Dan over at the Bleacher Report recently announced the 2007 Bleacher Report HR Derby. I’ve played HR Derby a few times in the past. Basically you select a few hitters who you think will hit the most home runs this year, and get points for how many they hit. It’s really pretty simple.

Now for the great part. The winner of the Bleacher Report HR Derby will receive a Nintendo Wii. Second place will win “a bundle of EA Sports games for the console of your choice”. Third place wins a bag of Cracker Jack, which is still better than a kick in the face.

So, head on over to the Bleacher Report and join the party. You might just win some pretty cool prizes.

I’m not at all surprised that the skipper of my least favorite baseball team was driving drunk, my question is, was David Eckstein with him?

The first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament went, for the most part as planned. Of course there were upsets, players coming into their own, and cinderellas, but people looking for “this year’s George
Mason” have been sorely disappointed. They’ve been disappointed for precisely the reason that George Mason was such a story last year… it doesn’t happen very often.

All of the prognosticators would love for you to think that something like that happens all the time, I know CBS would love it. If that did happen, we all would surely tune in to every game to be sure we didn’t miss that one shining moment.

Every March, I make out my brackets, just like everyone else, but just once. It’s what the folks on the Mike & Mike Show call their “Sheet of Integrity”. That sounded good to me. So I started doing this last year. First of all, it’s definitely less confusing. You have one pick. You don’t have to remember all 20 brackets you filled out. You have a clear rooting interest.

Here’s the thing. I’m sort of a fan of Duke, and definitely a fan of Coach K, but I also know that this year, the Greg Paulus led Dukies were not their usual selves. It was an off year. Every program can have those once every, oh I don’t know, say, 20 years.

They seemed ripe for the picking. Or should I say, the NOT picking.
All of that being said, of course I picked Virginia Commonwealth to upset the vaunted Blue Devils of Duke. I know it’s heresy among the basketball gods to have Duke bow out in the first round. Of course, up until today, Michigan State hadn’t won a first round tournament game since their run to the National Championship in 2000. By the way, I’ll take any chance I can get to rag on Michigan State (especially since Michigan lost tonight in the second round of the NIT).

What this also means is that I will again be a force to be reckoned with in the Second Annual Vigilante Sports NCAA Bracket Challenge. I am currently in second place behind John. We’ll see how tomorrow shakes out. 2 upsets to look for tomorrow are in the 5-12 games. I think that Illinois, and Arkansas will both win. What are some of your upsets for Friday or for the other matchups this weekend?

So the Bears have solved their running back problems… or have they? They traded Thomas Jones to the Jets Monday for the 37th overall pick in the draft. There are a couple of takeaways from this.

The Bears believe in Cedric Benson. He definitely came on strong last season as he gained more carries as the season progressed.

1. Is he the man to step in and carry the ball 25 times a game for the Bears?
   - No. I don’t think he is durable enough to carry the ball 400 times in 2007
2. Does he have the drive and the passion that you want in a running back?
   - No. He has repeatedly shown that he doesn’t like competition. He held out when he was a rookie. He repeatedly complained about his relationship with Jones. He wanted the starting job handed to him.
3. Is Adrian Petersen a suitable backup?
   - No. He is however a great 3rd option and special teams player. If Benson goes down with an injury the Bears are in deep trouble at the running back position.

They value the 37th pick in the draft more than a starting running back. I understand that teams are hesitant to give up a first round pick, but a starting running back for a Super Bowl team who gained 1,210 yards and six touchdowns seems like he would garner a little more than the 37th pick.

I could be wrong. For the most part I trust Jerry Angelo at the draft. But if he selects some buster tight end who can’t catch with the 37th pick, I have a huge problem with this deal. If they pick up a solid number 2 WR to replace Muhsin Muhamad, or a ass-kicking strong safety I couldn’t be happier. Which will it be?

Following a 2005 NFL Coach of the year award with a Super Bowl appearance, heading into this off season, Lovie Smith’s future with the Bears was in limbo. He was the lowest paid coach this past season, and was heading into the final year of his current contract. There was much speculation about whether the notoriously tight-fisted Bears would shell out the big bucks to get Lovie signed. Wednesday they did just that, locking up Smith until 2011. Smith’s new contract will pay him approximately $4.7 million dollars per year.

Along side Lovie Smith’s new contract, Bears President Ted Phillips also extended the contract of Bears GM Jerry Angelo. While Smith is responsible for the on the field success of the Bears, credit has to be given to Jerry Angelo for bringing in top talent, and maintaining good standing with regards to the salary cap.

I think this is a good thing for the Bears future. I really like Jerry Angelo’s personnel decisions (minus letting Roosevelt Colvin go due to not filing the correct paperwork). He has obviously drafted really well (Mark Anderson is a prime example). I’d love to see him revamp the offense a bit, but I think the Bears are in good shape with Jerry and Lovie at the helm.