Ty-
I picked Florida to win it all in my initial bracket. Which is probably the only pick that I had right in the whole tournament. So I should probably stay with my pick since Florida has looked every bit like the best team in the country so far. Although their side of the bracket was fairly easy with Kansas knocked out fairly early. But I am an idiot so I'm going to pick Kentucky. You really can't ignore how immensely talented that team is. Also the teams that they beat on the way to the Final Four shows you that they can beat any team in the country. Kentucky may not have beaten Florida this year but they were a possession away from doing so in the SEC tournament so I think they can pull it off.
Spencer-
I may not have picked this Final Four exactly but each team has earned the right to be there. The team I picked to win it all, Florida, is still in it though and there is a reason for that, simply they are the best team. I stand by that. I've talked about it a lot in these blogs but I think their senior leadership/tournament experience and more importantly their ability to play well together is a major plus for them and one that benefits them entering the final weekend. Its ironic two of the three other teams account for the only two losses Florida has this season (Wisconsin and UConn) but I think they will take care of business this time around. They look like a team on a mission. I will say though, Wisconsin has the best chance to derail the Gators if they meet in the Championship, but I think the Gators have a slight edge.
2. Last week the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made big news with their deals to their respective franchise players Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. Cabrera agreed on an eight year extension to his contract worth $292 million over the 10 year span, while Trout and the Angles agreed on a six year $144.5 million dollar extension. Which team made out better and which MVP caliber player deserves the money more?
Spencer-
The first part of the question question is simple for me, the Trout deal is by far the better contract. The Angels locked up arguably the best player in the league and put his highly anticipated free agency on hold a bit longer. Not only that but the Angels held onto a much younger player who has yet to enter his prime. That is the key for me, and while I agree that both these players are probably the only two guys in the league that one can argue deserve $30 million a year it just doesn't make sense to me to pay a guy like Cabrera like that into his forties. For the Tigers that is obviously deal where they will pay for the production in the near future but will most likely eat the contract in its later stages. Regardless you have a hard time explaining paying a guy that much at their age and for that many years, so Trout's deal is the better one.
Ty-
Both deals made sense and will keep both teams in contention for years to come. Miguel Cabrera is a beast and proven to be probably the best offensive player in the league. You have to pay Miggy that much money just based off of his share numbers. So I think that it makes sense for Miguel Cabrera to get paid more at this stage of his career. But I think the Angels got the better deal just because they paid far less money to lock up a player that is already up there in talks of being the best player in baseball. Not to mention that he is extremely young and well hopefully only continue to get better and better. I would take Mike Trout if I was building a franchise right now hands down.
Ty-
Spencer joked with me that I should take the NY Mets because they are my favorite team. I mean the Redsox won the World Series last season after being terrible and having no expectations to succeed. Actually the last few World Series winners have been teams that weren't the favorite to win. The San Francisco Giants won 2 times in the last 4 years and each time it was a surprise each time. So could the Mets actually defy the odds and win the World Series this year? Probably not. I'm not going to be crazy or irrational. So I'm going to pick the Detroit Tigers to finally break through and win a championship for Detroit. Cabrera will be healthier and Verlander will be Verlander.
Spencer-
If you read my blog from this morning MLB Season Preview, you will know I picked the Nationals to win it all and I'll let you to go and check it out to find out why I like their chances.
4. Last week the big news in the NFL was the Eagles decision to part ways with DeSean Jackson. There is rumor circulating that he has gang affiliation and that his commitment and attitude played a big role in his release as well. With Jackson's resume though would you take him on your team despite all this speculation surrounding his behavior?
