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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
By the time the final horn sounded in the Hoosiers' loss Thursday in San Diego, my brackets were already in trouble. \nBy Sunday night they were shredded to pieces.\nI had gone home for spring break psyched for a great week of opening round games, thinking I had a pretty good grasp on the field of 65 and a good idea who would be left standing after the initial hysteria. The amount of time I have spent this year studying teams, their records, lineups, RPIs and so on far exceeded the extent of my analyses from past years, and since I had done a relatively decent job of predicting previous tourneys, I was confident this time around.\nWell, let's just say I didn't ace this one.\nTo put it in perspective percentage-wise, I correctly picked the winner in slightly more than 58 percent of the 48 first and second round games.\nThe last time I checked, 58 percent wasn't even good enough to pass, let alone impress.\nAfter going through some initial self-doubt as to whether I actually knew anything about basketball, I was relieved to find out that a lot of other people had a rough time with their predictions as well, and I realized that the NCAA tournament is one of the most unpredictable events in sports.\nIt wasn't that I didn't pick any upsets; I did. But most of the upsets I picked never materialized, while several others did.\nThe South and West regions killed me. In the South, I did terribly. I really wanted to pick Gonzaga and Indiana State to win because I like them, but I couldn't convince myself that they could beat Virginia and Oklahoma. In a past column in fact, I predicted Gonzaga to go the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year, but after finding out who they played in the first round I changed my mind. Should have gone with the first instinct.\nAnd seriously, what is the deal with Penn State and Temple? I'm having a hard time believing that a team that lost at home to Northwestern and another team that lost seven straight at one point actually have a shot at going to the Elite Eight. The only one of my Final Four picks to bite the dust thus far, Florida, fell to Temple Sunday. But I do have a semi-excuse for that one -- I made the selection before news broke that Gator forward Brent Wright would miss the entire tournament.\nI did even worse out West. I only picked four games correctly -- Stanford and Maryland winning two games each. My upset special for that bracket, 12th-seeded BYU, lost by a mere 25 points. IU and Iowa State really let me down -- I had them both in the Sweet 16. I think the only person in the whole country to pick Hampton over the second-seeded Cyclones was Hampton coach Steve Merfeld's mom.\nIf the tournament only consisted of the Midwest regional, I would have been a perfect 12 for 12 so far. But then again, the only "upsets" in the Midwest were (10) Butler over (7) Wake Forest and (9) Charlotte over (8) Tennessee, so that's not exactly something to call home about, or even write in a column about.\nIt would have been easy for me to have come back and written that I picked almost all of the right upsets and that my bracket was still intact. After all, the only people who knew all of my picks were my brother and a few friends. But the best thing about the tournament is that it's not over yet. So I still have time to tape together my torn-up bracket from the trash can and see if I can't salvage anything. Better yet, I'll just start fresh. Of the 16 schools still dancing, here's how I see everything shaking out:\nEast\nDuke beats UCLA; Kentucky beats USC; Duke beats Kentucky\nWest\nStanford beats Cincinnati; Georgetown beats Maryland; Stanford beats Georgetown\nMidwest\nKansas beats Illinois; Arizona beats Ole Miss; Arizona beats Kansas\nSouth\nMichigan State beats Gonzaga (but it's close); Temple beats Penn State; Michigan State beats Temple\nFinal Four\nDuke beats Stanford; Arizona beats Michigan State; Duke beats Arizona
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
They might as well call the Eastern Conference the minor league of the NBA. The far superior records in the Western Conference are proof that the West is not only better than the East, it is worlds apart.\nComparing the West with the East is like comparing the Big Ten Conference with the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference. Even that might be an understatement.\nNot that anyone is paying attention to the NBA right now -- nor should they as long as the NCAA tournament is still playing out -- but the extremely unequal status of the league is worth noting. As of Monday, the top eight teams in the Western Conference had a combined record of 361-191 (170 games more than .500), compared to 322-232 (90 games more than .500) for the top eight teams in the East. \nThe regional disparity is even more evident when you look at how the conferences have fared head-to-head. The top eight squads in the East have a losing record against the entire Western Conference, winning 99 games while losing 108. As expected, the eight best teams in the West have dominated their Eastern Conference opponents, going a combined 159-64.\nThe two teams tied for the eighth playoff spot in the East -- the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics -- are each seven games less than .500, at 31-38. Out West, Houston has a solid 38-32 record, but the Rockets are currently sitting in ninth place, which would leave them out of the playoffs. \nIf the Pacers and Celtics played in the West, their records would be good enough to place them 11th, trailing the eighth-placed team by 10.5 games. With only 13 games to play, they would have virtually no chance to make the postseason. Place Indiana and Boston in the Midwest Division instead of the Central and Atlantic, and their current resumes would place them in seventh place. The only team below them in the division standings would be the soon-to-relocate-to-Memphis Vancouver Grizzlies. Lucky for the Pacers and Celtics, they play their home games in the inferior half of the country, at least when it comes to professional basketball.\nConsider Charlotte lucky as well. The Hornets are sitting in fifth right now at 40-30, a record that wouldn't secure them a playoff spot in the West if the playoffs started today. But the Hornets are in second in the Central Division and are only two games out of hosting a first-round playoff series.\nThe logjam at the top of the Western Conference is impressive. Only seven games separate the top eight teams (17 games separate the East's top eight). Being such a close race, the eventual playoff match-ups in the West are far from being decided. San Antonio has a slim one-game lead over Utah right now for the top spot. Sacramento and the Los Angeles Lakers are tied for the Pacific Division lead, each only two games back of the Spurs and one behind the Jazz.\nEven though who will end up playing who is still up in the air, one thing has been relatively agreed upon by those who follow the NBA: no one in the East, outside of Philadelphia, has a realistic shot at winning the NBA title; but in the West, five or six teams are viable contenders. The Western Conference Finals will essentially be the NBA Finals.\nIf the playoffs were to start today, some intriguing first-round series would take place. Among them:\n• No.1 Philadelphia vs. No. 8 Indiana. The Pacers have eliminated the Sixers in the second round the last two seasons, but the third go-round will have a different look to it. Allen Iverson has finally learned how to be a team player and has led Philly to the top of the conference. With home-court advantage, the Sixers should be hard to beat, especially with the inconsistency and youth of the Pacers. But never underestimate Reggie Miller. Right now, the Pacers are more concerned with making the playoffs.\n• No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Dallas. This series would offer an interesting clash between the old guard of the NBA and the up-and-comers. This could be the last chance for Karl Malone and John Stockton to win that ever-elusive title, but the play of youngster Donyell Marshall will be key to how far the Jazz advance.\n• No. 4 L.A. Lakers vs. No. 5 Portland. In a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals, the Blazers would be looking to exact revenge on the team that recovered from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 7 to beat them and advance to the NBA Finals. Phil Jackson has about three weeks to get Shaq and Kobe on the same page. The winner of this series could meet San Antonio in Round 2.
