bukie

You only lose him if he doesn't get put on the DL, so he doesn't actually have to be officially DL'd to put him there. I feel safe in the assumption that any visit to Dr. James Andrews is as good as a trip to the DL.

So anyway, can I toss Devine on the injured list before next week, even though he won't technically be on the DL until then? It would be to my advantage to actually put someone who will pitch in that spot (well...most likely).

So, is a trip to Dr. James Andrews for Joey Devine the equivalent of basically cancelling his season?

RedFlash thinks they're going to re-hire the re-animated corpse of John Wooden. Either that or let CNS coach basketball too. Well, he is completely dedicated to Alabama, seeing as that's his (and everyone else's) dream job. He'd probably coach basketball for free, given the opportunity. And I am the one being delusional? Yes.

Conservatively, I'd consider Illinois basketball to be a top 20 program all-time, probably the 2nd or 3rd most successful program in the Big Ten, with a long-standing winning tradition. I think that's a reasonable assumption. If I said something like "I believe if Phil Jackson turns us down, Rick Pitino will be the next coach", would that be delusional?

I wonder if Massachusetts fans in 1996 were feeling the same way Memphis fans are now.

I'm not delusional. I'm passing on what the Commercial Appeal is reporting. If you actually believe Memphis has more than a snowball's chance in hell of landing Pitino without drastically improving their basketball standing, you are being delusional.

Going from Louisville to Memphis would take a "we're joining the ACC next fall" kind of offer.

RedFlash thinks they're going to re-hire the re-animated corpse of John Wooden. Either that or let CNS coach basketball too. Well, he is completely dedicated to Alabama, seeing as that's his (and everyone else's) dream job. He'd probably coach basketball for free, given the opportunity.

Wow. Rick Pitino. Memphis just isn't that kind of program. And to think I was just about ready to hand RedFlash the award for most delusional fan.

Actually, I have a roster question regarding minor league eligibility: Jordan Zimmerman was named the Nats' 5th starter, but he's not going to pitch until the end of April. How long can I keep him stashed on my minor league roster before I have to activate him? Until he gets called up, or until he actually exhausts his eligibility (not that I'll necessarily want to keep him there that long)?

Boo.

If the waiver order is the same as the draft owner, then I'll pick him up instead. Now you can feel reassured you can drop him.

I'm not sure your point? The conference is what it is. Cal has proven that if you recruit well and take care of your conference schedule you can get a high seed in the tournament. And really, outside of the big six conferences, only Gonzaga has shown to be able to keep that up consistently through multiple coaches. Remember, 15 years back, Calipari did exactly the same thing with Massachusetts, and they've faded back into obscurity since then. I'm not sure many coaches will jump at the chance to coach Memphis just because it's Memphis. They're in a second-tier conference, and I don't see any current coach from any of the big six conferences leaving their program voluntarily for Memphis (except for maybe DePaul).

See, I know Memphis has been really good the past 4 years, but how well did UMass do following Calipari's departure? I just think coaches will see going from the big six conferences to C-USA to be a step down, no matter if it is Memphis.

According to Sagarin's statistical measures, the Big East was a distant 3rd best conference going into the tourney behind the ACC and Big Ten overall, and have moved up to a very close second behind the Big Ten (yes, really). The top 5 are practically identical, though, which has never been the case before.

Memphis has only been a "surefire tourney team year in and year out" since every other good team and DePaul left Conference USA four years ago. Prior to that, during the Calipari years, they were regularly winning the less competent division of CUSA, but were always a borderline NCAA/NIT team. Prior to 2006, Memphis made the NCAA tournament on and off (in the Metro conference years), but were hardly a mainstay and advanced past the Sweet 16 once (since the expansion to 64 teams), as a 6 seed. In that conference, without Calipari, I'm not sure what kind of coaching draw there would be to go to Memphis.

The sooner everyone understands that the difference among the top 5 conferences this year (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10) was so microscopically small as to be unprecedented, the sooner conversation can return to a respectable level. The Big East was exceptionally top-heavy this year, and at the same time exceptionally bottom-heavy (seriously, the gap in quality from team 7 (WVU/Marquette) to team 8 (Providence/ND) was enough to fill an ocean's worth of water). Seven top 25 quality teams, for sure, but also 4-5 patsies (Seton Hall maybe, St. John's, South Florida, Rutgers, DePaul). The ACC had absolutely zero bad teams. Two consistently good teams at the top, but the league underperformed across the board in the tourney, aside from Maryland. The Big Ten had a clear best team (MSU) and a clear patsy (IU). Early-year Iowa aside, every other team in the league was capable of beating anyone else (including MSU) on a given night, home or road. Truly, the ACC and Big Ten were the two leagues closest to a "zero nights off" schedule. The Pac-10 had no clear best team, but had 3-6 very similar top-25 caliber teams (Washington, UCLA, Arizona State, Cal during the regular season and USC and Arizona during March) and only really one patsy (Oregon). The Big 12 was pretty well separated into threes: three top-tier teams (Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri), three tournament-level teams (Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M), three decent teams that could give a game on a given night (Baylor, K-State, Nebraska) and three patsies (Iowa State, Colorado, Texas Tech).

Gasaway's breakdown of yesterday's games.

Sagarin's conference ratings updated after Sunday's games: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc0809.htm Of note, the top 5 conferences are basically identical.

77 free throws in the game, which seems like a made-up number to me. Then again, I'm used to watching an Illinois team that shot 5 free throws over a 2-game stretch.

Somebody owes the board a life savings.

How do you pick up your last 2 fouls when the other team is trailing by 10 with a minute to play?

- The Cubs win the division by 20 games, and win at least 2 playoff series. - The Cubs lead the NL in runs scored and runs allowed. - The NL wins homefield advantage in the World Series. - Milton Bradley plays over 120 games, mostly late in the season. - Fukudome figures out how not to bail on outside fastballs and maintains a near .400 OBP with a slightly higher SLG (~.425). - Harden makes over 25 starts. - Kevin Gregg saves over 30 games. Carlos Marmol saves under 20. - The Cubs make a midseason deal for a starting pitcher, SS, or 2B.

Petition for option "Lou Piniella's Cubs".