It all started back in 1966 when Krzyzweski started his college career playing point guard under Bob Knight.  While Knight wasn’t very personal according to Krzyzweski, Krzyzweski began to look to Knight as his mentor.  After serving for a year as Knight’s assistant, Coach K decided to return to his Alma Matter and ended up being the head coach for five seasons at West Point.  His success was mediocre at best as he compiled 73 wins and only one NIT appearance in that span.  Yet when the Duke Job became vacant, instead of turning to a high profile coach they turned to Krzyzweski to begin rebuilding the traditional power house in Durham and thus his legacy there began.

The rebuilding process  did not go as quickly as the Durham faithful would have liked.  After three seasons at the helm and only a 38-47 record along with just one NIT appearance to his resume, many fans commenced with their wishes to end the coach’s time with Duke.  The following season saw the process of winning the fans back on his side start though.  With players such as Jay Bilas and Johnny Dawkins leading the way, Duke reached the NCAA tournament for the first time under Coach K in 1984.  Since that year, a Krzyzweski lead Duke Team has never failed to reach the NCAA tournament (the exception being the 94-95 season when back issues forced the coach to take an indefinite leave of absence).  Yet the first great team for Coach K set its mark by reaching the final of the 1986 tournament, putting Coach K on the national stage for the first time.  For the rest of the decade, Duke would make a sweet-sixteen, two final fours, and another runner up place in 1990.

When the nineties came, Duke had all the pieces in place to begin the talks of Coach K becoming a real legend in the sport.  A horrendous defeat to UNLV in that 1990 final forced the team to set the bar high and redeem themselves from that embarrassment.  With Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, and Grant Hill all forming the core of the team, Krzyzweski took the team back to the national title game where it had yet to claim a victory.  The 1991 final would prove different as Duke managed to defeat a Roy Williams lead Kansas team and Krzyzweski now found himself a national title winner.  The first step to a legendary career had been completed but the question was, would the path continue?  It didn’t take long as the following year saw the same core group of players defeat Michigan’s Fab Five to claim back to back titles.  Something not seen since the days of John Wooden winning seven straight championships.

Now that Coach K had joined the ranks of Wooden in a momentous occasion, could he continue his astonishing rise amongst the great coaches of all time?  The loss of the majority of the core of the back-to-back team proved too much to overcome as the run of national titles ended the next year.  Yet the following year proved coach K was a terrific coach as he returned a different team to the national championship game but couldn’t see the win through.

Yet the legacy in progress finally reached a scaring point.  It wasn’t on the basketball court that Coach K’s career was nearly brought to a halt.  Offseason back surgery in 1994 eventually forced Krzyzweski to leave the team in the middle of the 94-95 season after 12 games. The team struggled without their leader and fell to a losing record on the year, failing to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since Krzyzweski first took them there.  Some wondered whether or not Coach K would continue his impressive coaching record or just decide to retire.  He decided to return with his fully healed back the next year.  The process was slow but three years later, Duke began a run of nine straight NCAA appearances with at least a sweet sixteen finish.

The high pointof this remarkable run was the 00-01 season when a Duke team led by Shane Battier and Jason Williams took them to a national championship by defeating Arizona.  This was Krzyzweski’s third title and the talks of being an all time great were unanimous amongst most people who had watched his career unfold.  By claiming another national title with an entirely new team from the back-to-backers, it was clear Krzyzweski could succeed with any team he coached.  Yet the great run ended in the 2007 tournament as an under talented Duke Team fell victim to VCU with the following year only producing a second round appearance.

The most recent run of success lead Coach K to his fourth and so far last title.  With a completely different team full of frontcourt depth, Coach K guided his team past all the hype behind a Cinderella Butler team.  Gordon Hayward’s shot bounced off the rim and the Duke faithful celebrated again.  With his fourth national title, Krzyzweski passed his mentor Bob Knight in national championships won and tied Kentucky legend Adolph Rupp for the second most national titles by a head coach.  He now only trails John Wooden’s incredible ten championships; a mark many believe will never be beaten even by the great coaches of this time or later times.

The last step for Krzyzweski’s greatness occurred yesterday though.  In Madison Square Garden, which some consider Duke’s second home, Coach K took the court against a Michigan State team full of questions seeking to become the winnisgest division one basketball coach of all time.  The game progressed very evenly through the first half.  After Coach K’s regularly great halftime adjustments, Duke went on one of its traditional big runs that proved too much for the Spartans to come back from winning 74-69.  Even in defeat, Tom Izzo had to extend the coaches’ handshake in order to congratulate  Krzyzweski on his legendary career.  The most telling moment was after all the postgame handshakes when Krzyzweski walked over to shake the hand of his greatest basketball influence.  With tears in his eyes, Coach K paid his respects to Bob Knight who in turn gave him congratulations, something that Coach K valued tremendously judging by how emotional he was.  Yet his leadership proved to be unselfish as he said the game ball would go to the Duke Basketball Hall of Fame because it was everyone involved in the program under his tender that allowed him to achieve 903 wins. 

Now that the record has passed, what’s left for the outstanding coach from West Point?  Many, including myself, believe that 1000 wins is a distinct possibility if he has a few more years left in him.  That would put him and Pat Summit as the only coaches in division one basketball to reach quadruple figures in the wins column.  Perhaps a breaking of the tie Adolf Rupp and him sharing four national titles apiece also remains on his to do list.  Yet no matter what his goals are for his career, there can be no doubt Coach K is one of the all-time greats.  Is he the greatest?  That debate is up in the air but most consider him to be a step lower than Wooden but with his triumph at the 2008 Olympics bringing in high praised success outside of the college world, many have no doubts that he is the second greatest of all time.  Dick Vital has even gone as far as to proclaim him the best coach in all sports right now, period.  Again, that debate is in the air but from his success on the court, the argument is convincing.

Yet you know Coach K will not dwell on his legacy for now.  A game with Davidson is approaching and he is probably in his office studying film or practicing with his team at this very moment.  While most believe this year’s team will not achieve the ultimate goal of a national title, Coach K will not believe that.  Like all great coaches, he only sees the team in front of him and believes that the players there have what it takes to garner the ultimate prize.  After all, it was this team that put any sort of doubt on his legacy out of the world forever .  As Bob Knight said after the game “The history of college basketball has had no better coach than Mike Krzyzweski.”

Anyways, enough of that, let’s get back to what really matters here.  It’s not that the Miami Heat lost the finals but that the Dallas Mavericks finally won the championship.  Since Mark Cuban took ownership of the team in 2000, the Mavericks have made the playoffs every single year.  That’s eleven straight years in the postseason.  While you might say the Lakers could do that with ease, put this in your mind: before this streak of postseason appearances, the Mavericks hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1990 and that was a first round exit to the Portland Trail Blazers in the form of a sweep mind you.  Yet with one purchase,  Mark Cuban suddenly put energy into a team that was struggling to succeed a found a way to make Dallas a succesful franchise.

Even with Cuban’s investment though, the Mavs still needed a star to shine.  Cue Dirk Nowitzki to fill in that role.  The seven-foot German made his way to the Mavericks by a draft day trade as former coach Don Nelson wanted it.  His rookie year didn’t go so well only averaging 8.2 points per game.  Bring in a billionaire willing to invest in a team though and suddenly Dirk’s numbers rose quickly.  He averaged 17.5 points his next year and 21.8 points the next and his ppg would never dip bellow that number again in his career. 

Now that the Mavs had the owner and the superstar, what was next?  The path to an NBA championship of course!  The path began fairly quickly with trips to the Western Conference semi-finals in the first two years under Cuban.  The next year nearly saw the improbable with the Mavs almost making the NBA finals but losing out to the Spurs in six games.  It was at this point, being a Mavericks fan myself, that you could only feel the triumph had to be close.  The next year didn’t continue the improvement though as the Kings knocked the Mavs out in five yet Donnie Nelson remained the head coach.  That didn’t hold for very long as Avery Johnson came in mid-season as the new coach but again Dallas couldn’t get it done in the playoffs as they exited to the Suns in the Conference Semi-finals.

Then, in 2006, it almost seemingly came together.  The Mavericks pulled off a sixty win year, Avery Johnson won coach of the year, and the Mavs knocked out the Grizzlies, Spurs, and Suns on their way to the franchise’s first NBA finals.  It almost went perfectly, the Mavs took a 2-0 series lead on the Heat and it looked as though the Larry O’Brien trophy would finally be headed to the Big-D!  Then the unthinkable happened, Shaq and Dwyane Wade found their games, shut down the Mavs, and won the next four games to take the title in six games.  This left all the Mavericks players and fans, including an innocent Camp Weed attendee, stunned.  How did this happen?  After all this work in building up the team, we blew the finals….

