The GM Says....2/27

Manny turns down 25 million(ESPN)....Manny's an idiot, so is Boras

I guess Manny doesn't care about his reputation of being all about the money. He was once a fan favorite in Boston and the people in LA absolutely loved him last season but now he is just making himself look bad. If I was the Dodgers I would not even bother talking to him anymore. Go with what you have and hope it works out. There is no reason to keep playing to Manny.


Haynesworth gets $100 million deal(ESPN)......and Daniel Snyder STILL doesn't get it

Poor Redskins fans. Every year Snyder signs a big name free agent or a couple of them and it always backfires on him. I know Haynesworth is good but just a couple years ago this guy stomped on someones head. And it was only the past couple years (when he was in contract years) that he truly started to dominate. ESPN showed a stat about sacks from defensive tackles over the past 2 years and he is only 1.5 ahead of the next group. So is he really worth this much money? $41 million is guaranteed by the way.


Tiger loses in match play 2nd round(ESPN).....and I don't care about golf again

Sorry but I am only watching golf if Tiger is involved and he is already done. If he would have played this weekend I absolutely would have turned it on. But now who do I watch?? I might flip it on to see who is playing Sunday but I won't watch it for very long.


LA starts the NFL search again(SI)....which team would it be?

LA approved something that allows the City to begin discussing a team relocating to LA yesterday. I don't know what that means but apparently they think they are going to get a team. But which would it be? Are there really any teams struggling to make it right now? I mean other than Detroit of course.


Other Links:

RStiles...tell me how you really feel about Manny and the Dodgers (Stiles Points)
Jamie Mottram gives his thoughts on Snyder's spending spree (Mr. Irrelevant)

Verb's Blurb's - 2/25

Ok, so its February and I may have been a little over zealous about stuff going on in sports right now. Along with August, February is horrible for sports and even though I was excited last week when I did my blurb's, let's be honest...

RIGHT NOW, THERE IS NOTHING!

Tiger coming back has been the biggest story of the week and as great as that is for the game of golf, for us sports fans we need more. Hopefully in about two weeks when college basketball gets serious, we will get more but until then I have a few little things for you.

• Stephon Marbury was released by the Knicks and is probably going to be picked up the Celtics. I thought he was released a long time ago so that wasn't really news to me. It seems that Boston is the place where all the washed up, has-beens go to win a championship these days. Last year Sam Cassell and now this year rumor has it that Marbury and Joe Smith are going to do the same thing. This seems weird to me but I guess whatever you have to do to get that ring, right? Me, personally, I would actually like to play for the team when we win a championship, not just ride someones coat tails. That's just me though.
• The Colts released Marvin Harrison yesterday. I think it was a great move by both parties. The Colts knew they didn't want to play Harrison $7 Million again but Marvin knew he wanted more then the Colts would give. The Colts will be better off without him and they showed enough class to let Harrison go because they knew he would be better off without them.
  
• The number 1 team in college basketball lost again last night. The latest victim was Pitt and this was their second time atop the polls. This time they had the ranking for about 17 minutes before they lost. This is about the 9th time the number 1 team lost this season so my solution is to do away with the polls and just say that a group of teams are the top 16 in the country and leave it at that. I am just kidding. The Polls are a fine idea but we need to stop making such a big deal about them. They don't mean jack in college basketball!
• Matt Kenseth has won both Nascar races so far this season. The first one at Daytona was a bit of a fluke but he had the dominate car in California for most of the race. He looks to be very strong this year but we have to remember what happened last year. Kyle Busch won like half of the regular season races and finished last in the chase. Kenseth is on fire right now but its a long season and he can't win them all, can he?
• Alexander Ovechkin is going to get 60 goals again and that team is great to watch. If you didn't see them and the Penguins last Sunday, you missed a good one. Well, good for the Caps anyway. You need to watch Ovechkin! He is the best player in the world right now and he plays every second of every shift like its his last. He is really fun to watch.

Ok, so now that I talked about hockey I think I need to wrap it up. That's it for this week. Let's hope it gets better and gets better soon. March Madness is right around the corner fans!

Verb's Sweet Sixteen - 2/23

College Basketball is awesome baby with a capital A! I had to steal one from Dickie V but it's getting to be that time. It's the best thing going right now. I've been trying to tell everyone for weeks how great college basketball is but I think now it really takes over the spotlight in the sports world. I love it!

The GM and I talked about our 65 teams that we each think are in Sunday during the podcast. If you haven't listened to that you should because it's awesome!

Anyway, now that I have my full field, which is obviously subject to change, I still have to seed my teams. I have been seeding the top 4 teams in each region for weeks and this is my new version. The tournament is getting closer and closer so I am trying to make this as realistic as possible.

Here we go!

