March 30th for baseball’s opening day? OK, you are taking some risks there and in NY the thermometer will be struggling to hit 40 degrees. But not a problem for the fans watching on TV. SU says play ball! I do worry about Giancarlo Stanton running to first or playing the outfield in the cold weather. He may need a designated runner to run out ground balls into the shift to avoid injury.

SU was surprised that Michael Kay is picking the Yankees to win the World Series this year. He must be seeing something that I don’t as in MRIs of all of the pitchers who are on the IL. If you think about the Yankees (let’s do that), they had a torrid first half of the season in 2022 and then limped to the finish line in August and September. Which team shows up in 2023? Will the new rules about the shift make an impact for this team which is committed to pulling everything? Or maybe there is a new approach to hitting this year? (Nah).

SU read that some teams will look to put their left fielders into short right field to replicate the shift of years past against the left-handed hitters. Apparently, that is still allowed. That would be very cool. As a left-handed hitter, there is no one in left field at all. I still believe the batters would not try and adjust. The word is MLB will look to outlaw that option mid-season. Something to keep an eye on.

SU will come out with the post-season predictions soon but I do feel this is the year of the Met. This is their year and they have an owner who will do what is necessary at the mid-year trade deadline. The Yankees will be in the mix of course in the AL but it’s hard to see the pitching holding up. It feels like the minor league prospects were used up last year to get Frankie Montas (blechh) and they will pay the price in 2023. Volpe will be fun to watch and we will see the other youngsters get playing time. Gleyber Torres will be dealt at some point to free up room for Peraza.

SU likes that there are so many games on tap today (all 30 Clubs are actually playing) and some great pitching match-ups. You have to figure Cole will miss the Spider-tac in the cold weather today and won’t make it past the 4th inning on pitch count. But who cares? Good times ahead!

SU is back from some badly needed down time in Aruba but has been keeping tabs on the NCAAs and other developments in the sports world. The SU NCAA bracket was especially lame this year, and I have no teams making it to the Final Four. Now, all was not lost here. I was correct about the Big Ten as only Michigan State even made it to the Sweet Sixteen. A mediocre conference was exposed.

There have been some great games and SU is trying to process if having so many upsets and lesser name teams advancing to the Final Four is a good thing. I would have to say it’s a good thing and a net positive but are you going to be glued to your TV on Saturday night to watch San Diego State play FAU? Not sure about that one. UConn has been the most impressive team in the tournament winning all of their games by double digits. Texas was right there but got into the bonus so early in the 2nd half and that seemed to stop their momentum vs. Miami. The Miami vs. UConn game is a good match-up.

What is interesting in college basketball is how the transfer portal can make a team competitive overnight. Kansas State had a team with players who all started their careers somewhere else. It’s like having unlimited free agency. Somewhere out there getting a college degree is important but it is hard to see at this point in college hoops. Bottom line: college basketball is still tremendous fun and this tournament is a hoot to watch.

For SU, the key takeaway from this NCAA Tournament is that you have to have players that can shoot. I know that is an obvious statement but there are so many teams that are firing up 3-pointers and when you watch the shooter’s form and the rotation of the ball in the air, well… that is not how you do it.

Our thoughts now turn to the start of the baseball season, and SU was impressed and quite frankly surprised that the Yankees are taking Anthony Volpe with them to NY and making him the starting shortstop. He clearly earned it but most teams want to have the extra year of control and would wait until June or so to bring up a future star like Volpe. He earned the job and belongs in the lead-off spot in front of Judge. Now, that will not happen as they will want DJ LeMahieu at the top of the order, and it’s likely Volpe will hit 9th to take some of the pressure off for the start of the season. However, assuming he hits, it’s just a matter of time before he becomes a fixture at the top of the order.

The Yankees are badly in need of starting pitchers and if any of you have a son out there who can throw, well Brian Cashman is likely interested. Severino is the latest casualty. The Frankie Montas trade last season is the killer as the Yankees gave up a couple of their top starters in the minor leagues. The thinking is that they will have to trade a couple of the youngsters in the minor leagues or even Gleyber Torres for a starting pitcher early in the season. SU says that will not happen. Cashman will look to piece it together and wait to see if Severino and even Rodon can get healthy over the next few months.

Josh Donaldson looks fitter and thinner – at least on TV. SU will wait until mid-April before calling for one of the youngsters to replace him at 3rd base. Got to give him a shot. Aaron Hicks does not look thinner but we will give him until the end of the month before we get frustrated. The hope here is for all of the youngsters (Cabrera and Peraza) to get regular time in the lineup before too long. No doubt injuries will allow that to happen as it does every season.

For 2023, the Mets are the team to beat in NY. More to come later in the week with our annual, fearless MLB predictions, but this is the year of the Met.

The brackets are out and the SU data analytics team has been hard at work. As always, for SU, the hardest part of picking the NCAA Tournament games is creating new passwords that are considered strong enough for the various sports sites, and then somehow remembering them after 12 minutes.

