The Sports Preview - Personal - http://phatbowling.com/chinaman/The_Sports

December 13, 2005
World Cup 2006 Preview and Predictions
In this little nugget, I'll do a short breakdown of all 8 groups, and run through every elimination match thereby predicting the ultimate outcome of the World Cup. To those who care about the sport, thank you for reading. To those who are here just to see an update, you're not going to have a clue what I'm talking about here.

(Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Elimination round qualifiers in BOLD.)
Group A
GERMANY
POLAND
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Definitely a cake walk for the hosts. Costa Rica and Poland are racing for the 2nd qualifying spot. I give the head to head matchup to Poland.

Group B
ENGLAND
SWEDEN
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
No contest here. It'll be a miracle if these DON'T finish in this order. Trinidad and Tobago are 1000-1 against underdogs.

Group C
NETHERLANDS
ARGENTINA
Serbia and Montenegro
Ivory Coast
One of the 2 toughest groups in this year's cup, don't be shocked if Serbia and Montenegro or Ivory Coast can knock off a powerhouse and even advance. I like Ruud Van Nistelrooy too much to pick against the Dutch, and this year's Argentina squad might be the nation's most vulnerable in recent memory.

Group D
PORTUGAL
ANGOLA
Mexico
Iran
Hardest non-group-of-death to predict. This is a group of 2 underachieving teams and 2 rising teams. I just don't envision Mexico living up to a top seed and Portugal will not choke in 2 straight World Cup group plays.

Group E
UNITED STATES
CZECH REPUBLIC
Ghana
Italy
Definitely going out on a limb on this one. I don't think Czech league soccer is any worse than the MLS, but they do have Mr. Nedved. As for what happens to Italy, a tie to the US and losses to Ghana and the Czechs seal their fate. The poor Italians don't know that they're in rebuiling mode.

Group F
BRAZIL
CROATIA
Japan
Australia
I'll admire Japan's and Australia's effort. That's all I can say about this group.

Group G
FRANCE
SOUTH KOREA
Switzerland
Togo
South Korea continues builing momentum from 2002. France meanwhile, may pay later for having such an easy group stage.....

Group H
UKRAINE
SAUDI ARABIA
Spain
Tunisia
Mr. Schevczenko carries the Ukraine on his back. Meanwhile, Spain proves once again that it just can never win the games that matter most, especially without a 100% Raul.

Elimination Round 1
Germany defeats Sweden
I'll probably be saying this a couple times more before you're done reading this, but incase you didn't know, Germany has a homefield advantage.

Netherlands defeats Angola
I don't think Angola has a defensive answer for Mr. Nistelrooy.

England defeats Poland
Poland has no star power. Expect a blowout.

Argentina over Portugal
Definitely going to be a great game, but those who underachieve in the past have no reason to stop the trend now.....

United States over Croatia
Croatia has a great defense, but not quite as deep of a bench not enough strikers to score goals.

Saudi Arabia over France
You're looking for a colossal upset in round 1, well the French are primed to be beaten by an upstart like Saudi Arabia.

Brazil over Czech Republic
Blowout. The Czechs aren't ready for this.

Ukraine over South Korea
Last I checked, South Korea had a nice homefield advantage in the last cup. Their momentum runs out here and now against Alexander Schevczencko.

World Cup Quarterfinals
Germany defeats Netherlands
For the 2nd time, Germany has homefield advantage.

England defeats Argentina
If they did once recently, they'll do it again in July. Another classic battle. Shootout?

United States defeats Saudi Arabia
The battle of the upstarts. The US is significantly ahead in development though.

Brazil defeats Ukraine
Schevczencko bends a beautiful freekick in from 30 yards out. Unfortunately, he's only 1 man.

World Cup Semifinals
England defeats Germany
Germany's depleted talent nor even the home crowd can overcome Rooney, Owen, and Beckham.

Brazil defeats United States
The dream dies here. 1-0 just like back in '94.

World Cup 3rd Place Match
Germany defeats United States
For the last time, Germany has homefield advantage.

World Cup Championship
England defeats Brazil 3-2.
England plays stunning defence and gets clutch goalkeeping. Late in the match, I envision a Beckham goal from either a freekick or Brazil worrying about Rooney and Owen too much. England is the only team that can and WILL win this game.

March 31, 2005 12:15PM
2005 NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL FINAL 4 (v3.0)
Well here we are just on the brink of The Final 4 in St. Louis and Illinois, Louisville, North Carolina, and Michigan State all survived. In both previous full fiend predicitons and my Sweet 16 predictions, I managed to correctly predict 2 teams in the Final 4. So let's see how I do with the Final 4 itself.

