Talk about anti-climatic. North Carolina began the season as the consensus number one team in America. An injury here and there made them look mortal, but when Ty Law, their spectacular point guard healed up, no one could touch this team. They win their 2nd National Title under Roy Williams which upgrades his status in the games history. Now only UCLA and Kentucky have more more championships. I thought Williams was brilliant sticking with his key starters as the first half drew down to avoid any late Michigan State run. The Heels ended the first 20 minutes setting a record for both points scored in the 1st half of a title game and biggest lead at the break as well. Not a very exciting tournament overall. We had the Gonzaga late bucket to beat Western Kentucky followed by Villanova's last second hoop taking down Pitt & sending the Cats to the Final Four. Otherwise it did not provide those magical moments CBS sets to music.
Loving the start of the baseball season even if it saw the Yankee's zillion dollar man, CC Sabathia get lit up. Taking into account the time of year and length of the season, nothing offers up the hope of Spring quite like MLB's opening day. I still insist it's the Red Sox everyone in the big leagues should be gunning for. With Josh Beckett, Dicekay Matzuzaka and Jon Lester, they have the equivalent of a trio of aces. Jonathan Papelpon is an elite closer and with David Ortiz healthy, the offense should click again. The Angels will contend nearly by default because no one in the West is capable of winning more than 85 games. I think the Twins win the race to the wire in the Central. The Wild Card comes down to New York, the White Sox, Indians and maybe the A's. Health and consistency in those respective rotations will be the difference maker. Both the Yanks & Chisox are hoping some older bats can remain productive. We'll hit the NL tomorrow and some on SportsTalk today.
Looks like George Horton was somewhat prophetic leading up to the season. Felt his team would really have to scrape out runs, rely on pitching and avoid defensive lapses to win games. Their 2 victories in the series against the Beavers and Stanford were 3-2 & 2-1. The defense has not been air tight and the offense is small balling it's way to the runs it's able to produce. The key fact is this. Oregon was the consensus last place team in the Pac 10. Kind of a duh considering the program didn't exist until opening day. Yet, they're currently running ahead of Washington and Arizona. I think they've already earned a certain level of respectability and credibility setting a terrific foundation for the immediate future.
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