After the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament only four teams remain. Those four teams are Michigan State, North Carolina, Illinois, and Louisville.

The tournament so far has been crazy. Of the final four teams left, I think it is most suprising to see Michigan State and Louisville still playing. Michigan State got here by beating Duke in the Sweet Sixteen and then barely beating Kentucky in the Elite Eight(State also beat Vermont and ODU in the first two rounds). I am not a fan of Michigan State at all but they have played great to get this far. I give most of the credit to their head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo is one of the best college coaches of all time and as usual, he has done a fantastic job with the Spartans throughout this tournament. Louisville got here by beating La Lafayette, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, and number one seeded Washington. Most people were expecting North Carolina and Illinois to make it this far so I am not very suprised that they are in the Final Four.

My predictions for the final four is that North Carolina will beat Michigan State and that Illinois will beat Louisville. I think State is good but I don't think they are good enough to contend with North Carolina; however, I never expected them to beat Duke and they did. Illinois is just too strong for Louisville and I think Illinois will easily beat them.

Two Steps does not equal a Travel



I can't put into words how pathetic that call was.

Now I know why they call the NCAA College Basketball Tournament "March Madness". The 65 team field is now down to just 16 teams after the opening two rounds. There has been tons of upsets. Some of the biggest name teams to fall were Kansas, Wake Forest, Connecticut, Gonzaga, and others. All four number one seeds still remain but we will have to see how long that lasts. Michigan State is still in it but they play Duke next in the "Sweet Sixteen". I don't like MSU and I picked Duke to win the whole tournament so I will be cheering for the Spartans to lose.

There are so many games to cover that your best bet is to head over to espn.com or one of the other major sports websites to get the best coverage of all the madness. There are probably not many blogs covering March Madness. However, Yoco will probably have the best and possibley the only coverage of the NCAA tournament out of the sports blogs. Click Here to see who won each game in the tournament so far.

In the feel good story of the year, the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies defeated Alabama A&M 79-69, to advance to play #1 seed North Carolina. Rawle Marshall led the way for the Grizzlies with 29 points as they dominated the game from the start. Here's some articles on Oakland's incredible run...

Yahoo! Sports Recap - (16) Oakland 79, (16) Alabama A&M 69 - AP article by Rusty Miller

HEELS, YES! Grizzlies dominate, draw top seed N.C. - Freep article by Mark Snyder

OU: Bring on the Tar Heels - Oakland Press article by Keith Langlois

My view: Besides being a great story, it gives the school some national publicity and gives the players a chance to shine on a national stage. It might not be much fun when the actual game rolls around, but it's something they will never forget. My hat is off to coach Greg Kampe and his Golden Grizzlies, you make us Michiganders proud!

Plus one of these years a #16 seed is going to knock off a #1, so why not this year?

Here are some good posts by some of the other Detroit Sports bloggers.

Filling Centerfield, Tigers Release Alex Sanchez

Tigers Release Sanchez

Jeff Garcia Signed

Wings Apologize to the Fans

The Last Dance

Lions Diary: It's Garcia

Out of the "what the heck?" files comes another episode of the Tigers! Alex Sanchez, currently unemployeed, has been released by the Detroit Tigers.

Does this suggest they're dealing for Mike Cameron? That story just doesn't go away. Does it mean Monroe could play CF? Does it mean Palmer will win 3B and bump Inge to CF?

Sanchez couldn't field. He could bunt, he could run, he could get hurt. He hit .322 last season. He got a small contract.

Nook Logan, Dewayne Wise, and Alexis Gomez are candidates for the job. I'd look for Monroe or Logan to take the job.

I believe that MSU will lose the first round tourney game in my backyard to Old Dominion in the worst building (DCU Center in Worcester MA) to ever host an NCAA tourney game. The Michigan State Spartans are coming into the game with a 22-6 record and zero wins over any good basketball teams. MSU lost a ton of games on the road this season including losses at Duke and at George Washington. This shows me that MSU is not battle tested and can be primed for a major upset by one of the better Mid-Major Teams in the country. ODU has not beaten anyone impressive this year besides beating St Joe's in December but this team can get it done in clutch situations. I just see the youth of this MSU team coming back to haunt them and thus giving ODU a good chance of winning.

