Saturday Night Thoughts

Even though Michigan put forth a valiant effort, the Wolverines fell short of beating the top ranked Buckeyes, which could be the last game in Ann Arbor for head coach Tommy Amaker....six seasons at the helm and he has yet to take Michigan to The Big Dance...Amaker needs to be fired after this season....

The Kentucky Derby is wide open again after favorite Nobiz Like Shobiz came in third in Saturday’s Fountain of Youth Stakes race at Gulfstream Park....two other Derby contenders, Scat Daddy and Stormello, took the top two spots....

Greg Oden may get all the headlines at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes are only going to go as far as point guard Mike Conley takes them.....he is the engine of that team....

Penn is the first team to get their ticket punched for the tournament...

Could the Big Ten get 2 top seeds in Ohio State and Wisconsin?....

Will someone explain to me why Tampa Bay now has three viable starting quarterbacks: Chris Simms, Jeff Garcia, and Jake Plummer?.....

All year long, people in Ohio heard about the burner speed of Ted Ginn Jr.....at the Combine last week, Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson showed that Ginn may not be the fastest player in this draft....

The Cleveland Browns should go all out and sign former Steeler Joey Porter....they need a vocal team leader who can create a swagger...

All I know, the 2007 Steelers will not be team of Bill Cowher’s....

Duke at North Carolina on Sunday.....gotta go with the Tar Heels at home after they have lost their last two games....

Kentucky Derby favorite gets another test today

It’s not to early to start talking about the Kentucky Derby....eight more weeks will be the Run for the Roses in Louisville.....and today, the early favorite will get another test....

According to all reports, Nobiz Like Shobiz is the horse to beat.....the trainer is Barclay Tagg and the jockey is Cornelio Valasquez ......

A few weeks back, The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Railbird Roberts quoted Tagg of saying this is "the most magnificent horse I’ve ever seen"....now remember, Tagg knows a few things about horses as he was the trainer for 2003 Derby winner Funny Cide....

Nobiz gets another test today when he runs in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.....it’s a mile and an eighth race....Nobiz will face off against other Derby contenders Stormello, Drums of Thunder, and Scat Daddy....

Tagg chose to run Nobiz in the Fountain of Youth instead of next week’s Louisiana Derby....

What is a "relationship"?

What is up with the word "relationship" when it involves Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter?....this week A. Rod said that their "relationship" is not the same....the next day Jeter commented that he had no problem with their "relationship"....

I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t have a "relationship" with any of my buddies....a friendship - YES.....a relationship - NO.....I am in no way starting any rumors, but I think they both could have used a better word than "relationship" when discussing this saga....

I’m a little disappointed that Bernie Williams has not taken the time to return Joe Torre’s phone calls....supposedly, over the last two weeks Torre left two messages for Williams but as of Wednesday, he has yet to hear back from the former centerfielder.....there is no doubt that Williams has to be a bit upset by not making the 40 man roster, but he needs to talk to Torre who is very loyal to his "original" Yankee players....

Whatever happened to Chuck Knoblauch?.....

Mel Stottlemyre has a book coming out on April 10th called "Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and Surviving Life’s Challenges".....I miss seeing Mel in the Yankee dugout....

Random thoughts heading into the weekend

Some thoughts going into the weekend....
- Pacman Jones is one of the most talented players in the NFL, but he is a thug....instead of appreciating his chance of playing in the NFL, he is constantly running amuck of the law....don’t forget, Jones and Bengals team thug, Chris Henry, were teammates at West Virginia....say what you want, both are flat out THUGS.....
- Why isn’t Maryland getting any love from the pollsters....the Terps are 23-7 and just beat North Carolina and Duke in consecutive games....but they are still not ranked.....
- I heard on ESPN radio that Jeff Garcia could end up with the Oakland Raiders.....bad move for both....
- The Packers and Patriots are both interested in Randy Moss....hmmmm....
- Finally, after three weeks, Anna Nicole is being buried....
- In her prime, Anna was certainly sexy.....
- If Butler wins the Horizon Conference, it will be interesting to see if Wright State also gets a ticket to The Big Dance....
- Saturday is a statement game for Michigan basketball....number 1 Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor....this may be the biggest game for the Wolverines in the last 10 years....
- Saturday - Texas at Kansas; Michigan State at Wisconsin .....Sunday - Duke at North Carolina; Kentucky at Florida.......doesn’t get any better than that...
- The city of Pittsburgh better get a deal complete to keep the Penguins from moving....the Pens are a team on the upswing....they will win a Stanley Cup within the next five years....
- Mellon Arena is one of the oddest, but neatest shaped areans...
- Whatever happened to Tom Barrasso?....
- This is going to be a long baseball season in hearing about Barry Bonds....
- Can you believe a friend of mine still thinks Bonds is innocent!?!?....
- It’s Thursday, has anyone seen Britney Spears today?....
- ESPN.com had an interesting article about how new Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio is trying to make Sparty mentally tough....

Dantonio article

- New Boston pitcher D. Mat has a pitch named the Gyroball....I don't get it....D. Mat is Japanese, so why are they naming his famous pitch after a Greek sandwich?.....

Late February quick hits

It’s been awhile, but here are some quick hits...

* This year’s NCAA basketball tournament is wide open....no team has shown it is the team to beat.....
* Michigan needs to fire Tommy Amaker as its basketball coach....even if he somehow finds a way to beat Michigan State and Ohio State this week, Amaker has not taken the Wolverines to the next level as they are probably not going to make the Big Dance again.....
* What has happened to Kentucky basketball?....are Tubby’s days numbered?....
* Big game on Monday when the Big East leading Georgetown Hoyas head to upper New York to take on The ‘Cuse!!!...
* My top 4 seeds: Ohio State, UCLA, North Carolina, and Georgetown....
* Louisville is one of the hottest teams in the country....
* How could the Boston Celtics have gotten this bad?.....
* Tiger Woods is deadly in tournament play, but he is very beatable in match play....check his Ryder Cup record for proof....
* Picked up a new book about former middleweight champ Roberto Duran.....I never knew his father was from America....
* Whatever happened to Boom Boom Mancini?.....
* For some reason I really like the Pittsburgh Pirates to break .500 this year....
* I could not believe that former Indian/Cardinal Ronnie Belliard had to sign a minor league contract last week with Washington.....you think he would have hooked up with a team much earlier....
* The term "perfect storm" is overused in sports....
* All I know, if tennis great Roger Federer was American, he would be just as popular as Tiger or Lebron....
* Can't wait to get my Mel Kiper Draft Guide....
* Look for Martin Scorsese to get his first Oscar tonight....
* My other picks - Whitaker - Best actor; Mirren - Best actress; Murphy - Best supporting actor; Hudson - Best supporting actress; The Queen - Best picture