Basketball City

I'd love to say I've been paying attention to the Red Sox spring training. But that would be a blatant lie. Between paying attention to Rockies spring training as I look for reasons to tell season-ticket holders not to cancel their seats, combined with the Celtics revival, and March Madness, I haven't paid much attention to the Sox. Nor will I until Opening Day. In Theo and Ben I trust, and it's their way or bust.

So how 'bout those Catamounts! I feel like a dick for not picking them. I said I would pick them after BU got knocked out of the America East tourney, I said it when they beat NU to win the America East tourney, and then I saw their matchup: Syracuse. I have a hard time picking Syracuse to lose, and I caved to the conventional power pick. I also thought, with much less conviction, about picking Bucknell. I decided more firmly that Kansas had too many seniors who had been there and done that. Surely they would take care of business. Whoops!

Still, after two days my bracket has not been busted. I still have 13 of my Sweet 16 intact, 7 of my Elite 8 intact, and all of my Final Four and Championship game. While that is more than a lot of people can say, I piss myself off with the uncanny ability to miss scoring on some big upsets, instead going for emotional upsets like Penn over BC. Still, if West Virgina knocks off Wake Forest tomorrow I will be in great position. I think it will happen because a) WV shoots the 3 very well, and b) they have a virtual home court advantage. Winston-Salem is 467.71 miles from Cleveland, while Morgantown, WV is a mere 201.60 miles away. That's about a five hour trip, not very much for a college student. West Virgina fans should be all over Cleveland tomorrow, giving their Mountaineers an added boost.

Big win for the Celtics tonight in Houston. For the C's it's 6 in a row and 10 in their last 11. Here's the C's breakdowns by month:

NOV: 5-8
DEC: 8-8
JAN: 8- 8
FEB: 8-4
MAR: 8-1

After holding serve throughout a grueling stretch of two 16 game months, the C's are 16-5 since February. They have 5 more games in March for a total of 14 in March, followed by 11 games in 20 days in April. 16 games left. Tonight's win gave them one more win than they had all of last season. The C's are now officially the 3rd best team in the East, and if they play .500 ball over the last 16 games, will finish at 45-37, which would be a nine game improvement. However, at the rate the C's are going, I don't think 50 wins is insurmountable. Let's run down the last 16 games of the season:

@ NO: Win
@ NY: Win
CHI: Win
@ DET: Loss
DAL: Loss
@ ATL: Win
PHI: Win
@ WAS: Loss
MIL: Win
@ NJ: Win
@ PHI: Loss
@ MIL: Win
MIA: Win
@ TOR: Win
@ CLE: Win
NJ: Win

So that's 12-4 over the last 16 games. 49 wins. Wow. Get ready for banner #17!