(04/24/01 4:55am)
This, my friends, is the best time of the year if you like sports.\nTaking nothing away from the drama and excitement of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the NBA playoffs are the best postseason in sports. But the sports world -- the combination of everything going on at one time -- makes right now better than any other time of year.\nThe nice weather certainly helps. But the real reason is because the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs and the beginning of the baseball season are happening simultaneously.\nThink about it. The top 16 professional hockey and basketball teams are putting it all on the line in a war of attrition that will leave only one champion in each sport standing after two months. Thirty baseball teams, all with a clean slate, are trying to get off to a good start and set the tone for a successful season. All of this action is sure to make for some great "SportsCenter" episodes as intriguing storylines emerge.\nIn the NHL, the biggest story has been, and still is, the return of Mario Lemieux. Super Mario came out of retirement to rescue the Pittsburgh franchise and try to lead the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup since 1992. \nMost of the other first-round playoff series have ended, and a few upsets have occurred. In the biggest upset so far, Ottawa, the No. 2 seed in the East, was swept by seventh-seed Toronto.\nOf the 42 completed playoff games, 27 have been decided by one goal and 12 have gone into overtime. In the Dallas-Edmonton series, five of the six games were decided by one goal and four went into an extra session.\nLooking further into the playoffs, some great matchups appear to be materializing for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals. Another Colorado-Dallas series in the Western Conference Finals would cause a lot of drama, as would a conference final pitting Pittsburgh against New Jersey.\nIn baseball, we have three division leaders no one thought would see any time at the top. The Philadelphia Phillies, 11-6 as of Monday, completed a three-game sweep of perennial division champion Atlanta to take a three-game lead in the NL East. Speaking of Atlanta, the Braves have dropped to last place in the division with a record of 8-11, a story in and of itself.\nIn the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs are sitting atop the standings. Despite dropping a 4-3 decision to Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Cubs lead the Central with a 12-6 mark. Biggest understatement in sports: the Cubs are due.\nAnd who would you expect to have the best record in baseball three weeks in? Bet you didn't guess the Minnesota Twins, who have shocked the American League with their timely hitting, solid pitching and 14-3 record thus far.\nTo show how much of a surprise these three division leaders are, one only needs to look at Sports Illustrated's preseason team rankings. It ranked Philadelphia, Chicago and Minnesota as the 25th, 26th and 28th best teams, respectively. \nIn addition to Atlanta, several other teams that were expected to win a lot have struggled, including Oakland (6-13), St. Louis (8-10) and the Chicago White Sox (6-11).\nThe NBA opened its 2001 version of the playoffs Saturday. Three lower seed teams have jumped out to 1-0 series leads. The eighth-seeded Pacers beat top-seeded Philadelphia thanks to a last-second three-pointer from Reggie Miller. No.3 seeds Sacramento and Miami lost their openers to Phoenix and Charlotte. \nLast year's Western Conference finalists, Portland and the Los Angeles Lakers, are paired in the No. 2 vs. No. 7 series. \nIf Indiana upsets Philadelphia and New York gets past Toronto, the Pacers and Knicks could meet in the playoffs for the seventh time in the last nine years. Each team has won three series.\nAnd the second and third rounds in the West should make for some terrific matchups. Top-seeded San Antonio could meet Utah in the second round. This could be Malone and Stockton's last shot at a title, and they have a hard road to get there.\nA Lakers-Spurs conference final would be monumental.\nMany questions remain to be answered: Can Shaq and Kobe pull together to lead the Lakers back to the finals? Will Alonzo Mourning, who made a dramatic comeback from kidney disease, be enough to push Miami over the hump in the East? Or will Allen Iverson and the Sixers build on their strong regular season and advance to the finals?\nWill anyone knock off the Yankees? Can the Red Sox finally overcome the Curse of the Bambino?\nWill Super Mario cap off the perfect comeback with a Stanley Cup? Or will New Jersey repeat as champion? \nFinding the answers should be an enjoyable journey.
(04/17/01 6:07am)
I hope I don't jinx them, but the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs are playing great baseball right now. As of Monday, the Cubs were 8-4, tied for first place in the NL Central with Houston, and the Reds were a game and a half back at 7-6. Chicago has won its last five games, while Cincinnati has reeled off four consecutive wins. \nThere are still 150 games left in the season, but the Cubs are usually five or six games out of first place at this point, and the Reds are usually slightly better than the Cubs. Early indications are that this year might be different: fans in Cincy and Chicago might have reason to be optimistic.\n Even with last year's near miss in the wild-card race and the addition of Ken Griffey Jr., the overall situation in Cincinnati has been mediocre at best since its World Series victory in 1990. The increasing gap between small- and large-market clubs has had something to do with it; so has poor managing, injuries and unwise moves by the front office.\nThe Reds, who started off their nine-game road-trip by losing three in a row in Milwaukee, turned it around and won five of their last six, including a sweep of the Mets. Making their success more impressive has been the absence of their two best players, Barry Larkin and Griffey. Larkin has missed a couple of games with a strained wrist, but Griffey pulled a hamstring at the end of spring training and has yet to start a game this season. He has only seen action in a pinch-hitting role, going 0-for-10 in that capacity, but manager Bob Boone expects him to be in the lineup sometime this week.\nFirst baseman Sean Casey has stepped up in their absence, batting .362 while hitting three home runs and driving in 14 runs. When he has played, Larkin has produced as well, leading the team with a .378 average. Griffey's return will give the Reds some much-needed power at the plate and great defensive play in the outfield.\nThe question mark coming into the season for Cincinnati was its starting pitching. Injuries to a thin staff last year were one reason the Reds missed the playoffs, and the prospects for this year weren't much better in spring training. Then they were dealt a blow when Scott Williamson learned he would miss the entire season because of elbow surgery. Young prospect Rob Bell couldn't get the job done and was sent back to the minors. At 2-5 after the first week, it seemed Reds pitchers would be in for a long year.\nBut during last week, Cincinnati has gotten impressive showings from rookie pitchers who expected to play most of the year in AAA. Chris Reitsma threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings in Friday's 1-0 win against New York. Jim Brower held the Mets to one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings during Sunday's 3-1 victory. Although it was only two games and they were both against the weak-hitting Mets, the performance of the two young hurlers gave fans hope and will give Boone options for the remainder of the year.\nIf Reitsma and Brower can step in and give Cincinnati some consistency in the fourth and fifth slots, the Reds' bullpen, defense and hitting will allow them to make a run at the wild card, and even the division crown. The factor hurting the Reds chances, and those of the Cubs, is that they play in the six-team NL Central division that includes defending division champion St. Louis, a Houston club that appears to be back in playoff form, and rapidly improving Milwaukee.\nAnd then, you have the Cubs. Only Red Sox fans can even begin to know how much fans at Wrigley have suffered during the years. \nThe beginning of the season usually brings rebirth and optimism to every team in the league -- except the Cubs. Fans in Chicago usually throw in the towel by mid-May and pin their hopes on next year's team. Three of the last four years the Cubs have lost more than 90 games, but if the first two weeks are any indication, this year might be different.\nThe Cubs have made several roster moves in the last year and a half, one of them for which I will never forgive management -- not re-signing Mark Grace. The Cubs early success is somewhat bittersweet without No. 17 at first base. Regardless of how well Julio Zuleta is playing or how much money letting Grace go freed up to bring in other players, the Cubbies will never be the same with Gracie, who is now with Arizona.\nBut Chicago has improved in several areas, most notably at third base with newcomer Bill Mueller. Rondell White, Eric Young and Ricky Gutierrez have all been good recent pick-ups that will help the Cubs win games.\nGood, consistent pitching, almost unheard of on the North Side, is exactly what manager Don Baylor has gotten from his staff so far. He has found a closer in Jeff Fassero, who is six for six in save opportunities. Starters Kevin Tapani, Julian Tavarez and Jason Bere are each 2-0. Chicago's two best pitchers, arguably -- Kerry Wood and Jon Leiber -- don't have any wins yet but should each end up with 13 or more. \nThe heart and soul of the Cubs and the key to any success they might have is, of course, Sammy Sosa. Slammin' Sammy has said he has never felt better physically and mentally this early in the season, and Cubs fans hope it's contagious. Sosa's three-run shot Sunday against Pittsburgh was his fifth overall and the first of many he will smack onto Waveland Avenue during the summer. He should have no problem hitting 50 homers for the fourth consecutive year. Sosa says he's a more patient hitter now -- he does have 13 bases on balls -- but he still strikes out quite frequently (15 times in 12 games). \nThe talent in the Central and in the National League in general will be sufficient to keep the Cubs from making it to their first World Series since 1945 and winning their first since 1908. But some new faces, a little bit of good pitching and another big year from Sosa could keep the Cubs in contention at least until the All-Star Break. \nAfter that, well, you know what they say: "There's always next year"
(04/11/01 5:55am)
The Major League Baseball season began nine days ago. While it's too early to draw conclusions about some aspects of the season, early developments have begun to shed light on who will thrive, who will struggle and who will be left standing in September. The following notes are in no way guarantees; they are just observations that, based on past years and the first week of this one, appear to be safe bets. Here's what I've learned so far:\n• Pedro Martinez is again going to be the best pitcher in the American League. In his first two starts, Martinez gave up one run and seven hits in 16 innings. His 22 strikeouts lead the majors, 16 of which came in his shutout of Tampa Bay Sunday.\n• The new strike zone is having an impact. Most umpires are calling the high strike, causing batters to swing earlier in the count and thus speeding up the games -- a little.\n• A lot of home runs are going to be hit at Houston's Enron Field. Aramis Ramirez -- that's right, Aramis Ramirez -- hit three there Sunday. The Astros, playing half of their games in the new park for the first time last season, set the National League single-season record and should come close to breaking that record this year.\n• Craig Biggio's new swing works. He made some minor adjustments to his swing during the off-season while recovering from major knee surgery. He then proceeded to go five-for-five in Houston's season opener. Now hitting .462 through six games, Biggio appears primed for a big comeback. \n• Juan Gonzalez apparently likes hitting in Jacobs Field. Before this year, Gonzalez hit 12 home runs and drove in 36 in 30 games as a visitor to The Jake. Now as an Indian, Gonzalez has cracked three long balls to go along with six RBIs in five games.\n• The Cincinnati Reds are in desperate need of a healthy Ken Griffey Jr. and some starting pitching. He has been limited to three pinch-hit appearances after pulling a hamstring in spring training. The Reds, already paper thin in starting pitching, recently learned Scott Williamson needs elbow surgery and will miss the entire season. It also doesn't help that the left and center field fences were moved in at Cinergy Field to make way for their new ballpark. The natural grass looks nice, but it doesn't make up for the fact that Reds pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.87 and Cincinnati is 2-5.\n• The Milwaukee Brewers are going to like Miller Park. They officially opened up the new stadium by sweeping Cincinnati this weekend. The new park and a young core of talented hitters has enthusiasm in Milwaukee at the highest it's been in recent memory. After all, things couldn't be worse than they were the last decade or so in County Stadium. \n• The return to the unbalanced schedule is going to make for some great pennant races and a lot more meaningful matchups late in the season. \n• Carlos Delgado is in for a huge year and could make a strong run at the A.L. Triple Crown. He has already cleared the fences five times, driven in 11 runs and has hit at a .348 clip. His five home runs tie him with Arizona's Luis Gonzalez and L.A.'s Mark Grudzielanek for the most in the majors. \n• No matter how much of a non-factor he is or how much someone else deserves the spotlight, ESPN is going to tell us what Alex Rodriguez did every time he suits up for a game. I guess that simply by virtue of his quarter billion dollar status we all need to know that A-Rod went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. \n• The Red Sox might not be doomed again after all. At the close of spring training, it appeared the Curse of the Bambino would nix Boston's title hopes before they even began the season.\n• Nomar Garciaparra had to have surgery, Manny Ramirez wasn't healthy, pitchers other than Pedro looked suspect at best and Carl Everett couldn't get along with manager Jimy Williams. Then Hideo Nomo throws a no-hitter, Martinez strikes out 16, Ramirez knocks in some runs and BoSox fans are hopeful again. Sorry, Bostonians, you're just delaying the inevitable.\n• And the final thing we learned from the first week is that the Cubs don't really seem like the Cubs anymore without Mark Grace. You can't replace No. 17's sweet stroke at the plate and smooth play in the field with guys like Matt Stairs and Ron Coomer. Best of luck in Arizona, Gracie.