The Detroit Lions have signed Jeff Garcia to a one year deal worth about 2 million. Garcia will backup Joey Harrington at the quarterback position. This deal reunited Garcia and Lions' head coach Steve Mariucci(Mariucci coached Garcia in San Francisco). Garcia was released earlier in the offseason by the Browns after playing one season of a 4 year contract worth 25 million. Last season with the Browns Garcia threw 10 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions in the 11 games that he played in. The Lions' former backup quarterback Mike McMahon recently signed a contract with the Eagles. This was a good signing for the Lions because it gives them a very solid backup quarterback. Bringing in Garcia should put some pressure on Harrington to perform. If Harrington starts the season bad, the Lions will be able to depend on Garcia to take over the team. Here is a brief overview of Garcia's stats(taken from ESPN.)

In six seasons, the first five with San Francisco, Garcia has completed 1,593 of 2,612 passes for 18,139 yards, with 123 touchdown passes, 65 interceptions and a career passer rating of 87.2. A three-time Pro Bowl performer, he has thrown for 3,000 yards in three season and, in 2000, threw for 4,278 yards. He posted 63 touchdown passes combined for the 2000-2001 seasons.

Larry Brown in picked up a techinical foul in the second overtime tonight in a tight 115-113 loss for the Detriot Pistons. I just don't understand how a coach of Larry Brown's coaching ability lose track of the time and score to yell at officials enough to pick up a T. I am not complaining because it lead to my Boston Celtics beating the World Champs again.

There is a minor controversy in the golf world today with the way IMG has been playing Monday Corporate events with their top golfers for Monday outings. The amount of money that these golfers are receiving can range from $50,000-$200,000 for the one-day event. The most recent example of this was before the Ford Doral Championship when Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington all received the payments. This is a common practice on all other PGA Tours including Europe to pay appearance fees which was one of the reasons Ernie Els was in Dubai instead of Miami last weekend.

The whole article can be read here.

I would like to make a quick mention of a new writer on our site. His name is
Brian Foley. Brian is a Boston guy but can't we all get along? He used to write for sportstoad but that site is no longer running. I am not sure exactly what his plans are for any other sites but I am happy to have him with us. He is going to cover college sports(basketball, football, and others) for our site. Anyways, welcome aboard Brian, I hope you have a long run here at Detroit Sports Central.

As if the Lions weren't incompetent enough, they're moved to a completely new level. Marc Champion and Jim Brandstatter have been let go in favor of Fox 2's Dan Miller.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Champion said. "It's the nature of the broadcast business, and I understand that."

As a former broadcaster, I can relate. This smells like bad radio politics to me. Good job to the Lions and WKRK for this fine move. If Dan Miller is half as awful as he is on TV, we're in for a real treat.

I created a group at tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com.

If you want to go up against the Detroit Sports bloggers and show us what you have, please signup.

It's group name: Detroit Sports Group (id# 20569)
and password: detroit1

Let's see who's the best in this year's March Madness!

Grand Prize: A congratulatory email from Dan Joseph.
Runner-up: The satisfaction of being 2nd best and not having to read an email from Dan Joseph.

I just found out that the Detroit Lions have signed safety Kenoy Kennedy and tight end Marcus Pollard. Click here for a more hometown look at these signings.......Check back later tomorrow for a more detailed report on these signings.

Kurt Warner signed a one year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. So what? Well, to me it says "We're going with Joey." Warner wants to start, there is no denying that, and it seemed like Detroit was the perfect fit for him. They are a team that has a decent nucleas, and with the right QB, they could have contended for a playoff position in a weak NFC North division. Still, the Lions chose to give Joey the opportunity to remain the starting QB. As a result, they lost out on the best free agent QB out there.

