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Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball tremendous/Bracketology, VU Baseball cookin’, VU Women’s Basketball’s dynamic duo strikes again/Bracketology; Men’s/Women’s Golf/Tennis

February 28, 2025

Tyler Nickel was terrific from behind the arc against A&M in our team’s massive victory. (Photo courtesy of Instagram).

Our men’s basketball team secured a phenomenal victory at College Station on Wednesday Night as we defeated the 12th ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 86-84, to move to 19-9 overall and 7-8 in the SEC. The No.12 Aggies (AP Poll) fell to 20-8 and 9-6.

To say it was a mild surprise might sound like an understatement unless you understand the makeup of this group, which we all do. They’re warriors and were not going to be denied at Reed Arena. Our terrific marksman guard/forwardTyler Nickel sank 7 of 10 trifectas and finished with 21 points. Guard MJ Collins had a big night with 16 points and four boards. Our super combo point guard/shooting guard, Jason Edwards, we’re kind of a position-less group, finished with 15 and was iron from the charity stripe sinking 8-for-8 at the stripe. We were 28-for-36 as a team from the line, 78%, and that was massive down the stretch.

The game took 2 hours 40 minutes with excessive foul calling and reviews. It was out of control. But our guys responded to those adverse conditions (the road and the refs) and emerged with a major resume building victory. Our terrific freshman point guard, Tyler Tanner, finished with 9 points and four assists, and was 4-for-4 from the line. These were all highly clutch free throw conversions in the last two minutes of the game. Big man Jaylen Carey sank a couple of key free throws late as well. Jaylen and our awesome other big man, Devin McGlockton, were saddled with foul trouble throughout the game. It was a very questionably officiated game. Devin fouled out, but pulled down 10 boards before he did. He always gives us superb minutes, even if he doesn’t score a ton of points. He usually gives us good offense though, and he’ll give us great effort every time out. One of the key moments in the game was when JaQualon “JQ” Roberts, our 6’8″, 230 inside guy, came in late with Devin and Jaylen in foul trouble. JQ gave us 8 valuable minutes. He pulled down four boards, had a massive dunk off a beautiful dish from MJ, and played awesome defense. JQ, one of the two holdovers from Stack’s program, along with Jordan Williams, which you gotta admire and appreciate, will be a valuable piece for us down the stretch if Jaylen and Devin get into some fouling issues or they just need a break. I love what JQ did for us Wednesday and what he can do for us going forward. Last season, towards the end of the 2024 year, JQ was coming on for sure as a freshman. So I really believe that he can be a factor for us. He’s tough, physical, is a very good rebounder, and give us some offense.

A.J. Hoggard, Chris Manon and Grant Huffman weren’t major factors in the outcome, but did some good things, and we always need those guys to play well in order for us to be successful. They are all three highly valuable pieces to this team’s success. Definitely need them to give us their usual quality minutes going forward. Manon put together an awesome performance against No. 24 Ole Miss last Saturday in our 77-72 victory at Memorial. He finished with 16, 7 boards, 4 steals and 3 blocks against the Rebels. He’s such a superb athlete, and brings so much energy to the court. A.J. is always an important player for us distributing and leading our offense along with some scoring and solid D. Grant brings hustle and talent. We’ll need everybody.

So where do we stand? We are now 19-9, and 7-8 in the SEC, tied for 9th in the conference. Auburn has been excellent this year at 14-1 and 26-2 and are the clear No.1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and Heat Check’s Lukas Harkins, another accurate brackelogist. Auburn is projected No.1 in the South by both Lunardi and Harkins. Auburn’s only two losses are @ Duke, much earlier in the season and at home versus Florida a couple of Saturdays ago. We are seeded 9th by Joe in the South playing in Lexington versus 8th-seeded Illinois. Lukas has us 9th in the West playing No.8 BYU in Wichita. So riveting stuff going on with our team, and if we keep playing like this, we’ll get a higher seed going forward by both Joe and Lukas. I’ll keep you apprised on those developments as they transpire. Both Bracketologists release their projections each Tuesday and Friday, and these brackets are completely up to date as they both released their respective ones this morning.

We’ve got No.14 Missouri Saturday @ home @Memorial at 5 PM CT on the SEC Network. Need an electric crowd to help us knock off a very good team and enhance our resume even further. Missouri is 21-7 and 10-5 in the conference and is coming off a 101-71 home victory over South Carolina. They are presently tied for fourth with Tennessee in the conference standings and are a 5 seed by Joe in the East, and a 5 seed by Lukas in the Midwest. They are talented and can do damage in the NCAA Tournament, so we need to bring everything we’ve got. They defeated us in Columbia on Saturday, January 11th, 75-66. We can get this done, but it will take another stellar performance. We’ve got it in us though. Love the way we’re competing. Will give you a recap on Monday.

Vanderbilt Baseball

RJ Austin is knocking the cover off the ball. (Photo courtesy of The Tennessean).

Our 13th/14th ranked Vanderbilt Baseball team is on a roll right now after sweeping Saint Mary’s last weekend at the Hawk and defeating Tennessee Tech handily this past Tuesday. We won 11-4 last Friday, 2/21, we won 13-7 on Saturday, 2/22, and 10-0 Sunday, 2/23, in 7 innings with the 10 run rule in effect after 7– top of the 7th at home, bottom of the 7th on the road. Then, for good measure, we defeated Tennessee Tech 16-3 at the Hawk in 7 on Tuesday.

RJ Austin is the heart and soul of this baseball team. Our junior from Atlanta is hitting .455 with 2 doubles, 3 triples, a homer and 9 Ribeyes. RJ is also 6-for-6 in stolen bases. Jacob Humphrey, who has found a home in the corners of our outfield, is hitting .440, and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases. Love what we’re getting from transfer Riley Nelson (Western Texas College/Yavapai College, Texas). Riley is hitting .406 with a double, a homer and 12 Ribbies. Freshman Rustan Rigdon is hitting .360, and I’m liking what I’m seeing out of freshman Brodie Johnston. He’s a slick fielding third baseman and was a highly ranked recruit in the class of 2024. Brodie hits and fields at a high level. He was 2-for-4 Sunday against Saint Mary’s with a pair of runs driven in. Like what we have there. Mike Macini, a transfer from James Madison, is going to be stellar at second base. With steady, reliable junior Jonathan Vastine leading the charges at short, we’ve got a good makeup in the infield with Nelson a nice fielding first baseman as well. The SEC is tough, but our 13th/14th-ranked team (Baseball America, D1 Baseball rankings, respectively) is shaping up well. We are now 8-1. Pitching has been pretty solid. Still some room for improvement. Really like what I’m seeing out of our present Sunday starter Cody Bowker. Cody is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Can’t get any better than that. Cody, a Georgetown transfer, is a strike thrower. He’s walked four and struck out 12. JD Thompson and Ethan McElvain are still rounding into form on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Corbs will see how the guys develop before settling into an SEC weekend rotation. The bullpen has been very solid. Miller Green looks like a shutdown closer and we’ve got great arms in middle relief and for midweek starts.

We have UCLA tonight in L.A. in the Southern California College Baseball Classic. First pitch is a 7 PM CT and it’ll be streamed on BIG Ten Network+.

Saturday, we play USC in Irvine, CA. at 4 PM CT on the BIG Ten+ Network.

And Sunday, we face UConn at 12 PM in L.A., again. Today’s game is at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Saturday’s game is at Great Park, and Sunday’s game is again at Jackie Robinson Stadium, all in Southern California. So, two true road games today and Saturday. UCLA is 7-2, USC is 7-1, and UConn is 1-5. So, some challenges this weekend that will be good for getting us mentally tough for the SEC, which starts in two weeks @ Auburn. We’ll open @ Auburn Friday, 3/14, and play there through Sunday, 3/16. Will have much more on that after we get through this non-conference schedule. Major challenges this weekend starting today versus the Bruins.

