Why Spring Training wins don't matter: Giants 19, Sox 7. But the only two pitchers in the game likely to see big-league action this year threw scoreless innings. Boone Logan shook off my jinx to throw two hitless innings against Real Major League Hitters, and Javier Lopez didn't let two walks and two hits hurt him in his 1 1/3 innings. Tyler Lumsden, Sean Tracey, John Hurd, Demetrius Banks and Armando Almanza did the damage, but they won't cost the Sox games after Opening Day. (That's not to say Logan or Lopez won't.)
All the full-timers got a hit except for Scott Podsednik (Brian Anderson had three), and they scored six runs off Real Major League Pitcher Matt Morris, so all in all, it was a good day.
It was the best of times: The Elite Eight game between LSU and Texas today was the best game I've seen all tournament, and there have been a lot of close games. It was physical, there was a lot of hustle, a lot of great defense (great defense, not bad offense), and I can't remember the lead extending beyond six or seven points for either team.
Best of all, the refs let 'em play. Tyrus Thomas conked Brad Buckman on the head during a futile attempt for an impossible steal in plain sight of everybody in the arena. Just a good
whack. Buckman went down, the refs called timeout, but they didn't blow the whistle. Gotta love prison rules.
It was the worst of times: Memphis-UCLA, on the other hand, was complete dogshit. I hadn't used profanity in this blog yet, and I don't plan on it from here on out, but that's what it was -- dogshit. It was the worst game I remember watching in its entirety, and I only did that because I picked Memphis to win it all.
The Bruins couldn't dribble, couldn't pass, couldn't rebound, couldn't shoot, and when they got to the line (and they did often, because there was a whistle on every possession), they couldn't hit free throws. Their player of the game (in name only, believe me) was 2-for-11 from the line.
And they were the better team! Sports editors could save a lot of space in their sections if they cut out all references to Memphis basketball in the game story except for "The Tigers just took a big dump on the floor."
Wait and see: Word on the street is that Missouri
has hired UAB's Mike Anderson as its new coach.
Not knowing anything about Anderson aside from his recent tournament appearances, I like it. He has experience and success running a clean and successful program, and he appears to have no criminal record himself. We'll see if it's the right hire, but I think the AD used the right thought process. I'd much rather have the Anderson type than a Bob Huggins leading my team (
"What a great hire!" says Dickie V.).