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      Brian Wilson injures ribcage, will auction off green shoes to help relief efforts in Japan

      March 20, 2011 /
      San Francisco Giants pitchers Brian Wilson (L) and Tim Lincecum stretch before the start of Game 3 of Major League Baseball’s World Series in Arlington, Texas, October 30, 2010. REUTERS/Mike Stone (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      A headline like that can only involve Brian Wilson.

      The 2010 MLB saves leader wore a pair of green shoes during a spring training game against the Angels on Thursday to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. He will auction off said green spikes, with all the proceeds going to help the relief efforts in Japan. (Visit his website for the deets.)

      In a small twist of irony, the green kicks didn’t bring him much luck. Wilson strained a ribcage muscle in the same game and might miss Opening Day now. He will be re-evaluated on Monday and if he’s out for an extended period of time, there’s reason to believe he could start the season on the DL.

      Fantasy Spin: Owners trying to prepare for their upcoming draft can probably draft Wilson with confidence, although it might not be a bad idea to snag Sergio Romo or Jeremy Affeldt with one of your last picks because they would fill in for the breaded one if need be. Affeldt collected four saves last year for the Giants, but Romo is actually the more logical choice to take over the ninth inning duties. He was lights out down the stretch last year as Wilson’s setup man, finishing with an impressive 2.18 ERA and a 5.00 K/BB ratio.

      External Sports, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Bracket Update: Sunday Morning

      March 20, 2011 /

      Obviously, Pitt losing was a tough blow for my bracket. Anytime you drop a Final Four team in the first weekend, it hurts. But in the grand scheme of things, Pitt’s loss is not a bracket killer, at least not in the two pools (~20 players each) that I’m in.

      At this point, I still just need Ohio State to beat Kansas in the Final and I’ll probably finish in the money. It would help if Duke made the Final Four and if Florida didn’t — the best thing for those of us that had Pitt would be for Butler to make a repeat appearance in the Final Four, because then no one but the faithful Butler alumni would be capitalizing on Pitt’s loss.

      How are Sagarin and Pomeroy’s rating systems faring so far? Pretty darn good. Teams with a three-point Sagarin advantage are 26-4 (87%) so far (with USC, Louisville, G-Town and Pitt the four losers). Teams with a two- to three-point Sagarin advantage are just 1-2, but teams with a slight (zero- to two-point) Sagarin advantage are an impressive 9-2. Usually anything under two points is a toss-up, but Sagarin’s ratings have performed well in this area over the last two years. Overall, Sagarin went 26-6 in the first round.

      Pomeroy’s numbers are just as impressive. I track four different groups — 70%+ (20-4), 65%-70% (4-0), 60%-65% (2-1) and 50%-60% (9-4) — and they’ve all been pretty strong thus far. His favorites went 25-7 in the first round.

      If you’re looking for updated Sagarin and Pomeroy data, click here. Keep in mind that for record-keeping purposes, I use the static data from before round one to calculate all of these won/loss records since that’s all that’s available to users to make their bracket picks.

      College Basketball, External Sports, March Madness

      Jon Jones becomes youngest UFC champ by destroying Shogun Rua

      March 20, 2011 /

      Jon Jones defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Ruo at UFC 128 to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion. HeavyMMA.com breaks down the fight.

      In the main event match up of UFC 128, Jones completely dominated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua from start to finish.

      The 23-year old was never in danger throughout the fight. He was able to dictate when it went to the ground and utilized his reach advantage to nullify any offense Rua could mount on the feet.

      In the first round, Rua’s guard was active and Jones wasn’t able to do much damage until the former champion tried to get to his feet. As “Shogun” stood, Jones landed a knee that wobbled Rua, and followed it with a left hook.

      It was all down hill for Rua after that. Jones secured a takedown in the second stanza and busted Rua up with elbows and punches.
      Rua came out with a sense of urgency in the third round. He pressed forward and took Jones’ back briefly, but found himself on the bottom again taking shots.

      Read the full article.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      Sunday’s March Madness schedule for all time zones

      March 19, 2011 /

      If you’re looking for Saturday’s schedule, click here.

      ETCTMTPTMATCHUPCHANNEL
      12:1511:1510:159:15(7) Washington vs. (2) UNCCBS
      2:451:4512:4511:45(8) Michigan vs. (1) DukeCBS
      5:154:153:152:15(8) George Mason vs. (1) Ohio StateCBS
      6:105:104:103:10(5) Arizona vs. (4) TexasTNT
      7:106:105:104:10(11) VCU vs. (3) PurdueTBS
      7:456:455:454:45(11) Marquette vs. (3) SyracusetruTV
      8:407:406:405:40(9) Illinois vs. (1) KansasTNT
      9:408:407:406:40(10) Florida State vs. (2) Notre DameTBS

      College Basketball, External Sports, March Madness

      Butler upends #1-seed Pitt in a bizarre ending

      March 19, 2011 /
      University of Pittsburgh’s Gary McGhee (L) goes to the basket against Butler University’s Matt Howard during the first half of their third round NCAA basketball game in Washington, March 19, 2011. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

      Since 2003, only one #8-seed (Alabama, 2004) has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. It’s a tough thing to do because of that second round matchup against a #1 seed.

      Last year’s Cinderella, the Butler Bulldogs, just joined Alabama by beating top-seed Pitt, 71-70.

      Butler took the lead with under three seconds to play on an Andrew Smith layup, and as Pitt’s Gilbert Brown caught the long inbounds pass along the sideline, Butler’s Shelvin Mack ran into him and was called for a foul. Brown made the first to tie the game, but missed the second, and on the rebound Butler’s Matt Howard was fouled by Nasir Robinson. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second to give the Bulldogs the victory.

      Both fouls were monumentally ill-advised and I’m being kind to phrase it that way because these are college kids and not professionals. In those situations, you don’t want to put the ref into a position to make a call like that. Mack’s poor decision came on the fly, but Robinson should have known that the game was at worst heading to overtime and kept his hands off of Howard.

      Mack scored 30 points to lead the way for the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, the Panthers shot 55% from the field and outrebounded Butler, 31-21, and still found a way to lose this game.

      All along, I thought the Southeast region was the toughest to predict. I didn’t really like Pitt as a Final Four team, but Florida, BYU, Wisconsin and Kansas State all have their flaws as well. I wouldn’t be shocked if Butler made a repeat appearance in the Final Four. They execute really well and obviously have last year’s experience to draw upon.

      College Basketball, External Sports, March Madness

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