SportSpectator Blog

April 6, Week in Sports

:: Michigan State and North Carolina in NCAA Championship Game  (College Basketball)

:: Jay Cutler Traded to Chicago Bears (Pro. Football)

:: Opening Day, MLB Season Begins (Pro. Baseball)

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MOTOR CITY MAYHEM

The NCAA tournament is down to the championship game, the final match-up between Michigan State and the University of North Carolina. This game is the culmination of “March Madness,” and the biggest event of the men’s college basketball season.

Before this year’s season started, the North Carolina Tar Heels were widely expected to be the best team in the country, and though there have been a couple of bumps in the road, they have certainly lived up to those expectations. They have looked especially good during the tournament, so UNC, led by forward Tyler Hansbrough, will be favorites to win the game. However, Michigan State is an extremely good defensive team that will put up a fight against North Carolina’s high-powered offense. That being said, these two teams played once earlier this year, and during that December game, the Tar Heels embarrassed Michigan State, winning the game by 35 points.

However, there is one more important factor in the match-up. The championship game is being played in Detroit, which means that the stadium will essentially be loaded with Michigan State fans. The energy from a home crowd might just be the thing that will help this Michigan State team rise to the top.

Quote of the Week: “Michigan State is just playing so well, you almost wonder if they’re a team of destiny or are they destined to crash back to earth?” — Seth Davis, CBS analyst

Further Reading: “Higher stakes this time around in UNC-Michigan State final ” — Associated Press, via USA Today

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A CUT(LER) ABOVE THE REST

Last week, the Denver Broncos traded disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears. When Cutler demanded a trade, he became one of the most coveted young quarterbacks in the league.

Even though tension had been building between the Broncos and Cutler for weeks, and even though Cutler had demanded a trade, it was still relatively surprising that the Broncos pulled the trigger on the trade. After all, it is almost unheard of for a young, Pro Bowl quarterback to be traded to another team. In the end, though, the relationship between Cutler and the Broncos was too bad to repair. Of course, since Cutler was a valuable commodity, the Broncos received a lot of talent from the Bears in exchange for him–quarterback Kyle Orton, two first-round draft picks, and a third-round draft pick. It is rare to see so much talent exchanged in an NFL trade.

Not only was it surprising to see Cutler traded, but it was also a huge surprise to see him go to the Chicago Bears, who have not made a comparable trade in decades. The Bears, who have not had a stable quarterback for years, are hoping that Cutler will be the franchise quarterback they have been waiting for.

Quote of the Week: ”The Bears on Thursday traded their first- and third-round picks this year, their first-round pick next year and Kyle Orton to the Broncos in exchange for Cutler, a 2009 fifth-round pick and a six-pack of baby formula.” — Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune

Further Reading: “Chicago Bears take the plunge in acquiring Jay Cutler ” — David Haugh, Chicago Tribune

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PLAY BALL!

While the MLB regular season officially began last night, when the Atlanta Braves played the Philadelphia Phillies, today is Opening Day for baseball teams across the country–a kind of holiday for baseball lovers that marks the beginning of the MLB year.

With the excitement of Opening Day comes the optimism of fans across the country that this year will be the year that their team wins the World Series. But since the baseball season is roughly six months long, there is a lot of baseball yet to be played.

While every team in the country has its own set of storylines at the beginning of the season, the biggest national stories, as always, revolve around the New York Yankees. Two Yankees stories in particular will get a lot of attention in the coming weeks. First of all, the Yankees just moved into their new stadium–a huge palace in the Bronx. While almost everyone who has visited the stadium has agreed that it is absolutely beautiful, ticket prices to Yankees games are by far the highest in baseball history. Almost every story about the new stadium mentions the fact that it is also absurdly expensive, especially during a bad economy.

The other issue with the Yankees is, of course, the team’s controversial third baseman Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez. A-Rod is currently injured, so he is not expected to join the team for several weeks. However, once he re-joins the Yankees, the former steroid user’s performance will be scrutinized by every analyst in the country.

Quote of the Week: ”Economy or not, that gets thrown the Yankees’ way every year regardless…. That’s part of the Yankees having the highest payroll in the game for a long time.” — Brian Cashmann, Yankees GM

Further Reading: “Strange Times ” — Tom Verducci, SI.com

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

:: COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The NCAA Tournament comes to a close on Monday night, when Michigan State and North Carolina face off for the national championship.

:: BASEBALL: Monday marks Opening Day of the MLB season. There are only 162 games in the season, so now’s the time to get on board!

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ALL-SPORTS UPDATE

 

ACTIVE SEASON

:: BASEBALL

MLB (Pro. Baseball): The 2009 season begins on Monday, and runs through October. [Official MLB Website]

:: BASKETBALL

NBA (Pro. Basketball): The 2008-09 season is currently underway. It runs from late October to April of 2009, when the playoffs commence.  [Official NBA Website]

NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL (College): “The Tournament” will end on Monday night, when Michigan State and North Carolina face off for the national championship. [CBS Sports]

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:: FOOTBALL

NFL (Pro. Football): Now that the Super Bowl is over, the next major NFL event is the draft, which takes place in late April. [Official NFL Website]

NCAA FOOTBALL (College): The college football season is now over, with Florida defeating Oklahoma in the national championship game. [NCAA Football, ESPN]

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:: GOLF

MEN’S GOLF: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Major Championships: The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open (The British Open), and the PGA Championship. The Masters is scheduled for the first week of April. [Official PGA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson

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:: HOCKEY

NHL (Pro. Hockey): The hockey season is currently underway and runs through April of 2009.  [Official NHL Website]

 

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:: TENNIS

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The next event is the French Open, which takes place in May. [USTA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic

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OFFSEASON

March 23, Week in Sports

:: ‘MARCH MADNESS’ NCAA TOURNAMENT REACHES SWEET SIXTEEN (College Basketball)

:: JAY CUTLER SAGA CONTINUES IN DENVER (Pro. Football)

:: JAPAN KNOCKS OUT U.S. IN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC (Pro. Baseball)

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 OH MY SWEET SIXTEEN

Over the weekend, the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship were played. This tournament, known as “March Madness,” is one of the most popular and exciting sporting events of the year. The field has been narrowed from 64 teams to just 16, known as the “Sweet Sixteen.”

