NCAA Tournament rules

1. Big East is always way overrated. I always forget this.
2. Independently of that, Notre Dame is always overrated.
3. Except for one or two teams, the SEC sucks at basketball.

most perfect fit ever in the nfl

Jake Delhomme has signed with the Cleveland Browns, bringing us the perfect marriage between a quarterback that really sucks and a franchise that really, really sucks. Of all the things I've seen in the past few months, this is the one thing that has inspired me to post.

So while I'm in the posting mood, some odds and ends of things that have transpired.

1. The Marlins won't win the World Series. There's my response to you, Jesse. They just won't. I don't know how to explain it, but simple mathematical odds are not on their side. They were something like the 6th best team in the NL last year and the top teams didn't get that much worse, though the Giants stink and could slip and the Rockies were a fluke. But the Marlins aren't better than the Dodgers or Phillies and they certainly aren't better than the top teams in the AL. Comment and flame away. Don't disappoint me.

2. The Lakers have problems. These will be fixed come playoff time. Ron Artest is a dumb offensive player. Kobe will either kill him or fix him by the playoffs. Gasol is soft again. Phil will fix this again.

3. The Celtics have problems. These can't be fixed. They are old. Ray Allen seems to be done, which is shocking because he was very much not done earlier this year. KG is too, but that's more an injury thing. Pierce is also just being beat up by injuries. They look like they're set up for a first round upset loss. Of course, this means they will storm their way through the playoffs.

4. LeBron James and the Cavs - I'm still not convinced. Show me you can beat Orlando in the playoffs.

5. Orlando - should've kept Hedo. Vince sucks. Everyone knew this but Orlando apparently.

6. I think the Raiders should draft the slowest guy in the 40 just to balance things out. The fastest guys always seem to bust, so maybe the opposite way is the right way.

7. Suh is the best player in the draft. Enough of this nonsense about Gerald McCoy possibly being better. Any idiot (me) with eyes (I have those too) who watched college football can see that Suh is just better than anyone. It's not even close. This is just fake draft drama.

8. The Rams will stupidly draft neither of those guys and take Sam Bradford, who I never thought would be a great NFL QB.

9. Here's how I would scout a player (in either the NBA or the NFL). I would just watch 4th quarters. I would focus on 4th quarters in tight games. I would look at film of the guy on the sideline as well. If he comes up big late in big games, I want him. If he doesn't, but throws a good spiral or puts up impressive stats, I don't want him. It's really that simple. And yet, every year, NBA/NFL teams spend tons of money to fuck this up. Forget about the combine.

Marlins homerism

I claim minimal responsibility for this:

From the mouth of the biggest Marlins homer ever, ladies and gentlefolk, Mr. Jesse Bryan.


Greetings fish fan(s),



Beisbol is here!!!!!! Thank goodness as these other silly sports have become a real bore. Seriously, how can you gauge how good any team is without playing AT LEAST 150 games. To commence my inaugural post of the 2010, let me give you the reasons why the Florida Marlins get (and most likely win) to the World Series this year in no particular order.



They retained pretty much everyone on a very potent offense. Losing Nick Johnson will definitely hurt (and the Yankees got a steal on him), but maybin should fill in nicely in the #2 hole. They won 87 games last year with essentially the same team which was a young one. They are now a year older. Tough luck NL East.



Emilio Bonifacio is no longer leading off. We had to endure over 80 games of his bald head on our screens last year and inefficient hardly describes his contribution. I still don’t trust him as even a utility man (we’ll miss you amezega), but that’s better than being the starting lineup.



Cameron Maybin will have a breakout season and will be in the rookie of the year hunt. After a disappointing start in 2009, Maybin killed it in AA and had a nice return to the bigs at the end of the season. I expect him to tear it up this year in the #2 spot. Coghlan, Maybin, Hanely is a pretty nasty 1-2-3.



Jorge Cantu’s wrist is completely healed. He still hit .290 with 100 rbis last year with the pain lingering, but with his wrist healed, expect those HR numbers to return to the 25-30 range.



The best 1-2 punch the game: Josh Johnson (yay for signing him) and Ricky Nolasco (he will get a multi-year contract if he pitches how he should).



A fine group of pitchers competing for the 3-5 spots with West, Volstad, Miller, Sanchez, Vandenhurk, Penn. I have my money on Sanchez, Volstad and West filling out the rotation. From what I hear, Sanchez is as healthy as he’s been since his rookie season (dropped 15 pounds and worked hard on leg strength) after the all star break last year he had a 2.80 ERA or so. Volstad needs to return to 2009 form and ASAP. West was called up too early, but showed he already has the stuff to be dominant.



Dan Uggla: I’m pretty excited they fish kept Uggla. I watched about 70-80 games last year, and I must say Uggla really got the shaft on some hard hit balls. His walks were a career high last year and his K’s a career low. I think he has a monster year hitting behind

Cantu.



Brett Carroll is the best outfielder in the MLB.



A cornucopia of relievers competing for roster spots including Derrick Turnbow and Jose Veras.





Finally, my marlins visor. Fate shined brightly upon me the other day in a thrift store where I found a near meant Marlins visor that I will proudly where inside and outside. Go fish!

