MARCH MADNESS - The Final Four Is Set

Kentucky vs. Wisconsin

Duke vs. Michigan State

             

           

March Madness - Who Will Advance To Indy?

The stage is set for the eight teams remaining in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament with a shot at getting to the Final Four in Indianapolis next weekend.
The two games slated for later today include Wisconsin taking on Arizona in a "rematch" of last year's national quarter final that saw Wisconsin move to the Final Four. The nightcap game will feature the overwhelming tourney favorite Kentucky Wildcats (unbeaten at 37-0) facing the feisty Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Sunday games will have two surprising teams squaring off in the East Regional final when Michigan State faces Louisville and then in the South Regional final Duke takes on Gonzaga, which will be seeking their first ever Final Four trip.
In today's games, no doubt many would be surprised if the Fighting Irish "shock the world" and knock off the top ranked Wildcats, who feature four players listed at 6-10 or taller in their lineup.
The Irish will rely on their three-point shooting to draw the Kentucky defense outside the paint to create opportunities inside for their big men. The 'Cats will simply attempt to do what has worked all season for them to advance next weekend.
Meanwhile, out west the Wisconsin Badgers will play the Arizona Wildcats in what should be a nail biter, much like last year's game.
Both teams play stellar defense and can either run the open court with a fast break style offense or slow it down and run the set offense and also rely on three-point shooting to win the game.
In the Sunday games, who knows what to expect when Michigan State takes on the Louisville Cardinals as both teams weren't expected to even be here at this stage of the tournament. Both teams are led by legendary coaches with championship rings.
The Spartans have Tom Izzo and Louisville is led by Rick Pitino. These two have faced off once before in the 2009 Elite Eight round of the tournament. Izzo's Spartans advanced and eventually made it to the championship game, where they lost to North Carolina.
The game may very well go down to the wire as so many games have thus far in this year's version of March Madness.
The Duke and Gonzaga game will be an interesting match up as the number-one and number-two seeds go at it in the South Regional final.
The Blue Devils have looked solid during the three wins so far as have the Zags in their three victories. Look for an up and down the court battle that should go back and forth as they seek to get to the Final Four next week.

PREDICTIONS 

Wisconsin 77, Arizona 76

Kentucky 68, Notre Dame 60

Michigan State 63, Louisville 59

Duke 78, Gonzaga 72

Spot On!

The truth as told by Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC several years ago about what the problem really is regarding political corruption and big money banks owning the politicians in Washington, DC.

Let The Madness Begin

March Madness starts this week and only four teams will remain in a few short weeks . . .

Here is the Heftyinfo picks for this year's FINAL FOUR!

Kentucky Wildcats

Wisconsin Badgers

Virginia Cavaliers

Duke Blue Devils

March Madness Is Coming

It's March and that means springtime along with baseball season approaching fast.
But before the official start of spring there is the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
March Madness!
When the team are announced and all the seedings are in place for the four different regionals, numerous teams will know where they are headed and there will be joy and disappointment and some teams "slip in" while others get "left out" of the tournament.
Kentucky (33-0 entering today's action) is the odds-on favorite to hoist the championship trophy early next month when it all wraps up after two and a half weeks of non-stop action.
No doubt when people all across the land are filling in their tournament brackets, Kentucky will be the last name filled as the title game winner.
The Wildcats are attempting to become the first team since the Indiana Hoosiers (coached by a then young man named Bobby Knight) went unbeaten in the 1975-76 season.
That was 39 years ago and only the UNLV Runnin' Rebels (in 1990-91) came close to duplicating that feat but they lost to eventual champion Duke University in the national semi-final game to kill their dreams of a repeat title in the 1991 tournament.
The teams with the best shot at getting number one seeds are, of course, Kentucky along with Wisconsin, Villanova and Arizona.
Wisconsin still has to beat Michigan State in today's Big Ten Tournament title game while Arizona and Villanova have already won their conference tourneys.
The Kentucky team has to win against Arkansas today to wrap up the SEC Tournament title to get to 34-0 entering the "Big Dance" next weekend. That appears to be a formality, but one never knows what can happen once the madness begins.
Take a look at what Notre Dame has done recently, as they defeated mighty Duke and then North Carolina last night to win the ACC tournament championship. The Fighting Irish can be a big time sleeper entering the madness as they have the momentum going big time for them.
Just last year, much like they did in 2011 also, the Connecticut Huskies won it all in unlikely fashion when they were given no chance at all.
That is why they play the games folks.
We will know tonight who is playing who and when it will take place. It all gets going in full swing on Thursday and will continue right through to that Monday evening on April 6 when another team is crowned the champion.
Let the madness begin.

