Rematch

Well, that sucked.

It kinda looked like a replay of last year's title game. Florida was not as dominant in this game as they were last year, but they were plenty good enough.

Really, it came down to 2 keys:
1) Arron Afflalo was a nonfactor - He scored 17 points, but that was basically all in garbage time. He picked up 2 fouls within 2 minutes, and picked up a 3rd midway through the first half shortly after Ben Howland brought him back. Josh Shipp provided enough offense to keep things interesting in the first half, but with no contributions from their first team All-America, UCLA didn't have the firepower in the 2nd half.
2) Florida hit 3-pointers - After a slow start they finished 9/22, which was a good enough. UCLA almost always doubles the post, so if you can rotate the ball quickly around the perimeter and known down shots, you can beat them. Florida wasn't hitting these shots for the first 8 or 9 minutes, but after that they were real good.

Really, that was the ballgame. UCLA didn't play awful, they were just outmanned. They took care of the ball very well (only 3 turnovers), they just couldn't get shots with Afflalo being such a nonfactor. It sucks, but it was a bad time for the starting backcourt to go 8/28 from the field and 4/15 from downtown. Congratulations Gators.


As for the OSU/Georgetown game, the Buckeyes were better when Oden was out than Georgetown was when Hibbert was out. Obviously that's not the way I thought it would go down, but it did. As is becoming a theme, Mike Conley was really good and he controlled this game. Same old.

On a final note... take a good look Buckeyes fans, because I think this will be the last game Greg Oden and Mike Conley play for Ohio St. I've always kind of been of the opinion that if one was gone, the other would be too, and this Tournament has propelled Conley (most likely) into the top-ranked PG. So with that being the case, I think he'll go, and I'm betting Oden goes with him.

Buckeyes vs. Gators Monday night. We've seen that before.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - ROUND 28/ 07 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

"La Liga" got back into action with four games played ofRound 28, 4 excellent matches with lots of goalsREAL SOCIEDAD got some "air" taking the 3 points with a1 -0 victory over LEVANTE. Real are in relegation zone & in realdanger of going down to 2º division. Good result!Another club close to the danger zone is BETIS who drew 3 -3 withVILLAREAL. Villareal foward FORLAN ( pictured) scored 2 ofhis

Another Instance of Point Shaving?

One benefit to professional athletes making substantial money is that the threat of players throwing games or shaving points at the behest of gamblers is diminished (even if not eliminated, see Rose, Pete). Gambling was a genuine threat to the integrity of professional sports in the early days of professional sport, particularly baseball, as Dean Roger Abrams describes in a forthcoming book called Dark Side of the Diamond.

But the risk remains in college sports, where players' genuine financial need, combined with access to gambling and gamblers, gives players an incentive to take money in exchange for poor performance. The latest example involves federal criminal charges filed last week against University of Toledo running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. for participating in a bribery scheme to influence sporting events. Story here; some comments here. Scooter allegedly acted as go-between a gambler known as "Gary" and various Toledo football and basketball players, who took cash, cars, phones, and other gifts.

College basketball has had its share of point-shaving scandals: the 1948-49 Kentucky Wildcats, the 1950-51 CCNY team (that won both the NCAA and NIT championships), Boston College in the late 1970s, and the 1994 Arizona State Sun Devils. But there have been fewer examples of football players tanking in this way, probably because one (or even a few) players cannot alone affect the outcome of a game. The only example I recall off-hand (I say with the pride of an alumnus) involved former a Northwestern running back named Dennis Lundy, who deliberately fumbled on the one-yard-line in a 1994 game against Iowa to keep NU from covering the spread (he had a $ 400 bet on the game). Lundy was sentenced in 1999 to one month in prison for lying to a grand jury.

Scooter McDougle admits he accepted gifts from Gary, but insists it never changed the way he played to affect the outcome of games. That becomes the key fact the prosecution must prove. We shall see.

The Glorious Guest Essay: Uh, It's Jitter Time

Hello, friends (Nantz! 10 hours!). My name is Ted, and I regularly write here. The site is called "A Price Above Bip Roberts," which name is almost as meaningless as its content. Recently, though, it's been a bit more relevant. See, I went to Georgetown, and as you may know, Georgetown is playing in the Final Four this afternoon - er, early evening - at 6:07pm, or, more accurately, whenever Packer is ready to start frothing at the mouth.

I'm at work right now. Yea, that's right, 7:41am on a Saturday morning - a time you should only be awake if you're taking the SATs - and I'm at work. As such, I'm moderately bored. What's resulting is a post for my friend at Complete Sports. I figured it might be comical to look at the layout of my day. Or, at least in my mind, it might be.

10:00am

Mostly done with work but still at work and needing to stay for at least another 2 hours, I'll begin pulling video of the Kingdome in 1984. I work at ESPN, you see.

10:02am

While watching an old, grainy tape of GU vs. Houston in 1984, I'll cue up "Eye of the Tiger" or "The Gus Johnson I-Mix" on my IPod.

12:00pm

Not necessarily needing to be at work anymore, I'll head to the gym. Releasing of endorphins is a necessary element of your day when your team has a big game; I'd love to see the Ohio State gym at 10:00am on a fall Saturday. I'd imagine there's a lot of sluts coming off walks of shame in there. Oh wow. That was a really low blow. I'm a terrible person.

12:18pm

I'll be halfway through my new jone piece, the actual StairMaster itself. This thing is a real bitch. If you do it at Level 3, it's basically like slowly walking up stairs, and you exert nothing. By the time you get to Level 7, you can barely breathe, and every time you take a step, you're worried about crashing six feet down on your ass. In that way, it's kind of like what I used to feel like watching Georgetown back in the day. Remember Lee Scruggs? That was depressing. I loved how Georgetown fans used to rationalize his 6-11 height and ability to "drain" the three (i.e. miss six in a row, then hit one and walk back to the other end - not run - screaming "All Day!") as "a helluva complement to Boumtje-Boumtje."

By the way, the funniest thing about Boumtje-Boumtje, besides his entire playing career, is that on the Georgetown Info Line - which you could call for people's dorm room phone numbers - his name was pronounced as "Roo-BEN Baum-Sha-Baum-Sha." I used to call that number drunk and type in his letters just to hear it. This was before I had discovered girls, or fantasy sports, or "The Power Hour."

1:01pm

Driving home now, with my engine sputtering as only it can, I'll begin to contemplate the match-up: is Ron Lewis really the X-Factor? Is Matta smart enough to take out Oden for stretches, knowing his team will play better and faster? Are we going to be down early to an extent that this ulcer I think I'm developing on my lower left side gets even worse? What happens if we win? Is there any way I can justify NOT going to Atlanta to see my alma mater play in a national title game for the first time since I was four years old and had no idea who they were? (Let's ignore what happened in '85 for a moment).

2:00pm

I'm going to a movie before the game. There's two rationalizations for this: a) I expect to drink during the game, and since I live in an area without public transportation, I don't want to drive. I needed someone to drive me, but all I could find was a girl - my friends work weird hours, you see, and most are at work during the game - and in return, I had to attend a movie with her. I was honestly hoping I could see "Because I Said So." That way, if we lose, I can always tell people, "You know, it wasn't the worst thing that happened to me that day." Instead, we're seeing "The 300," which leads into: b) a movie where I can see naked people and bloodshed is probably a good lead-up to a Final Four where I hope to see naked people (CBS has to botch a cutaway one of these days) and bloodshed (I'm thinking Ivan Harris might catch one in the eye).

