Three Wild Pitches (Packers, Warriors, March Madness)
1) NICE TRY, TED!
You went along and signed two tight ends in free agency, and while they may or may not turn out to be good moves, they are just a mirage overall. Why? Because you slightly upgraded the best part of the roster, signed a "huge" name and now have all of the media surrounding the Packers saying what a great job you are doing. You got the media off your back, so that worked, I'll give you props. But you still don't get it.
Maybe you should go for signing a position of need, say corner instead of tight end? Especially when this is the deepest tight end draft in recent memory. Maybe don't let TJ Lang, JC Tretter, Micah Hyde, Julius Peppers, Eddie Lacy and probably everybody else go during free agency. Maybe don't bring back the worst Packer in recent memory, Don Barclay, yet again. Maybe stop trusting yourself so much, unless of course you are satisfied with only winning the NFC North every season. Our corners are garbage, and yet you must clearly believe in them to have not brought in anybody else for even a workout. Heck, you'll probably draft a tight end in the first round of the draft. I don't trust you, because there is no reason we should only have one Super Bowl appearance when we have had 10 years of the greatest quarterback in football.
2) GOLDEN STATE WILL BE FINE
People are way too focused on what is happening this very second and can't seem to look at the big picture, especially in journalism and in the media. "Everybody panic, the Warriors have lost five out of seven, and actually have the resemblance of a real NBA team" is all I'm hearing about the Warriors now. Well, one of those games doesn't count, because they didn't play anybody important against San Antonio (although that would have been a good opportunity to get a win since the Spurs didn't have Kawhi or Aldridge). Stephen Curry is in a major slump, and everybody (especially Matthew Dellavedova) knows what can happen when he gets out of it. Kevin Duran'ts injury might actually be beneficial, it might actually wake up the greatest deep threat in the modern NBA, and once he returns for the playoffs it might cause a lot of stress for opposing teams. Remember, it isn't about trying to beat 73 wins, it's about try to win in late June.
3) THE GAME TO WATCH ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY IS
THURSDAY: Iowa State vs. Nevada. Are you ready to stay up late for this one? The last game of the day may actually be the best, when the Big 12 Champion Iowa State Cyclones take on the Mountain West Champs in Nevada in the Milwaukee regional. We all know Iowa State can put the ball in the hoop with it's four guard lineup, and all four of them are very good, but it's the .9 PPG less that Nevada scores that will make this an absolute shootout. Four players on Nevada score 14 PPG, and they have the whole small-ball thing going for them too. These teams will light up the scoreboard Thursday night.
FRIDAY: Michigan vs. Oklahoma State. A lot of people probably like the Dayton-Wichita State game, or Creighton-Rhode Island, but I like a different 7-10 matchup that will actually be the first game on Friday (so these two games play back-to-back, technically). With the way Michigan has been playing lately, winning 8 out of 10 including two over Wisconsin and Purdue each, they are a legitimate dark-horse Final Four team. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State is a team to watch as well, as they have the 8th best scoring offense in the country, led by Jawun Evans. Both of these teams are trendy picks to upset Louisville in the Round of 32 to make the Sweet 16, and they both play fun and exciting styles of basketball.