Spencer-
Obviously he is a tremendous talent but I think the need for DeSean Jackson should be based off of a teams specific needs more than anything. My team is the Steelers so I don't know if they particularly need him with Antonio Brown as their number one, but obviously his services could help the team. That being said though the Steelers are a team owned by a group that doesn't like all the distractions and frankly I have to agree. There are other talented receivers who can come in and be effective that maybe aren't the same skill level as Jackson but don't bring the baggage with them. I don't particularly want my team to be caught up in off the field issues or adjusting attitudes. That being said I think some teams will benefit from his services immensely obviously. I don't know if that team is the Redskins though mostly because we saw last year how little rumors became big stories and bigger distractions in that clubhouse. I would hate to see the same thing happen if Jackson got caught up in a bad situation. This is the first time we've heard of his potential gang affiliations though so I think signing him for some teams could be low risk, high reward. Ty-
Apparently I might have to take him on my team because the football team in Washington D.C. has the first scheduled visit with DeSean Jackson. I would take him on my team because I read a lot of reports that said that his gang affiliation is more of a case of growing up in a southern LA neighborhood and being bound to know somebody that knows somebody in a gang. That doesn't mean that he is in a gang or is involved in gang activities. The whole situation is confusing for me that they were willing to keep Riley Cooper although he absolutely said something that was racist and is a far worst receiver. Something just tells me that Chip Kelly just didn't like DeSean Jackson and he thinks that he is a genius and that is why Jackson is on the market. The whole situation does give me some pause but he has been in the league a long time without committing a ton of crimes for an alleged gang affiliate so I would take him on my team.
5. What we learned:
Now to clarify I wasn't one of the journalists calling or Calipari's head and saying he couldn't do it anymore with the one and doners, but I was doubtful of how good this Kentucky team was. Now we are actually seeing how good they are and I'm willing to admit they have made me a believer. If they continue to play like they have during their tournament run so far then they may end up as the champions. They say it is so important to peek at the right time and that is basically Kentucky in a nut shell. Not to mention Kentucky has had the toughest road to the Final Four maybe ever. The team we have seen the last two weekends has looked sound, athletic and organized when before the tourney they look selfish and lost.
To me it speaks numbers to Calipari's coaching. As I said before despite the doubts out there that he couldn't get these high school all-stars to buy into his system he has got them moving and united around this championship chase. I think Calipari has been frustrated this year at times with his ability to coral the egos a little and get them working together but after playing 40 plus games together he has them doing it and it could lead to championship. It isn't fair in my opinion to pin their regular season struggles all on Calipari because he is a tremendous coach hate him or love him. This season more than ever we can validate that more because we can see it isn't just a given that when you have the best players you win in college. He can't just put his guys out there and say play basketball like many people might think. Its just not that easy and the fact that Coach Cal hung in while his team developed and got them playing as a well oiled machine at the most important time of the season is what being a coach is all about.
Player development is part of what makes college basketball fun, and we are seeing these NBA potential players develop on the biggest stage and it has made for some classic games. I'm hoping for some more thrilling games from them and to see them continue proving the world wrong about what they can achieve.
Ty- Is Everyone Slumping Into The Playoffs?
The NBA Playoffs is only about a half a month away from beginning and it seems like every contender except the Spurs is slumping or dealing with some untimely injuries.
The Pacers are a complete mess. They looked like they were turning the corner after beating the Heat on Wednesday but they haven't won a game since. The problem is that they continue to lose to teams that aren't good. I can understand if they lost to the Wizards because they have flashed at times. But it is Unacceptable to lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers without Kyrie Irving. They might be able to get it together if they can beat the Spurs tonight but if not idk if I have faith in them keeping the #1 seed.
Now the other teams are starting to get injured as well. The Warriors just got Andre Iguodala back and they have been up and down all year. The TrailBlazers got LaMarcus Aldridge back recently but they haven't been playing as well with or without him as they were early in the season. The Rockets have to deal with Dwight Howard new ankle injury. While Blake Griffin has to deal with Back Spasm which is the most unpredictable injury to have.
Hopefully all these teams get it together. I will say that it makes the playoffs really intriguing this year because nobody can really be confident with any contender.
(Well maybe the Spurs but this streak hasn't really impressed me yet besides the win over the Heat.)
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