caulfield12

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 10:11 PM) How so? There have been like 6 good games in 3 days. There have been a lot of upsets, but not so dramatic endings. The only really exciting one was Marquette/Davidson. After watching Marquette take out Butler, they really have to be kicking themselves even more down in Virginia. One ill-advised pass away from possibly being the Cinderella School of the Sweet 16. Now that title goes to WSU or Oregon. But those are not huge shockers, not to those who follow basketball year-in, year-out. Florida Gulf Coast would be the biggest story if they could win tmrw, and Creighton/Temple/LaSalle could also be legit underdog stories. Last 9 seed to knock out a 1 was UNI, I think.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 10:09 PM) This is just what happens when you never play any competition. Well, nobody wants to play Gonzaga non-conference in Spokane, and it's not easy to schedule for that program...plus the remote location and travel times that are involved for a school in the Pacific NW. There's nothing to gain for most top D-1 programs in playing them, except for other mid-majors and mid-tier big conference teams, who all want to put a feather in their cap by knocking them off. But, yeah, Olynyk was fouled, no doubt about that. But Gonzaga didn't play that well against Southern, either. Definitely weren't at the top of their game this tourney.

Awesome comeback from WSU, and coach Gregg Marshall. Baker has STONES, man. A 10 point lead just evaporated, like that, in a heartbeat. Just incredible backcourt play down the stretch, and free throw shooting, to boot. And what the HELL was Stockton doing out there, passing up shot after shot? Definitely not the player his father was. Van Fleet's a Rockford kid, btw. And, if California can come back on Syracuse, what an incredible weekend for the PAC-10 compared to pre-tourney expectations.

It looks like it's going to finish with just over $5 million, but that's not bad at all considering it's only expanding to 1,000+ screens. Some of the predictions were overly optimistic, with just over $9 million, but that probably wasn't realistic. Plus, for 16-30 year old boys/men, it's competing with the NCAA basketball tournament. The per screen average is almost twice as much as admission, the Paul Rudd/Tina Fey movie. I think the word-of-mouth will really carry this movie well, and lots of repeat viewings as well. In fifth place, the Disney-girls-gone-bad entry Spring Breakers snuck ahead of the Tina Fey/Paul Rudd comedy Admission, though neither are headed to huge grosses. Spring Breakers earned $2.1 million from 1,104 theaters, while Admission had to settle for sixth place and $2.06 million from 2,160 locations. Each film is looking at a $5 million weekend — a gross that makes sense for a strange art piece like Spring Breakers, but is simply embarrassing for a mainstream wide release with two A-list leads like Admission. Fortunately, Focus Features only spent $13 million on the production. www.ew.com/movies From what I've read, Admission's supposed to be a very "smart/clever" movie, but maybe that's not what most audiences are really looking for these days.... In sixth place, the Disney-girls-gone-bad film Spring Breakers found $5 million from 1,102 theaters. The A24 release has garnered massive publicity thanks to the allure of seeing onetime Disney starlets like Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens (who, granted, didn’t have a squeaky clean reputation) traipsing about in bikinis while wielding guns, but the deeply strange R-rated art piece, which also stars James Franco, confounded many young moviegoers this weekend, and word-of-mouth is destined to squash Spring Breakers‘ hopes of mainstream success. Still, the film cost only $2 million to produce, and it should ultimately become a profitable venture for the fledgling studio.www.ew.com Disagree here. Think it will end up being hugely profitable over time...especially in places like here in China, where you now have to pay .75 to $1.50 to download a movie at youku.com, tudou.com or funshion.com. Not to mention DVD sales, and when it comes to cable, HBO/Showtime/Cinemax and Pay-Per-View. A lot of people probably won't go to watch it in the theatre but are curious, in the same way many women were shy to see MAGIC MIKE, for example. While it wasn't able to break out, A24's Spring Breakers still made an impact at the box office this weekend with an estimated sixth place take of $5.0 million. The much buzzed about low-budget film starring James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens earned a solid $4,529 per-location average from 1,104 locations. With the addition of last week's strong platform performance, Spring Breakers has grossed $5.41 million to date.www.boxoffice.com A film that you probably weren’t aware even existed, starring Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Rodriguez, and Adrien Brody (the man has an Oscar, remember?) and directed by Vince Offer — a.k.a. the ShamWow/Slap Chop infomercial pitchman (and occasional prostitute beater) — just had one of the worst box office debuts since The Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure. The movie, called InAPPropriate Comedy, earned $172,000 from 275 theaters this weekend, yielding a wretched $625 per-spot average. According to its IMDb description, the Freestyle Releasing film follows what happens when “a computer tablet full of the world’s most hilariously offensive apps breaks through the borders of political correctness, stirring up cultural anarchy.” www.ew.com

Guess there are no MSU fans around SoxTalk.

That was the least shocking of the 2/15 defeats in NCAA history. With GU now losing four consecutive times to double digit seeds, it seems surprising now when they don't lose those games (ever since the Final 4 team).

