The SoapBoxers

I took the opportunity of Spring Break to visit several historical sites.  This was not just an educational tour, but a family visit that was fortuitously located on the east coast.  If you ever have the opportunity, you should visit the various historical sites that have been protected across this great country.

My tour started in Philadelphia.  This city is surprisingly accessible.  The roads are rather tight, so avoid driving, but there are a multitude of Taxis and almost everything is within walking distance.  Independence Hall and Liberty Bell are part of an immaculate park with Betsy Ross’ house near by.  The architecture throughout the city is spectacular.  Most of the houses are from the 1800s, but there are a couple of streets with houses from the 1700s that are kept authentic.  Of course there are  more modern structures, but the old stuff is what caught my eye.

On the way out of town, we dropped by Valley Forge.  The Parks Department keeps the entire area in pristine condition.  They have replicas of the sheds the men made for themselves and Washington’s headquarters is set up for tours.  It is a small building that housed 23 people, that is once Mrs. Washington showed up.  Of course, once she was there, they had to set up a dining tent.  It seems that it was pretty much a scouting camp out until she was there.  The men were housed 12 to a shed, triple bunks set up in each corner.  There are monuments scattered around where each of the troops were bivouacked.  There is also a triumphal arch listing all of the commands.

Next we headed to Washington DC.  Again, there is plenty of access.  Again, having a vehicle is not recommended.  There is so much to see just on the National Mall, that you could spend a week just there.  At one end is the Capital, at the other is the Lincoln Memorial.  I cannot think of a more impressive walk any where in the world.  We only visited four of the Smithsonian museums.  I personally was impressed by each of the war memorials.  The WWII memorial is awesome in its scale and location right beneath the Washington Memorial.  The Korean War and Viet Nam Memorials straddle the reflecting pool on either side of the Lincoln Memorial.  Right now, the Mall is a construction zone as they are replanting the grassy areas to allow more tourist traffic and they are fixing the reflecting pool.

Out of Washington, we headed to Charlottesville Virginia, the site of Thomas Jefferson’s house, Monticello.  Even though it is only one house, we spent an entire day there.  This site is run by a private organization rather than the parks department.  The facilities are very well-kept, as is the house.  The tours are very personal, with the guides allowing a lot of questioning from the group and allowing the group to steer the discussion.

We took the long way around through the mountains of West Virginia to get back to Philadelphia for our flight home.  The Shenandoah valley is beautiful.  There is literally a historic site at every exit, either from the Revolutionary War or the Civil War.  There were plenty of attractions on the circuit that I just described that we were not able to visit.  The future awaits.  Again, if you ever have the opportunity to witness out monuments, take it.  And of course, write about it.

Many of you likely read my article from Tuesday proclaiming that Alabama was going to beat Creighton. In case you missed it – you can find it here.

Living in Nebraska, I have caught a lot of heat for this stance. I had various friendly wagers of soda on the line at work, even a lunch or two. I was even mentioned at a meeting today for my “hatred” of the Blue Jays. I clarified the issue immediately that I do not in fact hate Creighton at all…I just dislike them vehemently.

With all that said, I apologize to all fans in Blue Jay Nation about my slighted article. Yes I was completely wrong. You are not over-rated. The three impressive wins on your slate of games beating three NCAA teams speak to the outstanding strength of your basketball schedule. Never mind that those three teams all lost their initial games and are at home, like me, watching basketball for the rest of the tournament.

I proudly wore a Crimson polo shirt to the office today, stated “Roll Tide” whenever possible and even whistled the Alabama fight song a time or two today.

Like many folks I have filled out a number of brackets, but just for on-line contests that allow you to win something. I have done the local newspaper. The local news station. The big national outlets. A few at some local restaurants. We even have one at the office but I let my 6 year old fill it out as I figure his odds of winning are better than me.

Overall on most of the brackets I have filled out I am doing well. I am perfect on one, and was 15-1 in two brackets and 14-2 two and 13-3 on a couple of others. I had West Virginia winning on all accounts but one bracket and obviously lost that game. UNLV cost me on a couple as well.

I can add a loss to all brackets today —- as I had Bama winning in ALL of my entries. I said Creighton was over-rated and I made my picks with that in mind. I try to back up what I say. It would have been foolish to say they were over-rated and then go ahead and pick them to advance.

Go Big or Go Home. Bama is going home and it is an “L” on all of my sheets of integrity. I also had Texas on one or two (what the heck was I thinking with that…you all know I love the republic!) and unless Florida State wakes up late in the game, I am in big big trouble there as well.