The year after that almost wiped the memories of the below par series right of the face of the franchise when the Mavs were the number one seed in the Western Conference by going 67-15.  Then again the unthinkable happened.  The eighth seeded Golden State Warriors, under former Mavs coach Don Nelson, beat the Mavs in six games in the first round.  Again, Dallas fans were left stunned.  The regular season had gone as well as it possibly could have gone and yet we lost to our old coach?!  The following year didn’t go as well either as the Mavs were the number seven seed and lost in five games to the New Orleans Hornets in five games.  It was after this that Mark Cuban decided one more change was needed to be made as he decided to let Avery Johnson go and brought it what might have been the final key piece to the franchise, Rick Carlisle.

Anyone who really followed the NBA knew Carlisle had previous coaching experience with the Pacers but to the casual fan, Carlisle was a bit of a nobody!  He’d never won an NBA championship as a coach (he had won the 1986 title as a player but didn’t play a major role on the Celtics team that won).  In fact, if you really knew your NBA, you knew Carlisle was the coach of the Pacers at the time of the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills between the Pacers and the Pistons.  While you can’t point the finger at Carlisle for causing that brawl, it didn’t exactly put a great image on his record.  Cuban didn’t care about this and thought he was the best man for the job.

The first two seasons didn’t go as stellar as had been anticipated though.  In Carlisle’s first season, the Mavericks were nailed in five games in the semi-finals by the Nuggets and in the first round the following year to the seventh seeded Spurs.  Carlisle really hadn’t brought what the Mavs’ fans thought they were in desperate need of, a championship!  Some believed Carlisle’s job was in jeopardy as Cuban must have been feeling the same disappointment as his fans but he decided to trust his coach and it turned out to be the right decision.

This year started out average, it wasn’t spectacular but wasn’t dreadful either.  Then, towards the middle of the year, a big problem came: Caron Butler tore his ACL and a key figure next to Nowitzki was lost for the year.  Even after this setback the Mavs persevered.  Players like Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and Tyson Chandler stepped up in order to fill Butler’s shoes and took the Mavs to the number three seed in the Western Conference. 

The playoffs road began with a tricky series against the Trail Blazers.  Bandon Roy had been injured for most of the year and yet, knowing the Mavs in years past, you couldn’t think any opponent was too easy.  The Mavs kept the Blazers in it till 2-2 then the top gear clicked on and the Mavs won in six games.  What was their prize?  The almost undignifiable honor of playing the Los Angeles Lakers.  There was no possible way Dallas could do it, none!  Even when you big talk around your classroom that the Mavs are going to beat the defending champs, can you really, honestly believe it?  But the unthinkable happened.  Not only did the Mavs beat the Lakers, they swept them!  The Mavs made Lamar Odom mad enough to get ejected and Andrew Bynum crazy enough to clobber J.J. Berea on his way to an easy lap.  They ended the Phil-Kobe era in L.A. and, to top it off, wouldn’t have to play their archrivals, the Spurs,  in the finals (they lost to the eight seed Grizzlies in the first round) but would get their I-35 rivals the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference finals.  Again though, Mavs’ fans exercised caution as it had become all too easy to get overly confidant before and this young Thunder team definitely had it in them to win.  The Mavericks never let the Thunder gain control though and after coming from fifteen points down in the fourth quarter of game four to force overtime and win, it looked all but true, a return to the finals would happen.  After the game five win, the initial celebration began but one more trophy need to be one, the Larry O’Brien trophy.

So here they were again.  The opponent was considered too great.  Again the Miami Heat stood in the way of the Dallas Mavericks claiming a championship.  How could a team with one star compete against a young, talented, powered threesome of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh?  Through the first three games it looked liked young talent might trump over experience as the Heat took a 2-1 lead over the Mavs.  Yet again though,  the Mavericks proved they had the stuff.  As Lebron James faded in the fourth quarter, Dirk Nowitzki rose to the challenge and stock piled the majority of his points in the final frame.  Even if Dirk struggled, Jason Terry pulled out the scoring machine we’re used to seeing, Jason Kidd showed how great an all around player he really was, and the franchise came together finally.  When the horn sounded after game six and the Mavs had finally won their championship, it only took an interview with ESPN’s Hannah Storm to hear how excited Mark Cuban was.  It only took a bit of private time for Dirk to let emotions get the better of him.  It only took a trip back to Dallas to realize how much the fans had longed for this moment.  After ten years of what seemed like bad playoff luck and teams built for the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks finally accomplished the goal Mark Cuban set out for when he bought this struggling franchise.

Think of it this way, if you have been to college or are planning on attending college, how much money is the college going to pay you in cold, hard cash?  For the majority of you, that answer is a big, fat zero!  You may have earned scholarships to bring tuition, book costs, or whatever else you may have had to pay down but it wasn’t anything you could actually use in your daily life.  So then I pose the question, why should a college athlete be given this privilege when the majority of us will never get that opportunity?

Let’s examine the facts of a scholarship athlete in modern times.  At the bare minimum, that student gets a full ride to attend that university or college and at least a dorm to live in (at the larger universities, the athletes live in an apartment with a roommate on the team).  The meal plan covers food and drink requirements and, let’s be real, if you’re a basketball or football player, you are the big time people on campus.  Living in a big college town like UF, I can definitely understand that motto for sure.  You might as well have proclaimed Tim Tebow the emperor of all gator nation over the four years he was here.  Also, the athletic association pretty much takes care of your everyday needs that the school doesn’t cover so that isn’t an issue either. 

Now, lets compare what I’ve just described with an average college students these days who’s not an athlete.  Depending on what university you attend, you pay anywhere from $18,000 to $55,000 a year.  Also, you’re pretty much a nobody on campus most of the time.  If I try to walk through my future college to see who knows me at a 10,000+ student school, I can maybe expect 20-30 people to know who I am.  This means I sure can’t expect any favors or anything of the like from most people.  Also, unless your parents are paying for it, you have to work your butt off to just get by everyday.  No association makes sure you’re completely happy and makes sure that you’ll never transfer ever.

Now some people bring up the argument that teams have walk-on players who aren’t on scholarship and therefore don’t have their way paid.  I’m not trying to be cruel here but that is that athlete’s choice.  Simple enough, and I say go for it if that’s what you really want, but don’t complain about the college life being hard.  I’ve heard numerous times about how collegiate athletics really take up your time and I’m sure they do but if you walk-on then that is your choice.  Not only that but, no offense to all walk-ons out there, but you’re probably not getting a significant amount of playing time.  This means that if you leave the team, it shouldnt factor into the team’s performance.  Okay, maybe the team losses a practice player but still, in basketball games, how many players does the coach play in a game usually?  Anywhere from 7-10  and who are the guys who don’t play except for mop-up duty?  You got it, the walk-ons.

Another point that I hear is that college athletes have no chance to earn a job or receive any privileges or benefits.  Well, here’s a counter for you, it took us how long to find out Reggie Bush received all those favors for his family?  Cam Newton nearly got sold too Mississippi State for $180,000 too! Think about it, how much do you own that is worth $180,000?!  Possibly your house but I bet that’s it.  Since when is a college athletes commitment worth that much?  The point I’m trying to get at is that we frown upon athletes receiving favors because we stereotype that every athlete will receive the big bucks when they go professional.  I will be the first to argue that isn’t true, however, if you don’t think you’re going to be able to go professionals then you had better stay in school and get a degree.  That’s why I admire Andrew Luck now and his choice to stay in school to finish up his degree.  Alright, I’ll give you the fact that the collective bargaining agreement probably had something to do with his decision but let’s be real, if you could get a full-ride to Stanford, wouldn’t you make sure you finished up your undergraduate too?

One more point I need to make too.  Let’s say that the NCAA allows players to be paid, receive special benefits, or anything of the sort.  How are they going to regulate it?  Does every athlete from different sports get the same amount?  Do Division 3 athletes get the same as Division 1?  And you had sure better make sure female athletes are getting paid the same as male athletes otherwise the government sure as heck will be involved.  How can the NCAA regulate this?  It’s not possible.  A school like Elon in North Carolina cannot afford to pay their football athletes the same amount as the University of Florida can.  Then, going back to my original point, the NCAA can’t regulate the benefits some high-profile athletes will receive on or off campus.  We’ve already seen this happen with Terrelle Pryor and his fellow Ohio State players.  They all got free tattoos but if the number five tennis player at Ohio State went to that same artist and asked for free tattoos, they would be laughed at and probably be escorted out.

The bottom line is simple: paying college athletes just can’t be done.  It’s not the way the college spectrum was supposed to work.  College football was created in the 1800′s for boys to get tough and physical.  Even today it’s moved far away from that goal.  Even with this problem though, a college athlete still experiences the “college” experience.  Why should that be taken away from the athlete?

