College Hoops Extravaganza

Well, the College Hoops 24 hour marathon was a success. I stayed up for much of the night and early morning and watched the games.  Here's a few early and maybe obvious thoughts I have for the season.

Jared Sullinger is the real deal and Ohio State is easily one of the favorites to win it all.

San Diego State could possibly be the next Butler.

Florida is an improved team and will be dangerous in March.

Gonzaga looks like the same old team that will dominate the WCC, pull off some big wins but falter to more physical and talented teams.

Kansas State will be very good, but do they have the depth to be a premier team?

Duke needs more depth in the frontcourt.

Tennessee is overrated.

Delvon Roe will finally live up to his potential and help carry Michigan State to another Final Four run.

If you can't beat em, buy em

As we all know by now Yankees GM Brian Cashman flew to Arkansas to talk with Cliff Lee.  This is obviously not surprising at all as any MLB fan knew the Yankees would go after Lee during the offseason.

It seems apparent that the Yankees will go after Lee hard.  Their pitching hasn't really worked out for them recently.  Javier Vasquez didn't pan out.  A.J. Burnett is a question mark after a terrible season.  Plus, Andy Pettite is getting old.

Lee is the obvious choice.  The Yankees pitching staff is basically the sole reason they didn't get by the Rangers in the ALCS.  There's really no one else they can go after.  Zach Greinke simply won't go to New York and the next two best choices are Jorge de la Rosa and Carl Pavano.  Who we know the Yanks won't touch.

Some think the Yankees wouldn't go after him because having two aces wouldn't make much sense.  I remind those people that it's the Yankees.  They will do whatever they can to win another World Series, and I don't blame them.

Lee throttled the Yankees.  As we've seen before, the Yankees absolutely hate being embarrassed.  They've brought in Yankee killers before (Tony Womack and Carl Pavano). It may not always work out, but Lee is arguably the best pitcher in the game right now.  It just makes too much sense.  As it seems like it always is for the Yankees, if you can't beat em, buy em.

Attack on Success

Cam Newton has been in the news lately.  Not only has he lead his Auburn Tigers to an undefeated record thus far this season, but he's also passed for 1980 yards, 19 TD and rushed for 1146 yards.  But that's not the only reason.  Newton has been accused of cheating while he was enrolled at Florida two seasons ago.  He's also been accused of discussing a pay-for-play plan with Mississippi State recruiters.

But why is this news just coming out now?  If Auburn was currently 5-5 or 6-4 would this be out right now?  I doubt it.  It just goes to show that when you succeed and doing well, stuff in your past can come out to haunt you.  And people will do just about anything to bring you down.  It's sad really.

I'm not saying Newton is innocent and this stuff didn't happen.  But everybody is just assuming that he's guilty.  What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Even if he did cheat at Florida, who cares?  What does that have to do with Auburn right now?  Would cheating at Florida affect his eligibility at Auburn?  No.  And it shouldn't either.

The more important thing should be whether or not the pay-for-play plan is true.  I'm not saying it didn't happen.  But if it's true, it will eventually come out.  It may be true, I'm just willing to give Newton the benefit of the doubt for now.  It just goes to show, if you succeed at something, there will always be people out there to get you and bring you down.

2010-2011 College Basketball Predictions

Final Four Predictions:

Stefan Ming's Picks:
Michigan State
Duke
Ohio State
Florida

2011 National Champion:

Michigan State Spartans

Grittysquirrels Picks:

Duke
Kansas
Ohio State
Michigan State

2011 National Champion: 

Duke Blue Devils

All-American Team:

Stefan Ming:
Jacob Pullen (Kansas St.)
Kalin Lucas (Michigan St.)
Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech)
Harrison Barnes (UNC)

Player of the Year: Jacob Pullen (Kansas State)
Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan (Florida)

Grittysquirrels:
Kalin Lucas (Michigan St.)
Jacob Pullen (Kansas St.)
Kyle Singler (Duke)
Marcus Morris (Kansas)
JaJuan Johnson (Purdue)

Player of the Year: Jacob Pullen (Kansas St.)
Coach of the Year: Thad Matta (Ohio St.)