Good thing my wife is a North Carolina Tar Heel fan. I can let Mrs. Goodman do all the cheering for me on Sunday.

Until next week, when I can tell everyone about the rest of my poor picks…..Go Wildcats!

After one day of the NCAA tournament, I stand at 13-3.  That’s not great, since “chalk” picks would have gone 14-2.

My best pick was #12 VCU over #5 Wichita State.  (Note: numbers used in this article are seeds, and not rankings).  Personally, I didn’t even consider this to be an upset.  This is a team that made a Final Four run last year.  Regardless of player turnover, coach Shaka Smart  remains with the team.  I’m not yet anointing VCU as this decade’s Gonzaga, but I’d like to point out the fact that Smart is 10-1 all-time in post-season tournaments.  In addition to the success last year, he led the 2010 team to the CBI tournament championship.  Sure, the CBI is a far less prestigious tournament, but it would seem that Smart does well with the one-and-done philosophy of tournament play.  Whether Smart can continue to turn down opportunities to earn more money at other schools remains to be seen – but it would be nice to see him stick around VCU and turn them into a perennial power.

My worst pick was Davidson over Louisville.  Even worse, I picked Davidson to advance to the Sweet 16.  One of these years, I’m going to do a chalk bracket, I swear.

UConn became the first defending champ to get bounced in the first round since UCLA in 1996.  My Iowa State Cyclones roared out to a 22 point lead early in the game and fended off some late charges by the Huskies.  Iowa State now faces #1 overall seed Kentucky.  However, if the team can manage to play as well as they did early in last night’s game, I think they have a chance to win the game an advance.  I do have the concerns that Royce White may have punched his ticket to the NBA and will leave after this year.  I’d really prefer that he return for at least another year.  The 6’8″ power forward led the Cyclones in five statistical categories and is quick to exploit mismatches.

The biggest story of the day was #1 seed Syracuse needing a second half rally to beat 16 seed UNC Asheville.  Although coach Jim Boeheim didn’t thing that the Orange were the beneficiaries of any luck in the game, I would disagree.  This is a game that was hotly contested in the final minute, and could easily have gone either way – especially if a controversial call had gone UNC Asheville’s way.  I initially had Syracuse as a Final Four team in my bracket, but pulled them back to be just a Sweet 16 team upon the news that Fab Melo would not be allowed to play in any tournament games.  I think this was a wise decision.

Personally, I thought the biggest surprise in the Thursday session was the Pac 12 getting a win from Colorado.  The Pac 12 was a very mediocre (bad) conference this year, and was fortunate to get two teams into the 68 team field (Cal was bounced in the opening round).

Personally, I don’t find it that surprising that some of the teams from smaller schools play well in the tournaments.  The standard mantra from the analysts is that it’s all about having a team peak at tournament time.  For teams that come from one-bid conference, they are in the tournament because they won their conference tournament.  That’s the definition of peaking. 

OK, day 2 is about to begin.  Enjoy!

Do you know who this man is?

It’s the opening day of the NCAA tournament.  What better day to talk about baseball?  It’s finally time for me to give my playoff predictions.  The regular season is about twenty days away at this point, and temperatures in the 70s in Iowa are making the season seem ever closer. 

There’s have been a lot of changes this year, and the future will bring even more changes, with new penalties for exceeding signing bonuses for draftees and international free agents … not the mention the Astros being kicked to the curb (forced to the AL) next year).

American Legion

East – For the first time, there will be two wild card teams in each division.  In theory, three teams from the same division could make the playoffs.  I doubt that this will remain a hypothetical situation for very long.  I fully expect the Yankees, Red Sox, and Devil Rays strongly content for the playoffs this year.  The real question is which team will earn a bye by winning the division and which two will be forced to square off in the coin-clip game.  I’m going to take the Red Sox.  I fully expect Carl Crawford to snap out of his funk and return to being a very good all-around player.  I also think this is the year that David Ortiz fixes his April/May problems and become a great hitter for all six months of the season.  The Sox do have to find a way to replace the production of the underrated Marco Scutaro at shortstop, but overall, I think this is a team that should be better than last year’s version.

Central – A good Tigers team adds Prince Fielder.  If they don’t have the division wrapped up by mid-September, I’ll be surprised.  The question does remain whether or not Miguel Cabrera can adequately field the ball at 3B, or whether one of Cabrera/Fielder is going to have to DH.