So the football team isn’t where everyone is hoping it would be but that’s okay because the gators can still win the SEC East and, even though it’s probably a long shot, the SEC.  Do I believe this can happen? Yes!  The gators get a mediocre Vanderbilt team that has lost its last three games including two of those losses by over thirty-five points (to Arkansas and Georgia).  The gators just beat Georgia by three points at a neutral site and have plenty of momentum riding from that victory.  Random point, does anyone else find it interesting that the Florida-Georgia game last week was the first overtime game in that series?  Anyways, the gators shouldn’t overlook Vandy but fans shouldn’t believe a loss isn’t a relevent possibility.  The next opponent for the gators will be South Carolina who will be coming off a game against Arkansas.  The gamecocks can either come in riding high after a good win against Arkansas or off  a disappointing loss at home.  As everyone who has ever been inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, it’s never easy to win in Gainesville and the Ole Ball Coach certainly knows this.

So what do the gators do to prepare for these two crucial games?  Well, you have to make sure you know what Trey Burton’s role on the team is.  It would seem that he is the QB when the option is in play and John Brantley in the starting role and other situations.  Now a key point must be made, Burton is not the QB that should be relied upon in a late game situation.  Brantley is the better overall QB and the gators want him to have the ball to either ice the game or make a play late.  What about the RB role?  Well, if Demps is at all hurt for this weekend’s game, you rest him and give Chris Rainey and Mike Gillislee the majority of the carries.  I’ve said it all along though, the gators don’t have an every-down back which really does hurt them.  Jeff Demps is very explosive when healthy but I wouldn’t hand the ball to him thirty or forty times a game.  The closest thing to an every-down back is Emmanuel Moody and every gator fan knows you don’t want to give him the ball thirty times a game.  Lastly, who is going to be the play-maker for the rest of the year?  Everyone assumed it was going to be Jeff Demps but injuries have plagued that hope.  Andre Debose hasn’t been playing up to that and Deonte Thompson hasn’t either.  So gator-nation, you get to rely on Trey Burton!  The guy showed against Kentucky he can have big days but can he do it in the clutch situations?  We’ll have to see.

So how do I see the football team finishing out?  Vandy should fall this weekend and leave the east decided in a game between South Carolina and Florida.  Florida will have the crowd behind them and quite possibly could have a lot of momentum behind them.  I see the gators winning the east and salvaging a year that was thought to be lost.  What about the remaining two games?  Well, I know Appalachian State can pull upsets but I believe the gators will be okay here.  To cap off the regular season, a big, yes big, game against Florida State at home.  I sure do hope FSU wins out so that this game can reclaim some glory.  I’m going to take the gators though and put the gators at a 9-3 record.  However, I don’t see the gators winning the SEC whether they play Alabama, Auburn, or even LSU.  Still a solid year for a rebuilding year though.

So that’s the football scoop but now its time for some basketball!  The good thing for the gators is that this year is so wide open.  Other than Duke, everyone is an unknown as to really how good they can be.  The gators return most of their key player including their leaders in scoring, rebounding, and assists (Kenny Boynton, Alex Tyus, and Erving Walker respectively).  Patric Young  and Casey Prather were both ESPN top 100 players so they should factor into Billy Donovan’s plans.  Did I mention Chandler Parsons, aka Mr. Clutch in Gainesville, is back as well?  If you recall Parsons hit a heave shot against NC State and a three-pointer against South Carolina last year to win both those games.

So what does the schedule look like for UF?  There are two key games in non-conference: November 16 against Ohio State and December 18 against Kansas State.  Don’t overlook Florida State and Xavier as well.  These four games can really give us a clue as to how well the season will go for the gators.  If the gators win more than half of these games, they should look good for the SEC.  If they don’t do this, the season isn’t lost but key wins lacking in the record and perhaps some confidence issues will arise going into SEC play.  Remember the gators are many peoples’, including mine, pick to win the SEC so confidence is really going to be needed.  What about Kentucky?  Listen to me everyone!  Never trust a team that just reloads on freshmen, the gators should get at least one win against the wildcats this year.  And what about Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers?  Pearl has but himself in a bad spot with the NCAA violations and the gators should be able to sweep Tennessee this year!  For those of you wondering about the SEC west, it’s a football division people, the east is going to take the year in basketball.

In  he end, the basketball team should aim for a goal of at least the Sweet Sixteen.  Anything less is a bad year.  If they go farther than that, then its a great year for the gators as they finally get some March madness magic back.  The memory still resonates with everyone in Gainesville about the back-to-back national championships but its time to move forward and start a new chapter in UF basketball!

Then there’s the NL.  Am I the only one who feels that the AL is just way above the talent level of the NL except for the Phillies who actually seem to be the only team that want to challenge for a world series?  The Phillies have the utmost honor of playing the Cincinnati Reds who hail from the worst division in the NL, the NL central (note: I am still a huge fan of the Houston Astros, just stating an opinion here).  The Reds got a no-hitter by Roy Halladay who I am now declaring the best pitcher in baseball at the moment.  What about the other series?  Well, you’ve got the Atlanta Braves who don’t even have Chipper Jones and the San Francisco Giants who are here without Barry Bonds.  Here’s how I’m defining this series, the winner gets to get beaten by the Phillies.  This is plan and simple, the Phillies are the best in the NL and neither team can match the pitching of the Phillies. 

Just in case you don’t know the statues quo on all the series: New York defeated the Twins in a three game sweep, the Texas Rangers Lead the Rays 2-1, the Phillies lead the Reds 2-0, and the Braves and Twins are tied 1-1. (As of October 10, 2010 at 10:44am eastern time)

So what do I think is going to happen?  Well, if you take a look at the series at the moment, everyone of the teams that is up, or was up 2-0 is going to win the series.  It’s very rare to see a team come back from 2-0 down and win the series and I don’t see any of the losing teams being able to do that now.  So the only real question is who wins the Gants and Braves series?  Well, I see the series going to five games because I want to see at least one divisional series go the distance (5 games in the ALDS and NLDS).  That puts game 5 in San Francisco which is easily a huge advantage for the Giants.  One being you’re playing on the other side of the country from Braves country and you hit last in every inning which is a huge advantage for the 9th inning and/or extra innings.  So, I give the Giants game 5 and the right to play the Phillies.

Now, if we take my predictions from the divisional series from the AL and NL, that gives you a Rangers-Yankees ALCS and a Giants-Phillies NLCS.  As much as I would really love to predict my home state team is going to win the AL, I just can’t bring myself to do it.  I gotta give this series to the Yankees.  Both teams have one really good pitcher, C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees and Cliff Lee for the Rangers, but after that the Yankees have one up on the Rangers.  The Yankees have the winningest pitcher in MLB history in Andy Pettitte.  The Rangers don’t really have a reliable #2.  Plus the Yankees seem to have an unlimited amount of money to make sure they always win the World Series.  So how far does this series go?  Well, I’ll split the two matchups between Lee and Sabathia and I’ll split the two games between whoever the Yankees and Rangers decide to throw as their number three’s.  I give Pettitte both the games he should pitch though which means the Yankees win the series in six games and go back to the World Series.

Now the NLCS.  Sorry Giants fans, this one won’t be as entertaining as the ALCS.  First, the Giants are completely outmatched in pitching.  The Giants have Tim Lincecum but that’s it.  Matt Cain has had a good year but there’s no way the Giants can take the pitching prowess of Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels.  Also, the Phillies are a better hitting team than the Giants as well.  You’ve got Ryan Howard to bomb home runs, Jimmy Rollins to get the needed base hit and Chase Utley to do whatever the Phillies need him to do.  The Giants don’t have any superstar offensive players.  Sure they have players like Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval, and Pat Burrell but none of them are someone you can consistently rely upon in the postseason.  The Phillies win this series in five games to give us a Yankees-Phillies world series.  Deja vu much? 

The World Series is every baseball players’ dream.  Well, we won’t be seeing many new players getting that experience for the first time this year!  You’ve got last years champions the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies who won the World Series two years ago.  History is important but the changes to the teams are what will make this series very interesting.  The Phillies added Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt to give them the best starting pitching by far in MLB.  The Yankees have had a renaissance year from Robinson Cano and added Lance Berkman to help their depth in hitting.  Random point, why do two former Astros have to be in the world series with different teams? Now back to business though, take these projected pitching matchups: Halladay vs. Sabathia, Oswalt vs. Pettitte, and Hamels vs. whoever the Yankees put as their number three (probably either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes).  This is just a dream for pitching matchups starting wise.  What about the bullpen?  The Phillies have the likes of Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge as their “closer” (not exactly sure if the Phillies are 100% confidant in Lidge).  The Yankees have Joba Chamberlain, Kerry Wood, and the greatest closer ever, Mariano Rivera.  For hitting,  you’ve got the powerful Yankee offense against the good but not amazing Phillies offense.

