2010 Cincinnati Reds Season Preview (Part 2) Starting Pitching

*I will not mention specific stats from Spring Training because those stats mean didly shit towards predicting a players regular season stats. I can save reading too far into ST stats for a whole-nother post

Rotation (as of April 1, 2010)

1. Aaron Harang (2009: ERA-4.21/ W/L- 6-14/ SO- 142/ WHIP- 1.21/ IP- 162.1)

2. Johnny Cueto (2009: ERA-4.41/ W/L- 11-11/ SO- 132/ WHIP- 1.36/ IP- 171.1)

3. Bronson Arroyo (2009: ERA-3.84/ W/L- 15-13/ SO- 127/ WHIP- 1.27/ IP- 220.1)

4. Homer Bailey (2009: ERA-4.53/ W/L- 8-5/ SO- 86/ WHIP- 1.47/ IP- 113.1)

5. Undecided

It's funny how things have changed yet stayed the same with the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation from 2009 to 2010. The Reds' rotation came into the 2009 season with high expectations. Edison Volquez had just come off an excellent, All-Star year and looked like a good trade for Cincinnati even though Josh Hamilton tore it up for the Rangers in 2009 as well. Johnny Cueto looked primed to blossom into a stud. Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo were both solid innings-eaters who you would expect to give you around 200 innings and an ERA in the low 4's.

It didn't quite work out that way, though, as Volquez had Tommy John surgery in August, and neither Cueto nor Harang reached the level anyone had expected they would achieve. Arroyo put up a respectable and winning 15-13 record with a 3.84 ERA, and the Reds finally saw Homer Bailey demonstrate some of that boatload of talent he put on display in the minors, going 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA over his last nine starts. Arroyo however did everything in his power in the first half of the season to knock the Reds out of contention by the time the All-Star Break rolled around. As bad as he played in the first half though, he played the complete opposite from July on and was arguably the best pitcher in baseball during that period. Arroyo's season was definitely a tale of two halves.

I remain optimistic about this years staff:

Harang, who posted a 6-14 record with a 4.21 ERA in 2010, will be the Opening Day starter for the fifth straight season. He wasn't as bad as his record indicates in '09 - he suffered from a lack of run support and defensive help last year - but the Reds hope the big right-hander can do a lot better than he did given his $12 million salary in 2010. Do not read into Spring Training, let's see what he does on Monday, he usually performs well in that setting. I 100% agree with Baker going with the Harangutang for Opening Day.

Cueto is still just 23 years old (shit same age as I am!), and unlike last season, did not pitch in winter ball this year (nor did he have the World Baseball Classic like last season). So there is hope that he will continue to show flashes of being an ace more often than not as he continues to develop. Take Cueto's stats up until July (which was the equivalent of August or September pitch count wise because of all the non-MLB innings he played in before April) and he is was a solid two for just about any team. (April-July: 8-4 record with a 2.69 ERA)

Arroyo is still a rubber-armed pitcher who will probably give you 200 innings with an ERA around 4.00 to 4.50. Say what you want about Bronson, but when you hand him the ball every fifth day, he will be kickin that leg high and giving the team a chance to win on a consistent basis.

Bailey will look to build on his late-season success from '09 and turn himself into the #1 or #2 pitcher the Reds have been hoping he would be. It's a staff full of possibilities that could be very good, but could just as easily be a big disappointment. I think Homer will be the Most Improved Player on this 2010 Reds roster.

The fifth starter has been one of the hottest and most competitive battles that I can remember in recent years. The two starting pitchers the race has boiled down to are the young guns: lefty Travis Wood and righty Mike Leake. Both options I would be more than happy giving the ball to at the end of the Red's rotation. They both have been sizzlin in the Arizona desert and hopefully they can bring that heat back to the Queen City. My prediction (and it's not a bold one by any stretch of the imagination) is that both guys start games for the Redlegs at some point during the season. Travis Wood was the Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2009. He's proven over the course of a six month season, he can hurl it. On the Major League level? We won't know until he actually does it. My vote is for Wood to get the last spot. I would not however be upset at all if the Reds end up going with the hot hand of the spring and give Mike Leake the opportunity instead. He was the Reds #1 draft pick out of Arizona State. He would be the first player to have never played minor league ball and to go straight to the majors since Xavier Nady.

The bottom line here is for once, Dusty Baker will not have to decide between a washed-up crafty journeyman and an unproven, not MLB-ready kid who should be slamming Natural's in a college fraternity instead of vying for a spot on a Major Leage roster. Either way, he can't go wrong. Could he mess it up at some point in the season? ABSOFRICKENLUTEY. It's Dusty, as we all know, he's patented overplaying and under-developing young talent (ie. Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, hopefully not Cueto and Volquez, and/or Leake and Wood). I am excited to see both of thes young hurlers pitch in Reds uniforms.

The one name not mentioned so far is Aroldis Chapman. It wouldn't be a complete breakdown of the 2010 pitching staff without mentioning arguably the ballsiest move by the Reds front office in 15 years. The 22-year Cuban defector was a highly sought-after free agent during the off-season whom the Reds managed to surprise just about everybody and sign. Some question the intelligence of spending $30 million on an unknown like Chapman, but the fact that the money is spread over 10 years lowers the risk of the deal dramatically for the Reds. It’s rare that a team like the Reds has a chance to outbid the league for a talent like Chapman, so when the opportunity presented itself, they had to take it. Chapman is reportedly throwing an easy 97 MPH this spring and his control has been better than expected, but even with those reports, Dusty has made the decision to start him down on the farm at the start of the season. He’s still fairly raw, and with the way the contract is structured, it actually makes sense for the Reds to hold him back in the minors for at least a year. Still, don’t be surprised if the Reds bring him up later this season, especially if they don’t get much production out of the 5th spot in the rotation.

I don't think I am going out on a limb in saying that I believe the 2010 Cincinnati Reds go as their starting pitching goes. Like you hear all the time, defense and pitching wins championships. Well we have a Gold Glover at three of our four infield positions and our pitching staff is the most legit it has been since 1995 (the last year the Reds made the Playoffs). Only time will tell though. I'm excited to see it in action.

Stayed tuned this weekend for an in-depth breakdown of the infield position players as well as the bullpen. As for Kevin Frey Wannabe, I'm over and out and wondering if there is a good meat substitute other than fish.

-MGBJr

2010 Reds Preview (Part 1): Los Outfielders

With the heartbreak still healing on the basketball front, and Opening Day less than a week away, the consensus was to get rollin on some Redlegs coverage. Throughout the next couple days (leading up to Monday's game) my colleagues and I will break down this twenty ten Reds team position by position. Now presenting the 2010 projected outfielders...


Projected starting outfield:
RF. Jay Bruce - last year: 101 games, .223 avg, 22 HR, 58 RBI, .303 OBP, .470 SLG, 11 outfield assists

Point blank it's time for Bruce to show why he was regarded as one of the top outfield prospects in baseball. After returning from a broken wrist at the end of last season Bruce started showing signs of life, hitting .326 with 4 HRs & 17 RBIs in 18 games. Even with that final offensive push, he still only raised his season average to .223. Granted Jay is still only 22 years old, and he may have been called up a bit too early, but he will be going into his 3rd full year and should play a large roll in the success or disappointment of the Red's offense. I remember when Bruce was first called up in 2008 and started out with 11 hits in his first 19 at bats. He was like superman. While obviously an above .500 average is unrealistic, he did hit .308 through his entire time in the minor leagues. Bruce needs to improve his pitch selection and I think you'll see that average be closer to .300 than it is to .200. Regardless of Bruce's up and down offense, his defense has been outstanding so far. He only committed 2 errors last year and had 11 assists, tied for third among right fielders, and everyone else had 60 more games than him.


