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

 

:: NCAA TOURNAMENT DOWN TO “FINAL FOUR” TEAMS (College Basketball)

:: BASEBALL BEGINS, OPENING DAY (Pro. Baseball)

:: TIGER WOODS WINNING STREAK ENDS (Golf)

MIDNIGHT STRIKES FOR CINDERELLA DAVIDSON; FOUR TOP-RANKED TEAMS STAY ALIVE

The NCAA Tournament has been narrowed down to four teams–North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis, and Kansas. This is the first time that the four top-ranked teams in the tournament have all made it to the Final Four.

While each of these four teams had their own unique journey to the Final Four, perhaps the most emotional victory came when Kansas knocked off Davidson on Sunday night. Davidson was undoubtedly this year’s Cinderella–a low-ranked team who becomes a kind of nationally supported underdog, winning the hearts of casual fans everywhere. However, Davidson’s tournament run came to an end when they faced Kansas, one of four top-ranked teams in the tournament. With Davidson eliminated, only four teams remain, all of which were 1-seeds in the tournament. Never before in the history of the NCAA tournament has this taken place.

However, within a week, two of those #1-ranked teams will be sent home. On Saturday, UCLA plays Memphis and North Carolina plays Kansas. The games should be filled with an unprecedented amount media attention and intensity. The two teams that survive Saturday’s games will play for the national championship on Monday.

Quote of the Week: “And then there were ones. Four No. 1s, that is.” — Associated Press

Further Reading: “Goliath slays Davidson, Curry as KU holds on” –Associated Press, via ESPN

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TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME!

Baseball season officially began last week, when the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics played two games in Tokyo, Japan. However, for the remaining teams in the league, Opening Day–the first day of the regular season–will take place this week in the States.
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. However, there are three story lines that will surely come up throughout the course of the 2008 season, revolving around the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the Chicago Cubs.
This year is the Yankees’ last year in Yankee Stadium. The historic venue, where baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio played, will be replaced next year by New Yankee Stadium. As a result, this year the Yankees will get even more national attention than they already do. The New York Mets are also playing their last season at Shea Stadium this year.
The Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series last year, continue to grow in popularity around the country, rivaling the Yankees as the highest profile team in the country. While baseball analysts are generally reluctant to pick a favorite before the season begins, many baseball writers around the country think that the Red Sox are strong enough to win the World Series again this year.
The Cubs, the Lovable Losers from the North Side of Chicago, have now gone 100 years without winning a World Series. The Cubs’ losing ways are always a popular topic among baseball enthusiasts, so this year the team will undoubtedly be a center of attention in sports.

Quote of the Week: “How did the Dodgers and Red Sox just draw 115,300 fans for an exhibition baseball game? How can any sport in the world possibly top baseball?” — Mark Newman, baseball writer
Further Reading: “Feel-good vibes as baseball returns” — Mark Newman, MLB.com

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WOODS TAKES FIRST DEFEAT IN SIX MONTHS

Last Monday, Tiger Woods finished in fifth place in the CA Championship at Doral. That would hardly be newsworthy, were it not for the fact that it is the first time that Woods has lost a tournament in six months.

Geoff Ogilvy, who won the tournament, finished two shots ahead of Woods. Ogilvy’s victory was particularly impressive because of the big names that he narrowly beat out in addition to Woods–Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, and Jim Furyk. Woods had won the past three years at Doral.

Now that Woods has finally lost, the golf world will be turning its attention to the Masters–the first of the four Major tournaments–which will take place in April.

Quote of the Week: “It has come to this: When Woods doesn’t win, it counts as stunning news.” — Associated Press
Further Reading: “Winner Ogilvy glad to see Tiger’s winning streak is history” — Associated Press, via ESPN

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

:: COLLEGE BASKETBALL — The NCAA Tournament has been narrowed down to four teams–the Final Four. The next round of the tournament will be played on April 5th when UCLA plays Memphis, and the University of North Carolina plays Kansas.

:: PRO. BASEBALL –The regular season begins this week. Games will be played across the country every day, so tune in and root, root, root for the home team.

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ALL-SPORTS UPDATE

ACTIVE SEASON

:: BASKETBALL

NBA (Pro. Basketball): With only a few weeks remaining in the regular season (the post-season begins on April 19th), the 2008 playoff picture is beginning to take shape. Sixteen teams will qualify for the playoffs—eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. Several teams will be fighting here on out to get into the playoffs–perhaps most notably Denver, Dallas, and Golden State, who are battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. [Official NBA Website]

NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL (College): The Final Four round of this year’s NCAA tournament will be played on April 5, and the Championship game will be played on April 7. [CBS Sports]

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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 first of these is the Masters, which takes place in April. The Masters is played on the same course every year at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. [Official PGA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els

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:: HOCKEY

NHL (Pro. Hockey): With only a couple weeks remaining in the regular season (the Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 9th), the 2008 playoff picture is beginning to take shape. Sixteen teams will qualify for the playoffs—eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. Nashville, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Chicago–all within a handful of points of each other–are battling every night to win the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. [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 of the year are the four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The Australian Open took place in January. The French Open, which is held in May, is the next Grand Slam event. [USTA Website]

NOTABLE PLAYERS: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin

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OFFSEASON

:: BASEBALL

MLB (Pro. Baseball): The pre-season is now officially over and the regular season has begun. Baseball season is long, so teams tend to measure their success month by month. The All-Star break takes place the second week of July. By then, teams’ records will be a good indicator of how well they are performing this season. [Official MLB Website]

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:: FOOTBALL

NFL (Pro. Football): The NFL Draft takes place on April 25th and 26th. The pre-season begins in August, and the regular season begins in September. [Official NFL Website]

NCAA FOOTBALL (College): Now that signing day has come and gone, there won’t be much news in college football until the summer, when practice sessions begin. [NCAA Football, ESPN]