Unlike most people in the media, SU had low expectations for the Yankees this year.  As I have said for the past several months, this is an incredibly boring team.  Now, they are off to an 8 – 14 start for April – the worst since the Stump Merrill years of the early 1990s.  SU was glad to read that Joe Girardi basically yelled at them in the clubhouse after Friday night’s loss which clearly inspired them last night in an 8-0 shutout  where they pounded out 5 hits.  At 8 wins, they have 1 more win than the two worst teams in the AL – Minnesota and Houston.  They are on pace to lose 100 games for the year.

Now, the “common wisdom” is that guys will eventually start to hit like the back of their baseball cards.  SU says that may in fact be true but so many of these players are old and they are going to trend toward the 25th percentile of their body of work.  This is not something to look forward to.  Truth be told, Girardi is limited in what he can do.  Ellsbury has several years left on an untradeable contract and you don’t want to hurt his sensitive ego (SU senses he would not respond well).  Texeiria always starts slowly and you don’t even have another player who knows how to play 1st base.  A-Rod is on contract for 1 more year but for SU, he is the only player worth watching – still.  Brett Gardner has some trade value.  But it’s time to make a statement.  Some player must be sacrificed and he be Chase Headley.  SU has run the numbers and projecting his current numbers shows no homeruns and no extra base hits for the entire season.  Eat his salary and let him go.  Put Refsnyder or some other young guy in there.  Bring up Nick Swisher to at least have someone yukking it up in the dugout.  Just another bad move with Headley – admit the mistake and move on.

Meanwhile, SU has taken in a bit of the Mets lately.  Wow.  And they aren’t even hitting with RISP yet this season.  Guys are having fun, there is energy in the stands and there are numbers starting with “3” in their batting averages.  They have a mix of youngsters and veterans and a cockiness about them.  Thank goodness.

The NFL needs to put Deflategate behind it now.  Reduce the Brady suspension to 2 games and call it a day.  No more scientists showing the results of their ball air pressure tests.  SU still maintains the suspension was way over the top for the crime.

SU  caught a bit of the NFL draft.  It’s so funny to hear the commentators gushing over every pick – literally.  They make is sound like every guy will be a future Hall of Famer at his position.  Except of course for the Mississippi lineman, Tunsil, with the gas mask and the bong.  The Miami Dolphins will need to assign someone to be with this guy 24/7 to keep him out of trouble.  But SU hopes he does well – makes for a good story.

Big game 7 for SU favorite team, the Charlotte Hornets today.  With Nick Batum hobbled, they just don’t have enough scoring to win but SU still enjoys watching them as Jeremy Lin gets his shots and minutes and doesn’t have to look over his shoulder every time he makes a mistake.  If Kemba Walker can avoid trying to win the game singlehandedly, they have a shot today.  He needs to get everyone involved first.  Btw, 2 weeks for a 7-game series?  The NBA needs to move things along – hard to maintain interest much less find out which channel is even broadcasting the game day-to-day.

Lots of comments from the SU faithful on the NHL playoffs.  Good to see.  The Islanders are tied 1-1 but have home ice advantage now in the series.  They are a good story and SU has been watching here and there.

I know, I know.  The season is still young and hitters are just beginning to find their way.  You don’t want to over-react to trends both positive and negative.  But SU is happy to jump the gun and tell it like it is:

• First off, what non-starting player already has two 4-hit games this year?  If you guessed Eduardo Nunez on the Twins, you are a winner.  He’s hitting about .460 and even Paul Molitor can’t keep him on the bench in order to start his .170 hitters.  Nunez has been getting more playing time of late and is taking advantage of his chance.  Long-time SU fave.  Good for him.
• The Yankees are as boring as SU predicted during the winter and spring training.  It is truly painful to watch them.  The CIA should consider Yankee telecasts as another form of torture when they interrogate terrorists.  Surely they would give up vital information by the 5th or 6th inning.  Now with A-Rod possibly down with an oblique injury, they are even more unwatchable.  SU predicts that they will bring up Nick Swisher now (did you know he is playing for them in Scranton?) and that will help to spice things up a little.  Any deficit is too great to overcome.  Girardi is limited in what he can do offensively.  It’s up to Cashman to make a statement: maybe bench Chase Headley or release him?  Guys are too comfortable going through the motions.  Same old story.
• The Mets have had the easiest schedule in MLB history.  It’s time for them to play a team with a record above .500.  Phillies, Marlins, Indians, Braves – cannot get any easier.  But they are starting to hit and you have to be optimistic as a Met fan.
• There will be a lot of parity this year in baseball and thus no poor start is a deal breaker.  The AL East is particularly mediocre.  But SU needs to be entertained.

