Tune in at 2PM for this week's edition of The Mouth That Roared.
Guests include Mike Weinstein of WKCR, Lucas Shaw of the Columbia Spectator, and Adam Seif in a round table discussion of the Mets, Yankees, Jets, March Madness, the World Baseball Classic and much more.
The show will return to its normal live format next Sunday at 2.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
State of my Bracket Address
The end of the opening weekend of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament is always bittersweet. For me, the first four days of March Madness are among my "high holy days" of the sports calendar, rivaled only by the likes of the Super Bowl and the World Cup. On those days, my attention is on nothing else but the competition, and I am almost always highly entertained by the games themselves.
With that being said, my bracket does not reflect my love for college basketball. Awful early picks (BYU, Ohio State, Minnesota) and good picks that did not quite pan out (Utah State, West Virginia) outweighed my good decisions, and two of my elite eight teams are already out (Clemson, Utah State).
But before you write me off, let me defend my struggling bracket.
1. I have 1 and only 1 bracket per year. That bracket applies to all pools/side bets entered. I do not take multiple shots at guessing games. I commit to picks and I enjoy the action.
2. I understand that boring brackets are not interesting (hence their name) and that they will not win pools. A seven or worse has made the elite eight in 8 of the last 9 years and the final four is rarely comprised of one seeds. Due to this, I take risks and attempt to guess a Cinderella or two for the sweet sixteen.
3. My love for the Big East makes it difficult for me to subjectively analyze the conference's talent from year to year. I have made an awful habit of putting 3 or more Big East teams in the elite eight on a yearly basis.
Ordinarily, these things have prevented me from having stellar brackets over the years, although I did finish 3rd in a 20+ people pool behind Florida's second national championship run two years ago. But this year, my old limitations completely destroyed my bracket hopes in a perfect storm of sorts.
First of all, I picked against the Big East for the first time in my life this year, figuring they were overrated and overhyped and that this could be the year I finally realized that the conference disapoints in the tournamet. Well, with 5 of 7 teams through to the sweet sixteen and at least 4 looking in good shape to get to the elite eight, the Big East has finally impressed this year. It figures.
Then, my time tested theory of the emergence of at least one Cinderella story collapsed, as this tournament has none left. The lowest seed remaining is Arizona, an incredibly talented team and storied program that simply can not be regarded as a Cinderella. So my Utah State pick became as silly as my Clemson pick, and a quater of my elite eight went up in flames.
The positives? My final four is still in tact, and my champion, Connecticut, has looked like one of the two best teams in the tournament, along with Villanova.
So tune in next week for an update on the state of my bracket and much more on The Mouth That Roared.
With that being said, my bracket does not reflect my love for college basketball. Awful early picks (BYU, Ohio State, Minnesota) and good picks that did not quite pan out (Utah State, West Virginia) outweighed my good decisions, and two of my elite eight teams are already out (Clemson, Utah State).
But before you write me off, let me defend my struggling bracket.
1. I have 1 and only 1 bracket per year. That bracket applies to all pools/side bets entered. I do not take multiple shots at guessing games. I commit to picks and I enjoy the action.
2. I understand that boring brackets are not interesting (hence their name) and that they will not win pools. A seven or worse has made the elite eight in 8 of the last 9 years and the final four is rarely comprised of one seeds. Due to this, I take risks and attempt to guess a Cinderella or two for the sweet sixteen.
3. My love for the Big East makes it difficult for me to subjectively analyze the conference's talent from year to year. I have made an awful habit of putting 3 or more Big East teams in the elite eight on a yearly basis.
Ordinarily, these things have prevented me from having stellar brackets over the years, although I did finish 3rd in a 20+ people pool behind Florida's second national championship run two years ago. But this year, my old limitations completely destroyed my bracket hopes in a perfect storm of sorts.
First of all, I picked against the Big East for the first time in my life this year, figuring they were overrated and overhyped and that this could be the year I finally realized that the conference disapoints in the tournamet. Well, with 5 of 7 teams through to the sweet sixteen and at least 4 looking in good shape to get to the elite eight, the Big East has finally impressed this year. It figures.
Then, my time tested theory of the emergence of at least one Cinderella story collapsed, as this tournament has none left. The lowest seed remaining is Arizona, an incredibly talented team and storied program that simply can not be regarded as a Cinderella. So my Utah State pick became as silly as my Clemson pick, and a quater of my elite eight went up in flames.
The positives? My final four is still in tact, and my champion, Connecticut, has looked like one of the two best teams in the tournament, along with Villanova.
So tune in next week for an update on the state of my bracket and much more on The Mouth That Roared.
CU Baseball Goes 1-9 On California Swing
With seven games on the swing against ranked teams, Columbia baseball was always looking at an uphill battle over the spring break trip.
Unsurprisingly, wins did not come easily for the Lions, who managed only one during the ten game trip.
However, there were positives to take from the week in California. Freshman Jon Eisen continued his stellar play, and looks to have won a second base position which has a surprising amount of depth despite the loss of Hank Perkins to graduation. Senior Kyle Roberts finally looks to be recovering from his preseason back injury, and sophomore Chris Meininger has been effective when called upon.
Ace Joe Scarlata also continued to pitch well, but took multiple hard-luck losses during the road trip. His record is now 0-4. More significantly, Dan Bracey got the only win in California in a surprisingly strong seven inning performance against Cal-State Northridge. He may have gone a long way towards securing the third spot in the rotation for the Ivy League schedule with the performance.
Unfortunately, potential super-sophs Nick Cox and Alex Ferrera have struggled to begin the season, despite their enormous potential at the crucial centerfield and shortstop positions.
The Lions take on the St. Johns Red Storm at Robertson Field on Tuesday, Mach 24. Coverage on WKCR's Real Audio stream at WKCR.org.
Unsurprisingly, wins did not come easily for the Lions, who managed only one during the ten game trip.
However, there were positives to take from the week in California. Freshman Jon Eisen continued his stellar play, and looks to have won a second base position which has a surprising amount of depth despite the loss of Hank Perkins to graduation. Senior Kyle Roberts finally looks to be recovering from his preseason back injury, and sophomore Chris Meininger has been effective when called upon.
Ace Joe Scarlata also continued to pitch well, but took multiple hard-luck losses during the road trip. His record is now 0-4. More significantly, Dan Bracey got the only win in California in a surprisingly strong seven inning performance against Cal-State Northridge. He may have gone a long way towards securing the third spot in the rotation for the Ivy League schedule with the performance.
Unfortunately, potential super-sophs Nick Cox and Alex Ferrera have struggled to begin the season, despite their enormous potential at the crucial centerfield and shortstop positions.
The Lions take on the St. Johns Red Storm at Robertson Field on Tuesday, Mach 24. Coverage on WKCR's Real Audio stream at WKCR.org.
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