caulfield12

That TN comeback was amazing... not feeling it yet. Need a flurry of threes or Oregon starters to get in foul trouble. Looks like Weiskamp tweaked an ankle. And it's pretty much over. Can't defend the three point line. They need Nunge and one more wing defender to match a team with this much athleticism. Too bad DJ Carton wanted no part of fighting coaches' son for playing time. Bohannon going from highs of two years ago to disappearing act and flagrant foul out of frustration.

If Oregon plays this well, they will destroy KU/USC and set up a great game with Gonzaga.

If they had Nunge, it would make a huge difference defensively. But this game is mostly about 7/14 vs 3/11 from three point range. Can't give up almost 60% shooting.

Nobody paid much attention with UCLA. Washington and Arizona/Arizona State down...with most of the focus on Evan Mobley. USC the only consistent Top 25 team, so rarely in the highlights, etc. Perception issues. Colorado rarely a basketball power, OSU back to AC Green and Gary Payton days

Well, it's not over yet but don't even feel that upset like blowing 17 point lead to NW State in 2006 or another huge lead against UNLV in 87. Oregon has been shooting lights out... but Iowa defense needs to be a lot tougher, was always going to be their Achilles' heel from the very beginning of the season. Heck, any and every McCaffrey team has lacked defensive focus.

3/11 from 3 won't cut it. Need Bohannon, Frederick or Weiskamp to get hot in second half. Murray hasn't gotten going, but Pat MCaffrey with best game of the season. Look like two evenly matched teams, Oregon clearly more athletic across the board. Garza hasn't even missed a FT but still behind... and he funally misses. Jinxed. Doesn't seem possible to be facing a 10~11 point lead here. Iowa hasn't played badly but Murray and Perkins showing their youth.

Iowa and Oregon playing at a blistering pace. Oregon is hitting some crazy shots, Hawkeye bench and Garza keeping them in it.

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article250105754.html Sam Mellinger has a much better article up at kcstar.com but stuck behind a paywall.

What’s the argument for Gonzalez at this point on the 40 man...? What above average skill does he possess? Sheets is definitely not going anywhere with his reported power game/swing loft/launch angle improvements. Also, heard TLR was really high on Carlos Perez, fwiw.

USC/KU, Ohio U/Creighton, Iowa/Oregon, Abilene/UCLA, even LSU/Michigan has many going with the Tigers. In iowa’s defense, they have the second most Q1 wins and first or second in AP Top 25 wins. Lost to Gonzaga at Sioux Falls, at home to OSU, at Illinois and then again in tourney (CJ Frederick out first time), at Michigan...so that leaves two Indiana losses and choking away a seven point lead at Minny in the final 40 seconds when they were ranked early in the season. Beat Wisconsin 2-3 times, Ohio State in Columbus by a big margin, North Carolina ranked when they beat them, Purdue, at Rutgers when ranked, NW when ranked, etc. Oregon lost at home to Missouri by 8. They also beat Oregon two seasons ago, so that will help Garza, Weiskamp, Bohannon and McCaffrey add some confidence.

The Patriot League didn’t even have any non-conference this year? If I was Illinois - I’m running a drag Kofi PnR to the middle with Donsumu in the corner. They won’t help off him and you’ll get lob after lob. When they adjust, you have a kick-back for a close out situation with Ayo. I have zero idea what they were running on ‘O’.

Let’s get it on like Donkey Kong.

A lot of the advanced metrics have them as even better than the 2018 version. NET or BPI, KenPom or Sagarin, one of them has Loyola around #10 in the country.

Or wait one more year for ND, although Loyola’s likely to have a somewhat down year losing their two best players. Licklighter (responding to Dick Allen) rode the coattails of coaches and recruiters before him, basically. The crazy thing is he was a National Coach of the Year at Butler. And to think Brad Stevens was actually in his (Licklighter’s) car on the way to Iowa to join Lick as his top assistant when he got a call from the Butler AD asking if he would come in for an interview to be the next Butler head coach. Had Stevens come to Iowa we might have been good. ... I remember the first time I met Lick. It was right after he was hired and he came to a Polk County I-Club golf event in Des Moines. I happened to be working on the I-Club board at that time. I am not a fan of public speaking, nor am I a huge fan of making small talk with people. That being said, compared to Lick I seemed like Nancy Grace. He was so uncomfortable talking with people and when they asked him to get on stage and give a brief send off to the golfers it was one of the most uncomfortable moments I have experienced. I almost felt sorry for the guy. My absolute first thought was how does a guy this media bashful get to be the head coach at a Big 10 program - especially in a state where Iowa athletics are THE show in town. Lick NEVER connected with the fans. All around, his brief stint in Iowa City will go down as one of the worst coaching hires in U of I history ... On paper, his resume looked great ... But it's sort of like we hired a guy to run the IT department ... only to learn he's just really good at video games. from Hawkeye Report Fired in the last few years by Marian (IN) University.... https://www.thegazette.com/2011/04/05/transfer-wheel-keeps-spinning-with-iowa-basketball It should be noted that Licklighter lost Aaron Fuller to USC, Cody Larson to Florida and Ben Brust to Wisconsin...those were all legit D-1 recruits.