Here’s how I rate each of these specified areas.  The Phillies have the advantage in starting pitching.  You’ve got a pitcher who has two no-hits this year and two others that could throw one any day.  The Yankees do have Sabathia and Pettitte though it’s just the unreliability of the third starting pitcher that gives the Phillies the edge here.  The Yankees can counter with advantages in the bullpen and hitting.  Hitting is a close battle but the Yankees have scored the most runs this season and are third in slugging.  The Phillies are 7th and 12th respectively in these categories.  Chase Utley was also hurt for most of the year so he may not be in complete season form but I wouldn’t totally buy that.  In the bullpen, the Yankees have a huge advantage.  Lidge (another former Astro!) has won the world series as the closer before but his form has dropped way down since then.  Rivera has kept his form up and has one multiple World Series so you have to wonder if he’ll even be nervous?  Then you’ve got more well-known names with Chamberlain and Wood to lead up to Rivera than the Phillies can claim. 

So how does it play out?  The Halladay-Sabathia matchups split in their first two games, the Pettitte-Oswalt games split, and I feel that the Hamels-Burnett or Hughes splits as well.  That leaves us to a dramatic game seven.  Surprisingly, it will be in Philadelphia because the NL actually won the All-Star game this year.  If we assume that the regular pitching schedules fall through, then Halladay and Sabathia face off again.  I’m giving the Yankees this game though and here’s why: We have to think low scoring because of the dominating pitching both of these pitchers can produce so that leaves it to the bullpen.  The Yankees have the better bullpen and better hitting.  So the Yanks have a better shot of putting runs on the board.  If the Phillies somehow have the lead going into the 9th inning, do you trust Brad Lidge for the series? I don’t and I don’t know if the Phillies do either.  If the Yankees get to that spot then you have Mariano Rivera to close it out for the Yankees and he’s done this plenty of times before.  The Yankees win back-to-back in a thrilling seven game world series or so I really hope because I don’t care what homework IB throws my way then.  I’m staying up and watching it!

Another random point: anyone feel I resemble Tim Lincecum?  My pre-calc teacher mentioned that in class and I just want to see peoples’ reaction.

He’s Back!!

Yes sir! After spending months in prison for dogfighting charges, Michael Vick has returned as a starting QB to the NFL!  Hate on him all you want, Vick has shown himself so far to be the extrememly talented QB he was before spending time in jail.  He has a passer rating of 105.5 with 459 yards passing and three touchdowns.  Impressively, Vick has had a QB rating of over 100 in the two games he’s played in this year, something he never did in back-to-back games as a starter for the Falcons.  Consider this too, for someone who was practically told when Donovan McNabb was traded that you are going to be Kevin Kolb’s backup as long as your here, he’s taken it very well.  Vick has told the media that he’s okay with being the back-up, refusing to let greed get in his way (which is good considering he went to jail over that matter really).  Now the issue is what will happen to Kevin Kolb?  Some people are speculating that he’ll be traded.  Personally, I don’t think he will.  Kolb signed a deal of over $12 million in the offseason because he was planned to be the starting QB.  That being said, the Eagles would need at least the same value in player production, most likely with youth, or in draft picks that would most likely have to include a first rounder.  The reason I say this is because Kolb is still the younger QB and still the future of the Eagles.  For all I know, Vick is going to get hurt this Sunday and Kolb will go right back to being the starter.  You always want to have at least a decent backup on your team and Kolb will gladly claim over $12 million to sit on the bench and watch Vick take the Philadelphia torment.

Their 0-2?!

There are a couple of surprise teams in the category of winless through two weeks in the NFL season.  For one, Jerry Jones’ team and their mega stadium haven’t produced a win yet.  They lost at the Redskins 13-7 to open up the season and then at their megacomplex, they suffered a loss to the Chicago Bears 27-20.  What’s the issue?  Well, first off, I’ve never been set on Wade Phillips as the Dallas Cowboy coach.  When I think of a Cowboy coach, I think of guys like Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcels, and Tom Landry.  Does Wade Phillips really relate to these guys?  Not in my opinion.  Problem number 2:  their rushing is averaging 69.5 yards a game.  That’s a horrific 28th in the NFL (I might also be biased that Felix Jones is on my fantasy team).  Still though, even in the age of the passing game we are experiencing today, you must have a ground game to set up the passing game!  Another surprise team is the Minnesota Vikings. Was Sidney Rice really that valuable to the team?  You bet yah!  The Vikings are 24th in passing offense and have put a low total of nineteen points on the board in their two losses.  Something tells me the Vikings should have tried a little harder for Vincent Jackson.  The Vikings are still a team to be reckoned with and when you have Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson leading your offense, no matter how bad the start, you have to feel comfortable that this team can get it together.  Lastly, the San Francisco 49ers can join the club of 0-2 as well.  The reason I put the 49ers here is the fact that they were predicted by many to win the NFC west.  However, after getting creamed by Seattle in Week 1 31-6, not a lot of people believe that now.  I will admit they played the Saints hard on Monday but you need wins in order to win your division in this league and close doesn’t cut it here.  All three of these teams gotta begin to find wins soon though, otherwise they risk pushing it too far for a playoff appearance.

WR in the news

You know, for a position that can have as many as five guys on the field at once, the WR role has gotten a lot of attention lately.  Let’s start out with the most recent one in Braylon Edwards.  A DWI charge for him surely didn’t help is image but it really doesn’t help that the Jets have a policy in place to prevent this from happening.  Just call the line and someone will pick you up and take you home so you can avoid this whole mess.  Apparently Edwards didn’t get that memo though so on top of the fact the guy drops ball left and right like his hands are buttered, he now adds issues off the field too.  Let’s just say, Braylon Edwards isn’t in a position he would like to be, not to mention he’s the Jet’s only big time WR at the moment with Santonio Holmes still suspended for two more games.  Next, how about the publicity Vincent Jackson has gotten even though he’s suspended?  Jackson was an excellent WR for the Chargers last season, I have no problem admitting that.  What I do have a problem with, is that a guy who violated the league’s substance abuse policy gets the biggest hype over a trade deadline that passed Wednesday.  If the guy has all that talent, then why would the chargers trade him anyways?  Unless some big time offer came, which I never saw coming, the Chargers were gonna sit him the duration of his suspension and possibly try to work a contract extension.  Well folks, that’s what has happened and at the moment, all the publicity came to no avail for a guy suspended.  Lastly, I can’t leave the topic of WR’s without mentioning the partnership of the two most outspoken WR there are in the NFL.  You know them, Chad Ochoinco and Terrell Owens.  Ochocinco has shown that he is the number one guy in the depth chart and his numbers prove that as he leads the team in receptions and receiving yards (16 and 203 respectively).  What is surprising is that T.O. is being out performed by rookie Jordan Shipley.  Shipley has equalled T.O. in receptions (10) and is actually beating him in yards (124 to 110).  Will T.O. be able to prove himself the number two?  Gonna have to wait for this saga to play itself out. 

Injuries, oh how they can hurt

Injuries definitely affect every team at some point during the team but its which teams that are affected by key injuries that can cost teams an entire year.  Firstly, the Detroit Lions have lost their QB of the future, Mathew Stafford for an unknown amount of time due to a separated shoulder.  For the lions, this is like the Colts losing Payton Manning for any game.  The whole system could just collapse, but backup Shaun Hill seems to be able to run the offense but don’t worry Lions fans, there is no way at all Stafford will become like Kevin Kolb and be benched for the backup.  Speaking of Kevin Kolb, that’s an injury worth noting.  In fact, Kolb’s concussion has cost him his job for now although he could possibly blame the Eagles concussion issues on that.  As previously stated though, Kolb is making over $12 million this season so no worries about his finances.  Another injury worth noting is Sidney Rice.  This injury has certainly killed the Vikings passing game as they don’t really have another reliable WR.  I know Percy Harvin is a capable receiver, but his issue with migraines certainly is a concerning factor.

Vuvuzelas

The crowd’s favorite item of the world cup was by-far the vuvuzelas.  The trumpets that caused Lionel Messi to complain and almost get them banned may be the one thing everyone remembers about this world cup.  In fact, there are thoughts the Premier League in England and other sporting events around the world will suddenly be drilled by the loud noise of these trumpets.  Can you imagine the big house in Ann Arbour, Michigan or even a NBA basketball stadium being filled with the hums of the vuvuzelas?  Personally, I think that would be really awesome to hear!! I mean if Death Valley can get on the Richter scale in the 1980′s, can’t 100,000 vuvuzelas do the same?  It would be very intense.  In any case though, if all you took away from the world cup was the buzzing in the crowd, you’re probably not alone.

Club Superstars Disappointing

While some players like David Villa, Diego Forlan, and Wesley Sneijder showed their skill at this tournament, there were plenty of superstars that just down right disappointed.  You could almost say the entire England team, especially Wayne Rooney, was a disappointment.  Take it from me, when you sit in a theatre with at least 500 people supporting England and they get smacked by Germany, you see that the fans really were disappointed with their team. Then there’s Christiano Ronaldo who didn’t show a bit of his world record transfer fee talent.  In fact, his goal was a goal you or I could have scored, so there’s nothing to back that argument.  You can even put Lionel Messi on this list.  I know that Argentina’s formation doesn’t fit his game but still, if you have all that talent, you should be able to adapt your game around that and Messi didn’t.  Perhaps that’s why Argentina got obliterated by Germany in the quarter-finals.

