As SU has written many, many times, I am in it for the “journey”, not just the end result. In college basketball, in a normal year, you start with the early season tournaments, then the non-conference games, conference games, conference tournament and the NCAAs. It’s a long season and you enjoy seeing how your team evolves, improves, deals with adversity/injuries and then the final result.

For Michigan last night, that was just a brutal game. I mean, 49 points is a ridiculously low number. While I wanted to see them win and advance to the Final Four, I must admit that even in a victory it would have been less enjoyable. Missed foul shots, silly turnovers, just really bad shooting – we had it all. Michigan played great defense and even though Juzang went off, they held UCLA to 51 points. And despite it all, they had shots to win it in the final seconds. I wanted Brown taking those final shots and do not understand why he was not the first option but hard to argue with Juwan’s success.

But as I am old and wise (or mainly just old), I can appreciate the process and how much this team achieved this year. This was a true “team” – not a roster of future NBA stars. The injury to Isiah Livers was a tough hit late in the year, and he is probably their best player who does so many things for them. Without Livers, Michigan was not a legitimate #1 seed – more like a #3 or #4. So, for SU, making it to the Elite 8 was over-achievement. Should they have beaten UCLA? Absolutely. UCLA is not a very good team. But SU says give them credit – they are in the Final Four and beat some good teams to get there.

For Michigan, Franz Wagner will declare for the NBA draft and some team will take him in the 1st round. While he is gifted physically, he is not a good outside shooter and his shot is awkward and slow to release. He would benefit from a total remake of his shooting motion. SU will be shocked if he has a successful NBA career. Excellent defender, long arms but his future may be in Europe in the long run. Hunter Dickinson knows what to work on this summer: a left-handed shot, jump shot, footwork. SU says he has upside. It was a lot to ask of him as a freshman to be featured on offense last night against smaller opponents. He needs to learn to spin and shoot the other way so the smaller players can’t just flop and flop on defense. He will be an NBA player and could thrive in the right system. But he needs to perfect the mid-range jumper first.

It was a great season. An over-achieving season. It comes to an end suddenly and that is sports. You ride the highs and endure the lows. But you always come back for more and it’s fun to start thinking about next year’s team. That is the process and the journey. Gonzaga is going to be a tough out in the Final Four. They play at a different level from everyone else.

SU’s fearless baseball predictions come out tomorrow. We are already running statistical models on the over/under for the number of games played by Giancarlo Stanton. Even exclusively as a DH, hard to get him over 81 games.

SU has something to say about last night’s Elite 8 match-up of Baylor vs. the UConn women. First of all, this was a great game between two storied teams that have been dominant on the women’s stage for many years. The first quarter which ended with UConn up 26 – 24 was probably as good a 10-minute stretch of college basketball that I watched all season. The pace was incredible and both teams were playing a quick tempo. And let’s call it like it is this year: some of these NCAA men’s games will not go into the time capsule for their offensive prowess. Brutal shooting for long stretches by both teams. This women’s game was excellent.

Now, the rest of the game reverted to the way that Baylor likes to play defense. Lots of grabbing and holding, don’t let the other team run their plays. SU has seen this style of play before. In fact, anyone in the SU subscriber base who played hoops at Blind Brook High School against Rye High School on the boys’ side knows what I am talking about. Grabbing and holding. The idea is that if you grab and hold on every play, the refs won’t call it. The refs will start to accept that is the way tonight’s game will be played and you get away with it. For the final 3 quarters, Baylor got away with it. The game ended up at 69-67 with UConn winning which shows you how much scoring there was in the last 3 quarters.

Which brings us to the last few seconds with Baylor down 2 points. Their play breaks down and one of the players attempts a bit of a fadeaway baseline jumper from around 10 feet with 2 UConn women right on her. Was it a foul? Sure, probably. Both players got the ball but there was some contact. Not called. After the game, coach pissed off. Shooter pissed off. LeBron James pissed off on Twitter. SU says if you basically foul on every possession for the entire game – and certainly the last 3 quarters – then you have to live with it. You got away with calls all game long and this one went against you in the end. Their coach was frustrated in the post-game news conference (somehow her mask ended up in her eye for most of the time which was interesting to watch) but I say you benefited by the way the game was reffed throughout and that is that.

Baylor is a very physical team. They pound it inside on offense and make it hard for you to run your offense. Seriously, they play like the 1990s Knicks under Pat Riley. It’s not enjoyable to watch. The NBA has made the transition away from this style to today’s wide open up and down style which is so, so, much better to watch. Baylor probably got jobbed on that last call but SU has no sympathy. Move on. You can’t have it both ways.

