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Bracket guru
Rob McVie:
Impressively, the dude picked 15 of 16 Sweet 16 teams
-- 15 of 16!! -- to jump out to the early lead of the
ESPN.com Tourney Challenge.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
SECOND. CHANCES.
Convinced your office's resident hoops
geek to start the "second-chance" Sweet 16 pool
yet? It's just not as fun to watch when three of your
four Final Four teams have seats no better than yours
-- on the couch. There's still time ...
New I-am-So-Duke Due
Picks:
Midwest (St. Louis)
UAB d. Kansas; GTech d. Nev.
Final: UAB over GTech
Why UAB? Most fun to root for
East (East Rutherford, N.J.)
Wake d. Joe's; OK St d. Pitt
Final: Wake over OK St
Why Wake? Have 04's Carmelo
South (Atlanta)
Duke d. Ill; Texas d. Xavier
Final: Duke over Texas
Why Duke? Crushed TX in Dec.
West (Phoenix)
'Cuse d. 'Bama; Conn d. Vandy
Final: UConn over Syracuse
Why UConn? Too much everything
Final Four
"Cindy" semi: Wake over UAB
"Power" semi: Duke over UConn
Title: Duke over Wake
See "Big 5" for other combos.
Melo-ing Out
Count me among one of the cranks who were
ready to strip the "Co-" from the NBA's Rookie of the
Year ballot after Carmelo decided to pout (and sit
out) at the end of Friday night's game.
Apologies count, but actions speak louder than words --
and nothing says "I'm sorry" like racking up 22 in a
rout of the Clippers last night that reclaimed the
West's 8th playoff spot for Denver.
Prior's First Start
Mark Prior's lingering foot injury will keep
him from his first scheduled start, which should be a
good reminder to everyone as they consume season
previews
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
UNC: Big 3 stars all reportedly coming back next season
Mariano Rivera: 2yr/$21mil deal extension nearly finalized
QB Billy Volek: Returning to Titans; he WILL see action |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Kobe to Knicks: Someone's smoking some quality stuff ...
NFL ass't coaches: P'off-related hiring policy unchanged
East NCAA powers: As big a bunch of chokers as West teams |
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that every prediction is based on an ideal --
let's call it "guesspectations."
If the Cubs are projected to win the NL Central
by only a game or two, and Prior sits this first one
-- and who knows how many more? -- then we may look
back and recognize that this missed start (or two) had
huge implications.
MLB IPO
Not content to simply enjoy its upcoming
Greatest Season Yet, MLB reportedly is considering a
"Turn Back the Clock" event -- in the league
office.
It's a return to ... 1998! What else would
explain that MLB's online group is considering an
IPO?
MLB Salaries
Speaking of bubble, USA Today produced
one of those league salary analyses, this one looking
at guaranteed deals between '05 and '10. The Yankees
owe $566.7 million; the next highest is Philly ($181
mil). Upshot? $3 bil in upcoming salary debt is no
joke; enjoy $25 hot dogs in 2009, everyone.
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Foreman's Comeback
George Foreman will reportedly be a part of
the new reality series "The Contender" (think
"Apprentice" meets boxing).
My initial suggestion was to have Foreman's comeback
fight be against the winner, which would get more
viewers than anything else on TV.
But given the crib from "Apprentice" (What next?
"You're KO'ed"?), the pay-per-view dollars on a
Foreman-Trump fight would be even better.
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2004 Olympic host Athens:
Announced small construction snafu: Swimming venue won't have a roof (as planned). Expect more snafus all the way up to -- and through -- the Games.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2: Sports Guy on the Tourney |
| Fantasy: Top 200 players |
| NFL: Busy offseason in NFC East |
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| Telegenic Final Four combos |  Cinderella Madness
| UAB/NV, St. Joe's, Xavier, 'Bama
|  Best Available
| GTech, OSU, Duke, UConn
|  Smart Schools
| GT, Wake, Duke, Vandy
|  The Usual Suspects
| Kansas, Pitt, Duke, UConn
|  Big 12 Ugh-ly
| | Kans, OSU, Texas, Whoever |
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John "Mike Me" Lynch is joining the Broncos, a team
that always seems to think "rebuilding" means "find
aging, overpriced vets" ...
New Colorado allegations: Recruits and hookers! (Small
print: In 1995. Please: Want *real* violations? Try
the '70s) ...
NBA Draft Watch: 7-1 Russian teen Ivan Chiriaev.
Here's a humble quote from him: "The NBA wants and
needs Ivan Chiriaev." How nice ...
Top NFL Draft pick Larry Fitzgerald apparently did
nothing yesterday in a workout for scouts to hurt his
top-3 status ...
Funny that you always hear about "Parcells guys," but
you never hear about, say, "Belichick guys" or "Gibbs
guys" ...
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