I have two thoughts on free agency (update: three, Cubs signed Bellinger). This is the first.
I am really excited that Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber are about to be teammates. For one thing: Speedsters. Remember who won America tacos this World Series? It was Kyle Schwarber. For another, though, Trea Turner seems fun. I mean, look at the guy:
My primary objective as a baseball fan is to see Joe Kelly strike fools out and/or cause general merriment. My secondary objective as a baseball fan is to see the Cubs get good again. My third objective, though? Kyle Schwarber having a lot of fun friends to play with. Good work, Phillies. Thanks for supporting our guy.
I Don’t Want the Cubs to Sign Carlos Correa
Second thought: Carlos Correa is a douchebag!
I know he’s good, I get the impression his teammates like him, I understand all of that. I also don’t personally like him and I’d rather the Cubs spend all that money on a position other than shortstop if they don’t get Dansby Swanson or Xander Bogaerts. I actively do not want Carlos Correa to play for my favorite team. I want to hate him, and I want no conflicting interests.
Cody Bellinger Is Fun
Good vibes from Cody Bellinger, happy to have him on board, glad it’s just for a year. Seems like a high-upside guy who, if he becomes just an expensive pinch hitter, is likeable enough to tolerate. And if he bounces back and becomes great again, it’ll be a good time all around.
Ten Teams Who Could Win the NIT
We started this year with ten teams who could win the NIT:
- Memphis
- Vanderbilt
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Wyoming
- St. John’s
- Illinois
- Loyola
- UAB
- Tulane
After four days, we replaced Vanderbilt with Oklahoma.
Checking in on these ten (or eleven), the list holds up pretty well. Vanderbilt stinks in a bad way, but we figured that out at the jump. Notre Dame stinks in a good way, and we were on top of that as well. Neither myself nor anyone else I know has noticed Clemson play a basketball game this season, which is right where you want Clemson basketball to be. Wyoming is really struggling but still has all the tools and too good of vibes to abandon so soon. St. John’s is mediocre, UAB is good but plays in Conference USA, Tulane is bad but plays in the American, and both Illinois and Memphis have been playing well but could believably take on such a bad loss that their boat sinks all the way to our waiting arms. Really, Loyola’s the only team I’m ready to eliminate from the list right now. Loyola is too bad to win the NIT, and while so is Wyoming—again, the vibes. (Oh, also, before I forget: Oklahoma’s been the perfect level of good-but-crafting-a-bad-résumé.)
So, we need a replacement for Loyola, and the answer is obvious. No team is both as capable and as maddening to their high-expectation-laden fans right now as Dayton. Dayton is going to cause homicides this year. And we’re going to be there for it.
The new list:
- Memphis
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Wyoming
- St. John’s
- Illinois
- UAB
- Tulane
- Oklahoma
- Dayton
We’ll try to update it more than once a month this time.
Rock-Ya Smart
One team that we do not think can win this NIT is Marquette, and that is because Shaka Smart is simply too good of a coach for us to get to hang out with him again. It stinks, we’re sad about it, but hey, Texas’s loss. Marquette has yet to lose to a team by more than five, its worst loss was to Wisconsin (who’s on our NIT-champion radar but has the Big Ten Paradox™ working against it), and it beat the everliving shit out of Baylor. Heck of a first month, led by a heck of a guy (in our one interaction).
Joe Kelly Update
No actual news, nor would we think there should be, but check out Robert Stock’s recollection of the guy:
Physical specimen. Say what you will, but Joe Kelly is a physical specimen.
**
Viewing radar tonight:
6:30 PM EST: Yale @ Butler (FS1)
7:00 PM EST: Saint Louis @ Iona (ESPN+)
8:00 PM EST: James Madison @ Virginia (ACCN)
9:00 PM EST: Maryland @ Wisconsin (ESPN2)
9:00 PM EST: Sam Houston State @ Oklahoma State (ESPNU)
Lot of NIT possibilities in play here. Always getting to know our guys. Nine of these ten teams could believably end up on our NIT radar. Six of them are already there. (We’ll have to publish the radar sometime, in addition to the ten who art our title-hunting focus.)
7:00 PM EST: Illinois vs. Texas (ESPN)
8:30 PM EST: North Carolina Central @ Marquette (FS1)
While Marquette cuts a check to an athletic department which needs it, Texas goes and plays a big-money game in New York City. Says everything I personally need to hear.
8:00 PM EST: Kansas City @ Oklahoma (ESPN+)
8:00 PM EST: Little Rock @ Memphis (ESPN+)
9:00 PM EST: Texas A&M-Commerce @ Wyoming (MWN)
Three of our title hunters are in action. Only one is at risk of falling off our list (it’s Wyoming, we’re real nervous about their inclusion, we would like to see them win by 25 please).
11:00 PM EST: Nevada @ Pepperdine (haven’t checked but assuming WCC Network, which is just the WCC website)
Gotta have something in the late-night slot. Just in case.
