This day is like Christmas for me.

Baseball is back.

It wouldn't be opening day if you didn't hear this:

For the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the song of the birds has come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

Ernie Harwell used to say that verse from the Song of Solomon on opening day. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the rain is not over and gone...

There is so much promise for this season. I look forward to a season of competitive, entertaining baseball. Lets go Tigers!

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Well, Three Quarters of the field has been eliminated and my bracket has been beaten but not dead. A good showing in the elite 8 (like 5/8) and a perfect final four and I will be the front runner for my pool.

However, I am not feeling great about my picks right now. My elite 8 according to my bracket was North Carolina, Butler, Kansas, Georgetown, Pitt, Stanford, UCLA and West Virginia. Sadly Butler, Georgetown and Pitt are no longer in the tournament. Butler came so close...

So anyway, if knowing what I know now, here are my picks for the elite 8 and final four.

North Carolina vs. Washington State. I correctly picked this match up. Loving the Pac 10 was a good decision because they have 3 teams in the Sweet 16. Anyway, North Carolina appears to be on a mission right now. They certainly wont look past WSU and this will be much more of a test for them. But Arkansas was a decent team and they destroyed them. I don't foresee any real problem for North Carolina.

Tennessee vs. Louisville. I am not going to lie, I thought Louisville would run out of steam. But they are playing great basketball. This should be a really good game. I am quite torn, but I am going to take Tennessee. From a talent standpoint alone, I think Tenn. is better. From a coaching standpoint, I would much rather have Petino than Bruce Pearl. But, talent outweighs coaching in Basketball.

Kansas vs. Villanova. Villanova proved the Big East is the best Basketball conference in the country by making it to the sweet sixteen as a team that "didnt belong" in the tournament. But Kansas is just a little bit better than Siena and Clemson. Kansas's depth gets them a 10 point win.

Davidson vs. Wisconsin. I did not think Wisconsin, or any Big Ten team for that matter, would make it to the Sweet 16. Wisconsin played some really good defense to stop Michael Beasley, but I think Cinderella keeps dancing. Stephen Curry is awesome. He finds a way to score against the really good defense of Wisconsin, and they march on.

Memphis vs. Michigan State. Nietzel has shown up for the big games, and the point guard Lucas is having a great tournament. Raymont Morgan needs to play better for them to beat Memphis, but I think this will happen. I just cant pick a team that doesn't make it's free throws. People are going to be talking about Lucas instead of Love after this one. I can't believe I am going to say this: Go Green, Go White!

Stanford vs. Texas. Great interior players vs. great guard play. Can Texas match up to Brooke Lopez? No. Can Stanford slow down DJ Augustine? Maybe. This game is tough for me to call. Especially because of the Bias i have towards Stanford since I picked them in my final four. This game could go to overtime again, but if Robin Lopez plays better this game goes to Stanford. I still dont understand how a team loses their best player and gets better, so I am going to pick Stanford.

UCLA vs. Western Kentucky. UCLA has too good of a defense to lose to this team. They need to wake up from that funk (other than Kevin Love) from the second round. But UCLA is experienced and Collison and Love lead them to the elite 8.

West Virginia vs. Xavier. You all know I am rooting for WV. Xavier looked like a really tough team, but beating Purdue and Georgia doesnt prove a lot to me. Beating Duke no problem does. I like WV.

As for the Final Four: Im sticking with my picks! But if I had a bad feeling about any team its probably Stanford, with Michigan State going to the final four. But, my original teams are still there so i gotta stick to them!

Enjoy the games today!

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West Virginia is in the Sweet 16 with a bunch of players nobody else wanted, except John Beilein

The same type of players John Beilein is recruiting right now.

West Virginia is also running a similar offense to which Michigan should be running in the very near future.

West Virginia is what Michigan could be in 3-4 years as a basketball program.

Look, Michigan isn't a place where high profile players want to come to play at. Chrysler Arena is a crappy place to play; all the players know Michigan is a football school; and Michigan hasn't been to the tournament in forever. Not Exactly a recipe for successful recruiting years. And everyone knows basketball is all about recruiting.

But Beilein seems to be the exception to the rule. He almost recruits like a mid-major coach. He gets players who are 3 star recruits and puts them together in a team situation, run his style of basketball, and they win games. And apparently they have tournament success.

Now granted Duke was a very weak 2 seed, but shit, the Sweet 16 is the Sweet 16. I would be thrilled if we just made the tournament as a 12 seed. Let alone win two games. And Xavier is a beatable team for them; WV could easily be in the Elite 8.