(04/03/01 5:00am)
It's been a long wait since October, but the premier sport, Major League Baseball, is finally back. The 2001 season kicked off with Sunday's game between Texas and Toronto, played in Puerto Rico. \nTwenty more teams played their season openers Monday, and the remaining eight play their first games today. \nLucky for me, baseball starts immediately after the culmination of the college basketball season. Otherwise, I might have been forced to watch the NBA to quench my daily thirst for sports.\nThe question that has been on everyone's mind during spring training this year is simple -- Can anybody beat the Yankees? \nIf the Yankees win the World Series this year, they would become the seventh team in the history of major team professional sports (baseball, basketball, football and hockey) to win four consecutive titles. That's some pretty select company, and I'm not sure they will be able to handle the pressure of pulling off such a feat.\nAnd there are too many good teams in the league this year. The Yankees won't be able to coast through the regular season and worry about the playoffs; this year, it might be difficult to even make the playoffs.\nThe final reason I don't think the Yankees will four-peat is because I think Oakland is going to win the Series (more on that later), and if the A's win it, that means the Yankees can't.\nBut before we start talking World Series, 30 teams each have 162 games to play. Five American League teams and seven or eight National League teams appear to be title contenders this year.\nAmerican League\nOakland, Cleveland, Chicago and Boston all tried their hardest to make clubhouse changes during the offseason so they could dethrone New York. Boston lured free-agent Manny Ramirez away from Cleveland, but the Indians signed Juan Gonzalez to take Ramirez' place. Oakland traded for Kansas City's Johnny Damon to give them a legitimate leadoff hitter. And the White Sox got David Wells from Toronto.\nWith Boston's Nomar Garciaparra out for at least two months because of wrist surgery, the Yankees' pitching and experience should be enough for them to win the AL East -- but not by much. Pedro Martinez and Ramirez will keep the Red Sox close early, and when Garciaparra returns, Boston will give the Yankees a challenge.\nThe Central Division race will also be a close one. If Frank Thomas can put up some big numbers early and put spring training behind him, the White Sox have a good shot at winning their second consecutive division title. Look for Cleveland to make a late-season deal for a quality pitcher. The Indians and the Red Sox will go down to the wire for the wild-card.\nOakland will win the AL West before the All-Star break. The Athletics are young, loose and dangerous. You have to love Oakland's offensive strategy, which first baseman Jason Giambi said consists of trying to get a few walks followed by a "3-run Jimmy Jack." In addition to its unorthodox, albeit potent, offense, Oakland has a solid, young pitching staff that will likely lead the team to the best record in baseball. And the team wears white cleats.\nTexas picked up Alex Rodriguez but left itself no money to sign any quality pitching. Lack of pitching will plague the team all season. If the Rangers can somehow pull off a deal for a few decent pitchers, they can at least compete for the wild-card; if not, look for them to lose a lot of high-scoring games.\nPlayoff teams: Yankees, White Sox, Indians (wild-card), A's.\nALCS: A's over Yankees.\nNational League\nThis year's NL picture seems to be wide open. Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco all look like strong candidates to repeat as division champs, but will face strong opposition.\nSan Francisco will have the hardest time holding off its challengers, as three other clubs (Colorado, Arizona and Los Angeles) each have the talent to win 90 games. But team chemistry in L.A. is terrible, and the Dodgers will likely self-destruct. Arizona arguably has the best top three starters in the league in Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Todd Stottlemyre, and Colorado picked up lefties Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle.\nAtlanta shouldn't have a hard time winning another NL East crown. The Mets just don't have the offensive firepower to get past the Braves. \nThe NL Central race should be a great one. St. Louis has the best roster top to bottom, but if Ken Griffey Jr. can have a big year and the pitching staff avoids injuries, Cincinnati could give the Cardinals a push. Houston should come back strong this year.. And two new ballparks open in the Central -- PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Miller Park in Milwaukee.\nPlayoff teams: Braves, Cardinals, Giants, Rockies (wild-card)\nNLCS: Cardinals over Giants.\nWorld Series: A's over Cardinals.