Tough break for Stephen Curry yesterday.  That fall did not look good and the results of today’s MRI will no doubt be bad news.  But their roster is still excellent and they will not be an easy out.  SU sees them making it to the Conference Finals just the same.

The Atlanta Hawks assistant coach, Atkinson, who has been named the new coach of the Brooklyn Nets is a big Jeremy Lin fan.  SU would be very excited to see Lin go there as a free agent with a chance to start next year.  Until then, check out the Hornets – Heat series.  Spirited games.  Kyrie Irving of the Cavs is just really, really good.  If LeBron allows him to carry more of the offensive load, they will be tough to beat now – especially if Curry is done.  Could be the Cavs year.

SU often criticized for no NHL talk.  Well, the Rangers are out but the Islanders move on.  Feel free to weigh in hockey fans.

SU awoke this morning to read the news of Kobe Bryant going for 60 points on 50 shot attempts in his last NBA game.  Unlike virtually the rest of the world, I thought that was terrible.  No doubt, Kobe has had a storied career: multiple rings; 2 Finals MVP awards; 20 years as a top flight player and one of the all-time scoring leaders.  Unafraid to take the big shot and an intense competitor.  He is also an (alleged) rapist (I guess only 2 people know the full truth on that) but somehow all if forgiven on that front.  I think he has also inspired a generation of me-first, ball hog type players in the NBA (see James Harden) who don’t play the game the right way.  SU did not watch the game but he took 50 of the team’s 85 shots.  Whatever.  It’s like having A-Rod get to hit 27 times in his finale for the Yankees next season.

SU says better to go out like Peyton Manning playing a limited role in a team championship effort than doing it this way.  But I also know that I am likely alone in my thinking here about Kobe.

Lots of video tributes for Bryant before the game.  SU was hoping they would do one of long-time teammate Derek Fisher.  Of course, his would have to be in motion with Fisher running down the street talking being chased by Matt Barnes.  That would have been perfect.

More impressive was Golden State getting the record for most wins in a season.  Team effort reflecting sustained high performance all year long.  SU equates that with the 1998 Yankees 114-win season.  The Golden State record will never be broken – especially in this era where coaches are always resting players.

Met fans are in from the ledge – at least for one day – as the team got a W against the Marlins last night.  Look: they aren’t hitting, it’s cold, it’s early, it’s April.  You need to calm down.  Long-time SU subscriber S. Goldman was right in his comment from yesterday in that they will be playing some horrible teams this year 19 times each.  Baseball is such a long season and the pitching will be solid over the long term.  Even SU is not panicking yet about the Yankees’ uneven offense.  I have plenty of time to go negative!

SU is not a huge golf fan but I do enjoy watching the majors.  Jordan Spieth is only 22 years old and he will rebound nicely – more than likely at the next major tournament.  If he was 45 and this was his last shot, you would probably feel worse for him.  I was impressed how he handled the media.  Rather than talk in the LeBron “3rd person”, it’s interesting that it’s always “we” this and “we” that.  The guy is well-grounded and will process this failure and use it to fuel his next run of tournament wins.

It does make you appreciate how Tiger Woods has (or had) that incredible record of when he leads a tournament after the 3rd round, he almost never loses.  The best front-runner.  Perhaps Spieth will learn to channel his inner Tiger going forward (including banging porn stars after the 3rd round which apparently also helps).  SU hopes Woods can make a comeback because he always makes the majors more interesting.

SU is ready for the NBA playoffs.  My new favorite team, the Charlotte Hornets, picked up a nice win in Boston last night as Jeremy Lin had 25 points including 19 points and 5 steals in the 2nd quarter alone on Asian Night in Boston (as he went to Harvard, they had a big crowd cheering for him).  Apparently, he is a free agent after this year (might be his option) and if Carmelo opts out of NY, the Knicks should bring him back.