Women’s Basketball

Khamil Pierre filled it up last night in our victory over A&M. (Photo courtesy of ESPN).

Sophomore Khamil Pierre poured in 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and added 6 boards, and freshman standout Mikayla Blakes finished with 18 points and 5 assists as our women defeated Texas A&M, 91-58, at Memorial Thursday Night. Khamil is from Phoenix, and Mikayla is from Somerset, New Jersey, 40 miles from the Big Apple. Justine Pissott added 14, going 5-for-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the stripe. Justine is a junior from Toms River, New Jersey. It’s 75 miles from Toms River to Manhattan. We moved to 20-9 and 7-8 in the SEC. We’re now 9th in the conference and are an 8 seed in the Spokane Bracket in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme. Charlie is the expert in projecting the tournament bracket for the women’s game, and he’s pretty darn accurate as are Joe and Lukas in the men’s game. Mikayla is now averaging 23 points per game, and Khamil is at 20.9. Khamil also averages 9.5 boards per game. Iyana Moore is at 11.9 points per game. Coach Shea Ralph knows we have a lot of work left if we want to reach our goals of playing much deeper into March. We finish out the season this Sunday @ Missouri for a 2 PM CT tip on SEC Network+. The Tigers are 14-16 overall and 3-12 in the SEC. The SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament starts Wednesday, March 5th at Greenville, S.C. So, exciting stuff for the women’s team as well. Will have more on the SECT on Monday after we play Missouri, and, hopefully, get the job done.

Coach Mark Byington and Coach Ralph are doing absolutely tremendous jobs with the men’s and the women’s teams, respectively. Love our coaches. Of course, Corbs is doing his usual phenomenal job. He just keeps getting it done. Love what all three teams can do going forward with both the Men’s and Women’s bball teams heading into March and our baseball team setting its sights on the rest of the non-conference, and then homing in on the SEC in mid-March. Extremely exciting stuff going on for our programs.

Men’s and Women’s Golf; Women’s and Men’s Tennis

Will have a lot more for you on our three respective teams on Monday along with our Men’s and Women’s golf teams and our Men’s and Women’s tennis teams. All four teams are matriculating well.

The Men’s Golf team, which is ranked 14th in the Clippd rankings, the premier rankings in men’s and women’s golf, opens play at the Cabo Collegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this coming Monday with a loaded field competing. Should be a great measure on Coach Scott Limbaugh’s team Monday through Wednesday on the Twin Dolphin Course. Will have more as the team competes next week.

Coach Greg Allen and his 12th ranked Women’s Golf team (Clippd rankings as well) play in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Monday through Wednesday versus a talented field as well. More on the Women as well next week.

Our 19th ranked women’s tennis team (ITA Rankings), 8-1 on the season after opening SEC play with a 7-0 victory @ Missouri last Sunday, plays Mississippi State today @ the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville at 2 PM, and hosts No.17 Alabama Sunday at 1 PM. So huge weekend for the women’s tennis team.

The Men’s team is ranked 32nd by the ITA Rankings, and is 8-3 overall. After defeating LSU on the road this past Monday, 4-3, we play @Auburn today at 2 PM CT, and we are @ No.25 Alabama Sunday at 1 PM.

I love what Women’s Tennis Coach Aleke Tsoubanos is doing for our team, and what Coach Scott Brown is doing for our men. We have another Scott Brown, who is our pitching coach. So we two have Coach Browns on our respective staffs.

I’ll check back in Monday with a lot more on where all of our teams stand heading into the week. God Bless, have an awesome weekend, and Anchor Down!

Mikayla Blakes goes off…again; Men’s bball in major tilt up north; Baseball cookin; Men’s Golf nice showing in Florida

February 19, 2025

Mikayla did some serious work on Sunday @ Auburn. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia).

Our terrific McDonald’s All American freshman Mikayla Blakes made history again on the basketball court as

she set a freshman record this time for any freshman, true or redshirt, as she poured in 55 points and led her

Vanderbilt Commodores teammates to an amazing 15 point comeback in the fourth quarter at Neville Arena in Auburn as the Commodores defeated Auburn 98-88 in overtime to move to 19-7 overall and 6-6 in the SEC. Coach Shea Ralph was not only happy for Mikayla, she was ecstatic for her team as we had lost three in a row. But what a performance by our young freshman out of Somerset, New Jersey and Rutgers Prep. Mikayla was 15-of-28 from the field, 2-of-7 from trifecta and 23-of-24 from the stripe. She is now averaging 23 points per game and is second in the SEC and sixth in the country in scoring. She was voted SEC Player of the week and SEC Freshman of the week. There was no doubt that was going to happen. The team is now tied for 8th in the conference, and Charlie Creme, the Bracketologist for ESPN, has us as a No. 7 seed and playing 10th seeded Richmond in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles. Our next game is Thursday at 6 PM @ No.16 Oklahoma. OU is 19-6 and 7-5 in the SEC, so they’ll be a tough out. Mikayla and the women will have to step up once again. I like them to do just that.

Men take on the Cats in Rupp

Jalen Carey leads the Dores into Rupp Arena today at 6 PM (Photo courtesy of *the Nashville Pos*t).

Our men’s team is in a huge contest today at 6 PM today on the SEC Network at Rupp Arena versus Kentucky. We fought so hard against Tennessee and almost pulled off the upset, but are looking ahead to today in a massive game at Rupp. We are 17-8 overall and 5-7 in the conference, and Joey Brackets has us as an 11 seed and in the West Regional playing in Cleveland in the first round and facing No.6 seeded Clemson. Gotta excel here in our last six games. We’re getting very good play from Jalen Carey, Devin McGlockton and Jason Edwards, among others. Need everybody to step up tonight, Tyler Nickel, AJ Hoggard, Chris Manon, MJ Collins (so athletic) and Grant Huffman will HAVE to do their part as well for us to emerge with the victory. Coach Byington knows it’ll take a total team effort to come away victorious. I don’t gamble, but I do predict against the spread, and we were a 6 1/2 point underdog yesterday, and now we’re 5 1/2. So trending in the right direction. It was 4 1/2 earlier today. Just gotta lock in.

Baseball

JD Thompson gave us an awesome start on Friday versus Grand Canyon, a true road game in Phoenix, at the 2025 MLB Desert Invitational. (Photo courtesy of Baseball America).

We’ve gotten some pretty solid pitching so far in our first five games as our No.15 Commodores (D1 Baseball Rankings) are 4-1 with victories over Grand Canyon, UC Irvine and two over Air Force. Our only loss is to No.23 Nebraska on Saturday Night, and that seemed like a road game in the MLB Desert Invitational. Really like what we got from JD, who pitched 4.2 against Grand Canyon, and allowed just 3 hits, 0 runs, with a walk and 6 K’s. JD is our Friday Night guy for now, but that’s still being determined. Sure like our chances with him on the mound. Cody Bowker, a transfer from Georgetown, was super Sunday against Cal-Irvine. Cody went 4, gave up 0 runs, 2 hits, with a walk and, also like JD, six K’s. Nice efforts from a lot of our pitchers. Like the way our pitching is rounding into shape. We play Saint Mary’s in a weekend set this Friday-Sunday. Hitting is coming along. New addition Rusty Rigdon, kind of a utility player for us in the infield and outfield, is leading us at .467. Jacob Humphrey, whom I’ve always been bullish on since he arrived on the West End from Duke in 2024, is hitting .455. And our electric center fielder RJ Austin, who can do everything, kind of an Enrique Bradfield with a little more power, is hitting .391. We’re fielding at a .989 clip with just a couple of errors, so pretty solid. I’m sure Corbs is pretty pleased with the start. Gotta keep improving every practice, every game as Corbs always preaches. Our goal is Omaha and getting it done there. That never changes.