The Final Four
Illinois 78 Louisville 70
It's time for the James Augstine and Roger Powell show. This game will be won on the offensive glass. Garcia has an inspiring 30+ point performance, but it will not be enough for Louisville.
North Carolina 84 Michigan State 78
I actually have an instinct that Michigan State will win this game, but I'm not ballsy enough to pick against Carolina at this point. Paul Davis does his best to contain Shawn May, but McCants and Felton are a diffrent story.

National Championship
Illinois 101 North Carolina 100 (2OT)
Quite possibly the greatest national championship game of all time, Rashad McCants throws up a game winning 3 point attempt which misses, but Shawn May boxes out Jack Ingram, grabs the rebound with 1 second left on the clock and hits a game tying layup buzzer beater at the end of regulation.
In overtime, Carolina scores the first 8 points, only to blow that lead in the final 70 seconds. Dee Brown gets 2 steals and scores 2 layups with under 45 seconds remaining, and on Illinois' final possession to tie or win, Deron Williams finds Luther Head on the back door alley-oop play to send the game to a second overtime.
In the final overtime, North Caronlina jumps out once again this time by 10 points with 2 and a half minutes remaining. Illinois plays tough D and forces a few misses and some turnovers. Jack Ingram hits 2 cluth 3 point shots to cut the lead to 4 with 1 minute remaining. Luther Head draws and offensive foul on Raymond Felton which puts Felton out with 5 fouls. Dee Brown then takes a moronic quick 3 point shot which misses, but Roger Powell, the only orange jersey amongst the pile, grabs the offensive rebound and puts the layup in to cut the lead to 2. Illinois puts on the full court press. McCants gets trapped just short of half court, throws a pass to May, but Augustine anticipates and intercepts. Illinois calls time out for 1 final play.
The play gets set up for a Dee Brown isolation, but Luther Head is found open in the corner. 4 Carolina players chase after him, Head motions to take the game winning shot, but passes off to Deron Williams. He head fakes the game winner to find Dee Brown WAAAAAAAAAAAY off on his own in the opposite corner where Head is and nails the 3 pointer to win.

Wow. You really gotta have faith to have that one happen. Have faith in the Illini. They may not win like that, but it would be pretty damn awesome if they did. Cheer for the orange and blue. I'll see you all next year.

March 23, 2005 4:45PM
2005 NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (v2.0)
For those of you who read the first predictions of this tournament, you'd know that this bracket didn't turn out all that badly. 33 wins 15 losses and a near phenomenal call on cinderalla seed Vermont has lead me to a top 5% world rating on a few of the website challenges that I entered. Not bad I say. Anyway, while I'm still cheering for my original bracket to prevail, I'm gonna go ahead and predict the current Sweet 16 since this could be one of the more interesting ones to come along in years.

Chicago Regional Semifinal
#1 Illinois over #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
It'll be a dog fight, but Illinois will take control middle of the second half (as usual).
#2 Oklahoma State over #3 Arizona
Seniors, seniors, and more seniors. Not to mention this Arizona team is very much an underachieving one with the talent they have.

Albuquerque Regional Semifinal
#4 Louisville over #1 Washington
Louisville has been a contender for 3 months now as opposed to Washington's 3 weeks. Washington chokes.
#6 Texas Tech over #7 West Virginia
The only difference that matters is Bobby Knight.

Syracuse Regional Semifinal
#5 Villanova over #1 North Carolina
North Carolina made it look TOO easy first 2 rounds. Villanova is capable to knocking off the big dog (see Kansas victory back in January).
#6 Wisconsin over #10 North Carolina State
This is the wrong team for North Carolina State to want to play a slow paced game against.

Austin Regional Semifinal
#5 Michigan State over #1 Duke
Nothing against the ACC. No favors for the Big 10. But Michigan's State depth and toughness pulls it out.
#2 Kentucky over #6 Utah
Utah isn't fast and athletic enough to keep it close.

Chicago Regional Final
#1 Illinois over #2 Oklahoma State
For no other reason other than simply "I believe".

Albuquerque Regional Final
#4 Louisville over #6 Texas Tech
Louisville's chip on their shoulder is much too big for them to lose now.

Syracuse Regional Final
#6 Wisconsin over #5 Villanova
If Wisconson shuts down Allen Ray, 'Nova gets frustrated.

