmy Rollins (5)
OF Jason Bay (2)
OF Adam Dunn (6)
OF Randy Winn (9)
Util Matt Holliday
Bn Rocco Baldelli
Bn Garrett Anderson
Bn Ryan Freel
SP Ben Sheets (3)
SP AJ Burnett (7)
SP Bret Myers
SP John Petterson
RP Armando Benitez
RP Brian Fuentes
Bn Brad Radke
Bn Kelvim Escobar
Bn Paul Byrd
The Montaquito (shark), 9th pick in draft
C Michael Barrett
1b Lance Berkman (6)
2b Rickie Weeks
3b Scott Rolen (9)
SS Jhonny Peralta (7)
OF Miguel Cabrera (1)
OF Carl Crawford (2)
OF Coco Crisp
Util Travis Hafner (3)
Bn Placido Polanco
SP Felix Hernandez (4)
SP Carlos Zambrano (5)
SP Joe Blanton
SP Brandon Webb (10)
RP Francisco Rodriguez (8)
RP Tom Gordon
Bn Oliver Perez
Bn Jon Lieber
Bn Erik Bedard
Bn Adam Eaton
Bn Estoban Loiaza
F*ckinallstars (Doug), 10th pick in draft
C Paul Lo Duce
1b Justin Morneau
2b Alfonso Soriano (2)
3b Morgan Ensberg (7)
SS Miguel Tejedga (1)
OF Andruw Jones (3)
OF Barry Bonds (8)
OF Maglio Ordonez
Util Chad Tracy
Bn Mark Loretta
Bn Brad Wilkerson
SP Bartolo Colon (4)
SP Dontrelle Willis (5)
SP Jason Schmidt (6)
SP Livan Hernandez
RP Joe Nathan (9)
RP Jason Isringhausen (10)
Bn Jeremy Bonderman
Bn Matt Clement
Bn Kenny Rogers
Bn Bronson Arroyo
There you have it, all 10 rosters for the 2006 CFB.
I'm curious to see who you all think is the favorite? I know who I think is (hint; it's not me).
Next league update: opening day
Last Sunday myself & 9 people I work with had our first work Fantasy Baseball draft. Good times. There were some pretty ridiculous draft-day decisions that needed to be written somewhere for permanent record, and this idea popped up. With a league full of people who have never played fantasy baseball before, plus myself & one or two other people who are sure to be absolutely dominant, why not record the entire season?
From draft day to the championship.
A permanent record of the madness that is "Chili's Fantasy Baseball."
So it's what I will do.
We have a 10-team league, head-to-head style. Each matchup runs from Monday thru Sunday. So every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is busy) I will give a weekly report on the goings on of the CFB. Matchup breakdowns, trade breakdowns, a look ahead, plus a few random jokes about Robbie's team. Good times.
So where else to start? The draft.
10 teams.
Myself (The Montaquito), Kip (The Confederate Flag), Tim (Tenacious Tim's Team) & Duke (Duke's Kunta Kintay's) have already emerged as the serious players in this league.
Chris (knuckleheads), Doug (F*ckinallstars), Josh (Josh for now), Erin (Duffy's Donkeys) & Kelly (kfairs) are players who if they stick with it should be in this thing until the end.
And Robbie (Bo-byy Knows Baseball) is the league laughingstock. For those of you who live in the northeast of the country, you know every league you join always has that one kid who drafts all Yankees or all Red Sox on their team. Robbie is this leagues culprit. A roster full of Yankees. And the jokes are just getting started.
The Draft:
Time & Date: Sometime last Sunday afternoon
Location: The Freehold Racetrack, clubhouse, smoking section
Important pieces of info: Lots of angry men betting on horses around us, a bar nearby, and the ncaa tourney games on our tvs
The draft hasn't even begun and we have our first major development. Kelly & Erin are stuck in Chicago where they are apartment shopping. Having faith in me, they've asked me to draft their teams. So before we even begin, I am now stuck with drafting 3 teams in a money league. Talk about pressure.
We pull out of a hat to decide the draft order.
Kip, Tim, Duke, Chris, Erin, Robbie, Kelly, Josh, myself & Doug is the order, with it going in reverse in every other round.
All you really need to know about the draft is that the first four people I mentioned had the best drafts, everyone else had good drafts, and Robbie had a ridiculous draft.
In fact, after the 11th round he had to go to work, so he gave Duke a list of 9 or 10 people that he wanted to be drafted on his team for him. Included in this list were Robinson Cano, Curt Schilling, Jorge Posada, Mike Mussina, a few other Yankees, and the fantasy legend himself, Bruce Chen. This was the point everyone in our league lost it. Bruce Chen? Someone seriously wanted to draft him? Apparently Robbie did. Every other fantasy baseball league in the country this year will see Bruce Chen sitting on free agency somewhere. But not ours. We all agreed that none of us would take Chen (a not so hard thing to agree on) and that we'd give him to Robbie in the 21st round.
