T-minus 10 days

The last week of spring training is officially underway on Monday. What a spectacular time it has been! Many questions will be answered this year, such as: How will the Padres do with all of their new stars? When will the Cubs bring up Kris Bryant to the majors? Or will he make the opening day roster? (A player that hit 43 home runs in his first full season in the minors is sure to gain some attention) How will the Nationals' rotation perform with all of that talent? There are several for each team. But the thing is, opening day is still 10 days away. We can relax and breathe until April 6 when the best day of the year comes upon us. Here are your Padres scores for this past week:

-21 March: Padres 5, D-Backs 7
-22 March: Padres 6, Cubs 1
-23 March: Padres 10, White Sox 4
-24 March: Padres 6, Mariners 4
-25 March: Padres 5, Dodgers 9
-26 March: Padres 3, D-Backs 3

Meanwhile, how is your bracket going? Mine is struggling, although I correctly guessed 6 of the eight teams in the elite eight. The final four will be determined within the next two days, and it looks to be exciting. Kentucky looks unbeatable, Notre Dame won't quit, Louisville and Michigan state both have pretty good coaches in addition to the fact that both teams are hot and it does not look like they will be stopped, Gonzaga looks unbeatable with those two big guys under the hoop, Duke has some of the best players in the country, Arizona has incredible talent and can beat any team, and finally Wisconsin has the best chemistry in the nation. Wisconsin also has perhaps the best player in the country in the form of Frank Kaminsky. Will Kentucky ever lose? Or will a surprise team make it all the way to the end? This is what March madness is all about. The final four will take place in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, on April 4 with the finals taking place on April 6. So there are a lot of options on that day. You can either watch opening day baseball (which would be my choice) or watch a great national championship game!


In the NBA, look who is charging forward in the playoff push. It's the San Antonio Spurs! The representative for the western conference in the finals the past two seasons, this team looks no different. They will be a tough out. So will everybody else in the western conference. Just look at the Golden State Warriors. Will anybody beat them? Maybe the Spurs, maybe somebody else. The Thunder have taken the last spot in the west...for now. They have the slight advantage over the Pelicans at this point for one reason and one reason only: Russel Westbrook. Without him, the Thunder might be last in the west. Although things are not looking good for them. Kevin Durant will need more surgery on his foot and will be out for four to six months and Surge Ibaka just recently got injured. They might be competitive against the Warriors, but they won't beat them, according to Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN. In the east, the picture is much of the same. LeBron and the Cavaliers look to secure a two-seed in the that conference. Although the race for eighth is not as compelling as the west, there is still a race. Who will be able to beat the Hawks in a seven-game series? The only way is if they do not suffer injuries. Kyle Korver has had minor setback this week but nothing looks to change in the standings. We'll see what happens. The playoffs begin April 18.

 Some things to look for this upcoming week include the Masters golf tournament. Will Tiger be playing? Who is the favorite to win? The world number one ranking seems to change every year or so. Can Rory McIlroy prove he is THE GUY now instead of Tiger? That remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, there will be a tough competition to see who wins.

Well that should do it for this week. If there is something you would like me to write about, please let me know. I know the cricket world cup final is this upcoming week. So look for an update next Friday. Have a great week!

Are you mad?

Are you filled with madness? I'm not talking about anger, I'm talking about March madness! The most anticipated college basketball event has once again come upon us. It began with the final conference tournaments over last weekend followed by selection Sunday. The results were exciting, as usual, with many teams being withheld from the tourney for unknown reasons. Murray state, for example, did not make the big dance even though they were ranked in the top 30 BPI in the nation (Basketball Power Index). BYU was the last team to be filled in one of the available slots. The excitement began on Tuesday with 16 seeded Robert Morris winning to advance and play Kentucky yesterday (a game in which Robert Morris predictably lost). The second game was angering. BYU was facing off against Ole Miss in Dayton, Ohio. The Cougars were firing on all cylinders in the first half, entering the locker room with a 17-point lead. Let's take a quick flashback to 2012 when BYU faced off against Iona in the same game. BYU was down 25 points at the intermission. Down for the count, right? Well, we came back and won. Back to Tuesday, the Rebels could not be stopped in the second half and BYU's shooters went ice cold from everywhere on the floor. They ended up losing 94-90. Then Ole Miss went on to lose against Xavier yesterday. Ohwell. Some meaningful upsets in the round of 64 were mainly yesterday in which Georgia State beat Baylor, Iowa State fell to UAB, and UCLA beat SMU. The Bruins were not even predicted to make the tournament let alone win a game. Looks like BYU should have been the one to be left out. All the one-seeds easily won their games as we shift our attention to the round of 32 this weekend.

Meanwhile, while the entire country shifts their focus towards college basketball magic, it is important to keep an eye on the baseball action as well. The Padres have the attitude that this is only spring training and that it is definitely not important to win every game. Tonight, they are playing the Royals and former Padre Chris Young. The Royals have the best spring record in the majors. I have noticed in recent years that that does not necessarily translate to wins in the regular season, because the Padres are hovering around .500 right now. Here are your scores from this last week. If you wish to see some highlights, please visit padres.com

14 March: Padres 2, Rangers 0
15 March: Padres 2, Indians 4
16 March: Padres 7, Cubs 0
17 March: Padres 4, Brewers 6; Padres 2, A's 13 (split squad)
18 March: Padres 10, Rockies 3
19 March: Off day
20 March: Padres 1, Royals 6

Opening day is just two weeks from Monday! Now is the time for us to see who is for real and who is just a fake.