Jackson Van Paris with a nice showing at the Watersound Invitational at Panama City (Photo courtesy of *The Vanderbilt Hustler*).

Nice showing by Men’s Golf

Our 11th-ranked Men’s Golf team (CLIPPD Rankings, premier college men’s golf ranking service) finished in 5th place at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, FL. on the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course. We had a rough day in day one shooting 9 over as a team. Then we came back and shot 6 under, and, in round 3, we finished 14 under to post an 11 under score for the tournament. Florida State won it at 26 under par. We did get a terrific effort from senior Jackson Van Paris who finished tied fourth individually shooting 6 under par. Luke Clanton of FSU won it at -10. Nice comeback by the squad. Need some more guys to step up if we want to reach our goals this year in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Next is the Cabo Collegiate Sunday, March 2nd through Tuesday, March 4th. It’ll be 3 rounds with a loaded field. I will let you know more about it when it’s time to get to work in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at the Twin Dolphin Club.

I’ll have more coming up next week. I will be out of pocket the rest of this week working on another project here in town, so will check back in the middle of next week or so with intel on Men’s basketball, baseball, Men’s golf and women’s basketball and anything else that transpires in the VU sporting arena. Thanks a lot.

The 131st Championships, Wimbledon

July 1, 2017

Can the youthful 35 year old Fed capture his record 8th Wimbledon Championship and record 19th Grand Slam (Photo courtesy of The Sporting News).

Rafa goes for his 16th Slam and 3rd Wimbledon championship (Photo courtesy of Muzul).

The men and women alight on the grass courts of The All England Club for the 131st playing of the Championships, Wimbledon. It’s the third slam of the season and the most cherished. Roger Federer, who seeks to capture his 18th major and record setting 8th Wimbledon title, won his 5th Australian Open in January. Rafa Nadal captured his 15th major and record 10th title at the French Open at Roland Garros. Fed and Rafa have found a virtual Fountain of Youth at ages 35 and 31 respectively, They are both are playing like they’re in their early 20’s. They’re as good as ever and it’s super for tennis.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams won her 23rd Slam at the Australian and 20 year old Latvian upstart Jelena Ostapenko surprisingly won at Roland Garros. Serena is pregnant and not playing, so the women’s side should be interesting and wide open.

The penultimate major at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club commences Monday. ESPN and ESPN 2 will televise with ESPN broadcasting the Women’s Final Saturday, July 15th, two weeks from today, at 8 AM CT. ESPN will televise the Men’s Singles Final on Sunday, July 15th, at 8 AM CT.

Can Fed capture his record setting 8th Wimbledon title to break the record he holds with Pete Sampras? Can Rafa keep the resurgence going like Fed and win his 3rd Wimbledon title. With Serena pregnant and not in the picture this year, will there be an upstart capturing the women’s crown. It’s pretty wide open on the women’s side, but there is a lot of young and veteran talent.

What about Novak Djokovic, who’s also on Roger’s heels, like Rafa, for all time Slams with 12, and has won 3 times at Wimbledon in 2011, ’14 and ’15. Novak now has the great Andre Agassi as his coach, and it showed today as Novak won the Aegon International at Eastbourne, England in the final over Gael Monfils. Andy Murray is the defending champion at the All England Club and has captured 2 Wimbledon championships with his other victory in 2013. The Scotsman is on his home turf and he plays well here.

With that analysis, here are the predictions for the 2017 Championships, Wimbledon.

Men’s Semifinals

Djokovic over Fed

6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3

This will be a Battle Royale with Novak prevailing.

Rafa over Andy Murray

6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

See Rafa keeping his momentum going and gunning for major 16.

Final

Djokovic over Rafa 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4

Like Novak to outlast the Rafa in an epic, and capture his 4th Wimbledon Championship and 13th Slam. Novak looks back after this weekend. The Agassi factor is starting to kick in and Novak has found his game again. Rafa will give him a heckuva battle though.

Djoker captures his 4th Wimbledon championship and 3rd in 4 years (Photo courtesy of Sky Sports).

Champion: Novak Djokovic

Women’s Semifinals

Karolina Pliskova over Angelique Kerber

6-4, 6-2

The 25 year old from the Czech Republic has been knocking on the door after reaching the finals of the U.S. Open last year and just winning the Aegon International beating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets today. I like the hot player.

Simona Halep over Johanna Konta

6-4, 5-7, 6-3

“Jo” is 26 from Sydney Australia and won at Miami and just defeated Kerber in the quarters of the Aegon tournament this week, but had to retire in the semis. She’s playing well. But I like Simona, the 25 year old from Romania, who just made the French finals before losing to Ostapenko, to play for that elusive first major.

Final

Pliskova over Halep 7-5, 6-2

Karolina has extremely powerful strokes and a ballistic serve. She’s got plenty of momentum after today’s victory at Eastbourne. I see her getting over the top at the All England Club and capturing the coveted championship.

Champion: Karolina Pliskova

Like Karolina to break through at the Championships (Photo courtesy of NDTV Sports).

Sleepers

Men: Nick Kyrgios

I see the 22 year old Australian ready to compete for a title very soon. He’ll play well here.

Women: Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline is not usually a sleeper. but the 26 year old from Denmark is seeded 6th, and I see her doing well here.

Vanderbilt basketball has tremendous postseason opportunity, baseball, football, men’s golf, women’s tennis

March 13, 2017

Our Vanderbilt basketball team finished the season 19-15 after beating A&M and Florida in the SEC tournament, both teams for the third time. With those key victories, and a key victory on the road over Arkansas, and a strength of schedule that was No.1 in the country overall, the committee awarded us with a well deserved 9th seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

We will play 8th seeded Northwestern in Salt Lake City, Thursday at 3:30 PM CT/4:30 PM ET on WTBS, which is channel 247 on DirecTV and channel 780 on Charter Spectrum.

This is a classic matchup of two very elite academic schools that have done pretty darn well at sports. Interestingly though, this is Northwestern’s first tournament appearance in its history. Northwestern has been playing basketball since 1904, 111 years. The NCAA tournament is in its 79th year. So, it’s a huge deal for the Wildcats. But it’s just as big of a deal for us.

Northwestern finished their season at 23-11 overall and 10-8 in the BIg Ten. They lost to highly seeded NCAA tournament teams Butler and Notre Dame in their pre-conference season. But both games were close. They lost to Butler, the No.4 seed in the South, 70-68 in Indianapolis. They lost to Notre Dame in Brooklyn at a preseason tournament, 70-66. Notre Dame is the 5th seed in the West Regional. They have a road win over Wisconsin, then ranked 7th in the country at the time and an 8 seed in the tournament in the East, 66-59. They also defeated Michigan at home on March 1st, 67-65, on an electric full court heave and score at the buzzer. Michigan just won the Big Ten tournament and is a 7 seed, which seems a little low, but the committee seems to value the regular season and the early tournament games more than the final games.

The Wildcats reached the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament in D. C. with victories over Rutgers, and a 72-64 upset victory over No.25 Maryland in the quarters. Maryland is a 6 seed in the West. The Wildcats lost to Wisconsin in the semis, 76-48, but I suspect, much like us, they were out of gas by that point.

The Wildcats are led in scoring by 6’3″, 185 junior guard Bryant McIntosh, who averaged 14.4 ppg. and 6’5″, small forward Scottie Lindsey, a junior, who averaged 14.2 per game. Their other double figure scorer is 6’7″, 205 redshirt sophomore forward Vic Law, who averaged 12.4 ppg. Six-foot-8, 235 pound sophomore center Dererk Pardon averaged 8.5 points and 8 rebounds.

