by Nicholas Cicale (@nickcicale)
91-71
Heading into this season, I can say a lot of the same things I said this time last year about the Dodgers, but they carry different sentiments now. I think the upside for the team is similar, but it’s a lot less certain to happen. (more…)
by Nicholas Cicale (@nickcicale)
The lists are a bit longer than usual because I liked a lot that came out this year, but here are my favorite Alternative, Hip-hop, and Pop songs from 2015. (more…)
The New York Yankees (90-72)
Team Ace: CC Sabathia
Breakout Player: Michael Pineda
The Yankees have an extremely wide range of outcomes for this season, and I decided to go by the numbers with my favorite team (partly because I felt it was a way to be less bias, and mostly because it seemed really fun to do). Lets start with the facts; the Yankees had 85 wins last year, after having 95 wins in 2012. Their team ace, CC Sabathia had the worst season of his career (career worst 4.78 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .3 WAR and in pitches per inning, and worst K rate since 2005). They suffered major injuries with four of their previous year’s regular starters, with Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira, and Granderson all missing at least 100 games. The team was forced to mix and match any players they could find, and although they didn’t make the playoffs still managed to be surprisingly competitive relying on guys that were at or below replacement level. Everything that could have went wrong for the Yankees did in 2013. To me, this all means that 85 wins is a worse case scenario for this team this year.
by Nicholas Cicale (@nickcicale)
They’re finally here, my preseason power rankings for the 2014 baseball season! I know last year these kind of got out of hand, so I’m trying my best to keep them brief this year (just a paragraph) with a few exceptions. As of now, I’m expecting this to be about six entries long, so be on the lookout for my new posts over the next two week as we count from #30 all the way to the top.
Also, a new addition this year is my predicted records for each team, located next teach team’s name.
I know I haven’t posted one of these in a while but I figured I’ll do one for the end of the season. These are the best teams in the league right now, taking into account injuries and momentum (but not a lack of a head coach in some situations). Most of my opinions are based on which teams I think would win on a neutral field right now, meaning 1 would beat 2, 2 would beat 3, and 31 would beat 32. (more…)
My first basketball article ever! Hopefully they’ll be more to come. Ranking the best teams in the league to start the season. Spoiler alert: The Heat are number one.
I’m really happy that FSU will get another chance to prove themselves this week, but unless Oregon loses to Stanford I really don’t see them as number 2 in my rankings any time soon. Miami is a really weak undefeated team, and with VT looking like their usual selfs and Florida MIA, they have little chance to impress voters the rest of the year.
After last week’s college football game between Oregon and Washington State, Oregon‘s defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti criticized opposing head coach Mike Leach for running up the score, and passing the ball in the fourth quarter, even though Oregon won the game in a lopsided 63-38 victory, where their own offense score 14 fourth quarter points.
Calling the decision to pass the ball a record 89 times “low class,” Aliotti criticized Leach for taking advantage of the second and third string player’s his team elected to put into the game, in order to pad his team’s statistics.
The truth of the matter is, a team should be praised for trying to win the game even when it seems so out of reach. Washington State used it as an opportunity to practice against a caliber of athlete that most of its students won’t go up against again in their lifetimes. It’s a great experience for your athletes. And just because a team decides to pull its starters doesn’t mean their opponent has to accept defeat. It’s understandable for Oregon to prefer their opponents to lay down in a fetal position every week after going down 30 points, but the fact that one team was able to take advantage of their lackluster defense is actually a (slight) sign of weakness for the Ducks, who are ranked #2 in the coaches and AP polls.
Until Oregon is willing to kneel the ball every play on offense, the opponent shouldn’t stop trying to score. The reason they don’t kneel throughout the fourth is that no matter what their lead is, there’s always a .00001% chance the other team can make a come back. And for Washington State, a 63-38 game is a lot less embarrassing than 62-24. That’s why Aliotti was out of line.
All wrapped into one post!
Week 6 NCAA Deli Poll
Week 5 NFL Power Rankings
