March Madness 2014

Leading into Final Four weekend, My bracket is ranked 17th with 56 points.

My team the University of Florida is in the Final Four due in part of a great defense



1 Eli Carter G 6' 2" 200 Jr. Paterson, N.J./Rutgers
42 Billy Donovan G 6' 2" 195 RJr. Gainesville, Fla./Catholic University
11 Lexx Edwards G 6' 2" 225 RSo.  Orlando, Fla./Jones
10 Dorian Finney-Smith F 6' 8" 212 RSo.  Portsmouth, Va./Virginia Tech
20 Michael Frazier II G 6' 4" 199 So. Tampa, Fla./Montverde Academy
12 Dillon Graham G 6' 4" 186 So. Orlando, Fla./First Academy
0 Kasey Hill G 6' 1" 181 Fr. Umatilla, Fla./Montverde Academy
30 Jacob Kurtz F 6' 6" 210 Jr. Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty
31 Alex Murphy F 6' 8" 220 RSo.  Wakefield, R.I./Duke
24 Casey Prather F 6' 6" 212 Sr. Jackson, Tenn./North Side
23 Chris Walker F 6' 10" 220 Fr. Bonifay, Fla./Holmes County
25 DeVon Walker G/F 6' 6" 195 So. Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven
5 Scottie Wilbekin G 6' 2" 176 Sr. Gainesville, Fla./The Rock
15 Will Yeguete F 6' 8" 230 Sr. Bordeaux, France/Florida Air Academy
4 Patric Young C 6' 9" 240 Sr. Jacksonville, Fla./Providence (H.S.)

Killer Hill Draft 2012

I am excited for football season. At this time last year we didn't even know if there would be a season. Tonight. The Killer Hill league started in 2009. Thus, this marks the fourth season of this league. All of which have been unsuccessful for me. I started a NFL list on twitter to keep up with all the news.

The draft link is live.

Florida Gators Country

Florida Gators Country

GC QB Projected Depth#12 John Brantley | #10 Tyler Murphy | #16 Jeff Driskel | #17 Jacoby Brissett

GC RB Projected Depth#1 Chris Rainey | #28 Jeff Demps | #23 Mike Gillislee | #33 Mack Brown

Fullback - #8 Trey Burton | #41 Hunter Joyer | #32 Gerald Christian
Tight End - #11 Jordan Reed | #32 Gerald Christian | #88 Clay Burton

X - #9 Quinton Dunbar | #6 Deonte Thompson | #89 Stephen Alli
Y - #85 Frankie Hammond, Jr. | #4 Andre Debose | #80 Ja’Juan Story
F11 - #82 Omarius Hines | #7 Robert Clark | #83 Solomon Patton

GC Projected DepthLT - #73 Xavier Nixon | #64 Kyle Koehne
LG - #77 Ian Silberman | #66 James Wilson | #63 Trip Thurman
C - #72 Jon Harrison | #56 Dan Wenger | #50 Sam Robey | #58 Nick Alajajian
RG - #67 Jon Halapio | #78 David Young | #65 Tommy Jordan
RT - #75 Chaz Green | #71 Matt Patchan

Read more:

http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/football_florida_gators_week_1_recap_offense/11939

http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/football_florida_gators_week_1_recap_defense/11941

The House vs Senate and More

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/senate-budget-proposal-is-all-talk-no-action-122520573.html

Safety http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/9634309/

Education http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/may/23/education-caught-middle-nc-budget-battle-ar-1058680/

UNC system http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/theclog/2011/05/24/are-lawmakers-cuts-to-university-of-north-carolina-system-unconstitutional/

http://www.caswellmessenger.com/articles/2011/05/25/opinion/opin03.txt

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/28006889/detail.html : "As part of its budget proposal, the state Senate wants to offer North Carolina small businesses a major tax break to help them grow and hire new employees."

Smart Starts cuts noted as http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2011/05/24/peeling-back-the-layers-on-a-rotten-onion/ [more]

video :"Gov. Bev Perdue is reviewing the senate version but says, "if they pass a budget that undermines our schools and fails to protect the quality of our education system, then I will have no choice but to veto it.""