West – This should be another great race.   The Angels sign free agent C.J. Wilson away from the Rangers and also nab Albert Pujols – and they still might not win the division!  The Rangers replaced Wilson with Yu Darvish and signed closer Joe Nathan – which should push stud closer Neftali Feliz into the rotation.  If Hamilton can stay healthy this year, the Rangers will win the west.

Wild Card – OK, I’ll pencil in the Yankees one last time.  I think they significantly strengthened their pitching staff by adding Michael Pindea and the underrated Hiroki Kuroda.  I think this is the year when we see a notable decline from Derek Jeter, but I think Cano, Big Tex, and company can keep the wheels on for one more season.

The only wild card team has to be the Angels.  While the Devil Rays have a lot of good young players, you can’t add an MVP caliber player and a Cy Young contending starting pitcher to a team and expect them to miss the playoffs (unless you’re the Mets).

The close-but-no-cigar award goes to the Devil Rays.

National League

East – This division is going to shape up to be  the best division in baseball in a couple of years.  At the moment, however, I think the Phillies still control the East.  Their ability to throw an ace at the opposing team nearly ever day means that they are a virtual lock for 90+ wins.  There are definitely some footsteps to be heard – Washington is building a good young team and the Marlins should also be on the upswing.

Central – Albert Pujols is gone after leading the Cardinals to an improbable World Series run.  That’s definitely a huge blow, but it is offset somewhat by the return of Adam Wainwright and the signing of Carlos Beltran (Lance Berkman will shift to first base).  Would the Cardinals be a better team with Pujols AND Wainwright in the lineup?  Definitely.  But I think the Cardinals can tread water in the Central and allow the Brewers to get worse.  This could also be the year when Matt Holliday re-emerges in the public eye after time in the shadow of Pujols?  Remember those people who predicted that Holliday would turn into a mediocre hitter once he left Coors Field?  It hasn’t happened so far.

West – I’m going to go out on a limb and pick my Colorado Rockies to win the west.  Is it a homer call?  Definitely.  Do I think there’s an actual chance of it happening?  Definitely.  Some pundits have said that Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd is considering age to be the new market inefficiency when it comes to player valuation.  I think they are correct in their beliefs, and I also believe that O’Dowd may have a point.  The Rockies should be one of the more interesting stories in baseball as they attempt to add some aging vets (OF Michael Cuddyer, SS Marco Scutaro, and possibly Jamie Moyer) to a team that is also going to expect significant contributions from a number of very young players notably pitchers Jhoulys Chacin and Drew Pomeranz and catcher Wilin Rosario, and perhaps even 20 year old 3B Nolan Arenado.  If the veterans play well, and the kids avoid the mistakes of youth, this could be a very good team.  If the veterans get old and the youngsters have trouble adjusting, this could be a very bad year.

I really expect Troy Tulowitzki to win an MVP award within the next 5 years, and this could be the year (after all, this is his age 27 season).  I think Tulo and Cargo will be a real force in the middle of the Rockies order.  On the mound, I expect people to finally notice Jhoulys Chacin.  He’s really good and really young (just turned 24).  He’s the mystery man at the top of the column.

Wild card – I think this is the year the NL East breaks through.  Not just multiple teams in the playoffs, but I see both of the wild card teams coming from the East.  The Nationals have been building  a very good team, and I think this is their breakthrough year.  Bryce Harper might make an impact this year, but my guess is that the return of Stephen Strasburg will have a bigger impact.  And in Florida, the Marlins have added Jose Reyes at shortstop (pushing Hanley Ramirez to third base) and also Heath Bell in the bullpen.  The new stadium opens with a bang – increased attendance (I hope) and a winning team.

Playoffs

Coin Flip round – The Nationals dump the Marlins and the Angels beat the Yankees.  Zero confidence in this, since one game is too small of sample size.

Division Series Winners – Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, and Cardinals

League Championship Series Winners – Tigers and Phillies
World Series – Tigers over Phillies.  Rain thwarted the chances of the Tigers to fully utilize Verlander against the Rangers last year.  In the World Series, Detroit will pitch him in games 1, 4, and 7 and also nab another win from someone.

I’m a big sports fan, although I’m not into basketball as much as baseball.  Furthermore, I really haven’t had much of a chance to see many games this year, or follow much of the news.  This essentially means that your bracket is probably better than mine.  Nonetheless, I’ll thrust my bracket upon you.

