caulfield12

https://sports.yahoo.com/adam-silver-nba-dealing-with-serious-consequences-from-fast-changing-landscape-223331355.html Not directly baseball-related, but certainly quite relevant to the discussion...if MLB continues to go in the direction they are (Sox tie-in with Cesar's SportsBook, etc.) with gambling, then they will continue to lose their way just like the NBA is currently experiencing under Adam Silver.

And VA Tech was playing at home without Kitley due to ACL tear, but still a 4 seed due to previous body of work...so that loss wasn't a shocker at all. MTSU and then K-State surprised me....but Colorado was a projected #1 seed at one point in the year. Ohio State collapse still the biggest mystery of all. And soon to be extinct PAC 10/12 dominating in every way but most elite team...

Iowa fans are STILL complaining about the refereeing in the LSU game last year...but also overlooking how SEC refs never called fouls on SCarolina for their "overly physical/bar room brawl" style of play (until the Final Four) that West Virginia also employed last night. Perhaps on a neutral court the result would have been different...that said, NCAA football playoffs will provide the bye teams with home games and the home field advantage (as well as viewing experience at home) will be so much more exciting/entertaining than neutral courts with 1/4th or 1/2 the fans missing like the first two rounds of the men's bb tourney.

Outrage over calls for Caitlin Clark, Iowa surest sign yet women's game has arrived... https://sports.yahoo.com/outrage-over-calls-caitlin-clark-101202220.html Well...this is something new for Iowa fans who always believe refs favored Ohio State MSU PSU Michigan Illinois Wisconsin...the conspiracy theory that ESPN and ABC needed Iowa on Saturday afternoon for ratings. LSU also getting that 1 pm Saturday ABC slot while Indiana/S.Carolina is on ESPN. Granted that's a Friday game...

Jesus, talk about "chalk" for the women's tournament. Three tourneys in a row Iowa struggled in the second round...Creighton (lost), UGA (only up by 1 with a minute left) and now WVU (tied 48-48 with five minutes to go). Going to be a dream weekend for ESPN/ABC. SAT Duke/UConn Baylor/USC Colorado/Iowa LSU/UCLA SUN (projected) ND/South Carolina Stanford or NC State vs. Texas MON (projected) UConn/USC LSU/Iowa Of course, wouldn't be surprised to see Iowa (really thought they were going down tonight)...although they did beat Colorado at this exact point in the proceedings a year ago. It's almost impossible to believe they could beat LSU, and then even if they managed that, they would be so wiped out physically and mentally that S.Carolina would roll them by 15-20.

Mookie Betts also does that drill. He was throwing 40 yard spirals in Japan.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39785389/mlb-2024-season-preview-opening-day-power-rankings-playoff-odds-all-30-teams Royals jump to 26th with all that new spending...coming off around same number of losses last year Sox are projected to be around THIS year.

One (realistic) bold prediction: The White Sox use 25 different starting pitchers -- breaking the MLB record of 24 shared by the 1915 A's and 2023 A's -- and stumble to 107 losses, most in franchise history. Along the way, Robert is traded at the deadline. -- Schoenfield ESPN picks Sox for 28th on OD, praises ballpark food in a nod to Benetti...way too early on Robert trade, though.

And it really does seem like many teams were collectively firing a shot across the bow of the SMS Boras... Almost all of the late signees were tied to him, and got fewer years and overall contract dollars than nearly everyone expected going back to November.

Well, Maton's technically a reliever (he was pretty forgettable with the Padres) who has ended up having a much better big league career than most would have expected. And dumping the Straw contract there was the icing on the cake. Losing Diaz and Junior Caminero to the Rays has to hurt quite a bit, particularly for a small market team on a shoestring budget.

Appears like they're starting the year with Nastrini on the roster...

Well, they already kind of started with that 3 point contest, and then it's going to be Curry/Thompson vs. Ionescu/Clark next year SUPPOSEDLY. Iowa State almost took out Stanford but came up short in OT at Maples.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39802823/robinson-cano-diablos-rojos-beat-yankees-mexico-city

I think we're going to have to change this to LSU or most likely South Carolina after this week (the NBA/women's games). At least KSU lost, Iowa was 1-2 in their last three games against them, but K-State hadn't been to the Big Dance since 2002. Iowa beat Colorado in the same exact spot in the tournament last year, pretty much the same two teams minus two key Iowa players graduating. No luck with MTSU taking down LSU...after being up 9 early in the second half. They just got steamrolled out of the gym. Now it's likely to be UCLA/LSU before the Elite 8. Only issues for LSU are Van Lith getting benched to start the second half and that pending WASH Post story on Mulkey, which will undoubtedly land sometime this week to stir up even more controversy around the women's game, haha.

That's going to cost about 1/2 what the Rays are willing to devote to their new public stadium...$325 million (out of $650 million), give or take. Which would still be the highest contribution by a major League team in the history of stadium building since the early 90s. If JR won't even commit it to a stadium that will directly benefit him and his heirs, he's certainly not going to commit it to a player who would cost almost 5x the Benintendi payout...one that would eventually be going into his 30s.

It's going to be ridiculous to see the White Sox not even consider an extension with Montgomery like the Royals just did with Witt Jr., unless he ends up playing 1B somehow. Schultz on the other hand...

Can't even keep track of it at this point with Gainbridge Nike Xfinity new State Farm Panini/Topps...not only media but this whole new NIL landscape. Ofc NIL works the other way as well, with Kadyn Proctor committing twice to Iowa without ever having practiced a single day with the team.

White Sox ranked by The Athletic as having the 26th best Opening Day lineup The White Sox offense is led by center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who hit 38 home runs last year with 20 stolen bases. They’re hoping that DH Eloy Jiménez can stay healthy and play a full season and that Andrew Vaughn will have a breakout campaign. Their defense up the middle is much better than last year but they sacrificed offense for that improvement. https://theathletic.com/5355688/2024/03/22/mlb-lineup-ranking-braves-dodgers-rangers/?source=freeweeklyemail&campaign=602288&userId=310262 Marlins Nats Rockies A's finish worse. Marlins have Anderson/Burger but lost Soler's 36 homers. Nats will leap up standings with addition of James Wood in May. #21/24/25 Tigers Royals Guardians. Twins #12.

Wait for the hit piece on Mulkey in the Washington Post to land when LSU is about to play UCLA. Fwiw...upcoming Kirsten Dunst-led Civil War movie has Texas and California as the two runaway states...

Great Oregon Creighton game in OT. Now double overtime.

Only an unprecedented deal for Robert can sort of save them...the decade-later equivalent of the Eaton for Gio Lopez Dunning trade. Ofc not only do they need 2-3x as much pitching as other teams due to JR's pocketbook...they pretty much have to replace every single position player and start off with just one close to sure thing in Montgomery.

Oakland NC State is fun..not sure about that last call that sent it into OT though. But Gene Steratore is almost always right.

The only reason would be 1) not being able to sign with a contender or getting no promises on playing time and/or 2) not prioritizing playing with a contender (presumably after a TDL deal) vs. other factors.

I didn't even comment (hardly) when she broke all those records. If anything...she's suffering a bit from overexposure. Somehow have a feeling that the media will continue to push S.Carolina and LSU as the villains...there will be a backlash to that as well.