As for everyones rosters, here they are, with their first 10 draft picks with their round number in parantheses next to their name.
The Confederate Flag (Kip), 1st pick in draft.
C Joe Mauer (8)
1b Todd Helton (5)
2b Jeff Kent (10)
3b Alex Rodriguez (1)
SS Bobby Crosby
OF Bobby Abreu (2)
OF Ken Griffey, Jr (9)
OF Vernon Wells
Util Chone Figgins (3)
Bn Jeremy Hermida
Bn Ryan Zimmerman
Bn Prince Fielder
SP Rich Harden (4)
SP Andy Pettitte (6)
SP Mark Prior (7)
SP Scott Kazmir
RP Derek Turnbow
RP Bob Wickman
Bn Mike MacDougal
Bn Ervin Santana
Bn Chris Young
Tenacious Tim's Team (Tim), 2nd pick in draft
C Jorge Posada
1b Albert Pujols (1)
2b Chase Utley (3)
3b Troy Glaus (8)
SS Felipe Lopez (10)
OF Carlos Beltran (4)
OF Juan Pierre (6)
OF Cliff Floyd (7)
Util Nick Johnson
Bn Edgar Renteria
Bn Nomar Garciaparra
Bn Mike Jacobs
SP Jake Peavy (2)
SP Josh Beckett (5)
SP Cliff Lee (9)
SP Jose Contreras
RP BJ Ryan
RP Francisco Cordero
Bn Fransisco Liriano
Bn Brandon Backe
Bn Chin-Man Wang or whoever you spell his name
Duke's Kunta Kintay's (Duke), 3rd pick in draft
C Bengie Molina (10)
1b Paul Konerko (5)
2b Brian Roberts (8)
3b Eric Chavez (7)
SS Julio Lugo
OF Ichiro Suzuki (2)
OF Hideki Matsui (4)
OF Jim Edmonds
Util Richie Sexson
Bn Willie Taveras
Bn Mike Sweeney
Bn Garrett Atkins
Bn Yadier Molina
SP Johan Santana (1)
SP Roy Oswalt (3)
SP Tim Hudson (6)
SP CC Sabathia (9)
RP Eric Gagne
RP Chris Ray
Bn Roger Clemens
Bn Rodrigo Lopez
knuckleheads (Chris), 4th pick in draft
C Viktor Martinez (4)
1b Carlos Delgado (7)
2b Jorge Cantu
3b Hank Blalock (3)
SS Clint Barmes
OF Vladimir Guerrero (1)
OF Johnny Damon (6)
OF Pat Burrell (10)
Util Carlos Lee (5)
Bn Jose Video
Bn Moises Alou
Bn Sean Casey
Bn Milton Bradley
SP Roy Halladay (2)
SP John Lackey (9)
SP Zach Duke
SP Matt Morris
RP Chad Cordero (8)
RP Bobby Jenks
Bn Greg Maddux
Bn Tom Glavine
Duffy's Donkeys (Erin), 5th pick in draft
C Javy Lopez (8)
1b Ryan Howard (4)
2b Ronnie Belliard
3b Melvin Mora
SS Michael Young (2)
OF Manny Ramirez (1)
OF Scott Podsednik (9)
OF Brian Giles
Util Rafael Furcal (7)
Bn Shawn Green
SP Pedro Martinez (3)
SP Mark Buehrle (5)
SP John Smoltz (6)
SP Freddy Garcia
RP Billy Wagner (10)
RP Trevor Hoffman
Bn Noah Lowry
Bn Keith Foulke
Bn Doug Davis
Bn Chris Capuano
Bn Daniel Cabrera
Bo-bby Knows Baseball (Robbie), 6th pick in draft
C Pudge Rodriguez (10)
1b Jason Giambi (7)
2b Robinson Canu
3b Chipper Jones (5)
SS Derek Jeter (3)
OF Gary Sheffield (4)
OF Torii Hunter (9)
OF Jermaine Dye
Util David Ortiz (1)
Bn Jose Guillen
Bn JD Drew
Bn Andrian Beltre
Bn Mike Lowell
SP Randy Johnson (2)
SP Barry Zito (6)
SP Jon Garland
SP Curt Schilling
RP Mariano Rivera (8)
RP Ryan Dempster
Bn Mike Mussina
Bn Bruce Chen
kfairs (Kelly), 7th pick in draft
C Jason Varitek (8)
1b Mark Teixeira (1)
2b Bill Hall
3b David Wright (2)
SS Jose Reyes (4)
OF Aubrey Huff
OF Jeff Francoeur (9)
OF Grady Sizemore (5)
Util Jim Thome
Bn Johnny Gomez
Bn Luis Gonzalez
SP Chris Carpenter (3)
SP Mark Mulder (7)
SP Danny Haren (10)
SP Kevin Millwood
RP Brad Lidge (6)
RP Huston Street
Bn Javier Vasquez
Bn Jake Westbrook
Bn Gustavo Chacin
Bn Carl Pavano
Josh for now (Josh), 8th pick in draft
C Kenji Johjimi (10)
1b Derek Lee (1)
2b Marcus Giles (8)
3b Aramis Ramirez (4)
SS Jimmy Rollins (5)
OF Jason Bay (2)
OF Adam Dunn (6)
OF Randy Winn (9)
Util Matt Holliday
Bn Rocco Baldelli
Bn Garrett Anderson
Bn Ryan Freel
SP Ben Sheets (3)
SP AJ Burnett (7)
SP Bret Myers
SP John Petterson
RP Armando Benitez
RP Brian Fuentes
Bn Brad Radke
Bn Kelvim Escobar
Bn Paul Byrd
The Montaquito (shark), 9th pick in draft
C Michael Barrett
1b Lance Berkman (6)
2b Rickie Weeks
3b Scott Rolen (9)
SS Jhonny Peralta (7)
OF Miguel Cabrera (1)
OF Carl Crawford (2)
OF Coco Crisp