There was a great article in the New York Times sports section yesterday about how to pick the games – or better said how to not pick the games. (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-bracket-pool-advice.html) I must say that many of the things not to do are things that I historically do. SU has decided to put less thought into this vs. other years and fearlessly move forward. Things I have considered:

1. The Big Ten is terrible. SU has watched many a Big Ten game this year. I know they have 8 – 9 teams in the tournament but that must say something about the rest of the field. I do have Northwestern winning in the first round (great story this year) and Purdue advancing a couple of rounds but that is it. Of course, 2 of the Big Ten teams will now make the Final Four but this is a mediocre conference.
2. Rick Pitino at Iona is always one to watch. SU is going with the first round upset over UConn.
3. According to the New York Times article, you don’t go with the hot team. You don’t go with the conference tournament winners. I get that, and in fact, I think it’s better for teams to lose early in their conference tournaments so they don’t get tired. But… SU is high on Duke and Texas this year. I like the fire of the Texas coach and Duke has been on a sustained role.
4. UCLA is good but they are banged up. A lot to overcome.
5. SU is feeling love for Gonzaga – always in the mix. They are not as good as prior years but neither is the field quite frankly.
6. I am no fan of Bill Self at Kansas – his teams always seem to have the most talent but fall short (except last year of course). I think he is worth -3 points every game he coaches. And yet…. despite that, I am predicting Kansas to repeat and win it all. They have great talent but just don’t play well every game.

OK, the official SU Final Four picks: Arizona; Duke; Kansas; and Texas. I have Kansas winning it all but am still very high on Texas this year and would not be surprised to see them emerge on top. I acknowledge that my track record on NCAA picks is historically awful but at least SU is brave enough to put its picks out there. Feel free to weigh in with yours and we will see who is the smartest this year.

SU is watching the Yankee starting pitching injuries pile up. It’s not a good sign. Their Spring Training play has been pretty lackluster but you don’t put any stock in these games. It’s a mostly veteran team – which is also concerning. The youngsters light the fire under the veterans, and competition for starting positions is a good thing. Now that Harrison Bader has the oblique injury (those last forever), no doubt Aaron Hicks is feeling much more comfortable. Also not a good thing. SU would put the youngsters on the roster (let Volpe play right out of the gate) but it will never happen. Things have been very quiet in Mets Land. SU says they are will be the main story in New York this summer. Great things will happen at CitiField.

You have to love going from the NCAAs right into baseball season and the new rules. The OCD players better be coming up with new OCD things to do in between pitches or they are going to have automatic strikes called on them.

OK, NCAA gurus. What you got?

SU has watched a ton of Big Ten basketball this year. Each week, I subject myself to 2 Michigan games which are basically unenjoyable. Juwan Howard is a great recruiter and no doubt, an excellent motivator. But when it comes to X’s and O’s, especially on offense, he employs the Mike Woodson NY Knicks offensive playbook which was really a pamphlet. Get the ball to Carmelo Anthony on the wing and everyone else stand on the 3-point line. It’s not quite that simple at Michigan but a similar NBA-style isolation offensive style of play. In-game decision-making around line-ups and end-of-game play calls are both sub-standard, and the proof is in the pudding as Michigan has lost most close games down the stretch.

SU checks the box scores after each game, and it is rare to see the total assists break into double figures. As a test, I checked the UCLA box score last night and I believe they had 9 assists in their win. The NBA is actually the opposite this year with high scoring games, up and down the court action and scores regularly in the 120s and higher with 25+ asssits. College games seem to resort to walking the ball up the court which burns 10 seconds, then attempt one offensive set for 10 seconds and if that doesn’t work, use the last 10 seconds for someone to do a high pick and roll and go one on one. SU says ineffective and unwatchable. I am sure there are teams out there doing it differently but not in the Big Ten from what I have seen. Is it coaching? I miss John Beilein.

Speaking of the Big Ten, SU says no team will make it to the Sweet Sixteen this year although many will make it into the tournament. Great for Northwestern to make it this year although they are stumbling down the stretch. SU will come out with its courageous NCAA Final Four predictions in another week or so.

OK, time to show some love for YOUR NEW YORK KNICKS! SU has been watching them a bit more of late and they are a solid team this year. The key will be whether their rotation players can stay healthy down the stretch. Mitchell Robinson is a key guy who is injury prone and he needs to be on the court as a rim protector. This team plays hard on defense and they will be a tough out in the playoffs. They are the kind of team that the Milwaukees, Bostons and Philadelphias do not want to play. It has been such a long time for the Knicks to have a team like this. The NBA playoffs will be great as there is no dominant team out there this year, and probably 8-9 teams can legitimately claim to make a run to the championship.

It’s time to check out MLB exhibition games with the new rules. The pitch clock is a thing and umpires are enforcing it. Pace of play is important and the days of Derek Jeter stepping out after every pitch to retighten his batting gloves in true OCD style or Bernie Williams pretending he has something in his eye are over. Just stand in the box and hit. Same for the pitchers. Stop walking around the mound and squinting in for the signs. Of course, if you ever watch a black and white replay of a game in the 1960s baseball used to be played that way – and in 2 hours or so.

The Yankees are playing the young guys in their spring training games and Cashman has to be tempted to put some of them on the roster. Surely, Aaron Hicks can find a new home and the Josh Donaldson experiment can be declared a failure. Yankee fans want flags over the stadium but they also want to see the young players grow and improve. Enough of the Donaldsons and the Frankie Montas type trades.

OK, I know many of you watch college hoops and not just Big Ten games. I know there is no dominant team out there this year but do you see a change?