East (Boston)

1. Connecticut - They lost to Pitt but the committee is trying to keep everyone close to home because of the economy so they get to stay in Connecticut. This team is still dangerous with Thabeet in the middle.

2. Duke - They may still be the same old Duke team but this spot was the for the winner of the Duke/Wake game Sunday and well Duke won so they get the 2 seed.

3. Villanova - I still think this is one of the most dangerous teams in the country right now. They just won a huge game in Syracuse and with Reynolds and his experience handling the ball this team could go deep.

4. Purdue - Huge win over Michigan State since the my last version. They need to stay healthy but if they do I have a good feeling about this team too. They really seem to play together and are a very good team.

South (Memphis)

1. North Carolina - I know they lost to Maryland but that was an ACC road game and they are still one of the top teams in the nation. Defense, Defense, Defense!

2. Louisville - This team can be up and down and very streaky but Pitino will have his guys tournament ready so if this team peaks at the right time they could easily make the final four.

3. Missouri - This spot came down to the Tigers and Kansas and I just decided Missouri has a better body of work so they get the nod here. I don't know if its really a reward to be put in the same region as Carolina and Louisville however.

4. Clemson - I still don't know what to think about this team. I am a big ACC guy and they killed Duke earlier this season but some of the letdowns they have had worry me. Booker is good on the inside and they can be really good but they can be really average sometimes too.

Midwest (Indianapolis)

1. Pittsburgh - The number 1 team in the land right now! Dajuan Blair has played his way into the player of the year talk. Lavance fields is the most underrated player in the country too.

2. Michigan State - The Purdue loss doesn't really hurt that badly. If they would've lost to Wisconsin at home it, that might have hurt but they made a big run and came back and won by 11. This team is good and have I told you how much I think of Tom Izzo?

3. Wake Forest - This is where the Duke/Wake loser was going to go. Jeff Teague has a lot on his shoulders. Can he win 6 in a row? I don't know but this team is still very solid!

4. Kansas - As I am writing this, Kansas is beating Oklahoma and if they do that they will have the inside track to win the Big 12. I think I have them too low but for now this is where they are going to be. Bill Self lost 80% of his scoring from last year. How good is he and how good is Sharon Collins?

West (Somewhere in Arizona)

1. Oklahoma - Losing to Texas and Kansas without Blake Griffin doesn't drop them from a number 1. Griffin gets to sit out a game and a half and that gives him a break. He still is the player of the year in my opinion and this team is still great. Willie Warren is the real deal!

2. Memphis - Hottest team in the country right now. They can get up and down the floor with anyone and unlike Carolina, they don't mind playing D too. Tyreke Evans is right there with Warren for freshman of the year.

3. Marquette - The South Florida loss still haunts me with this team but they still are a solid club and have the depth and style to win a few games in March. They just have to avoid the big letdown. Depending how deep they go in the conference tournament, this team could still move up some.

4. Washington - This is the best team in the Pac-10. Their point guards name is Isaiah Thomas. That's all I can really tell you here but usually its teams like this that bust my bracket in March.

Those are my top 16 right now! Every team on here other then Memphis was from a BCS conference. It's going to be an awesome month!

Boo Ya!

Tiger's Back!

I am not a huge golf fan. I watch a few of the majors when they are coming to an end on Sunday afternoon. But I don't think I have ever watched a tournament on Thursday or Friday before the cut.

Because for the most part those days don't matter. Sure a guy could win wire to wire and I am sure it happens but in golf you can come from a few strokes down on Sunday and win. So why watch all the other rounds?

This weekends event, the Accenture Match Play Championship, is different. Match play pits player vs player with the guy winning the most holes moving on. Which makes the entire tournament a little more appealing to television crowds.

This particular championship is set up like the NCAA Tourney coming up in March. You get 64 players split into 4 groups with the 1 seed playing the 16 seed and so on. The scoring structure is easy to understand and the suspense carries from the first match through the last match. Unlike the traditional structure where a guy who owns a 5 stroke lead on Thursday could lose by 10 strokes on Sunday. So I am looking forward to it.


Oh and Tiger Woods is returning this week to play and he is the #1 seed going into the tournament. And because of this, because of Tiger returning, I will watch at least a little bit every day.

NBC is excited to have Tiger back as well. They have been running ads all weekend for this weeks tournament (from Awful Announcing). I guess they are counting on big ratings.

The tournament starts on Wednesday and the final is set for Sunday afternoon. I hope Tiger is on every day. It is the only way most people are going to care.

Can he return after 8 months off and dominate?

Will he be even more dominant after fixing his knee problems? - Jay Mariotti thinks so

Is his game ready for a grueling structure like this one?

These questions will begin to be answered on Wednesday when Tiger faces off against the #64 seed Brandon Jones of Australia.