Here is the annual Helmet Schedule for the Bowls... Got enoguh requests where I figured I'd put it out here.

Watching last nights game got me thinking, when did the Intentional Walk become all the rage? During the entire 162 game regular season the St. Louis Cardinals intentionally walked a total of 44 batters while the Texas Rangers intentionally walked just 21. The intentional walk is something normally reserved for a special occasion, like the pitcher is coming up next, or the winning run is on 2nd in the 9th inning and you want to set up a force play. Last night alone the two teams combined for a total of 6 intentional walks and instead of strategy it just seemed like the casual thing to do.

In some cases these walks backfired and in some cases they were completely befuddling. The Rangers decided, Fuck it, we're not pitching to Albert Pujols in any scenario. Hell we're not even going to pitch to him with 2 outs and no one on. Conveniently for Ron Washington, of the three times they intentionally walked Pujols the only time Holliday didn't do something horrific, like bounce into a double play, was this occasion. Instead he set up a 2nd and 3rd where, you guessed it, they intentionally walked another guy. I know Pujols is the best player in baseball and hit 3 homers in game 3, but 2 out no one on? Have a little faith there Ron.

The game wouldn't be complete with a little Tony LaRussa over managing would it? Instead of just pitching to Nelson Cruz, who has not been enfuego this series, he intentionally walks him to set up the double play, while that might make some sense, it also ensured that if they didn't turn the double play that Napoli was going to get up with runners on. They didn't get the double play, they couldn't intentionally walk Napoli, even though they probably would have liked to, game over Rangers.

I just have to wonder why the Intentional Walk is all the rage in the postseason yet is rarely ever utilized in the regular season. Luckily for Ron Washington it worked out for him, unfortunately for Tony Quick Trigger LaRussa, it didn't work out for him.

Not really, but I am tied for the 1st round lead with 13 others after round 1 in their best ball challenge.

Oh the Red Sox fans, so cute with their addition skills. 04 + 07 = 11. It's their year. Ugh. Vomit. Ugh. I've got math too, it says "Snobby Yankee Fan, we have more championships than you. Even if 22 of them came before I was born."

You know who doesn't need to see to hit a baseball off Roy Oswalt's head? Manny Ramirez, that's who.

You think filling out an NCAA bracket is difficult? Try filling out a CIT bracket where the round 2 opponents aren't lined up or solidified and four of the teams will be chosen after round 1 to get a bye based on some selection criteria. This bracket is gonna be so so wrong.

This describes the movement. Red Arrows mean 2nd round byes. Green Arrows mean win and move to the next round.


In the end the obvious choice is Iona. They have the smallest name and was the easiest to copy and paste from spot to spot.

Here is your 2011 CollegeInsiders.com Tournament Bracket... The creation of the bracket is incredibly fluid as not only do they actually have no hard line bracket of who will play whom next, they also have a new system in place where 4 of the winners in the first round will receive byes into the Quarterfinals and skip the 2nd round. The logic behind this is stated as "RPI ranking, strength of schedule, conference ranking and geography" so essentially who the hell knows. Each team is posted with their RPI.

Who wants the 2011 College Basketball Invitational Bracket? You do!

I am a massive expert of the 2010-2011 college basketball mid majors. So much so that I know that Boise State wears bright blue and bright orange uniforms and that Cobe Karl used to go there. For that reason and that reason alone, they are clearly the favorites of this tournament and as the favorite they will dominate. Duquesne/URI/Davidson meet them in the epic final four with URI falling in the 3 game series due to blinding orange.