CF. Drew Stubbs - last year: 42 games, .267 avg, 8 HR, 17 RBI, .323 OBP, .429 SLG, 4 outfield assists
All signs point to Stubbs being the opening day center fielder for the Reds. Seeing that he wasn't on the opening day roster last year, he is yet another question mark trying to prove his initial success last year was not a fluke. Stubbs, the Reds first round pick in 2006, was called up from triple-A when Willy Taveras went down with injury in August. At that point, the Reds were well out of any playoff race and I'm sure the situation resulted in low amounts of pressure on Stubbs. Starting Opening Day in center field will certainly be A LOT more pressure. He wasn't really known for his power in the minor leagues, so the 8 HR's surprised a few people. He also had 10 stolen bases in the six weeks he was up in the majors last year and did a better job getting on base than Willy Taveras. I haven't heard/seen/read that the Reds will be changing leadoff hitters so I assume Stubbs is still the guy. This is yet another question mark for the Reds offense. Hopefully Stubbs can up the on-base percentage a little higher and keep stealing bases. Like Bruce, Stubbs is very good in the outfield and can cover a lot of ground. He had 4 assists in his small amount of playing time and did not commit an error.


And if you all thought RF and CF were a little iffy.. now we get to left field:

LF. Jonny Gomes - last year: 98 games, .267 avg, 20 HR, 51 RBI, .338 OBP, .541 SLG, 5 outfield assists
I can only assume that Jonny Gomes will be the opening day left fielder as good ole Dusty hasn't shown us his hand yet. Gomes was recently resigned and if you listened to other local sports writers/talk show hosts you would think Jonny Gomes was Matt Holiday. Yes the Reds need a power hitter from the right side, but if Jonny Gomes is the answer then we've got problems. I'm not really sure what the fascination is with Gomes, he struck out 85 times in 98 games and is slower than an ox out in left field. I guess he will have to do until another power right handed bat comes along. Hopefully Rolen can help fill that void a bit.


Other Options for left field:
LF/CF. Chris Dickerson - last year: 97 games, .275 avg, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .370 OBP, .373 SLG, 5 outfield assists
Dickerson recently came out saying he was disappointed no one was considering him for the center field job, since that is what he came up in the minors as being. However, at 28 compared to Stubb's 25, and after battling injury after injury, Dickerson finds himself on the outside looking in for starting outfield positions. He certainly was expected to have more power than 2 HR in 97 games last year. I'm sure we'll see a fair amount of him this year, but he too will have some things to prove if he wants to earn an everyday spot on the roster.


LF. Laynce Nix - last year: 116 games, .239 avg, 15 HR, 46 RBIs, .291 OBP, .476 SLG
There was a time early last year that Laynce Nix seemed like he was going to be a huge addition to the Reds. It was at that time that the fans started calling for him to be an everyday player. It was also at that time that his average starting going down the toilet. Nix will no doubt get his share of at bats this year as I'm guessing left field will be split between Gomes, Dickerson, and Nix.

One of the guys we haven't mentioned yet to keep an eye on is Juan Francisco. Last year he played in 14 games for the Reds and hit .429. He has primarily been a third basemen but there has been talk about moving him to left field to fill the void out there. Juan appears to have a bright future with the Reds and I would expect to see him up with the team consistently at some point this year. Most likely when Rolen goes down with an injury and now that Adam Rosales is no longer with the team.

Overall, the Reds outfield is filled with young talent with a lot to prove. If the veteran infielders can stay healthy and produce offensively, that should take SOME of the pressure off the young outfield. But of all the outfielders above, I would say Jay Bruce still has the most pressure on him and the most to prove. This group could be legit if they can stay healthy, but is probably the biggest question mark for a Reds squad that could certainly make a splash in the NL Central. Stay tuned for more Redlegs coverage. With that, Burnside, outta hurrr.

The Final Four...It's Finally Here

Well here we are. In October, 347 Division 1 teams tipped off the season with dreams of making it this far, and only four now remain in the hunt to be the best college basketball team in the country. We've come a long way in the past two weeks as we watched one seeds fall and Cinderellas outgrow their slippers. Only the best are left, while the John Wall Dances and the LaceDariuses watch from home. But who will bring home the title? Here's El Fuerto's take.

Most of the country wrote off Michigan St when Kalin Lucas went down, but Tom Izzo has his Spartans in yet another Final Four. The team did not even miss a beat thanks to the rest of the team stepping up teamed with exceptional coaching. Senior leader Raymar Morgan coolly nailed a game winning free throw in the Elite Eight win over Tennessee, and Super Sophomore Korie Lucious drilled a three to knock off Maryland. These two, along with Durrell Summers and Draymond Green lead the way for a Spartan squad that is more than familiar with NCAA Tourney runs. One major question is how Michigan St will potentially deal with facing an ACC power in the title game, after last year's embarrassment against the Heels.

The sentimental favorite Butler will be playing in the friendly confides of their home state, but we all know how that worked out for Michigan St last year. They are the only mid-major in the Final Four, and are also the only team whose coach gets carded when he buys alcohol. I'm not sure what that means, but it's definitely significant. Regardless, this team is not a fluke. They took out the top two seeds in their region in Syracuse and Kansas State, and also beat Ohio St, Xavier, and Siena in the regular season. Gordan Hayward is possibly the best player left in the Final Four, and Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard are both capable of making plays. While they are the biggest long-shot left, these "Hoosiers" still may have 2 more wins left in their Hickory High-esque run. (Sorry, I had to.)

Some things in the world just don't go together. Lamb and tuna fish, Cleveland Browns and winning, and Bob Huggins and NCAA Tournament runs. But somehow, the last one actually happened. Now, many people on here probably hate West Virginia and Huggy Bear and are viciously rooting against them, but I have two reason to love this year's Mountaineers squad. 1)They beat Kentucky. No John Wall dancing or shady looks from Calipari thanks to the efforts of Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Joe Mazzulla, and the rest of the team. 2)Deniz Kilicli. Straight outta Istanbul, he was suspended the first 20 games because he played professionally in Turkey before coming to the mountains. He has facial hair that can only be matched by Lucas O'Rear, and also, I'm pretty sure he doubles as the mascot when he's not in, which is kind of cool.

Finally, we have El Fuerto's pick from the beginning, the Duke Blue Devils. Experienced, battle-tested, and well coached, they are finally back in the Final Four. Coach K's squad flew under the radar while the other top dogs fell like toy soldiers throughout the last two weeks. They knocked off Baylor and Purdue squads that were playing their best ball of the season. (Even though Hummell was out)Duke countered the Bears' flash and athleticism with disciplined and fundamentally sound basketball, which is always a championship recipe. Finally, remember that article about the High Energy White Guard? Well, who is an idiot now?

Muskies Crashin the Ball in Indy? Why Not? PART 1

The title of this article infers that I am saying that Xavier is going to go to the Final Four. Make no mistake, I AM saying that: I have it in my pools and I am confident that this team is poised and ready to take SLC by the balls and will live to see yet another week. With that being said, this is Part 1 thus I will discuss the Musketeers first task at hand solely. The task is the West Bracket semifinal game in Salt Lake City, Mormonville vs. the Kansas State Wildcats at aprox 9:37 pm EST.

I said it Sunday night on my drive home from Milwaukee back to Cincinnati when I got on to the national radio show on Maddog Radio. I got on and discussed the Muskies and their chances vs. the very solid K St. squad, and ultimately why I think Xavier is going to take Round 2 this season with them. Xavier started off the season with more question marks than I can remember this entire past decade. New head coach, lost their top three scorers as well as team leaders, and their undisputed go-to guy had sat out an entire year and hadn't played a game with Xavier ever. The beginning of the season produced some disheartening showings by the Muskies (aside from the cake games at Cintas) and many of the X faithful were already talking about next year...even before conference play! (Please note that I was NOT one of these people) Xavier played such NCAA tournament participating teams this season as Marquette, Baylor, Kansas St., and Butler before Christmas, and lost all of them.

By the time Christmas rolled around, Xavier was 7-4 and had not won a game versus a noteworthy team. Little did we know, Xavier played and shot poorly against Baylor and Kansas St. because they are both top-tier defensive teams in the country. Both might I add are in the Sweet 16 (a place were the Almighty Kansas Jayhawks are not). Butler, whom Xavier should have beaten, also is in the Sweet Sixteen and I would love nothing more than to play them for a chance to go to the Final Four in Indy. I HATE BUTLER. I went to that game and it took every ounce of restraint in my body to not knock some Butler douche in the skull. What happened with Butler though as well as an extremely tough 2OT loss at Wake (I attended that game as well) in looking back on it, those losses were blessings. This team I would argue is the most battle tested team in the country. There is not a situation (fair or unfair) that they haven't experienced this year. This team is tough as nails and has the nerves of steel. They were able to take the hard-learned lessons from the first half of the season to end up going into the Swamp of the Gators (another NCAA tourney team) and beat them in a crucial bubble game for UF on the road. Xavier also played a hard fought game at Temple although losing, but were able to prevail vs. Richmond at home in 2OT.

