It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Late March and early April is arguably the best sports time for so many reasons. For me and so many other sports fans, their bracket is shot and they can focus on Major League Baseball. Opening day for MLB is like another holiday for most people, as fans across the country cut out of work early to watch their team's opening game with a chance of this being their year (not including the Marlins, Giants, Orioles or Royals). As a tribute to the 2008 MLB Season I will be giving my MLB predictions and relate each team to a Seinfeld term. So without further ado here is the 2008 MLB Season Preview, Seinfeld Style.

The Senior Circuit

NL East
New York Mets
The Portuguese Waitress- Although none of the players on the Mets are Portuguese, they do have a ridiculous amount of Latino players which could lead to great things. With a lot of them hurt right now, it may be tough for them with the Phils close behind.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Muffin Tops- Without the bottom of a muffin, the muffin just isn't that good. The best lineup in the NL, the muffin top, is nothing without pitching, muffin bottom.

Atlanta Braves
Sidler- The team that always comes out of no where when you're not paying attention and slip real close to you and the division lead. If the Mets and Phils don't play well, they may be sidled by the Braves.

Washington Nationals
The tap- What a girl gives the guy when he isn't performing. Or what Manny Acta will be doing a lot when he is pulling a pitcher out of the game after getting bombed.

Florida Marlins
Not that there's anything wrong with that- The Marlins have built up a great team and won a World Series title twice. Each time they firesale and find a way to keep being good. Not this year, but be on the look out in the near future if history tells the truth.

NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Upstairs Invite- It has been 100 years since their last World Series title, and their fans continue to get excited each season, just to be pushed off the ledge at season's end.

Milwaukee Brewers
Close talker- They have some great young hitters, and some great starting pitching but they are a few years away from being great. If the Cubs fail early look for the Brew Crew to make a push.

St. Louis Cardinals
Bizarro Jerry- This could be a weird year for a team that is used to winning a lot. La Russa is a great manager but he has his hands full with this years team. I think Pujols and Wainwright will carry the team, but not that far even in this crappy division.

Cincinnati Reds
The low talker- A team no one really talks about every year, but there is always some expert calling them a sleeper pick. Is this their sleeper year? Probably not and we probably won't even hear about it.

Houston Astros
Must lie situation- This could be an awful season for the 'Stros as it seems as though they have a lot of former HGH or 'Roid users who can't play well. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jay Gibbons in a Houston uni soon.

Pittsburgh Pirates
A Show about Nothing- I legitimately feel bad for anyone who is a Pirates fan. A team with nothing to look forward to.

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
They're real and they're spectacular- With Andruw Jones and a healthy Rafael Furcal leading this young group of great players they could easily make a run in the playoffs. They also have one of the most underrated pitching staffs, and if Brad Penny learns how to pitch in the 2nd half of the season, he will win the Cy Young award.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Master of his Domain- Many experts are picking them in the West, for good reason with Webb and Haren leading the DBacks strong pitching staff. Very similar to the Dodgers with their young players, it should be a great race all season long.

Colorado Rockies
Shmoopie- The team that everyone is sick of hearing about, and is annoying to watch. They needed an imaginable 22 out of 23 wins to make the playoffs, and rode the biggest momentum wave in the playoffs, and all we had to hear was how good they were. I don't think they're that good.

San Diego Padres
Shrinkage- When people get old they get smaller, and this Padres team is getting old, beginning with the ageless wonder Greg Maddux. The Padres play in such a pitcher friendly park that if they stay healthy they may do alright, but their lack of power is a big issue.

San Francisco Giants
In the vault- Easily the worse team in the NL. With all of Bonds's things in the vault and a weird combination of old crappy guys and young rookies without experience it will be a long year in San Fran. :-)

The Junior Circuit

AL East
Boston Red Sox
The 'it' girl- They've won 2 out of the last 4 World Series titles, and they only lost 3 players from last year's team. Picking against them is tough, they are the class of baseball right now, no question about that.

New York Yankees
Yada, yada, yada- Living in the NY area I am already sick hearing about Yankee Stadium and the Yankees. They will have the same season they always have with everyone doubting them and then they do well and make the playoffs. I am bored just writing this paragraph.

