Mavs in Trouble

Watched the Mavs lose at home to NJ last night; the 1st of a stretch of 9 games in 12 days.  They look old and uninspired.  Through a combination of age, conditioning, and injury Dirk is only a shell of the player he was last year.  I hear that they are desperately looking for a way to trade Marion to free up money for their run at Howard and Williams this summer.  As for this year, I'm skeptical they can make any kind of run with the brutal schedule they face and mileage piling up on this core group of players.

S

NCA Champs - 3rd Time!

My daughter Shelby's competitive cheer team, Pro Spirit of McKinney, TX won their division at NCA Nationals this weekend.  This was Shelby's 3rd NCA National Championship in 6 years, and her first in a Senior division.  NCA Nationals featured over 17,000 cheerleaders from over 30 states and nearly 40,000 spectators.  Shelby's team defeated 13 other Senior Large Coed teams from across the U.S. in the 2-round finals.  The kids work nearly year-round always pointing toward NCA finals in February.  We are proud parents.  How sweet it is!

Too see the video, follow the link below and in the search box that appears, type "pro spirit 4".  This is a partial video, but gives you an idea of how amazing these kids are.

http://videos.varsity.com//competitions/NCA

S

The Playoffs have Started.

Airline won the opening round game by 21 over Terrebonne without the 2 all-district players from last year out with injuries.
Next Up McKinley at home Friday.

Also, Bossier, Huntington, Loyola, Green Oaks, Byrd, Mansfield, Many, Plain Dealing,Evangel,NCHS and Zwolle all Advanced. Only Capt Shreve, Homer, Northwood and Southwood Lost in week 1.
In a messed up bracket, Loyola gets top seed Bossier in 2nd Round.

The Girls side as usual has a very strong NLA field.

J.

Phoenix for a Week.

For a town with Major League Sports and a Major College, I am a bit caught off guard by the lack of sports information or crazies.

The Diamond Backs are definitely the major discussions in the corners I have visited.
Strange World out Here!
The PGA is even in Arizona and not much to discuss.

J.

What if year at AHS?

Our alma mater has run into some horrible luck with injuries.

The Vikes go into the playoffs as the number 3 seed, but they will be without the D1 point guard for the playoffs

In a season that should have been a year with a trophy, they suffered two big injuries First they lose the starting center before the seasoon and now they lose All State PG.

Terrible luck!

j

Lefty at Pebble

First, the last 3 winners on PGA Tour were 7 shots, 8 shots and 6 shots back heading into the final round. Will we ever see 3 tournaments in a row won by players trailing by 6 or more.  I think not!
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Phil:
Watching Phil take apart Pebble was a reminder of what only a few golfers like he and Tiger are capable of doing at any given time.  A final round  64 on Sunday with Tigger watching is impressive! 
Or is it just another tease?
It confirms what we has always known, if he could just putt a little better than average week end and week out, he would have 60 wins instead of an impressive 40.

In their last 12 head to head rounds, Lefty is 8-3-1.  5-0 in last 5 tourneys since Harmon became his coach.
 There career record in matches head to head 13-13-4. this stat amazes me and confuses all perception.
I never expected it, but maybe we should not be surprised that when Phil is mentally paying attention he is scary.
  Notah Begay, once said in an apologetic manner, that even though Tiger was his friend, Phil can do things with a golf ball, no one else can.
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I still  feel Tigger is misreading his putts and he knows it, which is making everything seem off for him.
His new swing looks good and the distance control is correctable on his irons.
He will win before Augusta on sheer talent and a good putting day.
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Did I mention Romo is good, 9 Birdies in last two Rounds.
The team finished 23 under, Woods shot 8 under. 
Romo unlike the other Am partners did not get any strokes, but he did play the front Tees. 
Still an amazing number of under par shots for Romo. 
Woods has 18 birdies in 4 days, I would venture to guess that Romo had around the same number.

j

Why I Love College Hoops

Because the little guys are included!  A quick look at the most recent AP men's poll find the following small, non-power schools in the top 25:  Wichita St., Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Murray St., San Diego St., Marquette, and UNLV.  I know Marquette is in the Big East, but still.  Also, just outside the top 25 are Creighton, Temple, Long Beach St., New Mexico, Harvard, and St. Louis.  I really love that NCAA basketball is something that any school can be competitive in with a little attention and a good coach.  I just wish the selection committee would give more love to these conferences instead of treating us to 19-11 Big Ten or Big East schools.

S

MLB Free Agent Market

I read an interesting article today about one of the consequences of the Moneyball/sabermetrics revolution.  The free agent market for average and marginal players has dried up.  GM’s have figured out that the veterans with mediocre production do not warrant the kind of money they used to get.  Instead, they find that many of their Triple-A players can be brought up to produce at that level, leaving them with more flexibility to sign the really good and star players.  I used to wonder all the time why teams spent so much money on re-tread players.  Now they’re less inclined to do so.  The difference makers will still get the outrageous contracts, but everyone else is being left to sign small deals with incentives for much shorter terms.  The math shows that the real talent is rare and worth more than ever, but just having experience at logging at-bats or innings won’t get you where it used to.

Also, I enjoyed Moneyball.  Like most sports movies I thought it was somewhat misleading and over-simplified things, but the movie was well done and enjoyable.

S

Have you seen Jeremy Lin and the Knicks?

This may be a flash in the time, but the Knicks new PG from Harvard is "Old School" enjoyment.
NY is 5-0 since he took over the position.

In his 2nd year (he reportedly was almost cut this year) Lin had never played 30 minutes until last week.
Avgs since Feb 4.  5 Games:

REB	AST	BLK	STL	PF	TO	PTS
4.2	8	0.25	2	2.4	4.6	26.8

Kobe as always is at his finest always giving Lin credit:

“I don’t even know what the (expletive) is going on. What the (expletive) is going on? Who is this kid? I’ve heard about him and stuff like that, but what’s he been doing? Is he getting like triple doubles or some (expletive)? He’s averaging 28 and eight? No (expletive). If he’s playing well, I’ll just have to deal with him.”

J

Woods - Romo-- Bob Stoops Reputation is taking a hit on the Links.

How do I explain Woods and Romo pairing?
Woods started making putts and was the best player on the course.
Woods shots a 67 today with 6 birdies.

Romo is playing the front tees, but obviously hits it as far or farther than most on tour.  (490 yards. Driver-9 Iron.)
Feherty interviews him afterwards and laughs at Romo about not making any putts, then says
 "and you have 5 natural birdies!"

Then as my son is watching with me, we see Woods break out in a laugh on last green when he finally hugs Romo.
My son, says "Woods never looks happy unless he is in an interview", what happened?
My answer- PURE ROMO.

Sandbagger of the week:
Bob Stoops. I didn't bother to check the the handicap, but his team is 21 Under and his playing partner is only -1.
   No Honor in Norman.  20 Under with Handicap.
The only worse Sandbaggers are a couple of CEO's.

J