South Region

First round winners: Kentucky, Iowa State, VCU, Indiana, UNLV, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Duke.  This is all chalk, so no real explanations for my picks.  I’d love to see Western Kentucky –  a team with a losing record – be the first team to upend a #1 seed … but it’s not going to happen.

Second round winners: Iowa State, Indiana, Baylor, and Duke.  Iowa State is my alma mater, and this is a clear “homer” pick.  Having said that, the Cyclones beat Kansas and Baylor in the regular season, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they could beat Kentucky – although playing them in Louisville is a tough draw.

Third round winners: Indiana and Baylor.  I can’t completely torch my bracket by taking the Cyclones out any further, so I have the Hoosiers knock them off at this point.  It feels dirty picking a Big 10 team to beat Iowa State.  Baylor over coach K?  I like Baylor, mostly because of how they have rebuilt the program after Dave Bliss burned it to the ground.  If you don’t remember the Bliss era at Baylor, look it up sometime when you’re feeling too happy.  It will definitely take your mood down a notch or three.

Regional champ: Baylor.  The Bears finished the Big 12 conference season with a 12-6 record – but four of those losses were to Kansas and Missouri.  Those teams seem to have Baylor’s number – but I’m betting the bears will fare better against outside competition.

West Region

First round winners: Michigan State, Saint Louis, New Mexico, Davidson, Murray State, Marquette, Virginia, Missouri.  There we go – some first round upsets sneak into my bracket.  I remember when Davidson make their run a few years back with Steph Curry.  What stuck out on my mind was that the college did laundry for the students, so that they could focus on their studies (granted, this means they’d unleash a group of 22 year olds that can’t do laundry …)  That’s quirky, and I like quirky.  I always pick some 9-8 and 10-7 upsets, so Saint Louis and Virginia shouldn’t be shockers.  Saint Louis in particular is an apt pick, because the Billiken is a strange little creature.

Second round winners: Michigan State, Davidson, Murray State, Missouri.  New Mexico coach Steve Alford was previously the coach at the University of Iowa.  He’s not very well like in the state.  Although I’m a fan of Iowa State and not Iowa, the stories I’ve heard about him don’t paint a good picture.  Thus, I have no qualms picking his team to go down in flames.  Murray State’s an upsets according to the seeds (6 over 3), but Murray State is actually ranked higher than Marquette in the coaches poll (and is one spot behind them in the AP poll. 

Third round winners: Michigan State and Murray State.  Davidson’s run ends in the third round.  I have the utmost respect for Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, one of the greats in the game.  Why Murray State over Mizzou.  Well, first of all, I hate Mizzou.  Second, the disconnect between the voters and the selection committee bothers me.  I realize that these are different groups of people, but one of the groups is clearly wrong.  You can’t be the #9 team in the nation (coaches poll) and also be the #6 seed (which means at least 20 teams are seeded higher).  One of these things is wrong.

Regional champ: Murray State.  Hey, why not?  Regardless of how weak Murray State’s conference is, the fact remains that they won 30 of 31 games.  That’s incredibly difficult to do – at some point, you just run into a team that is on a hot streak and you fall short.  I’ll bring the whole ranking vs. seeding debate to a head by pushing Murray State into the Final Four.

East Region

First round winners: Syracuse, Kansas State, Harvard, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Florida State, Gonzaga, Ohio State.  The big upset here is Harvard over Vanderbilt.  However, a 12 usually beats a 5, and why not pick a 12 that has a sterling reputation for academics.  After all, that’s the whole reason for colleges.

Second round winners: Syracuse, Wisconsin, Florida State, Gonazaga.  I push Gonzaga forward based on the strength of their coach.  The rest of my picks here are chalk.

Third round winners: Wisconsin and Gonzaga.  Syracuse will not have the services of Fab Melo for the tournament.  I think they can get by UNC Asheville and Kansas State without him, but I think Wisconsin comes away with the win.  I like the Zags, and their coach, Mark Few.  I know almost nothing about Florida State, so Gonzaga is basically my default pick here.

Regional champ: Wisconsin.  Seems like they always peak at tourney time.

Midwest Region

First round winners: North Carolina, Creighton, Temple, Ohio, San Siego State, Georgetown, St. Mary’s, Kansas.  The only upset here is Ohio over Michigan.  The main reason for this is the animosity between the two states (yes, I realize that this Ohio and not Ohio State).

Second round winners: North Carolina, Temple, Georgetown, Kansas.  All chalk here … boring picks in this region so far.