(02/27/01 6:02am)
The NCAA tournament selection show is less than two weeks away. The closer it gets to March 11, the clearer it will become which seeding numbers will go in front of the school names on those brackets that are so popular. In the meantime, prepare yourself for a lot of good college basketball.\nYou can look just about anywhere and find seeding projections for the tournament. Not to diminish their importance in any way, but I don't see any reason to provide you with another list of projections, especially because they will undoubtedly change soon after this column is printed. So I'll offer you something a little more useful -- a brief explanation of seeding possibilities and important upcoming games.\nNo. 1 seeds\nThe only definite No. 1 seed right now is Stanford. Duke and North Carolina are almost locks, but not quite. The winner of Sunday's rematch in Chapel Hill will claim the regular season ACC title and secure itself a No. 1 spot. The loser, more so if it is Carolina, might be relegated to a No. 2 if it falls early in the conference tourney.\nIllinois and Michigan State look like they are going to tie for the regular season Big Ten crown, with Illinois holding the tie-breaker. Whoever does the best in the Big Ten tournament March 8-11 in Chicago should be rewarded with a top seed.\nIowa State, although a long shot, still has a chance to earn the final No. 1 seed if it wins out and Duke or Carolina falters. The Cyclones had a decent chance at a No. 1 before Saturday's drubbing at Texas. Regardless of its eventual seed, Iowa State will make some noise at tournament time.\nFlorida is an even longer shot for a top seed, but it is possible. If the Tar Heels or Blue Devils crumble, Iowa State doesn't step up, and the sixth-ranked Gators run the table in the SEC, they could find themselves at the top of a bracket. \nLate-season momentum is important to the selection committee, and the Gators have won five consecutive and nine of their last 10 games. Florida's four conference losses this season have come by a combined seven points. Sunday, the Gators get a chance to avenge one of those losses when they host 15th-ranked Kentucky, a game that has significant conference tournament and March Madness implications.\nNo. 2, 3 and on down\nIf Duke and UNC both hold on to their top seeds, the aforementioned Iowa State and Florida should each end up as No. 2 seeds.\nAnd depending on who does worse in the Big Ten tournament, either Michigan State or Illinois will be another No. 2.\nThe final No. 2 spot isn't so easy to predict; several teams have a shot.\nIf Kentucky beats Florida Sunday and goes on to win the SEC tournament, the Wildcats could take a No. 2 seed away from the Gators.\nVirginia has big wins against Duke and North Carolina in the last two weeks, but it would have to win the ACC tournament to get a No. 2 slot.\nBoston College or even Notre Dame, if either was to win the rest of its games and the Big East tournament, could sneak in to grab a No. 2 as well.\nArizona is ranked seventh in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll, but even if the Wildcats win both of their remaining games, they could finish third in the Pac-10, making it hard to justify a No. 2 seed.\nUCLA is an outside possibility for the last No. 2 seed. The Bruins are ranked 18th, but if they beat California Thursday and Stanford Saturday, they will tie for the Pac-10 title. Because the conference does not have a tournament, the Bruins would get the automatic bid by virtue of beating Stanford in both meetings this year.\nNaturally, all of the teams mentioned with chances to earn No. 2 seeds are also good candidates for No. 3 spots, along with Kansas, Ole Miss, Syracuse and Oklahoma.\nOther notes\nDid anyone notice who is ranked 38th in this week's ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll? None other than IU, which received four votes. The last time the Hoosiers were mentioned in the polls was in the Dec. 18-24 edition, in which IU received seven votes and placed 43rd in the nation. This marks the first time in several years a Hoosier team is peaking at the end of the Big Ten season. Could it mean more than a one-weekend stay in the Big Dance?\nHere's a request for any of you who serve on the selection committee: Give at-large berths to schools from mid-major conferences who won their regular season league title but lost in their tournament. Do this instead of favoring a less-deserving sixth- or seventh-place teams from major conferences. I know it's a lot tougher to play in the Big East and SEC than it is to play in the Big West, Missouri Valley Conference or America East Conference. But I would much rather see teams that got the job done playing in the tournament as opposed to mediocre teams in premier conferences, regardless of their schedule strengths. Give the nod to UC-Irvine (22-3), Creighton (22-6) and Hofstra (23-4) instead of Georgia (15-12) or St. John's (14-12).\nOn a similar note, where is the respect for teams such as Gonzaga? Despite the fact that it plays in the West Coast Conference, the Zags have proved they are a team to be reckoned with in late March. Entering this week, Gonzaga was 21-6, including 13-1 in conference play, yet it could only muster 10 votes in the coaches' poll. But it is a team none of the top seeds wish to see in their bracket. Look for the Zags to make a third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16.
(02/20/01 5:36am)
When Dale Earnhardt slammed into the wall during the final lap of the Daytona 500, it wasn't the first time he had been in a serious accident. Notorious for his aggressive driving, Earnhardt had seen many of his risky maneuvers on the track pay off over the course of his 23-year Winston Cup career. \nThe only difference Sunday was that he didn't crawl out.\nEarnhardt won 76 races and seven Winston Cup championships during his career, which ties him with Richard Petty for the most titles. His trademark paint-trading style of driving and menacing persona earned him the nickname of "The Intimidator" among drivers on the circuit. He brought a rare brand of confidence and bold tactics to the stock car circuit, helping transform NASCAR into one of the most popular and exciting sports in the country. Fans either loved or hated Earnhardt, but regardless of personal preference, everyone respected and feared him.\nSunday, he was doing what made him famous on one of the tracks that made him famous -- fighting hard for position at Daytona International Speedway. \nWhat should have been a satisfying finish after a long, hard-fought race changed in a split second going into turn four. \nIf Earnhardt had finished the final lap, he would have seen his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finish just ahead of him in second. And he would have seen Michael Waltrip, who drives a car owned by Earnhardt, win his first Winston Cup race in 463 tries.\nDrivers take an obvious risk every time they suit up for a race, but many go into each race with a brash sense of invincibility and almost seem to welcome the risk. Earnhardt took his boldness a step further -- he shunned many of NASCAR's innovative safety devices and criticized NASCAR for requiring drivers to put restrictorplates on cars to slow them down. \nHe said the restrictor plates took the reality and excitement out of the sport. Earnhardt suggested restrictor plates might end up causing more crashes, because the slower speeds tighten the packs and leave less room for error.\nHow ironic that he died in a restrictor plate race trying to distance himself from a pack of trailers.\nThe news coming out of Sunday's race should have been how successful the newly formed Dale Earnhardt Inc. had been, with cars finishing 1-2-3. It should have been an optimistic outlook at the rest of the season. \nBut it wasn't.\nDale Earnhardt should be at home right now with his wife and son, celebrating the great beginning of the 2001 season. He should be looking forward to next week's race at Rockingham and gearing up to make a run at a record eighth points title.\nBut he isn't.\nInstead, the sports world lost one of its greatest performers and personalities, Teresa Earnhardt lost her husband, and four children lost their father -- at the age of 49.\nIt kind of makes wins and losses seem insignificant.
(02/13/01 5:13am)
Don't call it the luck of the Irish.\nNotre Dame's seven-game Big East win streak has been anything but that. With their 69-66 win in West Virginia Sunday, the Irish upped their overall record to 16-5 and moved their conference mark to 8-2. \nThat puts the Irish, ranked 21st by the ESPN/USA Today poll, atop the brilliantly named Big East, West Division, one game ahead of No. 7 Syracuse. \nThe Irish are peaking when coaches want their teams to be peaking. Their winning streak has not only given them a great opportunity to win the top seed in the Big East tournament, but it came after many critics had seemingly written off the Irish. Mike Brey's squad dropped three of four games in early January, and two of its first three in the conference. Then Notre Dame came smashing down, falling out of the Top 25 for the first time all year, after having been ranked as high as No. 10. \nAt that point, the Irish began to hear the suspected reasons why they had hit the wall and why they wouldn't be able to recover: losing coach Matt Doherty to North Carolina was too much to overcome in one season; All-American Troy Murphy didn't have the supporting cast in place to compete in the Big East -- "Murph" wouldn't be able to carry the Irish all year long; and after all, Notre Dame is a football school.\nBut the Irish obviously didn't subscribe to any of those theories, turning their season around by winning three consecutive games at home before going on the road to beat Georgetown and Pittsburgh. The Irish returned to South Bend with a victory against St. John's last Monday before coming from behind in Sunday's win against West Virginia. \nMurphy has been stellar during the win streak, pouring in 34 points and grabbing 16 rebounds against Syracuse and scoring another 34 points against St. John's. The junior forward now boasts a 23.2 scoring average to go along with nine rebounds a game. \nBut Murphy hasn't done it alone. The improved play of senior Ryan Humphrey inside has been key to several of the wins. Humphrey is only 0.6 rebounds a game shy of averaging a double-double. The Irish have stepped it up on defense, too, limiting their opponents to 65 points per contest. \nAnd Brey has made slight changes in the starting lineup that have paid off.\nThe seven consecutive conference wins are the most in Notre Dame's brief Big East history, but the Irish don't intend to end their streak now. With matchups this week against Rutgers and Seton Hall, 2-8 and 3-7 in the Big East, respectively, the Irish should boost their conference mark to 10-2. They would then head into their crucial Feb. 21 battle against No. 11 Boston College with a nine-game win streak and a lot of confidence. The eventual BC-ND winner will most likely win the regular season Big East title and grab the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.\nThe way things are now, the Irish are all but guaranteed of earning their first NCAA tournament berth since the 1989-1990 season. \nMarch Madness implications\nIn the last few weeks many teams have severely damaged their postseason prospects while others have greatly enhanced theirs, with Notre Dame as a prime example of the latter. Here are some teams on the decline and some on the rise, as well as Monday's 16 top seeds:\nImproving their stock: Providence, Boston College, Iowa State, IU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Kentucky\nSlipping at the worst time: Iowa, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, Purdue, Texas\nNo. 1s: North Carolina, Stanford, Illinois, Duke\nNo. 2s: Iowa State, Boston College, Michigan State, Kansas\nNo. 3s: Arizona, Syracuse, Florida, Mississippi\nNo. 4s: Notre Dame, Kentucky, Fresno State, Oklahoma
(02/06/01 10:12am)
