2009 Red Sox Game 7 Preview

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J. Lester		0-1, 9.00		D. Braden		0-1, 4.50
Red Sox		2-4		Athletics		2-4

Monday, April 13, 2009       Oakland Coliseum    ✠ 10:05 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox:  -  Lester tries to bounce back from a shaky first outing, in which he gave up eight hits and five runs over five innings to the Tampa Bay Rays. Lester came out strong in that one, striking out five over the first two innings. This is his third career start at the Colisuem, where he is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA. Lifetime against the A's, Lester is 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA. He hopes to perform better on the road than he did last year, when he went 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA.

Athletics: - In the first Opening Day assignment of his career, Braden -- at 25 the oldest member of Oakland's starting rotation -- held the host Angels to three runs over six innings but was outpitched by Halos lefty Joe Saunders, who blanked the A's on three hits over 6 2/3 innings. Braden gave up nine hits, none bigger than Howard Kendrick's opposite-field homer in the fifth inning. A soft-tossing lefty who relies heavily on command, Braden walked one and struck out three on 97 pitches. He faced the Mariners twice last season, both times in relief, and allowed two earned runs in two innings. He's 0-1 with an 8.71 ERA over 10 1/3 innings against Seattle for his career.

?WTF? Beats me what they are talking about, the day by day shows Braden pitched once against the sox, last August when he went 3 1/3 allowing 4 earned runs at Fenway in a loss. ?WTF?

Filed under the Baseball is a funny game, especially when it comes to stats column.

Last three years the Sox are 6-11 at Oakland with a 4.14 ERA with Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Okajima and Lester getting the wins. Only Matsuzaka and Schilling have a .500 record or better as starters though.

The funny part, if you look at the last five years though the Sox are 10-13 (4-2) with a 4.46 ERA. Almost 1/2 of a run increase in the ERA and they won almost as many games in those two years than they have won in the last three years. Some times you just never know in this game.

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Week 1 Stats Recap

Ok, so week 1 is in the books and not a moment too soon. The Season is not off to the best of starts but hey, what are you going to do jump off a bridge? A long season has just started and we are only 4% through the season, plenty of time to make up lost ground.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and at Baseball Reference.

Batting Stats

	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR	RBI	BB	K	GDP	BA	OBA	Slug%
Opp	198	54	13	1	9	27	26	42	7	.273	.362	.485
AL	2954	760	164	14	98	398	314	602	71	.257	.334	.422
Red Sox	198	48	10	1	8	20	24	36	7	.242	.329	.424

Not very good splits for the Sox. Those opposing numbers means that the Sox Pitchers have not been doing their job either. The problem for the Sox is the batting average. They just need to get more hits (doh!). Surprisingly, it was the Angels that really kills the pitchers. .289 / .375 / .485 against the Angels this past weekend and that included two Quality Starts by Wakefield and Penny.

As bad as the Sox were though, it was even worse when they had runners in scoring position - 8/46 with a .174 / .304 / .261 in that situation. Opponents were 20/66 with .303 / .392 / .409. No wonder they went 2-4 for the week.

Pitching Stats -

	GS	CG	W	L	W Pct	SV	SHo	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	HBP	BK	WP	ERA
OPP	6	0	4	2	.667	4	0	53	48	22	19	8	24	36	2	0	1	3.23
Red Sox	6	0	2	4	.333	2	0	52	54	29	29	9	26	42	3	1	1	5.02

That is UGLY - a week to forget!!!

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 6 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		4	9	0
LAA	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	X		5	10	2

W: D. Moseley (1-0) L: J. Beckett (1-1) S: B. Fuentes(2)
HR ➢ Bos: J.D. Drew (1), K. Youkilis (1) LAA: V. Guerrero (1)

✫       - B. Abreu - His two run single made got the lead for the Angels and they never gave it up.
✫✫     - V. Guerrero - His solo bomb gave the final winning margin
✫✫✫   - Youkilis and Drew for their back to backs

⋔ Fork - The entire offense, another day, same song, different verse - 1-10 RISP and 10 LOB.

Game thoughts!

Beckett looked good until the third. The third saw the Angels get a couple of seeing eye singles and then the big hit was the Abreu single to right that scored two runs. Of course if Drew hadn't missed the cut off man on the previous play, there would have been only one run scored on that hit.