Brewers, Twins, Cubs, Cards, Sox, Royals...can even argue Rockies for far western Iowa.

I’ve jinxed him by losing him for the first time in three years to a rival ten team rotisserie league owner who picked hum first overall. I did pick up Wander Franco, Mackenzie Gore and Vaughn on waivers. At least have Giolito and Robert. I know, I know...nobody cares about travel pictures or someone else’s rotisserie league or baseball card collection, lol.

Neither CVS nor Walgreen ever publicly committed to Azar's rapid deadline. But in early December, CVS CEO Larry Merlo promised a quick rollout. "We're ready to go," Merlo said in a virtual meeting with investors and analysts. "Once the vaccine hits our facilities, we expect to be in those long-term care facilities within 48 hours later beginning to provide vaccinations in the arms of what is our most vulnerable population." Both CVS and Walgreens declined to comment for this story. In its announcement on Monday, CVS called its inoculation effort "on schedule based on program parameters." Walgreens, which has a similar but smaller role in the effort, said last week it expected to finish administering its first doses in nursing homes this week. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cvs-walgreens-vaccine-nursing-homes/ Dr. Virginia Banks says if the U.S. really wants to bring the pandemic to an end, it’s going to take mobile vans of vaccines in neighborhoods where people don’t have transportation — and even giving shots at hair salons and barber shops. As thousands of pharmacies get shipments of doses and start vaccinations at their stores this week, the country is taking a significant step toward reaching more Americans. Public health officials and advocates, however, say that won’t go far enough in communities where people have been the sickest. More Black and Hispanic Americans have been hospitalized and died from Covid-19. They often face bigger barriers to get vaccine, too: A lack of transportation. A juggle of multiple jobs. Hesitance because of past mistreatment by the medical community. CVS Health and Walgreens will play a bigger role in the effort as a federal program ships doses to more of their stores and those of other retail pharmacies. The expansion represents a business opportunity for the nation’s two largest pharmacy chains as they get paid for each vaccine and draw more foot traffic to stores. The vaccine rollout will also test the companies’ commitment to expanding health-care access in Black and Hispanic communities. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/13/cvs-and-walgreens-have-a-chance-to-make-covid-vaccine-rollout-more-equitable.html

Interestingly, Trout is not featured in the OD ESPN promo. Tatis has the most air time, but you start off with Acuna, you’ve got Soto, Bellinger, Betts, TA in throwback Sox jersey, a Rays’ player running around diamond after ALCS victory, Bo Bichette, Gleyber Torres, etc. Very little promotion of Yankees and Red Sox.

Pretty impressive he got Custer away from Creighton, Missouri, SW Mo State, Wichita State and even KU (did they even recruit him?) It’s basically the modus operandi for Iowa basketball and football. Garza was around #150 out of high school. Keegan Murray was lightly recruited despite his dad being a McDonald’s All American. Recently, only Joe Weiskamp and Tyler Cook, and McCaffrey’s son Patrick were top 100 guys. CJ Frederick was overlooked by all the top Indiana schools. Same with Jack Nunge, who was having a breakout season before his second major knee injury. Heck, add Tony Perkins, too. They lost DJ Carton to OSU/Marquette and Xavier Foster to Iowa State.

https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-farm-system-rankings?partnerId=zh-20210322-156906-MLB&qid=1026&bt_ee=czhlFIrxMy1vIbpkU%2FaH2rc23rl0VQXBDVNg68tzEnlv9EZNtQAKN7xMARUI3ldv&bt_ts=1616413454949 Fifth in the AL Central...Padres still 6th.

Definitely a far cry from Alita: Battle Angel...looks like Ricky Schroeder or Brady Bunch ‘do on that kid.

I-Rod is a tough argument to make with all the steroids accusations. Fisk and Posada are the two arguments for catchers peaking around age 30 and doing well into their 30's/40's. Of course, Posada was also right in the middle of the steroids era. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/plenty-of-catchers-peak-after-30-will-the-mets-get-lucky-with-james-mccann/ Elston Howard, Piazza (mostly from offense/steroids again) and Gary Carter are the only others over 21 fWAR in their 30's, with I-Rod #6 at 21.3. Posada at 32.5, Fisk at 39.5, the obvious anomaly or outlier in the group.

Then we can just bring back Omar Narvaez, haha.

4,000 hits and sub 600 OPS. The first in MLB history. Denied admission to HoF by "Sabes-influenced" BBWAA voters.

Isaiah Miller from UNC-Greensboro has been one of the most impressive athletes in the tourney... PAC-12 now 7-0 in the tourney, if you count Oregon's walkover against VCU. NET RANKINGS 15 Colorado 19 USC 33 Oregon 44 Arizona (ineligible) 46 UCLA 91 Oregon State