The French Debacle

I knew the French were not too pleased with Raymond Domenech before the tournament but now he’ll have to buy a bullet-proof car most likely.  The French team never got themselves together.  After the draw with Uruguay in the first game, I figured something must be up.  Then, Nicolas Anelka was sent home and all chaos broke loose.  Patrice Evra, the captain, got into an argument with the trainer, the trainer threw his credentials and quite (Alexi Lalas’ favorite moment from the whole tournament).  Then France lost to South Africa and the tournament was over.  This was a team that made the finals in 2006 and really could have done much better but egos and self-wants got in the way and the team collapsed.  Now, it’s up to new manager Louis Blanc to see if he can turn the tide on this self-collapsing federation and at least put a decent run together at Euro 2012.

US being ordinary

The US team came into this tournament full of confidence off their finals run at the Confederations Cup.  During the world cup though, they were the comeback kings.  Drawing 1-1 to England, drawing 2-2 to Slovenia, and winning in the 94th minute against Algeria.  The run ended against Ghana in the round of sixteen though, even with a US equalizer to force extra time.  Here’s what I take from the US though.  I see that they only managed one win in the last second.  I see a team that can get a result against a superior team (England) but then have to fight for a point against an inferior team (Slovenia).  Inconsistency is a problem for the US.  If the US is ever going to win a world cup, then they’ll have to win at least four games in a row during the knock-out stages and get wins in the group stages.  At this point in time, I see Landon Donovan as the superstar and Tim Howard as the terrific goalkeeper but where is the rest of the team?  You could put Jozy Altidore down as a disappointment and the defense was always an issue.  So unless a good defense and other players who can be consistently good join the team, expect the US to just continue being good enough for an early knockout stage exit.

Expected Contenders Exiting Early

This world cup was brutal for some favored teams.  I’ve already thrown France out there at you but there were some other teams as well.  Italy, the defending world cup champions, was a huge disappointment.  They had such an easy group to make it to the knock-out stages and yet failed to do so.  Marcello Lippi’s strategy of taking many players from the old world cup and not trying to bring younger players, such as Giuseppe Rossi, back fired completely.  Italy left at the group stage and brought shame to the country that was trying to equal Brazil in world cup wins.  Speaking of Brazil, I’m going to put Brazil on this list.  While they did make the quarter-finals, a place many other nations would happily accept, this is Brazil we are talking about.  They are always supposed to be in the semi-finals at minimum if not attempting to win the world cup.  Instead, we were denied the so-called ”dream final” of Spain vs. Brazil when Brazil lost to the Netherlands.  Now, with Brazil hosting the next world cup, they must find an answer to how they can win the world cup on home soil.  One more team I’d like to mention is England.  There was so much hype around England to do well at this world cup.  With Fabio Capello at the helm and a team of Premier League All Stars ready to make a march for that long-awaited second World Cup.  It almost seemed too good to be true.  In fact, they even had me  thinking they’d lose to Spain in the finals.  Turns out they fooled us all.  They never seemed to get together as a team.  Wayne Rooney didn’t bring anywhere close to his “A-game” and Robert Green’s fumbled goal against the US seemed to summarize their tournament.  A 4-1 debacle to Germany seemed likely to come after seeing their group stage play.  Fabio Capello will be retained as manager and must figure out a new way of making England play together as a team.

Referees

Sep Blatter, the president of FIFA, said that the refereeing at this years World Cup was very good.  Very Good?  Tell that to the English after the clear goal that Frank Lampard was denied got everybody in the Coral Theater where I watched the game shouting GOAL!  Also, take the invisible foul on the US’s third goal against Slovenia.  After watching the replay countless times all I see is at least 2 US players being held and Maurice Edu scoring a legitimate goal.  Then, in the final itself, there just seemed like a lack of control by referee Howard Webb.  Nigel de Jong should have been sent off for his chest kick into Xabi Alonso and Mark van Bommel could have been sent off a couple of times on two yellows.  In the end, we have to accept that refereeing is a subjective position but that is very much prone to human error.

Spain Wins

Yes, after all the years of struggles in the world cup.  With an economy struggling and a country divided on autonomy rights, Spain won the world cup.  I was convinced after seeing Spain lose to Switzerland that they couldn’ do it.  The pressure was too much again for La Furia Roja to capture this world cup.  They surely proved me wrong and proved they could win as favorites.  They continually won behind 1-0 results.  Spain showed that you didn’t need to destroy opponents on the score line to say that you dominated a game.  Spain consistently dominated the midfield area and always found a way to put in the necessary goal to stay on top.  Iker Casillias was brilliant as goalkeeper and David Villa’s 5 goals out of the 8 total for Spain were enough to claim the victory.

This world brought plenty of thrill and controversy.  The Jubalani was a huge scapegoat but a ball is a ball my friends.  Spain’s victory added an eighth winner of the world cup and we can expect others to follow in the coming years.  The US’s soccer popularity seems to be growing after every four years and perhaps the US can find a team that can make a deep run down the road.  With the addition of two more goal line referees, refereeing can be assumed to get better.  The 2010 FIFA world cup proved that South Africa could host a successful tournament.  Now, we turn our attention to Brazil for the 2014 world cup and hope it can produce the same excitement as this one did.

On a different note, I would like to close with a tribute to George Steinbrenner.  He led the Yankees for over 30 years as majority owner and became one of baseball’s most known figures.  While he wasn’t running the Yankees anymore in the business world, he was still the owner of the Yankees and had a big influence on the team in recent years.  My thought’s and prayers go out to his family and friends as they mourn his death.

Group Stage

Group A

Teams: South Africa, France, Mexico, Uruguay

This group will determine if Bafana Bafana end the long running streak of the host nation advancing to the knockout stage.  The odd makers are saying it probably won’t happen but I don’t know of any team that wants to go into Soccer City stadium and play South Africa with 90,000+ fans screaming against them.  France are the traditional power here but Domenech is one of the most unpopular coaches in the world.  Mexico come after getting a huge motivational boast by beating Italy 2-1.  Uruguay had to beat Costa Rica to get here but now their here looking for their third, yes third, world cup.

Prediction:  The South African crowd and how the team can use that energy will be the biggest factor in the group.  There is a reason why the host nation always gets through but, in this case, the competition is too strong for a team that isn’t a dominating soccer power.  I expect France to advance with the swing game being Uruguay vs. Mexico.  The Mexicans should get it done though and advance.

Teams Advancing: France, Mexico

Group B

Teams: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

The Argentines are the heavy favorite here with Argentina being the dominant traditional power.  This is true, but the Greeks did win the Euro 2004 by playing strong defence and they are expected to do the same thing.  South Korea could be considered the best team in Asia perhaps and Nigeria are a strong force in Africa.  Diego Maradona is the key person here.   The Argentine coach has promised to run through the streets of Buenos Aires naked if Argentina win, prompting many not to hope this promise being fulfilled.  Even still, the Argentines are the power but will not advance out of this group with ease by any means.

Prediction: Even with the tough competition, Argentina should still be able to finish first in this group.  It’s the battle for second that is going to be an interesting match.  The Greeks have the advantage of playing Argentina last and could have the potential of playing a weakened Argentina squad if Argentina has already qualified.  Plus, with the Greeks stone wall at the back, all they have to do is put in one goal to get the three points they need most likely need against any of the teams.  This group could go any way with the exception of Argentina at least getting through though.

Teams Advancing: Argentina, Greece
 

Group C

Teams: England, USA, Slovenia, Algeria

The group most of you will be paying the most attention to.  The United State’s redemption for the 2006 debacle will begin against England on June 12th.  The United States qualifying was never really in doubt but they did have to fight to the last match to earn the top qualifying spot in CONCACAF (North America).  England was almost perfect in the qualifying campaign and Fabio Capello’s team is ready to end the forty-four year drought of world cups for England.  Slovenia beat Russia to get here and Algeria managed to beat African power Egypt to get to soccer’s biggest stage. 

Prediction: The United States can win the group if they can get at least a draw against England.  The real swing game will be against Slovenia though.  If the US defeats Slovenia, then it should be smooth sailing to the knockout stages assuming they can get at least a point from Algeria.  If they lose, expect a lot of praying to be done against Algeria or no chance to advance at all. I do believe though the USA can defeat Slovenia though and advance.

Teams Advancing: England, USA

Group D

Teams: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia

This group could quite possibly be the deepest group in the tournament.  Australia could be in contention to say they are the power of Asia.  Germany are very consistent at deep runs in the world having also won three world cups.  Ghana are one of the best teams in Africa and Serbia have proven they have a very good squad and one their group for qualifying.  Two key things to  note though.  Michael Ballack, Germany’s captain, will not be playing and Michael Essien, one of Ghana’s best players, will not be competing due to injury, making this group even more complicated.