I have to be honest, this is getting old though, another day and another game and the Sox are absolutely sucking with Runners In Scoring Position. I know this team is better than it has shown so far, but geez, it is tough to think of the last place Red Sox.


♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 6 Preview

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Josh Beckett		1-0, 1.29		Dustin Moseley		0-0, 4.50
Red Sox		2-3		Angels		2-3

Sunday, April 12, 2009     Angel Stadium of Anaheim  ✠  3:35 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.com Scouting Report

Red Sox:  Beckett was in top form on Opening Day, firing seven strong innings against the Rays, allowing two hits and a run while striking out 10. Beckett has struck out 10 or more in a game nine times in his career. Beckett pitched well on the road last season, going 7-5 with a 2.85 ERA. In his career against the Angels, the righty is 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA. At Angel Stadium, he is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

Angels:  Moseley delivered a solid season debut, yielding three earned runs on nine hits across six innings against the A's on Tuesday while striking out four men and walking none. All the damage came in one inning when the A's bunched together four singles for three runs. Making good use of his two-seam fastball, Moseley got ground-ball outs when he needed them. He has faced the Red Sox twice in his career and has no record and an ERA of 8.10.

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 5 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	1		5	8	0
LAA	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1		4	8	0

W: B. Penny (1-0) L: J. Saunders (1-1) H: R. Ramirez (1) S: J. Papelbon(2)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Lowell (1), (2) J. Bay (2) LAA: (2) M. Napoli (2), T. Hunter (1)

✫       - J. Bay - Two, count them, two HR's with 3 RBI's. The Sox needed every one of them.
✫✫     - M. Lowell - His two run shot (with Bay on base) got the Sox offense going.
✫✫✫   - B. Penny - 6 innings pitched and only 84 pitches thrown, yeah boy!!!

⋔ Fork - None, but Papelbon was threatening.

Game thoughts!

Tightly played game with all of the Sox runs coming off of the Home Runs. A much needed win and good game by everyone. If Penny gives us 30 more starts like this one, the Sox will be more than happy with him this year.

After 35+ pitches Papelbon is done in this series, but man did he struggle. The fastball was all over the place today.

Factoid - A nine game losing streak to the Angels was broken.

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 5 Preview

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Brad Penny		0-0, 0.00		J. Saunders		1-0, 0.00
Red Sox		1-3		Angels		2-2

Saturday, April 11, 2009      Angel Stadium of Anaheim ✠ 4:10 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report 

Red Sox:  -   The right-hander is determined to recover from his injury-plagued 2008, when he went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA for the Dodgers. Penny would love to get back to the level when he won 16 games in 2006 and 2007, making the All-Star team in both seasons. This is Penny's first season with the Red Sox. He has a career record of 94-75 with a 4.06 ERA. Penny is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA in five career starts against the Angels. At Angel Stadium, he is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA.

Angels:  -   Saunders is coming off a dominant performance in the season opener against the A's on Monday in Anaheim. The 2008 AL All-Star yielded just three hits and two walks while striking out two, coming out of the chute firing bullets just as he had last season when he beat the Twins in his debut en route to a 5-0 April and 6-0 start. In fact, you might call him Mr. April. No ordinary Joe, Saunders is 8-0 with a 1.84 career ERA in the opening month of his two seasons and 14 days of Major League service time. His two-seam fastball was a big pitch against the A's, jamming hitters and inducing grounders in key situations. Intensely competitive, Saunders has enjoyed some of his best games and biggest moments against the Red Sox. He's 4-0 against Boston in his career with a 2.89 ERA in six games. He was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three outings against Boston in 2008. O great another guy who owns the Sox. Just beam me up now scotty!

2009Red Sox Game 4 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0		3	7	0
LAA	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	x		6	10	2

W: J. Weaver (1-0) L: T. Wakefield (0-1) S: S. Shields (1)


✫    -   Jered Weaver - another opposing pitcher strikes down the Sox Batters.
✫✫   -  Kendrik - 2 Rbi's
✫✫✫  -  Mathis - 2 Rbi's

⋔ Fork - J. Masterson (2nd time this season), for letting a close ball game get out of hand by allowing 3 runs in the seventh

Game thoughts!

Is there anybody on this team besides Youkilis that can hit? Another game and for the 3 game in a row the Sox have scored less than 4 runs. This team needs to warm up those bats before they take the field.

