ALBERT PARK F1

The rain dictated wet tires to start but lasted only a few laps. Jensen Button was first to pit and switch to slicks. When rain affects the race and rain tires have to be used the normal rules about using both hard and soft compound tires during the race are no longer in effect. This allowed Button to make the whole race on one stop and propelled him to victory.

Lewis Hamilton pitted 2 laps later for tires and immediately became the best car on the track. Problem is he pitted from 3rd and came out 8th. He made it all the way back to 5th but wore out his tires and was unable to overtake Fernando Alonso. He wondered over his pit radio why he even bothered to pit. After thinking about it, I’m sure he realized rain tires would have been no good as the track dried.

Michael Schumacher started 12th and finished in the top 10. The amazing thing is he took 3 pit stops, 1 more than the other top 10 cars. This tells me he will surely be in the championship hunt throughout the season.

ONE AND DONE

The one and done players from Kentucky have shown me something in the tournament. Experience and chemistry mean something in the late rounds. Kentucky looked confused yet uninterested in losing to West Virginia. The Kentucky players looked like they could have been trying harder. The question is: Do you really want one of these guys on your NBA team?

Kansas St lost mainly because this was the year I picked Butler to lose in the first round.

Even losing both games yesterday, and getting down to only Duke left to win it all, I still ranked in the 93rd percentile on ESPN.

JR. WORKS IT FOR 7TH

Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked to be having a rough day at a track that he has seen good times and bad times on, Bristol.  A picky pit lane speeding penalty sent him to the back of the pack for a late restart.  He may have had a winner without the penalty.  Even though I was flipping back and forth between the NCAA Tourney and his Hotpass channel, I could see he had a good car, probably top 5.  He seems to be learning Sr.'s lesson of always take 4 tires. 

Yet again, Jimmy Johnson, nowhere to be seen most of the race, pulled a late race pit trick and won.  How is it his car is good, no matter how many tires he takes.  What would it be like if he ever won a race by..... RACING!

MY YEAR

For the first time ever, I think I may actually beat my friends in bracketology.  Thanks to Jay Bilas for giving me Cornell, which I had to the Sweet 16.  Now if Tennessee and Baylor can get to the regional finals, Kansas State to the Final 4 and Duke wins it, I may even look really good on ESPN, CBS and Yahoo as well.

The key was putting away my hate.  I hate Duke, alot.  Maybe I was helped by Oklahoma and North Carloina being no shows because not as much hate was there to start with.  Thank you Notre Dame for making me start 0-1.  Maybe I should have kept a little hate.

BRACKETS AND RED SHARPIES

Usually I have a great first day of the NCAA Tournament. 13-3, 14-2 even perfect. Then the friday bloodbath happens. Yesterday I went 10-6 to rank in the 66th percentile on ESPN. I only lost 1 game with a team picked for the Sweet 16 (UTEP).

Today, my big game will be Cornell vs Temple. This is my only upset pick that is truly important, picking Cornell to get through to the Sweet 16.

Through the first 2 weekends, I will be watching Baylor and Tennessee the closest, picking each to get to a regional final game.

Right now, I have West Virginia picked to get to get to the regional final and they are losing 10-1. As a 2 seed many others do also, so if they do bite it it may not hurt me much.

Now, to watch the games!

The Wrong Bracket

Here it is.  This year's bracket of failure asn submitted to Yahoo, ESPN and CBS.  If you want to look there check under "mr slag's wrong bracket" and on ESPN in the "Around the Horn" group.  Just click to get the full image.  But if Cornell, UTEP and Baylor.......

HE'S BAAAAAACK

Michael Schumacher made an impressive return to F1 at Bahrain yesterday with a 6th place finish. In only 3 years the cars have changed drastically. He was talking about challenging for the championship next year, but if he can qualify and finish that high in his first race he will be a factor.

Fernando Alonso won the race even though Sebastion Vettel had built a seemingly insurmountable lead. Vettel's car apparently blew a header that cost the car a good bit of power and dropped him from the podium and put Lewis Hamilton on it.

There are several former champs driving this year and it should be very competetive at the top. Schumacher, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Jensen Button, Mark Weber and Philipe Massa should make this a fun to watch F1 season.

MANNY BEING MANNY

You can't really say there is a new Manny in town, but there is certainly a new figure at the top of the Manny list. Move over Ramirez, Pacquiao is the Manny now. And this time, Manny being Manny isn't an eccentric, cheating goober who, when he feels like it, hustles and excels. This Manny is full throttle all the time.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to see Pacquiao - Clottey. It truly was a guy trying to win vs a guy trying to not get beat up. You could tell by watching that if Clottey would have opened up thrown more punches, Manny would have knocked him out. That's because nearly every time Clottey threw som punches, Pacquiao came right back at him.

I don't understand how the judges had it 119-109. What round did Clottey win? There was no round that Clottey threw or landed more than a third of the punches that Manny did.

This fight showed me why Mayweather is ducking a fight with Pacquiao.

LEBRON AS NUMBER 6

Since ESPN is such a prisoner of the recent, they have a raft of pundits claiming LeBron wants to change to 6 next year to make his own legacy with that number. It's no different than quarterbacks wearing 12. Stauback, Bradshaw, Greise to name just three greats to wear the number.

Do you have to ask me the two greatss to already wear 6. Only the greatest winner in the history of sports. ALL SPORTS!!! NCAA champion, Olympic gold medal and more professional championships than anyone in team sports. Bill Russell.

Although he did not wear the number in the ABA, he did in the NBA. He is always cited as the main reason the NBA merged with the ABA. When people talk about the best basketball players of the 1970's, he's the guy not named Kareem. He's my all time favorite basketball player. Dr. J, Julius Erving.

If LeBron wants to make a legacy with a number, he batter find one not already worn by two members of the all time top 50.

OLYMPICS WON'T HELP THE NHL

In the short term there will be a renewed spark of interest in pro hockey in the USA that will end by the post season. The international game is more wide open because the ice is wider, I think by 10 ft. That makes a huge difference in the dynamics of the game. When these casual fans start watching the usual clutch and grab, play defense until your shift ends, dump and chase boredom of the NHL they will tune out.

Because TV money is such a small part of revenue, NHL owners will not widen the ice because of lost seats. Interestingly, a wider rink would allow for more 1st, 2nd and 3rd row seats due to larger rink circumference. I wonder if they figure in more higher priced seats when they shoot down widening the ice.