•Infielder/outfielder Cody Puckett has been traded from the Reds, with whom he has spent his entire career, to the White Sox, Puckett himself tweeted. In return, the Reds will receive a player to be named later, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Splitting last season between Double-A and Triple-A, Puckett saw time in the infield (mostly at second) and corner outfield, and hit .233/.306/.390 with 16 home runs over 488 plate appearances. More depth for the AAA roster. Seems like he's got some pop. Not sure how good his IF defense is...

Josh Pastner=Cillian Murphy's half-brother Wow, the B10 is just on fire so far, with the exception of WI (normal for them in the post-season recently). MI and MSU both playing like Final 4 teams. Memphis just doesn't have that one player who can take over a game offensively and roll up 30 points. Can't believe Iowa had MSU down 13 points in the B10 Tourney....Harris wasn't playing as well last weekend as he has been so far today. And Stephens has to have a high 40's vertical. Hope he makes it in the NBA or with the Globetrotters, he's fun to watch and 100% energy despite the asthma problems.

If McGary keeps playing this well, he's going to be getting a lot of NBA attention. Seems like the type of kid who will stick around at least one more year, if not two.

Why would there be a "conspiracy" to prove that John Danks is actually healthy when he's not healthy? To sell more tickets? C'mon, the fact of the matter is that there's a decent chance that Santiago or Axelrod could put up similar numbers to Danks in April...if Danks isn't yet 100% comfortable. The fact of the matter is that this coaching and training/conditioning staff has the best track record in the business with pitchers. Sure, we can all retroactively launch "fire KW" threads a year from now when/if John Danks is pitching more like Jim Parque, but, until that happens...we just have to wait and cross our fingers that he'll return to the pitcher he once was, and hopefully more like the 2008 version.

QUOTE (southside_hitman @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) False. Those are not my words. That is a quote I cited from an article which pertained to actual capsule injuries to other major league pitchers. The man who used those words was none other than Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek, the surgeon who operated on Saberhagen at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan and who also did Santana's repair. Want to apologize now? Interesting to see that you insist on engaging me on what is really, a non-issue, especially when it seems like you as well as a few others have not bothered to read the article I cited. This is information from a surgeon who has actually done these surgeries on pitchers like Santana, not an unnamed, anonymous physical therapist professing to be an expert in a highly specialized area. Meanwhile I have had another legitimate new thread removed by someone. What is up with that? What is going on here with this kind of nonsense? Is this a forum for genuine Sox fans like myself or a den for trolls? It wasn't nearly as exciting as signing Mitch Mustain, Juan Silverio or Anderson Gomes.

You wonder how long Michigan can keep it going. Michigan's athleticism is really bothering VCU...every shot is contested, although the Rams have missed quite a few open looks. There probably will be at least 2-3 runs in the 2nd half. The old cliché about the first five minutes after halftime being critical. McGary looks like a beast. If he keeps playing this well, he might start considering the NBA option. Michigan's made a lot more turnovers than normal (almost their game average in one half) and they've still blown the game wide open. Impressive.

You wonder how long Michigan can keep it going. Michigan's athleticism is really bothering VCU...every shot is contested, although the Rams have missed quite a few open looks. There probably will be at least 2-3 runs in the 2nd half. The old cliché about the first five minutes after halftime being critical. McGary looks like a beast. If he keeps playing this well, he might start considering the NBA option. Michigan's made a lot more turnovers than normal (almost their game average in one half) and they've still blown the game wide open. Impressive.

I don't really root actively against Illinois or Iowa State or WI or Creighton (probably the one I'd root for hardest), because basketball thriving in the Midwest is going to be good in general for Iowa Hawkeye BB too, but it's easier to at least not to root against those teams in the NCAA tournament than it would be to root for the Cubs in the World Series. Iowa State's had a very impressive run, Hoiberg's done great (especially recruiting) and so has McDermott. And it's nice to see Larry Eustachy back on his feet and doing well. He also took Southern Miss to the NCAA's, and it will be interesting to see if he can ever get another offer with a major conference team again. Losing those games to Hampton and MSU were killers, back a decade ago.

I don't really root actively against Illinois or Iowa State or WI or Creighton (probably the one I'd root for hardest), because basketball thriving in the Midwest is going to be good in general for Iowa Hawkeye BB too, but it's easier to at least not to root against those teams in the NCAA tournament than it would be to root for the Cubs in the World Series. Iowa State's had a very impressive run, Hoiberg's done great (especially recruiting) and so has McDermott. And it's nice to see Larry Eustachy back on his feet and doing well. He also took Southern Miss to the NCAA's, and it will be interesting to see if he can ever get another offer with a major conference team again.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 07:56 AM) This VCU game has trap written all over it. Michigan has got to defend better than usual. I think we're past the point of calling games against the likes of VCU, Butler, Creighton, Wichita State, Gonzaga or SLU "traps" because nobody would be at all surprised if VCU won.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 06:12 AM) I'll take 2 out of 3! The Royals looks to be pretty darn competitive in 2013. I love what they did with there rotation. Except you're not getting the Santana of 3-4 years ago. His stuff is fading/diminished.

QUOTE (SexiAlexei @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 02:27 AM) This is where I get lost. Is this sarcasm? I guess it's because the Mountain West Conference had the highest RPI rating this year...? Should have been the A10 or Big 10.

