Different Guys, Same Old Story

I caught a glimpse of the new look TinCaps, post All-Star break, on Saturday.

Got to say, not a lot has really changed.

I'll admit that I was a little bit leery when I heard that Sawyer Carroll, James Darnell, Matt Clark and Nick Schmidt were promoted. The team lost their best source of power in Clark, a guy that was leading the minors in walks and was hitting .330 (Darnell), another guy who was hitting above .300, playing great defense in the outfield and went 4-4 in the All-Star game (Carroll), and an undefeated pitcher who really started to hit his stride before the break (Schmidt).

However, the Padres organization did the team a solid in demoting Justin Baum and Yefri Carvajal from Lake Elsinore. These are two very talented guys who will now get solid playing time, as they were benchwarmers in California. Baum has stepped into Darnell's place at third base magically, hitting over .400 in his first few games as a TinCap, and hitting an absolute bomb on Saturday that cleared everybody in left field, hit the concourse and bounced over the second fence into the big pit behind the field. Plus, if he can make a throw to first, he will be an upgrade over Darnell's Knoblauch arm (sorry James.)

I want to address the team's power. Let's start by looking at all the guys who have hit 10 homeruns in a season since the Wizards became affiliated with the San Diego Padres:

2008 (1)

Felix Carrasco-16

2007 (2)

Jeremy Hunt-13

Sam Carter-12

2006 (4)

Daryl Jones-12

Will Venable-11

Kyle Blanks-10

Seth Johnson-10

2005 (4)

Lachlan Dale-12

Matt Lauderdale-10

Sean Kazmar-10

Colt Morton-10

2004 (2)

Jordan Pickens-17

Fernando Valenzuela-11

2003 (1)

LJ Biernbaum-10

2002 (4)

Jon Benick-15

Greg Sain-13

Joseph Hastings-11

Nick Trzesniak-10

2001 (3)

John Woodward-15

Kevin Reese-13

Craig Thompson-10

2000 (3)

Troy Schader-13

Vince Faison-12

Shawn Garrett-10

1999 (1)

Josh Loggins-14

That's 10 years and 25 seasons of 10+ HR's total, a 2.5 per year average, with 9 of those seasons at 10 exactly. Now let's look at this year, so far.

Matt Clark had 11 by the All-Star Break, and had a real shot at 20 if he had not gotten promoted. Blake Tekotte, the LEADOFF hitter, has 9. Jaff Decker has 8, and he was not with the team the first few weeks of the season and has been injured for the last few weeks. James Darnell had 7 before he got promoted, while Sawyer Carroll had 5 before he got promoted.

I'll say Tekotte and Decker are locks to get over 10 (well past it, I believe). That's three 10+ guys already. I think Darnell would have been a lock as well if he had not gotten promoted and Carroll had an outside chance. That could put the number to five.

Daniel Robertson has 5 and is smoking the ball now, and power prospect Allan Dykstra had a horrible first half and sits at 4 right now, and if he can heat up, he has an outside shot to get there. That could have been 7 guys with 10+ HR's. The team also leads the MWL with 61 total. Why the power surge?

I think part of it is that these guys are talented (Darnell and Decker were top 10 organizational prospects coming into the year according to Baseball America, as is Dykstra), but the team has had talented guys before who didn't produce like this. Kyle Blanks is the best power prospect in the organization and he only got to 10 exactly. I think it's more than talent.

I have a theory, and it has nothing to do with the way the ballpark plays. Both the new stadium and the old are about 330 down the LF line (PF is actually 336), 400 to center, and while the new stadium is 318 down right while MS is 330, MS had an extremely short porch and PF has a wall that's upwards of 20 feet. The gaps are about the same as well. The dimensions aren't causing the surge. I think that Memorial Stadium and Parkview Field play about the same under normal conditions.

However, this year isn't being played under normal conditions. That's what different. Think about it a second. This new field is supposedly one of the best in all of minor league baseball, not just the MWL. If you're a TinCap player, wouldn't you feel a little different playing at home? Other than Fifth Third Field in Dayton (which I've heard is a fantastic ballpark), Parkview Field is the class of the league.

I don't want to make any ignorant statements, and I'm not saying that the other stadiums of the MWL are bad, but I have a feeling that if you gave the players some truth serum, they would tell you that playing in Fort Wayne at Parkview Field is just different experience that really changes their play, in a good way.