Prediction: Germany’s consistency in the world cup almost makes them a lock to advance out of this group even with their captain hurt.  It’s the battle for second that is what makes this group so complex.  Any of the other teams could get second place.  The game to watch for that spot is Ghana vs. Serbia.  I don’t think the Aussies have what it takes to advance and so the winner of Ghana vs. Serbia should advance.  I’ll take Serbia because they have a good squad man by man and Ghana have lost their best player.

Teams Advancing: Germany, Serbia

Group E

Teams: Denmark, Cameroon, Japan, Netherlands

This group has some unknown talent in it.  The Netherlands may have never won a world cup, but can make a convincing argument as to why they are the best nation never to have claimed soccer’s biggest prize.  Cameroon have the attack power of Samuel Eto’o.  Denmark have the likes of Poulsen and Bentdner, and Japan have proven they can now consistently get to the world cup.  Arjen Robben of the Netherlands has had an injury scare but I think he should be okay and Samuel Eto’o would be a fool to skip the world cup over an argument.

Prediction: The Netherlands are the best team through and through and will be a team to challenge for the world cup.  Cameroon will have the backing of the crowd and as long as Eto’o does play, then they should be able to score enough goals to advance.  Denmark don’t have the star player to advance and Japan are too much of an unknown.

Teams Advancing: Netherlands and Cameroon

Group F

Teams: Italy, Slovakia, Paraguay, New Zealand

This group could possibly be the weakest of all the groups in this years world cup.  Defending champions Italy had trouble getting here having to draw Ireland to advance to South Africa on the final day of group qualification.  Slovakia did win their group but still aren’t known as a soccer powerhouse.  Paraguay aren’t even close to the top of South America’s powerhouses and New Zealand were considered lucky to beat Bahrain in the two-leg playoff.  Overall, Italy is the better team but didn’t bring “American” striker Giuseppe Rossi and playmaker Andrea Pirlo has been hit with an injury.  The battle will be for the second spot which either Paraguay or Slovakia should take.

Prediction: The Italians are the best team here even though they may not be the same team that one the world cup four years ago but should still handle this group.  The key game to watch is Slovakia vs. Paraguay.  The winner of this should take second place and quite possible first if that team can get a result against Italy.  Look for Paraguay to be able to handle Slovakia and not allow two European clubs to advance here.  As for New Zealand, well, Oceania only gets one team through and a bad outing at the Confederations’ Cup doesn’t make them any more attractive to me.

Teams Advancing: Italy, Paraguay

Group G

Teams: Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, North Korea

Ah yes, the group that has been called the “group of death.”  Maybe not top-to-bottom a death group but of the three teams that are expected to challenge to advance, then you have a real group of death.  Brazil have won the most world cups at five and are considered a favorite to capture their sixth this time around.  Portugal may well have the best player in the world with Cristiano Ronaldo.  The Ivory Coast may still have its star player Didier Drogba to play although not at one-hundred percent but can still boast at being one of the best teams in Africa.  North Korea had a good run in Asian qualifying but a bad draw will hinder their chances greatly.

Prediction: Firstly, North Korea may well get zero points so we can eliminate them from any chance.  Brazil have the talent and depth to handle this tough group and see themselves moving on into the knock-out stages.  That leaves Portugal and Ivory Coast.  The key here is that Portugal’s star will be 100% and, if he’s on form, almost impossible for Ivory Coast to stop.  A seventy-five percent Drogba is no where near a one-hundred percent Christiano Ronaldo.  Expect Portugal and Brazil to move on leaving Africa without one of its best teams in the knockout stages.

Teams Advancing: Brazil, Portugal

Group H

Teams: Spain, Chile, Honduras, Switzerland

This group has talent throughout.  Spain are the odds-on favorite to claim the Cup for the first time in their history.  Chile managed a second place finish in South American qualifying ahead of powerhouse Argentina.  Honduras made it by finishing third in CONCACAF and Switzerland added their team to a deep list of European squads.  The teams here, other than Spain, will be fighting for second place as no one is expected in this group to challenge the Spaniards for first place in the group.

Prediction: Plain and simple, Spain is the best team and will win the group.  The rest of the teams will battle it out for second.  Chile have the advantage because they finished second behind Brazil in qualifying and managed a very successful campaign.  Chile are probably the second best team as well and should join Spain in the knockout stages.

Teams Advancing: Spain, Chile

Knock-out Stages

Round of 16

France vs. Greece

The French will have the edge talent wise here and should look to attack with Greek’s style of playing ultra-defensive.  All France has to do is score one goal and the Greek’s will have to change tactics which could lead to an ultimate flurry of French goals.  Having Henry and Anelka to bury these goals is a key asset and I expect the French to advance on.

England vs. Serbia

Fabio Capello’s squad cannot be stopped by the Serbs.  To much talent from the English even with Vidic leading a strong back line for the Serbs.  When you have Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, and John Terry leading all your thirds of the pitch though, you expect to advance far in this competition.  England moves on here.

Netherlands vs. Paraguay

Same situation as the previous match-up.  Too much talent from the Dutch for Paraguay to handle.  Robben, van der Vart, and Sneijder all lead a Dutch attack that should bang in too many goals for Paraguay to handle and the Dutch advance to the quarter-finals this time around.

Brazil vs. Chile

A South American battle that should be better than you would think.  These two teams were the top two qualifiers out of South America and Chile has shown it can hang with the best teams.  In the end though, Brazil will not see themselves lose this early in the competition and advance, possibly in dramatic fashion.

Argentina vs. Mexico

A great battle should come from this one.  The Argentines have built a strong team through the club season this year and Mexico recently knocked-off defending champs Italy in preparation for the cup.  Argentina will have too much up front with the likes of Tevez, Messi, Milito, and Higuain all scoring goals in the cup and the Mexicans again won’t make a deep run.

Germany vs. USA

Oh boy, Germany and the US have some history.  Germany eliminated the US in 2002 and show no signs of letting the Americans letting them stop their consistent reign of advancing far in this competition.  But before anyone calls me unpatriotic, the US have hope in the form that Ballack is not competing and can use that to gain much-needed moral against a far for powerful opponent.  I think the US can pull the upset here and advance back to the quarterfinals. 

Italy vs. Cameroon

Oh how age can affect us.  The Italians got dealt an easy hand in the group stage and now they may get their toughest test.  Samuel Eto’o should know some of these players from playing at Inter  Milan and I see Cameroon able to use the Italians older-age against and defeat the defending champs in an upset.

Portugal vs. Spain

Perhaps the best potential match-up to occur is the battle between these two Iberian Peninsula countries.  Ronaldo of Portugal will have to play a magnificent game in order to put his team in a second straight deep run but I don’t that happening. There’s a reason Spain had such a long unbeaten streak before losing to the US, they really are one of the best teams in this competition.  Spain goes through.

Quarter-Finals

France vs. England

Oh boy, this will be a good one.  Fabio Capello may have to get England through its first penalty shootout win for this one but it’s certainly a possibility.  Domenech may have used up all his tricks by this game and the English should see themselves through in a very tightly contested match.

Netherlands vs. Portugal

Another really juicy matchup that should be fantastic to watch should it occur.  The Brazilians will play defensive at some points then counter quickly while the dutch should put pressure constantly on the Brazilian defense.  Call me crazy but Brazil’s run ends here in the fact that as long as the Dutch defense can hold up against a stout Brazilian attack then I see enough Dutch goals being banged home to see them through to the semi-finals.

Argentina vs. USA

Yes!!  The US is through to the quarter-finals, perhaps we got a shot to win this thing!  Not so fast. Even in the Confederation’s Cup, the US couldn’t beat two global powers and to advance past this stage you have to do that.  Landon Donovan may be the US’s best player but he is not even close to the ability of Lionel Messi.  Argentina will have plenty of attack power and should ram the goals on top of the US and go through to the semi-finals. 

Spain vs. Cameroon

Africa’s last chance to get a winner comes down to Cameroon.  Problem is that Spain are the best in the world while Cameroon may not even be the best in Africa so how can they hope to achieve this feat?  They’ll need a lot of things to go their way which I don’t see Vicente del Bosque allowing his Spanish side to do and should be able to eliminate Africa’s last team.

Semi-finals

England vs. Netherlands

The English run has taken them all the way to a show down with the Netherlands for the World Cup finals.  The Dutch do the dirty work by eliminating Brazil but how can they hope to be at full-strength after doing that?  No offense to France but this French side really isn’t that dominant compared to what it used to be and England have plenty of assets to choose from for fresh legs.  The Dutch run ends here and the English return to the finals for a chance at their second world cup.