SU caught the Golden State win over San Antonio on Sunday night.  They are just a fun team to watch.  Check out the number of touches on any possession or the number of passes.  The ball swings from one side of the court to the other and players are in constant motion.  The beauty is that they will continue to play this way come playoff time.  You can contrast that with the Cavs who will slow it down and feature an amazing number of LeBron isolations.  There was a time that LeBron also played more of a free-wheeling team style but he has become much more of a one-on-one player – I assume at the coach’s direction.  I would love to see Cleveland get tripped up along the way (still unhappy that they fired the coach) but a rematch of Cavs – Warriors would be entertaining.  But don’t sleep on OKC as if they can find a way to stop losing close games down the stretch, have the personnel to challenge Golden State.

Finally, a note to MLB.  Schedule as many early April games out west and down south as possible.  It is painful watching players wearing sweatshirts and hats, and no-one in the stands.  And a note to managers: the Twins are 0-7.  SU fave Eduardo Nunez finally gets to play on Sunday and goes 4 for 4 and then sits the next game.  Look, it’s not that hard.  If a guy is hot, play him the next game.  I will make myself available for managerial fill-ins as necessary as the season unfolds.

I know, I know: the season has already started.  How can these predictions now be valid?  Well, I didn’t have the Mets going undefeated so I think I am ok.

Let’s start with the National League.  SU can barely find room on the Mets’ bandwagon.  Way too crowded and everyone is picking them to win the NL East.  SU is not so sure.  Some teams play better under the radar and have a harder time coping with expectations.  On paper, the young pitchers have more experience under their belts and the young hitters should be that much better.  But….sometimes young players take a step back before they are ready to make the big step forward.  SU believes the Nationals will be a worthy adversary in the East but of course, having Stephen Drew on the roster will ultimately bring them down.  He is a difference maker.  The Mets will win the East but it will go into September and be closer than you think.

Lots of love out there for the Cubs to take the next step and win it all.  SU will agree on that one but the SF Giants win their world championships in the even years and last time I checked, it’s 2016.  Giants win the West, Cubs in the Central and the Nationals and Cardinals take the wild cards.

In the American League, the AL East is a toss-up.  Many predict the Toronto Blue Jays will win the division and the World Series this year.  SU disagrees.  The Jose Bautista contract will become a bigger and bigger distraction as the season unfolds and if any of their starters goes down, they are just a good hitting team with limited pitching.  They may win the East but they won’t make it to the World Series.  Btw, former Yankee phenom Jesus Montero is now in their farm system.  How the mighty have fallen.

The Yankees will contend but YES ratings will be way down along with attendance.  This roster is a snoozefest.  All 5 starters will find their way to the DL during the course of the year.  Texeiria is in his walk year (and he will walk with Greg Bird ready to assume 1st base next season) and he should be motivated for that reason.  Expect harder outs into the shift this year as opposed to softer outs in the past.  Castro will be a guy to watch along with Hicks in the outfield.  He is going to take at bats away from both Ellsbury and Gardner.  The Yankees will make one of the Wild Cards.  The Royals are still in good shape but getting to the World Series 3 years in a row is very hard.  Texas wins the West and the Royals and  Yankees are the Wild Cards. Watch out for Detroit to make a comeback this year and get to the World Series where they lose to the Giants in 6 games.

As always, SU is interested in what the subscriber base is thinking.  Feel free to weigh in.

Finally, great NCAA championship game last night with such a high quality last 10 minutes.  Look for a lot of college coaches incorporating Villanova’s last second full court play into their playbook next season.  That was executed perfectly.  It wasn’t a great tourney and a lousy Final Four but exciting finale.

SU has put its game face on for the 2016 MLB season.  I even tuned in for a half hour of the Yankees’ exhibition game last Sunday with their likely opening day line-up.  I’m sorry: it’s as boring as I feared it would be.  I already miss Greg Bird.  They are just oppressively dull – it’s like the air is sucked out of the atmosphere.  Hicks will add some spice in the outfield and Castro hit .400 in spring training.  A-Rod is still must see tv but as long as Chase Headley is on the team, this will be painful.

By the way, too, too much is made about who will be in the starting rotation come opening day.  Sabathia?  Nova?  Hey, it does not matter.  The Yankee pitchers go down with injuries and tight forearms so often, as long as you are in the top 7 you will get plenty of starts.  If Miller ends up missing substantial time, SU says put Nova in the Phil Hughes role from 2009 and have him be a super set-up guy.  Girardi will go with CC as the 5th starter as he probably just can’t loosen up his body in time to be a reliever.  SU will release its fearless baseball predictions this weekend.  Unlike the NCAAs, I actually have a decent track record with baseball.