And really, the players he has are pretty interchangeable. Is Joe Alexander that good of a player? He is a good player, but nothing special. Michigan could easily recruit a player like him from the stockpile of 3 star players. Learn the system, get the players who fit the system, and suddenly we are a decent team: A tournament team. And that is a step right? Is Michigan ever really going to become a National Championship threat? Probably not in this decade. But, I would be happy with a run at a Big Ten title and a few tournament wins.

That is what West Virginia is currently enjoying.

Why can't we be that team in a few year? Michigan wearing glass slippers? If West Virginia is the outline of what we could become, then we just need to be patient. Beilein's system seems to work, it just needs time and players.

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Wow, so what it has been like 3 weeks since Bob Knight joined ESPN? I am pretty sure every sportscenter has somehow had him part of the show.

Hey thats great, I mean Bob Knight is a great coach and is really funny. And to tell you the truth I have enjoyed his additions to the show. But today it just plain got ridiculous.

Sunday Conversation with Bill Parcells, Tony La Russa and Bob Knight.

Basically, without any meaningful basketball games being played, (sorry NIT, and trust me I know Michigan has been a familiar face there for many years) ESPN is trying EXTRA hard to get Bob Knight on television.

Bob Knight is a BASKETBALL coach, personally I dont care about his perspectives about Baseball and Football with Bill Parcells and La Russa. This is getting just plain ridiculous ESPN.

So, I guess if you ever feel you need to see or hear Bob Knight, just turn on ESPN, there is like a 95% chance he will be on.

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Wow. I really thought I was going to get screwed but WHAT A SHOT BY BROOK LOPEZ!!! I still can't believe that crazy leaner went in. He was unbelievable. 28 points in the second half?!? Wow.

That might be my favorite or second favorite game of the tournament. It is between that and the Western Kentucky Game. Tough call. What do you guys think?

Anyway, my final four pick for Stanford survives. They will have a tough test against Texas (if Texas wins). That will probably be a harder game than whoever they play in the elite 8 if they win.

Lastly, Its sad to see Michael Beasley get eliminated. I was suprised how well Bill Walker played too. He is an underrated freshman. He might get a lot more attention next year when Beasley leaves. By the way Beasley is an amazing rebounder. Wisconsin picked the one game of the year to hit the three like crazy. Oh well.

Purdue loses to Xavier and I am not surprised. It was a decent game, but Purdue just is not that good of a team. West Virginia will be a tougher test for Xavier. I picked WV before the tournament started. I wish I could change it now because I like Xavier to win the game now. When was the last time Xavier was in the Elite 8? Seems like they always get in, and never make any noise.

MSU vs. Pitt. I am torn. I do go to the school... kind of. But, rooting for them makes me feel a little dirty given how 90% of their fans act towards Michigan. If MSU was not in the tournament and Michigan was I wonder if they would root for us? I know how they act when Michigan plays App. State in Football (like i do when Ohio State plays anyone.. lol). I guess Ill root for Michigan State. But if they lose, my bracket is better off. Oh well, I will just enjoy a good game.

By the way - can I just say that Goron Sutton is a really crappy player? I mean seriously how many open layups have you seen him miss this year MSU fans?

Alright until tomorrow...

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Man I love when Duke loses. I really will not miss them being gone.

Oh and for the record. I picked West Virginia upsetting them. I know, I know, I am awesome.

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Not my best showing. Oh well. My Bracket got hurt by the Vandy and Oregon losses. Had them both in the Sweet 16. Alas, all my elite 8 teams are still alive.

The San Diego-UConn game was pretty fun to watch today. Other than that, a lot of easy victories.

Boy did Eric Gordon disappear today. Too bad. Maybe I was right about Big Ten teams.

11-5 today, oh well. The next few rounds are where it really counts.

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What is with #2 seeds, not from Texas, struggling against the #15 seeds? First, Duke, now Georgetown and Tennessee. Tennessee won, but did not blow out the much lower seeded American U.

Best game of the tournament has to be that Western Kentucky-Drake Game. Both teams were really impressive, and it was just a great back and forth game won in overtime, by a game winning, last second three pointer. Congrats to the Hilltoppers!

Butler is dominating South Alabama right now, a team that beat Western Kentucky twice. Butler really needs to win this game big to shove it in the selection committee's face that they got a terribly low seed.

I am 7-0 so far today!

UPDATE: Georgetown is pulling away, but not still impressing anyone.

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Not bad after day one.

Anyway, just a few reactions from yesterday.  

I hate Duke.  Even though I picked them (only to advance one round), I would have loved nothing more than watching them lose as a #2 seed.  Unless of course they lose as a #1 seed i guess.  Regardless, I loved watching that end of the game.  They got exposed, as I predicted, as a team that lives and dies by the 3 ball.  I think West Virginia has a real good chance to upset Duke on Saturday.