Going 14-2 in the Atlantic 10 was no fluke. Temple and Richmond were extremely good, disciplined teams (say what you want about their NCAA games, St. Mary's and Cornell are still playing!!!) Also, I know you don't give a shit about the NIT as you shouldn't but Richmond and Dayton are in the Final Four of that. Big East blowjobbers, any comments on the A10 now?!

As has been discussed all week, Xavier and Kansas St. have a unique situation in the fact that they have already played this year (and the last couple years. See article concerning K St's bitterness towards X
http://www.statesman.com/sports/kansas-state-xavier-have-some-bad-blood-443191.html ) I watched that game in December in Manhattan and Xavier played without a doubt their worst game of the year. I mean Brad Redford was Xavier's leading scorer (tied with Crawford) at 16 points! That will not be the case tonight. No Way! This Xavier team in March is so much more mature, disciplined, and poised than that vague image of a Xavier basketball that I remember from that game. Chris Mack is not a rookie coach anymore. Jordan Crawford is not a first-year player for Xavier. This team has been there, done that, and they are battle-tested.

A stat that I would be doing everyone who reads this a disservice if I didn't show that sticks out to me like a sore thumb is this:

XU scored 56 points vs K St. that game. It was their lowest offensive output of the year by 6 points (61 v Butler) Since both of those games Xavier's lowest output has been 65 v. Minn and 68 v. Lasalle. WOW.

You tell me if you think this poised and momentus Xavier team is going to put up 56 points again. That game was at K St., tonight is on a neutral court. The Xavier faithful will be there, dont worry about that. They will be loud and they will represent. I can assure you of that. I can also assure you that Jordan Crawford will bring it yet again (27.5 ppg in the '10 tourney), Xavier will play good defense, and they will rebound. Minimizing turnovers as well as keeping Tuto and Crawdaddy at the guard positions and J Love and McClean out of foul trouble will be key. We cannot be relying on Lyons, Frease, and Taylor playing big minutes. We don't want that at all! Lastly, Dante needs to step up and hit a couple shots, make his late game ft's for God's sake! and play good individual defense and rebound.

If we do these things, I think the Muskies are playing Saturday. I like Frank Martin. I think his side job is in the Kansas maffia. I think K St. is loaded and talented. It also is tough to beat a team twice in one year, especially one of the caliber of this gritty and tough 2010 Xavier squad.

With that being said, AMDG, All for One and One for All, In It to Win It, May the Power of X be With You. Stayed tuned for Part II blogowers.

KFW

In A Tourney Full Of Cinderellas, Who Is The Best?

First order of business, congrats to Kevin Frey Wannabe for being referred to as the "most vocal and borderline frightening" fan of the weekend by ESPN.com. That's truly impressive, but hey, if the shoulder goes into the chest, it's a charge!

Second, a moment of silence to remember the 2009-2010 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team, who finished the season with a loss to Dayton It takes something special to turn a team with such high hopes into such a mediocre ball club. Very few coaches have the ability to underachieve with their teams as much as Mick Cronin does. Again, truly remarkable.

Now, down to business. One of the reasons March Madness is the greatest time of year is that the little guys get to prove that they can compete with the big fellas, and are often very successful. Legends such as Bryce Drew, Steve Nash, and more recently, Stephen Curry all put their respective schools on the map by turning into heroes with the game on the line. But this year is different than any other because of the number of Cinderellas making statements. The question is who will be remembered for the Tourney of 2010? Ohio busted many brackets when they knocked off 3 seed Georgetown, but they have been almost completely forgotten by now. Does anyone even realize that Washington will still be playing next week as an 11 seed? Here is El Fuerto's take on which Cinderellas made the biggest statements, and who is most likely to continue their run.

Northern Iowa The Panthers are the most well-known because of their take down of number one overall Kansas. On ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge, only 0.9% of America picked UNI to the Sweet Sixteen. So basically, not even all of the players' parents thought they could beat Kansas. Anyways, Ali Farokhmanesh made himself a household name after nailing a bold game-sealing three with the shot clock still in the thirties, not to mention he also drilled a game winner against UNLV two days earlier that surely would earned an ONIONS call had Bill Raftery called the game. Even better, Northern Iowa has a very good chance to keep their show rolling as they take on a Kalin Lucas-less Michigan State squad.

Saint Mary's For whatever reason, I really feel that the Gaels haven't received the respect they deserve. Mickey McConnell's off balance banked in go ahead bucket would probably be the play of the Tournament most years, but it really got overshadowed by Ali. The Gaels shouldn't care though because, as Verne Lundquist said about 55 times, the Aussies are unselfish and don't care about the accolades. Mickey had made 8 threes so far in the first two rounds, and also prompted a legendary Bill Raftery quote: "There are raindrops falling on my head Verne", but Omar Samhan runs the team. There is probably not another big man in the Tourney playing as well as Samhan, who averaged over 30 points in the first weekend. The Gaels certainly have Final Four potential, as shown in their win over Nova, but also their previous two games. St Mary's clobbered Gonzaga (by 19) and Richmond (only won by 9, but were up by 17 and took their starters out), so Baylor, Duke, and Purdue better watch out because the Aussie Express could be heading to Indy this year.

Cornell While the Big Red did not take down a legit title contender, they certainly proved themselves last weekend, beating Temple and Wisconsin by a combined 31 points. Ryan Wittman has been the go-to guy all season, but Louis Dale has taken his game to a whole new level lately. Cornell can shoot the three ball (53% against Wisconsin) and can defend it too (Temple shot 29% against them). The Big Red probably has the biggest challenge coming up (Kentucky) but also has the biggest chance to prove themselves as the greatest Cinderella ever.

O'Reared Weekend for Mid Majors

Holy Farohkmanesh it was a wild one! The first weekend of March Madness has officially concluded, and for the vast majority of us, so too has our bracket. Kansas, Georgetown, Nova, Pitt: trendy picks to head to Indy all took Scarlet-esque tumbles. There are several things that I think can be taken away from this weekend. A) Never again fill out a bracket. You will be much more satisfied watching people mourn the loss of their precious cash while you simply sit back and watch Cinderella go to work. 2) The Big East is about as over rated as...something that is really over rated. The so called elite conference in all the land watched 6 of its teams pack their bags the first weekend, several of which checking into heartbreak hotel. D) There are some teams that just have a knack for winning in March. Tom Izzo is a master of orchestrating Michigan St runs seemingly year in and year out, and the same can be said about that little Jesuit school over there on Victory Parkway. Experience kills, but perhaps Kentucky will beg to differ. And 4) Lucas O'Rear has an amazing set of burnsides on him.

Of the 16 sweetest teams in the land still remaining, 5 of these squads are reppin non-BCS conferences once again proving to the nation they can play. Northern Iowa shocked the world by taking down #1 overall seeded Kansas. Phenomenal, that's what it's all about. As I watched Ali Farokhmanesh knock down that 3 to essentially act as a dagger, I couldn't help but give a fist pump. The guys got balls the size of Canada, and UNI simply out willed an over confident Kansas team. Cornell has also turned some heads with their lights out long distance ability, and seemingly unlimited supply of ONIONS. It's hard to see these guys squeaking one out against UK, but let's look no further than George Mason taking down UConn just several years back for evidence that anything can happen when a team is knockin em down from deep, and facing the big boys face to face. Butler is homo, so that's all I'm going to say about them. Lastly, how could I possibly forget the St. Mary's Gaels. After getting snubbed last year from an at large bid, the Patty Mills-less Gaels have let America know what's up. Omar Samhan has played like Shaq in the '02 finals, and a slew of Aussies, led by Matthew Dellavedova, have vaulted the Gaels into the national spotlight. An elite 8 is by no means out of the question for these guys as Baylor has enough trouble not sniping their own teammates let alone winning NCAA tournament games.

