It’s time to be bold with your NCAA picks. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is all in on Duke, and truth be told, assuming Zion Williamson stays healthy, you would assume that Duke rolls to the championship. They have the best freshmen and several will be on NBA rosters next year. But come on, what fun is that?
SU has studied the brackets and as always, uses the most sophisticated and high speed super computers to run hundreds of thousands of scenarios. My take:
- SU does not like the ACC getting 3 of the 4 #1 seeds. Not right and not accurate. Michigan State deserved to be a #1 seed having won the Big Ten and the Big Ten Tournament. SU has no love for them certainly but they belong there. And then putting them in Duke’s region? Wrong, wrong, wrong.
- Virginia always underachieves. Could be the way they play, the coach in post-season games, who knows?
- North Carolina can play a great game but they don’t play great all the time. Plus they lack the true star players.
- Gonzaga is always overrated.
- The Big Ten has a lot of teams in the tournament, and most of them will lose in the first round.
Was that helpful? SU sees the Final Four this way: Duke; Michigan (hey, I am not going to root against them); Tennessee; and Kentucky. Kentucky over Duke in the finals. SU actually had mistakenly clicked on Kentucky to beat Tennessee in the semis but then I figured this must be a sign to do it, so I am sticking with them. Kentucky in the end for no particular reason other than I made a mistake.
As always, SU invites the intergalactic subscriber base to weigh in with their picks so that others can admire them and praise their wisdom 3 weeks from now.
The Yankees are piling up the injuries now. Seriously: Severino; Betances; Hicks; and CC. But as always, no panic in Yankee Land. They roll with the punches (although they did sign Gio Gonzalez to a minor league deal which was a slight sign of panic). SU says roll out the young arms and give them a shot in April to prove themselves. Clint Frazier has had a brutal spring – likely cost himself a roster slot at least for now. Too bad.
Mike Trout contract? Many say that $450 million is a bargain. Is he the true “generational” player? Could be. Not my money. Can the Angels build around him? Time will tell. Plus the Yankees will always take that contract if they decide to move him.
Finally, for true laugh-out-loud entertainment, you have to look up Bryan Hoch’s Twitter feed from yesterday where he posted a picture of Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield at the Yankees’ spring training camp doing some side step exercises. The stream of comments and associated pictures are hilarious. SU is not technologically skilled enough to link you correctly here but it is so worth it. This may work.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
When Ellsbury is waiting to deposit his paycheck and finds himself on the slow line, he will very smoothly hop over to the next teller.
Jacoby who? I still here the town of Boston laughing at us for plucking which everyone thought would be a lifelong Red Sox. I’m still suffering over the Damon Grand Slam against us in the final playoff game after being up 3 games to none. Like the NY Giants thorn in the Patriots hide so are the Red Sox thorn in the Yankees hide this century.
Gonzaga has a big chip on their should and has something to prove. Virginia hopefully gets past the first round and then they roll. However at the end of the day it will be Michigan State cutting down the nets. Watch out for Belmont and Old Dominion with a couple of upsets along the way.
Did you see Haskins in the Pro tryouts yesterday. When I see Eli’s physique I’m amazed he is still standing. I’ll take Haskins in the draft if he is available for us.
Signing Gonzalez for one year is a very good move. This guy does not get hurt and is a seasoned veteran. Hopefully he is on the starting roster soon enough.