This is the time of year guys like me start getting in a better mood. We start to shake off that January negativity and begin to look more optimistically to the future.\nI realize there is no NFL for seven months, and I know that groundhog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow again, but those things are of little importance. It is the anticipation of better days ahead that lift my spirits -- the end of this long, bitter time of the year we call winter is actually in sight.\nBut the best part about the winding down of winter is not the warmer temperatures -- that is an added bonus -- but rather the arrival of the month of March.\nMarch brings with it a heavy dosage of quality college basketball in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. March Madness. Whatever you call it, it is the best post-season in all of sports.\nIn the next six weeks, players, coaches and fans around the country will find themselves daydreaming about 64-team brackets and last-second buzzer-beaters. Much of the collegiate sports world will be consumed with this six-round, single-elimination affair (to the chagrin of IU President Myles Brand). Fans will be entering tournament pools, making predictions and staying home from class to watch the day-long festivities of the first and second rounds.\nAnd as if the sheer excitement and competition of the tournament is not enough to get us excited, we are now faced with constant reminders that the "madness" is fast approaching. The sports media that seems increasingly infatuated with polls, polls and more polls now supplies basketball junkies like myself with tournament seeding projections early in the season. When ESPN receives hundreds of fans' e-mails complaining about their favorite team not being included in the latest "bracketology" projections, you know this thing is big. \nWith most conference schedules halfway completed, a hazy post-season configuration is beginning to emerge, but nothing is set in stone.\nHere is an early glimpse of where this is headed.\nBig Ten\nThe Big Ten will probably send six teams to the tournament.\nDefending NCAA champion Michigan State and Illinois are ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and are tied for the conference lead at 7-2. They clash tonight in Champaign, with the eventual winner gaining the inside track to the regular season conference crown and a potential No. 1 in the NCAA tournament.\nIowa - even without the services of the injured Luke Recker for six weeks - and Wisconsin should be locks for at-large bids. \nBelow them, it gets interesting.\nOf IU, Purdue, Ohio State and Minnesota, probably only two teams will hear their names called during the selection show. All four have solid RPI ratings, an important factor in the selection committee's decisions. IU has the highest rating (24th), thanks in large part to the fifth-toughest schedule in the country. And with five of their last seven games to be played at Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers look to have the best shot of these four.\nOhio State should be the last Big Ten team to be selected. Purdue has a difficult remaining schedule, and Minnesota appears to be running out of steam after four consecutive setbacks. But as evidenced by 11th-seeded Illinois' run last year, any team can get hot in the Big Ten tournament and challenge for the automatic bid that goes to the winner.\nOther conferences\nThe Atlantic Coast Conference has regained the unofficial position of toughest conference in the country this year. With five teams ranked in the top 25, including three in the top 10, the ACC should have six representatives in the tournament. Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Wake Forest are definitely in, and Georgia Tech should be able to qualify. \nThe Southeastern Conference is a little down this year, but look for it to send six teams, with Tennessee and Florida as the highest seeds. Kentucky has turned its season around and will make it in as well.\nThe Big East is complicated and could send five to seven schools. Look for Notre Dame's first tourney appearance since 1989-90. \nThe Big 12, led by Kansas, should have six teams in the tournament, and the Pac-10, led by heavyweights Stanford and Arizona, look to have five.\nSeeding\nThe number one seeds in the tournament: Stanford, Kansas, Michigan State and Duke.\nThe number two seeds: North Carolina, Illinois, Syracuse and Florida.
(01/23/01 5:34am)
The NBA season is nearing its halfway point, and the Indiana Pacers are barely staying afloat in the Eastern Conference. Heading into tonight's matchup against Atlanta, the defending conference champion Pacers have struggled to a 20-21 record, placing them only a half-game ahead of Cleveland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.\nThe Pacer front office needs to evaluate the team's situation and its chances for the season, and then make some personnel changes to repair the team's direction will take this year and beyond.\nThe way I see it, the Pacers have two options, each with sharply contrasting benefits and results.\nFocus on the current season\nThe Pacers could be to concentrate solely on turning this season around, making the playoffs and trying to defend their conference title.\nTo achieve this goal, team president Donnie Walsh would need to bring in some experienced, consistent veterans for the playoff push. Current Pacers such as Sam Perkins and Derrick McKey would need to continue to get more playing time. Perkins' and McKey's playing time has increased recently -- part of the reason the Pacers have won six of their last eight games and four in a row. Three of those wins were on the road.\nThe youthful core of this year's squad, which includes players such as Jonathan Bender, Al Harrington and Jeff Foster, has shown some positive signs, but these players have been largely inconsistent and for the most part have not been getting the job done.\nBattle-tested veterans could help the Pacers win more close games and move the team up in the standings. But to get these veterans, Indiana would have to give up one or more of its prized young stars, on whom it is counting on to carry the franchise in the years to come. So the trade-off is risky.\nOne area in which the Pacers are in desperate need of an upgrade is at center. Atlanta's Dikembe Mutombo will be a free agent at the end of the season, and his name has been flying around in several trade rumors, including some that involve the Pacers. Having Mutombo in the middle would increase Indiana's playoff possibilities, but giving up a few prospects in exchange for the services of Mutombo for a half season will not be worth it in the long run. It is not even guaranteed to pay off this year.\nRealistically, looking at the league this year, Indiana's chances of going anywhere are slim to almost none. If the Pacers were to scrap and fight out a low playoff seed by mostly playing veterans and leaving younger players out of the mix, they would go on to lose in the first or second round. Hardly anything positive would result. The veterans would just be one year older without anything to show for it, and the young guns would not have gained much experience.\nPlan for the future\nOption two for Walsh and the Pacers involves some patience, a lot of losses in the near future and maybe even a bit of luck.\nCoach Isiah Thomas could decide to scrap the rest of this season and focus on preparing his young talent for the future. He could hand the reins of the team to Harrington, Bender, Foster, Jermaine O'Neal and Austin Croshere, and give them the playing time and freedom they need to mature and develop in the league. Obviously Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose and Travis Best would still have a major role on the team, but giving the younger players room to grow could have several benefits.\nIt would help these young players develop to the level everyone expects. If they did put together a solid second half and make the playoffs, that would be a pleasant surprise. \nIf they lost games and missed the playoffs, the Pacers would have a lottery pick in next year's draft, with the chance of landing one of the top three picks. This would open up opportunities for the team, such as trading its draft pick for someone who fits in nicely in the Pacer system, or using its pick and trading one of the younger players who does not seem to be panning out. \nGiving up on this season and enduring a second half full of losses could be difficult for the players and fans of a team that has been so successful in the past 10 years. But the more the Pacers lose and the lower they fall in the standings, the higher the likelihood that David Stern will call their name when announcing the No. 1 pick in next year's draft. \nI can see Duke star Shane Battier wearing the blue and gold already.
(01/11/01 6:24am)
Paul Tagliabue really has a good thing going.\nAs commissioner of the National Football League for the past 12 years, Tagliabue has pulled the right strings and made the right changes to shape the NFL into the most exciting sports league in America. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball appears to have taken steps in the wrong direction.\nThe parity in the NFL is what sets it apart from competing leagues. A look at the division winners in the past four seasons -- this one included -- shows just how balanced and unpredictable the NFL can be.\nWith six divisions, there have been 24 division titles up for grabs in those last four years. Twenty-one different teams have claimed those division crowns. Simple math will tell you that means only three teams (Jacksonville, Minnesota and the Giants) have won more than one division title since the 1997-98 campaign. Only the Jaguars, in 1998 and 1999, won back-to-back.\nComparing the previous figures to ones from Major League Baseball helps put them in perspective. MLB also has six divisions, so there have also been 24 division title opportunities in the last four years. But only 13 teams have managed to win those titles. The Atlanta Braves have won division titles in each of the four previous seasons; the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees have all won three in four years. \nTo break it down even further, only 43 percent of MLB teams have won divisions in that time span, compared to 68 percent of NFL teams.\nThe balance in the NFL is one of the main factors that keeps fans and players excited and optimistic about their teams' chances year after year. \nThey know on any given week any team can knock off another team. They also know that, while rare, it is possible for a team to go from a last-place finish one year to winning its division and even the Super Bowl the next, just as the St. Louis Rams did last season. Turnarounds like the one the Rams experienced just do not happen in baseball, or in other sports, for that matter.\nSeveral factors lead to the differences in competition between MLB and the NFL. The short schedule in football does make it easier for teams to get hot, play above their talent level and make surprise entrances into the playoffs. But the main discrepancy is the salary cap, which helps keep the playing field fairly level in the NFL. \nMajor League Baseball has no such cap, and as a result, rich teams in large media markets have an obvious advantage. Teams with tiny payrolls often do not have realistic chances to make the playoffs, and their fans and players know it. That is why the Montreal Expos only draw 7,000 or 8,000 fans every home game. Players often do not want to play for teams that do not have a reasonable shot at making the post-season. The huge gap in payrolls is also the reason we have the same teams winning year after year in baseball. For the most part, situations like these do not exist in football.\nIf you want more proof, just look at the four teams still alive in the NFL playoffs -- Baltimore, Oakland, N.Y. Giants and Minnesota -- none of whom were still playing at this time last year. Baltimore, Oakland and New York did not even make the playoffs a year ago.\nBut do not expect to see the Minnesota Twins playing the Florida Marlins in the World Series this October. Cinderella stories are nonexistent in baseball these days.\nMLB commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig has acknowledged the disparity in baseball and tried to take steps to close the gap, but he has been met with avid opposition. Trying to institute a salary cap led to the 1994 strike, and the issue threatens to stop play again in the near future.\nBaseball players and some owners refuse to swallow their pride and accept a cap, but if they looked at the recent history of the NFL they might have a change of heart. The NFL had to suffer through a work stoppage in the early-1980s, but necessary changes resulted in subsequent years. Those changes, along with other adjustments made by Tagliabue, such as the unbalanced schedule that makes it harder for division winners to repeat, have led the NFL into the 21st century as the premier professional sports league in the nation.\nMajor League Baseball might want to take notes.
