I love the upsets!  I would be happy if all of the lower-seeded teams won, just for something different than the same old "blueblood" programs showing up at the top every year.  Give me a Final Four of Georgia State, Robert Morris, Harvard, and Wofford (not sure if that's possible, as I don't do a bracket or memorize who is seeded in what region) any day of the week over Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina.

A couple of things that irritated me about the seeding this year are:
1.  Duke in no way, shape, or form deserved a #1 seed.  They didn't win their conference's regular season title or their conference's tournament, so how did they wind up with an easy path toward the Elite Eight?  Arizona won both of the things that Duke did not, in a conference that might not have the same reputation as the ACC but was just as good this year, but they only got a #2.

2.  Murray State got hosed.  They were ranked #25 at the end of the regular season, they had won 25 or so straight games, they finished first in their conference for the regular season, and they lost their tournament to the #2 team (Belmont) on what was essentially a buzzer-beater, and they didn't get in invite while middling teams from major conferences (Georgia, Mississippi, LSU, Texas, etc.) got into the tournament.

/rant

Last October, it was just officially announced a day or so ago, but he has not been in the league since before the season started. 

-M

The Warriors have won the Pacific Division for the first time in nearly 40 years. Congratulations. I hope they go far in the playoffs.

I got to watch my alma mater (Indiana University of Pennsylvania, or IUP) win a Division II Men's basketball semifinal tonight, so they will be playing for the national title at their level on Saturday. It's pretty cool to get to see them on TV, as teams at that level almost never get airtime, and the championship game will be on CBS on Saturday, so I will have another chance to see them; however, I will be in Youngstown, OH for a concert that night, so I'll have to record it and watch it some time on Sunday.

Well Clay Buckholz has been named the Sox opening day starter-the only question is which Clay we'll get. The bigger question is who will be catching him. Vazquez is headed to see the ominous Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his elbow, which means the MRI likely showed some image with the ligaments/tendons in the elbow and TJ surgery could be looming. It's a shame, I really like Vazquez, but he is playing in Swihart's shadow and I think he really needed this year to show what he could be long term at the Major League level while Swihart seasoned at AAA. My gut says Sox start with Hannigan and Quintero as the catchers and Swihart is a May/June call up after he gets a chance to get a little more experience handling a staff at AAA, and if Swihart blossoms, Vazquez may never get his shot with the team (if his elbow recovers that is).

SO looking forward to opening day!

-M

The trade for Leon today means they will start the year with Hannigan and Leon on the MLB roster, and Swihart starting at AAA (with Quintero the back up there). My expectations is that if Swihart shows he can hit and handle the pitchers well at AAA as well as he has in spring training and the tail end of last year in his cup of coffee at AAA, he'll be up and starting in Boston by June 1 (long enough for him to get into a groove there and long enough for him not to accrue that year of service time on his clock for team control). Edes (loathe as I am to give him any credence) had an article today comparing Swihart to Matt Weiters and how they were handled by the club, and the parallels are there in terms of AAA experience, spring training performance, etc. etc. 

I think the team might have started Swihart at the majors this year if they hadn't seen Boegarts and JBJ struggle so much last season an saw how Betts thrived when starting down and coming up later, and with Theo reminding everyone with the Bryant situation in Cubland that he always started prospects in the minors and called them up after they had a chance to get a rhythm going and build confidence before throwing them into the fire of the bigs, and I think Ben C and the brain trust have noticed the success ratio of that versus starting propects cold in the majors over the last few seasons. I think Swihart will be up and contribute a good deal this year, just not 'til the boys of summer actually get to summer. 

-M

PS and now it looks like Koji will start the year on the 15 day DL with his hamstring, meaning he bullpen is up in the air too-Kelly might be starting on the DL too as they don't need a 5th starter right away and the extra bullpen arm or extra outfielder is they keep Craig and Castillo up will help things.