They averaged 71 points a game and held opponents to 65 ppg. They out-rebounded opponents 36.2-35.4. They averaged 15 assists on the season against 10.5 turnovers. They shot 44% from the field, 34% from 3, and 75% from the line.

They have a good mix of veterans and younger players and their players are all experienced. We have our work cut out for us to win this ballgame. But we can absolutely win it.

We averaged 71 points and gave up 68. We shot 43% from the field and 38% from 3. We also shot 78% from the stripe, which is outstanding. We averaged roughly 35 rebounds per game. MFD led us in scoring at 13.6 ppg. Luke was next at 13.2, Jeff was at 11 ppg, and Riley averaged 10.5. Riley was so good at the end of the season, and really all year. He shot 49 percent from 3 for the year, 68-for-138, that’s outrageously good. He also led us at the stripe at 87%. Luke shot 85%, MFD shot 82% and JRobe shot 79%. We’re outstanding from the stripe and from deep.

Nolan Cressler, Joe Toye and Payton Willis were very valuable players for us too. Djerry Baptiste and Clevon Brown will be very valuable pieces for us underneath in the postseason as well. They’re both going to be very good players for us, and they need to step up for us now. Djerry can really help Luke out and Clevon can help Jeff out with some valuable minutes off the bench.

The keys to victory against Northwestern are, first, sinking several 3’s. I don’t want to put an absolute number on it, but 8 or better would help a lot. We have to hold our own on the glass with Luke, Jeff, Joe and our guards boarding well. We need to take care of the ball like we’ve done such a better job at the end of this season. We need to get some turnovers ourselves. We need to drive and score, which Nolan, Riley and Joe have been so good at and MFD can do. We need to pass it well to set up shooters and get some more backdoor scores, and we of course need to defend well. Keep them at 40% or less from the field and 34% or less from trifecta.

If we do all or most of these things well, particularly shooting, defense and the glass, we’ll move on and face the Gonzaga- South Dakota State winner on Saturday. Gonzaga is a prohibitive favorite in that game which tips off at 1 PM CT/2 PM ET in Salt Lake City on TBS.

So gigantic opportunity for our talented team that has improved so much throughout the season and is playing their best basketball right now, which is what you want. So can’t wait.

Here is the video of the team’s reaction to the NCAA announcement yesterday on CBS. It’s pretty electric.

***NOTE, This is from an email I sent out last night after the Northwestern game, Olivier Sarr is our 4 star 6’11’, 225 recruit who we are pursuing intensely. I spelled Olivier’s name Oliver. Apologize for the error.

Baseball splits a doubleheader

Our No. 25 baseball team is now 11-6 on the season after splitting a doubleheader with St. Mary’s yesterday, losing the first game 5-1, but winning the second game, 9-1. In the first game, Patrick Raby pitched a beauty of a game, but didn’t get enough offensive help, hardly any, and had a couple of miscues in the field that didn’t help either. Raby went 8.2 innings, throwing 118 pitches with 80 for strikes against 38 balls, an outstanding strike-ball ratio. Patrick gave up 6 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned, with 1 walk and 11 K’s. Tough luck loss for Patrick, but like where he’s at.

In the second game, the bats came alive and we got another stellar outing from freshman Drake Fellows. Jeren Kendall was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, his fifth, and three runs scored. Julian Infante was 2-for-2 with a ribbie and two runs scored. Third baseman Will Toffey was 2-for-4 with 4 Ribeyes, including a three-run triple. Super work by Will. Ro Coleman was 3-for-4 at the plate.

Fellows went 8, throwing 101 pitches, 69 for strikes against 32 balls, an over 2 to 1 strike-ball ratio, so he was outstanding. Drake gave up 2 hits, one run, which was unearned, walked none and struck out 8. Reed Hayes finished it off in the 9th giving up a hit, no runs with a K. Drake moved t0 3-0 on the season and he now has a 1.00 ERA, which is superb. Raby has a 1.40 ERA and he’s now 2-2.

Infante is leading us in hitting at .359. Ro is next at .311. We’re playing better, but need to brush up on our fielding. We’ve committed 22 errors in 17 games. That improvement will happen as we keep developing this season. We’re always good in the field and we’ve got good defensive players, good players period.

Corbs seemed OK with the split. It was hard to hear him in his interview because Born in the USA was blasting out of the speakers at Hawkins Field. Good song, but the volume was intense. He liked the efforts and performances of Raby and Fellows and thought we got it going pretty well with the bats in the second game as we had 12 hits. Overall, he’s cautiously optimistic about his team. That’s my read on his thoughts.

Next up is Western Kentucky tomorrow @ home, 4:30 PM CT. SEC Network+ will carry the game. Then we open the conference season @ Ole Miss with a weekend set. Friday’s first pitch is at 7 PM CT, Saturday’s game starts at 1:30 PM CT, and Sunday’s game starts at 3 PM CT and will be televised by the SEC Network. Should be pretty electric as we get into the conference schedule.

MLB guys

Some super news; Pedro got picked up by the Orioles on a minor league contract, meaning he’ll not start out on the 40 man roster this spring but can get on the team with a good performance during March in the Grapefruit League. There is talk that Baltimore will try Pedro out in the outfield some, and then, when he makes the team, use him out there and at first some to spell starter Chris Davis. Pedro had a good year for the Birds last year, so I’m glad they picked him up again. He has been working out on his own and with a coach on his outfield skills and Pedro is an awesome athlete, so I see him getting the outfield down. He can really play some first, so I’d like to see him still get a shot there, too. His bat is too good not to be in the lineup frequently. I expect Pedro to be an Oriole when the season starts April 3rd.

Mike Minor could be in the KC Royals’ rotation this season. I thought Mike looked good in the minors, and his stuff is ML:B starting material. David Price got a scare when his throwing elbow was having a lot of discomfort a couple of weeks ago. But Dave got it checked out and he’s OK, and will be ready when the Red Sox open the season in April. ***Note, 3-17, David looks like he’ll start on the 15 day DL, so we’ll have to wait to see David start his 2017 season. No major injury though which is the good news. David will be back probably late April.

Sonny has been injured a little for the A’s, some sort of lat issue, but he should be fine for the season. Dansby has had a little back problem, but he’ll be ready when the Braves open the season. Braves are really building for the future. If they play .500 ball this season, that would be good, and get them ready for a big 2018 at their new stadium, SunTrust Park in Cobb County, which opens this season. Should be awesome.

And I expect Carson Fulmer to be a starter for the White Sox. I’m saying very likely this season.

There will be some other guys who might be in the big leagues this year. Ryan Flaherty should be back with the Orioles. Will keep you posted.

Football

Sorry I’m late to report this but better late than never and certainly in this case. Alex Stump, a 2015 4 star wide receiver, has transferred to Vanderbilt from Ohio State. Alex is 6’3″, 210, and his film in high school is superb. He played a game last year for the Buckeyes and caught a pass for 8 yards. But watching his high school film shows me that Alex is going to be exceptional for us. He will have to sit out this year, but will be eligible in 2018 and 2019. That’s good news because we’ll be losing C.J. Duncan, Trent Sherfield and Caleb Scott after this season. We have some young studs on the perimeter in Kalija Lipscomb and Donaven Tennyson, and we have some freshmen studs coming in, 6’4″, 212 Chris Pierce and 6’3″, 200 James Bostic. And with Jared Pinkney and Sam Dobbs at tight end, we should have some good weapons on offense in 2018 as well. But 2017 is here and we’ve got Duncan, Sherfield and Scott set for big senior seasons.