Because it's playoff season

Here it is in all its glory:

Brad Childress continues to hold back the Vikings

Before the Vikings lackluster effort against Carolina, most sportswriters and analysts had this team pegged as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. What's not to like? Good QB playing out of his mind, a top RB, a great O-line, an even better D-line, quality linebackers and a good secondary. Oh right, the coach is a moron. We've known this for a while now, but I think some people got wrapped up in how good the talent is in Minnesota that we forgot that the coach will find a way to ruin this. And he will. Mark my words. Brad Childress will cost this team a playoff game. Childress coaches not to lose; all of his games seem to be decided by a field goal. That's no way to coach.

Then there's this gem courtesy of ESPN.com:
Childress said that a quarterback who makes “five checks in a game or six checks in a game” has gone overboard. He added: “Typically the idea with a quarterback in this offense, you’re not going to the line of scrimmage looking to change the play. Because then you end up seeing ghosts.”

Um, you know Brad, Peyton Manning makes 5 or 6 checks in a drive and his team is undefeated. Experienced QBs should be allowed to call their own plays and audible. It's one of the main advantages to having a seasoned QB. Peyton Manning is great partially because he is his own offensive coordinator. Gregg Easterbrook on ESPN.com goes into this a bit more in his TMQ column. If you want to see what happens when a control-freak coach handcuffs a great veteran QB, pop in tapes of mid to late 90s Dolphins games to see how mediocre Dan Marino was under Jimmy Johnson.

Brad will ruin this team. It was a big mistake to give this guy a contract extension. What does that team do after this year when Favre retires again and they're left with Tavares Jackson and Sage Rosenfels as their QBs? I guess no worries, because Brad will call the plays, make the checks, study the film and not see any ghosts out there.

mel kiper is an idiot and kobe is the best player in the NBA

Mel Kiper doesn't watch football. I'm convinced. His draft grades are always a mess. He's a terrible writer. I'm no great shakes, but then again, I'm not getting paid to write for ESPN Insider. His latest column has him revisiting his draft grades. He has the gall to say that the Dolphins rookie CBs, who are starters for a team competing for the playoffs, are good players with low ceilings. Low ceilings? Really, Mel Kiper? If starting and showing flashes of shutdown dominance are signs of a low ceiling, then I wonder if there's any player in the NFL with a high ceiling. My main problem with all of these types of articles, and really the basis of Kiper's existence as a sports analyst, is that you can't tell if a player will be good or not in the first year. You need a good three years to evaluate a player. Look at someone like Cadillac Williams or even better Michael Clayton. These guys were great their first year, and I'm sure Kiper was raving about how good the Bucs were at drafting those years. But then you look at the rest of their careers and it's been all downhill. Cadillac peaked about three games into his NFL career and hasn't averaged more than 4 yards per carry since his rookie year. Clayton has been even worse. He was a rising star when he caught 80 passes for 1,193 yards. Since then, he's caught 139 passes for 1717 yards over the course of 5 seasons. This year, he's caught 14 passes for 204 yards. He's put up a goose-egg 3 times this year. Clearly, he's a bust. But you wouldn't have known that after his first year.

In other news, Kobe is the best NBA player today. Sorry, LeBron James, but show me a ring and you'll get the top spot. Kobe is the guy every other NBA player looks up to now. The scary thing is that Kobe is better this year than last year. This is a guy that scores 40 points with a torn tendon in his index finger. He added at least 4 or 5 post moves this offseason to bring his repertoire up to something like 5,016. If you watch LeBron, you'll realize quickly he's the most talented NBA player, but he hasn't yet put it together. He's getting there, but I'm a bit disappointed that we're not see LeBron destroy people in the post more often. I know, I know: Kobe has the advantage of playing on a better team. The Cavs are very mediocre without their star. Shaq is 35 pounds overweight, Mo Williams is a third banana playing a second banana's role, Anthony Parker's a bench player playing a starter and the Big Z looks and moves like he's 40. But I haven't seen the King take a stranglehold of this team and impose his will on these guys.

quick thoughts (it's been a long time coming)

A quick note about my NFL forecast. I, like everyone else who tries to predict the NFL season, was wrong about most things. That would be why I'm the Idiot Fan and not just the Fan.

1. I really like the MNF announcing team. I might be the only one in the world.
2. Going for it on 4th and 2 is playing the percentages. The average NFL play is something like 4.5 yards and most 3rd and 2 and 4th and 2 conversions are successful, especially when you have an offense like the Patriots.
3. However, jesus, what balls on Belicheck. Wow. Also, if you're going to go for it, don't do it with a rinky dink pass to a running back. Play action deep to Moss or to Welker on a crossing route.
4. Peyton is the best QB in the league right now. Better than Brees.
5. It's a toss-up. Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson or Jamarcus Russell, who's worse? I say Russell, but he's at least more talented than Derek Anderson.
6. Speaking of wasted talent, Darius Heyward-Bey and his hands of stone. But at least he's fast, oy vey!
7. The Giants will go on a run. Just a hunch.
8. Andy Reid is the white Art Shell when it comes to clock mismanagement.
9. It should be noted: Andy Reid has been outcoached by Wade Phillips and Norv Turner in consecutive weeks. Wade Phillips and Norv Turner!
10. The Bengals are for real. Time for everyone to acknowledge it. They swept the Ravens and the Steelers and have one more game against the Browns. This team could have homefield advantage through the playoffs.