By Thomas Chambers

Hot on the announcement by Major League Baseball that it will institute a seven-day disabled list option for players suffering concussions, the movement of sports in general to recognize this most serious of injuries can only be greeted with 21st-century relief.
It runs counter to the old unwritten rule of “playing hurt,” but attention to this injury is warranted and sensible. Now, if coaches from Pop Warner on up can start teaching players not to tackle with their heads.
It also gives us a chance to contemplate the efforts of jockeys, perhaps the greatest athletes of them all.

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Posted on March 31, 2011

By Dan O’Shea

There is little left to be said about the fantasy basketball season, now in playoff mode, other than this: If you need a last-minute pick-up, and JaVale McGee, PF/C, Washington, is available in your league, grab him immediately.
Why? Thirty-five rebounds in two games going into Tuesday is why. A 28-point, 18-rebound, 5-block Monday night is why. McGee has been one of the nicest surprises of the NBA season, a guy who barely registered in the top 100 players back in November, but should skirt the top 50 at the end of it. His 9.8 PP, 8.2 RPG and 2.4 BPG suggests he’ll make a nice fourth-round pick next year with the potential to average a double-double.
Now, fantasy basketball has never been my strong suit. Fantasy baseball, on the other hand, represents renewal for me. It’s time for our annual recitation of the rites of spring, and for me to have another six months to try to get things right.
This year, that means paying more attention to rookies. Last year was the Year of the Pitcher, but this year will be the Year of the Youth. There are a number of rookies – some who received extended tryouts late last season – who should make an impact this season. Some, like Jeremy Hellickson, SP/RP, Tampa, are well-known and probably already spoken for in preseason fantasy drafts. Others weren’t necessarily draft fodder but should still be on your radar as possible pickups during the season:

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Posted on March 30, 2011

By Nick Shreders

Let us review. And then preview.
* Since 1985, when the tournament field expanded to 64 teams, there never has been a Final Four with all one and two seeds eliminated. This is the first time since 1979 that on the last weekend of tournament play the best 8 teams, seed-wise, have been eliminated.
* Kentucky made its 14th Final Four appearance; the first in 13 seasons.
* UConn made its second Final Four appearance in three years.
* VCU is the first 11 seed to reach the Final Four since 2006 (George Mason) and 1986 before that (LSU).
* Butler is the first mid-major program to reach the Final Four in consecutive years since Jerry Tarkanian had the finest collection of players that money could buy at UNLV in 1990 and 1991.

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Posted on March 29, 2011

By Jim Coffman

I assistant coached my older daughter’s fourth-grade basketball team during the winter and the season ended with a single-elimination tournament a week ago. We played a team we thought we would beat in the semifinals but lost instead and afterward she was inconsolable for a while.
I thought about reiterating all the usual stuff; that she had played hard and well and that we were proud of her and her team (I tried airing some of those sentiments to the team right after the game but a little while later on she was still very sad). There was also the fact that sometimes the other team is just better and there is nothing you can do. Sometimes the bounces just don’t go your way.
But I didn’t think that stuff was going to help. And I didn’t think I was going to be able to say it with conviction.

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Posted on March 28, 2011

By Dan O’Shea

The SP/RP designation is a favorite among fantasy baseball veterans.
Dip into the pool of pitchers who qualify both as starter and reliever, and you never know what you’ll find.
Maybe a top-tier reliever who has been stretched out to be used as a starter; perhaps a young fifth (or even sixth these days) starter making a name for himself; even the occasional veteran starter who earned his “RP” during a brief visit to the bullpen.
The flexibility of these player can give your fantasy pitching staff an extra start or two each week – more innings, more strikeouts, more chance for wins – if you pick the right SP/RPs.
I didn’t want to include SP/RPs in my previous draft guide posts because really they’re starters you’ll use in the RP slot, but they also wouldn’t necessarily make anyone’s list of top 20 starters.
With that in mind, I have made a list of SP/RPs worth drafting this year, as well as RPs who likely will earn the accompanying SP designation early in the season.

