bukie

Good pitch, good piece of hitting by Rolen.

There's the hit and run talk. Didn't take too long.

I'm liking Girardi's analysis already. He's said the Cubs offensive problem is not getting enough guys on base, and he's explaining how to pitch to each guy.

The lesson to be learned here is that if a pitcher can't get it done in 50 innings of sporadic work over 2 years in the majors while being bounced around between spot starts and bullpen work, it's completely hopeless. Those 50 innings also overrule any consistent minor league numbers over the course of the previous 3 years, also.

I'm feeling strangely optimistic today. Playoffs predictions: Mavs over Warriors in 5 Suns over Lakers in 7 Spurs over Nuggets in 6 Rockets over Jazz in 5 Pistons over Magic in 5 Cavs over Wizards in 4 Raptors over Nets in 7 Bulls over Heat in 5 Conference Semis: Mavs over Rockets in 5 Spurs over Suns in 6 Bulls over Pistons in 7 Raptors over Cavs in 6 Conference Finals: Mavs over Spurs in 7 Bulls over Raptors in 7 NBA Finals: Mavs over Bulls in 5 EDIT: That would be 13, for the over. :)

Technically, if they hold serve at home, the Heat have no chance.

So wait, you mean the world didn't end last night? It's the Heat, folks. They played well for about 3 weeks the whole year, and their two best players are slowed. They aren't the best team in the NBA, or the East, or in their first round series this year. If the Bulls take care of business at home, it'll be over in 5.

Quick once-over of tiebreaker scenarios for the NBA tonight: Eastern Conference - The Detroit Pistons are the East 1 seed, and have homecourt advantage throughout the conference playoffs. East 2-5 seed: - Bulls clinch 2 seed with a win or a Cleveland loss to Milwaukee. - Cleveland clinches 2 seed with both a win and a Bulls loss to New Jersey. - The Toronto Raptors are the East 3 seed and have clinched homecourt advantage in the first round. - The Miami Heat are the East 4 seed and will not have homecourt advantage in the first round. - East 6-8 seed: - New Jersey, Washington, and Orlando have clinched the final 3 Eastern Conference playoff spots. - New Jersey clinches the 6 seed with a win or a Washington loss to Indiana. If New Jersey loses and Washington wins, New Jersey is the 7 seed. New Jersey cannot get the 8 seed. - Washington clinches the 6 seed with a win and a New Jersey loss to the Bulls. Washington clinches the 7 seed with a win and New Jersey win, or a loss and an Orlando loss to Miami. - Orlando clinches the 7 seed with a win and a Washington loss to Indiana. If Orlando loses or Washington wins, Orlando is the 8 seed. Orlando cannot get the 6 seed. Western Conference - The Dallas Mavericks are the West 1 seed and have clinched homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. - The Phoenix Suns are the West 2 seed and have clinced homecourt advantage in the first 2 rounds. - The San Antonio Spurs are the West 3 seed and have clinched homecourt advantage in the first round against the Denver Nuggets, who have clinched the West 6 seed. - The Houston Rockets are the West 5 seed and have clinched homecourt advantage in the first round against the Utah Jazz, who have clinched the West 4 seed. West 7-8 seeds: - The Los Angeles Lakers have clinched a playoff spot. They clinch the 7 seed with a win or a Golden State loss to Portland. If the Lakers lose and Golden State wins, the Lakers are the 8 seed. - The Golden State Warriors clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Los Angeles Clippers loss to New Orleans. The Warriors clinch the 7 seed with a win and a Los Angeles Lakers loss to Sacramento. - The Los Angeles Clippers clinch the 8 seed with a win and a Golden State loss to Portland.

If Orlando wins tonight and Washington loses, Orlando is the 7th seed. Only way Washington gets the 7 seed is by losing with Orlando losing. Only way New Jersey gets the 7 seed, however, is by losing with Washington winning. I'm not overly concerned about any of the 3 teams, though. Much more concerned about a potential Miami series.

I wake up every morning knowing that the Cubs are a light-hitting 36-year old catcher away from being a contender every year...

I see the Cubs sending Guzman down as more of a function of convenience than anything else. He had pitched 3 innings the game before, and the Cubs needed a CF right away. He wasn't going to be available the next day anyway, so no harm in sending him down to get an extra OF on the roster until the Cubs decide whether Soriano needs to be DL'd.