Third round winners: North Carolina and Kansas.  Yawn … very predictable.  Two of the better programs in the country, headed by coaches with length post-season resumes.

Regional Champ: North Carolina.  First of all, I despise Kansas basketball.  Second, North Carolina star Harrison Barnes is an Iowa kid, so I have to root for him to succeed.  I wish he had stayed in-state (in town, actually) and played for Iowa State, but kids need to make their own choices, so I’m OK with his decision and wish him success.

Final Four

OK, it’s the end of the road for Murray State, as they lose to Baylor.  On the other side of the bracket, Harrison Barnes powers North Carolina to the finals with a win over Wisconsin.

In the championship game, Baylor caps off a tremendous academic year with the national title.  Add in the football team’s great season and a possible (likely?) championship on the women’s side, and the roar of the Bears can be heard from afar.

The Conference Tournaments are all done….the seedings are all done…..we are all filling out our brackets….

And many fans are whining.

As always there are many teams on the outside looking in.

Washington Huskies fans are complaining as they missed out on the field of 64..errrr 68. The regular season Pac 12 champs were left off the list by the NCAA. Why?

First off the league as a whole was HORRIBLE this year. They were 0-12 against ranked opponents and 9-43 against teams in the RPI’s top 50. Yikes!

Colorado, which earned the automatic berth by winning the Conference tournament, is an 11 seed. California, the only other team in from the Pac 12 is in a play in game against fellow 12 seed South Florida but did have the advantage of having the highest RPI in the conference which is likely what got them in over the Huskies.

Washington finished first in the Pac-12 with a 14-4 in the conference and was 21-10 overall. However, they went 0-5 against RPI top 50 teams and per the NCAA wasn’t even close to getting an at-large bid. This year for the first time in history, the NCAA Selection committee released the seedings from 1 to 68 and ALSO listed the first six teams left out of making the field of 68 teams. The Huskies were not among the 6 so called “close by not quite” teams on the list.

Drexel finished with an outstanding record of 27-6. On paper this looks like a lock. The . The Dragons won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season championship and won 19 consecutive games before losing to VCU in the CAA final. The Dragons strength of schedule, ranked 248, likely kept them outside looking in.

The Cry of the Blue Jay

Since I am writing for a blog and can be biased as I want to be…I will take that liberty today. As you all know I am a loyal Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. What most of you won’t know is that I have been attending most home basketball games since 1975 as my father has been a season ticket holder since that time.

Nebraska is the only Division I football program in the state.

However, when the boys move from the gridiron to the hardwood – – things change.

Up the road a short piece there is a bigger town…maybe you have all heard of it…It is called Omaha. Some Lincolnites would argue that at times, Omaha seems like it is its own sovereign nation and not really a part of Nebraska.

That could not be a more true statement when it comes to Creighton Blue Jay Basketball.

Creighton Basketball fans snub their noses and turn their backs in general on the Nebraska Basketball team. It is a heated rivalry, and if I sound a little bitter and full of resentment regarding the Creighton program then you are reading exactly what I am trying to convey.

Head Coach Greg McDermott is complaining that the Missouri Valley Tournament Champions and holder of the automatic NCAA berth out of the MVC got overlooked being just an 8 seed. The Blue Jays were a top 20 team early in the year, and the coach’s son Doug is on many “watch lists” as he is a great talent.

McDermott argues that the NCAA selection committee had a “story line agenda” in wanting to match up former teammates at Ames High School, Doug McDermott and Harrison Barnes of North Carolina in a possible 1 vs. 8 seed 2nd round match.

The office banter has been at an all-time high. Cries out outrage. What was the NCAA seeking? Is the team as concerned as their fan base? Are they worried more about their seeding the in tournament than they are about playing their first round game?

Alabama – their opponent is missing one of their better players but has undoubtedly played a MUCH tougher schedule throughout the year and should be battle tested and ready. I think Bama handles them and then fans of the “other” basketball team in Nebraska will be whining even louder. I am predicting a one and done for Creighton.

Of course, I could be wrong…this is March Madness after all. Here is hoping I am not eating Blue Jay come this weekend.

Until Next Time…ROLL TIDE!

Note: this is the second in a series.  Go here to start.

Most importantly, I have a name for my team (I use a different name each year).  It’s The Electric Company … ‘cuz the power is always on.

Round 5

I get L and the group O/I for this round.  Time to get some pitchers.  I grab Jon Lester of the Red Sox with L.  Lester should be good for 15-18 wins, 200+ strikeouts, and an ERA in the low 3s.

