All Over the Map

We’ve got a few things to go over here, so let’s get going.

1. Herbie Goes to Tempe. I was certainly stunned to see Herb Sendek of NC State take the head coaching position at Arizona State. My guess is that he got tired of going through every season feeling like he was going to be fired, so after the one season there hasn’t been any talk about whether he’d be let go, he left on his own. Now the question becomes, who does NC State go after?

2. NCAA Semifinals Sucked. What a disappointment both games were on Saturday night. LSU wasn’t even in the game after about the first 8 minutes, and Florida won going away. However, at least George Mason put up a fight for a while. That series in the last 2-1/2 minutes where Florida would shoot, miss, and get the offensive rebound certainly hastened the end of the game. Kudos to both George Mason and their coach for not deciding to foul. They were pretty much out of it, and there wasn’t much hope in trying to lengthen the game.

3. Baseball season is about to get under way with a game between Cleveland and the White Sox. I think I’m ready, but I could probably use another couple of days. As usual, I’m pulling for my Yankees, and hoping for the demise of the Red Sux. May Schilling end up with an ERA in Wil Ledezma territory (7.00+) and Ortiz have a .216, 17 HR, 58 RBI season.

4. I know it was only me and about 48 other people watching on Thursday night, but Tatiana Golovin put up a hell of a fight with Maria Sharapova in the Nasdaq-100 Open. She had to retire after rolling her ankle in the 3rd set, but not until she’d tried playing a point. Come to find out, she tore two ligaments and bruised a bone. This, after she’d come back from 5-1 down in the second set. Besides watching two attractive women play tennis, they were both playing GOOD tennis.

5. Reason #14 for Tigers fans who don’t want Brandon Inge at third that causes them concern: "Roger Clemens has proven you can still pitch into your 40s, so I don't see why Kenny Rogers can't keep this up," said the Tigers' third baseman. Uh, Brandon, do me this favor: Look at Roger Clemens body, and body of work. Now look at Kenny Rogers, and his body of work. Notice anything? I think you could argue that there are a couple of differences, starting with Clemens being 45 pounds heavier, right-handed, and a power pitcher. Rogers is left-handed, and struck out only 87 guys last year. Rogers also hasn’t been the most consistent guy on the planet. I hope you see ground balls better than you see differences in pitchers.

6. Just over 2 months before the World Cup starts with a match between Germany & Costa Rica.

7. Just under 3 months before the Tour de France starts on July 1st. The mountains start on July 12th, which is stage 10.

Comments, insights, and arguments welcome.