Over two weeks ago, the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Bracket was unveiled to the nation on a Sunday night. After the bracket with all 65 teams (1 play-in game) was announced, the so called “experts” on sports channels throughout television gave their predictions.
The #1 overall seed was Kansas; Kentucky, Syracuse, and Duke were the other #1 seeds. As soon as the bracket came out, I did a lot of “studying.” A lot of thoughts went through my head: Who would I pick for my #12 seed to beat a #5? Who is the possible Cinderella story? How many #1 teams will make it to the Final Four? And most importantly- who do I have winning the tournament?
After looking through stats and stats and records and records and considering this and considering that- I narrowed down my Final Four: Kentucky, Kansas, Kansas State, and Baylor; and I had Kentucky winning it all. Two weeks later, after what is being called one of the best tournaments in years due to the number of upsets, #1 Duke, #2 West Virginia, #5 Michigan State and #5 Butler are your final four. Yep that’s right- add them up- my number- ZERO. None correct for me.
ESPN had 4.6 million brackets filled out online; not one perfect bracket remained after the second day. Only 200 brackets of the 4.6 million filled out had correctly picked Butler, MSU, WVU, and Duke. Do the math: only 0.0004% of the brackets filled out had the correct final four- and I couldn’t even manage to get ONE TEAM RIGHT.
Do all the studying you want- compare a players free throw percentage, a team’s three point defense, what defense a team runs, what their positives are, what there negatives are- do it. Do it all. Compare all you want. In the end, the games are not played on paper, but on the basketball court. Forty minute games are played- sometimes more time is necessary- but in the end- all the tournament is for us fans is a lot of excitement- and a guessing game.
-Jerry Taylor
News Central 34 Sports
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Make Every Point Count...
The Detroit Red Wings have been a perennial powerhouse in the National Hockey League over the last fifteen years. The likes of Captain Stevie Yzerman, forward Brendan Shanahan, and head coach Scotty Bowman have been here and gone since then; the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and head coach Mike Babcock are currently leading the current and future Red Wings franchise. The Red Wings have been a favorite to win the sport’s biggest prize- The Stanley Cup- since the early 90’s and have won four Stanley Cups (almost 5- courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins…..rrrrr….) in the last 12 seasons.
This year has been quite different. After being in the playoffs the last 18 straight seasons, Detroit is in danger of NOT making the playoffs. The Red Wings caught a bug- the injury bug- to the likes that has never been seen in the history of the franchise. At this time of the year, the Red Wings are usually fighting for playoff positioning to get a shot at the Stanley Cup; this year, they are fighting to the end just to get a chance to right for the Stanley Cup.
Eight teams make the playoffs from both the Western and Eastern conference. As of 3/21, The Red Wings, in the Western Conference, are currently in 8th place with 83 points with 11 games to go. Right below the Red Wings are the Calgary Flames- they have 81 points with 10 games to go. That leaves the Red Wings with a two point cushion- a one game lead- not very big. However, the Red Wings are gaining steam; they are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, including tying and winning their recent two games with 0.2 seconds to go- in regulation and in overtime. Detroit has 11 games left to get into the playoffs. Let’s hope that they keep up that momentum up and in stride- to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s been four years since the Red Wings have not played into late May; it would be awfully weird watching just the Tigers and no hockey come the end of April.
This year has been quite different. After being in the playoffs the last 18 straight seasons, Detroit is in danger of NOT making the playoffs. The Red Wings caught a bug- the injury bug- to the likes that has never been seen in the history of the franchise. At this time of the year, the Red Wings are usually fighting for playoff positioning to get a shot at the Stanley Cup; this year, they are fighting to the end just to get a chance to right for the Stanley Cup.
Eight teams make the playoffs from both the Western and Eastern conference. As of 3/21, The Red Wings, in the Western Conference, are currently in 8th place with 83 points with 11 games to go. Right below the Red Wings are the Calgary Flames- they have 81 points with 10 games to go. That leaves the Red Wings with a two point cushion- a one game lead- not very big. However, the Red Wings are gaining steam; they are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, including tying and winning their recent two games with 0.2 seconds to go- in regulation and in overtime. Detroit has 11 games left to get into the playoffs. Let’s hope that they keep up that momentum up and in stride- to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s been four years since the Red Wings have not played into late May; it would be awfully weird watching just the Tigers and no hockey come the end of April.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Watching the Rise....and the Fall....
In August of 2008, I transferred to CMU from my community college down home. I came to CMU a die hard Michigan fan, as I have been all my life (we’ll forget those 3 years of rebellious teenage idiodacy wearing green and white) in which the Wolverines dominated every football game on the weekends prior to the coaching change in which Rich Rodriguez was brought in. Don’t forget that yeah the basketball team was ok, but not great. But back then, a few years ago, football was Michigan’s thing, which still reigns true to this day.
Oh boy how times had changed- Michigan has not had a winning football season since Rodriguez has arrived in Ann Arbor. 8-16 in two seasons- not good. Watching them play football and losing every rivalry game (except ND this year) and their bowl streak ended at 33 consecutive years was painful.
However, I now had a new team to cheer on- the CMU Chippewas. I had heard of this Dan Lefevour guy- seen him on TV a few times, but never in person. Before Lefevour arrived, the Chips were just another sorry MAC team. With Lefevour at the helm playing QB, the Chippewas were on the rise quickly. By the end of this last football season, the Chippewas won their 3rd MAC Championship in 4 years- while U of M has won nothing.
CMU lost two head coaches to the University of Cincinnati- Brian Kelly and Butch Jones- due to their success during their time at CMU. Rich Rodriguez at Michigan on the other hand, is on the proverbial “hot seat”, and oh yeah it’s not hot or on fire, it’s a freaking inferno right now.
CMU has a new coach in Dan Enos, formerly the running backs coach at Michigan State, has been brought in to replace Jones and keep the Chippewas climbing the ladder of success, while Rodriguez and his Wolverines look to just get back on the ladder. Thank goodness I’ve had the Chippewas these last few years. It would be nice to see both programs rise to the top- at the same time.
-Jerry Taylor
News Central 34 Sports
Oh boy how times had changed- Michigan has not had a winning football season since Rodriguez has arrived in Ann Arbor. 8-16 in two seasons- not good. Watching them play football and losing every rivalry game (except ND this year) and their bowl streak ended at 33 consecutive years was painful.
However, I now had a new team to cheer on- the CMU Chippewas. I had heard of this Dan Lefevour guy- seen him on TV a few times, but never in person. Before Lefevour arrived, the Chips were just another sorry MAC team. With Lefevour at the helm playing QB, the Chippewas were on the rise quickly. By the end of this last football season, the Chippewas won their 3rd MAC Championship in 4 years- while U of M has won nothing.
CMU lost two head coaches to the University of Cincinnati- Brian Kelly and Butch Jones- due to their success during their time at CMU. Rich Rodriguez at Michigan on the other hand, is on the proverbial “hot seat”, and oh yeah it’s not hot or on fire, it’s a freaking inferno right now.
CMU has a new coach in Dan Enos, formerly the running backs coach at Michigan State, has been brought in to replace Jones and keep the Chippewas climbing the ladder of success, while Rodriguez and his Wolverines look to just get back on the ladder. Thank goodness I’ve had the Chippewas these last few years. It would be nice to see both programs rise to the top- at the same time.
-Jerry Taylor
News Central 34 Sports
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