Jeff: From Hoops to Hardball

Deja vu? Yes here we are again, with a national final of Florida and Ohio State. Just as conventional wisdom (or at least mine) said the Buckeyes should have no trouble beating the Gators in football, after watching Saturday's games I see no way Florida loses to Ohio State in basketball. Which if the football Title game is any indication means Ohio State will win by 20. But I doubt it. Once the Gator's outside shooters started knocking down shots early in the 2nd half against UCLA (you knew it was only a matter of time), it was over. Ben Howland knew it too, as he had used all his timeouts before the 12 min TV timeout to try and slow the momentum. But the Gators, as they were last year, were just too much, overpowering the Bruins inside and outshooting them from the perimeter. And defense. We can't forget that, the part that UCLA prided itself on most was where Florida really shined. Corey Brewer was impressive shutting down Aron Afflalo and Darren Collison on the perimeter, and UCLA got nothing inside, going one-and-done on just about every trip.

Ohio State is better than UCLA because of Mike Conley and Greg Oden, but it's not going to matter for one simple reason: Oden can't stop committing quick, cheap, early fouls. IT's like he has foul-itis, where he can't stop himself from reaching in or running over somebody when he should know better. Oden HAS to know by know that EVERYBODY they play will be trying to get him in foul trouble. And what did he do against the Hoyas? He said "screw it" and picked up 2 dumb fouls in the first 3 minutes. His first half minutes in this tournament have been as short as Britney Spear's hair, and his chances of him not continuing that trend in tonight's final are about as good as the chances of Ms. Spears staying in rehab.

IF Oden can stay in the game, we could see an all-time classic, but even then the Gators have too much. They can run Noah (who's moving into a Mateen Cleaves-level of annoyance for me), Hortford and Richard at him, while Brewer and Green slash to the hoop and Humphrey nails 3 after 3. As Denny Green would say "They are who we thought they were! We knew this was the 2006 National Champs, so if you wanna go ahead and crown their ass, you crown them!" Thanks Denny. I believe they will be crowned Monday night as the first back-to-back Champs since the damn Dukies.

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A quick uneducated baseball preview, since nobody told me the season started. What? IT did? Already? I suppose it is April already. AL division winners as the A's, Tiggers, and Red Sox, wild card is Toronto (and I hate Toronto, so keep in mind it kills me to say that). The A's don't look to be the best team in a weak West, but they always find a way. In Beane We Trust. The Central is the best division in the game, and the Tigers have the depth and experience to win it. Cleveland's margin for error is too small for my liking. If/when CC Sabathia goes down they're in trouble again. They will hit though. I'm not saying the Twins will have a bad year (they'll be above .500), I just don't see how you win with the best player in baseball and then 4 #5 starters as your rotation. Anyone? Watch they'll go and win the whole damn thing. And the Yanks? They're starting Carl Pavano on opening day. Randy Johnson's not walking through that door. Roger Clemens' not walking through that door (calm down, he's going back to Houston once the roids have had a few cycles- I'm sorry what?). Their pitching is suspect to begin with, and if you've noticed, there's not a lot of teams out there with a surplus of pitching to trade with. Unless you want to give up a king's ransom for Jon Lieber in Philly? Didn't think so. The offense will hit as always, but the entire pitching staff (short of Mariano Rivera) is suspect, and in the AL that's not going to get it done.

Although I'd like to dance on the graves of the anti-christ, this is actually not a good sign for anti-Yankee fans like myself. Now that GM Brian Cashman is actually allowed to do his job (ol George is too old and tired to control everything anymore), the Yanks are building through their farm system (i.e. dealing Sheffield and The Unit for prospects), and will still have the cash to sign the big free agents or make the shrewd deals. So although they'll miss the playoffs this year (first time in a decade. Wow!), they'll be back to stay in 2008.

In the National League, um, I mean, do you really care? Do you? It's still AAAA baseball over there, and as I said last year, there's not one team in the National League as good as the top 6 in the AL. The Mets? Rotation issues. Phillies? Bullpen issues. Cardinals? They don't make horseshoes that big to have a team that bad win 2 titles in a row. And the NL West is awful. So who's in? (Closing eyes and pointing randomly to teams) Mets, Phils, Brewers and...San Diego (founded by the Germans in 1904. I will never tire of that joke)? Sure sounds good.

Ok enjoy the games!