Kitimat Contemplations

Easter weekend is upon us and I’m coming to you live from Northern British Columbia. Of course, Americans think all Canadians live in igloos; up here in Kitimat, it may actually be true.

Of course, this weekend also marks several occasions of relevance in the sporting world, and I’ve got thoughts on all of them.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

After a slow Thursday of tournament action, things finally seemed primed to explode with the much-hyped USC vs Kansas State match-up. According to highlight packages I saw throughout the year Michael Beasley has yet to miss a shot in his outstanding freshman year. That explains the absurd averages of 26 and 12. Of course, OJ Mayo is no slouch either, though members of the media led me to believe that he is just as likely to jack my car as he is to jack up threes, which according to them is often. Aside from the probably (I say probably because I actually don’t know him personally) unwarranted criticism, Mayo is having a nice year as well, averaging 20, 5 and 4, or something thereabouts, and I was excited to see these two go at it.

Of course, these games can’t possibly live up to the hype, and the first half was a dud. Beas was in foul trouble, though in the second half he dominated enough to make us forget about that Kevin Durant guy. Bill Walker, Beasley’s sidekick and former high school teammate of Mayo carried the load in the first half and Mayo had a quiet 20 points.

On Saturday Duke lost, which probably made outside of Duke pretty happy, with the notable exception of Dick Vitale. They nearly lost it in the first round to Belmont, which got me wondering; how many more early exits before they revoke ‘Coach K’s court’.

Pretty cool how all the lower seeds advanced in the Tampa Region. First time in NCAA Tournament history. Western Kentucky advanced on an implausible three point shot at the buzzer in OT, San Diego won at the buzzer in OT as well, Siena and Villanova completed their upsets.

All of which leads me to my bracket, which has humbled me in ways I never even thought possible. My picks blew a tire early, with Arizona going out to West Virginia (never pick the team you cheer for - unless they’re good - which mine was not) and Winthrop failing to advance over Washington State. What can I say? I like to cheer against boring teams.

Things got much worse when Siena beat Vanderbilt, who I had going to the Elite Eight for no reason other than a hunch (shows you what that gets you), and I never should have believed all those ‘experts’ who told me to pick Drake. Apparently, Drake reads their own press, but didn’t read enough press about Western Kentucky.

My buddy Scott picked all favourites, which is no surprise because he actually cheers against underdogs, and after Thursday I’m not sure what made me more mad; the fact that he picked only the higher seeds, or the fact that he was right on every pick except one (USC/K-State). He got his on Friday though, and has now fallen from the top of our group to second place.

I still have my Final Four in play, they read as follows; Georgetown, North Carolina, UCLA, and Memphis, but I’m thinking I should have changed Memphis to Stanford now. UCLA is likely to win it all; they’ve got the best combination of dominant backcourt guards and dominant inside play. Kevin Love is better than I thought he would be, furthering the depth of this coming draft.

NHL PLAYOFFS

We are only a few weeks away from my favorite time of the year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Right now the Toronto Maple Leafs are 4 points out of the last playoff spot with 6 games to play, and two of those games come against the team in seventh, who also has a 4 point advantage over us. I never did end up cheering for the team to lose, though if we miss the playoffs, I’ll wish we had.

The Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators started the season on fire but have since regressed, while Montreal, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Anaheim and New Jersey all have surged from slow starts and are now the teams to beat. If you’re a betting man (or woman— Janet Gretzky, I know you read this) I’d take San Jose or Anaheim. In Montreal doesn’t play the physical style you need to win in the playoffs, Pittsburgh has goaltending questions and New Jersey boggles my mind. I wouldn’t bet against Martin Brodeur, but it’s hard to see that team beating the Anaheim Ducks.

Since San Jose traded for Brian Campbell they’ve won 13 of 15 games, and haven’t lost in regulation in their last 10 (9-0-1). Teams that get hot before the playoffs usually stay hot, lending us the old cliche about teams, “peaking at the right time.” Think Edmonton Oilers of two years ago, only bigger, stronger, faster and better in goal. But without Chris Pronger, who happens to play for the other powerhouse the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks could win it all again as well, with possibly the league’s best defense, although they may have to play San Jose before the Western Conference Final, which would leave both teams black and blue. That series would be the best to watch in the entire playoffs, and even if you don’t love hockey you should tune in to watch these two teams attempt to see who can withstand inhuman amounts of physical punishment in the name of sporting glory.

However before I merely hand the Stanley Cup to one of those teams, we can’t forget that a certain Sidney Crosby is coming back from injury and will certainly well rested, after missing more than 20 games with a high ankle sprain. Add Crosby to the mix with Malkin and Marian Hossa and the Penguins are guaranteed to score goals and win games.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

I can’t wait for Baseball season. Thursday, during the stretch of games when there was nothing interesting happening, I watched the Cubs battle the Rockies from Tucson, Arizona. Nothing like a little Spring Training excitement!

I’m warning you now, America; look out for the Blue Jays this year. Last year we had injuries to just about everyone except Alex Rios and Frank Thomas, and off-years from everyone from Vernon Wells to Frank Thomas. V-Dub (sorry Jordan, that’s what we call him up here) will have a great year now that his shoulder is healthy, Rios, Thomas, Overbay and Rolen should contribute solid power numbers and Eckstein will be free to slap singles and run around like the energetic high schooler that he is.

It gets better. Dustin McGowan is starting to look like a future ace, and Shaun Marcum showed that he could throw better than .500 baseball this season. Roy Halladay is Roy Halladay and if AJ Burnett decides that he actually wants to play baseball, we could have a very good 4-man rotation. We’re not the Detroit Tigers, but we’ll have some arms. BJ Ryan needs to get healthy, if only because we pay him an obscene amount of money.

Also, I’m pulling for the Mets. My buddy Cal-State lived in Queens for a bit, and he loves the Mets. Now, Cal-State is one of those guys that just can’t catch a break, and the last few seasons of Mets baseball have only added to his woes. Now that they have Santana, there’s a little spark in his voice, and I think we should all join together and hope that Cal State catches a break, and the Mets go to the World Series.

Where they can promptly lose to the Blue Jays. Sorry Cal.

Happy Easter.