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Posted on March 23, 2011

By Nick Shreders

We have seen a lot of close ones in the opening rounds. We have seen some controversial calls, good upsets, and really stupid, game-changing fouls. The Southwest Region is a train wreck. The other three regionals nearly went chalk.
* The round of 64 had 10 games of the 32 total decided by four points or less; five of those by two.
* The round of 32 had 5 games of the 16 total decided by one or two points.
* VCU proved everybody wrong by winning 3 games easily to make it to the Sweet 16.
* Only two teams remain from the 11 in the Big East.
* My girlfriend’s bracket is faring much better than mine. (Note: I take full credit for her bracket.)

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Posted on March 22, 2011

By Jim Coffman

Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Demetri McCamey wrapped up their Illini careers on Sunday with yet more long stretches of incompetent basketball, especially in the clutch. They won’t be missed.
The final nine minutes of their 73-59 loss to Kansas was a perfect illustration of why that is the case. It started with a Kansas miss after which Davis and Tisdale not only failed to secure the rebound, they failed to even contest it, giving one of Kansas’ Morris twins the chance to grab an offensive rebound and put in an easy layup for a six-point lead.
A few minutes later, there was the seven-foot Tisdale taking a ridiculous 10-foot hook shot that Kareem wouldn’t have even considered and missing badly. Davis had no chance for the offensive rebound but still tried to reach over someone’s back and was called for the foul. During this stretch, McCamey was nowhere to be seen – except for two measly points with two minutes left and his team down by 15.
Tisdale soon had a chance for a tip-in, tried to dunk it instead of just tapping it over the rim and through the hoop, and missed. He took another hook and shockingly, missed again. Davis grabbed the offensive rebound and . . . threw it right to a Kansas defender.

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Posted on March 21, 2011

By Thomas Chambers

You wish the mare could talk.
Life At Ten would have told us herself she didn’t want to run, but her lethargy before last November’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic was the only language she knows and the people around her weren’t listening.
They probably just wanted the whole thing to go away, but the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission had to do something. After deciding that there was “probable cause” that jockey John Velazquez and Chief Steward John Veitch violated racing regulations, commissioners released their report and said they would investigate whether formal charges should be brought.

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Posted on March 18, 2011

By Dan O’Shea

The ranks of relief pitchers are thinner than ever.
Everyone’s least favorite fantasy baseball category features last year’s American League Rookie of the Year – Neftali Feliz – who by all rights should get top billing, but Texas (and Feliz himself) may be intent on making Feliz a starter.
The good news is that he would earn the vaunted SP/RP classification, so you can slot him as an RP and get extra wins and strikeouts. But that also leaves the question of what to do about saves.
Among other problems in this category, Brad Lidge and Andrew Baiuly are injury-prone; the two Jonathans – Papelbon and Broxton – are increasingly unreliable; and Francisco Rodriguez is – still Francisco Rodriguez.
Into this mess rides a jug-eared, blue-capped hero. With a stellar second half last season, the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol is unquestionably the best reliever fantasy money can buy.
Here’s my full list (I’m not including Feliz, though Texas at last report was still undecided about his role):

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Posted on March 16, 2011

By Nick Shreders

I wonder if some people on the committee know whether the ball is round.
– Jay Bilas
I have to agree. This is by far one of the weirdest brackets I have ever seen.
* Colorado beat Kansas State three times, and beat Missouri and Texas; each is in the tournament. Colorado isn’t. Yes they lost some bad ones, but they did muster a 21-13 record (8-8 in Big 12 play). Meanwhile, USC got in with a record of 19-14 (10-8), which has NIT written all over it.
* UAB (22-8, 12-4 in the mighty Conference USA) and VCU (23-11, 12-6 – good for fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association) made it and Alabama (21-11, 12-4 in the SEC) didn’t.
* Florida is a two seed (overrated). Texas is a four seed (underrated).
* The Big 12 only gets in five teams while the Big East brings 11 of its 16 teams.
* The East Regional is totally overloaded.
All of which makes me wonder what was going on behind the scenes with the selection committee, as none of the above makes any sense.

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Posted on March 15, 2011