Another part of the home field advantage in the fans. Historically, the Wizards had fantastic attendance numbers at the old stadium, and with the new stadium and a full capacity of about 1000 more seats, plus the excitement level being jacked up because it's a whole new experience, the fans can really have an impact on these guys, as opposed to playing on the road where attendance can be much less.

All of these factors can come together and create some real magic. It's showing.

The last thing I want to tackle is the situation with Allan Dykstra. Coming into the year, I think most people around the Padres organization and baseball fans who knew about him thought he could put up some real good power numbers. He was a first round pick last year, out of Wake Forest, and has a lot of ability. He came into the season as the number 8 prospect in the organization, according to Baseball America? So why hasn't he produced, especially when a lot of guys around him have?

Once again, I have a theory. I think the answers lies in the question (partly), and for some other reasons. I looked up Dykstra's Wikipedia entry a few weeks back, and I noticed something interesting. There's a big picture of him that shows after he got signed, the Padres sent him to HIGH A Lake Elsinore last year to finish the season.

I'll bet you anything that Dykstra expected to AT LEAST start the year in California (where he's from), or even start in Double-A, but instead, the Padres told him he was going to Low Class A in Northeast Indiana. That had to frustrate him a little bit.

Then, once he got to Fort Wayne, he learned he was in a de facto time share at first base with Matt Clark, a player touted much less than Dykstra. Most people would look at that situation and think Dykstra could have confronted it in two different ways. One, he could've seen it as a real challenge and seized what was rightfully his, or he could sulk and play like he has. I don't think that's the case. I think something else happened.

As everyone around Fort Wayne knows, it was real cold to start the season off in early April. I think Dykstra might not have been used to that, as he is from California and played college in North Carolina, a beautiful coastal state, and it threw his production off a little bit. Then, on the other hand, Matt Clark started playing better and better as the season progressed, and Dykstra couldn't get out of his funk.

That has to be tough on a guy. Here's this supposedly lesser player who is outplaying you by leaps and bounds, how do you react? From what I know, Dykstra hasn't said anything to make him look like a bad sport, I just think it might be a combination of him adjusting to wooden bats and normal struggles a 22 year old hitter has.

Another thing with Dykstra bothers me. I've seen him play enough to notice that his swing is a little off. Do you remember when in Little League, whenever you got really jammed on a pitch and you'd bring your hands in really close to your body and have to resort to this awkward swing that was all wrists? That's what every Dykstra swing looks like to me lately, even on ones he hits to left field. I've watched some
clips of him hitting BP and some in-game action from earlier this year and last year, and I can kinda sorta see the same swing, so maybe that's just his natural swing, but it just doesn't look like what I would think a power hitter's swing would be.

I want it on the record that everything from this post is pure speculation, especially the Dykstra stuff, and I'm not trying to judge things at all. So please, don't go all Ken Rosenthal on me.

Well, after this manifesto, I probably won't have anything good to comment on for a while, but if my beautiful mind stays sharp and something good pops up, I'll let you 90+ strong guys be the first to know.

Stay classy, Fort Wayne.

Deliverance

I was not into actual Transformer toys when I was a kid, so I was not freaking out to see the first movie when it came out. Thinking back, I'm not even sure I saw it in theaters. But whenever I did see it first, I was hooked.

It was exactly what it was supposed to be: an action movie that provides some funny moments, good looking people, cool-looking robots, and big explosions. It's not Academy Award worthy, but it delivers.

Revenge of The Fallen does as well.

Yes, the movie is probably too long. The first one was too. One of the parts of the movie I didn't like was that because of the success of number one, the filmmakers decided to make this movie on a little grander scale and branched out to other countries, namely Egypt, France and times in 17,000 BC. While this did a good job of advancing the story, it got real confusing at times as to what you were watching. There were a lot of battle scenes, which were exciting to watch, but could have been cut back on time.

Another confusing aspect to me was the purpose of Sam Witwicky's roommate at college. When I was listening to him explain his website, I could not totally grasp what its purpose was. It sounded like it was about alien conspiracies, but then he went into this thing on kitten calendars, and then he had a "crew" finding videos online and trying to get credit for them first or something like that. Maybe I'm ignorant, but until I see the movie again and I can focus in, someone has to explain what this was about.

However, like I've said before, what makes a movie good to me is how I feel when leaving the theater, or room, or wherever I saw the film. This film leaves you with "I want to kill some big freaking robots!".

Hot Rod, a movie I just half-watched, gives you the "Wow, I'm glad I got that free from the library". Different feeling.