For some reason the Sox can't even win when their starter throws a quality start, and in this case it led to the ninth straight loss to these yahoo's. Wake up the bats boys!

Factoid - Sox - 1-6 RISP, Angels - 5-14

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 4 Preview

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T. Wakefield		0-0, 0.00		Jered. Weaver		0-0, 0.00
Red Sox		1-2		Angels		1-2

Friday, April 10, 2009      Angel Stadium of Anaheim ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox:    -    The veteran knuckleballer is beginning his 15th season for the Red Sox. The only other active player in the Majors to have worn his uniform continuously for one team since 1995 is Mariano Rivera for the Yankees. Wakefield is second on the club's all-time list in appearances (504), second in strikeouts (1,797), third in wins (164) and third in innings (2,581 2/3). His 178 career wins are the ninth most among active pitchers. Wakefield pitched better than his record last year, finishing third in opponents' batting average at .228. Wakefield tied a career-high with 18 quality starts in '08. Lifetime against the Angels, he is 9-12 with a 4.80 ERA.

Angels:    -    His spring was delayed by shoulder soreness and then set back briefly by a back strain, but he bounced back and finished strong and appears ready to go fairly deep in games. Weaver gets by on deception with his delivery, quality stuff and a competitive instinct that enables him to do some of his best work in high-pressure situations. He was 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two outings against the Athletics last season and is 2-2, 2.56 in seven career starts against them. Weaver was better at home (6-5, 3.71) than on the road (5-5, 4.91) in 2008. If he puts it all together, he could fulfill the expectations of his dominant rookie season in 2006.

There are times when I just don't understand Francona. This is one of them. Wakefield has dropped his last four starts at Angel Stadium, where he has not won since 2002, posting a 9.78 ERA in those outings (from espn.com preview).

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 3 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0		4	10	2
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1		3	7	0

✫     - Garza - has became a Sox killer.
✫✫    - Longoria - two run home run deflated the park
✫✫✫   - Youkilis - the man is smoking

⋔ Fork - Matsuzaka - 3 home runs, last year he allowed 12 all year.

Game thoughts!

Two words - that sucked!

Ok, the Sox lost the first series and now they head for Anaheim, which oh yeah, they have sucked at lately. It is not time to line the bridges though, there are 159 games left to play.

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 3 Preview

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Matt Garza		0-0, 0.00		Daisuke Matsuzaka		0-0, 0.00
Rays		1-1		Red Sox		1-1

Thursday, April 9      Fenway Park✠ 1:35 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Rays:    Garza has the best stuff on the Rays staff, which he put on display while claiming MVP honors during last season's American League Championship Series -- particularly in Game 7 when he shut down the Red Sox to claim the win. At age 25, the right-hander seems to be maturing on the mound, where he has experienced problems controlling his emotions in the past. The one thing he has lacked is consistency, as he has been either lights-out or didn't have it. He needs to better learn how to win when he doesn't have his best stuff. Garza is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox; he is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three career starts at Fenway Park.

Red Sox:    Dice-K didn't win any contests for pitching artistry last year, but he got the job done, finishing fourth in the American League Cy Young Award voting. The Red Sox hope for more control and efficiency out of Matsuzaka this year, as he walked 94 batters in 167 2/3 innings. However, he led the Majors in opponents batting average, limiting them to .211. He was fifth in the American League with 8.27 strikeouts per nine innings. Matsuzaka is 17-7 with a 4.10 ERA in 30 career starts at Fenway. He is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA in eight starts against the Rays.

The rubber game of the opening day series and then the Sox take off for Anaheim. A nice short win would be nice, but then again mister nibbler is pitching. Still, I like the Red Sox chances!!!

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 2 Recap

Press Pass ✠ Recap✠Box✠Play -by- Play

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	1	1		7	13	0
Boston	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0		2	8	1

W: S. Kazmir (1-0) L: J. Lester (0-1) SV: G. Balfour (1)
HR ⇛ TB: E. Longoia(1), C. Pena(1)


✫       -  Kazmir - 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER - Not as good of a start as Beckett but he was good, of course it didn't hurt to have the ump giving 4 inches on the outside corner.
✫✫     -  Pena - His two run shot in the 5th was a dagger to Lester.
✫✫✫   -  Kaplar - Nice catches in center and some good base running

⋔ Fork - Lester - 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 5 er - He got hammered.

