Transmogrified Tiger

Yay Ryu.

He pitches left handed for Indiana and and right handed for Purdue....now that's ambidextrous. Does he use both arms simultaneously when he pitches for IUPUI? It would be pretty cool to have a glove that you could put on either hand and not let the batter know which hand your throwing with until you step back. Actually, I think it's a rule you have to throw with the same hand for the entire batter, just like the batter can't change batters boxes mid at-bat. Not positive though.

We just beat Nebraska, it's an automatic win![/sets up for a fall]

Eric Young

Quincy Douby has 15 points for Rutgers in the first 10 minutes against Nova, including what was probably a 30 footer just a moment ago. 19-16 Rutgers.

Maybe Hill/Guzman have a chance to start the year in the rotation after all..... both have been better than williams or rusch, though obviously in limited action. i haven't been able to figure out dusty's formula as to who spring training counts for yet, however... It's a good thing he isn't managing the Padres. Bobby Hill, Josh Barfield, and Bellhorn are battling for the 2nd base job... EY's in camp. Case closed.

MSU wins, faces Illinois tomorrow night.

He's crossing the line into senility. Not only does he say stupid stuff, but he'll say the foul is on the wrong team and it'll take him 2 minutes to figure out he screwed up, because he'll be repeating his mistake ad nauseum.

It happened in a Brewers game against the A's. Wait for it....

MSU leads by 5 at the half. They pretty much started having their way about half way through the first half, hopefully they'll go on a run in the second half to put it out of reach.

I swear Colorado has 28 players on their team. I watched them play Mizzou twice, and several other teams on TV, and there's players I hear the names of that I've never heard before. They lead Baylor by 3 with half a minute remaining, Baylor ball. Update: Colorado wins.

Both are out if it were up to me. Michigan's done, without my say-so. FSU is probably one of the last teams in at best. Michigan's resume is much better than Syracuse's, and especially FSU's. Even with today's loss. Main question will be what sticks in the minds of the committee tonight and tomorrow while they pick the field. I'm having a tough time seeing how Michigan's resume is much better than Syracuse's. KenPom's breakdown showing their records v. different ranges of RPI's is very similar, and Syracuse has a much better SOS. Add in the fact that Michigan is fading hard while Syracuse appears to be coming on strong and I'd say that Syracuse has a better case.

Colorado trails Baylor, yes Baylor, by 5 with 8:27 remaining. Another bubble team who probably wasn't in at the moment making it easy to be excluded from the tourney.

Both are out if it were up to me. Michigan's done, without my say-so. FSU is probably one of the last teams in at best. True, I didn't have either in at this point, but it's two less teams that could pull a Syracuse.

FSU and Michigan both losing gives hope to the bubble teams dismayed by GW's failure and Syracuse's success.

ESPN the Magazine has a neat piece about "Giant Killers". They took 64 of the top mid-major teams, and set 10 "commandments of successful slaying", including beating your opponents by at least 6 PPG, higher 3PT % than your opponents, A/TO ratio of more than 1. Their 5 teams that meet all 10 criteria: UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Northern Iowa, Murray State, and Pacific.

Offensive value and power are not mutually exclusive. His offensive value lies in his ability in getting basehits, not striking out, stealing bases and scoring runs Yes, but in his quest to not strike out, he loses power. The power is much more valuable than the ability to not strike out. By taking a "contact at all costs" approach, he limits the player he could be. You're defeating your own argument. I don't think anyone is going to try argue that Pierre doesn't give up power when he tries to hit for contact. He does. However, you also need to realize that an increase in power would probably lower his amount of contact, which would lower his amount of hits. In the end, Pierre AND this team are much better off having Juan do what he's best at AND what this team needs. Quite frankly we have MORE than enough power to get this team through the season. What the Cubs have been missing is a/some speed/OBP/guys who take more than 3 pitches types of players. Juan Pierre should fill that void nicely. Read the rest of the responses, Pierre's OBP would likely not be damaged by the approach I'm advocating.