Sure, Warner isn't perfect, but neither are the Lions. Joey's rating was often high, but he proved he couldn't read the field or pass with consistency. He's had three season to improve, but clearly hasn't. Number two pick or not, the Lions should consider his replacement.

With all the options available out there, Kitna -- thru trade --, Warner, Johnson, etc, etc, why have the Lions not shown a better interest? Instead, they wine and dine an old, past his prime Jeff Garcia. Sure, Mooch had a lot of success with Garcia in San Francisco. But that was years ago, and Garcia's game has badly diminished since. Could he regain his game under Mooch again? Sure, but it isn't likely.

The Joey Football era in Detroit needs to end. Unfortunately this signals otherwise. The Fords picked Joey with their #2 pick, no way they let him sit the bench. Ashame really.

Here are some good postings by some of the other Detroit Sports based bloggers. Check them out.

Firm offers 3.5 Billion for NHL

Question Mark in Center Field

Player A or Player B

No TV Deal with UPN 50

Watch out Shaq, your nemesis, Elden Campbell, is official a Detroit Piston again. Campbell's main role is to slow up Shaq in a big-man matchup that he does better than anyone. Much speculation filled the land of the NBA that the Pistons could not beat Miami without him. Although I didn't agree, I do agree that having him only makes them better.

MLive.com: SportsFlash - Pistons sign center Elden Campbell

Percival's words at an early stage might make you believe in Tigers
Detroit News article by Bob Wojnowski

You can't believe a thing you hear coming out of Florida and Arizona this time of year. Not a thing.

Steroids denials? Don't buy 'em.

Prospects look great? Be suspicious.

The Tigers are contenders? Uh ... well ... hmm.

OK, you know the quick answer. Everyone knows the quick answer, including general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Alan Trammell, who steadfastly decline to get giddy. The quick answer is no. The starting pitching isn't good enough. The defense is shaky. The team lost 119 games two years ago. Impossible.

Fair enough. As the roster looks today, as the exhibition season begins, the Tigers aren't favorites in the A.L Central. But if you inspect closer, and listen to the feisty new ace closer, you're permitted to think they have a shot.

Read the entire article.

My view: I am glad this guy is a Tiger. As important as it was to get Maggs, Percival is going to be the key to the Tigers season. If he still has it and judging by last year he does, then the Tigers can look to improve on their record of last year and possibly compete in the Central. Wojo points out the Tigers bad showings in blown save opportunities and one run games and how Percival and the rest of the revamped bullpen can help in this area. I believe they will compete in the Central this season and have an outside chance of winning it. It will start with the bullpen. All good playoff teams have a bullpen that shuts down hitters and holds on to leads. Let's hope Percival can pull it off for a couple of more years...

Here's a twist for you. As if the NHL negotiations weren't dramatic enough, a new entity has stepped into the mix. A Wall Street buyout firm and sports advisory company has made a $3.5 billion offer to buy all 30 NHL teams.

Can this deal happen? "The board listened to a presentation and that's about it," said Bill Daly, NHL Executive VP Bill Daly.

Although still unclear whether or not some of the large market team owners would accept such a deal, I wouldn't count on this going through. Teams like the Maple Leafs, Rangers, Avs, and Red Wings won't be so quick to part with their storied franchises.

"When someone's offering over $3 billion, we felt we had an obligation to the board to have them, at least, hear it from the proposed purchaser," Daly added.

The group claims the sale would bolster the league's revenue by assembling the teams as one entity and work to generate more revenue instead of competing against each other.

Pistons win eighth in a row, 103-93

No whining at short

Twins remain Central issue for the Tigers

Campbell likely will return soon

Cash Wednesday

Elden Campbell, who's sole role was to guard Shaq, is back on waivers and elligible for the playoffs. Expect the Pistons to pick him up, putting the final piece in place for another title run. Joe Dumars, Exec of the Year?

A perfect move? A bad move? Who would have been better?

Pistons play Portland tonight @ 10 PM.