And oh yeah, there's that Xavier team. Note the separation from those other "mid-major" programs, because what they accomplished yesterday along with the past 25 years is hardly mid-major. The Xavier Jordan Crawfords, I mean Musketeers, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd time in as many years. The only other team to have done that? Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. There's something about March that gets this team going. In their past 8 tourney appearances, the Muskies boast a 13-8 record including 2 elite 8s and 2 sweet sixteen appearances, not to mention they were merely a Greg Oden javelin toss of Justin Cage, and a Ron Lewis prayer from having another! Look all you want at the Kansas St. box score from earlier this year to see what Thursday nights game is going to look like, but understand, like every other year, Xavier is simply a different team in March. I like their chances, but heck, if I ever say I don't, there's probably something wrong with me. Hats off to the Muskies, and let's only pray J Craw can keep working his magic.

That's all I got, but stay tuned for El Fuerto's post tomorrow in regards to the rise of these mid-major studs. Should be a good one. As for me, Burnside gone.

Some Pre-First Round NCAA Tourney Things to Chew On

Happy St. Patty's Day Blogowers. I hope everyone remembered to dawn their kelly green and was able to get down a few Guinesses (or green kool-aid for the high school fellas) during lunch. Back to work though! Gotta save those hours away from the office for the next two days!

Just a few things while I am thinking about it:

1) Wanted to give my bother Matthew Berning aka Burnside a late birthday shoutout. He turned 17 on Monday March 15 (Beware the IDES!) and now does not have to worry about sneaking into rated R movies at the Western Hills Danbarry. By the way if you do ever go there, make sure to bring a plastic garbage bag to cover your seat with or you will leave testing positive for crabs, HIV, and gonorrhea. As we westsiders like to call it, "inexpensive fun" or "the gift that keeps on giving the whooooole year Clarke"...and no I don't mean a yearlong subscription to the Jelly-of-the-Month club.

2) Wanted to say best of luck to Coach Martin and the San Javier equipo de basquet this evening at the 'Tas. I haven't seen Lasalle play this season; I'm assuming they're pretty good and have a roster full of kids that were recruited illegally. Hey, throw the records and past history this season out, it's the tourney and anything can happen. Let's use our advantage in intellect to beat the inferior-in-the-classroom Lancers. Final Fours at Value Center Arena are always a good time.

3) We are officially less than 24 hours from the Madness. I assume everyone who reads this blog is just a big of a fan of the tourney as I am and using the word "giddy" to describe the way I feel about it isn't weird to say at least in front of this target audience. Either way, brace yourself because ready or not, here it comes!

4) As a precursor to the NCAA tourney, tune in to the Bearcats and the Flyers tonight in the NIT. I would love to see both of Xavier's bitches square off in the second round of the NCAA-Reject Tourney.

5) I leave you with a couple clips:
a) The first is all about the legend that is Bill "Onions" Raftery.
b) The second is the article from the NY Times discussing
the great things that Sister Rose does and has been doing for a long time over on the campus on Victory Parkway.
c)The third and final article breaks down every type of person that fills out an NCAA tourney bracket. Some humor in it....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/the_bonus/03/10/raftery/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/sports/ncaabasketball/16nun.html?pagewanted=1&hp

http://www.sportspickle.com/article:733/the-7-people-in-every-ncaa-tournament-pool

El Fuerto’s Tourney Preview (Part 2)

East

Teams To Beat

(1)Kentucky Wildcats
The Wildcats are 32-2 and have future NBA picks John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Patrick Patterson, but have some major questions. Most of this team has never played in the NCAA Tournament and they are prone to playing their age, as they average over 20 turnovers a game. Also, none of the other top seeds have a loss as bad as the South Carolina nightmare. While this team has Final Four potential, they could also find themselves heading back to Lexington before the weekend is over

(3)New Mexico Lobos
Steve Alford's squad is much more than the typical MWC pushovers of the past. They beat Cal, Texas A&M, and Dayton outside of conference and swept the Mormons in the Mountain West. I'm already looking forward to the Sweet 16 game between the Lobos and West Virginia, which would pit the nation's two worst NCAA Tournament coaches together, with Bob "Two and Out" Huggins vs Steve Alford, who lost to Northwestern St his last time in the Dance.

Sleeper Team

(8)Texas Longhorns
Its hard to remember, but this is the same Longhorns team that started off 17-0 and destroyed Pitt and Michigan St. They are led by hungry seniors Dexter Pittman and Damion James, and have one of the best coaches in the country in Rick Barnes. Plus, 2008 Memphis proved that you don't have to knock down free throws to win games. This is a dangerous squad who is definitely more than capable of giving Kentucky an early exit.

Upset Special
(13)Wofford Terriers over (4)Wisconsin Badgers
I know this is very unlikely (I actually have Wisconsin in the Final 4), but St X grad Brad Loesing will come ready to play in the Terriers first ever trip to the Big Dance. But seriously, try to find an upset in this region. A lot of people are taking Cornell over Temple, but mainly because the 5-12s suck and they feel an obligation to pick one. There's not going to be one.

Cinderella Spotlight

(15)Morgan St Bears
Any time a MEAC team avoids the play-in game it's cause for celebration. The Bears can score (81 points against Louisville, 97 against Arkansas) but gave up 80 points in a fourth of their games.

South

Teams To Beat

(1)Duke Blue Devils
There is a lot to like about Duke. They are ranked first in the Pomeroys, have the best coach in the country, are led by three seniors and two juniors, and have the NCAA's most efficient offense. Consider it a major surprise if the Blue Devils don't make it to Indy.

(2)Villanova Wildcats
They have been slipping lately, but look for Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher to get the team back on track. With an absolutely terrible region, the Wildcats could turn things around and make a Final 4 run.

Sleeper Team

(9)Louisville Cardinals
I think its safe to say that any team that sweeps Syracuse can make a run, and the Cardinals are definitely more than capable. With Edgar Sosa and the white Kyle Kuric, Louisville's backcourt can matchup with anyone. If Pitino's boys get hot, they could turn some real heads this week.

Upset Special

(13)Siena Saints over (4)Purdue Boilermakers
Honestly, is this even an upset? Purdue minus Hummel reminds me of Cincinnati minus K-Mart. Also, the Saints are very underseeded at 13. Eddie Ubiles, Alex Franklin, Ryan Rossiter, and Ronald "Onions" Moore are part of a solid group of upperclassmen that knocked Vanderbilt and Ohio St out of previous tourneys.

Cinderella Spotlight

(14)Sam Houston St Bearkats
The Kats are led by junior swingman Gilberto Clavell. I honestly know nothing about this guy, except he wear safety goggles which instantly make him 14 times cooler.

El Fuerto’s Tourney Preview (Part 1)

Midwest

Teams To Beat

(1)Kansas Jayhawks
The number one overall seed has serious championship potential. They ran through the Big 12 with a 15-1 record and humiliated Temple and Cal non-conference. Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry, Cole Aldrich, and Marcus Morris all have potential for a break out game every time they step on the court. Kansas has big time talent and major championship potential. It would be a major surprise for them to not appear in the Final Four.

(3)Georgetown Hoyas
Although they have struggled with inconsistency, G-Town can play with anyone, having knocked off Temple, Butler, Duke, and ran to the Big East championship game. I can see a major classic between the Hoyas and Jayhawks in the Elite 8 with Aldrich-Monroe, Wright-Collins, and Henry-Freeman matchups.

Sleeper Team

(10)Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Jackets struggled late, but if freshman sensation Derrick Favors plays well, G-Tech could turn some heads.

Upset Special

(11)San Diego St Aztecs over (6)Tennessee Volunteers
The Vols are hoping that the Kentucky disaster was a fluke, but it was not the first time Tennessee has no-showed at a big game (Vanderbilt, anyone?). The Aztecs will pound away at a Vols team that may be wearing down.

Cinderella Spotlight

(15)UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos
While discussing this game, I found out that one of my friends did not know that Santa Barbara was real He insisted that it was a made up city used by the TV show Psych. I think that sums up the Gauchos chances.


