And Then There Was One...

I only have one team still in it! Here is what's left of my bracket:

Pitt Basketball
As all of the other Pitt fans out there, I am disappointed about the loss. Now is the time for everyone to start pointing the blame. I don't claim to know everything about sports, as some fans do. However, I will tell you why Pitt lost that game. FREE THROWS! Villanova hit 96% of theirs, while Pitt only hit about 70%. Hat's off to Villanova. No team ever hits 96%. But, they are called free throws for a reason...they are free. You have a clear shot at the basket. No one's in your face. No Sam Young pump fake needed. You don't even have to dribble if you don't want to. I never understood how national recruits, blue-chip stars, could only be 60% from the line. I could hit 6 out of 10! In fact, when I played, that wasn't even good enough for me to make the team! If Pitt hits just two more against Villanova, they dance all the way to Detroit. The game should have never gotten to that last play and Pitt's sorry attempt to stop Scottie Reynolds.


Pirates
Now, since basketball is over and football is on hiatus until the draft (at least on the South Side), I will start to pay more attention to the Buccos and the annual "I think we have a real shot to go .500 this season". I'll leave the .500 talk to everyone else. Thus, my gripes will be starting early this year. What the ---- are they thinking sending Andrew McCutchen to the minors! He is clearly a player to build the future around, if indeed that is what they are planning on doing. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington admits that McCutchen is doing almost everything right. However, he still feels the need to have this kid start the season in the minors. Huntington states, "Andrew came into camp with the motivation that he was going to do some things to open our eyes, and he's done that. But you don't make a short-term decision with long-term ramifications. Organizations make mistakes when they send a player to the majors because he's their best option. Andrew right now is our best defensive outfielder, and he's done other good things. But we want him to be a complete player." Now, maybe this logic is good for pitchers because you don't want them to try to do too much and end up like Kerry Wood. The Rays are doing this with their top pitching prospect David Price. But, McCutchen is an outfielder. He's only 21 years old. He'll be fine. I understand getting him his reps in the minors if they feel he is not ready to start. But, when will it be time to bring him up? The depth in the outfield is too deep. If this were my team, I'd start McCutchen, have Hinske come off the bench, then trade Hinske toward the end of the season for some starting pitching (God knows we need it) and/or a shortstop prospect. Hisnke's a veteran. He has to have some value. Besides, I don't see them keeping him after this year. The Buccos have veterans in the outfield in McClouth and Craig Monroe (who I think they should pay to keep around). And they have Jose Tabata to bring up after the Hinske trade goes through. I just don't understand this. By the way, all of this comes after McCutchen's 5-5 day against the Phillies that included a home run and a few doubles. I watched that game. The kid looks ready. Pull the trigger!