Here Goes Nothin'

Welcome to the debut of Big O Sports Blog. Hopefully one day I will have developed a cult-like following and this post will pop up on Google searches worldwide as readers try to find how the greatest thing on the web got started. And when that day comes anyone reading this right now officially has my permission to claim that they knew about me before I got big and became a sellout to ESPN. But for now, here are just a few things on my mind today. Today's lineup includes, what's wrong with college baseball, Kevin Durant bench presses less than some girls I know, and me shamefully admitting to having watched the Women's College World Series (they will appear in that order).

The Problem With College Baseball

First of all, I just have to say that something is seriously wrong with the way the NCAA men's baseball tournament is set up. Four of the tournaments top eight seeds (Vanderbilt, Texas, Florida State, San Diego) were eliminated in regional play this past weekend. Now I am all for parity and competitive balance but when half of the supposedly eight best teams in the country get knocked out in the first round, thats an issue. I suppose you could argue that the top eight national seeds were simply overrated, but you would certainly be wrong in this case. All four of the teams eliminated had fantastic regular seasons and were loaded with talent. It just seems as though the current system is not very good at rewarding teams for how well they played for the duration of the long season. I believe where the problem comes in is the fact that each individual regional is made just about as good as possible to create a more competitive atmosphere, and as a result the top eight nationals seeds don't have that much easier a road than anyone else. The regional rounds should be set up in the same fashion the basketball tournament pairings are made, the best teams during the regular season are rewarded by being given the easiest path to get to the College World Series. Sure it makes for less competitive regional competition, but to be frank, that really doesn't matter. College baseball games for the most part are not televised on a large scale until the super regional round. Basically what would happen is there would be some pretty serious heavyweight matchups in the super regionals and the winner of those knockdown-drag outs would be worthy of getting to Omaha. This would create, drama, excitement, and of course, good television. It would be a win for college baseball fans, a win for the teams who were most successful during the regular season, and a win for the networks carrying the games. Instead this year we get to watch overmatched teams who squeaked through their regionals, give the second tier of baseball programs a free pass to the College World Series. It is just a shame.

Kevin Durant, Prodigy on the Court, Wee Girl in the Weight Room

Well if you follow the NBA at all, by now you have surely heard that Kevin Durant failed to bench press 185 lbs at a recent pre-draft workout. In reality this story could not matter less, it just makes me feel good about myself, seeing as I can bench press 185 lbs (and then some actually, several times in fact, I'll show you). Truth be told, Durant will still go number two overall in the draft, he still scores more or less at will and when he feels like it can rebound and defend with the best of them. But let it be said that I, of similar age as Kevin Durant, and of superior strength while playing for a small Christian college basketball team, would like to be considered by the Celtics at the number five selection. Everyone knows they really wanted Durant, just ask Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy (ESPN.com's page 2 section), but why select Durant when they could have me; a sharp shooter who out benches the player briefly known as a Texas Longhorn by at least 70 lbs . . . that's right, 70. There are two important things lost in the fact that Durant benches less than several girls I went to high school with; 1. Whoever was getting paid to get Durant ready for the draft and these workouts should be fired immediately. What, someone forgot to tell Durant's trainer that teams pinning their future on a guy might be interested in how strong he is? The guy has had three months since Durant stopped being a college student (don't kid yourself, Durant didn't attend a single class second semester, even if his transcript says differently) to work with this kid, and he couldn't get the future number two pick to bench his own weight? I have one word the for that trainer, BOOT! This is the biggest predraft workout blunder since Vince Young's posse forgot to tell him to study for the Wonderlic test, leading to Young misspelling his own name to receive the lowest test score in the history of mankind (OK I made up the part about misspelling his name, but would it surprise you? Maybe it is just a U of Texas thing). this reminds me, is there anyway we can get the monkey that got a 13 on the ACT to take the Wonderlic to see if he can outscore Vince? And finally the second important thing being missed due to Durant's noodle arms is the fact that Greg Oden is a certifiable freak. Oden outperformed Durant (who is by all accounts a great overall athlete) in speed, agility, and strength (duh) drills. Durant is going to be a great ball player but Oden is just a once in a generation talent.

Yes, I Watched the WCWS, Quit Judging Me

Alright, I admit it, I watched the NCAA softball championship. Not just the final game, but several games. There, I acknowledged the elephant in the room. Now let's try and get past that. Here are some of my thoughts on the whole thing. First, you just have to feel bad for Tennessee's pitcher Monica Abbott. She pretty much shattered every NCAA pitching mark out there while putting Lady Vols softball on the national scene (however small that scene may be). Abbott was absolutely dominant throughout the WCWS, not allowing a run until the second game of the championship series, and allowing her team with their anemic offense to come within a myriad of missed opportunities of becoming national champions. Anyway, mad props to Monica Abbott, even not giving a rip about softball, you have to appreciate dominance when you see it. Second, ladies, if you want people to take you seriously as athletes, play on a field designed for adults please. I played on a field with bases 60 feet apart when I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 years old. Every two-hopper to the left side of the infield is a base hit, seriously, there needs to be some adjustments made. And finally last but not least, the strike zone in softball is an absolute joke. Pitches a foot outside are called a strike but when you paint the corner on the inner half of the plate its a ball. No wonder half the players on every team flirt with the Mendoza Line. I don't care if it is just one of those accepted things in the sport, it needs to be changed. Just have one of those meetings that college basketball has every year to tell refs that carrying the ball is going to be a point of emphasis, and tell your umps to call a legit strike zone. Maybe then two teams in a three game championship series could combine to crack double digits in runs and someone besides Skip Bayless might actually care about women's softball. Just for the record, I watched it, but did not care. I just want to make that clear.

I hope you enjoyed the first ever edition of Big O Sports Blog, leave some comments and check back for new posts.