Hoops + Hardball = Heaven

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The List

What a great day, when the NCAA crowned a national basketball champion (without even needing computer geeks to choose the combatants) and most MLB teams played their season-openers.

Eight not-so-elite thoughts from a fun Monday so chock full of sports stuff I had to record "24" to watch later in the week:

1. I guess homecourt advantage doesn't mean all that much when the visitor has a better player - make that a significantly better player - at every position.

2. And how 'bout the day Michael Jordan had? Early on, he learned he was voted into the Hall of Fame on his first time on the ballot - shocking! - and before the day was through, his beloved Tar Heels throttled Sparty to win the national title. Oh, and between those events, just to make himself feel really good, he counted his money.

3. So, Cubbieland, what happens first: Milton Bradley missing a game due to injury or Kosuke Fukudome getting a base hit? 

4. OK, I get why Lou Piniella subbed Joey Gathright for Fukudome in center field for the ninth inning. But why not just move K-Fu over to right, where he is infinitely better than Bradley? Luckily for the Cubs, the ball Bradley botched that inning didn't cost Carlos Zambrano a well-deserved victory.

5. No matter how hard they wish it to be true, Cardinals fans can't make catcher-turned-closer Jason Motte into a game-saving stud. The bullpen killed the Cards last season, and 2009 might be more of the same.

6. Come October, it looks like it will be Pirates vs. Orioles in a rematch of the '79 We Are Family World Series. Just like we all predicted.

7. First, out-of-nowhere 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee compiled a 12.46 spring-training ERA. Then, he got shelled by the Rangers in Cleveland's opener, giving him a 12.60 ERA. Can you say "fluke"? I knew you could.

8. So what if CC Sabathia got rocked in his Yankees debut? He looked mahvelous, dahling. And just wait until he gets to wear those home pinstripes. Very slimming!

Cubs: "We'll have the usual, thank you"

^

The Bald Truth

Gee, is spring training over already? Why, it seems as though pitchers and catchers reported only a few millennia ago. 

I think Octo-Mom popped out a half-dozen more kids - and Madonna adopted them - since spring training started ... and yet Rich Harden still looks like he needs another month to get ready for the 20 or so starts he'll make this season for the Cubbies.

Anyway, the season has started with Sunday night's Phillies-Braves game (not to mention the White Sox's announcement that Monday's scheduled opener already has been rained/snowed/sleeted/frozen out), so let's finish the official BTB baseball predictions for 2009.

I'm already on record with my division winners: Both Chicago teams as well as the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Angels. The postseason field also will include the wild-card-winning Yankees and Dodgers.

In the first round of the playoffs: Red Sox over White Sox; Yankees over Angels; Phillies over Dodgers and Diamondbacks over Cubs in (of course) a three-game sweep. Because what is a Cubs postseason under Lou Piniella without a demoralizing, humiliating broom job at the hands of the NL West champion?

The Red Sox will top the Yankees in the ALCS while the Phillies handle the D-Backs to win another NL pennant. 

And for the third time in six years since becoming un-cursed, Boston wins the World Series.

Now for some individual awards:

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, Yankees.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, Cardinals.

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays.

NL Cy Young: Derek Lowe, Braves. (I wrote this before he humbled the Phillies on Sunday - honest!)

AL First Manager Fired: Ron Washington, Rangers (but Joe Girardi had better not have another lousy April in the Bronx).

NL First Manager Fired: Cecil Cooper, Astros (but Dusty Baker has to watch his back with Walt Jocketty now running the Reds).

The Balder Truth

After Michigan State impressively thrashed his UConn Huskies, it was interesting to hear Jim Calhoun get all introspective when it comes to his career. He might keep coaching, he might not, he'll let us know later.

Well, if he was going to get all deep and metaphysical, maybe he should think about his team not taking part in the time-honored tradition of cutting down the nets after it advanced to the Final Four by winning the West Regional. He said he and his lads simply wanted to wait until they got to cut down the nets after the national championship game.