(12/07/00 4:16am)
Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz passed Wilt Chamberlain Tuesday to become the second leading scorer of all time in the National Basketball Association. \nMalone, 37, now has 31,443 points in his career, placing him second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Having scored more points than every player, except for Jabbar, Malone hasn't seemed to earn the amount of respect one would expect to come from that statistic.\nBut his numbers don't lie, and Malone is one of the best power forwards of all time. \nFew go as far as to put him in the top 10 or 12 players in history. Maybe he doesn't have the most athletic ability, and he never has won a championship, but it's hard to argue against Malone's effectiveness.\nNow in his 16th season with the Jazz, Malone has averaged 26 points a game for his career, along with almost 11 rebounds a game. \nUtah made it all the way to the NBA Finals twice during Malone's tenure, both times falling to the Chicago Bulls. Malone has 11 times been named to the All-NBA team, and has been selected to 12 All-Star teams. He also won NBA MVP awards in 1997 and 1999.\nProbably the most impressive statistic on Malone's resume, aside from his point total, is the relatively non-existent number of games he has missed. He has sat out only seven games in his 16-year career. And four of those games were because of league suspensions. That averages out to an impressive work attendance record. Malone has missed about one-half of 1 percent of all the games he could have possibly played.\nMalone credits his success in the league to his ability to stay in top-notch shape. Dedicated to working out in the off-season, the Mailman even has aspirations of playing tight end in the National Football League after retiring from the NBA. \nSeveral factors come into play as to why Malone isn't often considered one of the greatest. Malone's rough, physical style of play could have turned some critics off. Indeed, Malone isn't the most popular among the rest of the players in the league, and from what I've experienced, among the fans, either. \nPlaying in Salt Lake City could also have hurt Malone's chances of being considered one of the best, as great players in small markets are often overlooked. And maybe never winning a championship has caused some onlookers to question Malone's legitimacy as one of the best, but he hasn't had the type of surrounding cast that other stars have enjoyed. Not that the rest of the Jazz players have been a bunch of schleps, but they haven't quite been the caliber of some of the surrounding casts on championship teams. It's hard to entice top athletes to relocate to the beautiful paradise of northern Utah to play basketball.\nIf Malone plays for four more years and scores at his current average, 23 points a game, he will break the all-time record held by Jabbar. Then maybe some of his critics will reassess Malone's place on the list of the NBA's stars. \nI'm not claiming he should be first, or even in the top five. But with the consistent statistics Malone has put up throughout his career, he deserves a lot more credit than he is getting.
(11/30/00 5:33am)
The Indianapolis Colts are in trouble. Maybe they figured they would make the playoffs without much effort and not really have to start playing until late December.\nMaybe they didn't like being the favorite. Maybe last year was just an aberration and they're not as good as everyone thought. But whatever the case, the Colts have dropped three of their last four games and are now in danger of being excluded from postseason play.\nAt the beginning of the year, the Colts were considered the odds-on favorite to win the AFC East. Fans talked about the possibility of a Super Bowl appearance. But thanks to several close losses, Indy fans are now pretty quiet when it comes to Super Bowl talk. They are just hoping their team can stay afloat.\nSo what has happened? Well, several things. First, they haven't been able to play with any consistency. At times, they look unstoppable, and at other times they look more like the Bengals.\nSecond, they haven't beaten teams they should have. They dropped games at Chicago and Green Bay after falling behind early, only to have their comeback attempts fall short.\nAnd third, they haven't finished teams off when they have had leads. In week two, the Oakland Raiders outscored the Colts 31-7 in the second half in their dramatic come-from-behind victory. The New England Patriots came from behind to steal a win. Last week, the Miami Dolphins scored a touchdown with 1:10 to play to knock off the Colts at the RCA Dome.\nIt doesn't help the Colts' (7-5) chances that they have the league's toughest remaining schedule. They have to play the Jets (8-4) and Dolphins (9-3) on the road, with home games against the Bills (7-5) and Vikings (10-2). To have a legitimate shot at a playoff berth, Indianapolis needs to win three of those games, and even that won't guarantee them a spot.\nThe most important game of the Colts' season is next week at New York. The last wild-card spot will probably come down to a struggle between the Colts, Jets and Bills. New York also has a tough remaining schedule, but Indy cannot afford to go down two games in the wild-card chase with three games remaining. Indianapolis has beaten the Jets in their last four meetings, but the Colts haven't been particularly stellar in outdoor games in cold temperatures, exactly what they will get this Sunday at the Meadowlands. \nDon't get me wrong, I still think the Colts have the potential to win all four remaining games. They proved that last year and at times this year. On the other hand, they could catch a couple bad breaks, go 1-3, and end up watching the playoffs this year. They will need some help from other teams if they are going to participate in the playoffs.\nThe rest of the league\nIn the AFC, Oakland, Tennessee and Miami all look to be solid bets to win their divisions. But the race for the wild-card spots will be interesting. Baltimore and Denver have favorable remaining schedules that seem to give them the best chances of clinching berths. The Jets have a one-game lead on Buffalo and Indianapolis and should secure the final spot, but nothing is guaranteed in the NFL.\nIn the NFC, the playoff race is even more uncertain. Minnesota is the only division leader that looks to have their division wrapped up. In the East, Philadelphia's schedule and recent play should give them a division title. But don't count out the New York Giants if they can knock off Washington this weekend. Even if the Giants don't beat the Redskins, they will probably still make the playoffs as a wild card.\nThe St. Louis Rams and the New Orleans Saints are tied for the lead in the NFC West at 8-4. That's right, I did say the Saints, and they also have the easier schedule of the two. But Kurt Warner is coming back for the Rams. I expect St. Louis to finish strong and wrap up the division with a win at New Orleans on the last weekend of the season.\nFour teams will fight for the final two wild-card berths: New Orleans, Detroit (8-4), Washington (7-5) and Tampa Bay (7-5). The Lions have a tough schedule, but they have the tie-breaker over the Redskins. Tampa Bay won't survive a schedule that features a home game with St. Louis and road games against Miami and Green Bay. The Packers are 5-7 but everyone knows the Bucs don't win games in cold weather. I think New Orleans and Detroit will probably come out of the pack to complete the postseason puzzle.