4:45pm

I'll take my seat at a bar in Manchester, CT. It ain't Atlanta; it ain't even New York; fuck, it ain't even Hartford. But this is Georgetown Basketball, and this is the Final Four, and the best we ever did when I roamed that campus insignificantly was the Sweet Sixteen - and we only did that because of Hampton over Iowa State - so this means a lot. "Bartender, cue up a Sam Adams. Yea, the Winter Lager. It's game time."

After that, I'll probably start sweating profusely, cursing periodically, texting people - both girls I'm endeavoring to go home with later and my friends about the game, drinking way too much for a person in my general health condition (poor), and ordering food only serving to worsen that condition. But hell, the last time we were in a Final Four it was the friggin' NIT version ('03), so I deserve this, right?

Darn right I do. Now as for 8:30pm - am I watching UCLA, hoping against hope Lorenzo Mata brought some brass knuckles to the court so they can win and help me in my pool? Or am I frantically searching kayak.com for a way to get to ATL? Either/or, it's gonna be a good day. Er, I hope.

CRISTIANO RONALDO & SAVIOLA

Latest update on 2 players & their future.CRISTIANO RONALDO is being associated daily with REALMADRID, the rumours & gossip are red hot & as time goes byit looks like being a reality.Firstly , its reported the Man Utd. owner Gleezer sees the saleas great business , a cool 80M€ extra in cash flow. This has puthim in conflict with coach Ferguson who does´nt wish to lossRonaldo.Secondly, the "

the disappearance of the Activist Athlete

Where have the Activist Athletes gone? In the 1960s and 1970s, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Walton and Muhammed Ali (amongst many others) advocated, even agitated for political change. A few days ago, Professor Wasserman suggested in connection with HBO's "The UCLA Dynasty" that the Activist Athlete has waned in recent years, due in part to college athletes being less politically involved than they used to be, social activism now coming from the political right (i.e. devout Christian athletes) as opposed to the political left, and that coaches, in particular Coach Wooden not allowing political expression on the playing field or court.

Folks may wonder why athletes today refuse to take strong political stands when the stages that they occupy would allow great influence. Certainly it is not for a lack of controversial political activity. The nation is currently embroiled in an unpopular war, much like Vietnam years ago. Issues of race and gender continue to fill the airwaves, the newspapers and the law reviews.

After reading about Tiger Woods in this week’s Sports Illustrated, it seems abundantly clear why the Activist Athlete has disappeared: Corporate Endorsements (and the potential for superstar athletes to become “billionaires”). Woods’ states in SI when asked about his business acumen and decisions: “It all depends on how much risk you want to take on. . . The things I do are very conservative. . . . I guess you don’t become billionaires by making bad decisions.” Corporate dollars were far less available and significant in the years of the activist Lew Alcindor, Walton and Cassius Clay.

Recall, that Tiger Woods refused to hold Fuzzy Zoeller’s feet to the fire, when Zoeller made fairly egregious racist comments in connection with Tiger as a young professional. Recall that Michael Jordan sprinted away from political controversy during his career, in particular when the issue of child labor abuse and Nike’s manufacture of “Air Jordan’s” overseas surfaced. In fact, it is almost stunning today to hear an athlete take a controversial position. Several years ago Kellen Winslow, Sr. talked openly about affirmative action during his NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Eighteen years ago John Thompson, Jr., boycotted a Georgetown basketball contest while the coach to protest NCAA admissions standards he deemed harmful to young African American athletes.

It is difficult to imagine that Kellen Winslow, Jr. would strike any type of controversial political position today. Similarly, John Thompson III would stun pundits were he to advocate a controversial position in the manner that his father did.

The allure of corporate sponsorship dollars keeps the modern Activist Athlete in check. Why would Tiger Woods risk his fortune? Why would Michael Jordan risk his empire? Why would Larry Bird risk his legacy? The fear of being seen as controversial or risky keeps Activist Athletes from voicing activist positions. I fear that the race for corporate dollars not only silences athletes that might be politically motivated, but also discourages the modern athlete from even carefully examining controversial issues of the day.

That said, Kobe Bryant, who was dropped by several sponsors after allegations arose as to sexual battery, seems to have now been forgiven by corporate America for the time being . . .

Race Attributions and Georgetown University Basketball

Earlier this afternoon, Jon Hanson and I posted on The Situationist a piece entitled Race Attributions and Georgetown University Basketball. Our piece is inspired by Sean Gregory's new article in Time Magazine on the sociological role of race in how fans regard the Hoyas.

Using social psychology, Jon and I examine why so many doubted how well the Hoyas would be able to implement the "complex, precise" Princeton Offense, as directed by John Thompson III after he became coach of the Hoyas in 2004.

We connect those doubts to stereotypes about white persons playing basketball, and the larger issue of how implicit attitudes cause us, often unknowingly, to interpret another's behavior based on his or her race.

We hope you check out our post on The Situationist.

THE RONALDINHO "AFFAIR" & ROUND 28/2007 "LA LIGA" FIXTURE

The story is growing like a snowball. The rumour thatRONALDINHO maybe on the verge of signning with ACMILAN is gaining strengh.Here are just 2 front page titles of 2 important Sp. daily sports papers."Marca" publish ( translated +/-) ..." Barça sees Ronaldinhoescape". Now you may think that this is a "pro - Madrid" paper & wishes to stir up Barça a bit.However, "Mundo Deportivo" , a "pro - Barça"

Final Four Predictions

Only a couple of days away from the Final Four, I figured it was time for my picks, so everyone can laugh at me when I'm wrong see what I think..

Florida vs. Ohio St.
This is a very interesting matchup, if only because Florida beat them so badly last year in the title game. UCLA is a better team now than they were last year, though I'm not sure that Florida is really much better (that's not a knock on Florida, they were just playing GREAT basketball last year at the end of the Tourney).

The big advantage for Florida would seem to be down low, but I don't think it's as bad for UCLA as it seems. I think Mata/Aboya will be able to defend well against Noah 1-on-1, and they will bring a double on Horford with the other post defender. That's risky because Horford is a really good passer, so it's vitally important for the Bruins guards to stay on the outside shooters, especially Humphrey.

That's why, as I wrote a few days ago, I think it's very important that UCLA gets a lot of full-court pressure on the guards and forces Donovan to maybe take Humphrey out of the game and bring in another ballhandler. This would make the kickouts from Horford less lethal and slow down the Florida offense.

So who do I pick to win? Well, if you're a regular reader you know my pick... UCLA.


Ohio St. vs. Georgetown
I think this game will boil down to whether or not Greg Oden can stay out of foul trouble. If he can, the Buckeyes can go to a zone with him as the anchor and have a shot at slowing down the Hoyas. But if Oden does get into foul trouble, I really have a hard time seeing how they'll stop Green, Hibbert, and Ewing. With the way the last few games have gone, I'm a bit skeptical that he can stay in the game.

For the Buckeyes, they'll be in the game because of Conley. He controls the pace of the game and gets everyone else shots. He can get open shots for guys like Ron Lewis, Jamar Butler, and Daequan Cook, and they've got to hit them.

But in the end, I like GEORGETOWN here, I really think that unless Oden plays extensive minutes, the Hoyas are too good offensively. Everyone can score, everyone can handle the ball, and everyone can pass well. That makes them really tough to handle.