O+I is a bad letting grouping.  I think about nabbing Raul Ibanez, but take Juan Oviedo (former Leo Nunez).  Oviedo lost his closer role to Heath Bell, but maybe Bell will get hurt.  Worst case scenario is that I cut him loose.  There’s not point in getting attached to an O/I player – they rarely pan out.

Round 6

I get C and F this around.  Did one of the shortstops fall to me?  Yep – Asdrubal Cabrera.  Cabrera and Castro are fairly similar in value in most categories (we use OBP, so Cabrera’s ability to walk offsets Castro’s higher BA), except that Cabrera smacked 25 homer last year.  That’s probably a fluke, but maybe not.  In any case, I can breath a sigh of relief at having a shortstop.

F has more possibilities.  Pitchers Gavin Floyd (starter), Frank Francisco (reliever), and outfielder Dexter Fowler.  I try to avoid overtly “homer” picks, but I go with Fowler.  I believe that he finally has things figured out after a couple of stints in AAA.  He should provide good OBP and steals, and perhaps even a bit of power if the off-season weight game helps his strength.  Also, I haven’t picked any outfielders yet, and I’ll need some.

Round 7

Letters for the round are R and J.  J is not a great letter.  Desmond Jennings got snapped up in the previous round, so I’m picking between Jair Jurrjens and Edwin Jackson.  E-Jack is in  a pitcher’s park in Washington, so I nab him.  However, I really don’t want mediocre (or worse) pitchers dragging down my ERA and WHIP, so I’ll have a quick hook.

R is a no-brainer.  Yankees ace closer Mariano Rivera joins my team to provide some saves.

Round 8

I have H and A in round 8.  The pickings are getting slim in the letter A.  It’s down to a choice between the once-great but aging Bobby Abreu, and the up-and-comer Yonder Alonso.  Neither is guaranteed a full slate of at bats this year.  While Abreu’s steals are tempting, I take Alonso.  Among other considerations, if he becomes the first baseman for he Padres, he will be eligible at boh 1B and OF.  Also, I like the name.

Matt Holliday is my guy at H.  He’s a safe bet for a .380+ OBP with 25-30 homers, and 90-100 RBI.

At this point, I’ve picked sixteen players – eleven position players and five pitchers.  I narrowly missed getting Demond Jennings as my J guy and I was hoping that somehow Mike Trout would drop to me in the 1oth round (unlikely, and it didn’t happen), but on the flip side, I had Asdrubal Cabrera fall to me, so I can’t complain.

I’ve filled all the offensive positions so far.  I’d really like to add another strong outfield bat at some point, in case Fowler and/or Alonso falter.  I definitely want to stock up on closers.  Either Heath Bell or Andrew Bailey are guaranteed to fall to me, and I’ll take either of them (even if Carlos Beltran is available) and I’ll likely go after Jason Motte or Carlos Marmol in the 10th.  That would give me four closers (as well as Oviedo, who would likely fill in if Bell got injured).  After the ten rounds, we fill three most roster spots.  I’ll likely fill two of them with another outfielder and another closer.

More draft results to follow.

Who Killed Breitbart?  His Heart.

It’s been a week since conservative leader Andrew Breitbart died.  At the time, I asked a friend of mine how long it would be before conspiracy theories started circulating about his death.  It took only a few days before people were saying that the Obama administration had Breitbart whacked.  While it’s fun to spin the theories, sometimes 43 year old men simply die.  My brother was only a bit older when he died due to heart issues.  It happens.

Now, if Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly both turn up dead in the next week, then I’ll agree that we should be taking a long hard look at this.  But until that happens, I’d suggest that Breitbart’s fans celebrate his life rather than trying to indict the president for murder.

The Billionaires Club

Mitt Romney picked up six wins on Super Tuesday, Rick Santorum picked up three, and Newt Gingrich won Georgia (the state he represented in congress).  It’s interesting to note that Santorum and Gingrich each have their own person billionaire funneling tons of money to them via SuperPACs.  This is completely legal.  However, the existence of the SuperPACs means that both can stay in the race even if they aren’t receiving decent fundraising support from anyone else.  In previous years, lack of funding likely would have pushed one of them out of the race by now, leaving the other to go head to head with Mitt Romney.  Head to head with Romney, either of them would have a chance.  But as it stands, they are splitting the non-Romney vote and are coming up short.  Romney can get a plurality in a three candidate race, but would likely have problems gaining a majority in a two candidate race.