(11/16/00 4:59pm)
Bidding on baseball's free agents started last week, and the end result of all the offers and negotiations is likely to produce the highest-paid player in the history of the sport.\nThe two big prizes in this year's crop are Cleveland outfielder Manny Ramirez and Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Ramirez, 28, is arguably the best hitter in the majors, and Rodriguez, 25, is probably the league's most complete player. Whatever price these two think they are worth, they will probably be able to get it from someone. But the numbers are just getting out of hand.\n Ramirez turned down Cleveland's offer of a 7-year, $119 million ($17 million per year) contract to re-sign him. He reportedly wants a 10-year deal worth $200 million. Let me guess -- it's not about the money, it's about being paid what you're worth, right? And who is most likely the only team that will be able to afford Ramirez? If you said the increasingly deep pockets of George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees, you're probably right.\nRodriguez' agent is supposedly throwing around the idea of a long-term contract for his client in the $20-25 million per year range. The Minnesota Twins entire payroll from last season was $20 million.\nBut A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, apparently thinks he has the best player in baseball history at the age of 25. He also thinks Rodriguez will eventually end up with the most home runs, runs batted in, and runs scored in the history of the game, given that A-Rod produces at his current level for the next 15 years. He even compiled a 65-page book entitled "Alex Rodriguez, a Historical Performance," which is full of graphs, statistics and attempts to mathematically prove these claims. Boras handed the book out to all the general managers at a recent meeting.\nTo me, this all seems a little bit ridiculous. First of all, whether Rodriguez is the best player ever for his age is not only a stretch, but it is also irrelevant to what type of monetary value to place on the star in today's game. As for the statistical projections, it's absurd to think that one can predict what type of numbers a player will be putting up a decade from now.\nRodriguez' salary last year with the Mariners was $4.3 million. Are we really supposed to believe that he will be five times better this year? Of course his agent would claim that he was substantially underpaid in his previous contract, and maybe he was, but demanding a price like $25 million a year is damaging the competitiveness of the sport.\nIt's not that high salaries are inherently bad. Athletes should be rewarded for great accomplishments with big contracts. You can't really blame an athlete for taking a huge amount of money if it's offered to him, but the end result of all these skyrocketing salaries is that most of the richer teams are winning, and the poorer teams are struggling to stay afloat.\nSince baseball doesn't have a salary cap, thanks to the 1994 player's strike, the only teams that will be able to afford Rodriguez and Ramirez are the rich, large-market clubs. The only chance for teams with lower budgets to compete is to find the best young talent and sign them to cheap contracts before they become sought after commodities. Can the Twins really be expected to compete over the course of a season with the Yankees, a team that had a payroll almost six times larger than theirs last year? The answer is no, and will be for years to come. \nI don't know what the best way to correct the increasing gap between small and large market clubs is, but the commissioner needs to work with the owners and players and finally iron out some kind of agreement. If something isn't done soon, the league will become even more elitist and predictable, and less competitive and exciting.
(11/09/00 4:37am)
With the Major League Baseball playoffs finishing up, the NFL season is getting into full swing, all the hype surrounding the beginning of the NBA and college basketball seasons and the closest and craziest presidential election still unresolved, the National Hockey League season has started rather quietly.\nBut the 2000-2001 campaign has been under way for more than a month, and some interesting stories are shaping up around the league.\nUnfortunately for the league, the only two things that brought significant national notoriety so far have been negative. The legal saga of former Bruins defenseman Marty McSorley isn't exactly the type of press the commissioner wants, and neither is the story of Colorado goalie Patrick Roy. A week after Roy broke the league record for career victories, he was arrested for investigation of misdemeanor criminal mischief and misdemeanor domestic violence counts.\nYou might have noticed looking though the standings that there are a couple teams you don't recognize. Don't be alarmed; the league expanded. Again. Now playing in the Western Conference are the Columbus, Ohio, Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. \nGiving Minnesota a new franchise after their beloved North Stars left for the greener pastures of Dallas and won a Stanley Cup won't completely hush the complaints of Minnesota fans, but it will help. If you want to see a game with a lot of pride at stake, check out the Dec. 17 matchup of the Stars and Wild at Minnesota.\nWith Colorado, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix, conventional wisdom is that the best teams are in the Western Conference. The toughest division in the league is definitely the Pacific. Dallas, a team that has been to the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years, now has a 7-4-2-1 record for 17 points, but they're tied for last place. Phoenix leads the division with 23 points on a 9-1-5-0 record. (For those of you who aren't quite sure how points are determined, here is the formula: Teams get two points for each victory, one point for each tie and one point for each overtime loss. Division standings are based solely on points.)\nBarring significant injuries, the Western Conference playoffs will probably come down to another championship series between two of the following teams: Colorado, Detroit and Dallas. These three teams have built some pretty interesting playoff rivalries in the past few years and always seem to figure out a way to beat less experienced teams. But don't count out teams who have gotten off to great starts, such as Phoenix and St. Louis. San Jose and Edmonton have looked strong so far as well.\nNo clear favorites have emerged so far in the Eastern Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey leads its division, but it hasn\'t dominated. The only team to get off to a really hot start has been Ottawa, leading the Northeast Division with a 9-1-4-0 record for 22 points. As far as the rest of the East, no one quite knows yet who will emerge to become playoff favorites. But that's why they play until spring to figure those things out.\nThe Southeast Division is terrible. Washington leads the division with a 3-7-4-1 record (11 points). Outside the division, only four teams have worse records in the entire NHL. The combined win-loss record for the Southeast is 13-31. Don't look for the Southeast to have any more than one team to make the playoffs.\nI would look for the New Jersey Devils to emerge from the Eastern Conference to take on the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup finals. The Avalanche will bring the Cup back to Colorado in a hard-fought seven-game victory, led by Roy's spectacular play around the goal.
(11/08/00 9:20am)
Experience and name recognition proved to be key in the Monroe county commissioners' race, as incumbents Joyce Poling and Iris Kiesling defeated their opponents in Districts 2 and 3, respectively. Poling, a Republican, defeated her Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Feitl, by capturing 57 percent of the vote. Franklin Andrew, the Republican candidate in District 3, failed in his attempt to unseat Kiesling; the sitting commissioner captured 56 percent of the votes cast.\nA champion of correctional facility reform and the pursuit of economic equilibrium, Kiesling has served in county government for 13 years, and holds the position of president of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. She plans to turn her attention as commissioner to the management and allocation of country revenue.\n"I'm really pleased with the support Monroe County has given me throughout the last four years," Kiesling said, citing the "seemingly endless" stream of support for community improvement efforts. "We had a lot of good people working on this campaign, and I will continue to strive toward their goals of increased economic development."\nKiesling won the election by nearly 3,000 votes over challenger Franklin Andrew, owner of Clear Creek Farms. Andrew, admittedly disappointed with the results of the race, said he had no regrets about his campaign.\n"I did everything I knew to do to win," Andrew said. "There was no more money I could have spent; I couldn't have knocked on a single door more. I couldn't have worked any harder."\nAndrew, who said he thinks Monroe County should be more friendly to commerce, said he plans on running for county commissioner again and thinks running in this race will help him in elections to come.\n"What I have to do now is stay focused on getting my message out, and then get back on it four years from now," he said.\nPoling, a REMAX real estate agent, said she believed her experience in county government was a big reason Monroe County voters re-elected her as commissioner.\n"I think the fact that I have previously served two terms as commissioner in addition to three and a half years on the county council was a big reason I won the election," she said.\nAfter finding out she had secured victory, Poling turned her attention from the campaign to things she wanted to accomplish in her next term as commissioner.\n"We've begun work on the youth residential treatment center, and getting that finished is a top priority," she said. "One of our first big projects will be to find a building and get everything else worked out for the community corrections center."\nFeitl, who is the president of Communications Workers of America 4730, was running in her first race for public office. She said she plans to remain in the political arena, maintaining her dedication to workers' rights to unionize as well as local housing initiatives.\n"I plan to remain in the public eye," Feitl said. "I'm strongly affiliated to the issues of domestic abuse and affordable housing for Bloomington residents. I plan to continue my involvement with these issues"
(11/02/00 4:24am)