Util Travis Hafner (3)
Bn Placido Polanco
SP Felix Hernandez (4)
SP Carlos Zambrano (5)
SP Joe Blanton
SP Brandon Webb (10)
RP Francisco Rodriguez (8)
RP Tom Gordon
Bn Oliver Perez
Bn Jon Lieber
Bn Erik Bedard
Bn Adam Eaton
Bn Estoban Loiaza
F*ckinallstars (Doug), 10th pick in draft
C Paul Lo Duce
1b Justin Morneau
2b Alfonso Soriano (2)
3b Morgan Ensberg (7)
SS Miguel Tejedga (1)
OF Andruw Jones (3)
OF Barry Bonds (8)
OF Maglio Ordonez
Util Chad Tracy
Bn Mark Loretta
Bn Brad Wilkerson
SP Bartolo Colon (4)
SP Dontrelle Willis (5)
SP Jason Schmidt (6)
SP Livan Hernandez
RP Joe Nathan (9)
RP Jason Isringhausen (10)
Bn Jeremy Bonderman
Bn Matt Clement
Bn Kenny Rogers
Bn Bronson Arroyo
There you have it, all 10 rosters for the 2006 CFB.
I'm curious to see who you all think is the favorite? I know who I think is (hint; it's not me).
Next league update: opening day
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Live March Madness
I'm off from work these next two days, and while I'll probably be going to bars at night to watch basketball, for now, I'm sitting in my basement watching by myself. So I'll update this site every half hour or so with some insight to whats going on.
Last update: 6:13
3:43- That BC/Pacific game was ridiculous. According to Yahoo! I'm one of 3.2% of all bracketologists who picked Pacific, so needless to say I was pulling hard for them. They had it in the first OT, but when BC came back to force a 2nd OT they just got deflated. I knew then they wouldn't win, but I thought they'd do better than getting outscored 14-2 in the 2nd OT.
Tenneessee & Winthrop on now. Winthrop is still hanging with them, it's 30-24 Tenn. But you just get the feeling Tennesse is going to turn things on really soon. I predict a 20+ point victory.
3:52- So I immediately regret my decision on the outcome of the Tennessee game. They'll still win this, but Winthrop is hanging a lot tougher than it looked like they would 10 minutes ago.
Montana/Neveda tips off now. I'm excited! Sucks they're not showing it now, but I should get to see some hopefully. Montana is my definite sleeper pick of the year. I fully expect them to not only beat Neveda, but also BC next round.
4:03- Umm, wasn't it the Winthrop player who stepped out of bounds with 8.4 seconds left in the half? Why did they get to inbound the ball? I'm confused. 2-point Tennessee lead at half-time. Way closer than I was expecting.
I'm going to go get chips & salsa.
4:19- Passed on chips & salsa, got Tortellini Alfredo instead. They're pretty similar. Montana is making me look really good right now. Hopefully they keep this up for the rest of the game.
2nd half of Tennessee-Winthrop about to start, I'm very excited. Tennessee better hope Watson (3 fouls) stays out of trouble. Losing him would be a disaster.
4:31- Here we go. CJ Watson of Tennessee jsut got his 4th foul! Winthrop is up 1 with 15 minutes left. First BC/Pacific, now this. This tournament is off to a banging start!
Marquette is getting raped by Alabama! 0-2 for the Big East? :(
4:40- "Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!" That's the line that just got thrown out by some buddies of mine in referrence to the hammerance/shuffle step that the Winthrop coach just did. This guy is a nutcase, he might kill sombody before this game ends.
He's definitely my new favorite coach. He just got a 10 year extension at Winthrop, too. I hope they make some more tournaments in the next few years so I can watch him pulsate.
6:13- The end of that Tennessee game was insane. What a great shot by Lofton. Nothing for Winthrop to be ashamed of, they gave them a run for their money.
'Bama/Marquette was really good, too. Some great three point shooting towards the end.