It seems to me that sometimes "professional" movie critics take the job too seriously. They'll look into things like production values, chemistry on screen between actors, and other things like that. Yes, theres an audience for those things, but the bottom line is, did you enjoy the movie? Would you watch it again?

I hate to go in another direction here, but this is the problem with the Academy Awards. I can't tell you how many of these so-called "great" movies I've tried to watch and haven't been able to finish. Yeah, there's great acting in them. Yeah, there's drama. Yeah, there's twists and turns. Yeah, Meryl Streep is in it.

Who cares? Would you ever watch "Revolutionary Road" twice?

Do you want see Mickey Rourke die at the end of the Wrestler again? (That was my interpretation).

My theory is everyone needs to relax: it's only a movie. Just entertain me.

The bottom line is, you're going to feel good (maybe tired), after you see Transformers 2.

It's exactly what you expected.

My streak of fantastic movies ended, but I'll say I went 1 for 4 instead of 3 for 4 at the plate last night.

Rating: 3 stars

Note: just to clarify on movie ratings, my system is not exactly balanced. For example, a jump from 2 stars to 2 ½ stars is smaller than the jump between 2 ½ and 3 stars, and so on and so forth. So do not think a 3 star movie is just a little bit worse than a 3 ½ star movie. It's actually a pretty big swing. Come to think of it, I should probably revise my system. Oh well.

Another note: Relax, I will be getting back to sports material soon. I hope to update the Tincaps soon and whenever else something pops up I want to write about, I will. Thanks guys.

Hung Over

Do you ever get on one of those hot streaks? You know, when for some reason, whatever your doing is just ON at the moment. It's a fantastic feeling.

I'm on one with movie watching.

The Hangover is fantastic.

After today, I have seen it twice. The first time was at a midnight showing with my friends in packed theater with about 200 more people of my age, and I've got to say, I've never heard as much laughter. Seriously, from start to finish, that theater was in tears, culminating in a buzz while leaving the theater you don't get with movies very much.

I think one of the coolest experiences while watching a movie at a theater is that, if you enjoyed it, you're going to leave in the mind set of wanting to be like what you saw on that screen. If you just saw Indiana Jones, you want to go out there and kill some Nazis with a fedora on. If you just saw Batman, you're going to be channeling your most gravelly voice in imitating the Joker, most likely sending your friends and family into a state of irritation only rivaled by hearing Fran Drescher talk. If you just saw Transformers, well, we know who you're going to be dreaming about.

The feeling you get walking away from the movie is that while much of what actually happened to the four buddies would absolutely suck, it would be crazy fun to have a night even half like that with your good buddies. If you could get through a night like that with your life and at least half your bank account intact, you have the best story ever to tell for the rest of your life.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a grocery list of the craziness you're missing:

    A Tiger is your hotel room (that is owned by Mike Tyson)

    A missing tooth (pulled by yourself)

    A chicken in your room

    An extreme hangover

    Possessing a stolen police car

    Getting roofied

    Marrying a stripper (with her baby being left in the hotel room closet)

    Winning $80k at blackjack

    One hospital stay

    Getting hustled by Chinese thugs

And I probably missed some stuff. That's another thing that makes this movie great. Just when you think that the night could not get crazy enough, another new crazy story comes into the picture. How did they fit all that into one night?

Only in the movies, my friends.

Movie music is an underrated aspect of the experience. I think most of the time directors and producers want to find good music that might not be "popular" just to look like they're not being lazy, but I can't tell you how many times I've watched a movie and have said "Man, {insert popular song here} would be a way better fit than this".

The Hangover didn't have that problem. It featured a lot of music that nearly everyone will know, with modern artists like Kanye West and Flo Rida, and some old school tunes, with Phil Collins' "
In the Air Tonight" playing during the fantastic Mike Tyson scene obviously taking the cake as one of the funnier moments of the movie.

I know I'm a fairly younger guy and some of the older generation does not appreciate the hip-hop/rap movement, but Flo Rida's "Right Round" was a perfect fit for the picture montage at the end of the movie.

I posted a review of Star Trek a few weeks ago, and gave it a 3 ½ star rating. I did say I would give way more 3 ½ ratings than 4's, but I still did not want to give out a bunch of great ratings. I have to for the first two, though.

I even debated giving it a 4, but decided a 4 is almost a once in a generation occurrence, so I had to hold back.

Rating: 3 ½ stars.

Time for an Update

Well, Tincaps faithful, this has been a tough week.