CICINHO RECOVERS & DOES´NT MIND BEING PART OF A SWAP DEAL FOR ALVES

Real Madrid´s Brazilian defender CICINHO is recoveringnicely from his knee operation after being side-lined 6 months.He maybe called up to form part of his team as soon asthis weekend.However, the young defender has commented that he is still"a bit scared" with his knee & recognizes that with play & timehe will regain confidence.Great news for Real the recovery of this talented player.The other

Rethinking Contact Between NBA Executives and Parents of College Players

Last week, I blogged about the NBA fining the Boston Celtics because their executive director of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, sat next to the mother of University of Texas star Kevin Durant during a recent game. Durant will likely be the second player selected in this year's NBA draft, after Greg Oden, and the Celtics currently have the second worst record in the NBA (however, because of the NBA's weighted lottery system, the team with the second worst record only has a 38.9% chance of landing one of the first two picks). As we examined, the NBA has a strict liability policy on team executives sitting next to family members of amateur players. That's true even though the "desired" players among them are not going to become free agents out of college, since they will be drafted and their NBA employment rights will be controlled by whatever team drafts them. In other words, NBA general managers can't "recruit" prospective draft picks like college coaches can recruit high school players.

Sports Law Blog reader and fellow Celtics fan Matthew Dinan e-mails a fascinating question that highlights a peculiar implication of the NBA's strict liability rule:

Given that Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is a parent of a potential NBA player--point guard Jeremiah Rivers of Georgetown University--could the NBA fine Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers for sitting next to each other, even though it is a prerequisite of their job?

I know the NBA would say it makes an exception in this instance since Ainge and Doc Rivers work together in running the Celtics, but it brings to mind other potential instances that might also, if less clearly, warrant exception.

For instance, say Danny Ainge happens to be friends with former tennis star Yannick Noah. Can they not sit next to each other at a game because Noah's son, Joakim, will be a top 10 pick in this year's draft?

Or how about if Ainge sits next to the parents of BYU basketball star Keena Young to talk about how their sons play together on the same team--Austin Ainge also plays for BYU. Since Young might be drafted next year, would Ainge's seating be a problem with the NBA? Should it be a problem? Where do we draw the line?

Taking it a step further, what's really the point of this rule? It's not like college players become NBA free agents right out of college (at least the draft-worthy ones don't). Can Ainge really brown-nose his way into getting Greg Oden or Kevin Durant or Roy Hibbert or whomever? No. They're subject to the draft. And they will clearly be drafted.

And it's not like getting to know the parents would even help to sign a drafted player--the NBA has a rookie salary scale that determines how much a draft pick will earn based on when he is drafted.

I suppose, as we discussed in last week's post, the NBA might be worried about Danny Ainge encouraging underclassmen to declare. But would that even benefit him in a draft situation, when there are 29 other teams drafting? I guess one could say that every additional top player eligible to be picked makes the draft deeper for all teams, but again, the benefit there seems diffuse . . . unless, of course, you are picking #2, and you know that Greg Oden will go #1, and there is a huge drop-off in talent from Kevin Durant to the next best available player, so you better hope that Durant declares for the draft. Maybe David Stern was right after-all to fine Ainge!

SPAIN vs ICELAND 2007 VIDEO & FC BARCELONA PLAYER MARKET GOSSIP

SFS has located the VIDEO of the only goal scored bySPAIN in its 1- 0 victory over ICELAND. The scorerwas INIESTA who is progressing into a very fine player.There is a great set up pass from David Villa to watch.In the always fluid players market, Olympique of Lyonhas placed a price on its 27 year old defensive wingerERIC ABIDAL. The price ranges between 20 - 25M€, whichis quiet steep in SFS

FSU College of Law Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Industry Breakfast

The Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Society of Florida State University College of Law will be hosting the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Industry Breakfast this Saturday, March 31, at 8:30 a.m.

I am honored to be one of the speakers at the breakfast, which will also include former Auburn head football coach and current ABC Sports broadcaster Terry Bowden, among other distinguished speakers. Details for the event are below, and if you are interested in attending, please click here.

Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Society

presents the

Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Industry Breakfast

Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Florida State University, College of Law, Rotunda
425 W. Jefferson St., Tallahassee Florida

All Students and practitioners are welcome!!! Light Breakfast and Refreshments will be served

Terry Bowden, 1993 Coach of the Year, College Football Analyst, Motivational & Keynote Speaker, and FSU College of Law Alumnus

Michael McCann, Sports Law Professor, Representative of Maurice Clarett against the NFL, and Chair-Elect of the Association of American Law School's Sports Law Section

Dr. Thom Park, National Expert on Coaching Contracts

Jan Michael Morris, Representative of Venus & Serena Williams' Father

Steven Newburgh, Cast Attorney for Reality Television's Miami Ink

Rob McNeely, Entertainment Law Professor & Former Creed Counsel

Sponsored by Fowler White Burnett, Attorneys at law

Thanks to Mike Giraud, Shane Costello, and Ryan White for their excellent work in putting this event together.

Predicting Jim Nantz's Play on Words after the Championship Game

One of the things I most look forward to (from a trainwreck sort of perspective) is listening to what type of bad cliche or play on words Jim Nantz will come up with in the seconds after the NCAA Title game finishes. Last year he played it cool, with the phrase, "Florida - as good as it gets." Technically, this didn't really make a lot of sense to me, because Florida didn't even win their own conference during the season (meaning they weren't really as good as it gets), but I was willing to let it pass.

In the past, however, some of Nantz' work has been pretty bad (in my opinion). For instance, in 2005, when North Carolina (led by Sean May) won, Nantz said this:

It started in March, ended in April, and belonged to May.

WHAT? What does that even mean? Well, I know what it means, but how lame is that? In 1999, when Connecticut won the Title, Nantz came up with this:

UConn, you can.

That, I truly have no idea what it means. But that's beside the point. This year, I'm hoping Nantz can top himself... IE come up with something even cheesier than the May line from 2005.

So I've come up with my predictions for what he might say, and then you give your guesses in the comments. The winner gets a congratulations from me, as well as my undying respect. Now that's incentive!

If Florida wins...
- "'Noah' jokin' around - Gators are champions again."
- "'Noah problems for the Gators, they're the champions."
- "No gruff for this 'Billy' - Gators are the champions."
- "No Joakim, 'Noah' problem." (I'm covering by bases in case Noah gets hurt)

If UCLA wins...
- "How'land' do you spell championship? UCLA."
- "'Ben' there, done that - Bruins are the champions."
- "Make it a dozen, another title is 'Bruin' in Westwood."
- "UCLA, on a 'Collison' course with destiny are your champions."

If Ohio St. wins...
- "It's an ode to "Oden" - Buckeyes are the champions."
- "Put your "Buckeyes" on Ohio St. - they're the champions."

If Georgetown wins...
- "Like father, like 'Thompson' - The Hoyas are the champions."
- "By 'Georgetown,' the Hoyas are the champions."
- "Everyone else is 'Green' with envy - Georgetown is the champions."

What do you got?

SPAIN 1 - ICELAND 0: CLOSE CALL.

It was the type of night Gene Kelly would have loved, rain& more rain, that eased & eventually stopped in the 2º half.The water played its part, it was sluggish, with hard to controlthe ball conditions.The whole game was dominanted by Spain with a 67% vs 33% ballpossesion percentage. However , Iceland put all its men in defence& awaited the counter- attack opportunity.The Iceland goalkeeper &

RONALDINHO TO AC MILAN?