I spoke with Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig about 3 weeks ago, but have decided to wait until after spring practice is over and talk to him then, so he’ll have a better handle on how the offense looks coming out of spring. We are having a Spring Showcase instead of a Spring game this year. It will be held Saturday, March 25th at 10 AM in Vanderbilt Stadium. In the past we’ve done kind of a goofy offense versus defense format, and coach Mason wants to get more out of the workout. So we will practice and do some scrimmaging. Excited to see what this team can do in 2017. We have a lot of good players back, and should be stellar on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, we’ll keep improving in special teams too. We open the season Saturday, Sept. 2nd on the road against Middle Tennessee, in Murfreesboro. No time or TV yet. We play Alabama A&M at home, Kansas State at home and then open the SEC schedule at home against Alabama. Will be tough, but I just say bring it on. I have confidence in our coaches and our players.

We’ll also play @ Florida, @ Ole Miss, @ South Carolina and @ Tennessee. We’ll have home games against Georgia, Western Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. If things go right, we’ll go 8-4, though we want to win’em all.

Here are highlights of Alex Stump. We’re going to like him.

Alex Stump

Men’s Golf

The No.1 Men’s Golf team will be in Statesboro, Georgia this weekend playing at the Schenkel Invitational. No.2 Florida will also play with a host of other teams including Kentucky, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and UAB, Should be super competition for the team as they keep matriculating towards the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. The SEC Tournament will be held in Sea Island April 21-24.

We won this event last year as Will Gordon shot a 63 on the final day and we finished -41 to win by 10 shots over second place finisher Wake Forest. Matthias Schwab, Patrick Martin, Will and company will have to play well as we face a tough field led by Florida. Note***Matthias is playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. He is close to making the cut. Matthias earned the exemption by getting the sportsmanship award handed out by the tournament. Great stuff for Matthias.

PGA guys

In the pros, Luke List finished tied for 27th at the Valspar Championship yesterday, shooting -2 for the tournament. Adam Hadwin won at -14. Luke is now 21st in the Fed Ex Standings so in really good shape, and with a victory before the Masters, Luke will get in the Masters. So you never know and Luke’s been playing better this year after starting off the season really well at the end of 2016. Brandt is 35th in the standings and both Brandt and Luke will play this weekend at the Arnie Invitational at Bay Hill. Jon Curran is not playing and stands 154 in the standings, so he has work to do. The top 125 qualify for the 2017-18 season, and there is a lot of golf left, so several opportunities to make up ground. Luke plays all the time, Brandt plays a lot for a star on the tour, and Jon probably needs to pick up the workload to get back to relevance on the Fed Ex list.

Women’s Tennis

The No.10 women kept the machine rolling this weekend with a 5-2 victory over No. 23 Ole Miss. We improved to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in the SEC. That’s outstanding. We won the doubles, and in singles, No.5 Astra Sharma got her 80th career victory at Vanderbilt, and Georgina Sellyn, Fernanda Contreras and Emily Smith all won.

Next up, we’ll be on the road @ No. 20 Kentucky 4 PM CT this Saturday.

A preview of the stellar spring sports landscape coming up, Mexico Championship pick

March 2, 2017

Golf season is in full bore mode now, with several 20 somethings dominating the circuit, but with some younger vets like Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler winning the past two weeks, D.J. at Riviera and Rickie at the Honda in Miami this past weekend. This week the tour alights in Mexico City for the WGC-Mexico Championship. This is a big time tournament usually played at Trump National Doral, but with POTUS’s comments last year on the Wall, the Tour didn’t take that very well, and moved the site. Kind of a shame that the players can’t compete at the Blue Monster and that epic 18th hole, but maybe it’ll come back and Club de Golf Chapultepec looks like an interesting, scenic venue with 50 of the top players in the world. I will have my prediction at the bottom of this column.

The Arnie is coming up, and the majestic 81st Masters is just over a month away. The Players will be in May at TPC Sawgrass, the 117th playing of the U.S. Open in June will take place at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, about 35 miles outside of Milwaukee. Erin Hills has never hosted a major, but has hosted the 2011 U.S. Amateur, won by Kelly Kraft, who is making a move on the tour now. The 146th Open Championship in July will be played at Royal Birkdale in England, which has hosted the Open 10 times, the last won in 2008 won by Padraig Harrington. The 98th PGA Championship will be played at famed Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, N.C. which has never hosted a major, but is a classic venue and has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship, a regular event on the tour, for many years.

Will Jordan Spieth recapture the magic like he looks like he very well could? Will D.J, win a second major? With his length, Augusta National looks possible. Will Jason Day get his momentum back from two years ago? He certainly has that eliteness about him that allows him to win at any of the four majors. How will Rory come back from his rib injury? If he can, he wants the Masters to complete the career grand slam and win his 5th major title at 27 years old. Then there are guys like Rickie, Sneds, and others trying to capture their first major. Two guys you might call, as John Feinstein labeled those kind of players in his book, The Majors, “Best Players not to have won a major.” Henrik, Justin Rose, Jimmy Walker, the list goes on, all of them have captured a major title with Rose winning the U.S. Open in 2013 and Henrik and Walker both winning majors last year, Henrik at the Open Championship and Walker at the PGA. And, of course, Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama are banging on the door to win not just one major, but multiple majors. Both are chomping at the bit to don the Green Jacket in Butler’s Cabin on Sunday, April 9th.

So a lot of extraordinary storylines heading into the heart of the season. Will have major coverage the rest of what looks like an electric season.

March Madness

The great Frank Mason III and Kansas look formidable

Can Cal and the Cats have some magic in March and capture their second national championship since 2012 and their 9th overall

This is such a sensational time of year in sports, and college basketball is at its best right now with the historically good NCAA tournament coming up. It’s a pretty top heavy field this year with quite a few exceptional teams having a shot of cutting down the nets in Phoenix on Monday, April 3rd.

The four teams that really stick out to me right now are North Carolina, with their tremendous length under the basket, their ability to rebound, and their always prolific offensive ability. If they can defend well, they could very well be cutting down the nylon. Kansas is a superb team, led by All American guards Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham and superstar freshman small forward Josh Jackson. Villanova is superb again and going for back to back national titles, which would be the first time since Florida accomplished that under Billy Donovan in ’06-’07. And I’m starting to get bullish on Kentucky. They’re putting it together and with all that Parade All American talent, they’re in the mix every year. They are peaking well.

But there are other teams that have a good shot at the national title and certainly the Final Four. Duke, Louisville, Baylor are all outstanding, UCLA and Oregon have super teams, Zona is very good. I’m not as big on the Big Ten teams this season. Virginia lost a lot off last year’s team, but the way the play defense gives them a chance to make a run. I like Syracuse a lot, too, and Va Tech has a good squad that could knock some people off. Wisconsin and Purdue look like the best teams in the Big Ten, but not good enough to make the Final Four. Michigan State will be competitive, but they’ve been really hampered by injuries, so this is not their year. Wichita State has another really good team under Greg Marshall that can go some distance.

For SEC Cinderellas, I like Florida to do really well with a shot to make it to the Final Four. They’re excellent. I see South Carolina making some noise and being a second weekend team. Arkansas is up and down, but pretty darn good when they’re up. Vanderbilt is in right now, according to Joe Lunardi, ESPN bracketologist, but they’ve got work to do. They have a huge game at home against Florida on Saturday, which they have to have, and then they’ll need to win at least 2 games in the SEC tournament to get invited to the Big Dance. They have the No.1 non-conference strength of schedule and No.2 strength of schedule overall with victories on the road over Florida and Arkansas, and South Carolina at home, so it’s a pretty good resume. But the Dores have work to do.