That would have been like the Tampa Bay Rays not celebrating following each postseason round last season because they wanted to keep the champagne on ice until after the World Series.

One of baseball's fun traditions is the celebration after the clinching of a playoff berth and then again after each round. The champion gets to celebrate four times in a month. How cool! Cutting down the nets - after winning a conference title, a regional title and/or a national title - is every bit as cool.

The UConn players might never get another chance. And the way Calhoun was talking, he might have cut down his last net five years ago when he could have experienced the thrill again just last week. What a shame.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

What was that I said a few days ago? UConn vs. Villanova for the NCAA title? Ugh. Don't remind me.

Time for yet another mulligan!

First, I have to ask myself a question: How could I have picked anybody to beat North Carolina, clearly the best team in college basketball?

Sorry Tar Heels ... it's kiss-of-death time:

North Carolina 83, Michigan State 74.

He's No. 6!

^

The Bald Truth

Before Jay Cutler came along, the last Bear to wear No. 6 was Kevin Butler back in 1995. Just wait until 14 years after Cutler retires and the Bears give No. 6 to some guy named Dutler.

The Quote

"That doesn't really involve what we've gotta do in America to fix America, so it's a mute point." - Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, during an appearance on Bill Maher's HBO show.

The Old Quote Revisited

"I said I wasn’t gonna answer any more about Soriano. That’s a mute story." - Lou Piniella, getting perturbed last year when a reporter asked him about Alfonso Soriano.

The Conclusion

You know, come to think of it, I've never seen Joe The Plumber and Lou The Skipper in the same place at the same time.

The List

Five Cutler-trade-related e-mail observations from Gene Chamberlain (the former Bears beat reporter who worked with me when we were both with the Copley Newspaper group):

1. Hell froze over and pigs grew wings.

2. And for some reason, I think they'll still find a way to go 8-8 next season. They can blame it on Turner or injuries or Lovie. Or Riggleman.

3. The Bears traded a first-rounder for a QB who grew up in Indiana and was a Bears fan and got off to a great start in his career ... Rick Mirer.

4. At least this time when they traded for the QB who grew up in Indiana, they didn't make everybody go downtown for a press conference so we could watch Dave Wannstedt drink light beer with ice in it.

5. When the pressure was on last season, Cutler played the same way for Denver that Kyle Orton played for the Bears when the pressure was on. He sucked.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

When Mike Krzyzewski was talking about that very clever Risky Business Guitar Hero ad he filmed with Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams, he made a reference to "Rick, Roy and Coach Knight."

Really? Is one of the great coaches ever so afraid of insulting Bobby that he feels he must kiss Bobby's ring at every opportunity? Pretty freakin' sad.

White Sox and Cubs: Chicago will smile (until the playoffs, anyway)

^

This is my 15th year as a Chicago sportswriter, and here is the number of times I have predicted the Cubs and White Sox to win their divisions in the same season:

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Never. Ever. Ever.

Until this season.

As you'll see, these predictions aren't exactly being made with complete confidence ...

AL CENTRAL

1. Chicago White Sox: When the big acquisitions to a team that needed a 163rd game to win the division a year earlier were Bartolo Colon and Wilson Betemit, this doesn't exactly make one want to sing the praises of the South Siders - or their GM, Kenny Williams. Nevertheless, I've learned not to underestimate Williams; he and his scouts have been right more often than they have been wrong. Yes, the Sox are getting old in some very important spots, but how do I pick against a team that - at least on paper - has the best rotation and the best bullpen in the division? Unless Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin were mirages last season, the White Sox should be able to reach (or be close to) the 90 victories it will take to win the AL Central. Warning, Sox fans: The lads have never won the division when I've predicted them to do so, and I've done so six times this decade.

2. Cleveland Indians: There are so many question marks surrounding this team, which was supposed to contend for the championship last season but instead had to rally just to reach .500. They made nice moves in snagging ex-Cubbies Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood, but what can they expect from Victor Martinez? From Travis Hafner? From Shin-Soo Choo? From Fausto Carmona? Even from Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, who is coming off a year significantly superior to his career norm? If all of those question marks turn into exclamation points, the Indians might win 100 and run away with the division. If not, well, Kerry Wood could write a 10-volume collection about What Might Have Been.