Check the title out (translated) ..."Ronaldinho to Milan in2 weeks". Its the news title of Italian sports paper "Corrieredello Sport" & it has sent a small shockwave to Barcelona, seeing that they cite his brother & agent Roberto de AsisIts no secret that Ronaldinho´s agente/brother has been inItaly meeting with AC & Inter Milan directives. He has alsosaid that if his brother had to leave Barça

SPAIN - ICELAND & MORE TRANSFER RUMOURS

Important match tonight at Palma de Mallorca for SPAINagainst ICELAND. A draw or loss here will virtually halttheir progression towards next years Euro Cup.Here are the possible line-ups according to local press:SPAIN: Casillas, S.Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila, Iniesta,Albelda, Xavi, Silva, Morientes & D.VillaICELAND: Arason, Sigurdsson, Lugimarsson, Steinsson,Hereidarrson, Gudjonsson,

MLB 2007 Predictions

I just had my first fantasy baseball draft of the season on Monday, so in my world that officially means that it's about time for the baseball season to start. First off, if you still want to be led astray some fantasy baseball help, you can check out some of my rankings:

Catcher
First Base
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop
Outfield
Starting Pitching

Now that that's covered, some predictions of standings, awards, and my long-awaited pick to win it all.

* denotes wildcard

AL EAST
1) New York Yankees
2) Boston Red Sox
3) Toronto Blue Jays
4) Baltimore Orioles
5) Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Comments: Ho hum, another division title for the Yankees. In reality, this will be a tight race between the Yankees and Sox, but I like the Bronx Bombers a little better here, especially if/when Carl Pavano gets hurt and Phillip Hughes joins the rotation. I think the Yankees lineup is a little better, and there are fewer concerns in the bullpen. Elsewhere, business as usual. The DRays are better than ever, but still not good enough to get out of the cellar.


AL CENTRAL
1) Cleveland Indians
2) *Minnesota Twins
3) Detroit Tigers
4) Chicago White Sox
5) Kansas City Royals

Comments: I suspect this will be the most controversial choice, but that's ok. As far as the top 4 teams go, this is the best division in baseball. At the top, I really like the Indians. For the second straight year, they were a lot better than their record would indicate. They have an explosive offense led by Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner, an improving rotation, and the bullpen should be better (it can't be worse). Up next, I'll take the Twins slightly over the Tigers... largely dependent on the fact that I figure at some point early in the season at least a couple of the Carlos Silva, Ramon Ortiz, and Sidney Ponson trio will be replaced by some of the talented youngsters.

I'm not a huge fan of the Tigers offense, and Sheffield has a bad shoulder and has been declining for 4 years now. I would bet money that Kenny Rogers ERA will not be as low as 3.84 again, and the bullpen has some questions. I think the Tigers will have a White Sox like dropoff this year... which is to say they'll still be good, but not as good as they were in 2006. As for those said White Sox, I have a hard time seeing Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye replicate their great seasons from last year. Another minus is that Ozzie Guillen is batting Darin Erstad 2nd instead of Tad Iguchi... it's almost like they're trying to lose.


AL WEST
1) Los Angeles Angels
2) Oakland Athletics
3) Texas Rangers
4) Seattle Mariners

Comments: I don't have a lot of confidence in this pick... mostly a gut feeling. If Rich Harden remians healthy all season long, he can be a Cy Young candidate and the A's can be back in the playoffs, but I'll believe that when I see it. As it is, as long as the Angels let some of the young guys play, I think their rotation will be enough. But again, I wouldn't put any money on this.


NL EAST
1) Philadelphia Phillies
2) *New York Mets
3) Atlanta Braves
4) Florida Marlins
5) Washington Nationals

Comments: Certainly a large gap here between the top 3 teams and the last 2... the Marlins overachieved some, and I'm not sure they can compete with the top 3. The Nationals should be really bad, so we can discount them. Up top, it's the pitching concerns of the Mets that have me putting them at #2. I'm not in love with this Phillies team, but I think the stellar young pitching of Cole Hamels and Brett Myers (if he can, um, stay out of trouble) will be enough for the Phils to take the East.


NL CENTRAL
1) St. Louis Cardinals
2) Milwaukee Brewers
3) Houston Astros
4) Chicago Cubs
5) Cincinnati Reds
6) Pittsburgh Pirates

Comments: To be blunt, this division sucks. Which isn't really a surprise, since it sucked last year, but not much has changed. I'll take the Cardinals as long as Carpenter and Pujols stay healthy. Brewers are young and talented but I don't think they're quite there yet. After that, it's anyone's guess. I feel confident that the Reds and Pirates will take up the rear, but I don't feel confident about much else.


NL WEST
1) Arizona Diamondbacks
2) San Diego Padres
3) Los Angeles Dodgers
4) San Francisco Giants
5) Colorado Rockies

Comments: I like the DBacks here... their pitching is not as good as the Pads, but they have a look of good hitters. Brandon Webb will anchor the rotation, I think the Big Unit will bounce back some, and Livan Hernandez improved a lot once he came over to Arizona. A lot of the offensive guys are a year away from becoming household names, but I like the direction Arizona is taking. They're my pick.


AWARDS
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore (CLE) - The most underrated player in the MLB, if only because people don't realize that he's the best CF in the MLB.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols (STL) - Still the best hitter in the MLB.

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana (MIN) - Should be taking aim at his 4th consecutive Cy Young.

NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb (ARI) - With Arizona a winning team, it's Webb's turn to take home the hardware.

AL Rookie of the Year: Alex Gordon (KC) - All the hype, finally time for him to produce.

NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Young (ARI) - Could be a 20/20 man as a rookie.


Playoffs
Yankees over Twins in 5
Indians over Angels in 4

Mets over Diamondbacks in 4
Cardinals over Phillies in 5

Yankees over Indians in 6
Mets over Cardinals in 7

Yankees over Mets in 6

World Series Champion: New York Yankees.

So... where do you disagree the most??

March Madness and Groupism

Jon Hanson and I have a post up on The Situationist on what March Madness and, more generally, our team allegiances and group affiliations, might say about us and human behavior.

We believe that the very same attributions that drive us toward caring so deeply about our schools and teams emerge in many other life contexts, some good, some not so good.

We hope you check out our post.

UCLA's Dynasty

Last night, I watched the HBO Sports documentary The UCLA Dynasty, which recaps (in a too-short 60 minutes) UCLA's run of 10 NCAA titles in 12 years under Coach John Wooden. Definitely worth a look when it re-airs (if you have not TiVoed it).

The show does a great job showing how the program played against the backdrop of the social and political upheaval of the late 1960s and early 1970s on issues of civil rights and Viet Nam. And it shows how activist and politically involved many of the players (including star players such as Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton were. For example, I never knew that Walton was arrested at an anti-war rally while in school.

Interestingly, Coach Wooden comes across as having been somewhat supportive of his players' activism, at least out of season. Wooden had strict short-hair/no-facial-hair rules during the season, but, for example, allowed the African-American players to express identity growing it away from the season. Similarly, in the recap to the incident where Walton was arrested, Wooden expresses support of the player's right to speak out, but only asks him to "keep an open mind" and to think through the consequences of his actions.

Perhaps this all is a product of its time in three senses.
First, athletes (especially college athletes) today are, as a whole, far less politically involved than they were--but so are college students generally.
Second, whereas the activism of the late 60s/early 70s came on the political left, most athletes' activism today comes from the political right, especially among the many devoutly Christian athletes.
Third, the activism never made its way onto the floor, probably because Wooden would not have allowed it. On the other hand, those athletes today who do take a political stand--Carlos Delgado and "God Bless America," Toni Smith and the national anthem, the role of God and Christ in a player's victory--all are on display on the playing field.