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/22/1213098/bergers-vision.html

Compare Versions of the Budget
NC House's Version Of State Budget
NC Senate's Version Of State Budget

http://www.ncstatesenate.com/2011/05/senate-budget-reduces-spending-cuts-taxes-reforms-education/

Hoops Madness 2011

It's college hoops time and only a few days to prepare

Schedule http://www.chiff.com/recreation/sports/ncaa-brackets.htm

Watch it on demand

Bracket choices 1 of 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 possible brackets

Google tour

marchmadnessmix.com:

16 TX San Antonio (19-13,9-7) vs 16 Alabama State (17-17,11-7)

Wednesday March 15|Time 6:30|Dayton, OH

Southwest Regional

12 VCU (23-11,12-6) vs 12 USC (19-14,10-8)

Wednesday March 15|Time 9:00|Dayton, OH

Gators winners

prediction #1

Washington vs #10 Georgia

Syracuse vs Larry Bird

announcers

First Four - Opening Round Games:
March 15-16, 2011
UD Arena, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH

Huff Post

RPI from NCAA

From miamiherald.com: "March Madness broadcaster CBS even created a handy “boss” button that, with a single click, replaces your Internet hoops action with a fake spreadsheet or flow chart that helps fans avoid getting busted. That button gets millions of clicks every March. "

Nate Silver Forecast

http://bracketology101.blogspot.com/

More number cruching "First, I pull in Jeff Sagarin’s regular season rankings. I also consider Ken Pomeroy’s offensive and defensive efficiency stats, along with his Pythagorean win percentage.

Over the last four years, teams with a 2+ point advantage in Sagarin’s “predictor” rating have won 156 of 198 games (78.7%). Over the last two years, if a team had at least a 65% expected win rate according to Pomeroy’s Pythagorean calculation, they won 61 of 76 games (80.2%). So I won’t stray too far from these two indicators if they both agree that a certain team is going to win."

Usa today tips and http://marchmania.usatoday.com/

my sport scores

Hoops report Upset city

SEC

Who to follow

Killer Hill Fantasy League Year 2

Its year two of the Killer Hill football league. I am looking at preparing for the draft that takes place this week.

I found this nice *free* resource for some of my draft research. Of course another of my favorite fantasy web sites for player profiles is the RotoProfessor's football found at Lester's Legends.

Killer Hill Fantasy League

One fantasy football league we started organizing this summer was with my old New York gang. You see, my big interest in sports came because of my childhood. Its a funny thing, people ask me how I became such a sports fan and where that came from. Well, it wasn't so much from my parents, as they were not really into sports that much. The love of sports and learning about them took place with my friends on the block. As, my first memories of playing sports was among the neighborhood kids.

The first game I can remember playing was the game of pickle. In this game, it represented first and second base with a fielder at each base. But, we had no real bases, it was just the idea we did. The guy in the middle would be the person in the pickle trying to get back between the invisible bases. It was the fielders who would try to make the out.

For football, we played tackle football among the neighborhood kids. This meant about 5 on 5 if we were lucky. There were no field goals. Two receptions were a first down. We would draw up the play that mainly consisted of you go long or you go short. There was no terminology of a curl pattern, or anything more than that. After a TD, you would pass it down field rather than a kickoff. We would be out there for hours. I never remember many injuries despite the lack of pads.

Week 3 League 2

League 2:

2QB - S. Wallace, Ben Roethlisberger,Daunte Culpepper, Matt Hasselbeck

Ben Roethlisberger :
Aaron Rodgers couldn't do it, but Big Ben should put up good numbers against the Bengals. The Steelers have been known for their run game and defense. Passing has not been their strength, but what a difference a year makes. Pittsburgh is the 8th best passing team this year and rank near the end in rushing. Look for Roethlisberger to find Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes and continue his aerial assault.
Anquan Boldin
So as the Cards face a Tampa 2 defense (Indy) who focuses stopping the long pass, we expect Boldin to get some quick passes to allow him to make a play. Being that he seems to have no ill-effects from a lingering hamstring issue that plagued him in pre-season and in Week 1, we expect good numbers this week and for him to get in the end zone.
WR
The entire Redskins offense stinks and until they shake off the stench, I'm keeping Campbell on the bench.
Santana Moss:
It’s put up or shut up time for Moss in week 3. It doesn’t get any easier than a match up with Detroit and he should finally earn his keep. Moss torched the Lions last season with 9 catches for 140 yards and a TD and Detroit’s secondary isn’t looking much improved in 2009. [more]


3RB - Brandon Jacobs , Felix Jones, Clinton Portis, Caddilac Williams, Chris Wells
3WR - Anquan Boldin, Santana Moss, Antwan Randel El, Michael Clayton, Justin Gage

Projections
Anquan Boldin 12.5, Justin Gage 9.2, Santana Moss 9.0, Antwaan Randle El 6.2, Michael Clayton 5.7
Games
Projctions

Week 3NFL Fantasy choices

League 1:

1QB - Rivers
2RB - Steve Jackson , Willis McGahee, Caddilac Williams, Steve Slaton, Chris Wells
NFL.com:

Steven Jackson vs. Packers: Packers (18th vs. run) allowed 151 rushing yards to Bengals in Week 2 loss.