Ramirez had a chance to win the game in the top of the 9th, but couldn't come through with two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Quintana had 9 K's, Santiago 5 in 3 innings. Troncoso rocked.

Iowa defeats Stony Brook handily at home, waiting to see whether they'll play UVA (1 seed) or St. John's next. Those two teams play Saturday. Will be interesting to see if UVA gets the home game over Iowa, and 2) whether Iowa can knock off an NCAA-caliber, ACC team on the road. Marble's really becoming quite the player. Not the dominant athlete his father was, but a much more versatile and well-rounded game.

UNM BB beat writer can't take it anymore after 33 years, gives up. Dennis Latta Loboland.com Editor I really thought that the University of New Mexico finally had a men's basketball team that earned the loyalty of their fans. I was wrong. I've been around Lobo basketball for 33 seasons. For 32 of those seasons, I knew that UNM had a team that could fold and lose to anyone at any time. I never got my expectations too high because a collapse was possible anytime they walked out on that floor. I thought this team was different. I was convinced that this Lobo team was for real. It had experience, a good front line and a good backcourt and good chemistry and was smart. I was wrong. The main difference between these Lobos and the others who fell flat was that the 2012-13 team played defense. New Mexico forced opponents to take bad shots and actually guarded. This team had real potential. I was wrong. This was a team that had the MWC Player of the Year in Kendall Williams and the MWC Tournament MVP in Tony Snell and two big men who had been outstanding at times and a point guard who had developed quickly. I never expected the Player of the Year to be absolutely invisible when he was needed most or that the tournament MVP couldn't hit a 3-pointer on a bet. I was wrong. I thought this team had accomplished something by winning the Mountain West Conference during the regular season and in the tournament. A win over UNLV on its home floor was impressive. Beating San Diego State and Colorado State and Boise State was the sign of success because the conference and these teams were so good. I was wrong. Now, the mighty MWC is 1-3 in the NCAA, and has not lost to any team seeded above a 13. It's not like they lost to Indiana or Louisville or even Georgetown or Michigan State. No, the losses were to the traditional powerhouses of LaSalle, California and Harvard. The league I thought was so good turns out to be so bad. I was wrong. I was disappointed when New Mexico was seeded a lowly third. I truly believed UNM would prove the committee wrong and thought that going to the Final Four was a realistic possibility. This was going to be the Year of the Lobo. New Mexico was finally going to get the credit, the respect and the attention it deserved. I was wrong. I thought that coach Steve Alford and athletic director Paul Krebbs were smart to announce a new 10-year contract the day before the Lobos started their march through the NCAA. No one would complain about the big dollars because UNM was on the road to glory. I was wrong. But I won't be wrong again. It was a lot easier to take when expectations were lower. Losing was acceptable because UNM had almost always lost when it really counted. You didn't have visions of greatness, only to have them dashed. After the pitiful performance UNM put up against a team that doesn't even offer scholarships, I've given up. Having all five starters back next season means nothing on a team that can just disappear like that. I'd be back to wondering when it would collapse, have a terrible game and lose to an inferior team again. No, I've had it. I've been to my last Lobo basketball game after covering the team for much of the last 33 years. Good-bye Lobo basketball. At first, it was confusing a bit, because LaSalle beat Boise State in the First 8 game...thought he was confusing KSU with being in the MWC. So now they're 2-3 in the tourney, with SDSU beating Oklahoma, but UNM and UNLV both out.

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Mar 22, 2013 -> 10:31 PM) when your the 4th outfielder you play more than just sundays. that is why it would make sense for one of the younger kids to play. both mitchell and danks can play all three outfield positions. and like i said if they fail i would almost be positive wise or player of similar skill would be available still. You can argue Danks or Tekotte against Wise, but not that Mitchell should be the 4th. He needs to play everyday. And Mitchell doesn't have the arm for RF.

The last time we had a player like that on the major league roster was Rodney McCray.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 21, 2013 -> 10:26 PM) SDSU outplayed Michigan in the first half, but Michigan absolutely crushed them in the second. That is going to be a dangerous team, especially if they can keep shooting. McGary was the biggest difference though. Just a force down low on both ends of the court. He's a real nice player. That could very easily be a Final Four team. Oh, and it was amazing how terrible Wolters looked. Michigan's entire goal was to keep him from doing anything, and they did a pretty damn good job of it. Almost as bad as the vaunted Muscala looked in his game.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 22, 2013 -> 05:24 AM) So much for my survivor pool. My mistake for betting on Alford as a 3 seed. Who can forget ? Gee, thanks. At least McCaffrey, while they were one half of closing any number of B10 games out from getting into the tournament, is doing things the right way. That game was more comparable to Davidson/Marquette, in the sense that Iowa was up 20 or 18 at one point, led almost the entire game until that last moment. Harvard was in command from the get-go, trailed for just a bit i the 2nd half, but it wasn't as heartbreaking or gut-wrenching for fans as the Davidson game yesterday or 2006 for Iowa. Just when you think he's got things turned around and 100% going in a positive direction, he'll make them regret giving him that long-term deal at UNM.