So far, there have not been any truly shocking upsets so far in the tournament, but there were certainly a handful of surprises and several thrilling finishes in the opening weekend. No. 13 Cleveland St. knocked off Wake Forest in the biggest upset of the first round of the tournament, which was fun while it lasted, but they then lost to Arizona in the second round. Arizona, a 12 seed, is the lowest ranked team still in the tournament. The next lowest ranked is Purdue, a 5 seed. Arizona has not reached “Cinderella” status yet, but a victory over No. 1-ranked Louisville on Friday would make them the underdog story of the tournament.

None of the four top-ranked teams in the country–-North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt and UConn–-have been knocked out of the tournament so far. That being said, there have already been a couple of scares, and the level of competition is increasing with every round, so look for a big upset sometime next weekend.

Quote of the Week: “Pittsburgh beat Oklahoma State and Louisville beat Siena, meaning all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive season. The last time a No. 1 seed didn’t advance to the Sweet 16 was 2004, when both Kentucky and Stanford lost in the second round (to UAB and Alabama).” — Gary Parrish, CBS Sports

Further Reading: “Sports Illustrated Bracket “

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BRONCOS BABY

In the past week, the Jay Cutler situation has gone from bad to worse in Denver. Cutler is the starting quarterback for the Broncos, and after feeling slighted by new coach Josh McDaniels, he is demanding to be traded.

Cutler is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league, though by no means does he have the kind of star power of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Tony Romo. However, Cutler also has a reputation for being a prima donna and a real whiner. Given his behavior in this current debacle, Cutler will never live that reputation down. It all started when McDaniels, the newly introduced 32-year old coach of the Broncos, reportedly tried to trade for Matt Cassel–the second quarterback for the New England Patriots, where McDaniels used to coach. When Cutler caught wind of the fact that McDaniels was pursuing another quarterback, he started to publicly bellyache about it. McDaniels and Cutler had a meeting, which was supposed to smooth things over but actually made things worse, and now Cutler is demanding to be traded.

In reality, whether or not Cutler gets traded will ultimately be the decision of the Broncos organization. However, Cutler has become such a distraction for the team that if he doesn’t make any effort at reconciling with his coach, they will have little choice but to trade him. A young quarterback with Cutler’s proven talent doesn’t appear on the market very often in the NFL, so if he does get traded, he will go for a high price.

Quote of the Week: ”I understand Jay’s feelings got hurt, but it’s too bad it has got to where it is. I wish Jay would have got some better advice from whoever he was getting advice from.” — John Elway, former Broncos QB

Further Reading: “Don’t Destroy Franchise ” — Woody Paige, Denver Post

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THE LAND OF THE RISING FASTBALL

On Sunday night, Japan knocked the U.S. out of the World Baseball Classic, the biggest international tournament for baseball. Japan will face Korea in the finals on Monday.

Though Major League Baseball is considered the highest level of baseball in the world, the U.S. team was not favored in their game against Japan. While many American players shy away from competing in the WBC out of fear that they will get injured before the start of the MLB season, Japanese players take a great deal of pride in playing well during the tournament. The game between Japan and the U.S. was surprising close, but Japan pulled away in the final innings to seal a 9-4 victory.

The Monday night game should be extremely competitive. Japan, one of the best baseball countries in the world, is defending their WBC championship from 2006. However, the Korean team, which won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, is one of the best teams when it comes to international play.

Quote of the Week: “Japan’s 9-4 victory in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic against Team USA won’t be seen as a shifting of the international baseball world toward Asia.That shift already took place some time ago.” — Devin Clancy, USA Today

Further Reading:  “Japan Has a Date with Korea in Final” — Rhett Bolinger, MLB.com

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

:: COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The NCAA tournament continues this Thursday, as the Sweet Sixteen attempt to fight their way to the Elite Eight. The action will continue all weekend, and the schedule will be updated regularly on the CBS Sports website .

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ALL-SPORTS UPDATE

 

ACTIVE SEASON

:: BASKETBALLNBA (Pro. Basketball): The 2008-09 season is currently underway. It runs from late October to April of 2009, when the playoffs commence.  [Official NBA Website]

NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL (College): “The Tournament” is currently underway. Sixteen teams, known as the “Sweet Sixteen” are currently left in the tournament. [CBS Sports]

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:: FOOTBALL

NFL (Pro. Football): Now that the Super Bowl is over, the next major NFL event is the draft, which takes place in late April. [Official NFL Website]

NCAA FOOTBALL (College): The college football season is now over, with Florida defeating Oklahoma in the national championship game. [NCAA Football, ESPN]

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:: GOLF

MEN’S GOLF: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Major Championships: The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open (The British Open), and the PGA Championship. The Masters is scheduled for the first week of April. [Official PGA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson

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:: HOCKEY

NHL (Pro. Hockey): The hockey season is currently underway and runs through April of 2009.  [Official NHL Website]

 

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:: TENNIS

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The next event is the French Open, which takes place in May. [USTA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic

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OFFSEASON

:: BASEBALL

MLB (Pro. Baseball): The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in this year’s World Series. During the off-season, baseball news will focus on major trades and player signings. [Official MLB Website]