West

Teams To Beat

(1)Syracuse Orange
The Cuse take the top seed in the West, but somehow get to play the first weekend in their home state. The Orange have beaten 5 Top 25 teams, and could make a Carmelo-esque run this year, however first order of business is getting revenge on Vermont, who knocked them out in 2005.

(6)Xavier Musketeers
In case you haven't heard one of KFW's many rants on how this team will cut down the nets in Indy, I'll give a little breakdown on X's chances. They have some kid named Crawford who dunked on LeBron, and he's been dropping almost 20 a game, and should lead the Muskies to the second weekend.

Sleeper Team

(7) BYU Cougars
I could go on and on about how BYU is ranked top 10 in the Pomeroys, rebounds as well as anyone in the country, and shoots threes like a team full of Hornaceks. But there is one simple reason why they are poised to make a run: Mormon Discipline. The average Cougar player is about 35 years old and married, so I think they can keep composure with 2 minutes left. The Mormons also do not drink alcohol, so I would imagine they are probably in pretty good shape and will have no trouble getting up and down the court. However, this squad will face one enormous obstacle. If they make it to the Elite 8, they would have to forfeit due to the game being on a Sunday.

Upset Special

(13)Murray St Racers over (4)Vanderbilt
Commodores
The Racers are 30-4 and play lockdown, in-your-face defense all game long. They are fourth in the nation in opponent fg%, and are 6th in steals. With Billy Kennedy instead of Mick Cronin coaching the team up, the Racers are ready to finally break into the second round.

Cinderella Spotlight

(14)Oakland Golden Grizzlies
"I told the team before the game that people will argue with me on this, but we'll be the greatest team in the history of this league if you win tonight,"
"This is one of the most competitive teams I've ever been on. We don't want to lose at anything, not even video games."
"We have a goal board in our locker room, and on that goal board is to make the Sweet 16, so we're not just happy to be there."
These are all from the coach. I didn't make any of this stuff up. Really.

Tune in tomorrow for part two of El Fuerto's Tournament Preview to give you an in-depth look at the South and East regions.

Burnside's Take on the Madness

It's the Monday after selection Sunday, and I am already sick of all the amateur predictions floating around. Go ahead, get out your magnifying glasses and study the numbers, but let's be honest, your grandmother who picks teams based on her favorite color is probably more likely to take home the cash than you are. There's a reason it's called March Madness; you think you got it all figured out, then all the sudden, your final four team gets knocked out in round one (major salt). I just can't stand all the overpaid T's (enter Jay Bilas, among others) who give you their unwanted, not to mention typically faulty, opinion on how to fill out your bracket. Don't get me wrong, brackets are legit. I typically take a quick glance at the history books and go by my gut for the rest of my picks (ie Muskies snippin nets in Indy), but March Madness is about a lot more than this.

What do I think when I hear the words March Madness? Well first off, I think of the trumpets from off in the distance, tooting the oh so familiar CBS jingle. The heart rate is already on the rise, until I view a little One Shining Moment. I nearly cry myself into submission as I envision Crawdaddy and the boys hoisting the hardware in T-minus 3 weeks. Then I hear the golden tones of Bill "Onions" Raftery, and Gus "pyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyurrrrrrrrre" Johnson. Chills is an understatement, this is getting out of hand. Then I tune into some action, and notice a 5'10" white guy knockin down 30 footers en route to taking down the big boys. I proceed to hurry to my backyard, throw up a couple fade away air balls, realize the slipper doesn't fit, and head on in to catch some more action. I see the Muskies takin care of business as usual, getting to the sweet 16 and beyond. I then begin channel surfing for some UC Bearkittens action, only to discover the CBI is only broadcast in 3rd world countries. Fianlly, wake up the next morning with Charles Barkley telling me, "it wasn't a dream, it really happened" (Space Jam, anyone?).

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: it's the most wonderful time of the year. That's enough commentary from me for one day...now back to unveiling some presents. Burnside, GONE.

Deja Vu for the Bearcats?

If you guys couldn't tell already, I Michael Berning, am not a fan/supporter/etc. of the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball program. I never have and never will. For those of you who have similar feelings for the Muskies, I totally understand and I ask you not to lose that edge: that's what makes this the BEST college basketball town in the US of A. We hate each other, talk shit yearlong, and all of it is completely healthy. Honestly, I must admit hating UC was not fun for a few years after Huggie Bear left. I think Mick though has done a sufficient job filling that void. I cannot stand the little mouse. Sucks he got cheated on by his wife. Mick seriously dude, who the hell wouldn't cheat on your bug-assed self. Mad props to his ex. She must've been loaded when he proposed to her.

This short post though is not a Mick rip-fest. If you check out the poll to the right, I really want to see all of your guys' opinions on the Bearcats motivation for their tough, gritty play in the Big East tourney. UC fans should be proud of the way their team battled. Something is just telling me though that they weren't going balls to wall to save Mick's job or to represent the ghost of Nancy Zimpher. I look forward to seeing y'alls thoughts. Please feel free to comment below as well.

Do you guys of Charles Williams back from 1996? Because seriously, last night was dejavu! UC had the ball in a very advantageous position and because of a guard's inability to DRIBBLE the ball up the court, the Cats (insert Dan Hoard voice hear) turned the ball over only to lose on the ensuing possession by a game winning shot from the opposition. Legendary call by the great Andy Mac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xydgOHauwbU ) Gotta respect Lenny Brown and his oddly-shaped head and what he did in his career for the Blue, White, and Grey over on Victory Parkway. Face it, whether you liked him in college or not, as a fan of Cincinnati professional sports, you more than likely rooted for Brown as he graced US Bank Arena with his presence night in and night out as a member of the ever-famous squad in the Nasty Nati, the CINCINNATI STUFF!

I couldn't find the WVU gamewinner in the NCAA tourney but the following clip might sting a little bit as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UbSIC1JVhY . Sorry, I had to.... (actually I'm not sorry at all.)

And on that note, I am sending off: over and out.

GO MUSKIES tonight! Playing for the CBS trumpets on Sunday in the Atlantic 10 finals.

El Fuerto's Cinderella Previews

As an avid fan of college basketball who counts down to March every year, if I had to pick my favorite part of March Madness, it would probably be Bill Raftery's voice at 12:00 on the first Thursday. But, watching a tiny school slay a giant is up there too. These are the games where 10 years later, when all the players are used car salesmen, people still tell stories about them. Northwestern St over Iowa. Hampton over Iowa St. Winthrop over Notre Dame. Vermont over Syracuse. These are chances for a team nobody has ever heard of to knock out a team with title expectations on the first day. And a chance to ruin a lot of brackets, also. With that said, here is El Fuerto's list of nobodys who could potentially win a game or two next week.

Murray St At 30-4 the Racers are looking at a potential 12 seed. What makes this team so dangerous is their wide array of scoring options. Their starting five averages 10.6, 10.5, 10.4, 10.4, and 10.3 points per game. And their sixth man averages 9.5. While the Racers lack a big name win, they took Cal to the wire when they were ranked number 12.

Oakland Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe made news when he announced that the Sweet Sixteen was in the future for his Oakland squad following their win over IUPUI Tuesday night. It sounds very crazy for a team whose biggest win came against a 5 letter acronym, but Summit teams have put up fights in the past. Just ask a Jayhawks fan if North Dakota St was a walk in the park.

North Texas The Mean Green roll into the Big Dance with 11 straight wins, and opponents should watch out for a tough backcourt consisting of Juniors Josh White and Tristan Thomas.

Siena The Saints are technically a low-major team, but their recent results say otherwise. Siena has bounced Vanderbilt and Ohio St (ONIONS! DOUBLE ORDER!) from the tourney in the past two years. This years's version boasts superstars Alex Franklin, Eddie Ubiles, and Clarence Jackson, as well as Ronald Moore whose big time shots knocked out the Buckeyes last year. Look for the Saints to continue their big game dominance and play into the second weekend this year.

East Tennessee St The Buccaneers finally seem to have things together and look to be a dangerous matchup for a National Title contender. Tommy Hubbard is playing well down the stretch, but what makes the Bucs dangerous is their defense. ETSU is 14th in the country at forcing turnovers, and will bring a lot of pressure on whoever they get pitted against.