Following a strong road tilt which catapulted the team to a 29-15 record, good for first in the Eastern Division, the first four games of this twelve game homestand haven't went the good guy's way.


The problem has been that the pitching and hitting have not synched up lately.

Two days ago, the game went 11 innings, a 3-2 setback. The pitching was fantastic in that game, but the hitting was extremely underwhelming.

It got so bad that at one point, in the seventh and eighth innings, there were six straight strikeouts. It was just plain ugly.

Then yesterday, the hitters did much better, but the pitching staff gave up eleven runs. This was surprising as starter Simon Castro had been strong all season coming into that game.

To get back on track, they need to play as a complete unit, like they did when they were on that 10 game roll to start the season. This is a strong group of prospects that the Padres have sent here, so there is no reason to think these guys cannot achieve great things.

The team sits at 29-19 as of now, 2.5 games back in the East.

They just need to get out of this funk.
Still, there is some good things happening.

Jaff Decker continues to rake, hitting his seventh home run of the season yesterday while continuing to hit over .300. Sawyer Carroll and Matt Clark continue to drive in runs by the handful, at 29 and 36 respectively, putting them both on pace to drive in over 100 runs.

Out Of Reality

It’s that time, my friends. I’m excited, are you?

(Don’t deny it.)
Alright, the first film I will be tackling is Star Trek. I feel I have a unique take on this film because I watched it (twice) as a totally stand alone production.

What I mean by that is that, unlike most people, I have never seen any of the old series or movies in the Star Trek franchise. This film is my first true exposure to all things Enterprise. And I got to say, I liked it.

A lot of reviewers get caught up in the performances of the actors or the production values of movies. These two are what drive “Oscar worthy” performances. I don’t care about those things.

The only thing I care about is if I was entertained. Did I enjoy my experience? Would I watch it again?

Case in point: I watched The Wrestler a few weeks ago. While I can see why people thought Mickey Rourke had a fantastic performance, I don’t need the lead actor dying at the end of the movie, the culmination of a horrible life. That doesn’t make me happy.

I need to get out of reality.

Star Trek has the elements to get you out of reality.

Funny moments? Check.

People in space? Check.

Crazy looking people? Check

Keeping me on the edge of my seat? Check.

Characters you enjoy? Check.

Believable, strong villains? Check.

A good ending that makes me happy? Check.

A character doesn’t have to be played by Sean Penn to make me like what I saw. Jack Black can do it, as did Chris Farley when he was around.

Chris Pine did it especially well. When he was introduced, he rattled off a few lines that instantly made you like the character. It’s never good to have a stiff leading man, and Pine’s Kirk was by no means a stiff.

A leading man almost has to have unrealistic qualities. Is it possible that this guy can be a MENSA level genius who can instantly figure out all this stuff while on the ship and rise to the top of the Starfleet food chain with little to no effort, coming from a life where he accomplished basically nothing beforehand.

Basically, he is just one of those people that can get what they want with a snap of a finger.

THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN!

Other than in movies, and that’s what makes me go.

Is there ever going to be a real life person like Spock?

No. That’s what makes you go.

When I first saw the movie, the whole Leonard Nimoy “J.J Abrams had to figure out a way to get me in this movie so he created a “future Spock” and a whole contrived story that was hard to follow” seemed a little out there. But once I figured out was going on, the story was spectacular. While obviously unrealistic, I don’t care. It was new. It was interesting. I had never seen anything like it.

The movie developed Spock’s backstory very strongly, which helped you to understand the story, as much of it involved around his character in the future. If they had left out his story, things would have gotten really confusing.

The basic idea here is that it’s an enjoyable movie. It had a nice, modern feel to it. It had a lot of things you would want in a movie. That’s it.

Rating: 3 ½ stars.

A New Frontier

When I created this site, I envisioned it being about sports. That’s all. I planned on incorporating other elements of pop culture, like movie and TV references, but over the past few days, I have decided on a new direction to take this puppy.

I’m still going to write about sports. Don’t worry, my people, I wouldn’t let you down. Still, as a man, I have other interests outside of sports that will fit in nicely, I believe. This is why I’m creating a new project.

I want this site to be one that an average man that likes sports, movies, and TV to come to and find some fun nuggets to enjoy. With that, I’m going to lay out my feelings on movies from time to time.

I’ve spent hours mulling over this idea (don’t hate on me), and feel I have the system down pretty good. I’m not going to write about every movie out there, or necessarily just ones newly released. Maybe I’ll throw a few oldies into the mix when the come across the table from time to time. That’s what’s beautiful about having my own site: I can do whatever I want.