3. Minnesota Twins: This is an admirable organization that does so many things right on the field, in the front office and in the dugout. The Twins pushed the Sox to the limit last season and added Joe Crede, who, if reasonably healthy, will come back to bite the White Sox on the posteriors. Although health is important to every team, however, the Twins have less financial wiggle room than most to cover for injuries. So the absence of All-Star Joe Mauer all spring and the lingering woes of some pitchers make it difficult to predict anything higher than third place for Ron Gardenhire's crew.

4. Kansas City Royals: These guys can pitch, and that means they might be more dangerous than most folks think. No, I wouldn't be surprised if they finished last again ... but I'd be very surprised if they didn't spoil things for the top teams in the division.

5. Detroit Tigers: Things are tough ... and that means it's just about time for the great Jim Leyland to quit on another organization.

NL CENTRAL

1. Chicago Cubs: Back in 2004, when everybody was gushing about how great the Cubs would be, I just wasn't buying it. I have the same kind of feeling going into 2009. One big difference this time around, though: Five years ago, the Astros and Cardinals were excellent teams; now, not so much. I'm not saying the Cubs will win the division by default because they have too much talent to make such a silly statement. I just don't think they are great. They will miss DeRosa's versatility and Wood's resiliency (and both of those players' leadership). Lou Piniella will be driven batty by Rich Harden's softness, Kosuke Fukudome's spin-a-rama whiffs, Derrek Lee's mysterious power outage and the endless questions about Alfonso Soriano batting leadoff. Milton Bradley was worth acquiring; now let's see how many games he'll be able to play before tearing or straining or tweaking something. The Cubs are too good not to win this division for a third straight year. Whether they finally can win a playoff game, well, only a fool (or somebody who spent the last two Octobers in another solar system) would predict as much.

2. St. Louis Cardinals: I'm absolutely convinced that Tony La Russa did his very best managing job ever last season ... and the Cards still finished in fourth place, 11 1/2 games out. Now comes word that Troy Glaus will miss at least two months. Throw in the fact that the Cardinals have no true closer and that they are relying heavily on Chris Carpenter, and that's quite a load for Albert Pujols to carry. Not that baseball's best hitter can't do it, of course. Pujols has some company, too - as long as Ryan Ludwick is the real deal and Rick Ankiel continues to make progress at the plate. The Cardinals have a nice team that does things right. They are filled with the kind of underdogs La Russa loves to manage - and that folks pull for. The same was true last year, though, and it's hard to imagine them making up anywhere near 11 1/2 games in the standings.

3. Cincinnati Reds: Don't laugh; even though this team won't win the division, it will cause some headaches for opponents. Dusty Baker's boys have some talent - especially their rotation and the middle of their lineup. There aren't many young starters with better stuff than Edinson Volquez and young hitters with more potential than Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. If the Reds get off to a decent start, Dusty will get them to believe. If not, Baker will bemoan all the youngsters in the lineup and try to talk GM Walt Jocketty into trading for a teamful of Neifi Perezes. Dusty's ability to nurture the kids (or lack thereof) will determine how many games this team wins - and how long Baker remains manager.

4. Milwaukee Brewers: The Brew Crew needed to win it all last year because the window has slammed shut. My many friends in Cheeseland won't like me saying this, but there is no way a team that lost CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets and otherwise did next to nothing in the offseason has any shot of contending. And yes, signing 74-year-old Trevor Hoffman amounts to next to nothing. Big shock: He's hurt already. Sure, the Brewers will hit. Pitching and fielding? Sorry, but this NL team is mostly DH's.

5. Houston Astros: Starting with Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, they have maybe a half-dozen players any team would want. And then ... Geoff Blum! Kaz Matsui! Wandy Rodriguez! You get the idea. Miguel Tejada doesn't have enough steroids to bulk up this crew's chances.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates: All I can say is: Go Steelers!