Oh No You Di'int

I’m assuming most have checked or heard about through the grapevine at the very least that the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Awards were announced Sunday. The one award the Xavier Musketeers could control was the conference regular season title and they took care of that (for the fourth time in a row to be exact) by going 14-2 and becoming Co-Champs with the Temple Owls. Congrats to Chris Mack (www.twitter.com/coachchrismack) and the squad on their great achievement. Cutting down the nets on Senior day at Cintas is kind of becoming an annual ritual (followed by massive boozing/celebrating at the Gardens).

Now to the flaming sack of dog shit (“don’t put it out with your boots Ted” style) that is the Atlantic 10 awards-voting. I don’t know if the rest of the Atlantic 10 conference (coaches, athletic directors, media) have against the poster-child team of the conference. Face it, Xavier fan or not, without the Muskies, the A10 is NOTHING! They have damn near dominated this conference from their inaugural year back in 1995 (or 1996…not 100% sure). Regardless though, year in and year out they rep the A10 proudly throughout the regular season knocking off BCS school after BCS school and then by going to the NCAA on an annual basis (many times being 1 of only 2 or 3 teams that gets in). Don’t get me wrong, I am not bashing the A10 conference THIS year…this is arguably the best year for the A10 ever (Note: 2004 they had 2 teams mere points away from the Final 4 in St. Joes and none other than Xavier). What I am so very fumed about though is seriously, how the hell did # 55 Mr. Jordan Crawford not come away with the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year. I mean I’m just gonna let out a MNF Countdown “C’MONNNNNNNNNN MANN!”

I was at the Richmond game a week or so back at Cintas. I was surprisingly impressed by the grit and toughness as well as the ability to execute in crucial times by the Spiders, but in no way shape or form did they possess the BEST player in the conference. Kevin Anderson wasn’t even the best player on his team! (in my opinion) I’m not going to bore you with a plethora of stats and compare and contrast. All you need to know is this: @JCraw55 (www.twitter.com/@jcraw55) posted far better stats (more points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game….all while averaging 5 less minutes a game!) Nuff Said. A10 coaches are just bitter and to be quite blunt about it, are not going to be pleased by the bomb that is going to be dropped on Atlantic City this weekend by the Xavier Musketeers.

I haven’t even mentioned my further displeasure with the voting that included Jason Love (www.twitter.com/lovej31) making the third team! (name 2 centers who were more dominant and were more valuable to their teams success this year than J Boogie), Holloway not even getting some kind of mention, Lyons (www.twitter.com/Str8_Mula) not making the all rookie team (that MF’er is going to be sick by the time he’s out of XU, and sooner rather than later if Crawford jumps to league this summer), and last but not least, first year head coach of the Co-Champion team in the league @coachchrismack. I can see why Temple’s dude Duffy got votes but I think people are not giving Mack and his staff the credit they deserve. I don’t want to repeat my post from last week (and as a Bomber and Muskie guy I am biased) but I think Mack, like Miller, is one of the best young, fresh coaches in all of college basketball and he should be receiving some serious accolades this year for what he has done. As for now, he’ll keep hanging banners and putting in orders for that bling-bling. Maybe he’ll actually stick around Cincy unlike the last four guys who have “done work” at Xavier (RIP SKIP). We can only hope!

Enjoy Championship Week blogowers. It really is the best time of the year. Hopefully the men in stripes (ironic certainly) can get a playmaker at the wideout position’s Herbie Hancock this week. Most crucial to keep up with the Ravens signing of Boldin. Marshall in my opinion is top 3 in the league currently (behind Andre the Giant and Larry Fitz) but give him a year or two and he could be THE premier guy in the No Fun League at his position.

This post also would not be complete if I didn’t give the Xavier women’s bball squad a shoutout. These girls can play! Amber Harris has the handles of a guard, the silky, smooth touch of a swingman, and the size of a center (and she rebounds like a dude). T’Shia Phillips is an absolute animal as well. She grabbed like 18 boards yesterday against Temple in A10 finals…and swatted the absolute snot out of some Temple chicks shot in the first half. Possible Streak Stoppers (of UConn) in the Final Four?! Best of luck to Coach Kevin McGuff and the Lady (although not so lady-like) Musketeers in the NCAA tourney and make sure to follow them. They play their first two tourney games at home at Cintas. I’ll be there….

I will leave on this note (and the following link) Chapman was throwing 102 mph’ers in a live game. In his first outing. Of spring training. IN MARCH! HOLY SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEET…this dudes gonna be sick as long as Dusty’s don’t do “his thing” with him. Also this article has forced me to tuck north:

http://deadspin.com/5486157/cincinnati-reds-the-looming-towerGood

Wanted: Ocho's Partner in Crime

Amidst all this madness of March, who really cares what's going on with the Bengals? That's what I said too, until I heard the name Terrell Owens. The Bengals wide receiver corps is depleted to say the least, and at this point, there is no doubt Mike Brown will be breaking out the check book to ink Chad a partner in crime. Anybody who thought Laverneus Coles would thrive in this offense is just plain ignorant, almost as ignorant as taking Jerome Simpson over the likes of Desean Jackson and Super Mario Manningham. I understand Simpson's freakishly large hands were essential in the Cardiac Cats clinching the AFC North last year, but the man isn't going to be contributing to the Bengals anytime soon.

And of course there was the devastation with death of Chris Henry (RIP Slim). Let's be honest, the Bengals were nowhere near the same team without him. Without Slim, the Bengals were a lowly 4-5 as compared to 6-2 with him in the corps. This need for a deep threat appeared to be addressed with the signing of 6-6 bad boy Matt Jones earlier in the offseason, but he has a lot to prove before anyone can consider him anything more than one heckuva(n) asset on your Madden roster.

Although Andre Caldwell could be a budding star in the slot position TJ Housh vacated, there is no doubt the Bengals need to add a receiving threat for Carson. Such names as TO, Brandon Marshall and Antonio Bryant have surfaced, as well as a deep crop of talent in the draft, but who really would be the best fit? As far as I am concerned, anytime you can get a talent like Brandon Marshall, you go for it. The Broncos tendered him so that any team interested would have to give up their 1st round pick, but in the case of the Bengals, a 21st overall pick is more than worth it. His numbers show nothing but top notch consistency as he has posted 100+ receptions the past three years, and he is arguably far from reaching his best years. The only downside to Marshall is the fat contract that would likely come along with him. Some predict a roughly 5 year $50 million deal would be in store, but if the Bengals honestly felt Coles was worth $7 mill a year as a washed up slot receiver, BM is well worth 10+ fat ones a year. Why the Bengals didn't pursue Anquan Boldin harder is beyond me. Baltimore only gave up a 3rd and 4th round pick to get a top tier threat, but at this point, the Bengals can only focus on what's in front of them.

As far as other options, I think bringing in Antonio Bryant would be borderline senseless. He would demand top dollar simply because he is the "best available" WR on the free agent market, and his lack of consistency and sketchy health screams mediocrity at best in stripes. Now for that other old guy on the market: TO. From the Bengals perspective, I in all seriousness see this as the most logical guy to go after. They could likely sign him to a one year deal for considerably less than the $6.5 million he got last year from the Bills. 36 or 26, this guy can make plays, and I get chills thinking about an Ocho and TO combo in the nasty Nati. I just can't stop thinking about Dean Portman/ Fulton Reed bash brothers combo (Mighty Ducks all the way) when I imagine these two gentlemen suit up side by side. Throw in Matt Jones, and you've got yourself a trips formation of grade-A bad asses. Just think about it for a second, and pardon the chills.

Sure the Bengals could go for a big name from the draft, but as far as I am concerned, either Marshall or TO is the way to go. Let's face it, these guys will all feed off the attention when they are flyin high in the Nati together, and as far as Mike Brown is concerned, I don't think there will be too much trouble filling seats with Ocho, Jones, and BM/TO going to work every Sunday.

That's all I got for now. Muskies about to do work in the A-10 tourney and beyond. It's the most wonderful time of the year! With that, Burnside, out like a fat kid in dodgeball.

The High Energy White Guard, most important player on the court?