Well I hope that is the case but I got a feeling UNI is going to be very unhappy playing in the NIT. In the same way, UNI could have avoided their situation by not losing 5 of their last 7. I'd have to say UNI is more deserving than Syracuse though.

For Raisin, from the latest Forde Minutes:

Root for small ball? This isn't going to be a small ball team. Juan Pierre will slap some singles and steal some bases, but other than that this is not a small ball team. It's a baseball team. Why do people insist on trying to pretend it's one or the other. Actually I think you misunderstood my intention. I am constantly calling for a balanced team that can all styles of baseball, depending on what game situation merits it. I didn't intend to infer that the Cubs are a small ball team (if that's what you got out of it). I was strictly referring to Pierre's game. Often I find the proponents of OBP ball shun all forms of small ball, at all times, and I was making the point that with Pierre on the team, you simply can't take that stance. To reiterate/clarify my point, since I'm the one who originally brought it up, I'm not talking about Pierre never bunting or stealing or trying not to strike out ever again. His mindset has been pretty much stated that he always likes to make something happen, and since he doesn't draw a ton of walks, that means he slaps the ball around in all counts. What I'm advocating he do is be more selective in earlier counts, and try to hit the ball with more authority. Instead of flicking groundouts, singles and foul balls, some more hard hit outs, gappers, and swings and misses. The only real downside is that he'll probably find himself in a 2 strike count more, but since he originally keeps the same "contact at all costs" mindset in most all counts, there's not really a sacrifice there.

doubt Louisville will make the tournament with this crappy performance. The only way they were getting in is if they won the Big East tournament. Yeah, they weren't even on the bubble. true..I think it was Digger Phelps that said a win might get Louisville in, but everyone knows that Digger Phelps is an idiot. Seton Hall, I don't think, should be getting in after the loss to Rutgers today. 4 interesting Big East games tomorrow as well as the NIU-Toledo quarterfinal matchup at 11 am :x I'll definitely be listening to a radio during the day at school tomorrow. That's ridiculous. L'ville had the same conference record as ND did and a similar non-conference schedule, right down to their best nonconference win being over an SEC team, except ND's team (Bama) was better than L'ville's (UK pre-Morris). If a win was getting Louisville in, then a win was getting ND in too. More proof that the preseason polls are stupid. If Louisville isn't ranked third to start the year then we're not having this discussion. I don't think any sane person was considering Louisville. In basketball the season is long enough and there are enough games to remove most if not all of the preseason bias from the polls.

Offensive value and power are not mutually exclusive. His offensive value lies in his ability in getting basehits, not striking out, stealing bases and scoring runs Yes, but in his quest to not strike out, he loses power. The power is much more valuable than the ability to not strike out. By taking a "contact at all costs" approach, he limits the player he could be. he loses power, which he probably wouldn't have much anyway, and gains obp. in this case, I think the increase in OBP is worth the loss of power. its not like he'd be adam dunn if he struck out more. I can't see his OBP dropping much if at all by just trying to make more solid contact all the time. First of all, I'm not talking about just hacking away with two strikes, I'm talking about getting his pitch and driving it, not just trying to put the ball in play and run. Furthermore, with the amount of weak contact he makes in all counts because of his approach, He's not losing a bunch of singles to gain the doubles and triples. Of course he's not going to become Adam Dunn, but he'd be better, and that's better for us.

doubt Louisville will make the tournament with this crappy performance. The only way they were getting in is if they won the Big East tournament. Yeah, they weren't even on the bubble.

Offensive value and power are not mutually exclusive. His offensive value lies in his ability in getting basehits, not striking out, stealing bases and scoring runs Yes, but in his quest to not strike out, he loses power. The power is much more valuable than the ability to not strike out. By taking a "contact at all costs" approach, he limits the player he could be.

There's a big difference there. Maddux in his prime struck out a decent amount of hitters, and his hallmark was exceptional control. Pierre essentially ignores one of the most important parts of hitting, hitting for extra bases, in lieu of not striking out, which isn't nearly as important. When Pierre sacrifices power for contact, it lessens his offensive value.