(Still to come: Pennant-winners, MVPs and other 2009 MLB predictions.)

Cutler's a Bear ... so now what?

^

Bear Country denizens have been waiting forever to see their heroes get a franchise quarterback. Now that they've gotten one - Jay Cutler - who am I to voice any concerns?

A born skeptic am I, that's who.

Cutler is a diva who whined himself out of Denver. He also is a mistake-prone passer who lost more NFL games than he won as the Broncos' starter even though he was mentored by Mike Shanahan, one of the top offensive minds in recent league history.

That being said ... Cutler reminds me of a young Brett Favre. If he becomes even 80 percent the QB that Favre was, the Bears will forget quickly about Kyle Orton, who was sent to Denver in the deal (along with two No. 1 draft picks and a No. 3).

Like Favre, Cutler is so confident in his arm he often tries to throw it through defenders, leading to interceptions. Unlike Favre, who made his teammates better even at a young age, the 26-year-old Cutler has yet to lead a team into the playoffs and has a spotty record in late-game situations.

Historically, giving up so many high draft picks for one player ends up hurting the team that got the player. Herschel Walker is the most famous example, but there have been numerous others. Maybe Cutler will be the exception. One thing for sure: He'll face a ton of pressure; Chicago fans have taken to booing their QB at even the slightest miscue. 

Also under big-time pressure: offensive coordinator Ron Turner. He had a built-in excuse with the limited QBs he had to work with: Orton, Rex Grossman and Brian Griese. Turner now has been given a hunk of clay - a talented, expensive hunk of clay - to mold into a masterpiece. We'll see.

Jerry Angelo said a few months ago that his No. 1 priority was to "fix" the QB position. He should be congratulated for getting the best option available. But his work is not done. 

For starters, the Bears' receiving corps is an embarrassment. As it stands now, Orton will be throwing to far better players in Denver than Cutler will in Chicago. The Bears' line is inadequate, too. And those upgrades will have to be made without the benefit of a No. 1 draft choice.

Still ...

For all of Lovie Smith's hot air that the Bears were "close" to championship contention, they weren't going to win anything with what they had. Now they've added a young Pro Bowl QB with a howitzer arm. Were I a Bears fan, I'd be very excited today. 

I'd be plenty skeptical, too. But hey, that's just me.

Angels and D-Backs: Bests of Wests

^

And so, it's on to the Wests, divisions that just might combine to produce zero 90-win teams. On the bright side, the races - if that's what they'll be called - should be close come September.

AL WEST

1. L.A. Angels of Orange County & Other Non-L.A. Regions: Interesting that a team can subtract longtime hitting standout Garret Anderson, all-time single-season saves leader Francisco Rodriguez and the league's best first baseman in Mark Teixeira and still be the division favorite. Does that say more about the Angels or the division? Probably the latter, but the former is a possibility, too. The Angels did a decent job of retooling, bringing in Bobby Abreu to play left and Brian Fuentes to close, and they still have Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and a very nice pitching staff. Should be plenty to rule this field.

2. Seattle Mariners: The rest of the division is a crapshoot, so let's take a shot and promote the league's crappiest team in 2008 to a second-place finish. This is all about pitching. (What? You thought I was going to say this was all about the homecoming of Junior Griffey, who proved during his South Side go-round that he was done, finished, kaput?) If Erik Bedard is healthy, Felix Hernandez is the ace-on-the-rise he appears to be and if 100 mph throwing Brandon Morrow is a bullpen stud, the M's should be able to get enough offense from Ichiro and Adrian Beltre to at least avoid humiliating themselves again.

3. Oakland A's: Not sure if Billy Beane has built a legitimate contender or if he has put together a group destined to crash and burn. Jason Giambi is back to play first base, Eric Chavez and Nomar Garciaparra are hoping to make it through a season in one piece, the A's actually are counting on Michael Wuertz, and ace Justin Duchscherer is going to miss at least a month after elbow surgery. On second thought, never mind on the "legitimate contender" half of the equation.