Like every other upper class caucasian male watching the Louisville Cardinals topple the number one team in the country, I was drawn to one player: Kyle Kuric. The white sophomore guard who averaged 3.5 points and slightly over 5 minutes per game, came in during the second half and proceeded to score 22 points on 9-11 shooting. He also dove after approximately 105 loose balls and boxed out 78 shooters, most of whom have 5 inches and 40 pounds on him, which brings me to my point. Every basketball team needs to have a high energy white guard.

To quote the great Don "Moose" Lewis, founder of the AABA, white Americans are vital to any basketball team because they "play fundamentally sound basketball, which they enjoy." This could not be more true. Seriously, when was the last time you saw Travis Diener take an ill-advised jumper? White guards run the offense, make solid bounce passes, get a hand in the passing lane, and box out the shooter. Oh yeah, and they generally can shoot, too. But perhaps the most important aspect is the way the crowd gets behind these white guards. After watching Freedom Hall explode after each Kuric basket, I think it is safe to say that the crowd gets 150% more excited when a skinny white guy knocks down a three in front of them. They can relate to these players because of the many similarities. For example, many crowd members chuck up threes all the time in their intramural or rec-league games, often times yelling out "Korver" as they do so. Go ahead, compare crowd noise decibels when Brad Redford knocks down a long range jumper to when Dante Jackson does the same. Just saying. They get the crowd rocking. Think about it, there several reasons why the Lakers won the NBA Championship, none of which involve Kobe or Pau. They are Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic and Adam Morrison. Even Jordan Farmer is sort of white. Look at the Magic, also. Does anyone honestly think they would've made it to the Finals without JJ Redick? I think the point has been made, so here is a list of top high energy white guards who every team would be lucky to have.

Ben Woodside - the 5'11 guard from North Dakota St really defines the white guard. In the 2009 NCAA Tournament, Woodside scored 37 points for the 14 seed Bison, and nearly single-handily took out Kansas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXAgRIwEGS8 Seriously, watch it and then try to argue with me. He is a basketball god.

Matt Carroll - If there is one thing sweeter than a white shooting guard in the NBA, then it is a white shooting guard in the NBA who wears a sleeve. Why else would the Bobcats offer him $4.7 million? Because he he was the D-League MVP? Michael Jordan knows what I'm talking about...

Kyle Korver - Self-explanatory. 875 of his 1,703 career baskets have come from long range. The fans love him. Jerry Sloan benches him if he comes inside the three point line. Enough said.

Jeff Hornacek - A legend among white shooting guards, Hornacek walked on to Iowa St, became an all-conference player, onioned the Miami Redhawks in the 1986 NCAA Tourney, got drafted, traded to the Jazz, and the rest is history.

Thank God It's March

With the winter months finally behind us, it's time to shift gears. March has finally come, and for many of us, there's a lot to be excited about. Spring Training is in full swing, the NFL draft talk is heatin up, D-West is droppin 40 a night, and of course, MARCH MADNESS is on the horizon. Unfortunately for UC fans, madness may be an understatement for their March's as of late. Their boy Mickdaddy has essentially led the program into the ground, and to me, nothing says that better than his ever so impressive 0-11 record in the month of champions. As for the rest of us, prepare yourself for the CBS trumpets and the golden tones on Bill, Gus, and the boys; it's going to be a good one.

After the dusting of the Fordham Rams last night, the Muskies continued their stellar play, and more importantly, Jason Love officially became the winningest player in Xavier history. Hats off to the big fella, and let's hope he's got 9 more in him. With J-Love, Crawdaddy, and Tutu all clicking heading into March, it's hard not to get visions of the Indy nets getting cut down. Right now, Joe Lunardi has the musketeers at a 6 seed, and honestly, I don't see them getting much higher based on their history of tanking the A-10 tourney when they don't need the automatic bid. Regardless, this team is going to be exciting to watch down the stretch.

On a side note, it has been called to my attention New Mexico is currently projected as a 2 seed. Given my name is Burnside, I was looking for something that particularly got under my skin to post about, and this is more than sufficient. For those of you unaware, yes, New Mexico is in fact a state in the US, and yes, they apparently have heard of basketball. Besides a sweep of the mormons of BYU (isn't that sacrilegious?), the Lobos have about as impressive a resume as the Fordham Rams. I could legitimately see this team stumbling 1st round to a 15 seed. Don't put it past Steve Alford who has already stumbled to a 14 seed Northwestern St. in the 1st round of his illustrious coaching career. His 2-5 record in the big dance also shouldn't scare anybody. The bottom line is this, New Mexico has one bid to the tourney in the last 10 years, and no matter what seed they want to "reward" those (new) mexican bums with, they're not going anywhere.

Before I get back to watching Pam Halpert birth a child, I just want to say this. Look out National League, here come Aroldis and the Redlegs. With that, Burnside, out.

And the Beat Goes On....

First of all, thanks to El Fuerto for the NIT breakdown. Great to see some of the local teams getting some exposure in there. Good for Mick Cronin and Brian Gregory continuing their schools' traditions of mediocrity and underachievement. I aint complaining. The real team in Cincy is live in living color as we have now finally entered the best month of the year: MARCH BABY! (By the way, stay tuned for a CBI breakdown next week from El Fuerto)

The 2009-10 Xavier University Musketeers Men's Basketball team. Another coach, another year of doubters, haters, nay-sayers, and........another "to-be' Atlantic 10 regular season Conference Championship. That's what the Muskies and Mike Bobinski do: get rings (fat rings) and hang banners. I love Chris Mack as the head coach of this team. I will wait until after the season is over before I say why I think he's in for the long run. As for now, I am focused on the here and now, and thats wrapping up a league title for the 4th year in a row! and trying to get the best seed possible. (I say that like I have any control in it. At the Richmond game, I lost my voice, so theres my contribution).

Looks like all the talk about the A10 getting 5-6 teams is dwindling down as everybody is beating up on eachother (aside from Temple, Richmond, and Xavier). I must admit, the Atlantic 10 has been fun to watch this year...for once. The conference doesn't get enough national exposure on ESPN but after last week, I have a ton of respect for the young squad at SLU and for the grittiness of Richmond. Look for the Spiders to be playing in the second weekend of the tourney...you heard it here first!

Finally, just some thoughts on three individual Musketeers:

1) Below is my post on Cincinnati.com (http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100228/COL03/302280010/1007/SPT/Lights++camera++action+...++XU+s+Holloway+) on Terrell "Tutu" Holloway:

TRADITIONX09:

I've been saying it since the great game in the Shootout this year: when all is said and done, Holloway will be the best point guard in XU history. Lavendar was great but didn't play four years, Chalmers always will have a soft spot in my heart but more because of his play during the Run because his career was somewhat inconsistent.

Holloway is still inconsistent but man oh man, when he wants to play, he cannot be stopped. It's the biggest stage that Tutu relishes and the deeper into the game and OT's, the better plays. Crawford has been stellar all season. He had a bad half and it is awesome to see the Muskies step up when their offensive leader was off the mark. Great win.

I like where this team is headed going in to March. #12 RPI and the squad is battle-tested....there is no doubting that!

2) Jason "Buddy" "Lovely" "J Boogie" Love

Has there ever been anyone that exemplified what a Xavier student/basketball athlete is better than Jason Love? He came from D1 bball school-rich Philly and chose Xavier in the midwest, mainly because none of those schools really offered him (no Philly schools, althugh Penn St. and Providence did). He came here overweight, uncoordinated, and basically a big oaf who couldnt walk and chew gum at the same time. He came in though and from Day 1, worked his balls off and got better every season, considerably better at that. I'll give it to him, he had a ton of room for improvement but to go from 20ish % body fat to now like 6ish% or something stupid low is just absolutely unbelievable. That shit doesn't happen overnight. Neither does developing an offensive game or being one of the most dominating rebounders in the conference. All things that Love has become his senior year. A year where he is the lone-senior, he has taken the load on his shoulders and done an exceptional job leading these young Muskies.

