In a way, the Florida Gators should have no concern whatsoever in losing their game last to Vanderbilt. It pushed them out of the #1 slot, which is fine, because they will receive a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament anyway. The loss took a little pressure off them to continue winning. It also took a little of the spotlight off them, which is no problem, either. These Gators have plenty going for them, and they know it. They will be fine heading into the SEC and NCAA Tournament, when things really start to get interesting.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other teams who have suffered losses they didn’t plan on, who are now wondering if they got a shot at even getting INTO the Tournament, which is the ultimate goal here. Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas St., Oklahoma St., and even Bob Knight’s Texas Tech squad are ‘On the Bubble’, as they say.
And so we shall see how these teams play in the next few weeks as we get closer to Selection Sunday.
In many ways, an NBA team in Las Vegas would be a great, great situation for the team AND the league. But it would also bring about some potential problems, and the NBA owners need to give serious consideration to the possibilities. Certainly gambling is a huge issue. Now, I know people can gamble ANYWHERE. But it is much more pronounced and prevalent in Las Vegas, as people go there to exactly that. If an NBA team were to exist in Vegas, they would almost have to adopt the mantra of being a team of ‘high rollers’, ‘players’, gamblers’, etc…Am I wrong? Give it some thought, because it was certainly talked about quite a bit last weekend during the All-Star weekend.
Ah, yes, Major League Baseball has kicked off Spring Training once again. It seems as if it starts earlier and earlier every season. Nonetheless, all camps are open, and almost all players have reported in various forms of condition.
Of course we also have some great storylines. Barry Bonds certainly will assume a majority of the headlines. He says he now welcomes investigation in any and all ways of his past, feeling he has nothing to hide. Many others believe he did steroids in the past that helped him with his power to hit a lot of his home runs.
And now we are hearing about the strained friendship between Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. The two play together on the same team in the same infield right next to each other. They have known each other for a long time and have been friends in various ways, except now that friendship isn’t what it used to be for various reasons, whether its performance on the field or the amount of pay for playing. That is sure to continue receiving attention, no question.
I also see that the caps now being worn this season by players will be made of polyester, as opposed to wool. MLB is saying this is a good thing, as it is a lighter material and will ‘breathe’ easier. Personally, I think the caps will look cheaper and not as nice, but we’ll see how it turns out.
Many players have changed teams, as has become a common occurrence in MLB. As Spring training continues, we’ll have plenty to throw our attention on.
This weekend the PGA Tour will get into its annual Match Play Championship, with the top 64 players in the world playing for a title in a unique setting.
But for all intents, let’s be real here…it’s Tiger versus 63 other guys. At least, that’s the way most viewers and fans will perceive any golf tournament from now on in. Tiger Woods owns Golf and the PGA Tour, and there’s no other way to explain it.
When Tiger is not playing in a golf tournament, NOBODY cares, pure and simple. A few people care about Phil Mickelson and John Daly, but otherwise, the rest of the boys playing golf are a bunch of nobodies.
Eldrick’s dominance has been great and devastating to the PGA Tour. It is going to take someone with personality, charisma, attitude, and a phenomenal golf game to come along and start winning a bunch of tournaments for things to change. And I guarantee you that is what the boys down in Ponte Vedra are praying for every night.
After a wild Daytona 500, the boys head out to the West Coast to do a little racing in California. They certainly started off the season with a little entertaining fanfare. In a way, you can look at last weeks’ race as about 450 miles of cruising, followed by complete hell. Maybe they should just rename the race and call it the ‘Daytona 50’!
Just curious: are people more interested these days in who will win ‘American Idol’, or will win the Iraq War?
Tom Weppel talks trash on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. on WIOJ-AM 1010, and on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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