Ode to Zito

Since the Giants have the day off today, I feel like it is the perfect time to thank Barry Zito for a game well pitched yesterday. Who would have thought that Zito would get the first Giants win of the season? Who would have thought he was going to pitch a complete game shutout? Who would have thought that he would have a better WHIP than both Lincecum and Cain through their first start? Nobody.

If I told you at the beginning of the season that the Giants would average 6 runs a game through their first four games, you would have called me a liar. Nobody thought that all of a sudden, the Giants' bats would come to life and the Giants' arms would fall asleep. This team's strength is supposed to be the pitching, but pitching quite literally stank throughout the first 3 games. And then Zito starts the 4th game, throws a complete game shutout 4-hitter and turns around our season. And he had this great pitching performance, his best as a Giant, in notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado!

The 82nd Game

The San Jose Sharks triumphs and struggles throughout this decade have been well documented by hockey fans everywhere. They have missed the playoffs just once since the 1997-98 season and have won the division outright 6 times in that span, including each season for the past four seasons. They have scored monumental upsets and pulled off blockbuster trades. They won the President's Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the most points in the season in 2008-09, and even made the Western Conference Finals last year, the very cusp of the Stanley Cup finals. However, amidst all this greatness, the San Jose Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup. They have never even been Western Conference Champions. Where does all this greatness go? To waste?

No, but...

The Sharks' nucleus of stars is on the decline. They have perhaps 3 more years in which they will have a legitimate shot at winning with this group of players. They must win soon.

They're lucky to even be in the playoffs right now. This season was an anomaly among all the other great seasons the Sharks have had in the last couple of years. They literally sucked this year. Sharks fans aren't used to this kind of hockey, losing hockey. Nobody is sure why it happened. But speculation is out there. Are their stars too old? Should Todd McLellan be fired? Should Thornton and Marleau be traded? 

Gregg Williams Tape

Alright, so I did hear about the Gregg Williams' tape on ESPN today. And I can't say it didn't disturb me. It did. But that's probably mostly because I'm a Niners' fan. And after hearing Gregg Williams instruct his players to target the Achilles' heel of each of San Francisco's skill players, I'm a bit shaken. But not because the speech was so bloodthirsty. Because it was about the Niners. I don't know what our team would've done without Smith at the helm and Gore in the backfield. They probably would've lost. But this story is not about the Niners, it's about the NFL as a whole.

The implications for Williams are great. The audio evidence is pretty damning; he clearly tells his players to target the following players:

Matt Cain vs Tim Lincecum

When the ESPN notification popped up on my phone yesterday alerting me that the Giants had signed Matt Cain to a 6-year, $127.5 million contract, the largest for a right-handed pitcher, I jumped out of my chair and pumped my fist like Tiger Woods does after he sinks a putt. At that moment, I imagined the damage our pitching staff could do if it remained intact. And the Giants took the most important step Monday to keep this staff intact, inking Cain until 2017. This pairs Lincecum and Cain until at least 2013 and sets a precedent for the kind of contract Lincecum should receive when he becomes a free agent. I definitely hope that Tim resigns with the Giants in 2013, but I think that Matt Cain was the more important extension this year. Why? Because Matt Cain is more consistent.

From a quantitative perspective, Lincecum has a better career ERA than Cain (2.98 over 3.35) and about 100 more strikeouts in 50 fewer games. However, Cain has a higher WAR than Lincecum (23.4 over 23.2) and has been far more consistent throughout his career. Lincecum's ERA has fluctuated greatly from season-to-season whereas Cain has stayed with in the ballpark of 3.00 for most of his years. Cain has also had some of the worst run support in the league throughout his career, which accounts for his poor win-loss record. However, Lincecum clearly had the edge in career statistics.

Then why do I prefer Cain?

Niners Dodge a Bullet

In the end, the best course of events happened for the San Francisco 49ers. They signed Alex Smith. That was what they were expected to do after last season, and that is the direction they'll be heading in 2012.

I have to admit, I really wanted Peyton Manning. When word came out that the 49ers were one of the three finalists for Peyton, everyone instantly labeled them the favorites because they had the best team out of the contenders. But when Peyton signed with Broncos yesterday, 49ers nation nearly suffocated. Alex Smith was visiting the Miami Dolphins. we had just been spurned by the Great One himself, Peyton Manning. We were going to have to start Colin Kaepernick. After losing out on Manning and considering our interesting but dangerous situation, I think any fan would've been happy with Alex Smith.

And the 49ers dodged a bullet today when they officially announced the signing of Alex. I am overjoyed that he came back. Which is not something you normally say when a just-about-average QB with one good season under his belt resigns with your team for $8 million a year.

Bracket=Busted

Today begins the round of 32, when everyone starts to shun their bracket and just root for the underdog in every game. By now, nobody has a perfect bracket (the best brackets on ESPN and Yahoo! Sports have 2 picks wrong at the least). Norfolk State and Lehigh took care of that for us. For me, my national champ lost in the first round. And I've gone 21 of 32. I'm definitely out of the running here.

