Sunday Smorgasbord 3-15

• The 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Brackets are out and the Terps are a 10 seed in the West Region facing the Commies...er...California-Berkeley Golden Bears on Thursday in Kansas City. First of all, Congratulations to the Maryland Terrapins and Head Coach Gary Williams for getting back into the NCAA Tournament. With all the adversity that the team and program faced this year, it shows what a great coach Gary is in order to get the wins they needed to impress the Selection Committee enough to be granted a bid. However let us state for the record, they don't belong in the Tournament. Maryland could beat the Commies...er...Cal but a potential second round matchup with Memphis on Saturday is something that could get very ugly, very quickly, something the Selection Committee likes to avoid. We say that because we've never seen a Gary Williams coached team chuck three pointers the way Maryland does and unless they get red hot from behind the three point line, they don't have much of a chance because they have no inside game. Do we think teams left out like San Diego State and State Penn would do better than Maryland? No, but we do think the NCAA would be better off reducing the number of teams instead of increasing the field.
• And staying with College Basketball, the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket will be unveiled tomorrow and the big question is, will the Maryland women have to face UCONNED in the Final Four or the National Championship game should both teams make it that far? Congratulations to the Maryland Women for winning the ACC Tournament last Sunday which unquestionably clinched their #1 seed for the Women's Tournament. The undoing of the Terp women though will be their lack of interest in playing defense but their offensive prowess (and playing on their own home court) should get them beyond the first weekend.
• So the Redskins sign Albert Haynesworth and everybody reflexively sneers "Champions of the Offseason" again. We want to know, is that title handed out by the same people who got us into the BCS mess? Though we have to say, since Haynesworth came to the Redskins, other teams have made moves that look to dwarf what the Redskins did. Most notably, the Patriots trading Matt Cassel to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cowgirls releasing Terrell Owens. But getting back to the Skins, signing Haynesworth meant others had to go and first up was Sean Springs. A free agent the Redskins signed in 2004, Springs spent good parts of two of the last three seasons injured which greatly reduced his effectiveness because no matter how good you are, you aren't any good to your team sitting on the sidelines injured. Also shown the door was Jason Taylor who never really meshed in Washington and the off season workout dispute allows both sides to save a little face in his departure. As for the move itself, the Redskins finally address their ugly situation on both the offensive and defensive lines. The resigning of guard Derrick Dockery wasn't as splashy but can only help. With four draft picks the Redskins aren't going to get much help through the draft this year. So give the Redskins credit for at least trying to tread water while rebuilding these important units. Whether or not it is wise or will work, we don't know yet.
• Well Nats fans are going to have find another punching bag as two weeks ago Jim Bowden resigned as Nationals General Manager. We're ambivalent about Bowden's departure, we certainly aren't celebrating it but we aren't cursing it either. We believe that the Bowden Derangement Syndrome sufferers need to look at the fact that Major League Baseball litterally ran that franchise into the ground for four and half years. The lack of minor league talent and scouting are now catching up to the Nationals and we honestly wonder just who could have done a better job. But we'll get to find out as whoever takes over will have at least a better framework to work with in place courtesy of Bowden.
• Well folks, this week the circus is in town which is why the Caps are playing four games on the road, all in the Southeast Division. Monday night they're in Atlanta, Tuesday they head to Florida. Tampa is up on Thursday night and the Southeast tour comes to an end in Carolina on Saturday night.
• As always folks, please send all comments, criticisms, questions, corrections, suggestions, and any of Penguin Scum sightings in Cape Town South Africa to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.