4. Texas Rangers: As usual, they're hoping to maul opponents into submission. It hasn't worked in eons, and I see no reason it should work now. But hey, it sure will be fun watching Josh Hamilton and friends hit the baseball.

NL WEST

1. Arizona Diamondbacks: If you like Strike 3, you gotta love this team. A starting rotation led by Brandon Webb and Dan Haren often gets opponents chasing at air, but that's just the start of it. D-Backs hitters strike out more often than Pauly Shore at a sorority pajama party. The hitters are young and talented, though, so I'm gambling that at least a few of them - maybe Mark Reynolds, maybe Chris Young, maybe Justin Upton, maybe Stephen Drew, maybe someone - will have figured out a thing or two about the importance of putting the ball in play every so often. Besides, how can one go against a team that has Augie Ojeda on its roster?

2. L.A. Dodgers: Well, Manny is happy, and that usually means good things for Manny's team. Still, the Dodgers actually have transformed themselves from a team that relies primarily on pitching and defense to one that hopes to out-mash opponents. It will be interesting to see how that plays at Dodger Stadium. It's hard not to like a lineup that includes the likes of Manny, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson. It's easy not to like a team relying on Randy Wolf, Jeff Weaver and Jason Schmidt.

3. San Francisco Giants: If only one could combine the Giants and the Dodgers, you'd have a team capable of winning this division by 20-some games. The Giants can pitch - and who knows? Maybe that actually will be enough in the NL West. Just when I wondered when we'd see another lefty as dominant and entertaining as Randy Johnson, along came Tim Lincecum and his 102 pounds of fury. And now look: San Fran has both. Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, too. The Giants also have Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria as primary offensive weapons. Expect lots of 2-1 wins and 3-2 losses.

4. Colorado Rockies: Five words: Jason Marquis in Coors Field. This can't be a good thing. The Rocks also dumped their best player (Matt Holliday) and have some gaping holes. Nevertheless, this team is just one year removed from a World Series appearance ... and that has to count for something, right? Maybe all they need is the real Troy Tulowitzki to show up. Unless the 2008 version was the real one, in which case, they're screwed. 

5. San Diego Padres: Well, at least they still have Jake Peavy. Until they don't.

(Tomorrow: AL Central and NL Central.)

Red Sox and Phillies: Beasts of Easts

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What a great time of year to be a sports fan. 

College basketball decides its champion on the court. (Are you listening, NCAA football?) The NBA and NHL postseasons are about to start. (Reportedly, those leagues will crown champions sometime before September.) NFL teams are preparing for the draft. (Meanwhile, NFL players make court appearances and trade demands.)

Best of all, Opening Day approaches. (And I get to make a bunch of predictions that smart fans will summarily ignore before calling their bookies.)

Play ball!

AL EAST

1. Boston Red Sox: Now that they got rid of that cancer-causing loser, Manny Ramirez, the sky's the limit for this crew. And no matter what, the Sox know they can rely upon never-injured stalwarts such as J.D. Drew, David Ortiz and Josh Beckett. Seriously, given all that went wrong for the Red Sox last season, it's easy to forget that they won 95 games and got to the ALCS. As usual, they've assembled a powerful roster and a nice rotation, and Jonathan Papelbon has moved to the fore as the one guy I'd want on the mound in the ninth inning of a Game 7. 

2. New York Yankees: It's wonderful that the team is bringing back Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio to throw out the ceremonial first pitches at the new Yankee Stadium. And you thought Ted Williams' head was the only thing that had been cryogenically frozen all this time? For the Yankees to avoid the slow starts that have plagued them in recent years, they'll need dominant pitching in April, when pitching is supposed to dominate. With CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett (or is it C.C. and AJ?), they seem to be armed well enough to overcome the early absence of A-Roid Rodriguez. But just in case they do struggle early, maybe we should start the "What day will Joe Girardi get fired?" pool right now.