I didn't get to watch Michael Beasley vs. OJ Mayo, because it was on the same time as Duke.  Oh well, I am glad Beasley advanced and hopefully I can watch him against Wisconsin.  That should be a good game.  Wisconsin has good defense, but is it good enough to stop the best player in college basketball?

Otherwise the rest of the games were pretty standard.  Have fun watching today

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So far I have watched pretty much every game.  So far I was very impressed with Michigan State.  Drew Neitzel played so-so and they still dominated Temple.  I was impressed by their overall defense.  Also, Purdue looked good.  I thought Baylor would ride that wave of emotion from the turnaround season after the killing of the player.  Purdue looked tough.  Maybe i should reconsider my loathing of the Big Ten this year.

Also, great games from Xavier and Marquette.  Great toughness to get wins through hard fought, physical games against Georgia and Kentucky.  Those games were a lot of fun to watch. 

I don't want to read to much into a 1 seed destroying a 16 seed, but Kansas seemed to play all parts of the game really well.

For all of you who aren't using cbssportsline.com to stream games online, you really should.  Its how I am watching 3-4 games at once and it is glorious.  Check it out!

5-2 so far for me.  70% would be a great percentage for the first round for me, but I am hoping for 80%.  

Matt Nathanson Concert tonight, so I will be relying on highlights for tonight.  Hopefully I can catch some games from somewhere after Matt Plays.  

I really hope I can catch some of the Michael Beasley v. O.J. Mayo game tonight.  I am expecting big things from Beasley and Walker.  Plus I hate USC so much in football that it spills over into basketball.  Go Wildcats!

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Just a quick post today. First, this is really the only month of the year where I pretend to be a college basketball fan. The reason i don’t really care about college basketball is really just an extension of my jaded feelings toward Michigan’s pathetic basketball program. Anyway, after some serious research on foxsports.com, I have filled in my brackets. Here are some highlights

My Final Four:

UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina, Stanford. I really hate having two PAC 10 teams in the final four, but they really did have a great conference this year and these are the best two teams. Stanford could have probably won the Big Ten or SEC, so i feel good about my pick. So why not Texas or Memphis? Well, I really don’t understand the Texas pick. How do you lose your best player in Kevin Durant, and get better? Texas will struggle guarding the Lopez twins. DJ Augustine could certainly impose his will by creating steals or running the fast break. But I feel good about Stanford. I also hate having 3 #1 seeds in my final four. But, there seems to be a real drop off between the best teams and the rest this year. So, I am not going to get too cute and just pick similar to the rest of the crowd.

My favorites to get upset:

Duke, Tennessee, Louisville, Memphis, Wisconsin. Duke is a 2 seed and Butler is a 7 seed? Aren’t they like 3 spots away from each other in the AP rankings? Duke lives and dies by the three. They have no height and no inside presence. If they hit a cold streak they are very likely to be upset. I think West Virginia, with Joe Alexander and their good perimeter defense will be the team to do it. If not, Xavier will send them home.

Tennessee is a very good team. They are a run and gun team though. When they play Butler it will be a classic matchup of different tempos. If Butler gets them to play against them in a half court game, which i believe them will because Butler is a very team oriented and fundamental team, Butler will win. Although the #10 team in the country beating the #5 team isn’t that much of an upset, a #7 seed beating a #2 is.

Memphis won a lot of games, but they also didn’t play a lot of good teams. They also got dangerously close to losing a lot of games they shouldn’t. The main reason I don’t like Memphis is because they don’t shoot free throws well. If they play Oregon in a close game and Oregon is down by 2 with a few seconds left, Oregon will foul Memphis and they will maybe make 1 of 2. Oregon will do what they do best, which is run and hit big three pointers. Championship teams make big free throws. (see Chauncey Billups in 2004) I cannot believe that a final four team will only make 50 percent from the line. But if I am proven wrong, then Derek Rose is amazing.

Wisconsin is just the highest seed of the trend I have of hating against the Big Ten. The Big Ten was horrible this year. Indiana and Michigan State were supposed to be the class of the conference, but both proved to be inconsistent and flawed. Wisconsin cannot and will not score large amounts of points. They have great defense, but is it enough to stop Michael Beasley? I don’t think so.

Now that Michigan is out, who are you rooting for?

Butler. This team is a lot like watching small West Michigan Christian schools play against Detroit/Flint teams in the MHSAA State Championships. Fundamental, team basketball against showtime stars.

West Virginia. Keep in mind Michigan fans, these players that Bob Huggins is coaching are all Beilein recruits. Any success they have this year could be the success we have in 3-4 years.

Kansas State. The more i get to see Michael Beasley play, the happier I will be. Last year we didn’t get enough Kevin Durant, lets hope a similar thing doesn’t happen this year.

UCLA. They are my pick to win it all, and I want to win.

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