Peyton Manning

After 14 years in Indianapolis, the Colts cut Peyton Manning.  The Colts are catching a lot of flak for this move, with many saying that they haven’t been loyal to the player who had built the franchise.

It’s true that Peyton Manning took over a team that sucked and turned it into a great team – largely due to the fact that he’s a stud quarterback.

But bear in mind that the Colts paid Peyton $26.4 million last year – when he didn’t play a down.  He was due to get a $28 million roster bonus if he wasn’t cut.  This isn’t some sort of pro-rated amount that would allow the Colts to wait around a month or two to see how Manning was doing – it was $28 million all at once.  If Manning didn’t play in 2012, this would have meant the Colts has paid $54.4 million for absolutely no on-field production.  Even if money wasn’t an issue, NFL teams are bound by a salary cap, and that sort of a cap hit would make it very hard to maintain a successful team.

If I were Irsay, I’d try to sign Manning to a one year deal with a low base salary and hefty incentives.  If he plays, he makes decent money.  If he doesn’t, then the cost is minimal.

Are the Colts right to go after Andrew Luck in the draft?  Certainly.  Even if Manning were to play this year, at some point soon he’ll be at the end of his career.  There’s no guarantee that the Colts will be able to get a player of Luck’s caliber in a later draft (in fact, it’s very unlikely, as a healthy Manning means a better team and a worse draft pick).  You need to take the bird in the hand.  I also tend to be a fan of having a young QB carry a clipboard for a year or two,  While a handful of recent QB have had success being thrown into the fire, historically, this has burned a lot of teams.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware that last week Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown law student a “slut” and demanded that she post videos of herself having sex because she (according to Rush) wanted the government to pay for her birth control. There’s just so much wrong with this statement it might be hard to tackle it in one article, but I’m going to give it the old college try.

As the story goes, Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law student, testified in front of congress in late February in support of President Obama’s proposed mandate that insurance companies be required to offer women’s contraceptives like any other covered medication. She argued that birth control for women can cost as much as $1000 a year and low cost/free clinics could not help in many cases. In her testimony she stated her friend has a medical condition, polycistic ovary syndrome, and birth control pills are prescribed by a doctor to treat that condition. Despite this fact, the insurance company got in between her friend and her friend’s doctor (you know, that very thing Republicans argued Obama care would do? Yeah, it’s already being done by insurance companies). In response to this, Rush Limbaugh said,

What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke [sic], who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.

Later that day Limbaugh also said the following:

Can you imagine if you’re her parents how proud of Sandra Fluke you would be? Your daughter goes up to a congressional hearing conducted by the Botox-filled Nancy Pelosi and testifies she’s having so much sex she can’t afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.

Furthermore, on March 1st (a few days later) he continued on this same subject and said,

So, Ms. Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it, and I’ll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.

My first thought is that if Mr. Limbaugh thinks he has a right to watch videos of women who want birth control covered by their health insurance companies having sex, then I want videos of Rush Limbaugh in agonizing pain because his health insurance company paid for his extreme doses of oxycontin. I’m just following his line of logic, shouldn’t be a big deal to him, right? Also, Rush really is showing his ignorance if he thinks you need to take more birth control pills the more sex you have. I guess he’s just too used to popping his narcotics from dozens of different prescriptions he got from his housekeeper when he has issues, so he figures throwing more pills at something should help get rid of the problem faster or better.

Ms. Fluke’s testimony was a response by Democrats in response to Republicans inviting an all-male, all-conservative panel to discuss the requirement that health insurance companies provide contraceptives in the same fashion as other drugs. If the democrats really wanted to balance out a panel of 10 conservative males discussing contraceptives, they could have called Ellen DeGeneres, Rose O’Donnell, and Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir to discuss Viagra and prostate health issues. Again, it’s along the same lines of logic, just taken to the opposite extreme.

I’m actually not quite sure why the big conservative religions are so uptight about this issue. It’s pretty widely known that the Catholic church (still) opposes the use of contraceptives, ironic considering 98% of Catholic women use or have used birth control. You’d think they would want to make sure their own people were following their views before trying to actually speak out vehemently about them. I guess it’s along the lines of Republicans being so outspoken against homosexuality when so many of them are caught having or soliciting gay sex.