Gotta love those Grizzlies. That's my Montana, they played a hell of a game. Can't wait to see what they do to BC on Saturday!
Last update: 6:13
3:43- That BC/Pacific game was ridiculous. According to Yahoo! I'm one of 3.2% of all bracketologists who picked Pacific, so needless to say I was pulling hard for them. They had it in the first OT, but when BC came back to force a 2nd OT they just got deflated. I knew then they wouldn't win, but I thought they'd do better than getting outscored 14-2 in the 2nd OT.
Tenneessee & Winthrop on now. Winthrop is still hanging with them, it's 30-24 Tenn. But you just get the feeling Tennesse is going to turn things on really soon. I predict a 20+ point victory.
3:52- So I immediately regret my decision on the outcome of the Tennessee game. They'll still win this, but Winthrop is hanging a lot tougher than it looked like they would 10 minutes ago.
Montana/Neveda tips off now. I'm excited! Sucks they're not showing it now, but I should get to see some hopefully. Montana is my definite sleeper pick of the year. I fully expect them to not only beat Neveda, but also BC next round.
4:03- Umm, wasn't it the Winthrop player who stepped out of bounds with 8.4 seconds left in the half? Why did they get to inbound the ball? I'm confused. 2-point Tennessee lead at half-time. Way closer than I was expecting.
I'm going to go get chips & salsa.
4:19- Passed on chips & salsa, got Tortellini Alfredo instead. They're pretty similar. Montana is making me look really good right now. Hopefully they keep this up for the rest of the game.
2nd half of Tennessee-Winthrop about to start, I'm very excited. Tennessee better hope Watson (3 fouls) stays out of trouble. Losing him would be a disaster.
4:31- Here we go. CJ Watson of Tennessee jsut got his 4th foul! Winthrop is up 1 with 15 minutes left. First BC/Pacific, now this. This tournament is off to a banging start!
Marquette is getting raped by Alabama! 0-2 for the Big East? :(
4:40- "Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!" That's the line that just got thrown out by some buddies of mine in referrence to the hammerance/shuffle step that the Winthrop coach just did. This guy is a nutcase, he might kill sombody before this game ends.
He's definitely my new favorite coach. He just got a 10 year extension at Winthrop, too. I hope they make some more tournaments in the next few years so I can watch him pulsate.
6:13- The end of that Tennessee game was insane. What a great shot by Lofton. Nothing for Winthrop to be ashamed of, they gave them a run for their money.
'Bama/Marquette was really good, too. Some great three point shooting towards the end.
Gotta love those Grizzlies. That's my Montana, they played a hell of a game. Can't wait to see what they do to BC on Saturday!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
March Madness
Best three weeks of the year are here! Tomorrow starts March Madness. You can definitely make a case that tomorrow & Friday are the two greatest sport days on the calendar year. I'll believe it. I enjoy it more than any of the four major opening days. More than the Super Bowl, of conference championships. More than the first day of the MLB Playoffs. More than rivalry weekend in college football. A game 7? Nah.
Tomorrow & Friday. Two days. 32 basketball games. Nonstop television coverage from noon-midnight. Two back-to-back days of twelve hours of coverage. It's glorious. At any given moment there are always at least 3 games being played, so odds are that there's always at least one really good game on. How can that be beat?
But before we get to tomorrow, a few things need to be cleared up. Like, for instance, some clarification on the 64 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2006 National Championship.
To make things easy for you, I've broken them down into 7 easy groups for you.
Group #1: Happy to be there.
This group is mostly 14-16 seeds who realistically have no shot at winning a game, and they know it. But they're going to make the most of their weekend in the NCAA's, regardless.
Minneapolis #16 Monmouth
Washington #16 Albany
Atlanta #16 Southern
Oakland #16 Oral Roberts
Atlanta #15 Penn
Oakland #15 Belmont
Minneapolis #15 Davidson
Atlanta #14 N'western State
Minneapolis #14 Southern Alabama
Atlanta #13 Iona
Washington #13 Air Force
Atlanta #12 Texas A&M
Group #2: One Victory Makes A Season
This group is just a step ahead of group one. They're still in the 'happy to be here' state of mind, but they're not quite settling. They realize they have a realistic shot at being a major spoiler, and winning one game isn't out of the question. Their eyes aren't quite set on the Sweet 16, but Round of 32 sure looks appetizing.
Washington #15 Winthrop
Washington #14 Murray State
Oakland #14 Xavier
Oakland #13 Bradley
Washington #12 Utah State
Washington #11 George Mason
Oakland #11 San Diego State
Group #3: Bracket Busters
These teams not only have a shot at winning a game, they have a shot at winning two. They are still mostly lower seeded teams, but they can make the Sweet 16 if they play right. And in doing so, they'll be taking out two other teams that many people had going pretty far in the tournament, thus busting their brackets. This is also far & away the largest of the groups.