Tampa Bay Rays
The switch- Equipped with a new name and a group of young players to be jealous about I am jumping on the Raywagon. They finally will end up in the top 3 of the AL East, which is a good start.

Toronto Blue Jays
It's not you, it's me- Actually for the Jays its the opposite, it's no me, it's you. With the Sox and Yanks ahead of them, they will never be better then 3rd place no matter how hard they try. Sorry Canada, but thanks for trying.

Baltimore Orioles
Assman- Actually it is 'Assmen' when referring to the entire team. Still a few years away from being a legitimate baseball team in the league. Sorry Mark but you are the Assman.

AL Central
Detroit Tigers
Festivus- Who doesn't love the Tigers, for good reason. They are loaded this year and will be partying all the way to the World Series, but will they win? Keep reading.

Chicago White Sox
The Soup Nazi- Referring to their manager Ozzie Guillen, who is crazy and can go off at anytime. They have an older team, but they can all hit well and I think will surprise some teams in the AL, especially the next team on the list.

Cleveland Indians
These pretzels are making me thirsty.- The Indians are a weird team who could be great, or who could be awful it matters which part of the team you talk about. 2 great starting pitchers, and 3 question marks. 3 good hitters, 6 questions marks, and a lot of injuries to boot. I guess it matters how you talk about them to understand the team.

Minnesota Twins
Bad breaker upper- Giving up Santana was inevitable, as the state of Minnesota loses another franchise player to a great team. The city of Minneapolis is used to these bad break ups, but the guys they have left aren't half bad, just watch. The starting pitching on the other hand is half bad and half awful.

Kansas City Royals
Vomit Streak- The Pittsburgh Pirates of the AL, as the fans of KC may want to vomit when they watch their team again.

AL West
Seattle Mariners
Giddyup- The Mariners have the best starting rotation in the Majors and are ready to make it big this year. They do have some questionable hitters, but I think they are all ready to have a great season led by Ichiro who will have a ridiculously good year.

The Angels of Anaheim
Sponge worthy- The Angels are definitely a great team as they show every year, but I just think they are not going to have a great season. Worthy of everyone talking about them being good, but they can't play with the Mariners this season.

Oakland Athletics
Regifting- What the A's do every few years, by building up their farm system with great players then not paying them and trading them. Getting gifts, then regifting them to all the other teams to use in the future. Sucks to be an A's fan right now.

Texas Rangers
The Jerkstore- Not a lot of potential for the Rangers who have a bunch of crappy players who will try and contend in a stacked AL. They may not be jerks, but they do have a lot of bad players.


Playoffs
Opening the Vault

NLDS
Mets over Cubs
Dodgers over Phillies

ALDS
Red Sox over Mariners
Tigers over Yankees

NLCS
Dodgers over Mets

ALCS
Tigers over Red Sox

World Series
Dodgers over Tigers

"Hey, you've been great, I'll see you in the cafeteria!"

CP3 for MVP

It took me awhile, but I've officially jumped on the Chris Paul for MVP bandwagon.


There is a lot of talk that this is Kobe's year (which it probably is),but there is a strong movement for Chris Paul happening before our eyes. That is the eyes of the 12 people who still watch and care about the NBA. Not only does CP3 have his team in 1st place in the ultra-competitive west after a 20 assist, 1 turnover (1 turnover!!!!!!) performance last night, but he is putting in one of the best all around seasons for a point guard ever at the ripe old age of 22. Checkout this table I put together comparing some of the best seasons by the best point guards in the history of the NBA. Keep in mind all of these players are either in the Hall of Fame, or on their way there.



Looking at the average of all those seasons, even with the inflated statistics from the early 70's, Chris Paul compares favorably. He is nearly identical in points and assists, with a better turnover and steal rate. Since the all-star break Paul has been even more amazing. He's averaging 24 points on 54% shooting with 12.5 assists a game with only 2.15 turnovers a game. That's a full turnover and a half better than most of the best seasons of the best PG's ever!