Argentina vs. Spain

Let’s face it, nobody wants to see Diego Maradona run through Buenos Ares naked.  He’s not a great manager either he’ll have to have made mistakes throughout the tournament but Spain are the masters at taking advantage of your mistakes.  They’ll make you pay so dearly that you won’t know how to respond and this is the kind of thing we expect from Maradona.  Not knowing what to do in times of trouble during a match.  The complete team of Spain advances to try to capture its first world cup title.

Third Place Game

Argentina vs. Netherlands

Argentina may have some injuries after it quite possibly could try to fight Spain after its loss as they did with Germany it 2006.  The Dutch are also a better side I think as well.  A high scoring game should come but the Dutch can bang more goals in with more of their attacking players able to be on the field at once than Argentina.  Netherlands take thrid and Argentina leave in fourth.

Final

England vs. Spain

A great final that can expect at least a billion people to watch.  The two powerhouses during the last two years of qualifying in Europe meet to decide who deserves to be crowned the world’s best.  Two completely worth managers in Fabio Capello and Vincente del Bosque will lead their teams in Soccer City Stadium for a final like no other.  It’s England’s physical game versus Spain’s beautiful passing game.  Spain are the best team in the world though and as long as they can handle the hard challenges and rough play from the English than the favorites should take the World Cup title back home while the English fly back wondering what may have been.  Spain handles the pressure of being favorites and wins the 2010 FIFA World Cup in my opinion.

1. Is it going to be a Penske and Ganassi domination day?

The so-called power team in Hendrik Motorsports for NASCAR has its counterparts in Indy Racing.  Penske and Ganassi have shown in the past they will win here with Penske having won fifteen 500′s while Ganassi won last year and always has at least one car in a position to win at the end of the race.  This year, Penske will put three drivers into the field, Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, and Will Power.  To put statistics out there, Helio has won three 500′s already, Brisoce has started in the top ten each of the past four 500′s, and Will Power finished 5th last year and won the first two races this season.  Ganassi also puts forward a fine body of work.  Scott Dixon lead the most last year and won in 2008.  Dario Franchitti won the 2007 and 2009 indy car series and won the 2007 Indy 500 (although rain-shortened).  The body of work these to teams have put together puts them at the helm of the Indy Car series.  All five of these drivers are starting in the first two rows (positions 1-6) with Alex Tagliani in fifth.  All signs point to a Ganassi and Penske dominated day, especially with rival team Andretti Autosport having a dismal qualifying effort.

2. How are the women going to fare this year?

There are going to be a record four women drivers in this year Indy 500, these being Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro, and Sarah Fisher.  So you might ask, with all these women, one of them surely has to do well and compete to win?  Not necessarily, the highest starter of these four is Beatriz  in 21st with Patrick and de Silvestro coming behind  in the next two spots and Fisher starting twenty-ninth.  Patrick has finished third and fourth here before but has had recent fan problems.  After qualifying Danica complained of car problems and was booed by fans in the grandstand.  Now she’ll have that at the forefront of her mind along with starting in twenty-third, her worst starting spot ever at this event.  The other drivers haven’t shown much throughout the month either though.  None of the other women have wowed anyone with times and Sarah Fisher had to make it on bump day.  In the end, don’t expect too much from the women but anything can happen though so keep your eyes open at the racing intervals for where the four women are on the track.

3. Does the Andretti curse continue this year?

Everybody remembers the 2006 Indy 500 when rookie Marco Andretti was passed by Sam Hornish Jr. on the last straightaway to finish second by six one-hundredths of a second.  Marco then came in twenty-fourth in 2007 and third in 2008.  In 2009, Andretti was unceremoniously wrecked in a crash that was caused by Mario Moraes on the first lap and finished thirtieth.  Now in 2010, the Andretti Green team, which includes Marco, are struggling to find speed on this track.  Marco is going to start sixteenth and has only one practice where he was in the top three on the speed charts.  If all signs are pointing in the right direction, Mario Andretti’s 1969 Indy 500 win will remain the only one in the family.

4. Is there going to be rain?

Rain ended the 2007 Indy 500 which allowed Dario Franchitti to win in a somewhat less glorious fashion.  This year the threat of rain is on indy car official’s minds again.  There is a thirty percent chance of rain according toi the weather channel and nobody want the most famous race in the United States to be rained shortened.  Over three hundred thousand people had to watch the rained shortened race and this year the same crowd attendance is expected.  With such a great group of drivers and teams, lets hope that the full 500 mile race is completed without rain delay because no one wants to sit through rain delays.

5. Who’s going to win the 2010 Indianapolis 500?

It’s the big question each year: who is going to drink the milk this year?  Looking at practice times, there are two names that consistently appear in the top three: Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.  Castroneves has won this race three times and Dixon once.  I know Helio is on the pole and Dixon is starting sixth but the cars were sit up that day for four lap time trials, not a full 500 mile race so you really can’t use that argument.  Castroneves was the fastest in three qualifying sessions while Dixon was up top twice.  The key I feel is the experience factor.  While Scott has won, it takes a real experienced driver who knows the Indianapolis Motorspeedway well to win it three times.  Plus, if you have an owner that has won this race fifteen times adds even more experience.  Castroneves also boasts two other teammates compared to Dixon’s one.   In the end, I see Helio going back-to-back at the Indianapolis 500 with Dixon keeping Helio close until the very end.

1st round

note: only upsets will be explained for the first and second round, if a game is not displayed then the higher seed advances to the next round

Midwest

8 vs 9 I believe Northern Iowa can knock off UNLV here.  Both of these teams come from mid-major conferences with Northern Iowa winning the Missouri Valley conference and UNLV hailing from the Mountain West conference.  I think Northern Iowa can win this though because they ran the tables in a down Missouri Valley Conference this year.  They also knocked off Siena and Old Dominion in the regular season.  Plus, doesn’t the Missouri Valley seem to have one team each year that can pull a first round upset?

6 vs 11 San Diego St. and Tennesse is one of the hardest games to pick in this regions first round.  San Diego St. rolls in off a much-needed Mountain West Conference victory and Tennesse comes in having been creamed by Kentucky in the SEC tournament semifinals.  Tennesse have had their shinning moments against Kentucky and Kansas but that same Kentucky team annihilated them in Nashville.  San Diego St. will come in with high spirits after winning the best mid-major conference tournament this year and I think that will prevail here.

7 vs. 10 Oklahoma St. and Georgia Tech is another greatly debated matchup.  Do you take James Anderson’s scoring ability or Derek Favor’s presence inside?  I believe that Georgia Tech’s overall talent is just better than Oklahoma St’s talent but this will be an exciting game.  After all, both of these teams  did beat number one seeds (Oklahoma St. : Kansas and Georgia Tech: Duke) I just have a feeling that Georgia Tech will be full of confidence after getting to the ACC championship game and be able to ride that through to the second round.

West

6 vs 11 Minnesota is the best pick for an upset here.  Some may say Gonzaga will fall to Florida St. but I feel they have something to prove after they lost to St. Mary’s.  Minnesota is my pick over Xavier because Minnesota will come in with wins over Michigan St. and Purdue and its hard to see Tubby Smith letting that momentum just suddenly die.  Xavier had an excellent season playing in the A-10 and beat Florida at Florida and Cincinnati.  The problem is Xavier doesn’t have wins against quality teams like Michigan St. and Purdue especially on back to back days.

East

5 vs 12 The is probably the most popular upset of the five seed this year.  At least one five seed losses each year it seems and it should be no change.  Cornell beating Temple is my only one of these upsets I’m predicting though.  Temple did win the A-10 regular season and tournament titles.  It also gave Villanova its only loss of the season for a good stretch of time but got blown out by thirty-two points at home against Kansas.  In comparison, Cornell only lost by five points at Kansas.  While Cornell has played in the Ivy league for a while now, they have shown they can keep dominating teams in check and Temple isn’t a dominating team, at least not this year.

South

8 vs 9 Louisville has shown they can be an elite team and a bottom of the Big East team at different points this season.  They’ve beaten Syracuse twice but have lost to St. John’s and Western Carolina at opposite ends of the season.  Not the best results for a team of Rick Pittino’s caliber.  Yet, the Pac-10 is very weak this year and saying you were the regular season champions like Cal can say doesn’t mean much at all.  Cal did get blown out by twenty-two earlier in the year by Syracuse as well.  Meaning the direct comparison says take Louisville, which is what I’m predicting.

4 vs 13 Another popular upset pick is Sienna over Purdue.  I’m jumping on that bandwagon too for one big reason, Robbie Hummel.  Before Hummel tore his ACL, Purdue looked like a final four caliber team, now they don’t look as great.  They only scored eleven points in the first half in the game against Minnesota, which was a school low for points in a half this quarter century.  If Minnesota can beat Purdue, then Sienna, which also won last year in the first round should pull this upset as well.