Minneapolis #13 Pacific
Minneapolis #12 Montana *Sharkey Sleeper Pick of 2006*
Oakland #12 Kent State
Minneapolis #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Atlanta #11 Southern Illinois
Washington #10 Seton Hall
Minneapolis #10 Northern Iowa
Oakland #10 Alabama
Atlanta #10 N.C. State
Atlanta #9 UNC-Wilmington
Washington #9 UAB
Oakland #9 Bucknell
Oakland #8 Arkansas
Washington #8 Kentucky
Minneapolis #8 Arizona
Washington #7 Wichita State
Group #4: The Mountaineers
For lack of a better name, this group is named after the West Virginia Mountaineers, who accomplished what this group is capable of. That is being a decently high seed that is often overlooked, but definitely can make the Sweet 16, has all the tools to make the Elite 8, and should give its Elite 8 opponent a fit, and be in the game until the last shot. One or two of these teams could hit that last shot, and make the final four, if their cards all fell right.
Minneapolis #9 Wisconsin
Atlanta #8 George Washington
Atlanta #7 California
Oakland #7 Marquette
Minneapolis #7 Georgetown
Atlanta #5 Syracuse
Minneapolis #5 Neveda
Atlanta #4 LSU
Group 5: The Hot Picks
Every year there are a few teams that somehow emerge at tournament time as the hot picks, teams that all of a sudden a lot of people are paying attention to, even putting them in their final four. All of these teams are good enough to make the final four, or even the championship. But be warned, like #4 Syracuse in 2005, #5 Providence & #5 Florida in 2004, and #4 Mississippi State in 2003, there will always be at least one of these teams that absolutely ruins somebodies bracket by losing in the first round to a far worse team than them (a group 2 or group 3 opponent).
Washington #6 Michigan State
Atlanta #6 West Virginia
Oakland #5 Pittsburgh
Oakland #4 Kansas
Minneapolis #4 Boston College
Washington #3 North Carolina
Oakland #2 UCLA
Group 6: The Over-rated
These teams all got top-6 seeds, and deservingly so, because of either strong regular season or strong conference play. But beware of them, because they aren't as good as advertised, or there is a chink in the armor that isn't highly publicized. Picking any of these teams to win 3 or more games is a very dangerous proposition.
Minneapolis #6 Oklahoma
Oakland #6 Indiana
Washington #5 Washington
Oakland #3 Gonzaga
Washington #2 Tennessee
Group 7: The Contenders
The last group. While most people will have at least one team from groups 4-6 in their final four, the person who plays it safe will have a final four loaded with four people from group 7. This person will also likely be guaranteed to finish near the top of their pool. If your final four has 3 or more people from this group, be excited, because you're in your pool until the end, and have a definite shot of winning.
Washington #4 Illinois
Minneapolis #3 Florida
Atlanta #3 Iowa
Minneapolis #2 Ohio State
Atlanta #2 Texas
Oakland #1 Memphis
Minneapolis #1 Villanova
Atlanta #1 Duke
Washington #1 UConn
There you have it, my guide to this years NCAA Tournament. If you haven't finished your bracket yet, hurry up.
And if your wondering, I've lost my mind this year, and gone with an all #1 seed final four, with UConn beating Memphis for the National Championship.
Tomorrow & Friday. Two days. 32 basketball games. Nonstop television coverage from noon-midnight. Two back-to-back days of twelve hours of coverage. It's glorious. At any given moment there are always at least 3 games being played, so odds are that there's always at least one really good game on. How can that be beat?
But before we get to tomorrow, a few things need to be cleared up. Like, for instance, some clarification on the 64 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2006 National Championship.
To make things easy for you, I've broken them down into 7 easy groups for you.
Group #1: Happy to be there.
This group is mostly 14-16 seeds who realistically have no shot at winning a game, and they know it. But they're going to make the most of their weekend in the NCAA's, regardless.
Minneapolis #16 Monmouth
Washington #16 Albany
Atlanta #16 Southern
Oakland #16 Oral Roberts
Atlanta #15 Penn
Oakland #15 Belmont
Minneapolis #15 Davidson
Atlanta #14 N'western State
Minneapolis #14 Southern Alabama
Atlanta #13 Iona
Washington #13 Air Force
Atlanta #12 Texas A&M
Group #2: One Victory Makes A Season
This group is just a step ahead of group one. They're still in the 'happy to be here' state of mind, but they're not quite settling. They realize they have a realistic shot at being a major spoiler, and winning one game isn't out of the question. Their eyes aren't quite set on the Sweet 16, but Round of 32 sure looks appetizing.
Washington #15 Winthrop
Washington #14 Murray State
Oakland #14 Xavier
Oakland #13 Bradley
Washington #12 Utah State
Washington #11 George Mason
Oakland #11 San Diego State
Group #3: Bracket Busters
These teams not only have a shot at winning a game, they have a shot at winning two. They are still mostly lower seeded teams, but they can make the Sweet 16 if they play right. And in doing so, they'll be taking out two other teams that many people had going pretty far in the tournament, thus busting their brackets. This is also far & away the largest of the groups.