Kobe will probably win the award because he's never won the MVP before, and he really should have one. But Chris Paul could go down as having the best season for a point guard in the history of the game, even without the MVP to show for it.

Yo, how's your bracket?

That is the question on everyone's mind right now, as the wild first and second rounds concluded with some surprises, and hell of a lot of close games. We would like to thank Jon Leonard again for coming on the radio show this week to discuss the bracket, and for all those Jon Leonard fans out there, he will be back very soon.

With 48 games out of the way, the tourney is looking to be another great one, as we still have all four #1 seeds remaining, and 2 out of 4 #2 seeds advancing to the Sweet 16. Here are a few thoughts of mine from the tournament so far.

Looking Good
- First and foremost UNC looks better than advertised. Unquestionably they were the best team of the first weekend, and are deserving of the #1 overall seed. But now the hard part comes for them, with Washington St and the Louisville/Tennessee winner.
- Staying in the East bracket, Louisville is looking worthy of the hype of the final four sleeper tag, but now they face the Volunteers in what should be a great game.
- Stephen Curry is the real deal, and has scored 70 points in two games, and has had huge 2nd halves in both their upset wins. It looks like Davidson is this years George Mason.
- The Lopez twins at Stanford are each contributing what they do best, as Robin has 8 blocks in two games, and Brook Lopez scored 30, including the game winner against Marquette.
- West Virginia beat 2 tough teams in Arizona and Duke, and did so without playing 2 great halves in either game. It does show that a good shooting team can get hot and win.

Won 2 games, but...
- UCLA and Memphis moved on after sweating out wins against Texas A&M and Mississippi State respectively. Memphis's foul shooting obviously was a weakness as it allowed MSU to stay in the game late, and a good team will definitely take advantage of them. UCLA looked good down the stretch against A&M, but they struggled to score points, and that good be a weakness.
- Tennessee and Texas both had trouble late in their 2nd round match ups as they allowed their opponents to come back and almost win.
- Stanford's coach Trent Johnson got thrown out of the game early against Marquette, and he avoided a full year of getting crap for it by being bailed out by the Lopez twins. Note to coaches, do not get thrown out in the tournament, coaches are important in the tourney.
- All the teams who are fouling when winning at the end of the game need a lesson in what to do when winning. A lot of close games in the first 2 rounds won despite their pitiful play at the end of games. Now the teams are better, and won't fade at the end.

Wednesday at 7-8pm look out for a new The B Zone where we will give some MLB predictions, and follow up with our good calls and bad calls in the tourney from last weeks show, because everyone should be accountable for their awful tourney comments.

This is why Duke sucks..

Here's a couple quick videos to checkout before we get started with the Tourney talk on the Wednesday show.

We'll be having a special guest host for Wednesday's March Madness preview. Check it out at Click Radio on Wed. 7-8pm.



Since it's St. Patties Day here is everyone's favorite Irish themed youtube video:

Where the gold at?

Seeds Prediction

With the NCAA Tournament selections being announced in under 1 hour, I figured I would give me predictions, and then come back on Monday with a follow up column. So for now here are my seeding predictions for the Tourney.

#1
UNC
Kansas
Memphis
UCLA

#2
Georgetown
Tennessee
Texas
Wisconsin

#3
Duke
Stanford
Butler
Drake

#4
Xavier
Clemson
Vanderbilt
Pittsburgh

#5
UCONN
Lousiville
Purdue
Davidson

#6
Notre Dame
Indiana
Michigan St.
Washington St.

#7
Gonzaga
Arkansas
BYU
UNLV

#8
West Virginia
Marquette
Kent State
St. Mary's

#9
Oklahoma
Miami (FL)
Mississippi St.
San Diego

#10
USC
Western Kentucky
Texas A&M
Kansas St.

#11
South Alabama
Villanova
Baylor
Temple

#12
Arizona
Illinois St.
Kentucky
Oregon

#13
Georgia
George Mason
Siena
Cal St. Fullerton

#14
Cornell
Boise St.
American
Oral Roberts

#15
UMBC
Winthrop
Austin Peay
Portland St.