Idle thoughts

Lester started off well, but the Rays got to him in the fifth. Not a good way for the leftie to start the game, but after being 11-0 in his last sixteen home starts we will let it slide. Still it didn't help that Kazmir was getting 4 inches on the outside corner when Lester was not. Tomorrow is another day, or in this case the next game is another day.

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game 2 Preview

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S. Kazmir		0-0, 0.00		J. Lester		0-0, 0.00
Rays		0-1		Red Sox		1-0

Wednesday, April 8, 2009      Fenway Park  ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Rays: Kazmir struggled throughout the second half of the 2008 season, primarily due to an inability to locate his slider, which historically has been his best pitch. In the first half he posted a 3.02 ERA and in the second he pitched to a 4.02 ERA. The left-hander enjoyed a nice spring that saw him find his slider and lock in his mechanics, which could be a precursor to a good season. Historically, he has enjoyed pitching at Fenway Park, where he is 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 11 career starts. He is 6-7 with a 3.62 ERA in 21 career starts against the Red Sox.

Red Sox: The left-handed Lester is coming off a breakthrough season. Aside from winning 16 games, he led the staff with 210 1/3 innings. He threw a no-hitter against the Royals at Fenway on May 19. He also had a shutout at Yankee Stadium on July 3. He was the American League's Pitcher of the Month in July, going 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Lester is 16-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 31 career games at Fenway. He is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA against Tampa Bay. However, the Rays beat him twice in the American League Championship Series last October.

♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

2009 March Madness Final

Ok, so I didn't pick the winner, but I did have the Tar Heels in the Final, I just figured it would be Louisville instead of Michigan State facing them. Oh, well, the fragging Heels won. I really, really, really hate North Carolina and the ACC (except for Duke). Still you have to give them their due, the Heels and the ACC have now beaten Big Ten teams 5 times in the championship game since 1985. They are now 7-5 in Championship games since the first 64/65 teams of march madness and they are tied with Duke for the most championships since that time.

Number two conference is SEC with a 5-3 record (Arkansas 1, Kentucky 2 and Florida 2). It would be nice to see the SEC bounce back this coming year, but I just don't see it. Oh, Well!!!

2009 Red Sox Game 1 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0		3	3	0
Boston	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	X		5	9	0

W: J. Beckett (1-0) L: J. Shields (0-1) H: J. Masterson (1) S: J. Papelbon (1)
HR ➢ Bos: D. Pedroia (1), J. Varitek (1)

Tough to pick the stars in this game. Every Boston hitter got on base with a hit except for Jacoby Ellsbury, with the 2-6 hitters reaching base twice each (only Youkilis had two hits, the others a hit and a walk). When you are putting that many people on base you are going to score runs and that is what the Sox did today.

✫       - Beckett - 7.0 IP, 2 Hits allowed, 1 Earned Run, only 3 BB and 10 K's.
✫✫     - Pedroia for his first inning Home Run on the second pitch he saw.
✫✫✫   - Drew for his ground out that scored Pedroia for the game winning run. It took a great dive by Pena to prevent a 2 run double or triple.

⋔ Fork - Masterson - for making it close by allowing a double steal on his first pitch and then a single that made it a save situation. Inherited runners should not score.

Game thoughts!

Beckett and Pedroia got this game off on the right foot in the first inning. Beckett K'ed two in the first and Pedroia smashed one into the Monster seats and the Sox never trailed in this game. The only bad spots in this game came in the third when Beckett struggled but only allowed the 1 run and when Masterson choked the bit in the eighth inning.

Bad luck of the day came when Drew smashed one down the first base line that Pena made a diving stab on for the solo put out at first base. If that ball had gotten by Pena Drew would have had another double or even possibly a triple. A very good play by Pena robbed Drew.

Factoid - Beckett became the first Red Sox pitcher to start and win on Opening Day at Fenway since Aaron Sele beat Minnesota, 9-0, on April 26, 1995.

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Game1 Preview

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James Shields		0-0, 0.00		Josh Beckett		0-0, 0.00
Rays		0-0		Red Sox		0-0

Monday, April 6      Fenway Park✠ 2:05 p.m. ET

Alright, another season is about to start! Yeah boy, 2:05 be there or be square, well actually I will be working but WTIC will be on!!! Looking forward to another season, another winning season!!!

As usual, I have the links listed for previews so have fun and we'll be back after the game!

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Rays: Shields built a reputation as a pitcher who will do whatever is necessary to pitch his team into the seventh or eighth innings, which is evidenced by two consecutive seasons with 215 innings pitched. He has not pitched at Boston since he plunked Coco Crisp in the second inning of the June 5 game at Fenway Park, touching off a bench-clearing fracas. Five Rays players were suspended a total of 23 games for their part in the memorable incident that many feel helped push the Rays to their incredible pennant run. He went 2-2 with a 5.85 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox in 2008. Included in this body of work was a masterful complete game, two-hit, shutout of the Red Sox on April 27 that saw him strike out seven while walking just one. Shields has a 2-4 career mark against the Red Sox with a 5.23 ERA in eight starts; he is 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA in three career starts at Fenway.

Red Sox: Beckett is in a far different place than he was last Opening Day, when he was on the disabled list with back woes. Beckett turned in a strong Spring Training, looking a lot like the guy who dominated opponents throughout 2007. This will be the fourth Opening Day start of Beckett's career, but first since 2005. However, he is no stranger to Fenway openers. Beckett pitched the home opener for the Red Sox in 2006 and 2007, winning on both occasions. Beckett has generally pitched well against the Rays in his career, going 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 10 starts. In his career at Fenway, Beckett is 21-16 with a 4.79 ERA. He has been a strong starter during his career, going 18-10 with a 3.35 ERA in April.

Updated the links due to the postponement of the 4/6/2009 game.

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament Elite 8

Down to 8, the Great 8 or Elite 8 or whatever else you want to call it, but it is down to 8 teams. Any surprises? Well, Missouri's pasting of Memphis was a surprise but none of the other wins were suprising. Today it is #3 Missouri vs #1 Connecticut followed by #3 Villanova vs #1 Pittsburgh. At least one Big East team will make the Final Four today, will it be 2?

Who, knows, certainly not me, but I did have the Nova vs Pittsburgh match up. Connecticut seems to be on a mission, but can they handle the press of Missouri? I still think they will miss Dyson, but it would not surprise me if they make the Final Four.

As for tomorrow's games, well I think I will still stick with UNC and Louisville.

INANE STATS OF THE DAY -

✰ - #1 Seed vs #2 Seed - This match up has happened 46 times in the last 24 tournaments, #1 has won 26 of them. The only tournaments that haven't had a 1 vs 2, 1990 and 1999.

✰ - #1 Seed vs #3 Seed - 22 times this match up has occurred in this tournament and the #3 Seed has won eleven of those match ups. The #1 Seed has won 4 of the last 5 of those games including the 2 match ups in last years tournament.

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 NCAA Basketball Picks - Round of 16

So, the first two rounds have came and gone and we are now looking at Sixteen Teams, the sweet sixteen. Any surprises? Well, only Arizona in my book since that is the only team I did not pick to be in this round. All the others went according to Hoyle but there were some close calls. Below is what to look for and other misc / inane statistics but if the gods of basketball want to make me happy, then the only loss that I suffer in this round would be Gonzaga beating North Carolina (have I mentioned how I hate the ACC, except for Duke that is).

Sweet 16 Match Ups – (note - when I talk about overall or previous records etc, I am only talking about since 1985, since that was the first year of the 64/65 team tournament. That is also how far back my database goes.)

✰ - UNC vs Gonzaga - No previous match ups in the NCAA tournament the last 25 years. UNC is 12-4 in sweet 16 since 1985, while Gonzaga is 1-3. Odds favor the Tar Heels. Glad that I picked them to win this match up.

✰ - Oklahoma vs Syracuse - These two teams met in 2003 when the number 3 seed Orangemen beat the number 1 seed Sooners. Two very good teams with very similar results in this round. Oklahoma is 4-3 and Syracuse is 4-5.

✰ - Pittsburgh vs Xavier - Pittsburgh has not won a sweet sixteen game in the last 25 years. Xavier has actually won 2, including last year. Will Xavier be able to handle the Panthers bruising style?

✰ - Duke vs Villanova - Duke hasn't been past this round in a while, 2004 they beat Illinois (a 5 seed) for the first win in the third round since 2001. Since 2000 Duke is 2-5 in this round. Significance? Well yes when you see that they are 11-6 since 1985 in the third round. Makes my Villanova pick look better.