Bulls going to have to earn that 2 seed, just as it should be. 50 wins should have been motivation enough, now it's the right to play NJ/Washington/Orlando in the first round instead of Miami.

Iowa is calling Matt. Do people realize that Matt is hitting nearly .300 right now? He's above league average. 'Tis the game thread, where kneejerk reactions and rollercoaster emotions reign. Best to check reason and logic at the door, apparently. EDIT: Of course, with only 21 ABs coming into today, an 0-5 day will drop that considerably.

No, you go find it. I dont care enough. Mets suck. That's quite an argument you have, there. Completely ignorant, yet irrefutable because you completely ignore reasonable thought.

No they weren't. Their pitching was bad. Worse than St. Louis for sure. Find me a single statistic that supports this, and maybe you'll have an argument. Mets had a better ERA, better ERA+, fewer hits given up, more strikeouts, more shutouts, more CGs, fewer HRs allowed, heck, more wins and saves, if you follow that crowd.

They were fortunate to make the playoffs, let alone win it all. I have much more respect for their '05 team. Building a strategy to try to duplicate an 83-win division winner is aiming much, much too low.

This could be the first time that action was actually taken against an official in any sport, at least as far back as I can remember. Actually, now that I think of it, wasn't Crawford disciplined before for goading players and given a short leash? Somewhere around 2002, 2003. That could also explain the action. Officials need to be suspect to the same rules and discipline that the players are suspect to. Maybe then the officiating will actually improve. NBA refs are the worst of any pro sport, and something needs to be done.

I find the most astounding thing about the Knicks collapse is that they are falling below teams that have been practically trying to tank the season, even though the Knicks can't improve their draft position at all by losing. Either that, or the Knicks are tanking anyway and nobody happened to mention to them that it's not their pick.

Cleveland's win locks up homefield advantage in the first round for them. Miami will be the 4 seed, going on the road to Cleveland or Chicago. EDIT: Actually, Miami can still technically get the 3 seed if Toronto loses 3 games.

And just like that the Knicks slide into the 8 spot, could go as low as 5 (I don't think the Hawks will pass them).

Team stats 1. 81 +200 2. 8 +50 3. 777 +175 4. 777 +25 5. 3rd +50 Player stats 1. 35 DLee HRs +0 2. 35 Soriano SBs +10 3. .280 Murton BA +50 4. 100 Aramis RBI +50 5. 18 Z wins +50 6. 4.75 Marquis ERA +20 7. 180 Hill K's +50 8. 200 Lilly IP +50 Bonus I 1. Z's BAA +0 2. Aramis HRs +30 3. Izturis' OBP +0 4. Barrett HRs +30 5. Lilly W's +30 6. Hill K/BB +30 Bonus II 1. Most HRs: DLee +0 2. Highest OBP: DLee +30 3. Lowest ERA: Z +0 4. Most saves: Dempster +30 Barrett's OPS: .800 ----------------------- Team Stats: 500 Player Stats: 280 Bonus I: 120 Bonus I: 60 TOTAL: 960

Except, without Butler, Washington isn't likely to get the 4 seed anyway.

No need to be flippant and rude to anyone with fewer than 1000 posts. You looking for anyone specific, papabear?

Why? Would be a great win, but why is it must-win? The Cavs have a game left at Detroit as well. If we want any hope of that 1 seed, it's a must-win. Sorry for leaving that out. With the Sheed miracle as well as their 4th quarter rallies against the Nets and the Heat today, I think that's all but out of the possibility. Probably. Right now we'd play Washington, correct? Butler just went out with a broken hand. That's a 40mpg, 19ppg starter. That's got to hurt, no matter what. Well, if Washington falls behind Miami, and Toronto can keep the 3 seed, the 5 seed would open up against the Heat. I'd much prefer NJ or Orlando in the first round.

As do I. Me 3. :D 4 Jay Mariotti was on Around the Horn yesterday, bragging that he had 3 of his 4 Final Four teams left... uh, there are two #1s and two #2s left Jay. That's really not a big accomplishment. Especially when ESPN's National Bracket (the national average bracket) has 4 of 4 teams right.