7 vs 10 Richmond did finish runner-up in the A-10 tournament which is a great accomplishment but St. Mary’s put the beat down on Gonzaga in the WCC tournament championship game.  St. Mary’s victory over their conference rivals gives them a huge emotional boost not to mention they’ll want to make a statement that they can win a NCAA tournament game after not being let in last year.  You think that’ll increase their emotional boost? You bet!

2nd round

Midwest

No upsets in the second round, Georgia Tech and Ohio State will be a good game but I think Evan Turner can just get the Buckeye’s past the Yellow Jackets.  Make sure to watch Michigan St. and Maryland as well.

West

3 vs 11 Minnesota over Pittsburgh? Yes indeed my friends.  Minnesota has the coach, Tubby Smith, and the momentum from the big-10 conference tournament that can push them to the sweet sixteen.  Pittsburgh doesn’t have much experience in the NCAA tournament with all but one starter from last year’s team back.  Pitt has lost its last two games against Notre Dame, both coming at the end of the season meaning they can’t beat a team with somewhat decent talent. (sorry St. John’s, Providence, and Rutgers)  I think more than anything though, it will be the ability of Tubby Smith to use his vast experience in the NCAA tournament to get Minnesota though.

East

4 vs 12 Usually, I would be very hesitant to take more than one double-digit seed to the sweet sixteen but this Cornell team has made we change my mind.  As much as I like Wisconsin with their wins over Duke, Maryland, and Ohio St, I just have this gut feeling that Cornell will be trying to show that the small conference can make a run into the second weekend.  Cornell has the big man and shooter, if both of these guys can do their thing, Wisconsin will be in trouble and be looking at a loss in the second round.

3 vs. 6 Marquette and New Mexico will be an interesting match-up should it happen.  You have a Marquette that is sponsored by the statement “close but no cigar” and New Mexico is the good team no one has been able to see.  So which side do you take? Well, even though Marquette did get blown out by Georgetown in the Big East championship they ended the season strong.  Plus, New Mexico won the Mountain West regular season but Marquette finished fourth in the Big East which was the toughest conference this year.

South

No upsets in the second round here.  I just can’t take a third double-digit seed to the sweet sixteen and Sienna gets left out of that group.  That puts Duke, Texas A&M , Baylor, and Villanova into the sweet sixteen.

Sweet Sixteen

Midwest

1 vs 4 Kansas vs Greivis Vasquez is the real name of this game.  Vasquez has been the most dominant player for Maryland this year and will have carried them to the sweet sixteen this time.  Problem is, one player can’t beat a very good team throughout.  They have the leader in Collins and the big man in Aldrich.  Maryland lacks a good big man.  It’s a great coaching battle and don’t be surprised if Gary Williams out coaches Bill Self but Self has better talent around him to get him through this one.

2 vs 3 Same scenario: Georgetown vs Evan Turner.  One player vs a good overall team.  While Turner may be better than Vasquez , I still stick to the same principle: one good player can not beat a good team by himself.  Turner may be the best player this year but even he applies to this terminology and Ohio St.’s run will end here.

West

1 vs 4 Syracuse and Vanderbilt provides a great matchup.  A possible injury to Onaku in this game means A.J. Ogilvy can take the paint over.  Andy Rautins will have carried the load if Wes Johnson isn’t playing well and eventually Rautins will have to run out of gas.  Especially against a team like Vanderbilt.  A sweep of Tennesse also helps Vanderbilt here and I feel Syracuse will get upset in the sweet sixteen even though they won the Big East regular season.  Syracuse have shown weakness this year and the game against Vanderbilt is a prime place to show this.

2 vs 11 Minnesota’s run will end here.  Frank Martin will use his fierce attitude to get his team focused on the task at hand and not looking towards the elite eight.  Kansas St. has shown it can be an elite team throughout this year and even Minnesota has to lose to a good team eventually and Kansas St. looks like a good candidate to take that role.

East

1 vs 12 Same thing here for Cornell, you can beat a couple of good teams, it’s when the elite team comes a calling that you end up realizing your place.  John Wall and john Callipari aren’t even going to allow Cornell to think they have a shot in this game and will make sure Cornell go back to Ithaca without a George Mason-like story.

2 vs 6 Marquette and West Virginia will feature a Big East showdown.  West Virginia barely escaped the only meeting between the two teams before and Bob Huggins knows that he doesn’t want to go through that lesson again.  This game will feature a bunch of athleticism and great shots but if the game comes down to the last shot, only De’shean Butler has proven he can handle the pressure.  West Virginia roles to the elite eight.

South

1 vs 5 Mike Krzyzewski (yes I spelled it right) will be looking to end Duke’s drought in getting to the final four by getting one step closer by beating Texas A&M and he should get it.  Duke is the better team through and through.  John Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith have shown they can power this blue devil team to wins throughout the year and the sweet sixteen is no exception.  A&M played well this year but not enough to beat a powerhouse like Duke.

2 vs 3 You could almost say this games applies to the one player can’t beat a good team by himself principle too.  Scottie Reynolds is the star of Villanova who have struggled as of late by losing five of their last seven.  Baylor has a great point guard in Tweety Carter, a shooter in LaceDarius Dunn, and a shot blocker in Ekpe Udoh.  The bears are a very overlooked basketball team but they will shut those critics up by making it to the elite eight.

Elite Eight

Kansas vs Georgetown: In this matchup, you have to very good basketball teams at the starting lineup.  It’s the bench where Georgetown is beaten by Kansas.  Georgetown only plays up to seven guys a game and can’t afford to get into foul trouble.  Kansas does have a deep bench to be able to avoid foul trouble issues.  If Greg Monroe gets into foul trouble, then it comes down to Austin Freeman being able to lead the team by himself which I don’t see happening. Kansas, as expected, goes to the final four.

Vanderbilt vs. Kansas St.: Kansas St. will prove it is the best in the west region here.  Vanderbilt will be riding a lot of momentum after knocking off Syracuse but Frank Martin isn’t going to stand for that.  His back court of Pullen and Clemente can easily shot the Wildcats through to the final four and end the dream run of Vanderbilt. 

Kentucky vs West Virginia: If you thought Marquette and West Virginia would bring a good amount of athleticism then imagine what it will be like in this game.  Its John Wall vs De’shean Butler in this game with Butler having the experience as a senior to lead West Virginia.  Eventually, the pressure of living up to the Kentucky faithful’s expectations will become a reality and the pressure of exceeding that reality becomes much more difficult.  For West Virginia, making the elite eight is a great expectation but the Mountaineers will want to prove once again that their senior leader can carry them through a tough test.  West Virginia wins this game in possibly the best game of the whole tournament.

Duke vs Baylor: A couple of big threes for each team. Scheyer, Smith, and Singler for Duke and Dunn, Carter, and Udoh for Baylor.  The coaching battle is what makes me pick Duke here.  Mike Krzyzewski knows how to win here while this will be Scott Drew’s first time to be this far in the tournament.  The Baylor players may also be a bit wide-eyed in this one.  Just in 2003, the program seemed to be falling off with the murder case but now the bears are this far in the tournament.  Problem is, Duke hasn’t been in five years either and Kryzewski will make sure his players know he won’t accept a loss.  Not this close to snapping that streak.  

Final Four

Kansas vs. Kansas St.: Round four anybody? Indianapolis viewers will be paying the big buck to watch a rematch, of a rematch, of the original game?  Yeah, that’s how I see it.  Kansas really was the best state for basketball this year and the NCAA tournament will exemplify that.  The Big 12 also puts a big argument up for being the best conference by getting two teams to the final four while the Big East gets only one.  This game will be no different then the other three.  Kansas finds its stroke, gets a good few transition opportunities, or Kansas St. just can’t find its stroke.  Kansas makes the biggest statement that they’re the best team in Kansas and gets to the national championship game.

West Virginia vs Duke: Duke will have snapped its final four streak here but can they get to the national championship?  De’sean Butler will want to make sure they don’t.  John Scheyer has had problems guarding bigger guards this year and Butler is a big guard that Scheyer will probably have to guard.  The big three at Duke will give it a great effort but the athleticism will prevail here.  Butler can score and Duke relies too much on jump shots.  While they have plenty of big guys, they never have established a constant scoring threat there and that’s why I see West Virginia moving on.

National Championship

Kansas vs West Virginia: Can a team start out ranked number one at the beginning of the year and finish number one?  Kansas will be trying to do this.  Collins will lead the Jayhawks into Indianapolis with high hopes of a national championship.  West Virginia will come in believing they have one more good game in them .  They won the Big East conference tournament and can do in again on college basketball’s biggest stage.   Butler will bring his best at the Jayhawks but Kansas has been the best team this entire year.  They have shown it all this season and it won’t change to this athletic Moutaineer team.  A fight to the end should be expected here but the Jayhawks are my pick to claim their second title in three years.  One more thing: You think Bob Huggins might wear a suit for this?