Minneapolis #13 Pacific
Minneapolis #12 Montana *Sharkey Sleeper Pick of 2006*
Oakland #12 Kent State
Minneapolis #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Atlanta #11 Southern Illinois
Washington #10 Seton Hall
Minneapolis #10 Northern Iowa
Oakland #10 Alabama
Atlanta #10 N.C. State
Atlanta #9 UNC-Wilmington
Washington #9 UAB
Oakland #9 Bucknell
Oakland #8 Arkansas
Washington #8 Kentucky
Minneapolis #8 Arizona
Washington #7 Wichita State
Group #4: The Mountaineers
For lack of a better name, this group is named after the West Virginia Mountaineers, who accomplished what this group is capable of. That is being a decently high seed that is often overlooked, but definitely can make the Sweet 16, has all the tools to make the Elite 8, and should give its Elite 8 opponent a fit, and be in the game until the last shot. One or two of these teams could hit that last shot, and make the final four, if their cards all fell right.
Minneapolis #9 Wisconsin
Atlanta #8 George Washington
Atlanta #7 California
Oakland #7 Marquette
Minneapolis #7 Georgetown
Atlanta #5 Syracuse
Minneapolis #5 Neveda
Atlanta #4 LSU
Group 5: The Hot Picks
Every year there are a few teams that somehow emerge at tournament time as the hot picks, teams that all of a sudden a lot of people are paying attention to, even putting them in their final four. All of these teams are good enough to make the final four, or even the championship. But be warned, like #4 Syracuse in 2005, #5 Providence & #5 Florida in 2004, and #4 Mississippi State in 2003, there will always be at least one of these teams that absolutely ruins somebodies bracket by losing in the first round to a far worse team than them (a group 2 or group 3 opponent).
Washington #6 Michigan State
Atlanta #6 West Virginia
Oakland #5 Pittsburgh
Oakland #4 Kansas
Minneapolis #4 Boston College
Washington #3 North Carolina
Oakland #2 UCLA
Group 6: The Over-rated
These teams all got top-6 seeds, and deservingly so, because of either strong regular season or strong conference play. But beware of them, because they aren't as good as advertised, or there is a chink in the armor that isn't highly publicized. Picking any of these teams to win 3 or more games is a very dangerous proposition.
Minneapolis #6 Oklahoma
Oakland #6 Indiana
Washington #5 Washington
Oakland #3 Gonzaga
Washington #2 Tennessee
Group 7: The Contenders
The last group. While most people will have at least one team from groups 4-6 in their final four, the person who plays it safe will have a final four loaded with four people from group 7. This person will also likely be guaranteed to finish near the top of their pool. If your final four has 3 or more people from this group, be excited, because you're in your pool until the end, and have a definite shot of winning.
Washington #4 Illinois
Minneapolis #3 Florida
Atlanta #3 Iowa
Minneapolis #2 Ohio State
Atlanta #2 Texas
Oakland #1 Memphis
Minneapolis #1 Villanova
Atlanta #1 Duke
Washington #1 UConn
There you have it, my guide to this years NCAA Tournament. If you haven't finished your bracket yet, hurry up.
And if your wondering, I've lost my mind this year, and gone with an all #1 seed final four, with UConn beating Memphis for the National Championship.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Ninety-Eight
Today is my great-grandfather's 98th birthday. 98! That's ridiculous. I can write so much about him that you'd be reading this blog for 3 straight weeks, but that might get boring. So I give you this not so long blog, about how he became a Yankees fan. (For those of you who read my myspace.com blog last summer, you'll remember the Yankee one I did about him).
Anyway, my entire life he has been a Yankee fanatic. No one ever questions it, or wonders about it, it's just who he is. He's Italian. He's Catholic. He's a family man. He's a carpenter. And he's a Yankee freak. Everything you need to know about the man is in those last 5 mini-sentences.
Then tonight, we're out to dinner at Angelina's, his favorite Italian ristorante. And we're talking about the World Baseball Classic, which naturally leads to a discussion about Derek Jeter & A-Rod, which naturally leads to a discussion about the New York Yankees. And then, for no reason, curiousity got the best of me. Probably something I've been wondering for 23 years, but never even knew I was wondering it, let alone thought to ask, but tonight, I did.
"Grandpa, how did you become such a big Yankees fan anyway?"
Flash back 86 years, to the fall of 1921. My grandfather is a 12 year old kid growing up in Corona, NY. (In Queens, right near Flushing, which would eventually house the NY Mets, coincidentally). The New York Yankees have finally ended a long stretch of suffering & futility, marked by too many losing seasons to count, and reach the 1921 World Series. Their opponent? The New York Giants, a team now playing in its 6th World Series (the 1921 World Series was the 18th World Series).