#2 Kentucky over #5 Michigan State
Michigan State won't break the Kentucky pressure.

THE FINAL 4
#1 Illinois over #4 Louisville
Augustine and Powell are the key in this game.
#6 Wisconsin over #2 Kentucky
Kentucky doesn't score many points as it is. Wisconsin will force them to score less.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Illinois over #6 Wisconsin
The problem is that the 3rd time 2 teams meet, the one that is 0-2 prevails. But Wisconsin just doesn't have the weapons.

REMEMBER. IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, IT CAN BE DONE!

March 15, 2005 10PM
2005 NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (v1.0)
Yep, that's right. I'm going to predict all 63 games in the bracket. So if you're on the fence about a few teams, this is your one and only source for a final opinion. ESPN doesn't have the balls that I do on this topic. Check back here occasionally before thursday 11AM to make sure that you see the final version.

Chicago Regional First Round
#1 Illinois over #16 Farleigh Dickinson
#9 Nevada over #8 Texas
#5 Alabama over #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
#4 Boston College over #13 Pennsylvania
#11 UAB over #6 LSU
#3 Arizona over #14 Utah State
#7 Southern Illinois over #10 St. Mary's
#2 Oklahoma State over #15 SE Louisiana

Albuquerque Regional First Round
#1 Washington over #16 Montana
#9 Pittsburgh over #8 Pacific
#5 Georgia Tech over #12 George Washington
#4 Louisville over #13 Louisiana-Layeyette
#6 Texas Tech over #11 UCLA
#3 Gonzaga over #14 Winthrop
#10 Creighton over #7 West Virginia
#2 Wake Forest over #15 Chattanooga

Syracuse Regional First Round
#1 North Carolina over #16 Oakland
#8 Minnesota over #9 Iowa State
#12 New Mexico over #5 Villanova
#13 Ohio over #4 Florida
#6 Wisconsin over #11 Northern Iowa
#3 Kansas over #14 Bucknell
#10 North Carolina State over #7 Charlotte
#2 Connecticut over #15 Central Florida

Austin Regional First Round
#1 Duke over #16 Delaware State
#9 Mississippi State over #8 Stanford
#12 Old Dominion over #5 Michigan State
#13 Vermont over #4 Syracuse
#6 Utah over #11 UTEP
#3 Oklahoma over #14 Niagra
#10 Iowa over #7 Cincinnati
#2 Kentucky over #15 Eastern Kentucky

Chicago Regional Second Round
#1 Illinois over #9 Nevada
#5 Alabama over #4 Boston College
#3 Arizona over #11 UAB
#2 Oklahoma State over #7 Southern Illinois

Albuquerque Regional Second Round
#1 Washington over #9 Pittsburgh
#5 Georgia Tech over #4 Louisville
#6 Texas Tech over #3 Gonzaga
#2 Wake Forest over #10 Creighton

Syracuse Regional Second Round
#1 North Carolina over #8 Minnesota
#12 New Mexico over #13 Ohio
#6 Wisconsin over #3 Kansas
#10 North Carolina State over #2 Connecticut

Austin Regional Second Round
#1 Duke over #9 Mississippi State
#13 Vermont over #12 Old Dominion
#6 Utah over #3 Oklahoma
#10 Iowa over #2 Kentucky

Chicago Regional Semifinal
#1 Illinois over #5 Alabama
#2 Oklahoma State over #3 Arizona

Albuquerque Regional Semifinal
#5 Georgia Tech over #1 Washington
#2 Wake Forest over #6 Texas Tech

Syracuse Regional Semifinal
#1 North Carolina over #12 New Mexico
#6 Wisconsin over #10 North Carolina State

Austin Regional Seminfinal
#13 Vermont over #1 Duke
#6 Utah over #10 Iowa

Chicago Regional Final
#1 Illinois over #2 Oklahoma State

Albuquerque Regional Final
#5 Georgia Tech over #2 Wake Forest

Syracuse Regional Final
#1 North Carolina over #6 Wisconsin

Austin Regional Final
#6 Utah over #13 Vermont

THE FINAL 4
Chicago vs Albuquerque National Semi-Final
#1 Illinois over #5 Georgia Tech
Syracuse vs Austin National Semi-Final
#1 North Carolina over #6 Utah
National Championship
#1C Illinois 101 #1S North Carolina 100 (Double Overtime)

If you can dream it, it can be done.....

ItsOnlyJT@aol.com

Visitors: 00210

Page Updated Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:43am EST