Fantasy Tailgate:

Cadillac Williams - Doing well, possible comeback player of the year BUT facing a Giants Defense that can and has dominated.

NYT:

Steve Slaton vs. Jacksonville
After two disappointing outings, this guy is due to bust out against an ordinary Jacksonville run defense that has allowed the 11th-most fantasy points to running backs during the first two weeks.
Ray Rice/Willis McGahee vs. Cleveland
One week can make a big difference. It was McGahee who ended up the featured back against the Chargers, posting 15 carries and 2 touchdowns to Rice’s 8 carries and 0 touchdowns. This one could end up being an even time share, much to the dismay of Rice owners. For this week, consider both RB2/flex options against a Browns defense that has already surrendered 376 yards and 5 touchdowns. If you own both, flip a coin.

3WR - Percy Harvin, Johnny Knox, Roy Williams, Hines Ward, Louis Murphy, Lav Coles

Canes do it again

http://www.tomahawknation.com/2009/9/8/1020412/miami-hurricanes-out-duel-the

Held out?

So some parents are worried about the impact of the Obama talking to their children, but have no problem with their own kids watching Hannah Montana. I find it sad that this is what politics have come to, that parents are fearing the office of the president.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

Stimulus Question-mark

After reading this article it references these figures that has been payed out to help with recession:

• $60 billion of the $288 billion in promised tax cuts to U.S. households
• $84 billion of the $499 billion in spending has been paid.
• $200 billion has been promised to certain projects, such as infrastructure and energy projects.

Thus, there is a chance we shall be doing better with the economy as opposed to doing nothing. However, will these be long or short trem effects.

As, it seems unemployment is still on the ropes, even in North Carolina.

Looking Overseas

The myths...

Canada long lines?

Life expectancy is longer in Canada, and its infant mortality rate is lower than that of the U.S.



NYT

In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors.

The second route to universal coverage leaves the actual delivery of health care in private hands, but the government pays most of the bills. That’s how Canada and, in a more complex fashion, France do it.

third route to universal coverage relies on private insurance companies, using a combination of regulation and subsidies to ensure that everyone is covered. Switzerland offers the clearest example: everyone is required to buy insurance, insurers can’t discriminate based on medical history or pre-existing conditions, and lower-income citizens get government help in paying for their policies.

Speaking of preventive care

The House that Jerry Jones Built

In the Cowboys new home, a punt by Titans hits the new video board. Jerry Jones claims the Titans purposely tried to hit it:

Rules of the Game

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow gives a comparison between hoops and votes in regard to the filibuster 60 votes, and then the 80 votes on healthcare.

Public Snafu

Its looks as if after the public option goes from essential to a sliver to nothing, then the Employer Mandated health insurance will be the next thing that is shredded to pieces.

In my experience, most small companies initially take care of their employees with decent benefits. But, as costs go up, they seem to switch to the inferior plans that are cost prohibitive on the employee, but easier on the employer on monthly costs.

I need to read here on what states that do mandate coverage and how that has worked out.

I need to read HR3200 some more, or listen to it.

Joe Ponanski Clearly

Joe Ponanski, one of my favorite sports writers, who just was hired at Sports Illustrated is interviewed at Real Clear Sports.

Thankgiving Movie Choice

There are alot of good movies coming out, but I took a trip with my Uncle Sy to the $1.50 movie theater. Saw this movie called Tropicthunder and it was a delight. Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, and Ben Stiller. More upcoming movie coverage here.

MLB Network channel to Time Warner

Still no Orioles for Nationals, but the Triangle area will get the new MLB Network.

Failure to Deliver Unwanted Junk Mail

This Raleigh Postal worker decided to stow away flyers (AKA junk mail) and lost his job because of it:

Steven Padgett, 58, leaves the federal courthouse after receiving a probationary sentence from a sympathetic judge for failing to deliver years worth of junk mail on his Apex route.