IKER CASILLAS - A NEW MILESTONE

Real Madrid & Spanish International goalkeeper IKERCASILLAS will equal the 68 International caps of legendarySpanish goalkeeper ARCONADA tomorrow in the importantmust win game against ICELAND at Palma de Mallorca.The 25 year old first dressed the national side jersey the3rd of June 2000 & since then has consolidated himselfas Spain´s Nº1 keeper.He now continues onwards with a great possiblity of

Fantasy Baseball Ranking: Starting Pitchers

We finish our fantasy baseball roundup with a look at the top 10 starting pitchers.

(1) Johan Santana - This is a no brainer... really, there's nothing I should even have to say here.

(2) Chris Carpenter - Carpenter has been a durable pitcher over the last 3 years, averaging over 210 IP over that span. He's also maintained a good ERA, and excellent WHIP in the low 1s. But he'd up at #2 because of the high number of strikeouts while maintaining a good K/BB ratio, whil allowing only about 21 HR per year. As an added bonus Carpenter has 12 CG and 7 SHO over the past 2 seasons. The peripherals look good, the actual numbers look good, and that's why Carpenter is in the #2 spot.

(3) Roy Oswalt - I have Carpenter as 2, but I think a case could certainly be made for Oswalt there as well. He's been just as durable (perhaps even more so) as Carpenter. Basically the differences are this... Oswalt's ERA has been lower (thanks in large part to allowing less HR than Carpenter), while Carpenter strikes out a few more batters and has a lower WHIP. It's close, but Oswalt falls in at 3.

(4) Jake Peavy - For the casual baseball fan, they might look at his 11-14 record and 4.09 ERA last year and think this 4 spot is a joke. Lucky for you you're smarter than the average bear and can recognize the goodness of Peavy. For one, that 4.09 ERA was fluky last year... yes, he gave up a few more HR and walked about 10 more batters than the previous year, but he allowed 25 more hits in 2006 than in 2005. That tends to be a stat that doesn't carry over too much from year to year. So I think the ERA will be down some this year. The good thing about Peavy his K/9 is over 9, and as long as the hits total comes down a little the WHIP should settle in at around 1.15. Not bad.

(5) Brandon Webb - Webb was really solid last year. Not spectacular, but solid. He does not post big strikeout numbers like the guys above him (not that his strikeout total is bad), but everything else is nice. The ERA was in the low 3s, the WHIP was low. In his 3 full years he has pitched at least 208 innings in each season. His number of hits allowed was a little low compared to previous years, but not outlandishly so. The key with Webb is that over the past 2 years his BB total has dramatically decreased... as long as he keeps that up, he's really good.

(6) Roy Halladay - Almost across the board, Halladay's numbers match up well with any other pitcher in the MLB... the reason's he's at #6, though, is that his strikeout totals have been pretty low compared to other top pitchers. His BB totals are great, so the ERA and WHIP is low, but the low K totals put him at #6.

(7) Carlos Zambrano - Like Halladay, the numbers are really good except for one category... that category was strikeouts for Halladay, but for Zambrano the problem is that his BB total is too high. He averaged nearly 5 BB/9 innings pitched, which isn't very good. On a positive note, he's been very durable, he strikes out a good number of batters, and he has kept the ERA low because he doesn't give up too many HRs.

(8) Felix Hernandez - Admittedly, this is a bit of a hunch. The peripherals are very good for someone his age, I'm just betting he's going to make the leap sooner rather than later. The Mariners don't really let him use his slider much (probably a good decision), but his K rates are still solid and his control is not bad. He gave up a few too many HRs, but he's still learning how to pitch. With his stuff, I think he'll have a great year at age 22, which is what he turns in early April. If the Mariners let him use his slider more, he'll be even better.

(9) John Lackey - I think Lackey always gets overlooked some, but he is usually among the best pitchers in the AL, and his past 2 seasons have been excellent. He strikes out nearly 1 batter per inning, his BB rates are pretty solid, and he just doesn't give up many HRs at all. There's a lot to like.

(10) John Smoltz - Smoltz will turn 40 in May, but he is still the ace of the Braves staff after a very good 2006 season. His transition back to the rotation from the pen is complete, and his K rate actually increased in 2006 from 2005, which is certainly positive considering his age. He's got great control, and has shown no durability concerns after spending 4 years in the bullpen... he's pitched around 230 innings each of the last 2 seasons.

What changes would you make?

CANNAVARO - GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR OR VISIONARY?

For FABIO CANNAVARO 2005-2006 were the best yearsof his professional life.Italian league winner with JUVENTUS,WORLD CUP 2006 Italian Captain & Champion, FranceFootball 2006 Golden Ball winner, 2006 FIFA World Player &a transfer to REAL MADRID. Perfect , right?Well no. Since joining Real Madrid his performance hasliterally been terrible, a total dissolution for fans, directives& media. Even the

SPANISH NATIONAL SQUAD & FC BARCELONA UPDATES

SPAIN faces its 2º test of fire this Wednesday, if it wishesto maintain alive its hopes of Euro Cup 2008 qualification.It will meet ICELAND at Palma de Mallorca & it must win,nothing else will do.To help boost confidence Spain will recover its 2 regulardefenders SERGIO RAMOS & CARLES PUYOL for thismatch (pictured below). In the transfer rumour area, its commented that BocaJuniors player RODRIGO

Issues in College Sports Lecture Series at the University of Memphis

The University of Memphis Sport and Leisure Commerce program is in the midst of hosting its 2nd Annual Issues in College Sports Lecture Series. The series features coaches, scouts, agents (including Jimmy Sexton), sports business professors, and sports law professors, among other distinguished guests. The series has been put together largely through the excellent work of University of Memphis Professor Richard Southall (pictured to left), who we recently blogged about in regards to the White v. NCAA lawsuit, and some of his students like Carrie Sordel and Charley Fausey. Here is a schedule of upcoming events (and if you would like to attend any of these discussions, directions to the University of Memphis are available at this link and all of the events will be held in Room 124 of Ball Hall).

Monday, March 26^th, 4:00p.m. - The Business of College Sports. (Ryan McPhail, Titus Jackson – student moderators)

Dr. Ronald Dick – Duquesne University

Dr. Mark Nagel – University of South Carolina

Dr. Kadie Otto – Western Carolina University

Mr. Jimmy Sexton – Memphis, TN

Dr. Nathan Tomasini – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Friday, April 6^th, 4:00p.m. - Division I College Recruiting: The good, the bad, and the ugly. (Ryan Ivey – student moderator)

Coach Jimmy Adams – Head Boys Basketball Coach, Raleigh-Egypt High School

Mr. Chad Alexander - Midwest Area Scout, Baltimore Ravens

Mr. Bobby Burton - Chief Operating Officer and Editor-in-chief Rivals.com

Dr. Joe Luckey – Director, Center for Athletic Academic Services, The University of Memphis

Dr. Fritz Polite – The University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Friday, April 13^th, 4:00p.m. - Congress, Intercollegiate Athletics, and Higher Education: Is college sports a tax-exempt enterprise or an unrelated business? (Shawn Fayard, Walt Barton - student moderators)

Prof. Paul Anderson – Marquette University Law School - National Sports Law Institute

Prof. John Colombo – The University of Illinois Law School

Prof. Michael McCann – Mississippi College School of Law

Dr. Dave Ridpath – Ohio University

Prof. Linda Sharp – University of Northern Colorado

Dr. Ellen Staurowsky – Ithaca College

Mr. Welch Suggs – University of Georgia

Friday, April 20^th, 4:00p.m. - White v. NCAA: Greed or Monopsony – A discussion of the case’s legal merits. (Carrie Sordel, Dawnyell Fletcher – student moderators)

Prof. Paul Batista – Texas A&M University

Mr. Tony Bonds – Suntrust Financial

Mr. Patrick Byrne – The University of Memphis

Mr. Ramogi Huma – College Athletes Coalition

Dr. Allen Sack – The University of New Haven

The Final Four is Set

With Florida getting back to the Final Four, and Georgetown coming back to beat North Carolina, the Final Four is set. Honestly, as boring as the first round was with the lack of upsets, it has made these later rounds better, because the quality of play of been high with a lot of good teams. I expect that trend to continue, because we're going to have 4 of the 6 or 7 best teams in the NCAA playing next weekend, and I'm not sure that was the case last year.

