I Got Barry Bonds for $30...

...and other notes of despair.

I can't decide what to do with him (his 3rd year of a 3-year contract in a 5X5 w/runs and IP NL-only keeper Rotisserie 15H/10P league--12 teams). In other words, the price is a pretty reasonable estimate of his value until he gets 755. The Giants and he toyed with each other, but it looks as though he's ready to go for the season--at least until he breaks the record or he gets indicted (probably under a charge of sheer effrontery), whichever comes first. The choices are: cut him now (potentially to be claimed by others at $30), keep him, trade him before Draft Day, or trade him after Draft Day. Obviously the optimal is to trade him just before he breaks the record, but I have to advise the unitiated that the problem is that EVERYONE KNOWS THAT. I also make note that I discard the option to extend his contract beyond this year at any price. Apart from that, any advice would be welcome.

NCAA Brackets

Big controversy! 'Cuse, Drexel don't make it! In favor of, what, Xavier and Illinois (or Arkansas)? Where was the Eastern delegate?

These are all marginal decisions in the extreme (though they might mean real points in ratings), though not marginal at all to the players, coaches, and fans of the teams involved. I think Boeheim had missed once before, so the thought was not unthinkable, though it did seem so in the case of Bobby Knight's team, Texas Tech. For all those not picked, NIT is a good party in NYC, though, if you keep practicing.

As far as personal leanings, I'm pulling for Kentucky to beat Kansas in the second round, for Louisville to go a long way (unless it's at the cost of my father's dedication to Indiana), and the winner of the Virginia-Albany game to go a couple of rounds further. So will read my first two espn pick sets (one with Albany), driven totally by emotions. Then I'll try one crazy one and one sober, chalk-driven.

Chalk is definitely called for, after the second round. There are essentially 8-9 teams with fairly similar chances to win it all (Florida has the best, though, with its #1 seed and draw--well earned, I say!). Beyond those, I would deny that anyone else has a chance: they just weren't consistent enough. Predicting results among teams rated 14-51 in the tourney will be total chaos. This already emerged during "Championship Week", and caused a lot of the wild, Brownian movements of The Bubble.

In basketball, the NCAA has done a good job of pushing that monster all the way down to around 45th place (where the last of the 34 at-large teams would rank). Compare that to their miserable flailing in football (due to the difficulties of scheduling multiple games for such large teams), where the crunch seems to happen around #7.