Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday 02/27 (Very) Quickie

The problem with golf's addiction to Tiger is that in the cases of, say, him losing in the 2nd round of a Match Play Tournament, consumer interest is instantly gone.

Redskins sign Albert Haynesworth for $100M: Nah, no way THAT ends badly. (And that was on top of DeAngelo Hall -- beyond the "WHAT recession?" insta-analysis, how do they afford both of these huge deals under the cap? I'm sure the numbers work out, but it's odd.)

Wow, what happened to the Cavs last night? (Daryl Morey's Moneyball-ish wizardry strikes again? Actually, if anything, it should re-raise expectations that the Rockets could make noise in the playoffs. Well, except for the fact that no one is stopping the Lakers.)

I keep doubting Washington, and they keep winning big Pac-10 games. Obviously, it's all meaningless unless they convert it into a run against the rest of the country in March; how do you evaluate UW's chances of making the Sweet 16? They'll bust some brackets, I'm sure.

(CBB Weekend: Been wavering on the March legitimacy of Marquette all season long? Here's the acid test: At Louisville without Dominic James. It's not if they win -- they won't -- but if they even make it competitive, maybe there's March hope for them yet. I don't think so, though.)

Manny turns down Dodgers...again: At some point, you'd think L.A. would have the self-respect to say, "Go cram it with walnuts, ugly." (Obviously, they know that with Manny, they win the division, but without him, they don't.)

Why is A-Rod still hanging out with his cousin Yuri Sucart? For a guy who is so obsessive about his public image, this is about as tone-deaf of a mistake as he can make. (Sounds like Yuri has been banned from the Yankees clubhouse anyway.)

Tough day for Chicago sports fans: RIP Norm Van Lier AND Johnny "Red" Kerr.

Tom marries Gisele: Didn't that happen, like, months ago? News only if you rank TMZ ahead of KSK. I just can't get enthusiastic about this as "news."

-- D.S.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thursday 02/26 (Very) Quickie

Anyone still disagree with my theory that the sport of golf relies entirely on Tiger Woods, and that as great as he is, it is fundamentally terrible for the sport?

A-Rod homers in spring debut: Of course he did.

Celtics-Marbury only ends one of two ways: Either Marbury gets a ring, which feels wrong, or Marbury keeps the Celtics from repeating, which would serve Boston right for signing him.

(Meanwhile, the Celtics lost to the Clippers, which should give them an indication of the karmic issues related to signing Marbury.)

I wasn't sold on Marquette (at all), and I'm not sold on UConn. Then again, I thought that Pitt was the clear No. 1 team in the country...right up until they lost at Providence (PC underrated?)

This is what it has come to for Indiana hoops fans: You lost to Northwestern at home. For the first time in 30-some games. (By 22 points.)

How many more offers will the Dodgers give Manny before they simply stop trying? (Or before he just sucks it up and accepts?)

It's the end of the Rex Grossman Era in Chicago. But where will he end up?

Back to recouperating on the couch for me...

-- D.S.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday 02/24 (Very Very) Quickie

Taking a few days off. Will try to drop a Twitter comment from time to time.

*Beating Oklahoma without Griffin is meaningless, as it relates to projecting March success.

*Pitt as No. 1? Sounds about right.

*Aaron Curry for No. 1 overall NFL pick in 2009? He ran a 4.56 40, fastest of any LB. (Maybe not No. 1, but certainly Top 3 or 5.)

*Devin Harris FTW!

*Charles Barkley in jail for 5 days demands all-access cameras and a reality-TV special.

-- D.S.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Monday 02/23 A.M. Quickie:
Combine, Duke, KG, Ovie, Kenseth

I'm pretty sure that by the time the NFL Draft rolls around, Andre Smith will have gotten his act together. But I'm also pretty sure he has lunked himself out of being the No. 1 overall pick.

Who says the NFL Combine has no value? If nothing else, it exposes who is prepared (Sanchez) and who isn't (Smith) and may even break some news (Crabtree foot injury + height adjustment).

And so the Combine led today's SN column, despite the fact that I think this weekend marked the start of the 5-week stretch that college hoops dominates: Final 2 weeks of the regular season (plus small-conference tournaments); major-conference tournaments; and, of course, the Big Dance.

