March Madness 09'

The Dance:

It’s that time again, my favorite time of the year for sports. There’s nothing like March madness. 65 teams battling for supremacy, does it get any better? Personally I get giddy like a child when this time comes around. I love filling out my bracket and contemplating who is going to go far, who is going to get upset and who the sleepers are, and then talking with everybody about it. There’s a lot of buzz out there this year on who’s going to win. In many ways this year is kind of cool, there’s not a clear front runner to win. I guess we will see.

Every year I try to watch more and more basketball during the season so when tournament time rolls around I will be more prepared and could make better educated decisions. Well like years past, I tried, but to no avail, I didn’t watch enough. I did however watch enough to have a pretty good opinion. So here is my bracket in a nut shell and my pick to win.

My final four are as follows: Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina, and Villanova.

Louisville has flown under the radar this year even though they are the #1 overall team. Not much has been said about them, they will be the team to in the Midwest.

Memphis lost 5 seniors and still went undefeated in conference play this year. Granted they are in the conference USA which we all know is not as strong as the BCS schools. Watch out for them to get hot and a rather weak West division. They will meet there match in Louisville and there tourney will end. They were also the first school to go undefeated and not get a #1 seed.

North Carolina is the team to be in my opinion. If Ty Lawson is healthy, watch out. With the combination of Tyler Hansborough, I think the two can carry this team to a national title.

Villanova is my surprise in the final four this year. They too have flown under the radar and have not generated much buzz. There guard play is exceptional and I believe they are the best team in the East region.

My surprise teams: Purdue, Kansas, Xavier.
-Purdue has had a good year, but no one ever gives respect to the Big Ten conference so this year people will know who Purdue is.
-Kansas has had a lot of pressure, being the defending champs and all, but they will make a good showing getting to the elite 8 before getting knocked out by Louisville.
-Xavier is my sleeper this year. Being a 4 seed, there not too much of a sleeper, but watch out for them to knock Pitt off their undeserving pedestal and reach the elite 8.

Here is this year’s disappointment: Michigan State, Pitt and I hate to say it but Uconn.

Michigan State had a great year. Winning the Big ten conference. There loss to Ohio State in the conference tourney was not biggie for Izzo and friends. They knew they were getting a good seed anyways. Good seed or not, MSU is not getting past USC in the second round. USC is another good team and even with the loss of OJ Mayo, they are a team to watch out for. Better luck next year Spartans.

Pitt, what do I say about Pitt? Everybody is jumping on their bandwagon. They play in a very good big east conference and they rightfully deserve that # 1 seed that they have, but I don’t think they are all that great. If Blair gets into foul trouble early, Pitt may be watching in April. I have them losing to Xavier in the sweet 16 round.

Uconn, I guess we can start with that there overrated. I bet Uconn’s women could beat these guys. Big east conference is tough and they had a great year, I just think they don’t have enough stamina to get to the finals. I also having them losing in the sweet 16 round to Purdue.

A lot of speculation on this years snubs, how does St Mary’s California not get into the field of 65?? I know that every year there is always one cry baby, but Arizona did not deserve to get in over St Mary’s. Arizona lost 5 of 6 down the stretch and somehow they got in. Name recognition is why. They’ve made the tourney some 16 years in a row, and the committee didn’t want to break that streak. Granted the Pac 10 is stronger than west coast conference, but oh well. The other snub that is worth mentioning is Penn State. The big ten had enough mediocre teams make the dance, one more was not necessary. Hell, they almost lost the other night in the NIT to George Mason.

Now this would not be a WI blog if I didn’t mention our teams that our in the tourney. WI is a 12 seed and they play Florida State on Friday night at 9pm CT. Marquette, a 6 seed, plays at 11:15 am CT and they play Utah State. Its hard for me not to want either to win, but knowing that each team has there up’s and downs I had to make decisions. I’m not one of those guys who have Marquette and WI playing in the National title game, because that just would never happen. I have WI losing to Florida State in the first round. They were just not that good this year. They seem to fade in every game they play. They are actually lucky they even got in this year. They were I think the 5th last team to get in or something. Marquette is just unlucky with Dominic James getting hurt. I really thought that they were a final four team, but after the loss of James, they just aren’t the same with Maurice Acker. It’s actually sad because it’s extremely rare that you have three 4th year seniors play all four years with each other and have a real chance at being a contender, and to fall short because of something unexpected is horrible. My heart goes out to Marquette and I’m extremely grateful for the 4 years that James, McNeal and Matthews put in. You will be missed.

Along with the buzz of the tourney itself, people have been griping about what changes need to be made to make the tourney better. The only suggestions I have is that the whole regular conference season, teams battle each other for a conference title. Great, you won the regular season title. Now you get to play in a tournament to see who gets an automatic bid to the tourney. To me, it kind of seems redundant. For example, Michigan State won the big ten championship. They in turn have a bad day and lost to Ohio State. Granted MSU was going to the dance anyways, but where is the incentive to win the regular season, other than bragging rights. I don’t know, just a thought. I guess it gives every team a shot to get into the tourney. Just seems backwards to me. But that is my only suggestion.

So with that said, have a great tourney season, and go Badgers, and Golden Eagles.

