It's March, and as is typical, I haven't posted anything since the Superbowl. You know what would be perfect? If I could just talk my blog into a recording device that typed it all up for me while I'm driving to and from work. Because that seems to be when all of my blogging thoughts and ideas appear. But before I can think about writing them down, I have a full day at work, or I've just gotten home from a long day at work.
So. Lots of catching up to do. It's March and there is a lot going on in the NBA, NHL, College Basketball and yes, even though the NFL season is over it is still a topic of discussion. Plus baseball is just around the corner and I couldn't be happier. Am so excited for the new baseball season and hoping for another stellar year for my St. Louis Cardinals.
Speaking of which, my fellow Cardinals fans will appreciate this story. One of my co-workers gave me this child-size St. Louis Cardinals Pujols jersey (I believe it was given to him for his kids, but he's a Yankees fan so that wasn't going to fly) since I'm a huge fan and thought it would be a nice asset to add to my Cardinals shrine that occupies my cubicle. So we hung it up on my cube wall.
The other day (and it was a busy day so it took me a bit to notice), I turn around from my desk and notice that the jersey is gone, and in it's place was a sign that read "Cardinals Suck!" It didn't take long to figure out who the culprit was - there's only two Cubs fans in our department.
So, to retaliate, I put this on his computer:
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Gotta love a good rivalry. Looks like it will be a fun baseball season in the office.
This is a tough time of year for me to listen to national sports media, because no matter what I listen to, or what station I watch, it seems like the NBA dominates the conversation.
Don't get me wrong. I like basketball a lot. I played basketball all through grade school and really enjoyed it (and still do enjoy a game now and then). I suppose the problem for me is, all everyone can talk about is the following: The Lakers demise, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Since I'm in LA, I understand the Lakers conversation. And since the legendary Jerry Buss recently passed away, the Lakers organization as a whole has been in the forefront of the media (on a side note, there was a lot I didn't know about Jerry Buss before his passing. After reading about his history, I have to say I'm quite impressed with him and understand why he is revered so much, especially in LA).
I'm not sure what to say about the Lakers other than this: it's simply not their year. They are not going to win a championship. They have amazing talent on this team, but while talent is great, you have to also have good team chemistry, which I think everyone can admit that the Lakers simply don't have. From the coach, to the players and maybe the most important one, the age of the team.
Younger teams like the Clippers, Oklahoma City, the Nuggets...they are faster and a team such as the Lakers just can't keep up. If the Lakers organization wants to win another championship while Kobe is still able to play, changes have to be made.
As of right now, I like Miami, Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Clippers as favorites going into the playoffs. The Pacers in particular, have been quite impressive recently and perhaps the only team that can really match up against Miami. Last year in the playoffs Indiana looked like they had a shot at first until team LeBron and Wade took over and never looked back. But of all of the teams that could keep Miami from playing for another championship ring, I would pick Indiana as being Miami's toughest match.
Speaking of LeBron, he becomes a free agent in 2014. I'm certainly not the first person to say this and won't be the last but if I was a betting person (which clearly I'm not, otherwise I would have bet on this year's Superbowl and made tons of money) I would guess that his contract is up LeBron James will become a Los Angeles Laker. If that's the case, then I think the best shot Kobe has at winning another ring is with the Lakers, with LeBron in the 2014-2015 season.
This is the time of year where I really get excited about college basketball. Let's face it, it's very hard to keep up with college basketball all season (especially with the NFL going on for a good chunk of the season) and in reality, things don't really start to get interesting until we get closer to the tournament.
And here we are. Selection Sunday is a week and a half away. A bit of a surprise to me (but apparently not to Dan Patrick, as he noted on his show earlier this morning) is Gonzaga. Not that they aren't historically known for pretty good basketball teams, I just didn't expect them to be ranked #1. Kansas? Sure. Duke? Naturally. Gonzaga? Not so much.
It's been a disappointing season for Missouri. I do think they will squeeze into the tournament but I expected their performance to be much higher (especially after last season though losing in the first round of the tournament still leaves a bad taste in my mouth).
But another big surprise, how about the St. Louis Billikens and Notre Dame? Notre Dame wasn't even in the discussion last year and while St. Louis did make the tournament last year, their performance as of late has just been impressive. I really have to give major kudos to coach Jim Crews - he should be one the list for coach of the year. He bad big shoes to fill this season after the loss of Majerus and boy, has he delivered. I will definitely be rooting for the Bills (of course, it is my hometown) and hope they do really well in the tournament. Not sure they are a championship team but the great thing about the NCAA tourney? You just never know. Looking forward to getting my bracket filled out as soon as the announcement is made on the 17th.
In football news, typical off season moves are being made: trades, players released, players joining free agency, etc. San Francisco QB Alex Smith was traded to Kansas City, which was an expected move. Not that Smith would go to KC, but that he would be traded. Kaepernick is the future of the 49'ers.
Smith should do well with Andy Reid as coach. KC has a lot of great talent, but have been lacking in the QB department. It will be interesting to see how Smith does in the upcoming season.
RB Steven Jackson is a free agent, and one of the team's apparently interested? The Denver Broncos. If that happens, then Denver will have Manning and Jackson. As much as it pains me to say this (only because I would love for Steven to retire as a Ram) that could be pretty fun to watch.
I'm not going to talk about the NFL Combine, because quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing about Manti T'eo. I said it once, I'll say it again. He's a talented football player. We will get drafted, likely in the first round. Who cares about his sexual orientation? Why is this even a topic?
I honestly haven't been following hockey all that closely this season. Of the major four: NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, hockey is the sport I know the least about. I enjoy watching it and going to games but because I didn't follow it as a kid, I'm just not as passionate about it as the others.
All I know so far is the Blues have been a disappointment. It's a shortened season, so we'll see what happens.
On a final note, FOX announced yesterday that they are launching their own sports network FOX Sports 1. The network looks like it will aim to rival ESPN, which has for the most part had a monopoly in the sports network arena.
So far what I am excited about? The new FOX SPORTS DAILY show, which will feature many of the NFL on FOX sports crew: Terry, Howie, and Jay for starters. I love the FOX NFL crew so am looking forward to seeing this show produced. Plus, since it's no secret that football is my main sports love (baseball is a close second) am interested in seeing the content of this daily show.
This was a longer post than I thought - I clearly need to post more often. More from the world os sports as I see it soon!