Yankee Stadium? Non-existent. The Yankees? Doesn't exactly mean what it means today. So there sits Pasquale Cioffi in Corona, NY, miles away from the Bronx, and even further away from West 159th Street, the home of the Polo Grounds. What's baseball to him? Something about as foreign as Mars. His two buddies and him are walking around Flushing Park one day talking, when they start goign on about the World Series.
"What?"
You know, the World Series, between the Yankees & Giants.
"Who?"
The New York Yankees and the New York Giants. Baseball teams.
"Oh, baseball. I don't follow it." Pasquale obviously just didn't have any interest.
"But you have to care," said his friend. "Babe Ruth is playing."
"Who's Babe Ruth?"
"He's the best player on the Yankees! He's great!"
"Oh, cool (or some other phrase that kids were using in 1921), I'll like the Yankees then."
Later that day he went home and told his Dad he was a Yankees fan. "The Yankees, but they're so bad. Are you sure son?" "Of course I am, they have Babe Ruth!" "OK, just remember though, if they're your favorite team this year, they always have to be your favorite team. You can't not like them when they're bad."
Clearly, the elder Cioffi had no idea what was in store for the New York Yankees, but regardless, young Pasquale swore he'd always be a Yankees fan.
And over the course of the next week, he followed the World Series. No one in his family, or that he knew, had a radio. They were too expensive, not something common people had, so he had no way of knowing who won until the next day. Until game 3. The Yankees were up 2 games to none. And the three boys discovered a barber shop a few blocks away that would put the score of the game on a chalkboard in the window, and update it every half-inning.
Unseasonably cold that fall was, the three boys stood in front of that window for the next 5 days, 5 games, eagerly awaiting every score change to see how their beloved Yankees were doing. Unfortunately, they lost all 5 games, and the World Series. The NY Giants were kings of the world.
"But it didn't matter, I was forever changed. I'd found my first love, the NY Yankees." Over the next few summers, he spent over half of each season in front of that barber shop, awaiting score updates. Then, in 1923, the NY Yankees won the World Series "and we savoured it, because even though we knew Babe Ruth was great, we didn't know if we'd ever win another one."
Over the next two seasons, the Yankees didn't make it back to the Fall Classic, but something even better happened in the 1924 season. Pasquale Cioffi first stepped foot in the outfield bleachers of Yankee Field. "And I knew immediately that the barber shop just wouldn't cut it anymore, that I'd have to be here as much as I could." So at 15, he got a job so he could afford to go to as many Yankee games as he could. And he went. And went. And they won. And won. World Series after World Series after World Series. "Has to be close to 1000 games I've seen there," he guesses.
Now he just watches them on TV, but the passion is still there. Only three weeks until the season starts, "and dammit they better win another World Series while I'm still young..."
Anyway, my entire life he has been a Yankee fanatic. No one ever questions it, or wonders about it, it's just who he is. He's Italian. He's Catholic. He's a family man. He's a carpenter. And he's a Yankee freak. Everything you need to know about the man is in those last 5 mini-sentences.
Then tonight, we're out to dinner at Angelina's, his favorite Italian ristorante. And we're talking about the World Baseball Classic, which naturally leads to a discussion about Derek Jeter & A-Rod, which naturally leads to a discussion about the New York Yankees. And then, for no reason, curiousity got the best of me. Probably something I've been wondering for 23 years, but never even knew I was wondering it, let alone thought to ask, but tonight, I did.
"Grandpa, how did you become such a big Yankees fan anyway?"
Flash back 86 years, to the fall of 1921. My grandfather is a 12 year old kid growing up in Corona, NY. (In Queens, right near Flushing, which would eventually house the NY Mets, coincidentally). The New York Yankees have finally ended a long stretch of suffering & futility, marked by too many losing seasons to count, and reach the 1921 World Series. Their opponent? The New York Giants, a team now playing in its 6th World Series (the 1921 World Series was the 18th World Series).
Yankee Stadium? Non-existent. The Yankees? Doesn't exactly mean what it means today. So there sits Pasquale Cioffi in Corona, NY, miles away from the Bronx, and even further away from West 159th Street, the home of the Polo Grounds. What's baseball to him? Something about as foreign as Mars. His two buddies and him are walking around Flushing Park one day talking, when they start goign on about the World Series.
"What?"
You know, the World Series, between the Yankees & Giants.
"Who?"
The New York Yankees and the New York Giants. Baseball teams.
"Oh, baseball. I don't follow it." Pasquale obviously just didn't have any interest.
"But you have to care," said his friend. "Babe Ruth is playing."
"Who's Babe Ruth?"
"He's the best player on the Yankees! He's great!"
"Oh, cool (or some other phrase that kids were using in 1921), I'll like the Yankees then."
Later that day he went home and told his Dad he was a Yankees fan. "The Yankees, but they're so bad. Are you sure son?" "Of course I am, they have Babe Ruth!" "OK, just remember though, if they're your favorite team this year, they always have to be your favorite team. You can't not like them when they're bad."
Clearly, the elder Cioffi had no idea what was in store for the New York Yankees, but regardless, young Pasquale swore he'd always be a Yankees fan.