Ok, so here’s how the rating system will break down.

KILL ME NOW

A 0 star movie will be among the worst of the worst, one that you could not pay me to see again. If a person invited me to see this movie, I would actually punch them in the face afterwards for the pain they put me through. (Ok, maybe not.)

A ½ star movie is still really bad, but cannot be considered with a 0 star. I would also be furious for having had to watch it, but there might have been a few minutes that were decent or possibly an actor that I liked that would make it hard for me to give it 0.

A 1 star movie is one that could have disappointed me greatly, or was a piece of junk like I expected. Either way, not a good one.

A 1½ star movie had its moments, but is still below the threshold of possible rewatchibility.

REWATCHABILITY

A 2 star movie is mediocre. If it was rented, or I could get ahold of it once for free, I might watch it again, but I’m not paying to watch it after that first run in the theater.

A 2½ star movie is borderline good. It could possibly one that I had high hopes for that disappointed slightly or one that I had no hopes for that turned out to be much better than expected. Or maybe I had never heard of it and it was a pleasant surprise.

GREATNESS

A 3 star movie is the first one that’s ownable. It’s not one of my favorites, but it’s a good one.

A 3½ is one of my favorite movies ever. This is rewatchable in the theater, buyable right when it comes out.

A 4 star movie is the Dark Knight. That’s the entire list so far. This movie has to be absolutely perfect in every way, and rewatchable hundreds of times without getting old. Good luck getting here.

Well, that’s the beginning of something great, I feel. Look for my first one to be coming out soon, and maybe an entry or two with categorical breakdowns of movies to give you guys a better of idea of what movies fit where.

The title should give you an idea of the first selection.

Stay in touch.

The Motown Conundrum

It looks like Matt Stafford is going to be the pick at 1. This is obviously a tough choice for the Lions considering that no player has pushed themselves to the top of the heap, and there's a handful of guys the Lions could make a solid case for choosing. That hasn't been the case in recent drafts.

Think about it. You have Stafford, Jason Smith and Aaron Curry. However, you can make a case Mark Sanchez is better than Stafford (as many teams have done on their boards) and Eugene Monroe over Smith. That's five guys. Michael Crabtree is the best player on some team's boards, (though the Detroit front office would be run out of town faster than Billy Gillispie if they pick another receiver).

It's too bad the Lions have the number one pick this year. With a dad that is a huge Lions fan, I've gone over the Lions situation in this draft more than the guys from the Warren Commission over the Zapruder film, and we both still don't have a clear idea of what the Lions should do. I think next year would be a nice year to be sitting with the top pick.

You're going to have guys like Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy available (most likely; Bradford still hasn't ruled out returning for a fifth year) who are both supposed to be top prospects when they come out. I would be more excited about those two, especially Bradford.

If I were the Lions, I would consider taking one of the tackles because you have to believe the Lions aren't getting out of the top five picks next year. Even if they improve, will they get more than three or four wins? It would be hard to believe they won't be in position for a high pick next year. I know front office people can't take risks like this, but it is hard to argue with.

The pick has seemed to be narrowed down to Curry and Stafford. Why not a tackle? Well, probably because a close second behind WR in "we pick this position with as much success as Isiah Thomas had running the Knicks" is offensive lineman.

The Lions have picked studs like Stockar McDougle, Jeff Backus, and Aaron Gibson earlier this decade, and last years first rounder, Gosder Cherilus, didn't do much last year. That has to be the reason the front office is shying away from Smith and Monroe.

But then you can say those weren't high first rounders (or even first rounders in Gibson's case) and that Joey Harrington was a huge bust, so this is why the Lions have such a tough pick this year. Every single way the go there will be questions.

Back on Track

After a 5-2 setback last night, the TinCaps rebounded this afternoon in beating the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers) 7-5. The Fort Wayne version of the Caps scored four runs in the seventh to pull the victory out.

This game was a good sign because it was not one that the team has won in previous years. There were stupid mistakes all throughout the game, like second basemen Jeudy Valdez trying to take third on a gapper before sliding awkwardly and getting thrown out.

Then there was the back to back innings early on where two double plays killed gaining momentum. I've watched alot of this team from previous years, and when those things happen to kill momentum, the team has not bounced back.

They did today.

I'm going to keep saying this, but this team is for real. I know it's early but I can feel it.