Here's what we know from this weekend: Without Blake Griffin, Oklahoma isn't a top contender... I'm not sure I'm buying Davidson this year... Greivis Vasquez may have had the single-best individual performance of the season on Saturday...

...And I'm actually torn about Duke. (I know.) I cannot possibly believe in them after their recent March chokery, but putting up 101 on Wake -- a great defensive team -- and letting Gerald Henderson be the star (35 pts) and making Jon Scheyer the main PG (you all know how conflicted I feel about him) seems to have turned the team around. Ultimately, they will choke -- maybe this time, they will even make it out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

More you'll find in the column today:
*KG's knee is a big deal.
*Delonte West: Cavs 2nd-most MVP?
*Is Jim Bowden about to be fired?
*Ovechkin-Crosby mutual hate is GREAT for the NHL.

That, and a lot more, in today's column. Check it out here. More later.

-- D.S.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday 02/22 (Very) Quickie

Great day in college hoops yesterday, wasn't it?

Maryland stunned UNC (Greivis Vasquez with the triple-double and one of the great performances in MD history -- made me think of Len Bias vs. UNC back in '84.)

Texas beat Oklahoma -- poised to hit No. 1 -- after Blake Griffin's concussion led to 2 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes. Needless to say: Without Griffin, Oklahoma isn't a top team.

So who's No. 1? Has to be Pitt, which KO'ed UConn to start the week and hasn't looked back.

I've been a Marquette doubter all season long, but I've also thought that Georgetown would eventually turn it around -- a win vs. Marquette would have helped a lot. Then, Marquette beats G'town; I still don't buy Marquette, but G'town has basically sealed its NIT fate.

It'll help the "UCLA is overrated" bandwagon that they couldn't beat Wazzu in L.A.

Bracket Buster: What we learned? Davidson isn't ready for prime-time, but Butler shook off whatever was bothering them the past week or so to get the biggest win of B-B Saturday... Even without Patrick Mills, St. Mary's handled Utah St.... They might not be a Tournament sleeper pick after winning their 1st-round game last year, but Siena looks very tough.

(Oh, and Jim Calhoun's post-game press conference is a must-see: Is he overpaid in a time when the state budget is in shambles? Or does he create so much new revenue for the school system (and the state) that the ROI is more than worth the cost? My favorite part was when the journalist in question said, referring to the beat reporters, "If you guys did your jobs..." and the reporters all scoffed. Tough room. I suspect they're all under the thumb of Calhoun anyway.)

NFL Combine: Andre Smith...is out? So much for him being the No. 1 overall pick. I prefer my massive investments in massive players to be accompanied by massive commitment from said player. Give me the OTs from UVA or Baylor at the top.

Oh, and Michael Crabtree not only has a stress fracture in his foot, but he is 2 inches shorter than he was listed at all season -- why do colleges DO that? Don't they realize that the truth comes out eventually? Who do they think they're fooling?

KG out 2-3 weeks with a knee strain? Hmm...keep an eye on that this spring, too.

I didn't post yesterday, but I think with Amare's injury, we've seen the last of the 140-point splurges from Phoenix, unfortunately.

Last night: I know the Warriors ran over the Thunder, but how can you not love the Thunder's Young Three of Durant (36 pts, 6 reb), Jeff Green (27 pts, 15 reb, 6 ast) and Russell Westbrook (31 pts, 11 ast)... and that's with another Lottery pick coming in June. How sick would Blake Griffin look with this group?

So about this trainer from the D.R. who seems to be in the middle of both steroids and A-Rod? He also worked with David Ortiz, who always seems to avoid PED scrutiny, yet seemed to find his power at precisely the apex of the PED problem in MLB.

(One more knock against MLB in all this: If they were so "concerned" about the trainer, going back years, why didn't they do anything about it? Think the NFL wouldn't have done something about it? At least the NFL is smart about keeping their rampant PED use on the down low.)

You won't have Emmitt Smith to kick around as an NFL analyst anymore. ESPN isn't renewing his contract -- two years was more than enough to figure out that he's a good guy, but a lousy, malaprop-laden analyst.

-- D.S.