For real Cinderellas, Middle Tennessee State has a really good team as does Monmouth.

Will have my bracket out the Monday after Selection Sunday, which is March 12th.

NBA

Can Kawhi Leonard (above) dethrone LeBron, and outlast Steph and KD in the postseason

I watched a superb game last night in the National Basketball Association as the Celtics defeated the Cavs, 103-99, at the “Gaaden,” in Boston. I saw one of the best defensive players I’ve seen in a long time in Avery Bradley. Bradley was like stickem on Kyrie Irving, one of the most prolific offensive players in the NBA along with Steph, Bron, KD and Russ Westbrook. They used to call Gary Payton, who played many years for the Seattle Supersonics in the 80’s and 90’s, “the Glove” because his defense was as tight as a glove on an offensive player. He was a terrific defender. That’s what Bradley looks like. And a really interesting part of the game happened with 1:08 left, when Bradley drained a trifecta, and the camera went into the crowd to show Bill Belichick, a huge Celtics fan. While the rest of the Boston faithful were going berserk, Bill immediately looked up at the clock in a calm, cool fashion like all the great ones do. His coaching job in the Super Bowl with his Patriots down by 28 in the third quarter was nothing short of sensational. He’s a cool customer and knew there was a lot of game left. He wasn’t satisfied until the clock struck :00. Isaiah Thomas, no relation to the great one, but certainly becoming a great one, canned a 30 foot triple with 49 ticks left and the Celtics sank some free throws and held off Bron and Kyrie to capture an electric victory. The Cavs got a good look with :05 left as LeBron found an open Deron Williams in the corner, with the Cavs down 101-99, for what could have been the game winning triple. But Williams missed, the Celtics got the board, and held on with free throws.

In my preseason predictions, I predicted the San Antonio Spurs to capture the Larry O’Brien Trophy winning in 7 over the Cavs. Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs was my MVP pick. The Dubs are still awesome with Steph, KD and Klay Thompson, and, at 50-10, look extremely formidable. But KD is out for four weeks with a sprained MCL and a bone bruise in his left leg, but will be back a week or two before the playoffs start on April 15th, a Saturday. The Spurs are 46-13 and 3.5 games back of the Dubs in the west. The Cavs are 41-18 and have a 3 game lead over the Celtics, which are at 39-22. Still bullish on my Spurs over Cavs pick though it’s tough to go against the Warriors with that eliteness they have talent-wise, and the Celtics have really come on. But going to stick with my prediction in October barring major injuries. Will have my updated predictions for the NBA playoffs that Saturday, 4-15. Kawhi hit a huge 12 footer last night with 2 seconds left to lift the Spurs to a 100-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Kawhi is averaging 26 points and 6 boards and is a prolific defender, much like Bradley. Should be terrific in April with the playoffs starting. Like that Big four to be in their respective conference finals.

In the NHL, I like the Chicago Blackhawks. They are a machine and have won the Stanley Cup most recently in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and have won 7 overall. Patrick Kane pulled off a hat trick last night in the ‘Hawks 4-1 victory over defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh. Really like the way they’re playing and have them in the west. I’m a little more uncertain about the east. The Washington Capitals have the best record in hockey at 42-13, and the most points with 91, but Washington was superb in the regular season last year and melted down in the playoffs. So while I like the Blackhawks over the Minnesota Wild in the west, I see the east as more of a toss up. Still believe in Sydney Crosby and the defending champion Pens, but the Caps, and the Columbus Blue Jackets have really good teams. The Montreal Canadians are good this season, too. Not counting out the Tampa Bay Lightning in the east either. They were in the finals two years ago and are starting to play well again. Anaheim is a challenger in the west. Will have NHL playoff predictions on Wednesday, April 12th, the day the playoffs commence.

MLB is in full stride in spring training. I like the Cubs again to do very well, but to be really challenged by the Dodgers. In the AL, I like the Indians and the Bosox with the Rangers and the Astros as key competitors. Also still like the Giants and Nationals in the NL. Will have those predictions on Saturday, April 1st.

In professional tennis, Roger and Serena were epic at the Australian Open. It was a masterpiece performance for both all time great superstars. Serena won her 23rd slam and moved ahead of Steffi Graf for most majors in a career in the Open Era, which started in 1968 when professionals were allowed to compete with amateurs in the slams. Margaret Court holds the overall record with 24, so Serena still has something to gun for. There are some good competitors challenging Serena in Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Carolina Wozniacki looks back. Garbine Muguruza won the French last year defeating Serena in a dominating performance. American Coco Vandeweghe is really coming on, and, of course, Venus, is still playing at a high level with her 7 slams under her belt.

It was pretty remarkable seeing Roger face Rafa again in a major final. Roger played like 39 year old Tom Brady does, who has a patent on the Fountain of Youth. Brady plays like a 25 year old and says he feels even better now than he did then, and that’s what the 35 year old Fed did in beating Rafa in an epic 5 setter, winning the 5th, 6-3, in an unstoppable performance. Roger now has 18 slams. Rafa is tied with Pete Sampras for second at 14, and Joker is tied with Roy Emerson and Rod Laver at 12. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out this summer, whether Joker or Rafa can stay on Roger’s heels, or if Roger can extend his all time lead. Next up is the French, May 29th-June 11th, where Rafa has won 9 times, the last one coming in 2014, so he would presumably be the favorite. Wimbledon is July 3rd-16th, where Roger has won 7 times, with the last coming in 2012. It’s his favorite, so that should be compelling as always. Roger’s won 5 times at the U.S. Open which commences August 28th with the finals on September 10th. Novak was a 6 time winner at the Australian, but fell early. He seems to be struggling right now. Andy Murray is always a factor, and he’ll be in the mix big time this summer. There are other guys like Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, American Jack Sock, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem who will be major factors at Paris, London and the Big Apple. So a lot of riveting tennis coming up.

Horse Racing

It was phenomenal when American Pharoah won the triple crown two years ago, in 2015. That hadn’t been done since 1978 when Affirmed followed Seattle Slew, which won it in 1977. It had been 37 years since a three year old thoroughbred had won the Triple Crown. Of course, the greatest of all time, Secretariat, did it in 1973, and set the standard as the greatest horse ever. That still stands today.

The 143rd Kentucky Derby in May, the 141st Preakness in late May, and the 149th Belmont Stakes in June are always historically electric events. Will have more on the key horses once we get closer to post time for the Derby.

Prediction this week

The WGC-Mexico Championship

Club de Golf Chapultepec, 7,330 yards, par 71. Just outside Mexico City

TV: Today-Friday: Golf Channel, 1-6 PM CT/2-7 PM ET;

Saturday: Golf 11 AM-2 PM CT/Noon-3 PM ET. NBC, 2-5 PM CT/3-6 PM ET.

Sunday: GC, 11 AM-1 PM CT/12-2 PM ET. NBC: 1-5 PM CT/2-6 PM ET.

Prediction

I’m going with the 37 year old from Borriol, Castellon, Spain to capture his 10th PGA title, and get closer and closer to a major. He’s another guy in the mix this year. He’s newly engaged and seems to have settled down pretty well. Going with El Nino.

Sergio Garcia

The 105th Edition of the Australian Open

January 17, 2017

New World No.1 Murray tries to win his first 'Stralian — New World No.1 Murray tries to win his first ‘Stralian

Joker will try to stop him and put another slam on his resume

The "major" story of the tournament: will Serena capture record setting Slam No.23? — The “major” story of the tournament: will Serena capture record setting Slam No.23?

The men and women are Down Under competing in the 105th Australian Open, the first major of the year in Melbourne.

It’s hot there, today was 101, but it can be that way in Australia in their summer, our winter as their continent is in the Southern Hemisphere and our seasons are opposite.

