Sports Ramblings

Please forgive me if I sound disjointed this evening, lost a few brain cells during a track workout this afternoon. Welcome to the Monday evening edition of "the stache," where we will cover a myriad of topics including the NBA, college basketball, and maybe a little baseball if I feel up to it.

The NBA basketball season has hit the 3/4 pole with all teams having completed 60 games this season. The top teams have become apparent, (L.A. Lakers, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs), and the champion will emerge from one of these teams, mark it down. I think whoever ends up getting the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference will be the conferences' representative in the Finals. It is really too close to call between Cleveland and Boston, only separated by 1 game as we speak. My guess is Cleveland, they seem to be hungrier and healthier right now. Now will they be healthy 2 months from now, we'll see, but I like the energy they have played with this year and like their chances. As far as the West is concerned, I like the Spurs. One of the reasons is because it is an odd year and the Spurs have won titles in 1999,2003,2005, and 2007. So why not 2009, they still have the lethal trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, with their usual cast of role players that know how to play in clutch moments. It has been either the Spurs or the Lakers winning the Western Conference 9 out of the last 10 years. So mark it down, Spurs will be in the finals and win it again against the Cavaliers whom they defeated in 2007. Other story lines I am following is whether my hometown Atlanta Hawks can quit the bickering and hold onto the 4 seed in the East, thus allowing them to have home court advantage in the first round. They hold a slim lead now, and they have the talent and flexibility to match up with any team in the league. They took the champion Boston Celtics to 7 games in the First Round of last years playoffs. Also, how far can teams like Denver and Utah, who is playing extremely well right now, advance into the postseason. They could be potential sleepers out West.

College Basketball is in its final week before the tickets are all punched to the Big Dance. Look for a Big East/ACC domination come tourney time, barring upsets in the conference tourneys expect 6 teams out of the ACC and 7 teams in the Big East. These are where the best teams in the land reside, and depending upon matchups could fill up the entire Final Four. Some other teams I have my eye on are Michigan State out of the Big 11, who is expecting 8 bids this year(for those college football fans, think of the ACC this year, a lot of teams make it to the postseason but very little top end quality), Oklahoma and Kansas out of the Big 12, Memphis from Conference USA, and the Washington Huskies out of the Pac-10. We don't really know how good Memphis is, they could be either 2nd round losers or Final Four contenders. Kansas is young but have exceeded expectations by winning the Big 12 regular season title, they are mystery to me, hard to trust. I am finding out there are a lot of teams you cannot trust when trying to fill out a winning bracket this year. You got to look for teams with versatility, and teams that have NBA talent. Those are the teams that do well come tourney time. Expect the SEC to really struggle especially since they could get as few as 2 teams in. There are always sleepers to watch for and that is what is so intriguing about March Madness. Who will be the next George Mason or Davidson? We will find out soon enough.

A little baseball talk here to wrap things up. I am excited for this upcoming season. I like the depth that the Atlanta Braves have assembled on their club. There are just so many more options if injuries should occur. In the starting rotation, you have guys such as Tommy Hanson, Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton, James Parr, all young guys with limited experience who most likely will see time with the big club this year if they do not start the season with the club. It will be interesting to see who fills out the rest of the bullpen for the Bravos. A lot of injury concerns arise here with guys such as Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan, among others, that will determine the makeup of the 'pen behind Mike Gonzalez, the closer. The depth on the offensive side of the ball is also better than a year ago. The bench is actually pretty set in stone right now with David Ross (catcher with some pop), Martin Prado (utility infielder and solid gap-to-gap hitter), Omar Infante (utility everywhere man with a solid bat), Greg Norton (pinch hitter, switch hitter, can play multiple positions), and Matt Diaz (Outfield, will play a lot in a semi-platoon with Garrett Anderson in LF). This leaves off guys such as Gregor Blanco, solid OBP(on base percentage), good speed, Brandon Jones (younger fellow who has yet to fulfill promise of years past), Jordan Shafer (young 22 year old CF of the future possibly), and Diory Hernandez (solid infielder who put up good numbers at AAA last year), who will all end up at AAA Gwinett with all of our other solid prospects on the pitching staff. Oh, one name to keep your eye on for the 'pen is Kris Medlan, young guy who I saw pitch for AA Mississippi last summer. Good command of his pitches, with some excellent off speed pitches to offer.

I hope you are enjoying the weather wherever you may be and keep reading "the stache," you won't regret it. Keep it real and if you are wearing black socks keep them high for all of us out there to see. To you and yours and have a wonderful night. Hugs and handpounds.

mb