In the world on the NBA, you may think I am a Thunder fan, when I am not. I just see them making the playoffs as an 8 seed. Maybe they will fall to the Pelicans in the west, but we will see. The Russel Westbrook-led Thunder are without Durant indefinitely after he recently shut down all basketball activities due to recurring foot issues. Surge Ibaka is also out for an unknown period of time. Thunder fans are hoping they can heal up before the playoffs...or even just the playoff stretch. The Thunder beat the Hawks (the second-best team in the league) today fueled by Westbrook's ninth triple-double of the season. Can he be stopped? Only time will tell as the NBA winds down its season to the final month. In the east, the eighth spot is up for grabs as well, but to teams with losing records. It's a tale of how much better the western conference is in comparison to the eastern conference. The Miami Heat are in that mix, as they beat the Cavaliers for the second time this year on their home floor. LeBron and the Cavs simply looked lethargic and had no desire to win. Now that Cleveland has sealed a playoff spot, what will their seeding be? We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

How is your bracket looking? Comment below to see if it is better off than mine (which it probably is). Keep watching the action of college basketball and prepare yourselves for an amazing baseball season in two weeks! Until next Friday, adieu.

Buddy the elf...in a Padres uniform?

You heard me right. Will Ferrell began his career in baseball with the Padres last night playing right field. It was actually an event for charity in which he played 10 positions for 10 teams in the same day, traveling from field to field via helicopter. In the end, the event raised over a million dollars for cancer research and helped fund cancer victims through college. It was a valiant cause with comedy involved. Here is a link for his big day: http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/112306078/v45310583/ferrell-takes-the-field-to-raise-money-for-charity. Feel free to go to padres.com to check out his interview at the end of the day. It was hilarious as well as moving.

Meanwhile, games have been underway for over a week now. The end of spring training is slowly looming into view. There are still plenty of games to play, however. At the bottom of the page are scores from the past week and links to the information about them. Some of the big highlights of the week included a rematch from game five of the world series when James Shields lost to Madison Bumgarner. This time Shields only pitched an inning and Bumgarner only three or so. The Padres won 7-6 as you see here below. Shields also pitched last night against the Dodgers, throwing three innings of perfect ball with five strikeouts. That deadly change-up is amazing! I just hope hitters don't get used to it and then pummel the pitch during the regular season. Don't worry, I think he and Darren Balsley will work things out. Ah, man! This year is going to be so exciting!

In the NBA, not much has changed, except the Pelicans have taken over the eighth spot in the western conference ahead of the Thunder. However, after a victory by the Thunder, the two teams are tied. The masked maniac (Russel Westbrook) has 8 triple-doubles in the past 11 games and has led his team minus defending MVP Kevin Durant. New Orleans is ahead mainly because of the power of the uni-brow in the form of Anthony Davis. In the east, Indiana is making a run for a spot in the playoffs. They have won 8 of their past 10 games and look to continue that streak. Now Miami is on the hot seat for number 8 in the east. Whoever number 8 winds up to be, it will be tough to beat the Hawks come playoff time.

In terms of NCAA basketball, the WCC tournament has come to a close with BYU falling this time to heavy favorite Gonzaga. They beat the Bulldogs a week and a half ago, but not this time. BYU is predicted to be one of the last 8 teams to make it in, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Outside of the WCC, there have been some crazy games. Both Duke and Virginia fell today, to Notre Dame and North Carolina respectively. The SEC tournament has been equally crazy, with Auburn beating LSU and putting the Tigers on the bubble. They are predicted to make it in, though. We'll see in the end. There have been some other amazing games, like how Iowa State won the past two days. Both came down to a buzzer-beater and the Cyclones came out on top both times.

I know I don't talk about the NFL much in the offseason, but it is worth mentioning that free agency began on Tuesday. Mere hours after the beginning of the NFL's new calendar year (which was Tuesday), deals were being made. The biggest of which include Lesean McCoy heading to Buffalo, Jimmy Graham going to Seattle, Frank Gore going to the Colts along with Andre Johnson, who was previously employed by Houston. Sam Bradford is heading to Philadelphia along with Demarco Murray and Ryan Mathews. Nick Folles and Nick Fairley are going to St. Louis, and Ndamukong Suh signed a massive contract with the Dolphins. Did you get all that? Oh and don't forget that Darrelle Revis is heading back to the New York Jets. Oh, and Darren McFadden is going to Dallas. So lots happening in the league! I could give you my opinion, but I want to hear yours! Leave a comment on which transaction you feel will make the most immediate impact for their team.

Thank you for reading this week! Tune in next week and feel free to update me on your bracket and opinions on the madness that comes ever march!

@ Giants W 7-6 8 vs Rockies L 5-7 9 @ Cubs W 6-3 10 vs Giants W 10-5 11 @ Royals L 3-4 12 vs Dodgers L 0-1 13 @ Angels W 7-3