3. Tampa Bay Rays: Back in 1998, the Cubs sent Kerry Wood to the minors to start the season, leading then-Angels manager Terry Collins to say that if the Cubbies had five pitchers better than Wood, they were a cinch to win it all. And now here we are, 11 years later, and the Rays have sent 2008 postseason phenom David Price to the minors. P.S.: The Cubs didn't win it all in '98, and the Rays won't do so in '09 after coming oh so close last year. It's hard to imagine them being able to duplicate their 97-win success, isn't it? Well, Evan Longoria & Co. will get the chance to prove all of us wrong again. 

4. Toronto Blue Jays: Where's Joe Carter when you need him? Remember when the Yankees and Red Sox were just good enough to lose and Toronto ruled this division? Honest, kids! Ask your dads. The Blue Jays obviously remember ... how else to explain Cito Gaston's return as manager? What next? Ed Sprague at third base? The only way this team escapes fourth place is if Roy Halladay wins 35 games. If anyone can do it, he can.

5. Baltimore Orioles: With Felix Pie, Cesar Izturis, Rich Hill and Andy MacPhail, what could possibly go wrong?

NL EAST

1. Philadelphia Phillies: It was a rough season for Phillies fans because they didn't have nearly enough opportunities to boo their heroes in 2008 - especially in October. That trend figures to continue in '09. The Braves have better pitching depth, the Marlins might have a better lineup and the Mets have the division's top leadoff man and starting pitcher. Having said all that, it's the Phils who do everything well - as evidenced by the championship rings on their fingers. If Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels and their other studs stay healthy, Philly will contend for No. 1 in baseball again.

2. Florida Marlins: With their young, powerful lineup, no wonder tens of Marlins fans turn out at Dolphins Stadium every night! I doubt there are five better players in all of baseball right now than Hanley Ramirez, and he has plenty of support. If Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad and the team's other young pitchers continue to grow up, the Marlins could have the kind of special season their Tampa Bay neighbors had in '08. Florida won 84 games a year ago, so it's not an outrageous leap.

3. New York Mets: Their petition to have the season shortened to 150 games was denied, so I don't like the Mets' chances to avoid another heartbreaking choke-a-thon. With Jose Reyes at the top of the order and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation, with Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Carlos Delgado providing power and with newcomers Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz anchoring an overhauled bullpen, the Mets would seem to have enough to win this division. Then again, they seemed to have enough in 2007 and 2008, too. Oh well, at least they have a new ballpark named after a failed bank going for them.

4. Atlanta Braves: They are delighted with new hurler Javier Vazquez, but those of us who caught his act on the South Side would caution Bobby Cox to avoid using Javy in any game that matters. Not that the Braves figure to have many of those down the stretch. Atlanta added Vazquez and Derek Lowe to an already decent staff, but age and offensive deficiencies make a .500 record a stretch.

5. Washington Nationals. See Adam Dunn hit a home run! See Adam Dunn strike out three times! Thanks for coming and drive home safely.

(Tomorrow: AL West and NL West.)

A blow, but not a fatal one

^

Gotta be honest with you: I wanted to blog over this past weekend about as much as I wanted my boxers set on fire (with me in them).

Why? Another slight setback on the road to my big journalistic comeback. I won't name the company, but I thought I had a pretty cool freelance gig set up only to discover that I didn't. 

For the first time since I became a free agent, I felt really down. As a result, the last thing I wanted to do Friday or Saturday was write TBT or anything else, so forgive me for my brief absence.

But, human Superball that I am, I bounced back and posted Sunday. And now, taking a page out of the Benjamin Button book, I'm going back to my youth as I age. 

I'm returning on a freelance basis to the AP, my employer for my first 16 years of adulthood, and mostly will be writing game stories about the Cubs and White Sox once or twice a week. 

I'm also toying with finally writing my first book, though I've said that before. We'll see if I follow through now that I've called myself out publicly!

The urgency of working on "a deadline every minute," as the old AP mantra goes, should be an interesting change for me. And it will keep me writing professionally until I decide what I want to do in the event I ever grow up.