I’d like to end on a note of linking this issue with another current event, the Republican Candidates. The response of the current 4 candidates has been tepid, at best, with Ron Paul being the most honest – he said Limbaugh is most concerned with his fiscal bottom line.  Yet any candidate not named Ron Paul is completely willing to keep railing about how we need to attack Iran, despite the fact that wars in the Middle East tend to be unpopular and cost the lives of thousands of young Americans and simply throw more fuel on the fire of terrorism. What does it say about a man who’s willing to start a war that will have nearly zero repercussions for him, but he’s unwilling to stand up to Rush Limbaugh? Do we really want someone like that for president?

My fantasy draft is under way!

First, a bit of background for those of you who aren’t familiar with my baseball league.  I run one of the more interesting fantasy leagues you’ll encounter.  It’s called the Alphabet Soup League, and the main twist is that you can’t start two players from the same letter of the alphabet (last name).  If you have Holliday and Halladay, one of them must sit.

The draft is also a bit odd.  The ten participants are spread across six cities in four states (from New York to Colorado), so a live draft is out.  An automated draft is also not feasible, because player valuations are changed dramatically by their letter group.  Mike Napoli, the power hitting catcher from the shallow letter N, is arguably a better option than Albert Pujols.

Instead of a normal draft, each player is assigned two letters (or a group of shallow letters) in each of ten “rounds”.  If you have T and M, for example, you are the only person who can pick players with last names beginning in T and M during this round.  This allows the draft to be conducted by email, without forcing anyone to wait on anyone else (regardless of what the guy with C and F does, you are still drawing from the same pool of players – T and M).  I always announce my picks for the round before the round begins, so that I can’t use knowledge of other people’s picks to my advantage.

With further ado, a look inside Kosmo’s draft so far.

Round 1 

I have the latters W and G.  W is a no brainer.  I go with Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters.  Position scarcity can be an even bigger problem in this league than other leagues, since you can’t just make a position a priority and draft a player from that positon.  You have to have a good letter for that position.  Many of the best catchers are bunched up in M (quirk of fate), so the selection of catchers at most other positions is pretty weak.  I always try to get a catcher, shortstop, and second baseman early, before the talent drops off.

G was a harder choice.  I do ike Zach Greinke quite a bit, and he rebounded quite well after a slow start in 2011 … and I rarely pick a first baseman so early, since there are a bunch of sluggers available.  Still, I love the Super Marioesque eyebrows of Adrian Gonzalez, and think that he’s a safe bet to repeat his 2011 numbers – and probably even improve his home run totals.  His numbers were suppressed by PETCO for many years, but this guy is a tremendous player.

Round 2

I have K and the letter group (Q, U, X, Y, Z) in round 2.  I’m looking to fill the 2B and 3B spots here.  Ian Kinsler and Chase Utley are potentials for 2B and Michael Young and Kevin Youkilis are the options at 3B.  I end up simply taking the younger player in each case, hoping that younger means less susceptible to injury.  Ian Kinsler is my 2B and Kevin Youkilis is my 3B.

Round 3

This is where the draft gets interesting for me.  I have the letters S and N.  S is a great letter, and the obvious pick for me is Marco Scutaro.  As the shortstop for Boston last year, he retains that eligibility this year, and I still need a shortstop.  Plus, Scoots will be the second baseball for the Rockies this year, giving him eligibility at a second position.  And did I mention that Coors Field is a great hitter’s park?

So, naturally, I pick Cleveland catcher Carlos “Sweet Music” Santana.  Why?  More about this later.

N is a shallow letter, and an easier pick.  Joe Nathan was signed by the Rangers to be their closer.  Big money means he’ll get every chance to keep the job, even with former stud closer Neftali Feliz toiling in the bullpen.

Round 4

I get P and D for round 4.  There are some so-so shortstops available, but I hold off.  I’m rolling the dice that Asdrubal Cabrera or Starlin Castro will drop to me in the sixth.  That’s a pretty safe bet, and if both those guys are off the board, there will be some stud players available that I can grab and spin in a trade.  I’m not usually a riverboat gambler when it comes to my shortstop, but I think the payoff is worth it this time.  I take Mets frst baseman Ike Davis.  The fences are coming in at Citi Field this year, which should help Davis.

P also has a decent SS on the board in Jhonny Peralta.  There are also pitchers Michael Pineda, David Price, Rick Porcello, and J.J. Putz, just to name a few.  However, I have officially turned the bastard switch at this point … my choice is Buster Posey.  At this point, most of the others should realize that I’m attempting to corner the market on quality offensive catchers.  A couple of teams are going to be stuck with horrible hitters behind the plate, and this should put me in a good trade position in the trade market.

Check back later for an update on my draft.