I don't know about everyone else, but I am thrilled the NBA season opened Tuesday. \nWell, not exactly. \nThe World Series is just finished, the NFL season is just starting to get good, and suddenly the NBA sneaks up on us. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago the Lakers beat the Pacers in the Finals.\nIt's not that I don't like the NBA; I do, even though I think most of the league's players are overpaid, spoiled, egocentric babies. (But that's another topic altogether.) Maybe it's just that I'm not ready for a new season yet. After my beloved Indiana team came two games short of winning that ever-elusive title last summer and then lost a few key players after the season was over, I haven't exactly been counting down the days until the new season.\nI'm definitely not ready to hear Bob Costas tell us every two minutes how great Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal are. \nBut I will still watch the games and pay attention to the standings. Along with that come the predictions:\nWestern Conference\nThe West is far superior to the East this year. Of all of the predictions made by the experts, I haven't seen anyone pick a team from the East to win the Finals this year. And that is for good reason. The three best teams in the league are in the West: Los Angeles, Portland and San Antonio.\nIn the off-season, the Lakers got rid of unhappy Glen Rice and added Horace Grant and Isaiah Rider. Disgruntled in Atlanta, Rider doesn't exactly have a history of cooperating with his coaches or teammates, but if coach Phil Jackson can control Dennis Rodman and get Shaq and Kobe to play nice, he can handle Rider. Most important factor here -- Shaq is really big.\nPortland has the best lineup in the league on paper. They lost Brian Grant but picked up Dale Davis and Shawn Kemp to try and slow down O'Neal. Getting all its talent to play together will be tough for coach Mike Dunleavy. Look for Bonzi Wells to have a breakout year and Rasheed Wallace to get a lot of technicals.\nSan Antonio won the title in 1998-1999, but was eliminated from the playoffs last year in the first round, while Tim Duncan sat injured on the bench. But he's back this year, and he and David Robinson form the most formidable frontcourt pair in the league. If the Twin Towers can avoid injuries, they will challenge the Blazers and Lakers for the league's best record.\nPredicted playoff seeding: Portland, San Antonio, L.A. Lakers, Phoenix, Utah, Sacramento, Seattle and Minnesota.\nEastern Conference\nMany people say five, even six teams have a chance to come out of the East. It's hard to pick a clear favorite because most of the top teams significantly changed their rosters during the off-season.\nMiami looked to be the preseason favorite with the addition of former Charlotte guard Eddie Jones and former Portland forward Brian Grant, but just recently found out center Alonzo Mourning will miss the season because of kidney disease. Don't expect too much from the Heat.\nOrlando will be an exciting squad to watch this year with the addition of free agents Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. I just don't know if the rest of their team will be able to make them title contenders, but they will win a lot of games.\nThe defending conference champion Pacers look a lot different from the team they put on the floor last year. Rik Smits retired, floor leader Mark Jackson left for Toronto, and Dale Davis was traded. At first I thought the Davis trade for young, unproven Jermaine O'Neal was a huge mistake, but after watching O'Neal play in preseason and the Pacers opener Tuesday night, I've changed my thinking. First year coach Isiah Thomas has his hands full will a very young squad, and to make things worse, leading scorer Jalen Rose will start the season on the bench with a broken wrist. But I do think Indiana will be better than most analysts are predicting.\nMilwaukee is expected by some commentators to sneak into the Finals as the East's representative, but I think their lack of playoff experience will outweigh their good mix of talent.\nEven though I hate to say it, I think the Knicks will be in the Finals this year. They finally got rid of Patrick Ewing so they can run a more up-tempo offense, and they added sharpshooter Glen Rice. They don't have a true center and rebounding could be a big problem, but Jeff Van Gundy's team seems to always find a way to overcome adversity.\nPredicted playoff seeding: Orlando, Milwaukee, New York, Charlotte, Indiana, Philadelphia, Toronto and Miami.\nPlayoff predictions\nKnicks over Magic in Eastern Conference Finals\nBlazers over Spurs in Western Conference Finals\nBlazers over Knicks in Finals
(10/24/00 5:13am)
The results of Sunday's NFL contests proved one of two things. Either the league is so balanced that each week anything can happen, or I don't know much about football.\nUnlike Major League Baseball, where teams can basically spend their way into the playoffs, the NFL has a salary cap that goes a long way to ensure competitive games week after week. I thought had several teams and players figured out, but this weekend's performances put some serious doubts in my head.\nThe St. Louis Rams, who I thought were a lock to win 14 or 15 games, got crushed by Kansas City 54-34 for their first loss the season. Even worse for the Rams is two of their stars, quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Marshall Faulk, sustained potentially serious injuries in the loss. It will be interesting to see if former IU quarterback Trent Green will be able to keep the Rams on top of the NFC West until Warner returns from a broken finger.\nI had also thought the Bengals had a great chance of pulling off the worst season in league history. Going into Sunday's game against Denver, the Bengals had been outscored 143-37 on to a 0-6 record. \nBut the Bengals turned it around Sunday, knocking off the Broncos 31-21, thanks in part to running back Corey Dillon's huge performance. Dillon, probably the best-kept secret in the league, broke the all-time rushing record by carrying for 278 yards. In only his fourth year as a pro, he now holds the first and sixth highest single-game totals.\nI had also been convinced Colts' team president Bill Polian was a genius for picking Edgerrin James over Ricky Williams in the 1999 draft, but now I'm not so sure. While James led the league in rushing last year and has been solid this season, Williams has been compiling impressive numbers. With 156 yards in New Orleans' 21-19 win against Atlanta Sunday, Williams has topped the century mark in his last five outings and has the Saints (4-3) in the midst of a playoff run.\nTeams to look AT:\n• Oakland's 31-3 stomping of Seattle was its fourth consecutive win, giving them a two-game lead in the AFC West. The Raiders (6-1) face 0-7 San Diego Sunday.\n• After losing two of its first three and making owner Daniel Snyder throw a fit in the process, Washington (6-2) has bounced back to win five in row and moved into first place in the NFC East. \n• Minnesota (7-0) managed to get by Buffalo 31-27 Sunday and are the only unbeaten team. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper has looked like a seasoned veteran, but having guys like Cris Carter and Randy Moss to throw to helps.\nTeams falling faster than Firestone stock:\n• Tampa Bay (3-4) was a pre-season pick to win its division but lost its fourth consecutive game to Detroit Thursday.\n• Jacksonville (2-6) was another team expected to be in the playoffs but has looked more like domesticated house cats in dropping its last five games.\n• Although Baltimore's record is respectable, the Ravens haven't scored a touchdown in their last four games and have lost two in a row. Note to Baltimore: Touchdowns are kind of important.\n• Chicago (1-7): No explanation necessary.
(10/20/00 7:49pm)
The high natural gas prices in Indiana will force those who use gas to heat their homes to dig a little deeper into their pockets this winter. Many local residents are worried about how this will affect their budgets.\nConsumers continue to cope with inflated gasoline prices, and the dramatic jump in natural gas prices has them wondering when relief will arrive.\nBloomington resident Ruby Martin said she has a bit of an uneasy feeling going into the winter months.\n"From what I've been reading in the paper, I'm concerned," she said. "If it goes up too high, what are we going to do? It doesn't look like it's going to get any better."\nThe situation is not likely to improve for the time being, according to Dave Osmon, controller for area gas distributor Peoples Gas and Power Co. He said it might take as long as 12-18 months for the market to correct the trend. He said Peoples sent letters to their customers earlier in the year explaining why costs are higher.\n"When the price of natural gas fell below two dollars a year ago, there wasn't much incentive for new drilling to occur," Osmon said. "So the supply fell down, but we've still had a fairly robust demand. Now prices are in the $4-$5 range, but it takes a long time for newly drilled gas to get to the market, so the supply is not catching up with the demand."\nSome residents might have to cut back or eliminate other items in their budget to allow for the increase. Bloomington resident Lois Noel said she plans on trying to cut down on the amount of gas she uses.\n"Just like years past, (my husband and I) have made sure our windows are sealed and our house is insulated well," she said. "But, for this year, we have discussed turning down the thermostat and wearing warmer clothes to keep from running up a large bill."\nLisa West, marketing manager for Amerigas, said there are other measures consumers can take to calm their heating anxiety. West said some companies, including Amerigas, offer price protection programs where the customer signs a year-long contract and locks onto a fixed monthly price.\n"Around 40 percent of our customers are on this program," she said, "and they are paying an average of 25 percent more than they were last year at this time. But, if you're not on a price guarantee program, you will be paying 45 percent more than you were last year, possibly even higher."\nWest said that currently Amerigas' costs are 70-75 percent higher than a year ago to get the same amount of gas, so any customer who signed up for the program will be glad they did.\n"We're facing all-time highs now, prices are re-writing the record books," West said. "Absolutely, positively, get set up on a price protection program wherever you can if you are worried about this winter. It's the best option."\nPeoples Gas and Power Co. doesn't have the amount of customers to offer a price control program, but Osmon said there are other ways of dealing with the high costs.\n"First of all, check and make sure your system works correctly and efficiently," he said. "But if the burden of the increasing costs is substantial enough and you think you're going to be in trouble, you need to contact your local utility and get on a budget payment plan."\nOsmon said a payment plan allows customers to make the same payment each month and gives them greater stability in their budget planning.\nHe also said he doesn't think too many people will turn to alternative methods of heating.\n"Natural gas is still the most economical type (of heating)," Osmon said. "The savings over other ways may not be as great this year, but the savings still should be there"