Overall, I would say this year's Tournament has not been as exciting as last year's (then again, no Tournament I can ever remember has been as exciting as the first 4 rounds last year), but I really think this year's Final Four will be a lot more exciting than last year.

Anyway, some questions for the Final Four, of which I don't have answers now (maybe later in the week!), but I think will be interesting.

- Is UCLA more suited to play Florida than they were last year in the Tournament?
- Will UCLA doubling on the posts be enough to stop Al Horford?
- Can Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green get open shots against the backcourt of UCLA?
- Can UCLA speed up the game enough to force Billy Donovan to take out Humphrey and put in another ballhandler to handle pressure?
- Who will get the best of what should be a great Oden vs. Hibbert matchup?
- Can anyone slow down Mike Conley?
- If Greg Oden gets in foul trouble, can the Buckeyes slow down the Hoyas down low?
- Can the Hoyas make outside shots against the Ohio St. zone?

Anyway, lots more to come, but these were just a few questions that will have to be answered in the Final Four... what are you most interesting in seeing?

MOTOGP JEREZ 07 - SPANIARDS FEEL AT HOME

Record crowd for any GP - 138, 200 people - jammed intothe JEREZ ( Spain ) race course to witness all 3 catagoriesof the SPANISH MOTO GP.Spaniards did well in all catagories, but did better in the 250ccrace with 1º going to current World Champ, JORGE LORENZO,& 2º to last years 125cc World Champ ALVARO BAUTISTA.( both pictured below on podium)The 250cc race was a spectacular 3 man battle

SPAIN 2 - DENMARK 1 - THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Here are all the goals of yesterdays game on VIDEO. Enjoy!

UCLA making a return trip to the Final Four!

First, w00t woot!!

In many wins, it wasn't a pretty win, because both teams were a little sloppy at times with the ball. However the Bruins wouldn't have it any other way, dominating the game with defense and timely shooting, and doing enough to beat a fantastic Kansas team. It was clear that no matter how deep and talented Kansas is, UCLA was the better team on Saturday.

The star of the game was Pac-10 Player of the Year Arron Afflalo, who had been in a shooting slump. He was 10-15 from the field (3-7 from downtown) for 24 points, but that doesn't even tell the whole story. At least twice he had the killer "end of shot clock" 3s... the kind where it looks like a guy is just trying to throw a desperation shot up... and then it went in. Those are spirit-breakers.

Meanwhile, Darren Collison did what he always does... he was 4/8 from the field, 2/3 from downtown, 4/4 from the line, and applied constant defensive pressure. Jay Bilas said something about how Collsion has "been every bit as good as Farmar." Well, that's a little off. Collison has been better than Farmar was. He's more efficient offensively, and he's a lot better defensively. Of course, Collison is better defensively than just about everyone.

Other kudos include to Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who was very active on both ends of the floor. Then there's Josh Shipp, especially for that big 3 at the end of the half. I thought Russell Westbrook came in and brought a good spark defensively. Aboya was active on the defensive end. It was a total team effort, especially defensively.

For Kansas, take nothing away from there, because I really think they are one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the country. Mario Chalmers was everywhere defensively. Brandon Rush played a really nice game, and Julian Wright is one of the best multi-skilled players in the country. I have a feeling they'll be back next year, once again playing to get to the Final Four. Heck, even if they lose 1 or 2 guys early, they're still good enough to get back.

So in the end, it was the experience, defensive tenacity, and timely shooting that gets UCLA back to the Final Four. What a game. Now they'll just await for the winner of Florida and Oregon, and knowing UCLA and Ben Howland, they're probably hoping for revenge against Florida.

SPAIN 2 - DENMARK 1 - OVER THE 1º HURDLE

SPAIN jumped over the first of its 2 hurdles tonight afterbeating 2 -1 DENMARK in front of 85,000 fans. It was a do or die game, a must win clash that showed the tensionin the air & thinned in the players minds.Denmark are a tough nut to crack. They started well, only to lose JENSEN with a red card ( double yellow) in the first 25 mins. Spain took advantage & with a great pass fromIniesta came

SPAIN - DENMARK : POSSIBLE LINE - UPS

Tonight - 22.00 hrs (Sp.Time) - the 1º of two do or die games,if Spain wishes to qualify for the 2008 Euro Cup, the othergame is scheduled for next Wednesday against Iceland.SPAIN vs DENMARK meet tonight at the mytical staduim ofReal Madrid, the "Santiago Bernabeu"(see below) tonight infront of 85,000 fans. A staduim which traditionally brings in thespirit & magic of historical games & nights.The

Elite 8 Preview

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch much of the action on Friday (though enough to say that was clearly a travel by Jeff Green), so instead I'll make some Elite 8 picks.

Ohio St. vs. Memphis
You know what, I kinda like Memphis here. I feel like people are still underrating Memphis... on ESPN Dick Vitale said something about them overachieving, but I think that's selling them short. I mean, they just beat a really good Texas A&M team in San Antonio. They didn't have a tough schedule, but this is a superb team. Memphis is really athletic, shoots the ball well, and they have size down low to play with Oden (though Dorsey has to be careful about the fouls. Ohio St. is a slight favorite, but I like Memphis right now.

Kansas vs. UCLA
You know my pick here... Kansas struggled mightily with Southern Illinois, a GREAT defensive team but only average offensive team. UCLA is another great offensive team but a little better than the Salukis offensively. But seriously, this should be an absolutely fantastic game. I'll take UCLA.

Florida vs. Oregon
Oregon can beat anyone because they are such good shooters... we know that. But, I think things will be a little harder going against Florida. The difference between Florida and Butler or Winthrop is that the Gators big men are really athletic, and can stay with guys on the perimeter and not give up open shots. That can they can score down low, especially Noah. I like Florida to get back to the Final Four.

North Carolina vs. Georgetown
This might be the most fascinating matchup of the weekend just because of the contrasting styles. North Carolina likes to run on every possession, Georgetown is a patient, half-court team. The Tar Heels have struggled this year when forced to play a halfcourt game, and Georgetown can make them do that. I like Georgetown to control the tempo, get the ball down low, and beat the Tar Heels in what should be another great game.

What are your picks?

New Sports Law Scholarship

New this week:

M. Christine Holleman, Recent Development, Fantasy foot-ball: illegal gambling or legal game of skill?, 8 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF LAW & TECHNOLOGY 59 (2006)

Aaron Levy, Note, A risky bet: the future of pay-to-play online fantasy sports, 39 CONNECTICUT LAW REVIEW 325 (2006)

Paul D. Trumble, Comment, “Knickel” and dime issues: an unexplored loophole in New York’s genetic discrimination statute and the viability of genetic testing in the sports employment context, 70 ALBANY LAW REVIEW 771 (2007)

SPAIN vs DENMARK - UPDATE

All the Spanish sports dailys today agree that the currentdebate Morientes vs Torres to accompany David Villa upfrontin tomorrows game against DENMARK has been resolved.It seems that FERNANDO MORIENTES will start, judging bytraining set pieces & practice games, that indicate, that it willbe so.Sports daily "marca" even dare to publish a possible line-upaccording to their "experts":Casillas, Ángel

O.J. Mayo = Still a Punk

If you haven't already, check out this video from Mayo's last game.