SU caught the UConn women’s game last Saturday with long-time subscriber M. Levine up in Bridgeport.  Total beatdown: 61 – 12 at half-time.  You have to love the UConn women’s team fans who average about 63 years of age and are trying to jinx the opposing team’s foul shooters in the 2nd half when they are leading by 60 points.  Too funny.  The UConn women are the best basketball viewing around and contrary to some sports writers, they are great for women’s basketball.  It puts them on the map.  Once their 3 seniors graduate this year, they will not be as dominant next season which will also be good for women’s basketball.

Busy week for SU.  Caught the Westchester Knicks’ game last night with long-time subscriber, A. Grossman.  Courtside seats – very cool.  Truth be told, any seat at the Westchester County Center is a good seat and the quality of play is very good.  For the true NBA and college hoops fans, you get to see a lot of guys who you watched on tv in college but who will likely never get their shot in the NBA, e.g., CJ Fair from Syracuse, Jimmer Fredette, Rakeem Christmas from Syracuse.  SU would highly recommend the experience and you even get to watch them run the triangle offense which of course is a special treat.  Last night, the triangle produced a 5 for 16 night from Cleanthony Early playing the Carmelo Anthony role.  He is NOT good.

For the few of us who watch the Tennis Channel and men’s tennis, Novak Djokovic continues to have an impressive run carrying over from last year.  He now has the largest point differential between the #1 and #2 men’s players in the ATP Tour in its history in an era with Murray, Nadal and Federer.  It’s hard to stay healthy and in a year with the Olympics and playing Davis Cup, it will be hard for him to sustain it.  But SU believes he is solidly in the conversation now for Greatest of All Time right with Federer.

Finally, the D’Angelo Russell – Nick Young situation is an embarrassment.  What a bozo.  The good news for Russell is that as crazy as it may seem now, these things do blow over and the public is very forgiving.  Ask A-Rod.

Let me start with Jeremy Lin, a long-time SU fave.  On Monday night, he torched the San Antonio Spurs for 29 points including 15 in the 4th quarter as Charlotte came from 23 points back to beat the Spurs.  As SU is an NBA Season Pass subscriber, I am able to follow teams that I actually care about and enjoy watching (which I can count on one hand).  Lin has had a solid year coming off the bench for Charlotte and they are now surging.  It was interesting on Monday night to see Kemba Walker re-enter the game in the 4th quarter having a terrible game and after throwing up a couple of forced shots, he actually deferred to Lin who clearly had the hot hand.  Note: this rarely happens in the NBA.  Guys that are scorers always believe they will regain the hot hand and are committed to filling up the scoring line no matter the flow of the game.  SU gives Walker a lot of credit to see what was happening in the game and make that determination.  I mean, you are sitting on the bench and watching – it’s not rocket science here.  But so many big ego NBA players do not get this at all.  In fact, one plays in NY.

Lin, followed up the next night with 21 points in a win over the Nets.  There is plenty of time and room to get on the Hornets’ band wagon.  Team owner Michael Jordan will save you a seat.

Time to get pumped for the Sweet Sixteen.  There is still not a clear favorite to win it all this year which is great for the tournament.  SU says do not sleep on Texas A&M – could be a team of destiny now after the comeback over Northern Iowa.  Or they could not be that good and lose easily tonight.  Maryland finally has a chance to show the world that they are not an overrated team.  Time to make a statement against Kansas.  They have underachieved all year.  Will they seize the moment?

SU is starting to pay attention to spring training.  Stephen Drew hit a homerun off of Tanaka yesterday and is hitting about .350 this spring.  I still believe his over/under this year with the Nationals is .205 based on a huge September surge in his walk year.  Tanaka has gotten rocked his last 2 outings but hey, it’s spring training, no need to panic.  We can do that in 3 weeks in April.  Sabathia also pitching poorly but SU says he will definitely start in the rotation out of respect. But Nova will replace him by late April.  Girardi will give him a shot despite a poor spring.

