EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Monday… This was a rough weekend for yours truly. Had a really bad cold for Friday night and Saturday. I started feeling better on Sunday but now its Monday and the work week is here, so it sucks to be me. Anyway, here are the topics for today’s piece: March Madness, NFL Offseason, MLB Signings.
March Madness
Its that time of year again. When we prove that nothing matters in sport accept that moment... that game. The NCAA Tournament is where small schools get a chance to show that they can be just as good as big schools. Leading the way is St. Peters, who Short Matt covered yesterday. But there is also North Carolina, a #8 seed this year, knocking out defending champs and #1 seed Baylor. #11 Iowa State shocked #3 Wisconsin. Coach K’s Duke Blue Devils rallied to beat higher-seeded Michigan… In the Women’s Tournament, 6 double-digit seeds made it to the Sweet 16. The ladies are having their own party. #10 seeds Creighton and South Dakota knocked off #2 seeds Iowa and Baylor. It will be interesting how long these upsets last but we are all enjoying watching it.
NFL Offseason
The signings and trades have made some big headlines this offseason. It seems like the LA Rams strategy of sacrificing draft picks, (which can be hit or miss and cheaper), getting a good QB, giving him protection and weapons, and buying other assets, is catching on. It’s essentially the “win now” mode. The Browns are going that route, as they gave up 3 picks including 2 number #1s for DeShaun Watson Deshaun Watson… The Chiefs added JuJu Smith-Schuster, like they needed more weapons… The Raiders gave up two number 1s for Packer star Davonte Adams Davante Adams and they also added Chandler Jones… The Buffalo Bills added Von Miller to help out their pass rush and the Tits Titans signed Pro Bowl TE Austin Hooper.
MLB Signings
With the signing of Freddie Freeman, the LA Dodgers now have a line-up that has 3 MVP winners and 8 All-stars. They are, like the teams abobe, keen on being built to win now. But will see how those arms hold-up as that is always a key decider. After losing Freeman, Atlanta signed Matt Olson to big money. For some unknown reason the Colorado Rockies finally opened up their wallets to sign Kris Bryant. Colorado chose to not re-sign Trevor Story, who signed with Boston. Story is the last to sign of a free agent shortstop class that sent Corey Seager to Texas (10 years, $325 million); Javier Báez to Detroit (six, $140 million); and, just this weekend, Carlos Correa to Minnesota (three, $105 million). Marcus Semien, a longtime shortstop who played second base for Toronto, signed a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Rangers. This is just a snippet of all the transactions because there are lots of moves still to make as the lockout held up the traditional process. By Opening Day, all of the signings will come into focus.
Thanks for reading, comment below. Come back tomorrow for our Ben Whitney, who will admit that the Dodgers are now the Yankees of the National League.