With about a minute left in the game, he tapped the ball away for a steal, then got a pass and was open on the break... where he decided to toss the ball off the backboard, slam it down, and then toss the ball into the stands. Not like a flip, a full out throw into the stands. This coming right after the story of his recruitment.

I'm definitely happy that UCLA never went after this guy recruiting.

4 teams advance to Elite 8

Some quick thoughts:

- Great effort by Southern Illinois, and they did exactly what they had to do to stay in the game. They slowed things down, made it a halfcourt game, and got in the shorts of Kansas on every pass, dribble, and shot. In the end, Kansas was just a little too athletic for them off the dribble, but the Salukis have a great effort.

- Honestly, I'm not sure why every announcer was so confused at the refs taking 1.1 seconds off the clock. Seemed pretty clear to me that the ball bounced inbounds.

- After all of the clutch shots that Law made all season, who'da thought that his missed layup might have been the difference in the game? Shocking.

- Well the Tennessee/Ohio St. went how I thought for the most part, albeit in a manner that I didn't think. I thought Tennessee would pose a lot of problems for the Buckeyes, and they did, but I didn't quite think they'd have a 20 point lead at one point. Great job by the Buckeyes in the 2nd half to just continually get to the rim.

- I've been talking about how good Conley is even before it became popular to do so... but seriously, how good was he in this game? He got in some foul trouble, but he finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Think about this... he's a true freshman with a suspect jumpshot, but I'm not so sure he isn't the best PG in America. He gets in the lane at will, he has unbelievable vision and is a great passer, and he extremely quick defensively. Last year I raved on and on about Marcus Williams... well, Conley's better. And he doesn't even have a jumpshot yet.

- UCLA... takin' care of business. Saturday's West Regional Final between Kansas and UCLA should be a heck of a game.

- In Non-Tourney news, the much maligned Tubby Smith is now the head coach of the Gophers. For proximity reasons, the Gophers are probably my 2nd favorite team after UCLA, and I couldn't be happier. Kentucky has struggled for the past couple of seasons, but consider some things:

1) 14 out of the past 16 Tournaments is pretty good.
2) He can win with his own players... from 2003-2005, Kentucky lost 12 regular season games.
3) He hasn't lost his touch recruiting. People forget, in 2004 Joe Crawford, Randolph Morris, and Rajon Rondo were all top 25 recruits. Things haven't worked out as well as hoped there, but he's getting good players.
4) Getting back to the Tournament within 2 years in Minnesota will be considered a success with what they have in the program right now... I think Tubby is certainly capable of that.

SPANISH NATIONAL TEAM. MORIENTES OR TORRES?

(courtesy of "Marca")No "Liga" this weekend, only the important SPAIN vsDENMARK clash, a must win affair.The current debate is, who is going to be DAVID VILLA´scompanion up front: Fernando Morientes or Fernando Torres.If we follow statistics Morientes is the leading nationalgoal scorer in "la liga" with 11 goals, therefore, he shouldbe from the start. Plus he is the club teammate of Villa

VALENCIA BEAT REAL MADRID FOR ALEXIS

He is the new defensive promise of Spanish Football ¤tly plays for GETAFE, until 30 of June 2007.ALEXIS, as of the 1st of July , will be a new player forVALENCIA CF who has ( according to Sp.press) cometo an agreement ( club & player) until 2013 for a price of6M€, plus Valencia will transfer 2 young promises - Pallardo& Hernandez - over to Getafe.This may surprise some, asof last month, the

SCHUSTER NEXT COACH OF REAL MADRID?

BERNARD SCHUSTER, ex-Barcelona, ex-Real Madrid& ex-Atletico de Madrid, is said (source - "AS") to have a verbalagreement with REAL MADRID president, to take overfrom Fabio Capello on the 1 st of July.The German coach,currently of GETAFE,is considered by Directives& fans the ideal man to takeover Real & give the teama "new" philosophy after thisseasons poor performance.Schuster was/is considered

Sweet 16 Preview

Time for the highly anticipated preview and my picks for the game.

West Region

(1) Kansas vs. (4) Southern Illinois
Obviously the Salukis have the defense to keep this game competitive, but do they have the offensive firepower? I'm not so sure. Jamaal Tatum is their best offensive player, but even he is just a 44% shooter. The defense will keep it close, but in the end, I think Kansas just has too many offensive weapons.

(2) UCLA vs. (3) Pittsburgh
The key is whether or not Pittbrurgh can get the ball inside to Aaron Gray, and whether or not he can finish and get the Bruins big men into foul trouble, because then they're vulnerable. The trouble is, Gray hasn't been all that great lately, and the guards are going to have a hard time getting him the ball in good spots because of the pressuring defense of UCLA's guards. UCLA has to play better defensively than they did against Indiana, but I do like UCLA to pull off a low-scoring win and advance for a meeting with the Jayhawks.

South Region

(1) Ohio St. vs. (5) Tennessee
As I've said all along, I think the Vols will provide big matchup problems for the Buckeyes. Defensively, the Buckeyes are best in a 2-3 zone, because they have a big guy that's pretty good in the middle. The only trouble with the zone is that it basically dares people to shoot from the outside, and Tennessee can do that well. If the Buckeyes go man-to-man, Wayne Chism can pull Oden out from under the basket, clearing the lane for guys like Chris Lofton and Ramar Smith. All that said, I'd love to be a brave man and pick the Vols, but I'll go with the favorite in Ohio St., because for all of the matchup problems Tennessee will cause Ohio St., Oden causes those same problems for the Vols.

(2) Memphis vs. (3) Texas A&M
It seems like a lot of people are just assuming the Aggies will roll into the Elite 8, but wait a minute here. Memphis is good. Real good. They didn't face a lot of competition in C-USA, but a 16 point win over Nevada with Douglas-Roberts only playing 23 minutes is nothing to sneeze at. They're capable of a win, although I do still like Texas A&M for a few reasons: a) It's in San Antonio, 2) Chris Douglas-Roberts might not play, and even if he does he probably won't be 100%, and 3) That Law fella.

Midwest Region

(1) Florida vs. (5) Butler
Admittedly, I am a little surprised that Butler is this far. I didn't think they'd beat ODU, and I definitely didn't think they would beat Maryland. That's how my Tourney picks this year have gone. That said, I'll be completely shocked if they do manage to beat the Gators, because Al Horford is better than anything Butler has inside, but Butler is able to stay with anyone because they take care of the ball (only 9.4 turnovers per game), and they're capable of making a lot of 3s. A nice formula, if you can follow it, and Butler has this year. But Florida is a little too good.

(3) Oregon vs. (7) UNLV
I think this is a bad matchup for Oregon because they like to get out and run and take a lot of shots, and UNLV will slow the pace down. Heck, all you have to do is look at Oregon's first 2 games... they eeked out a win over a deliberate Miami (OH) team, and they handled a good, but fast-paced Winthrop team. I think this will be more like the former, but UNLV is better than Miami. The Runnin' Rebels are back... Lon Kruger, please come coach the Gophers.

