Hopefully Peyton Hillis can 'Cover' the Browns' Failures?

Finally some good news for the Browns! Cleveland’s star running back Peyton Hillis is now on the cover of this season’s Madden videogame. With 66% of the vote, he beat out comeback story Michael Vick, after upsetting Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers last week en route to victory. It is kind of fitting that the Dawg Pound voted Hillis in over the dog killer.

While there is a curse to the Madden cover (see the infamous list here), there is also a Cleveland curse which has been much ballyhooed in this blog. Maybe these two curses will cancel each other out and the Browns and Hillis will return to the playoffs and glory? Or, more likely, Hillis’ fun but dangerous bruising style of running through and jumping over defenders will lead to injuries and fumbles this season, adding to the Madden curse’s lore.

Either way, I am still getting the game for the first time in five years.

Virginia Spring Sports Update

Since I last posted on UVA’s spring sports successes on March 30^th, the tennis and baseball teams have gone an impressive 24-2.

The #1 tennis team remained perfect on the season winning the past nine matches 46-8 against five #16 teams. Last weekend, the Hoo’s won their fifth consecutive ACC title without even losing a set. Let’s hope they keep up their winning ways and reverse their choking history in the NCAA tournament, which begins May 13^th.

Meanwhile, the #1 baseball team has gone 15-2 since their perfect game almost a month ago, including at #8 Georgia Tech. UVA is still in the middle of their ACC schedule with tough matchups against #24 Miami and #5 UNC remaining. Like the tennis team, hopefully the baseball team can complete their season with a title.

Unfortunately I do not want to discuss the lacrosse team’s fortunes, which have lost three of their last four and have dropped out of the top #10. Maybe it’s time the lacrosse team shares the good luck in the playoffs, especially since I already have a sweet tee.

Indians and Nationals are Winning?

Usually during this time of the year I focus my attention on NHL and NBA playoffs, while I barely notice that baseball season has started. But do not look now, because the Indians have the best record in the American League while the Nationals are above .500.

At 12-4, Cleveland is tied for the best record in the majors, ahead of last year’s division leader Twins and perennial power Red Sox who are both struggling at 5-10. The Tribe are third in the majors in homers, fifth in ERA, and second in opponents batting average. Cleveland’s hot start can be attributed to the healthy returns of Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Grady Sizemore, as well as contributions from youngsters Michael Brantley, Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin. After being above 500 for only one game in the past two seasons and picked to finish fourth their division, hopefully the Indians can keep this up and give Cleveland fans some much needed hope.

Meanwhile, the Nationals are turning heads as well. In a season without Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, Washington is currently above .500. While that might not seem like much, keep in mind that since their inaugural season in 2005, the Nat’s have been above .500 for only 33 games. Of the 810 games has DC taken the field, only 4% of the time have they had a winning record. Three of those seasons they never had a winning record at any point, and the longest they lasted before turning south was May 28^th. Despite subpar batting (27^th in average) fielding (22^nd) and Ryan Zimmerman on the DL, the Nationals are getting by due to four starters with sub 3.4 ERAs. Hopefully Washington can keep glimmers of hope alive in upcoming series against Pittsburgh and NY Mets before facing San Francisco and Philadelphia in early May.

Not bad for two teams in the bottom eight in salary in the league.