And over the course of the next week, he followed the World Series. No one in his family, or that he knew, had a radio. They were too expensive, not something common people had, so he had no way of knowing who won until the next day. Until game 3. The Yankees were up 2 games to none. And the three boys discovered a barber shop a few blocks away that would put the score of the game on a chalkboard in the window, and update it every half-inning.
Unseasonably cold that fall was, the three boys stood in front of that window for the next 5 days, 5 games, eagerly awaiting every score change to see how their beloved Yankees were doing. Unfortunately, they lost all 5 games, and the World Series. The NY Giants were kings of the world.
"But it didn't matter, I was forever changed. I'd found my first love, the NY Yankees." Over the next few summers, he spent over half of each season in front of that barber shop, awaiting score updates. Then, in 1923, the NY Yankees won the World Series "and we savoured it, because even though we knew Babe Ruth was great, we didn't know if we'd ever win another one."
Over the next two seasons, the Yankees didn't make it back to the Fall Classic, but something even better happened in the 1924 season. Pasquale Cioffi first stepped foot in the outfield bleachers of Yankee Field. "And I knew immediately that the barber shop just wouldn't cut it anymore, that I'd have to be here as much as I could." So at 15, he got a job so he could afford to go to as many Yankee games as he could. And he went. And went. And they won. And won. World Series after World Series after World Series. "Has to be close to 1000 games I've seen there," he guesses.
Now he just watches them on TV, but the passion is still there. Only three weeks until the season starts, "and dammit they better win another World Series while I'm still young..."
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Coming This Week
Breakdown of all 65 tournament teams, including predictions for all 6 rounds, as I look to beat my personal best of 172 points in a tournament.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
All hope is lost...
It's official, 24 is better than Lost. For the first three years of the show, there wasn't another show on TV that rivaled it. THen, last year, along came Lost. And for a solid year, many people jumped ship, actually believing that Lost was the better show. And you know what, I was one of them. And really, for that year, it might have been. Lost was crazy last year. But then something happened.
Monday night. 24. Two hours. Pure insanity. Pure brilliance. 24 is back hard. Back in a way it hasn't been since the first season. Couple that with Lost's insanity, aka their refusal to air more than like 2 episodes out a time without taking a break, and 24 is the top dog once again.
But this is less about 24 and more about Lost. Why the hell can't they show a few episodes in a row anymore? I can't give up on this show because the mystery is too great, and I need to know what happens in the end, but I'm passed the point of really aggitated. You don't have to give me answers al the time, but at least give me new episodes.
Once again last night, the show was a repeat, just as it was three weeks ago. Two repeats sandwiched around one new episode. That's a pace I can't possibly live with. Thank God there's plenty of College Basketball on now to keep me occupied. For 2.5 horus last night ESPN turned into espNJ. Rutgers-Seton Hall on one channel, and Fairleigh Dickinson-Monmouth on another. It was glorious. Even better was the fact that Rutgers & Monmouth both won. For Rutgers, it wsa a win for pride. Unless they win the BIg East Championship, this team isn't going to the ncaa tourney. But still, they beat their biggest rival in a game their rival absolutely needed to win. As for Monmouth, they're going dancing baby! On to the tournament. Good for them, congratulations.
Monday night. 24. Two hours. Pure insanity. Pure brilliance. 24 is back hard. Back in a way it hasn't been since the first season. Couple that with Lost's insanity, aka their refusal to air more than like 2 episodes out a time without taking a break, and 24 is the top dog once again.
But this is less about 24 and more about Lost. Why the hell can't they show a few episodes in a row anymore? I can't give up on this show because the mystery is too great, and I need to know what happens in the end, but I'm passed the point of really aggitated. You don't have to give me answers al the time, but at least give me new episodes.
Once again last night, the show was a repeat, just as it was three weeks ago. Two repeats sandwiched around one new episode. That's a pace I can't possibly live with. Thank God there's plenty of College Basketball on now to keep me occupied. For 2.5 horus last night ESPN turned into espNJ. Rutgers-Seton Hall on one channel, and Fairleigh Dickinson-Monmouth on another. It was glorious. Even better was the fact that Rutgers & Monmouth both won. For Rutgers, it wsa a win for pride. Unless they win the BIg East Championship, this team isn't going to the ncaa tourney. But still, they beat their biggest rival in a game their rival absolutely needed to win. As for Monmouth, they're going dancing baby! On to the tournament. Good for them, congratulations.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Thesharkey.com Tournament Challenge
Time for the 4th thesharkey.com challenge. The Men's College Basketball Tournament. You can join the group now (on yahoo), just don't forget to make your picks after the lineup gets announced on March 12th.
http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men
Go to the above link. Create a team. Then "Join Private Group."
ID# is 2559
Password is shark
Good luck bitches.
http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men
Go to the above link. Create a team. Then "Join Private Group."
ID# is 2559
Password is shark
Good luck bitches.
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