MARCH IS HERE!!!

What an opening to March this past weekend. Saturday and Sunday had incredible action going on. Unranked Texas Tech took out Texas, while Duke managed to beat NC State by just one point. BC led for 2/3rds of the game agains # 2 UNC. UCONN let WVU get within three points. Georgetown went to OT against Marquette, and won in a sloppy finish.

The above action only covers a fraction of the teams who will make it past Selection Sunday. So far, everyone I have talked to is predicting how wild this tournament will be, and we haven't even played the conference tournaments so far. Everyday at work I see people reading any article they can on these teams, forget the bubble teams. That's only the tip of the iceberg though. You have to pay attention to the odds Vegas puts down on the games, largely through websites like Covers.com and Scoresandodds.com.

Keep in mind the casinos make the odds to disperse the amount they have to pay out to both sides. For example, why was the spread so big between the Giants and Patriots (14)? If the patriots didn't win by more than 14, those bets on the Patriots didn't pay out. So while the Patriots were an overwhelming favorite, and while they certainly attracted more action, it was unlikely they would win by that much - given the last game of the regular season they played. With fewer people betting on the Giants, things were balanced. Vegas could care less which team wins, they have to prevent massive payouts, and create odds using everything from algorithms to scouting reports - and they usually get it right. Therefore, when building your bracket - pay attention to the odds, and realize why the line/spread and the over-under are the way they are. Now factor in team records, RPI strength of schedule, injury reports, bracket pairings, travel time, momentum, etc., and picking a bracket for real becomes an art form. The most important thing to do, though, is watch as much college basketball as possible, which I have been since December - thanks to my cable package.

Continuing on now...Did anyone see the Met's first preseason of the game, with Church and Delgado running into each other. Hopefully that's not a foreshadowing of things to come for the season.

Apparently Joba Chamberland has nipple rings? Como what? That's OK, and not Don Mattingly's sideburns?

Speaking of George, his son Hank decided to talk trash about Red Sox nation. I couldn't agree with him more - what a bunch of BS it is. It was created by ESPN, because they fell in love with the dirtbag-cowboy look players like Nixon and Millar and Varitek promoted. And the more ESPN covered it, the more Red Sox players bought into it. But the right way to handle it, is not paying any attention to "THEM." When the Yankees were winning in 1996 to 2000, the Red Sox never mattered, and were barely mentioned. The same happened the Season Aaron $(#*$@ Boone knocked them out of the ALCS, which, by the way, is my favorite sporting moment of all time. Don't give the entirely contrived notion of Red Sox Nation any credibility by responding to it.

The Jets decided to sign two of the best offensive linemen in the business - Jenkins and Faneca. Why couldn't they do this two seasons ago, when Pennigton was still a viable QB? And why did they let Kendall go for a difference of $1 million. Imagine what their line would be like now, if they had held on to him.

The Giants lost their star safety and two linebackers, and probably any hope of repeating. Maybe they are trying the same front-office genius strategy as the Jets.

Manchester United is now only 1 point back of Aresnal. Apparently their coach still believes everyone is out to "kick" them. Funny, since Ronoldo is the most fouled player in the league at the moment.