I think I speak for all Xavier fans and maybe just basketball fans in general in saying that come Saturday, I am going to be sad after the game knowing that I will never see @LoveJ31 (www.twitter.com/lovej31) play at Cintas ever again. It has been a pleasure watching him grow, battle, and bust his ass all while shutting up and putting up for the Xavier program for 4 years. Thats what Xavier does: recruit those guys that the big boys pass on but who are willing to work harder than most, bring their lunch pale to work, and when they graduate people say "I'm going to miss having that guy in line-up night in and night out."

Thank you J Love for all your hard work. You will be missed. Let's finish strong. After tonight, he will be the WINNINGEST PLAYER IN XU HOOPS HISTORY!

3) Finally, last but not least, Coach Chris Mack and Coach Pat Kelsey

I just wanted to quickly acknowledge these guys for the job they have done. Xavier Nation was fumed after Miller bitched and hitched for Zona. A year later, I thank him because finally, since Skip, we have two coaches in Mack and Kels that CARE about Xavier bball. They are alums, are from Cincy, and have invested interest in the program. Great to have them here.

I just want to note that at the beginning of the season, we were all wondering how Xavier was going to makeup for the loss of CJ, Derrick, and BJ (our top three scorers and 60+ percent of our offense from the Sweet 16 team). Also if you can remember Sean Miller and Thad Matta's rookie seasons, those Xavier teams were hard to watch many times. They struggled and lost games they shouldn't have lost, naturally I guess with new coaching. Thad had D West and lost in the 2nd round...that was unacceptable for the team that he had. Sean had lost Chalmers, Sato, and Myles BUT didn't even make the NIT! People were calling for him to get fired! (Lets face it, that ONE bad year is the norm over there in Clifton).

Mack (www.twitter.com/@coachchrismack) and Kels are on the verge of winning the A10 title in arguably the deepest and toughest the conference has ever been with a ridiculously low 2 losses! (Im assuming we win the next 2 games). Best of luck to the boys and lets hope they can remained focused with their eye on the A10 prize....it's so close! (This is what we do. Good find BG.... http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6271764/20283529?tag=comBlogEntryListCnt;entry20283529)

Over and out,

CLICK CLACK

Ps. Make sure to tune in to the USA soccer squad take on the Dutch today at 2:30 pm. The World Cup in June will be unreal and today will be a little precursor of how it will be. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXHmTJrPaXQ)

El Fuerto’s NIT Projections

NOTE: Games updated through February 28
The Matchups:

1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (20-9) vs. 8 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (19-10)
4 St Louis Billikens (19-9) vs. 5 Miami Hurricanes (18-10)
3 Washington Huskies (19-9) vs. 6 Harvard Crimson (20-6)
2 Memphis Tigers (21-8) vs. 7 Akron Zips (22-8)

The Irish sneak into the NIT as the number 1 overall seed, but with NCAA caliber wins over Pittsburgh and Georgetown, they will likely need losses to UConn or Marquette down the stretch to seal their spot. Memphis is playing their best basketball of the year with 5 wins in their last 6 games, while the Billikens knocked off Dayton and Rhode Island in February. Both should be considered threats to make noise in the NIT. The U won all 14 nonconference games, but is in last place in the ACC at 4-10. Forward Quincy Pondexter of Washington is averaging just less than 20 ppg, and is arguably the best player in the NIT. Harvard is sitting right on the bubble, and another loss to an Ivy team not named Cornell could push them off. Lehigh is the current leader in the Patriot, but to make the NCAA, they will need to beat Lafayette who dropped a 90-spot on them last week. Akron takes on Kent on March 5 to decide the MAC regular season championship. This rematch of Kent’s 17 point home win in January may be the biggest MAC game since Wally Sczerbiak balled it up with Miami.

1 Dayton Flyers (19-9) vs. 8 Wofford Terriers (23-8)
4 William & Mary Tribe (20-9) vs. 5 Marshall Thundering Herd (22-7)
3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-11) vs. 6 Green Bay Phoenix (20-11)
2 Cincinnati Bearcats (16-12) vs. 7 Stony Brook Seawolves (21-8)

With all due respect to the Gophers, Tribe, Herd, and Phoenix, all eyes would be on a potential Dayton-Cincinnati matchup in the quarterfinals. Both the Flyers and Bearcats appeared to be NCAA caliber squads, but recent collapses changed that. The two local rivals haven’t met since November of 2005, and a Stephenson-Wright matchup would be pretty entertaining. However, both would have some tough roadblocks before they get there. William & Mary is a tough out, shown by their nonconference wins over Richmond and Maryland. Minnesota has a fine resume of their own, headlined by wins over Butler, Wisconsin, and Ohio St. Green Bay is a bubble team riding high on their overtime win over Wisconsin earlier in the season. Like Cornell, they are ok to lose to Horizon powerhouse Butler in the tournament, but probably no one else. Unless the Seawolves knock off Vermont for an unprecedented 3rd time this year in the American East tourney, they are set to take the conference’s automatic bid. Marshall has 22 wins, so even with a loss to UTEP on Tuesday should be in good shape provided they beat the Methodists on Saturday. Wofford won 10 straight to clinch the one seed in the Southern Conference, but is on a collision course with heated rival Furman in the second round.

1 Mississippi St Bulldogs (21-8) vs. 8 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos (17-9)
4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (19-9) vs. 5 Northwestern Wildcats (18-11)
3 Wichita St Shockers (23-8) vs. 6 Virginia Commonwealth Rams (20-8)
2 Seton Hall Pirates (16-11) vs. 7 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (23-8)

With a 3 game win streak going, the Bulldogs likely need a loss Wednesday against Tennessee and possibly an early exit in the SEC tournament to feel locked in. Seton Hall has a top-20 strength of schedule, but that really doesn’t mean much if you’re only going to win 2 and a half away games all year. (Why would you even play Monmouth on the road?) The Wildcats knocked off Purdue early in the year, but also lost to Penn St twice. Oakland currently leads the Summit, but perennial powers IUPUI and Oral Roberts are looking very strong down the stretch. The Gauchos will try to prove that Santa Barbara has more than just Shawn Spencer, however losses to Santa Clara, UC-Irvine, Cal St-Northridge, and Long Beach St (By 20) speak otherwise. Wichita St beat Northern Iowa, but punched their ticket to the Little Dance by losing to Utah St and Bradley down the stretch. The Rams are definitely on the bubble after finishing tied with Drexel for 5th place in the CAA, but gets major help from wins over Rhode Island, Old Dominion, and Richmond.

1 Arizona St Sun Devils (19-9) vs. 8 Belmont Bruins (19-11)
4 South Florida Bulls (17-11) vs. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-12)
3 Mississippi Rebels (20-9) vs. 6 St John’s Red Storm (15-13)
2 Charlotte 49ers Rebels (19-9) vs. 7 North Texas Mean Green (21-8)

The Sun Devils snag the final one seed based on their number 54 RPI (remember this is the NIT) and 4 wins in their last 5 games. Charlotte and Ole Miss, once considered ones, have faltered down the stretch losing 4 of 5 and 5 of 8, respectively. St John’s snags the final at-large bid, fending off contenders Arizona, George Mason, North Carolina, and Virginia. Wins over NCAA teams Siena, Temple, and Louisville prove that the Storm can compete, and possibly play for the NIT title on their home court. North Texas has an awesome nickname and 8 straight wins, and is definitely capable of pulling off an upset or two. Texas Tech has dropped 5 straight, including a disgusting overtime loss against Nebraska. Likewise, USF has lost 4 of 6, but should be ok because they have wins over Pitt and Georgetown to lean on. Belmont can clinch a share of the Atlantic Sun with a win over Mercer on Thursday.

First Four Out (NCAA): Rhode Island Rams, St Mary’s Gaels, Virginia Tech Hokies, Illinois Fighting Illini

First Four Out (CBI): Portland Pilots, Arizona Wildcats, Illinois St Redbirds, George Mason Patriots

Bids by Conference
American East: 1
Atlantic Ten: 3
Atlantic Coast: 2
Atlantic Sun: 1
Big 12: 1
Big East: 5
Big Ten: 2
Big West: 1
Colonial Athletic: 2
Conference USA: 2
Horizon: 1
Ivy: 1
Mid-American: 1
Missouri Valley: 1
Pacific 10: 2
Patriot: 1
Southeastern: 2
Southern: 1
Summit: 1
Sun Belt: 1