College Basketball Top Ten

 Heftyinfo College Basketball Top Ten                                                                     

1.  Kentucky (31-0)
2.  Wisconsin (28-3)
3.  Duke (28-3)
4.  Villanova (29-2)
5.  Virginia (29-2)
6.  Arizona (28-3)
7.  Gonzaga (30-2)
8.  Northern Iowa (30-3)
9.  Maryland (26-5)
10.  Notre Dame (26-5)

We Are Not Going Backwards

Regarding the anti-union movement going on throughout this nation of ours, here is some food for thought about all of this nonsense that the unions are to blame for the corporate mantra going around that people should just accept whatever pay the employee decides it should be.
Look at the picture in this post and think long and hard about it ... Unions are not to blame.
Greed at any level is never good, but there seems to be a blame game going on with the economic issues throughout various states in this country.
It should be noted that California and Minnesota RAISED TAXES on the RICH and funded education and are now thriving while Wisconsin (which just passed so called 'Right to Work' for less money laws) and Kansas are swimming in red ink following their governor's (BOTH REPUBLICANS) budget plans which gutted education spending and LOWERED TAXES on the RICH in said states.
Go figure.
Unions are not the problem for economic woes because when working people have money in their pockets, they tend to spend it and generate good things for our economy. However, the rich corporate types tend to hoard the money and ship it overseas into tax havens. A lot of good that serves the national economy.
The divide and conquer strategy seems to be working in the Class Warfare being waged by corporations on the American people and (mostly) right wing organizations and politicians and the news media (YES THE RIGHT WING CORPORATE MEDIA) fuel this by constantly drumming it into their broadcasts for the people to hear.
The divide and conquer strategy pits working people (99 percent of this nations population) against each other by promoting 'wage wars' that spark envy toward one another over pay rates for the jobs performed.
This needs to be reversed and the people have to wake up and realize they are being viewed as useful idiots by the plutocrats and corporate executives that thrive on greed and suppressing the working people in the United States.
It's up to the American people to make that happen . . .  otherwise nothing will ever change.

Looking For A Riot?

Hey United States Supreme Court, you nine people want to incite an all out riot in the United States of America?
Then go ahead and repeal the Affordable Health Care Act (OBAMACARE) and take away health insurance coverage from roughly 8 MILLION Americans and see what happens.
Anything the opponents of the ACA come up with to get rid of it is complete and utter bullshit and the SCOTUS must not succumb to these ideologues.  Do the right thing and maintain the ACA as it is and do not open up another unnecessary legal fight that will just waste more taxpayer dollars.

College Basketball Top Ten

Heftyinfo College Basketball Top Ten                                                 

1.  Kentucky (29-0)
2.  Virginia (27-1)
3.  Wisconsin (26-3)
4.  Duke (26-3)
5.  Villanova (27-2)
6.  Arizona (26-3)
7.  Gonzaga (29-2)
8.  Kansas (23-6)
9.  Notre Dame (24-5)
10.  Wichita State (27-3)

True Baseball Pioneer Dies At Age 90

Minnie Minoso,  a Cuban born baseball player who spent many seasons with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, his primary team in the Major Leagues during a career that spanned five decades, has died at the age of 90 years old.
This is a ball player who deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Perhaps like the late Ron Santo, who was inducted three years ago after passing away a year earlier (in December of 2010) Minoso will finally get his due as one of the game's all time greats.

THINK SPRING