terpsrock6

Wait...the Patriots have a running game? I thought last year they had just let all the RBs go and turned Wes Welker into their "RB" This season's Patriots squad has been plaqued by injuries, the most notable ones to Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney. And then LaMont Jordan. And then Rodney Harrison. And Sammy Morris left the game too, and according to Coach Belichick, will be looked at from day to day this week. The question asked is: Can the Patriots last with all these injuries? So far, they have done fairly well with Matt Cassel as QB, and Sammy Morris looked impressive as a RB last night, but that was against the Broncos defense, which gave up lots of points to the likes of Kansas City. Against a very stout San Diego defense, the running game was completely shut down, which forced us to pass almost all the time. With an inexperienced QB starting, we cannot afford to become one dimensional. The Patriots scored a grand total of 10 points, with the TD coming after the game had been decided. Whereas against Denver, when the running game got going (Morris had 138 yards and a TD) which freed Cassel up to pass, and he did. (3 TDs) Of course, the defense has to step up, and I thought they did a very nice job last night forcing 5 turnovers. But we can't always rely on turnovers to happen. If the team is careful with the ball, like Miami or San Diego, and they have a half decent QB and WRs, they can just sit back and pick our makeshift secondary apart. A pass rush is needed. We have one of the best lines in the league. We MUST get pressure on the quarterbacks. That is what I think the Patriots need to do to salvage their injury filled season and possibly have a shot at the playoffs and even the division title. What do you think?

Here are rankings of all 16 teams in the National League. I am ranking Starting pitching, Bullpen, Offense, and Defense from a scale of 1(worst) to 5(best). The overall rankings are all the numbers added up, so a overall score can be between 4-20.

NL EAST:

Mets: SP: 5, B: 3, O: 4, D: 4 Overall: 16: Regarded by many as the favorites to win the National League and even the World Series, this is all thanks to their starting rotation, which was already strong and now includes a 2 time Cy-Young winner. Remember the old saying: Pitching wins Championships? It's true.

Phillies: SP: 3, B: 3, O: 5, D: 3 Overall: 14: A Playoff berth won't be enough for this title-starved city, but a title will have to wait until the pitching gets better. It's tough to be a ping-pong offensive team and win a championship.

Braves: SP: 4, B: 3, O: 4, D: 2 Overall: 13: A little weak defensively, they still are poised to challenge for their 15th division title in 17 seasons after missing the playoffs for two years in a row. It'll be interesting to see how the return of Tom Glavine affects them.

Nationals: SP: 1, B: 4, O: 2, D: 2: Overall: 9: The Nation's capital is good for many things, politics, bills, museums, just not baseball. More talent, but not much in the way of significant upgrades.

Marlins: SP: 1, B: 3, O, 2, D: 1: Overall: 7:This is not the year for Miami sports. The Dolphins, the Heat, and now the Marlins get their turn to be the doormat of the league. Miami, besides being the home of the worst professional sports teams, is also the home of the lowest payroll, smallest crowds(if they can even be called that) and worst starting pitching.

Division Champions: Mets

Wild Card: Phillies

After seeing all the responses my last picks got (0) here are my Elite Eight picks.

So far, my best pick of the tournament is: Davidson over Wisconsin

UCLA vs. Xavier: Xavier has made it past the first 3 rounds, exactly like I predicted. They are going to continue doing that, only this time, there's a unfortunate twist for them: UCLA 88, Xavier 81

North Carolina vs. Louisville: See above, except insert Louisville where Xavier is: North Carolina 75, Louisville 72

Kansas vs. Davidson: Kansas has a history of being upset by lower seeded teams that come out of nowhere in the 1st and 2nd round. However, this time it isn't he 1st round, Davidson is now known, and the SoCon is not going to the Final Four: Kansas 84, Davidson 75

Memphis vs. Texas: A real problem for Memphis: Free throws. Expect it to catch up to them in the Final Four, but not here: Memphis 79, Texas 73

Sorry I missed the 2nd round picks, but if you saw them, you'd laugh at how many I got wrong.

So here we go to the 3rd round.

North Carolina over Washington State

Louisville over Tennessee

Kansas over Villanova

Davidson over Wisconsin(Upset Special. Maybe I'm crazy)

Memphis over Michigan State

Stanford over Texas

UCLA over Western Kentucky

Xavier over West Virginia

And there they are. Stupid Davidson screwed my bracket up and now I have it wrecked all the way to the title game. Oh well.

Here we are again at March, and it's time for me to post my first blog entry and my picks for the opening round. Tell me what you think!

UCLA over Miss V. State

BYU over Texas A&M

Drake over Western Kentucky

Connecticut over San Diego

Purdue over Baylor

Xavier over Gonzaga

West Virginia over Arizona(Who shouldn't be in)

Duke over Belmont

Memphis over UT Arlington

Oregon over Mississippi St.

Michigan State over Temple

Pittsburgh over Oral Roberts

Marquette over Kentucky(see Arizona)

Stanford over Cornell

Miami over Saint Mary's

Texas over Austin Peay

North Carolina over Mt. Saint Mary's

Indiana over Arkansas

Notre Dame over George Mason(No Final Four run this year)

Washington State over Winthrop

Oklahoma over St. Joseph's

Louisville over Boise State

Butler over South Alabama

Tennessee over American

Kansas over Portland State

Kent State over UNLV

Clemson over Villanova(Just barely)

Vanderbilt over Siena

USC over Wisconsin

Davidson over Gonzaga(Upset special)

Georgetown over UMBC

What do you think?