Daily RoundUp- Thursday, March 26th

This is the time of year for baseball where questions get answered and people’s worries intensify or people’s feelings get quelled. Well, then what exactly should Jerry Manuel be feeling about Oliver Perez? That answer was given yesterday when he said that they were going to devote extra attention for the next few days for the $36 million pitcher. According to Jay Horowitz the Mets long time PR guy, Oliver has 36 million reasons to get himself straightened out.

For Met fans this is the most frustrating guy. If you are a fan of Oliver Perez I feel sorry for you. It has to be the toughest thing in the world to root for a guy who has this much talent yet can’t summon it at will. He sometimes does well and sometimes he can be flatter than an out of tune tuba. He can shut down the vaunted Yankee line up and then not get out of the second inning against the Nationals.
He’s an enigma but the Mets this winter, after famously losing out on Derek Lowe to in-division rival/pest the Braves, decided he was worth a 3 year investment to be their number 3 guy. Depending on who you ask, he either is the most talented pitcher or he’s the strangest pitcher and both of those characterizations would be true. It couldn’t have been helpful that he posted a 9 + ERA during his stint in the WBC. Of course coming back, Manuel worrying about his conditioning is a sign that among other things, Ollie is a guy who will have to be constantly mentored and constantly spoken to.
Johan earlier had said he was going to take him under his wing to try and get him straightened out. Dan Warthen had some success when he changed his pitching position on the rubber. But concentration has always been his problem. Heck, just pop some Ritalin and throw him out on the field, unless that’s prohibited by MLB. Hey, if anything just say you got it from GNC, in Mexico, and say you had no idea what you were taking.


Its no surprise that I picked Pitt to go all the way. They handled the, then, number one team in the country UCONN pretty easily and can play the physical kind o game that wears teams down. Why so physical? Well easy. Its cause of DeJuan Blair’s butt.

It’s a point of contention for a lot of teams and an unfair advantage that Blair has over many of his opponents. Especially Hasheem Thabeet, a player he routinely abused as he was trying to go at the hoop everytime they played. The fact is, Blair can be most compared to Shaq’s physical style of play. Most opponents complain that Shaq uses his body as a weapon and it makes the referee’s job that much more difficult having to make a decision whether he’s using his body as such and if its legal. The fact is, Blair’s physical style of play is so difficult to call a foul on because he can’t do anything about that. Its his body for crying out loud and it should not be held against him. I feel for the refs, but mostly I feel for the guys who have to play him in the post during a pick up game.


With the Sweet 16 tipping off tonight, it’s a good time to remember the game that made March go mad. The 1979 NCAA championship game between Indiana State and Michigan State may not sound like a marquee match up by any standards but remember that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were the stars of both of those teams respectively. Now just remember the context in which they were playing and also remember how their relationship would continue in to their professional careers. Michael Wilbon remembers.

You know those moments that guys have about girls when they remember something and they say “that’s when I knew”? Well, I’m sure after the build up of that game, that’s when people knew that this tournament was going to be more than just some game, it was going to be part of the culture. Fact is, the tourney symbolizes so much of what we come to cherish in this country. The play, the kind of anybody can do it feel of it. The fact that you may be seeing the next Bird and Magic play in the championship game. It’s the anticipation that you may be seeing the start of a great career, and the bragging rights of calling something like that. “I knew that Jordan kid was going to be something special even before he hit that game winner against Georgetown in the NCAA Finals.” Everybody wants that. No matter what, that’s why we fill out our brackets, that’s why we go through the pain staking process of thinking we know what the heck we are talking about.

Since yesterday I left you with some bad news, today I bring you some good. A heartwarming tale, that even though it has to do with the Dallas Cowboys’ own, its still good.

Now if only the rest of the Cowgirls had heart. Ok, I’ll stop being partial.