catching up

Something called the World Baseball Classic happened and Japan won. It looked like baseball but felt like soccer to most Americans, including the USA team that played in the thing. None of them cared about the outcomes of the games and used them to try and "get their reps in" for spring training. In other news, Davey Johnson got to pretend to be a real, bonafide big league manager again and showed exactly why he shouldn't have that job longer than three weeks.

The Broncos continue to piss off moody quarterback Jay Cutler. This seems to be a really bad strategy for handling your star player. The guy had a Pro Bowl season last year, and while some writers have been quick to point to his overall losing record as a starter, I'm even quicker to point out that the Broncos have been deceptively shitty, especially on defense, during that period. Point is, it's not Cutler's fault the team is lousy. He's growing into the job. Only been at it for a few years and he's getting better each year.

What is his fault is the thin skin he wears. He's pissed about almost being traded so he wants to be traded. Go figure.

The NBA season is winding up and the teams are locking in their seeding. The Lakers are clearly number one in the West and San Antonio is most likely locked into the two spot. In the East, Cleveland has a stranglehold on the one spot and Boston and Orlando will most likely follow in that order. Atlanta (!) is four and the Heat will rise no further than fifth. That leaves Philly to hold off Detroit for six and one other team to sneak into the playoffs. The three through eight seeds in the West are still in flux and no one's quite sure if surging Phoenix can sneak in and knock the Mavs out for the privilege of being swept by LA in the first round.

Your NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Cavs/Celts, but most likely Cavs. LA in 6. The Lakers match up well with the Cavs. I'll write more about this as we get closer to it actually happening, but let's just say this: the Lakers can't handle quick driving guards (read: Rondo). Spot up shooters (Mo Williams, Boobie Gibson), on the other hand, are a lot easier to defend.

see you in another three weeks....heh.