East Region

(1) North Carolina vs. (5) USC
The Trojans were able to beat Texas pretty solidly last week, but it helped that they could focus on stopping 3 players, and as it turned out completely shutting down 1 of them was enough to win. That's not going to work against North Carolina, who attack in many ways with many different people. USC's had a nice Tourney run and Pruitt & Young (that sounds like a law firm) have the individual talent to compete, but North Carolina is too good and too deep.

(2) Georgetown vs. (6) Vanderbilt
Sort of like Butler, Vandy can stay in any game because they make a lot of shots... and Foster & Byars are really good. But I'm not sure they can hang with the Hoyas inside. We know what Jeff Green is capable of... but Roy Hibbert was the best Hoyas in round 2, and Patrick Ewing Jr. impresses me more and more everytime I see him. The Commodores will keep it close with shooting, but too much Green, too much Hibbert, and Georgetown advances.

I know I basically went with the favorites, but that's how I see it... what are your picks?

Brooklyn Law Prof Takes on the NFL

Wendy Seltzer, a visiting assistant professor at the Brooklyn Law School, is embroiled in an intellectual property battle with the National Football League. Seltzer has been detailing her battle with the league over her posting of an NFL clip from Youtube on her own blog for a while. Yesterday, ars technica picked up the story, which has since been reported in the mainstream media (I heard about this through fark).

No, Seltzer didn't post a clip of a hard hit, a long pass, or an impressive run up the middle. Rather, she posted the NFL's copyright notice, which most football fans have seen numerous times on TV:

This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience, and any other use of this telecast or of any pictures, descriptions or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited.

According to Seltzer, she wanted to demonstrate to her students that, from a legal perspective, the NFL's statement was false. Namely, the NFL's warning fails to make any mention of "fair use."

Likely unaware that it was dealing with an Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer, the NFL pursued its Digital Millenium Copyright Act remedy, asking Youtube to take down the clip. Seltzer filed a counter-notification, claiming that her posting represented fair use.

As a blogger who regularly lifts copyrighted images (but so far, no video clips) for educational purposes, it may be obvious that my sympathies lie with Professor Seltzer. I've long thought that law professors who blog could claim a fair amount of fair use protection for images (those blogs sponsored by deep-pocketed publishers seem to avoid possibly copyrighted images). However, I have to admit that were anyone to ask me to take down a picture the rights to which they own, I would probably pull it off the blog.

ROBERTO CARLOS TO FENERBAHCE?

Been travelling all day today & found this news on my returnhome.Real Madrid´s ROBERTO CARLOS has accepted a 2 yearoffer to play for the Turkish ( Istambul ) side, FERNERBAHCE,according to "AS".However another paper "Marca" comment that he is currentlyonly talking & may think about signning. Who´s right?Independently, there maybe goodreasons for doing so. The Turkishclub wishes to build a "super"

"LA LIGA" - LEADING SCORER & GOALKEEPER AFTER 27 ROUNDS

Heres at some statistics on the SPANISH 1º DIVISION - "La Liga"- after 27 Ruonds. SFS receives requests from its readers for thenumbers.CURRENT LEADING GOAL SCORER*1- Kanouté (Sevilla) - 18 goals2 - Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 17 goals3 - Diego Milito (Zaragoza) - 17 goals4 - Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid) - 14 goals5 - Morientes (Valencia) - 11 goals6 - Villa (Valencia) - 10 goals7 - Tamudo (Espanyol

Fantasy Baseball Ranking: Outfielders

Time to move on, as I hope to have these done before the actual start of the season... time for the top 10 outfielders.

(1) Carlos Beltran - Assuming he can come close to matching his numbers from last year, Beltran is one of the premier fantasy players in baseball. He cracked 40 HR for the first time in his career in 2006, which was probably partially a fluke (previous career high was 29), but was also the result of him showing better plate patience than he has ever shown before. He also has a remarkable career SB% of 87%, which is awesome. The 116 RBI and 127 Runs he had in 2006 don't hurt either.

(2) Alfonso Soriano - Admittedly Soriano still makes me nervous, although the move from the spacious Nationals stadium to the Friendly Confines should help. He showed surprisingly good plate discipline last year (as compared to his previous years) with 67 BB, which was big... leading to 46 HR and 41 2B. In real life he did more harm than good stealing bases last year, but in fantasy terms 41 SB from a guy with this much power is awesome.

(3) Vladimir Guerrero - He is slowly declining, but you can still count on him to hit .315+, hit over 30 HR, and over 110 RBI. Just a solid, dependable hitter.

(4) Lance Berkman - He's another guy whose power numbers were a little out of whack, but if he can come close to matching that again he's a great pick. 46 HR, 136 RBI is pretty decent.

(5) Manny Ramirez - One of the best hitters of his generation, though he sometimes gets overlooked because of the personality ('Manny being Manny'). Don't look now, but he's in the top 50 for RBI for a career, and he'll reach the 500 HR mark this year as long as he stays healthy. He's not really slowing down either... the OBP was great, and the SLG was over .600. If he can keep it up for another 4-5 years, he can go down as one of the 30 hitters ever. I'm not kidding.

(6) Carl Crawford - Another one of the do it all types... the SB are obviously really nice, but he also hit 18 HR, 20 2B, and 16 3B last season. The doubles should go up some, and the rest of the numbers look real good.

(7) Grady Sizemore - I just love this guy, and think he's one of the most underrated players in the game. Seriously, he's one of the 10 best players in the MLB right now (in part because of the defense). High average, good OBP (which helps to score a lot of runs), and at age 24 he hit 28 HR, 53 2B, and 11 3B. And then he stole 22 SB for good measure. Just an absolutely fantastic player.

(8) Jason Bay - I almost wish Bay would get traded somewhere so people would realize how good he is... over the past couple of years he's been good for around a .290 average, 30 HR, 100 RBI, and 100 R... his 2Bs did take a big drop in 2006, but we'll have to see if that was a fluke thing. A very nice pick here.

(9) Matt Holliday - He got the nod over Ichiro because he's still improving and had some excellent power numbers last season. And he plays in Coors. But hey, 34 HR and 45 2B are both good numbers, and at age 27 he should just be entering his prime. He doesn't get written about a lot because the Rockies haven't been good for a while, but with Garrett Atkins the Rockies offense has some good young pieces.

(10) Carlos Lee - The raw numbers are great from last year, but he was a little better after being traded to the hitter's haven of Texas. Now, of course, he's back in the NL in Houston, which may drop things a little. But he's capable of hitting 30+ HRs and 110+ RBI, which he's been good for the past few years.

Your thoughts?

SPAIN BEGINS ITS CONCENTRATION FOR UPCOMING CRUCIAL EURO GAMES

The SPANISH NATIONAL squad (see below post for full list)has arrived in Madrid to begin its concentration & training forthe crucial do or die games against DENMARK - on Saturday -& ICELAND the following Wednesday night.The national squad will train at "Las Rozas" (Madrid)all week until they play at Real Madrid´s mytical home groundthe "Bernabeu" against Denmark in front of 85,000 fansthey hope

REAL MADRID EYES DANI ALVES - MORE TRANSFER RUMOURS

Here is the beginning of another ongoing saga, the rumourson DANIEL ALVES are flying left to right & back again.This is the cover of Sports daily "marca" today. Basically ittells us that REAL MADRID will make a serious attempt tolure the Brazilian & Seville FC player to the "Bernabeu".The other interesting note is the "small" title above; "...aperfect partner for Cristiano Ronaldo". Interesting