But what I am happy about is the fact that my post about my bracketology prediction method for the most part worked. All the #1 and #3 seeds advanced just like I said. Yes, two #2 seeds were upset, but that's a once in a blue moon occurrence. 3 of the 4 #4 seeds advanced (Michigan lost to Ohio, start of a new rivalry?). There were two #5 vs #12 upsets, one of which I predicted correctly. And then the rest of the games are tossups, of which the wrong side of the coin came up for me. I am ashamed of the Gonzaga pick, but the rest bode no shame.

So where do we go from here?
The tournament just got a lot more interesting, with two #2 seeds losing. This gives the #1 seeds in those regions, Kentucky and Michigan State, easy paths to the final four. In the South region (Kentucky's region), #3 Baylor looked shaky against South Dakota St, and then #5, 6, 7, and 9 are out. The biggest tests for Kentucky will be #8 Iowa State and then presumably #4 Indiana. The Indiana game would be the biggest challenge, seeing as Indiana already beat Kentucky earlier this season. If Kentucky doesn't falter there and then gets past the winner of the bottom half of that region (which is expected), the Wildcats are Final Four bound.

Bracket's out!

Alright, so those pesky play-in games are over and I can finally create my bracket. I spent a good hour contemplating the matchups and this is what I came up with:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/2706944 

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/entry?entryID=6013493 

Note: The bracket will only be viewable starting tomorrow after the first game of the tourney begins.

I am a very methodical bracketologist, at least for the first round of predictions. I have a list of steps that I follow to fill out my bracket. The most important rule in these steps is to never have preconceived notions that a team is going to win. Instead of writing in the winner first, I consider each matchup individually. This ensures that each game is given the proper consideration and the most likely winner moves on in the prediction.

I have a protocol that I follow for the first round. First, I always pencil in all the #1 and #2 seeds as victors; there's almost never an upset there. Then, I pencil in all of the #3 seeds, unless I strongly believe that a #14 can beat one of the #3s. I was very tempted with Belmont this year but I decided against it in the end, even if I do think that Georgetown is a perennial choker. If Iona had won, I would've penciled them in against Marquette, but they didn't and I ended up without a #14 over #3 upset, which is ok. Then I move on to the #4 seed games. Unless I have a strong feeling that a #13 has what it takes to knock off a #4, I write in all the #4s in the second round. This year, I believe Davidson has the best chance to pull off the victory, but I have them losing to Louisville still.

Play-In Games

I hate play-in games. Or as the NCAA likes to call it: The First Four. I hate them. They're holding up my bracket. I can't complete it quite yet because I'm reduced to racking my brains over whether BYU or Iona is going to win to face Marquette.

These play-in games are a huge inconvenience. They used to not matter when there was only one play-in game between two 16-seeds. Back then, when the tourney field was just 65, the winner of the play-in game in Dayton did not matter, because they were going to lose to whichever #1 seed they ended up facing anyway. Now, these play-in games have a huge impact on the brackets and are making life very difficult for bracketologists  and fans (like me) everywhere.

The two play-in games that are keeping me awake at night are Cal vs. USF  for the right to play Temple and Iona vs. BYU for the right to play Marquette. These games have serious implications for the rest of the tournament. If Cal beats USF, then I believe they will lose to Temple. However, if USF wins, I think they'll beat Temple. A similar situation occurs in the BYU vs. Iona game. If BYU wins, they're gonna lose to Marquette hands down. On the flip side, if Iona wins, I have them beating Marquette and then Murray State (for now - subject to change)  much like VCU made their run last year.

The Peyton Saga

Where will Peyton Manning play next season? That's the question every football fan across the nation is asking themselves right now. That's the question every ESPN pundit has been trying to break down since the Colts locked up the #1 overall pick in January. Peyton is the most polarizing free agent since LeBron James. And we're all awaiting his Decision.

There are few frontrunners in this one. I have heard people telling me that Peyton's gonna play anywhere from Miami to Minnesota, but it's yet to be seen what Peyton himself wants to do. Early on, the favorite was Washington. Now, Miami's fans are making a big push through a PeytonToMiami campaign to try to lure the QB. Here's a breakdown of all 32 teams and their likelihood of landing Peyton Manning:

Arizona Cardinals - One of the likely destinations that has been thrown out there, the Cardinals would be a good fit. They have a clear #1 receiver and have made it to the Super Bowl before with an aging veteran quarterback.
Atlanta Falcons - Next to no chance Peyton lands here. The Falcons have a legit QB already in Matt Ryan.

March

It's alright, guys, we made it through February. The most uneventful month of the sports calendar is over. After the NFL season ends and before March Madness starts, we as sports fans have got nothing. 2012's edition of February brought us Jeremy Lin.... and that's about it as far as intrigue in the month of February. But here, in March, it all starts over again for a whole 'nother year of sports.

The headliner of course is the NCAA tournament. After the conference championships conclude this week, the NCAA selection committee will get together this Sunday (selection Sunday) and pick the teams for this year's bracket. We've already seen some great games so far this championship week, including Tennessee St vs. Murray St, Creighton vs. Illinois St, and the one I watched today: St. Mary's over Gonzaga.