Would the Capitals want to face the Penguins in the Playoffs?

After another thrilling matchup between the Caps and the Pens, Washington has beaten their arch rivals all three times so far this season. The Ovechkin-Crosby rivalry is currently one of the best in sports and is boosting the NHL’s TV ratings. Commissioner Bettman and NBC would be salivating if they continued the showdowns in the playoffs. Washington’s 109 points currently leads the league and would be the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Meanwhile, the Penguins are tied for the #2 seed, therefore if they meet, it won’t be until the Eastern Conference finals.

After the 7 game series defeat last year and decades of playoff misery at the hands of Pittsburgh, should the Caps want to face the Pens again in the playoffs to exercise demons? Or should they root for other teams or upsets for an easier route to a possible cup because the Caps are 40-10-8 against teams in the conference this year? Would a Cup feel less worthy without going through the defending champion Penguins?

Other rivalries and great players have gone through the same vindication. The Red Sox had to overcome the Yankees and the Curse of the Bambino in order to end their World Series drought. Peyton Manning and the Colts had to come from behind against Tom Brady and Patriots to win his first title after getting bumped out of the playoffs by New England twice before. Michael Jordan lost to the Pistons three straight seasons before beating them to advance and win his first title.

Does Ovechkin need to beat Crosby in the playoffs in order to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? Obviously, this is all assuming both teams even get that far.

NCAA March Madness Bracket Tips

When looking at the last eight NCAA tournaments mathematically, there are some striking trends.

In the first round:

#12 seeds upset the #5 seeds 14 of 32 possible times, or 44%

22% of #4 seeds go down

Meanwhile only 6% of #3 seeds lose their first game

In the second round:

More #5 seeds make the sweet 16 than #4 seeds, (15 to 10)

Only 3 (or 9%) of #1 seeds were upset

Meanwhile 38% of #2 seeds have been upset by the #7/#10 winner

Only 5 times (or 16%) has a region gone #1, #2, #3, #4

Sweet 16 round:

78% of #1 seeds make the elite eight

On the other side of the region, 78% are either #2 or #3 seeds

Elite Eight round:

Only one time in 30 years of the 64 team bracket has all four #1 seeds made the Final Four

44% of #1 seeds make the Final Four

#2 seeds make it 25% of the time

If you add up all the seeds that make the final four, the average total is 9.25. Meaning if you pick all #1 seeds, that’s less than half the average, or if you throw in a #11 George Mason with a #3, #2, and #1, that’s double the average.

Now, which teams are going to be in those spots/upsets? Good luck!

Yes, UVA is Good at Sports

The old saying goes, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound. Well the same can apply to UVa’s spring sports. Currently, Virginia’s baseball, men’s lacrosse, and men’s tennis teams are all ranked #1 in the nation, but since they are not the popular money makers, like football and basketball, does anyone even notice?

Due to last year’s run to the College World Series last year, UVA’s baseball team started the season ranked #2 in the nation. After a 10-2 start, they are now the #1 ranked team for the first time in the team’s history. The program has also recently produced two Major League stars, Mark Reynolds, who hit 44 homeruns last year (4th in the league), and Ryan Zimmerman, who is the face of the Nationals, and was an All-Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glover last season.

On Sunday, the men’s tennis team defeated #4 Texas 9-4 to maintain it’s #1 ranking and move its record to 17-1. Regular season losses are rare to the program in recent years. In the past three seasons, they have a 81-3 combined record, including a 63 regular season game winning streak. The program’s best player, Somdev Devvarman won two individual national titles and made the 2^nd round of the US Open last year. Despite their success, the team lost in the national championship tournament each year.

Also on Sunday, the men’s lacrosse team defeated #1 Syracuse to take over the #1 spot in a 11-10 nail biter. The program has had a winning tradition for many years with four national titles, including three in the past decade. They’ve made seven of the past ten final fours, and had a perfect season in 2006.

Unfortunately for UVA, these successful programs and sports do not get the recognition they deserve compared to the big money making sports, basketball and football. Virginia’s football and basketball programs could be called mediocre at best recently. The football team has only made one bowl game in the past four seasons while the basketball team has only made the big dance once in the past nine seasons. The football team has not even finished a season ranked in the top #25 since 2004. Both programs made coaching changes with Mike London is starting his first season at the helm of the football team this fall, while Tony Bennett just finished his first season as the basketball coach after Dave Leitao’s brief four year stint.

Meanwhile these two losing programs are the money makers, garnering the negative attention. Looking at the average attendance of each stadium, average tickets prices and average number of home games, basketball and football rake in $15-20 million a season even with falling attendance, while the max the successful spring sports can do is barely a million. In addition, the television coverage is greatly skewed contributing to the lack of pub. All of the football and two-thirds of the basketball regular season games are televised, while only half of the lacrosse, 5% of the baseball and zero tennis games make the airwaves.

Hopefully fans will learn to appreciate the national championship caliber spring teams that keep getting honored during the commercial breaks during football game blowouts.

Let the Strasburg Hype Begin

Today, #1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg makes his spring training debut for the Washington Nationals. The young pitcher out of San Diego State hasn’t even thrown a pitch in the majors, but has already been compared to Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden. He signed the biggest rookie contract ever last July for $15 million with only seconds left before the deadline. A quick google search produces more hits for him than Ryan Zimmerman, the current all star player/captain on the team. The Nat’s website already has his jersey on sale for $260. CBS Evening News even ran a piece on him last week.

Unfortunately, the Nationals need all the pub they can get. Since moving from Montreal, the Nat’s have a 343-466 (.424 %) in five years, including back to back 100 loss seasons. They are already on their third manager, second general manager, and couldn’t sign their first round draft pick in 2008. The owners had trouble paying their rent and couldn’t even spell the name on the jersey correctly. Now all the hope is on the shoulders of a 21 year old in a position that history has not been kind to. From 1990-2002, five pitchers have been drafted #1 overall, none of which made an all-star team, and one never even made the majors.

Now management needs to balance the progress of their prospect with the fan demand to see the phenom. Overworking his young arm can cause injury and ruin a pitcher’s career, while attendance drops waiting for his 100 mile per hour pitching display.

At least the Nationals have first dibs on this guy in June.