The relief pitching was strong, with Tom Davis, Erik Davis, Zachary Herr and Brad Brach giving up only two hits over 5.1 innings, after starter Nick Schmidt went three strong innings before faltering and giving up four in the fourth.

Alot has been made of the starting pitching so far, but it looks to me that the real strength is with the relievers.

Well, thats it for today. I'm planning on getting to a game Thursday or Friday before the team leaves on a road trip, so look for more updates coming.

ten and oh

Finally got to the stadium today.

Gotta say, I like the Tincaps' new digs. The stadium is beautiful and really makes you enjoy the whole experience.

Now, for the team. I left after the 5th inning, with a 12-0 lead.

Yup.

The final score ended up being a rain-delayed, 14-2 drubbing.

The thing I noticed with the offense is their great patience. I could count on one hand the number of bad swings. You know, those ones that make you turn your head because they are so outrageously ridiculous looking. The ones that are prevalent in minor league baseball and are a big reason guys don’t move on, the discipline.

These hitters are disciplined.

The pitching was as strong as advertised, as starter Stiven Osuna went 6 innings of no-run ball.

The team is now 10-0 and has Monday off before starting up a series against West Michigan at home on Tuesday.

I know it’s early, but you should be excited Padres fans.

He's Uhh Michigan Man

Just got finished watching Greg Paulus on PTI, and my professional opinion is that he needs some interview work. 

The last time someone said "uhh" and "ya know" that many times was a meeting between Master P and Sarah Palin. 

But on a serious note, I'm a little excited about this. I know it sounds ridiculous but he was a top recruit a few years ago and you have to think he can regain at least some of his mojo if he trains hard these next few months. Plus, Michigan needs competition at that position but will not have to rely on Paulus, so if he flames out it isn't that big of a deal. 

Also, good news for you Tincap followers. Comcast has announced they will be broadcasting all home games locally, so that should make my project easier and more in-depth, which I'm sure is what you all wanted. 

I'll try to get that Paulus vid up later so you can see the magic. 

Update: Here it is. 

A New Project

It's decided, folks. I have come up with a new project. As I'm sure all of you know, Fort Wayne has a new baseball team. Kind of. 

Us loyal Fort Wayniacs are used to those lovable, .500 hugging Wizards. Well, there's a new sheriff in town, and his name is Johnny Appleseed. 

Over the summer the Wizards became the Tincaps to honor local legend Johnny. This happened in conjunction with a new ballpark opening up downtown, and I got to admit, I'm a little excited. Especially since the team is pretty good. 

I'll be following the team and keeping you guys up to date with how things are going. Because I know it's important to you. 

Convenience is a dish best served cold

The Freep is reporting that "1st string" QB Nick Sheridan suffered a serious leg injury in practice yesterday.

I use the term first string loosely because Sheridan has about as much job security as the Shah of Iran did in 1979. Yes, I went there.

Anyway, even though this only leaves Forcier and a former MLB hurler who threw a perfect game on the spring roster, Denard Robinson is coming in the fall, and let's be honest, Sheridan wasn't playing past the first half of the Western Michigan game. 

The first image that popped into my mind was of Michael taking Fredo out on the boat and shooting him in The Godfather Part II. This basically just saves Rodriguez from having another awkward conversation with Sheridan and saying he's lost his job, again. 

Does this officially begin the Year of Forcier?

Rock Chalk...PU-Zona Hawk?

I love March Madness. Seriously is there anything better than the upsets we see year after...well umm not this year. 

The lack of upsets is astounding. If every game was won by the top seeds, the Sweet 16 matchups would be 1 vs. 4's and 2 vs. 3's. Ok, so let's look at the East. 

Pitt vs. Xavier. 1 v 4. 

Nova vs. Duke. 2 v 3. 

South

UNC v. Gonzaga. 1 v 4

Syracuse v. Oklahoma. 2 v 3

Midwest

Kansas v. Michigan State. 2 v 3.

West

Mizzou v Memphis. 2 v 3.

Look at those. The only two matchups I skipped was the Purdue-UConn matchup, which is a tame 1 v 5, and the 1 v 12 matchup of Louisville and the mid-major story of the year, Arizona. 

Oh wait, no. It the Arizona thats in the tourney every year and won the championship in the late nineties. 

Yeah, that Cinderella. 

So things didn't shape out the way we would all like to see, but you would have to think this will call for some better quality basketball next weekend. 

Stay Tuned. 

The Beginning of Something Great...

Welcome to my new blog. The purpose of it is to supplement my writing on the Bleacher Report and provide more, quick hitting type stuff.