Badger's Woes Continue for Bo Ryan's Team

The Badgers woes continue Thursday night at home vs. Minnesota. The badgers have only lost 3 times in the Kohl center since Bo Ryan took over as head coach. The game was a bitter sweet disappointment. I had the opportunity to watch most of the game, and although it was entertaining and exciting, it was missing something. Well a win for the badgers is one, but it almost seemed like at the end of the game, the badgers forgot how to play the game. Minnesota’s press defense was just too much for the badgers down the stretch.

The Badger started out cold, finding them down early, but soon took control of the game. At one point going on a 16-2 run. The game seemed like it was going to all one sided. At half the badgers were up by 10 and things were looking good. With about 3 minutes to go in the game everything went south for Bucky. Minnesota’s press defense shut down any kind of momentum that the badgers were carrying. Minnesota’s Lawrence Westbrook, cousin of Philadelphia Eagle’s running back, hit a 3 pointer with 2 sec in the game to send the game into overtime. The badgers had not answer in overtime and the game was over.

Although the Badgers are 12-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference, defending the big ten title will be a tough challenge for the men in red. The Badgers have not been ranked since the beginning of the season, and with 4 teams from the big 10 being ranked (Michigan State, Purdue, Michigan, Minnesota) the road looks a little bleak. Coming off a tough loss to Purdue on the 11th of Jan, the Badger now on a 2 game skid going to Iowa need to find themselves and continue to work hard to turn this season around. Although 12-5 sounds and looks good on paper, that record won’t hold up. I just don’t believe that the badgers are strong enough to compete in a stacked big 10 conference this year.

I’ve been a Badger fan for all my life, but I was trying to remember the last time I thought that they didn’t have a shot at winning the big 10 title. Umm, can’t think of one. This year is a little different. I just don’t see the senior leadership out of the players that need to be setting an example. Marcus Landry, great player, I just don’t think that he does it for me on this team. Joe Krabbenhoft is a solid presence, but doesn’t pose as a real threat. There are some positives. Were a real young team this year with a log of talent that just needs experience.

I would be willing to bet you that Bo Ryan will work some magic and we will see this team in hunt for the title, he always does. And I don’t expect anything to change this year either. With 13 games left on the regular season schedule anything is possible. That’s all for now.

Should Fielder be traded??

Lots of buzz going around about Price Fielder and should he be traded for starting pitching. I have very mixed opinions about this matter and everyday I feel different, but I think I've come to a decision and am ready to share it.

Its no surprise that the "Prince" is a very fitting name for the young gentle giant. The couple years he's been in the league he has had quite a presence for the crew. From the huge shifts opposing teams put on when he's at the plate to the whole controversy of should prince eat a cheeseburger, there's been a lot of talk. But non bigger than should he be traded. Last year I felt he was in a sophomore slump, if you can consider him a sophomore. Coming off a huge year where he hit 50 home runs and had huge expectations coming into 2008, I felt like he hit a wall. Was not the same guy we saw the year before, different attitude, not happy with himself, or his contract. He publicly said that he was not happy with his 1 year deal and he felt like he kinda got screwed and his comment eventually screwed him. As most of you know, Fielder was horrible the beginning of the year. He ended the year with 34 dingers and in my book turned out to be just average.

Now in no way shape or form is this guy not worth the money that he is asking, the question becomes, is the money good enough for him?? There have been numbers thrown about how much he is expected to make, and if no deal is done, he may end up with arbitration money, and I think the fan's want to see a contract done. If he's going to be here, sign the kid to a deal and lets move on. We have enough drama with Brett Favre, and I'm pretty sure he's in NY now. Not to compare the two, but no one likes the dog and pony show, I mean no one. Well, maybe somebody, but not me.

Here's the thing if you try and sign him to a multi year deal, do we even know if he wants to stay here in Milwaukee? I believe he has made it pretty clear that he is going to leave here in 2011 when his arbitration ends. If that's the case, get rid of him now. If he doesn't want to play here, it could turn out to be like Manram. Who knows. In agreement with him not wanting to stay here, there are some issues of why he shouldn't stay here. His weight could be an issue for some people, his defense could also be an issue. It could be argued that both his weight and his defense show that he would be better suited for a AL team, just like his daddy. Whenever Prince comes to the plate, I'm always thinking Home run. He is a dead pull hitter and generally is swinging for the fence. That's great and all, but when we need a base hit to win the game, I think your mentality should change a little. I just don't see him as a base hit clutch hitter, and that's OK, but the Brewers need to take that into effect when they think about signing him. Since Prince came onto the scene sports writers everywhere have classified him as a "pure hitter." To me, that's screaming AL. One last issue that is pretty heavy, no pun intended, is if Prince leaves, who is going to protect Ryan Braun, and I don't mean on water street. You take a big bat out of the line up and I guarantee Braunys walks increase next year. And to mind, we don't have anyone right now to fill that spot.

So here's what I think. Right now, the free agent market is pretty much dried up. All the big names have been swallowed up by the Yankees. I say, we let him take arbitration money, and see how the season plays out, make him an offer he can't refuse. Starting pitching you ask, well there's still a possibility that Ben Sheets comes back, and Bam, were basically the team we had at the start of 2008. And from what I remember people were saying pretty good things about the crew last year. Starting pitching will come in time, and if you have to make a big trade to get it, you better ask yourself, how bad do we need starting pitching. I just don't see letting a guy like Fielder walk out the door. And for who?? Pure hitters just don't show up on Doug Melvin's doorstep everyday. Make the kid happy and give him the money and lets focus on getting back to the playoffs in 2009!!!