10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (3/30-4/1)

10. LOGO Plays “Showgirls” All Day Sunday
            My wife tripped over this one (I swear). The movie is apart of LOGO’s “great American cinema” series. Apparently, LOGO has a much different idea of great filmmaking than the majority of the American public.

9. Red Sox Announce Daniel Bard Will Start Year in Rotation

            Because anytime you can screw up your bullpen on the fleeting chance that a guy who hasn’t started a game in 5 years might be decent at the back end of your rotation, you have to do it.

8. Johan Santana Named Mets Opening Day Starter

            It’s really easy to forget that Santana was once the most dominant pitcher in baseball. Even with him, the Mets will struggle to stay out of the NL East basement, but good for him for returning after missing the entire 2011 season.

7. Ubaldo Jimenez Gets Revenge on Troy Tulowitzki With Fastball to the Elbow

            Aside from the fact that Tulowitzki is on one of my 4 fantasy teams (sadly, I couldn’t tell you which one), I love every part of this story. I like that Ubaldo was pissed off about not getting a contract extension when he was still with the Rockies while Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez did. I love that Tulowitzki basically said that Ubaldo needs to shut the hell up and move on with his career. I love that Rockies manager Jim Tracy went on the record after the incident and said that he has lost all respect for Jimenez. It’s a damn shame that the Rockies and Indians won’t play again this season.

6. Notre Dame Knocks Off Lady Huskies in Overtime

            I didn’t watch a second of this game, but I’m 99% sure that this score results in no Geno Auriemma for several months.

5. Kobe Bryant Goes 3-21 in Lakers Victory Over Hornets

            Thankfully, Kobe’s career worst shooting performance wasn’t enough from preventing the Lakers advancing No Credentials in the Sportsbook $20,000 survivor pool.

4. Celtics Thump Heat

            If every Celtics game were played on Sunday afternoon on ABC, Rajon Rondo would be the greatest point guard in NBA history. 

3. David Reutimann Takes Win 200 Away From Hendrick Motorsports

            It’s not fair to be so hard on Reutimann, who was shooting for the best possible finish to keep his car in the top 35 in owner points, so let’s play it safe and blame NASCAR. Let’s say only the top 25 in points were guaranteed a starting spot every week (there’s really only 20 cars that have a realistic shot to win every race). This would prevent an also ran team like Reutimanns from keeping an ailing car on the race track one lap too long and completely altering the complexion of a race in the final laps. While Sunday’s finish was certainly memorable (Ryan Newman won by the way), we were robbed off a classic 4-lap sprint to the finish between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that outcome would be better than the one we got Sunday.   

2. Anthony Davis and His Uni-Brow Take Over Against Louisville

            If I were a fan of the Bobcats, Wizards, Hornets, Raptors, Cavaliers, or Kings, I’d be cheering for my team to lose every game to get some more ping balls for the draft lottery this May. Anthony Davis is that good.

1. Down Big, Kansas Storms Back to Top Ohio St.

            Jared Sullinger didn’t strike me as the sort of player that could shoot his team out of a victory, but that’s what happened Saturday night. Kansas will be heavy underdogs against Kentucky, but they do have the necessary depth in the frontcourt to give the Wildcats problems.

                                                                                                         

Sunday Draft (2-20-11) Round 4 of the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

4-37 = Jon Lester, SP, Red Sox – I love Lester this year. Even if he pitches as well as he did the past two seasons, he has a chance to sneak up to 22 or 24 wins with the powerful offense he has supporting him.

           

4-38 = Buster Posey, C-1B, Giants – Posey looks like the National League version of Joe Mauer, with a little less average and a bit more power.

4-39 = Jason Heyward, OF-RF, Braves – The only thing that held Heyward back last season was a couple of pesky injuries. His excellent plate discipline gives him the chance to a top-10 player this season. You’ll probably have to snag him in the 3^rd round if you want him on your team.

4-40 = C.C. Sabathia, SP, Yankees – I can’t figure out why most fantasy prognosticators have C.C. ranked so low. The last time I checked, he still pitches for the New York Yankees. Even more important, he has the option to opt out of his contract after this season (which based on how much money Cliff Lee got paid, Sabathia better be opting out of his contract), which means he is probably pitching to earn the last big contract of his career.  

4-41 = Dan Uggla, 2B, Braves – Uggla can be frustrating at times due to his high strikeout rate, but second basemen that consistently smack over 30 homers per season don’t grow on trees.

4-42 = Victor Martinez, C-1B, Tigers – Assuming Miguel Cabrera gets the help he needs and is ready to go for opening day, Victor Martinez is the perfect compliment for him. Victor will rarely have to play catcher this season, which means you will get more at-bats out of him than your typical backstop.

4-43 = Justin Upton, OF-RF, Diamondbacks – Upton was picked anywhere from the mid-2^nd to early 3^rd-round in fantasy drafts last year, but regressed in almost every offensive category. This is a guy that if he can ever figure it out, could deliver top-10 value.

4-44 = Jose Bautista, 3B-RF, Blue Jays – Bautista came out of nowhere to hit 54 home runs last season. While no one should expect to see that again, would you complain if you got 35 homers out of a 3^rd Basemen you took towards the end of the 4^th round?

4-45 = Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Rockies – Jimenez was the best pitcher in baseball the first half of last year before sputtering down the stretch. Reports out of spring training are favorable so far, so expect Jimenez to come out of the gates strong again (and then maybe think about trading him in late June).

4-46 = Jimmy Rollins, SS, Phillies – I would not take Jimmy Rollins here, but in your draft someone will probably already have taken him at the end of the 3^rd round. Rollins has been in steady decline the past few seasons.

4-47 = Brandon Phillips, 2B, Reds – Cincinnati had one of the most powerful offenses in the National League last season, but Phillips actually had a down year. If he bounces back in 2011, expect a career year.

4-48 = Josh Johnson, SP, Marlins – If Johnson wasn’t such an injury risk, you could make a case for him being taken in the range of Felix Hernandez and Tim Lincecum. This is the perfect spot to gamble on him.