SU is closely monitoring its usual terrible NCAA Tournament picks. Seriously, I would be better off closing my eyes and just pointing. I do have Arkansas in the Final Four so there is some limited drama there but this year has been especially bad. SU has been watching a lot of the games though and observes the following:

• Some of the refereeing in the earlier games has been pretty bad. I think the college refs are especially bad at calling the offensive fouls. There is way too much flopping – and in the post, you have a 280 pound center fall down after one slight bump and he gets the call. They have to do better and start calling the flop warnings. I know it’s a tough call in general. Then the moving screen calls – again, ridiculous. If you watch an NBA game, moving screens are part of the game. In college, it’s a 180 degree difference. SU’s point here is that you put teams in the bonus early or put players in foul trouble based on ticky-tack calls. And if one half has no calls, you can bet the other will have a ton. SU did notice that this weekend, the refs were letting the player play and that is the better approach. I know it’s a hard job – but there needs to be more consistency.
• Gonzaga seems to be heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. They play at such an up tempo pace and have a lot of shooters. They may run into a team with great defense before the end but for now, they are dominant.
• SU is very excited about Michigan’s run without Isiah Livers. Juwan Howard is proving to be a great coach. He does not have an NBA ready roster like other teams but they play like a team which for me is what makes basketball one of the great spectator sports when it’s played that way. So many other teams are more gifted athletically but basically just push the tempo, throw up shots and crash the offensive boards. The Mt. Vernon high school teams in Westchester County have won a lot of championships playing that way but for SU, not fun to watch.
• Check out UConn vs. Baylor tonight in the women’s NCAA Tournament. Great rivalry and this could have been a Final Four match-up.
• Baseball starts on Thursday! This is great. SU will come out with its fearless predictions soon enough for the season but this is sorely needed.
• Mike Woodson is the new coach at Indiana. No doubt he will bring his offensive playbook (er, make that pamphlet) of isolation offense. But he’s a good guy and SU wishes him well.
• The US Men’s National Soccer Team has failed, again, to qualify for the Olympics. It is hard to explain how the women’s team is the best in the world while the men’s team lags so far behind on the world stage. Is it that other countries don’t make the same investment in their women’s programs? I watched one of the games this week against Mexico. I know soccer is the world’s most popular sport and I do try to get engaged but it’s a struggle for me.
• SU has been told, on multiple occasions, that I am not showing enough love for YOUR NEW YORK KNICKS. Truth be told, I still don’t watch them very much. It’s the stain of Isiah Thomas that I cannot shake. He just ruined it for me and then the Carmelo Anthony era cemented it. I do peek in here and there and they play hard – every game. And they play defense – every game. They are on the upswing now and the trick will be to build with the youth vs. bringing in the wrong free agents. So far, so good as Randle has really changed his game in NY. He has been outstanding. A playoff run would be great for NY and maybe by then some more fans will be allowed into MSG.
• Brooklyn is signing LeMarcus Aldridge on top of Blake Griffin. If Durant can get healthy (seems possible) and if Kyrie can somehow straighten out his personal problems (seems impossible), they should be the favorites to win it all this year. I know there is only basketball but Harden had adapted his game so far. SU is not sure how this works under the salary cap but here they are.

We are entering a fun time of year now for sports. NCAAs, start of baseball and soon the NBA playoffs. And for some of you, the NHL playoffs as well. People are getting vaccinated; fans in the stands soon enough.

No doubt many SU subscribers are holding off finalizing their NCAA picks until they read SU’s fearless predictions. Help is on the way. Now, full disclosure, SU has a terrible record on the NCAA Tournament. We all know it’s a crapshoot and in a pandemic year with limited fans in Indiana and players sequestered for days and days on end in some random hotel, well, you can only guess what will happen this year.

SU, as per usual, has run thousands of scenarios through the SU statistical model and sophisticated algorithm. We see the following as being important:

1. Momentum: SU is not a believer in how teams play in conference tournaments carrying over into the NCAAs. In fact, I see it as the opposite. Teams reach an emotional high if they win their Conference tournament and then may have a letdown. Also, there is the fatigue factor of playing games on consecutive days – for Ohio State, for example, that is 4 days in a row. Not to be discounted.
2. Injuries: And this year, not just injuries but COVID. Who on your team tests positive? No way to know once things get going. Michigan losing Isiah Livers is huge. Arguably the best player on the team. They are a #1 seed but it’s hard to see them progressing too far without Livers. SU is still picking them to get to the Final Four but that is largely an emotional pick plus I don’t want to root against them. They had a great year, won the Big Ten, and for SU, it’s always about the journey vs. the final, final result. Highly enjoyable season, love the way they play. It’s all gravy now for SU. Georgia Tech is without their best player in their opener vs. Loyola.
3. Shooting in a Football Stadium: The Big Ten held their tournament in Indianapolis and played in the football stadium. That gives them a big advantage as the shooting background – especially with limited fans – is tough in these venues. SU has no idea where games are being played but for teams that rely on outside shooting, this is a factor.
4. Limited fans: The reality is that no team will have much of a home court advantage. Teams playing far from home – even though highly ranked like Gonzaga – may have few fans rooting for them until the Final 4.