This should be a pretty epic tournament on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Tennis Channel and ESPN 2 will televise with ESPN taking over for the finals. The women’s is Saturday, January 28th @ 2AM CT/3 AM ET on ESPN, but I’m pretty positive there will be a later broadcast in the AM. The Men’s final is Sunday, January 29th @ 2 AM CT/3 AM ET on ESPN as well.

Here are the predictions for this “happy Slam” as they call it, because the weather is warm, especially right now, and the people are warm and friendly.

Women

This is a very big deal as Serena is going for major number 23, which would break the tie with Steffi Graf for most majors in the “open era.” Margaret Court has the most with 24, but some were before the open era started, when only amateurs competed. In 1968, professionals were finally allowed to play with amateurs in the grand slam tournaments, so I would say that Graf’s mark, which Serena has tied, is the most significant. But Angelique Kerber, by virtue of her two Slam victories last year at the Australian and U.S. Opens, is now the number one player in the world. Serena has not played much at all this year, and she’s probably feeling some pressure, but she usually handles that well. Serena lost to Kerber in the Australian finals last year, lost to Garbine Muguruza in the French finals, won Wimbledon over Kerber, then lost to Karolina Pliskova in the semis at the U.S. Open. The big question is, can Serena break the record with the pressure on her at 35 years old. Here are the predictions.

Semis

Kerber over Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-4

Kerber builds on her strong ’16 with a trip to the finals in Melbourne.

Pliskova over Serena, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker)

Pliskova with her powerful serve, she leads the tour in aces, and her powerful ground strokes, once again denies Serena of the outright open era record.

Finals

This should be a classic. Kerber, of Germany, defeated Pliskova, of the Czek Republic, in 3 sets at the U.S. last September. Pliskova is close to breaking through and winning her first major at 24, but I like the 28 year old German to capture her third major and go back to back down under. i expect a really good battle though.

Kerber over Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

Sleeper

Johana Konta, Great Britain

Just defeated Australian Open third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-4, 6-2, in Sydney last weekend, so the 9th seeded Konta will be a big time factor. Will take Serena to a third set in the quarters before barely losing 7-6 in the tiebreaker.

Men

Andy Murray has moved to No.1 in the world. He won Wimbledon last year and moved to No.1, as Stan Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic in the finals of the U.S. Murray also has won Wimbledon in 2013 and the U.S. in 2012. But Joker is superb and has already beaten Murray in Qatar in the Middle East, so he’s got the advantage in 2017. Roger Federer is the 17th seed amazingly. The 17 time major winner missed the last half of the season last year with injury. Rafa Nadal has struggled recently with injuries and his play has dropped off, but the 14 time major winner is back in good health and ready to make a run. Here are the predictions for the men’s draw.

Semis

Wawrinka over Murray, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4

Stan is part of the Big five with Murray, Joker, Fed and Rafa, and he’s earned it. He has three majors now, and has a very good shot at a fourth.

Joker over Milos Raonic, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Djoker roars into the final with a straight set victory over the up and coming 26 year old Montenegro native.

Finals

Like Novak to outlast Stan in a war. Stan is quite a player and has the old school one handed backhand, which is pretty cool. Joker just gets by at the end to capture his record setting 7th Australian title and his 13th major. Wow. The Serbian force is on Fed’s heels for most Grand Slams. He will need four more to tie Roger and 5 to break Fed’s record.

Djoker over Wawrinka 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-7 (8-10),

6-3

Sleeper

Marin Cilic, Bosnia

I can’t remember exactly, but the Urban Assault Vehicle in Stripes with Bill Murray and company may have been captured there by the Ruskies.

The 28 year old can do some damage here. He’ll give Wawrinka everything he wants in the quarters, and has a shot to knock him off and square off with Murray in the semis. But I like Stan in five sets against Marin.

A highly compelling 2016 Wimbledon; preview-prediction

June 26, 2016

The 130th Championships at Wimbledon start tomorrow at the All England Club. ESPN and ESPN2 will be televising. The women’s final will be Saturday, July 9th @ 9 AM ET/8 AM CT on ESPN, and the men’s final will be Sunday, July 10th @ 8 AM CT/ 9 AM ET on ESPN.

Some very interesting story lines going on at the All England Club. Can Serena win Slam No.22 and tie Steffi Graf’s all time mark for the Open Era in slams? Margaret Court owns the most slams with 25, but that was when just amateurs were playing, so Steffi’s mark is more meaningful. But Serena has struggled getting to No.22. After beating Spaniard Garbine Muguruza last year at Wimbledon to get to Slam 21, she has struggled to reach what looked like was an inevitable 22nd slam and even a 23rd by now. She lost to Italian Roberta Vinci in the semis of the U.S. Open last September, then lost in the finals of the Australian Open to German Angelique Kerber in January. At the French Open in May, she lost to Muguruza in straight sets. So, at 34 years old, that all time mark is getting seemingly tougher to come by than expected for the American.

I like Serena to get to the final again this year. Will the six time champion at Wimbledon , who’s won on the grass in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015, capture another All England title? She gets to the finals again, but Muguruza, the 22 year old who is super talented and has figured out how to play Serena now and beat her, gets it done once again and denies Serena’s attempt to tie Steffi’s record once again.

Mugu over Serena 6-4, 4-6, 8-6

Like Mugu to get it done for the second slam in a row over Serena

Darkhorse for the women: Madison Keys

Men’s

Noval Djokovic has been dominating the men’s tennis scene for a while now and he is a pretty heavy favorite to win his 13th overall Slam and his fifth consecutive slam along with keeping his shot at winning the calendar year Grand Slam with a Wimbledon title, which would be his third slam this year and would need only to win at the U.S. Open to get the coveted accomplishment. that has only been done by “the Rocket” Rod Laver, who completed the grand slam in both 1962 and 1969, the only men’s player to do it in the Open Era. The Open Era started in 1968. Don Budge also completed the grand slam in 1938. Novak is fast approaching Roger Federer’s 17 grand slam titles, and, at 29, is looking like he’s got a pretty good shot to reach Fed and surpass him. But the competition is still tough. Roger still hanging tough at 34 years old, and there is 25 year old Canadian Milos Raonic, who is fast approaching the big four. Rafa is really struggling with injuries and not playing. Another darkhorse to look for is 22 year old Dominic Thiem from Austria, who has won four times this year.

Andy Murray has been playing exceptional tennis and won on grass at the Queen’s Club two weeks ago to capture that title.

I like Djoker and Murray in the final just like the French, but this time I like Andy to prevail.

Murray over Djoker 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

Should be an epic. Enjoy the fortnight.

Andy denies Djoker a shot at the calendar year Grand Slam

Wimbledon 2015

June 28, 2015

Here are my predictions for the 129th playing of the Wimbledon Championships at the All-England Club, which begin tomorrow and last a “fortnight” (called two weeks in the U.S.).

Women’s singles:

I don’t want to do this , but I have to go with Serena. Serena is closing in on Steffi Graf’s record 22 Grand Slam titles–Serena’s at 20– and I don’t see any of the other women stopping her. Serena, to me, is a head case, but so are the rest of this group of women these days. There are injuries or general complaints reverberating throughout the women’s game. Serena may feel some pressure with another “Serena Slam” possible if she wins at Wimbledon. With a win at Wimbledon, she would have won the 2014 U.S. Open, the 2015 Australian and the 2015 French Open. This is just like the Tiger Woods’ entitlement slam that he got from 2000-2001. Just create a slam for Tiger and Serena even if they haven’t done it in a calendar year, which is what is authentic. Serena accomplished the first “Serena Slam,” in 2002-03, by winning the ’02 French title, the ’02 Wimbledon title, the ’02 U.S. Open title and the ’03 Australian Open title. Tiger accomplished his self and media anointed “Tiger Slam” in 2000-01 by winning the 2000 U.S. Open, the 2000 Open Championship, the 2000 PGA and the 2001 Masters. I still don’t buy it like a real calendar year Grand Slam. Only three other players have been able to win all four majors. Some woman named Brinker in 1953, Margaret Court in 1970, and Steffi Graf in 1988.

