Maybe I'm a Downer But...

I would like to take a moment and discuss the practice of expert picks and conventional wisdom in the field of predicting sports outcomes.

I am a huge fan of underdogs. I love nothing more than when it's said by a layman or by an expert that a given team "doesn't have a chance".

The NCAA tournament generally does not let me down in giving these nice folks to eat their words.

Here's the expert picks on this years NCAA tournament:

7 of 12 had ONE team in the final four

Four went with West Virginia, and three with Duke. No analyst had two of their selected teams make it into the final four of the tournament.

Now I know that's harsh to chide them for not having more success in a field of 64 teams, but all I heard this year was that the field was weak and the big schools from major conferences would have easy pickings. Fat lot of truth that turned out to be.

Maybe I'm just ticked the the University of Illinois did not make the tournament.

Yeah that's probably it.

I like Oliver Stone films in general. Talk Radio, JFK, Nixon, Natural Born Killers, Wall Street etc.

The Stone films I like, I really like.

Stone films I'm neutral over include some of his more popular entrees. Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, W, and Any Given Sunday.

I recently watched the 1988 Stone film entitled Talk Radio.

Talk Radio is a fantastic exploration into the rise and dynamics of talk radio. In particular the motives and psychology of the controversial, opinionated, and abrasive hosts.



Eric Borgosian is fantastic as the up and coming Barry Champlain. The conflict between the on air persona's and the off-air human being is explored. In some cases, like Rush Limbaugh however, I'm not sure there is actually much of a difference between the person I hear on the radio and the person outside of the studio.

I like the portrayal of callers who constantly listen to the show but profess a passionate hatred for the host. They say he should be off the radio. His ideas are incendiary to them. They don't change the station because deep down they don't want to.

NEW PROSPECT

Well, I have another sleeper fantasy pick.

Mat Latos, the big right handed pitcher for the San Diego Padres, has been picked to be the team's fifth starter.





I like his big frame (6'5 230lbs) and big fastball which he throws with exceptional control.

I don't like something I see in this picture however. Notice that his front foot has landed but his hips have not begun to rotate towards the catcher. I would feel more confident in his ability to maintain his plus stuff and avoid injury if he rotated his hips earlier and incorporated his lower half more into his delivery of the baseball.

But maybe his large frame will compensate and it won't be a factor.

Additionally, the Padres would seem to have an affinity for TALL pitchers.

See Chris Young, a modest 6'10. And the 6'6 Jon Garland.