SU has Gonzaga, Michigan, Arkansas and Illinois advancing to the Final Four. Arkansas is my surprise upset team. I think Illinois is going to win it all. I don’t like them but they have a bunch of scrappy players that are tough and play hard on defense. Now, have they peaked with the Big Ten Tournament? It’s possible and they are no doubt the pick of a lot of people right now. SU says that they have the attitude – they play pissed off. And their coach is always pissed off. Gonzaga has some great players and this may be their year finally to win it all. I mean they are undefeated but they play an easy schedule for the most part. Illinois over Gonzaga in the finals.

Per usual, the floor is open for you to register your Final Four picks and be recognized for your brilliance in a few weeks. SU has a no harassment policy and will not make fun of anyone’s picks if they are way off as I usually fall into that category. It’s time to man (or woman) up and let everyone know where you fall. Have at it.

SU just read this story about Julian Edelman’s response to Meyers Leonard who has landed in hot water for saying an anti-Semitic slur while livestreaming his video game (Full disclosure: not sure what that even means or why anyone would want to watch that). Edelman is really not an observant Jew but he has discovered his roots of late and sent an open letter to Leonard offering to meet with him for a Shabbat dinner down in Miami.

Good man. Check it out.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31038867/new-england-patriots-julian-edelman-writes-open-letter-meyers-leonard-miami-heat-center-anti-semitic-slur

Trying to turn something bad into a learning experience. Good for him.

It’s Spring Training in Tampa with the Yankees. What can go wrong? Zack Britton has a bone chip in his elbow and will require surgery. He will be out the first few months of the season. This is a big deal for a team that has 2 starters who will be on pitch counts and thus require more relievers to finish a game. We saw this in the playoffs as Aaron Boone was afraid to use more than a few of his key guys. You have to figure that Chapman will get hurt at some point – he always misses some time – and that leaves Chad Green. As Joe Girardi says, “it’s not what you want.”

Ottavino is gone. The Yankees have to hope that one of the youngsters can slide into a 7th inning role. They have the guys available to step in but hard to know if they can be consistent. SU says look forward to some blown leads this year – certainly more than we are accustomed to in Yankee Land.

SU has had it with Dick Vitale. He’s a good guy, does great work with his charities and has been good for college basketball forever. But he has become unlistenable. Just words nonsense in a steady stream of noise. I finally had to mute the ESPN broadcast tonight – and I never, ever turn off the sound for any sports event. And when you watch with no sound, you realize how much ESPN covers Tom Izzo on the sideline arguing with the refs. Constant. We know Izzo complains all the time but do we need to see it in action? SU used to think the Big Ten Network had the worst broadcast but it’s ESPN now. Congrats to them. After losing to Michigan, I watched his post-game news conference. Izzo is the Serena Williams of college basketball. Give as little praise to the winner as possible and just focus on why you didn’t win.

So, I stumbled across this video on how to shoot under 100 in golf (for me that is the holy grail). I don’t play much but who knew the game could be this easy?

It looks like we are going to have fans in the stadiums for baseball games nationwide and pretty soon. Gary Sanchez already has 2 home runs in spring training for the Yankees. Note: this is not a good thing. I would be happier to read that he had hit 3 singles to right field. For Yankee fans, spring training is all about which pitchers will be shut down for Tommy John surgery. You know it’s coming. As opposed to other years, it does feel like they have enough depth this season to absorb a loss with a number of younger guys ready to take the next step.

The Mets continue to operate under the radar but SU believes they will be right there in the end for 2021. The Subway Series is back – these will be good games between contenders. Enough of the big hugs.

SU continues to be worried about the NCAA Conference championship tournaments. You are crowding multiple teams together day after day. The NCAAs start in just a couple of weeks. You cannot risk losing a top team at this point or even having a team have to forfeit a game once the brackets are set. The experts are showing a lot of love for Gonzaga this year. It’s always hard to know with them as their regular season schedule is not especially competitive. Illinois looked to be all world punching Michigan in the face on Tuesday but SU says beware of teams that peak too soon. But as a sports fan, I am really looking forward to the NCAAs this year. Three weeks of fun and elimination hoops. Predictions to come.