Spring Waning

From ESPN:

Pelfrey is 0-3 with a 7.97 ERA in five spring starts. He has allowed eight home runs in 20 1/3 Grapefruit League innings.

Perez is 0-1 with an 8.66 ERA in 17 2/3 innings spanning five starts. His velocity registered only 86 mph to 88 mph Tuesday against the Cardinals.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Projected rotation is now Santana, Maine, Niese, Pelf, then Perez.

St. John's hires Lavin

I have to hand it to the AD--this was a good hire. Not a grand slam home run, but a solid double. And especially given how the hiring search was going, it looked like they were going to be lucky just to make contact.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good coaches out there. Probably some guys coaching in the America East Conference or Patriot League with even better in-game management, as X's and O's guys.

But Lavin brings some cache.

U. C. L. A. That is as big as it gets in college hoops, and a guy who had some success over there is now coaching the Johnnies. 5 sweet sixteens and 6 NCAA tourneys in 7 years is nothing to sneeze at. The lofty expectations in Westwood may have cost Lavin his job b/c he did a very good, but not exceptional job, in his 7 years there. But that was a decade ago. Lavin was 32 when he began at UCLA. At 45, he's had the benefit of much more life experience, and plenty of time picking the brains of the many basketball coaches he's worked with and analyzed during his time at ESPN.

Lavin is a great age to take over a program at 45. He has 15-25 of coaching in him if his heart is in it. He has the name recognition to bring in big time recruits (twice while at UCLA he brought in the top class in the nation). He'll just be hitting his stride at St. John's as Boeheim and Calhoun are calling it quits. There will be more room at the top of the Big East for the program with the acumen to grab it.

St. John's still faces a lot of challenges: recruiting top shelf talent to come to a commuter school that is on an unimpressive campus in a semi-urban envirornment, facilities that are not top shelf, convincing pampered elite recruits that they should play second fiddle in New York instead of being worshipped (and serviced by coeds) in places like Chapel Hill, Lawrence, Storrs, and Lexington.

I don't know if those challenges can be overcome. But there was no one on the table, including those who turned the job down (Hewitt and Greenberg), who I think are better suited to the task at hand.

Not too long ago, not too far away.

The Bob Huggins I remember.

Big East squeezes one into the FF

WVU turned an upset against UK, helped by Kentucky missing its first 20 straight three point attempts. And that was with WVU choosing to play a 1-3-1 and leaving UK plenty of open looks, challenging them to hit a few shots. UK wasn't up to the challenge.

Should Duke manage to get by Baylor (a pick 'em game at best, with their two big guys and massive backcourt speed), WVU projects much more favorable for Duke than UK would have (line will probably be Duke -1, I would guess; UK would've been UK -4). I put Duke/WVA as a 50/50 game, Duke/UK would've been 35/65.

The door is open for Duke, but as we've already seen with three 1-seeds failing to get out of their regions, there is a lot of parity in the NCAA this year. Two 5 seeds (or a 6, if it's TN) will make the FF. That pretty much speaks for itself.

As far as the Big East goes, Huggins saved a little face for the conference tonight, and invalidated my B.E.- baiting "zero teams in the FF" talk. Unfortunately, it doesn't change the fact that conference was revealed as no better than the other power conferences. In a year when the tournament committee blessed them with 3 teams as a #1 or #2 (e.g.-projected as Elite Eight teams), only one made it that far. They had 5 teams seeded 1-4 (sweet sixteen projections), and only 2 justified the seeding. And the nature of the early round losses--both the level of the opposition and the magnitude of defeats-were ridonk (here's looking at u G'Town). It was a total flameout for the B.E., and the seeding committee has a little egg on their face. WVU holds the only hope for getting people to forget all of the terrible losses by teams that had been clearly overseeded--and that is for the boys from Morgantown to win it all. Anything else won't do.

Down goes 'Cuse

Leaving just one. WVU seems to have this game in hand (against a 12 seed, I'd hope so. Then again, see GTown).

I'm now in the paradoxical spot of rooting against my own prediction. Much rather face WVU than UK in the FF, should Duke get there. Of course, you need paramedics after playing a Huggins team, but I'll take my chances with the ER instead of UK. That team is LOADED. 5 guys might leave early to go to pro??!!! (Wall/Bledsoe/Cousins/Orton/Patterson)

Hewitt turns down the Johnnies

This does not bode well for SJU. It's just impossible for them to come up with the cash to lure away the big money guys. Not when the taxpayers can easily support millions at these state schools.

If Pitino just wants to move and get a clean start, that would be great for SJU. He's one of the few with the cred to make a difference who is still enough of an old timer (and paesan) that the job still has some juice for him.

Other than that, I can't imagine who they'd get that's going to help them make a splash and change the aura so that they can land some recruits.

People on the FAN keep talking about Billy Donovan. Why the eff would Donovan even consider it?

Back to Metties

I can't really concentrate till MM is over, but:

1) Per today's NYP, Niese is taking the reins as the #5.

2) I caught an inning yesterday. It was the young phenom throwing in relief for his first back-to-back outing. This kid looks filthy. Don't know where he came from, but I love it.

Down goes Nova

Making the third Big East team to lose to a double-digit seed from a minor conference.

Wow

Didn't expect the Big Least flameout to come on day 1.

2 #6 seeds upset by 11s (ND & Marquette).

#2 seed and #3 seed from the B.E. combine to go -11 in points against a 14 and 15, and it obviously should've been worse as the fix was in for Nova.

Just to shed some light on how riculously poor Georgetown was, they Got. Blown. Out. By a team from the MAC. (Not the MAAC). And that team was the 9-seed. In the MAC tournament.

This is a flameout of legendary proportions.

Good start for Big Least in the NCAAs

One favorite up. One favorite down.

Notre Dame makes it 0-1 for the BEST CONFERENCE THAT HAS EVER PLAYED BASKETBALL.

Good start for the Big Least in the NIT,

The 6 seed from the ACC (NC St.) eliminates the 3 seed (USF) from the Big East.

And might U Conn survives its first round game, as the 3 point shot that would have defeated them rims out. And who nearly felled the giants from Storrs? Wait for it....

Northeastern.

Eagerly awaiting the giant Big Least flameout that is coming in the NCAAs. 8 teams in the tourney, and not a one will make the Final Four.

Quoteable

The Post on Ollie's spring debut:

The results were ugly -- as in five earned runs allowed on seven hits over three innings -- but Perez and the Mets called the left-hander's spring debut a success.

Six months removed from surgery to remove scar tissue from his right knee, Perez was back in game action for the first time, and the cynic would say already in midseason form.

Yes, yes I would.

2010

Chipper Jones gives his rundown on the Mets and what they need to do to be successful this season.