✰ - Louisville vs Arizona - In 1994 #2 seed Arizona beat #3 seed Louisville. Since 1997 Louisville is 3-0 (4-5 overall) in this round. I fully expect them to make that 4-0.

✰ - Kansas vs Michigan State - Kansas has won their last 5 sweet sixteen games (10-5) overall. Michigan State has 5 of their last 6 (5-4 overall). This is a revenge game though, earlier this year Kansas was walloped by State. The last time these two teams met in this round was in 1986 when #1 Kansas beat the #5 Spartans.

✰ - Connecticut vs Purdue - Purdue is 2-3 overall but hasn't been to this round since 2000. UConn has made the sweet sixteen 11 times since 1990 and is 7-4 in those games, 5-1 in their last six games. This match up is where I thought they would miss Dyson, but the way they have played in the first two rounds of this tournament, I would not be surprised to see them blow out Purdue in this game.

✰ - Memphis vs Missouri - Next to Duke and Villanova, this may be the most anticipated game of this round. Memphis is 5-1 in this round since '85 but this is the fourth straight year that they have reached the sweet sixteen. Missouri hasn't been here since 2002 but is 2-1 in this round. Still I think I will go with the Tigers from Memphis.

Other miscellanous tidbits - This is the first year since 1989 that the SEC does not have a team in the sweet sixteen. Only the ACC has a longer streak (25), and only the Big East is approaching that mark (16).

The Conferences (6 BCS and those in this years tournament) with the best winning percentages since 85 in this round are; C-USA - 9-2, Atlantic 10 - 11-4, Big 12 - 24-19, Big 10 - 26-21. The worst is the West Coast Conference - 2-3 followed by SEC at 22-27.

Conferences with the best match ups in this round is the Atlantic 10 vs Big East (1-0), Big East vs Big 10 (4-2), Big 12 vs Big East (6-3) and C-USA vs Big 12 (2-1).

♊ - Everybody dies, Tracey. Someone's carrying a bullet for you right now, doesn't even know it. The trick is, die of old age before it finds you.

2009 NCAA BB Picks Otherwise Known As March Madness

Here we go

Midwest - Sweet 16
Louisville beats Siena, Wake over Utah, Kansas beats W. Va. and Mich. St. over USC.

West - Sweet 16
Uconn over BYU, Purdue beats Washington, Missouri over Utah St. and Memphis beats Cal.

East - Sweet 16
Pitt beats Tenn, Xavier over FSU, Nova beats UCLA and Duke over Texas.

South - Sweet 16
UNC over Butler, Gonzaga beats W. Ky., Syracuse over Temple and Oklahoma beats Clemson.

Great 8's
Louisville, Michigan St., Purdue, Memphis, Pitt, Nova, UNC and Oklahoma.

Final 4
Louisville, Memphis, Pitt and UNC.

Champ - Louisville beats UNC by 9.

Prepping For March Madness 2009

Mayhem is almost upon us!!! As usual I will be posting the picks and my thoughts but some quick upset information that I have culled from the 64/65 years database.

Seeds 2-4 that never get upset by conference:

C-USA - 11-0
WAC - 9-0
Big West - 4-0
West Coast - 3- 0

Seeds 2-4 that win 9 out of every 10 by conference:
ACC - 43 - 4
Big East - 40 - 4
Atlantic 10 - 10 -1

Seeds 2-4 that lose more than they should by conference:
SEC - 30 - 6
Pac 10 - 22 - 7
Big 12 - 28 - 9

5 seeds you should watch by conference:
SEC - 9 - 5
C-USA - 2-2
MVC - 1-1
Pac 10 - 4-6
WAC - 0-3

13-15 seeds that win more than average by conference:
Big 12 - 1 - 1
Colonial - 6 - 9
MVC - 2 - 4
Atlantic 10 - 1-2
Mid Continent - 4-9
Midwestern Collegiate - 2-6
Mid Eastern - 2-8
West Coast - 2-9
Ohio Valley - 3-1

NFL 2008 Championship Games

Philadelphia at Arizona (-1) - Philly has been playing like a beast, but so has Arizona. Taking the Cardinals and the home field.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (1.5) - Pittsburgh wins a tight one at home.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.