For the record, SU is a major Michigan fan as both kids are recent graduates.  However, I put that aside to make an objective selection for this year’s NCAA Tournament.  After all, I know that thousands of people are counting on SU to do its homework and make its picks as fairly as possible.  While the Spartans’ loss knocked me out of the running, I am THRILLED that they did lose.  And it wasn’t like they shot horribly – they just couldn’t stop Middle Tennessee State defensively.  Too bad (ha ha ha).

Meanwhile, SU caught its first NCAA Tournament game ever last night in Brooklyn in the company of long-time SU subscribers S. Levine and S. Fink.  What a great experience – so much fun.  As I have said before, college games do not have the same level of cursing and bad behavior that we see at the professional level.  Now, some of that no doubt is the result of the no beer sold policy that the NCAA enforces at its tournament games (who knew?).  One benefit of that was shorter lines in the men’s room.

And by the way, a note to the MTA: run some extra subway trains back into Manhattan from Brooklyn after the games let out late at night.  This is not a difficult concept.  The huge swarm of people descending into the subway stop at 12:15 am was a little scary and then a couple of lines were not even running.  Bad situation.  If Barclays’ wants to attract fans from the suburbs, they need to make it easier for them to catch their late night trains with some expectation that the trains will be running often.  Bad job MTA.  Get with the program.  SU has spoken.

West Virginia plays just like Mt. Vernon High School.  Throw up a shot and get about 7 offensive rebounds until you score.  They were in the double bonus shooting foul shots for the last 15 minutes of the 2nd half and still could not win that game.  It’s losses like this one that make the NCAAs the best sports event of the year.  Rarely plays out as you expect.

Finally, as predicted by SU, the Pac 12 Conference was vastly overrated by the NCAA Committee.  Going down one after another.

It’s time.  SU has instructed the research staff to stop running the predictive models for the NCAA Tournament (I mean I thought 25,000 scenarios was sufficient).  We are ready to boldly make our predictions for this year’s games and provide expert commentary to the intergalactic subscriber base as they rush to fill out their brackets.  Here is what you need to know and keep in mind:

• The PAC 12 got a lot of love from the NCAA Committee but SU is not feeling it.  I saw Oregon play at the Barclay’s Center just a year ago. Unimpressive.  And now they are a #1 seed?  Hard to believe.
• Watch out for Wichita State.  Well-coached, have been there before and many will be sleeping on them this year.  I think they will make it through for the first few rounds.
• Many are high on Kansas.  SU has never been a Bill Self fan – his teams often find a way to disappoint and being the #1 overall seed is too much pressure for them.  But they should make it to the Final Four.
• The same is true for North Carolina although I like Roy Williams and feel he is a good coach.  But they usually fall short.  They were the preseason #1 team but will fall to Providence in the 2nd round.
• Kentucky was dis-respected as a #4 seed and Coach Calipari will ride that “diss” all the way to the bank with his team.  They are Final Four bound.
• SU saw a snippet of an ESPN 30 for 30 show on the Texas A&M coach who has Parkinson’s Disease.  It’s a nice story and the guy is a fighter.  They are an experienced team and for no particular reason, SU says they make it to Houston because the coach’s story is inspirational.
• Teams that win their conference tournament often tire themselves out.  This will be a factor for UConn – beware of picking them.
• Michigan State is still the best team and while SU hates them, they will be the last team standing come April.
• I think Purdue is a tough match-up for many teams with their large front line and will make a deep run.  Iowa is over-rated and will depart early.  Same with Maryland.

SU Final Four: Kentucky; Texas A&M; Michigan State; and Kansas.  Michigan State wins it all.

Care to weigh in with your overall championship prediction and be admired by thousands if you are right and ridiculed if you’re wrong?  This is the place to do it!

First of all, the CBS Selection Show is awful.  2 hours for this?  A joke.  Plus, apparently the full bracket has been leaked and is already on Twitter.  Do we need to watch Charles Barkley who doesn’t even follow much of college basketball?

SU will be sure to make its fearless predictions in the next couple of days but how Michigan State is not a #1 seed is beyond me.  North Carolina and Kansas always go out early, and Virginia didn’t even win its conference tournament or league.  The experts on CBS only see a few teams being capable of winning it all but SU believes that is wrong.

Oregon State is in at 19-12?  I admit I don’t watch much of the PAC 12 but that is a low win total to get in.

More to come in the next day or so.  Let the games begin!