As for The Baldest Truth, I'll keep on keeping on for the foreseeable future. In fact, starting Wednesday, I'll be previewing the baseball season in my own warped way.

Thanks for sticking with me, everybody.

Kentucky has tradition - but not the best job

^

Sunday's final four:

1. Why, why, why on earth would Tom Izzo, John Calipari, Billy Donovan or any other coach who already has built a top-tier program be even the least bit interested in going to Kentucky now that another good coach has been driven away from Bluegrass country?

Izzo is back in the Final Four with Michigan State, which for the last decade has established itself as the premier program in the Big Ten and one of the very best in the country - far better than Kentucky, in fact.

Calipari is worshipped in Memphis, where he is king of Conference USA and where he successfully recruits some of the very best players in the land.  According to several ratings services, he is bringing the No. 1 class of 2009 to Memphis. At Kentucky, the alums and other hard-core fans probably would expect him to do better than No. 1. Who needs it?

Donovan has won two national titles at Florida and continues to bring top talent to Gainesville, where he is revered for having already given the thumbs down to Kentucky once.

As a bonus - a huge, enormous, gigandulous bonus - none of these guys faces the kind of scrutiny and pressure in his current job as he would at Kentucky. As an extra bonus, all are paid the same kind of outrageous salaries they'd get from the Bluegrass boyz.

There are a handful of traditional powerhouse programs and Kentucky is one of them. (Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana and UCLA also leap to mind.) But I'd say that many others, including Michigan State, Memphis and UConn, have pulled alongside - and, in many cases, surpassed - those traditional powers. 

Funny thing about tradition in sports: It guarantees nothing. Just ask the Cowboys how much tradition has been worth on the playing field the last few years. New traditions get established all the time in sports; witness the Red Sox now being clutch winners while the Yankees have become chokers.

Tom Crean left Marquette for Indiana, saying it was a slam-dunk decision because "Indiana is Indiana." Well, Indiana hasn't been Indiana for awhile now, including Bobby Knight's last half-dozen years there, and Marquette - thanks in great part to Crean - has surpassed Indiana by miles. Crean is counting on tradition helping him recruit better players to Indiana than he did to Marquette, but most ratings services say his Marquette replacement, Buzz Williams, will be bringing in a group as good as or better than Crean will to Hoosierland.

Of course, once upon an Al McGuire time, Marquette was one of those traditional powerhouses. 

Yes, Kentucky has tradition out the ying-yang. But so do many other places where the pressure isn't so great a coach feels like killing himself 50 times a year. There are too many other fantastic schools at which a coach can win big without putting himself through the torture.

2. Saturday's Villanova-Pitt game was so good, I found myself actually cheering several plays - something I very rarely do because I'm more of a detached appreciator of excellence than I am of a fan. I must admit: It was pretty darn fun.

3. As usual, the "experts" couldn't stop talking about the distractions facing UConn after word of possible NCAA recruiting violations surfaced before the weekend. Ridiculous. Why would UConn players be even the slightest bit distracted by this? Turns out, they weren't, as the Huskies took down Purdue and Missouri to get to the Final Four.

4. In honor of  Tiger Woods officially being back, it's time to take a mulligan on my Final Four picks. What other choice do I have, since I managed to go a sterling 0-for-4?

As much as I appreciate Izzo's Spartans, UConn can play whatever game Michigan State wants to play - and play it just a tad better. On the other side of the bracket, I'm going with the upset: Villanova's tough, talented perimeter players, augmented by vastly underrated Dante Cunningham, making Carolina blue.

And in the all-Big East title game ... UConn 80, 'Nova 74.

Call your bookies and pull out those wallets, folks. I mean, I haven't steered you wrong yet!

Chillin'

^

Did yoga for the first time in my life, which must have been pretty comical to witness. Also, got a massage. Ahhhhh.

In other words, I'm chillin' a little - a theme I'm gonna carry over to TBT for a day or two.

Be back at you Sunday night with another post.