#16
Mississippi Valley St.
Mount Saint Mary's
Coppin State
Belmont
UT Arlington

I'll be back Monday to see how I did, and with a little appetizer for the radio show on Wednesday.

Random Quotes

The B Zone blog is back! My esteemed colleague Tim and I are going to try and update the blog every Monday and Friday in conjunction with our new radio show on Wednesdays 7-8pm on http://community.hearnewbrunswick.com/

I don't have much to say before the weekend so here are some some humorous quotes either about sports, or by people in sports:

“We don't need refs, but I guess white guys need something to do.”
--Charles Barkley

"We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I just can't figure out where else to play."
-- Pat Williams, Orlando Magic general manager, on his team's 7-27 record

“He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings.”
-- University of Houston WR Torrin Polk on his coach John Jenkins

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
--Joe Theismann

"I've won at every level, except college and pro."
--Shaquille O'Neal, on his lack of championships

“They say a tie is like kissing your sister. I guess that is better than kissing your brother.”
-- Lou Holtz

"I'm tellin' ya man, to be able to stroke it like that must be some kind of feeling."
-- Dick Vitale on J.J. Redick's ability to hit 3s

"I'll tell you right now, I'm going to make some mistakes ... I'm not a genius. There are only a couple of coaches in this league that are geniuses, and I'm not one."
-- Jets coach Herman Edwards

"When you're rich, you don't write checks. Straight cash, homey."
-- Randy Moss

"I've got to stop this. My entourages are getting entourages."
-- Jalen Rose, on the trouble finding tickets for everyone when he returns to Detroit

"There are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work."
-- Carlos Boozer after cancelling an interview with a Sports Illustrated reporter because his wife was expecting him home.

"I would rather die in an abandoned building, by myself and my family not know anything, than play for him."
-- Shannon Sharpe on Tom Coughlin

"I feel 10 times better than I felt my last season, in terms of passion and fire. I got my dog back, in African-American language, your dog meaning your passion, your fire."
-- Deion Sanders

"I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok."
-- Shaquille O'Neal

"Arousal-control has been an issue for me since the beginning of my career."
-- Bode Miller

"If someone saw me in the shower, they'd never think I was on the juice."
-- Jason Schmidt

"You didn't write a story about my Hall of Fame induction. You guys never report the good stuff that I do."
-- Albert Belle, who has never been inducted into the Hall, on his recent stalking charge

"In some way, Jerome [Bettis] has touched every person on this team."
-- Hines Ward

"They should have focused more on me."
-- Sebastian Telfair of the Portland Trailblazers, giving his opinion of the ESPN documentary "Through the Fire" about ... him

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American."
-- Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

"I had an awful first quarter but I picked it up. To all you single guys out there, it's not how you start the date, it's how you finish the date."
-- Shaquille O'Neal after dropping 30 points in a win over the Knicks on Saturday

"Wells Fargo will contribute $5,000 to the 49ers Foundation to help under-served youth in the Bay Area for every 49ers touchdown scored this season. [Pause] There's going to be a lot of sad kids."
-- Joe Starkey, 49ers radio broadcaster

"By the time we got [to Detroit], it was almost 2 in the morning, because ain't nothing open but hospitals, jails and legs."
-- Jalen Rose

"Bud Light."
-- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter when asked to name his favorite pitcher.

"The sun has been there for 500, 600 years ... "
-- Mets outfielder Mike Cameron, after teammate Carlos Beltran lost a ball in the sun against the Dodgers

"Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."
-- Rafael Palmeiro, recently suspended for using steroids, in his opening statement to Congress

"You're not going to play for me if you don't put out."
-- Mets manager Willie Randolph

" I like my beers cold and my homosexuals flaming."
--Tim Bozzone

And my personal favorite:

“The only bowl Rutgers is going to is the one I just got off of.”
--Former Boston College star QB Glenn Foley addressing a question posed to him about Rutgers bowl chances after beating the Scarlet Knights 37-20 in 1992

I wasn't really sure how to end my first blog post, so I'll leave Sam Cassell's E.T. like expression as an ending: