Cubs, Bulls and Bears...O My!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: There is no better time of the year then March Madness. The Super Bowl and NFL playoffs are great. So is the stretch run of the MLB season, where like seven squads are fighting for the four playoff spots. I love the closing weeks of the college football season when schools are going for conference titles and bowl position. But absolutely nothing touches the excitement, interest and gambling opportunities that the NCAA tournament provides.

I think in fifteen years, we will look at 2007 as one of the worst tournaments since the field expanded to 64 teams. There were no big-time upsets, no double-digit seeds in the second weekend and the number one team in the tournament beat the number one team in the polls in a final that wasn’t very exciting. There were very few instant classic games (I can only think of Duke-VCU, Xavier-Ohio State, Wash. St-Vanderbilt, and Georgetown-North Carolina to fit that category) and no players who went from nobody to national stars. The officiating was horrible (yes, I’m still bitter about the Illini) and it was another year of listening to Billy Packer bitching and moaning. Yet despite all of those failures, I was still loving every second of the past month, and no matter how great the rest of the year is, I doubt anything will top what we just went through. March Madness just can’t be topped.

The only problem with the Madness is that a lot of stories get skipped over because of our national attention is so locked in on college hoops. Because of that, I’m going to run down some random thoughts on some of the issues in the world of sports that I have missed in the past few weeks. (Plus a brief wrap-up of the NCAA basketball tournament)

1---ESPN columnist Bill Simmons said it best on his blog earlier this week. He said that if a coach wanted to build the perfect college basketball team, they would start with a point guard who was pass first but could also drain a three. The two guard would be a deadly three point shooter, somebody that can’t be left open for even a second. At small forward would be an athletic swingman who can score inside and outside and cause matchup problems for whoever is playing defense. The power forward and center athletic, strong guys would be able to make open 15 footers but also play with their backs to the basket. And all five players would play terrific team defense. Only one team in the nation fit that criteria. And its no coincidence that team cut down the nets in Atlanta on Monday night.

The Florida Gators were just too fast, too athletic, too good at shooting, too well-coached and most of all, too smart for the five teams they faced in the NCAA tournament. They had no weakness when they were focused, and apparently the Gators were focused on making history. They were the first team since the 1992 Duke squad to win back-to-back basketball titles and more importantly, they were the second Gator team to beat Ohio State in a title game in three months. I thought the tournament MOP should have been shooting guard Lee Humphrey, who broke the all-time NCAA record for career threes made in tournament history. But swingman Corey Brewer wasn’t a bad choice either, because he played great in both Final Four games. This Florida team will go down in history as one of the most complete squads of all-time.

2---The biggest story in the Windy City the past few weeks, other then the sale of the Tribune Company (which I will get into next week), has been the holdout, outrageous demands and trade rumors surrounding Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. A few weeks after the Super Bowl, the Bears put the franchise tag on Briggs, meaning he got a one year contract for the average salary of the top five highest paid LB’s in the league (Approximately seven and a half million dollars for one year.) For most people, this would be fantastic news. The only exceptions to that would be Bill Gates and players represented by agent Drew Rosenhaus. The agent and his client went on the TV circuit, showing up on ESPN and the NFL Network demanding the Bears to either give Briggs a long term deal or trade him. If this didn’t happen, Rosenhaus said that #55 wouldn’t suit up for Chicago all season. Briggs went a step further, saying he didn’t respect the organization and would never put on the uniform again. (He went back on this a few days later after he realized he wouldn’t be granted free agency if he sat out a season.) Then the rumor that the Bears where going to trade Briggs and the #31 pick in the draft to the Washington Redskins in exchange for the number six pick.

If it were up to me, I think the Bears should hold on to Briggs. Not because he’s a great player (which he is) and not because the trade with the Redskins isn’t worth it for the team (which it isn’t). No, the reason I would hold on to Biggs is because that’s what a contract is for. The writing in Briggs’ deal states that the team can place the franchise tag on him for one year and the average of the top five highest paid at his position. If the Bears want, they can put the franchise tag on him again next year. The point is, Briggs signed the deal, therefore he should be held accountable to it. If the Bears trade or release him, what do you think is going to happen the next time the team wants to place the tag on a player? I’m guessing their agent will demand a trade or release, knowing the Bears caved in on Briggs. If he wants to sit out, fine, let him sit out. It’s worth it to miss a player for ten weeks in exchange for holding on the franchises credibility.

3--- Last year’s NBA Playoffs were the most exciting since Michael Jordan retired and the Bulls stopped winning championships. There were plenty of great match-ups and it was capped off by tremendous Finals that was filled with controversy. Lakers-Suns went seven and featured this dunk. Cavs-Wizards went six, including three games decided by one point. But no series was better then the Western Conference Semifinal Lone Star showdown between the Spurs and Mavericks. Seven great games, including instant classic game seven which included a big comeback by San Antonio, a last second three-point play by Dirk Nowitzki to push the game to overtime and a statement making win by Dallas.

It’s no surprise that this series was a classic. The Mavs and Spurs were the two best teams in the Western Conference last season, with each squad winning 60-plus games. Yet, because of the silly playoff formatting in the NBA, the two teams faced off in the Semi’s, since the three division winners get seeds one through three regardless of record. Thankfully that rule was changed. Now the teams with the top two records, regardless of division, are the one and two seeds in the conference, meaning that they won’t play each other until the conference finals. The only problem with this rule is when the three best teams in the conference are all in the same division, which happens to be the case this season in the East. The Pistons, Cavaliers and Bulls are all better then anything the Atlantic or Southeast division has to offer, yet one of them will end up being the five seed. The Bull have played very well recently, winning six of their last seven (the only loss being on overtime defeat to Cleveland), and have an easy remaining schedule. They also have the tie-breaker over the Cavs by having a better division record. My prediction is that the Bulls end up overtaking them and earning the number two seed, meaning home court in both the first and second rounds.

4---Through the seasons first four days, the last two World Series champs, St. Louis and the White Sox, have a combined zero wins. The Cubs on the other hand have one. Already this season is a success. Anyways, after watching the first two Cubs games, I have noticed some things. First off, this isn’t the power team I thought it would be. Not only is the team still looking for the first home run of 2007, but they only have one extra-base hit. Alfonso Soriano, the man who hit that double, hasn’t been spectacular, but I have been impressed with his outfield D. The bullpen is the strength I imagined they would be, especially the eight inning duo of Eyre and Howry. Ted Lilly was impressive, but I think that might have been because it was 20 degrees with howling winds. Big Z was not remarkable on opening day, but I though he pitched well after the second Adam Dunn moon-shot. I was excited to hear that the Cubs were close to signing Carlos to a five-year extension, but until it’s official, I’m not praising Jim Hendry. As for Sweet Lou, he hasn’t made done anything yet to make me dislike him.

I’m really looking forward to Monday afternoon, when the Cubs kick off the home campaign. Opening day at Wrigley is a special day, something that I would recommend that every Cubs fan go to at least once in their life. There is so much hope, excitement, and positive energy around Clark and Addison on that day that it just is uplifting for the spirit. Plus people are eager to taste that delicious Wrigley hot dog for the first time in six months, so sales for us vendors are often very good on opening day. But even without that, I would still be very excited for Cubs-Astros, 4/9/2007 at 1:20 pm.

5---Just in case March Madness wasn’t enough, this weekend provides Americans another opportunity to watch Jim Nantz pretend like he knows what he’s doing announcing a big-time sporting event. (Sorry, but I just really hate Nantz. Maybe it’s because he was behind the mike for both Illinois-North Carolina in 2005 and Bears-Colts in Feb.) It’s Masters weekend, meaning at least that the face of CBS will be doing a sport he enjoys. Anyways, since I don’t know much about golf but still enjoy watching it, I’m going to go out and make some predictions. I’m going to pick Evanston’s own Luke Donald (He’s actually from England, but since he went to Northwestern, I’m claiming him as an Evanstonian) to win the green jacket and pull off a huge upset. Tiger Woods will be leading after two rounds, but he will fall on Saturday, giving Donald the chance to win his first Major. Prediction number two is that there will be some amazing shots, but none better then this one from 2005.