But regardless, I like Serena to beat lefty and No.2 seed Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic (I’ll have to get my fact checker out at some point but wasn’t Czechoslovakia part of the movie “Stripes” fame? The U.S. troops got lost in Czech country and taken hostage by enemy troops because some ignorant lieutenant wanted to make a name for himself. This was the early 1980’s and this was communist country. Murray saved them with the “Urban Assault Vehicle,” a Winnebago with guns on it.

So Serena over Petra in an all diva final. Serena captures Slam 21 and will be aiming to tie Steffi at 22 at the U.S. Open in late August. Does she cave to the mounting pressure? I don’t think so. The competition is not good enough to overcome her. Serena’s a head case, but so is the rest of the field, and she’s by far the best player.

Women’s winner:

Serena over Kvitova in three sets

Men’s singles

On the men’s side I like Scotland’s Andy Murray to capture the Wimbledon title over Djoker. There is a story circulating that Novak Djokovic would look to coach Boris Becker on whether to make calls good or out. Could be pretty questionable and there should be a lot of questions for Djoker by the British press about this in the coming days. I really like Murray here. He won a week ago at the Aegon Championships on the grass of the Queens Club. Should be a stellar final. I like Murray in five sets. Both are in superior condition, but Murray’s momentum will be the key. Djoker is probably still trying to get over his loss in the French Open final to Stan Wawrinka.

Men’s Winner

Murray over Djoker in five

Picks for French Open

May 23, 2015

Starts tomorrow at Roland Garros in Paris:

Men’s:

Novak Djokovic (Djoker) over Roger Federer in the final in four sets.

Note: Actually it’s Djoker over Federer instead of my previous pick of Murray because Djoker and Murray would meet in the semis.

Women’s:

Serena over Sharapova in straight sets.

Packers @Seahawks open NFL season, NFC, AFC Champion picks, Super Bowl pick, Fed Ex playoffs, U.S. Open picks

September 4, 2014

Green Bay @ Seattle

CenturyLink Field (67,00o)

8:30 PM ET/7:30 CT

NBC

Broadcasters: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Tafoya

Line: Seattle by 6

Green Bay has a really good team led by the excellent Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Their defense is better this year and ARodg has playmakers around him in running back Eddie Lacy and wide receivers Jordy Nelson and the electric Randall Cobb. But I still don’t think they have enough to overtake the Super Bowl champs. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman and that defense will be too much for the Packers to overcome, even though I like the Packers as the NFC Central winner with a chance at a possible deep run in the playoffs. But I don’t see them getting it done here with the 12th man crowd going wild and taking their talented team to another run at a Super Bowl. Wilson and Sherman did a lot of commercial endorsements in the offseason, so I wonder about their focus this year. But they have enough tonight to overcome a very good football team at CenturyLink.

Seahawks 31, Packers 28

NFC Championship game and pick

To me it’s all about the home field advantage for the NFC team that advances to Super Bowl XLIX (49), and the two best home fields in the National Football League are Seattle and New Orleans. I really like this Seattle team again. They’ve worked harder than ever in the offseason to repeat as Super Bowl champions. But this Saints’ team has shored up their defense. They were fourth in the league in total defense last year under then first year coordinator Rob Ryan. They’re back and I see them, with Drew Brees of course, taking the home field this year with the best regular season record in the NFL. And with home field advantage, I like the Saints to make it to Glendale, Arizona on February 1, 2015.

Saints 35, Seahawks 31

AFC Championship game and pick

Peyton can really get it done in the regular season. He broke the all time record for touchdown passes last season with 55. He’s got some good targets in Demaryius Thomas and particularly Julius Thomas. Wes Welker has been suspended for the first four games of the season for violation of the drug policy. He took something called Molly at the Kentucky Derby. It’s supposed to be some sort of amphetamine. Really stupid for an NFL player to do that. He’s got a career and a family. He needs to grow up. So he’s not a factor for the Broncos. The Broncos’ defense has been improved with the addition of defensive end DeMarcus Ware from Dallas and cornerback AqibTalib from New England. And Von Miller is back from injury that kept him out of the last 8 games of the season. So the Broncos are better on defense. But I like the Patriots a little better. They’ve added Darrelle Revis at cornerback, and he’s out to prove to Richard Sherman and others that he’s still the best cornerback in the NFL. Don’t trust the Patriots defense totally, but I trust Brady totally. The offense will get it done. Going with Brady and Belichick to get the Patriots to another Super Bowl, which would be their sixth this century. They won it all in 2001, 2003 and 2004 and lost in 2007 and 2011 to the Giants.

New England 37, Denver 30

Super Bowl XLIX

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Sunday, February 1, 2015

This could be an epic shootout between Brees and Brady. I like Breesy, Sean Payton and the Saints to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in five years (also won it in 2009).

Saints 34, Patriots 30

Fed Ex Playoffs

BMW Championship

Cherry Hills, Colorado

Cherry Hills Country Club (7,466 yards, par 71)

Today-Sunday

BMW defending champion: Zach Johnson @ Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Fed Ex Cup Points: 2,500

Top five in Fed Ex Standings; 1. Chris Kirk, 4,154 points 2. Rory, 3,335, 3. Hunter Mahan, 311 4. 4. Jimmy Walker, 2,823 points 5. Matt Kuchar, 2,618

Weather: Kind of questionable with 40-50% chances of rain each day

TV: Thursday-Friday: Golf Channel, 4-8 PM ET/3-7 PM CT; Saturday, Golf 1-3 PM ET/12-2 PM CT, NBC, 3-6 PM ET/2-5 PM CT; Sunday: Golf, 12-2 PM ET/11 AM-1 PM CT; NBC, 2-6 PM ET/1-5 PM CT.

Key holes:

No. 1

389 yards, Par 4

This hole is one of the most famous starting holes in all of golf. It is where Arnie drove the green in the final round of the 1960 U.S. Open from 319 yards and made four straight birdies to come from seven strokes behind and win his only U.S. Open. The hole is a slight dogleg left with accuracy off the tee at a premium. The green is guarded by bunkers on the left side and is small in size with a lot of movement in all directions when you putt.

No.17

544 yards, par 5

This is the hole where Ben Hogan lost the 1960 U.S. Open by hitting his third shot in the water on the par-5. The hole has two sets of bunkers going across the fairway, and an accurate tee shot is a must to allow players to either go for the island green in two or lay up short of the water. The green doesn’t look challenging but is very tough to read.

No.18

487 yards, Par 4

One of the most difficult finishing holes in all of championship golf. Water runs down the left side of the fairway and high rough guards the right side. The second shot is uphill and the green is very challenging and guarded by large bunkers on both sides.

Winner:

This guy started out the season terrifically, winning at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona in February. But a thumb injury derailed his season and prevented him from making a serious run at a major. Still see majors in his future–more than one. He’s long and with this 5,300 feet elevation, the ball should be flying if the conditions don’t get too messed up with the rain. He is accurate with his driver too, hits his irons extremely well, is eighth on the tour in scrambling. I really like his short game. When he’s putting well, like all the elite guys, he’s capable of winning each tournament he enters. He’s got to complete game. I like this 26-year old to win this week at Cherry Hills and set himself up for winning the Fed Ex Cup.