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…never would have guessed that not only would Georgetown lose in round 1, they would lose convincingly enough to have the Baltimore CBS station cut away to the Northern Iowa/UNLV game with 14 minutes left in the second half. Baltimore is damn near home market for the Hoyas…

I guess if you are going to soil the bed, might as well go all the way. Props to Georgetown for that, I guess. As for Ohio U, the 9th seed in the MAC tournament coming off a 7-9 conference season, that was a solid well coached team that blitzed Georgetown. Very impressive.

…about the only way that Ron Washington should still be manager of the Texas Rangers is if his explanation for the cocaine use was that he walked into the clubhouse and saw Josh Hamilton about to do a line and threw himself in front of Hamilton and did it instead to keep Hamilton away from it.

Because I can.

First time starting today against Milwaukee, a leadoff homerun to Rickie Weeks, and then not much of anything off of him. His line:

3 IP 1 hit 1 R 5 Ks 1 BB.

45 pitches, 29 for strikes. He touched 100 on the gun again, and was sitting at 98 generally. Nasty slider apparently.

Reds fans? Probably giddy. I know I am. The fun continues for a little while longer this spring…

Why is Duke hated? Because of shit like that. For them to get that draw, with possibly the weakest four in the history of the tournament in Purdue, and as weak a two as Villanova is, is beyond ludicrous. An absolute joke. Was Kansas the #1 overall? Because, if so, they got boned, as did #2 overall Kentucky.

Laughable.

Denver, according to Jay Glazer via twitter. For Peyton Hillis and two conditional picks. Which makes it official that the Jake Delhomme era really is upon Browns fans.

Weird.

…hard to believe Mississippi State may be on the wrong side of the bubble the way they just played in the SEC title game. As tough luck a 75-74 OT loss as you can have with so much on the line.

We’ll know in a few hours if their work this week was enough to get them in. Right now, the experts are guessing it was not.

Things that catch the eye as we wait to find out who dances come Thursday in the NCAA:

—If you have already drafted Brian Roberts, time to worry. If your fantasy baseball draft is still to come, time to monitor and adjust draft rankings at 2b accordingly. Because that bad back for Roberts is getting no better. And he has left Orioles camp to see a back specialist. He has not played in a game yet this spring, but still says he will be ready to go by opening day. Nothing like a bad back on a 32-year-old whose game has been speed-based to raise a warning flag…

—Ervin Santana says he’s back to where he was in 2008, and thinks he can be better.

—Daisuke Matsuzaka still hasn’t thrown a pitch in a game this spring, and the latest set-back was a stiff neck that scratched his latest batting practice session. Tim Wakefield, you may be up again.

—Ryan Howard is working hard to improve at the plate. In his case, that means mores consistent contact and fewer strikeouts. As it is, he’s pretty damn good.

—Erik Bedard, coming off of shoulder surgery, threw pain-free yesterday and is still hoping to be ready for the Seattle rotation by June. If he can get even halfway back to where he was, then that rotation with King Felix and Cliff Lee at the top will be stout.

—Could Francisco Liriano move from the rotation to the vacated closer’s role in Minnesota? There’s a chance.

—And now your obligatory Chapman update from this Reds zealot. More goodness on Friday including back-to-back Ks of Matt Kemp and Casey Blake. The K on Blake was looking at a 3-2 change up that slid in at 83. He dialed it up to 100 in the Kemp at bat. The only hits he allowed were two infield singles. Through four innings this spring he has yet to have an out recorded in the outfield, all outs coming on Ks or infield pops or ground outs. The Reds continue to insist they won’t rush him, but they sure are not ruling out bringing him north. If he keeps throwing like this, it is hard to see the Reds holding him in the minors much past June 1, regardless. Absolutely easy gas, a good change-up and very good slider, and has showed enough command to put some lie to the initial scouting reports. I am kinda giddy.

Check out the Reds’ dugout in the picture below:

Whatever “it” is, Aroldis Chapman is rocking it as Reds camp unfolds. Joe Posnanski with some words that make this Reds fan giggle. Hey, let me enjoy it now, before something inevitably goes wrong…(insert your own damn wry Dusty-Baker-and-young-arms-pithiness here as it suits you).

Things of note while waiting to see if Joe Nathan remains the top reliever in fantasy baseball drafts as the month unwinds:

—Goose Gossage, he’s got opinions. And he all too happy to share them. And thinks Phil Hughes is for starting and Joba Chamberlain is for relieving. He’s also grumpy about those weenies nowadays with their one inning saves. I’m paraphrasing that. But it is the subtext.

—Brandon Webb says his shoulder feels “stagnant”? Oof. That’s not what you want to hear from your ace coming off of shoulder surgery. Starting the season on the DL appears assured, especially in light of this quote:

“If we get 30 starts from him, great,” General Manager Josh Byrnes said Friday. “If we get 20, that’s great. We just need to get it right.”

Indeed. And unless I get him for $1 at auction, not great.

—If it’s spring, the Yankees front office must be grumpy at Alex Rodriguez. This time around, for the whole you-didn’t-tell-us-about-ties-to-the-Canadian-blood-doctor thing. Oh no. How will they ever get beyond this? (add sarcastic tone as it suits)

—The hope in Minnesota is that the pain in Joe Nathan’s elbow is simply scar tissue breaking loose from his elbow surgery to remove bone chips last October. The hope of early fantasy drafters hangs the balance. Oh, and Twins fans.

—Gil Meche says his back and shoulder problems are much better now. If only the Royals’ anemic offense were also better now, they might be of interest. As it stands, it will remain a is-Grienke-pitching-tonight kind of season in KC, I would suspect.

—From Roy Halladay to Shawn Marcum? Happy Opening Day 2010, Jays fans. I guess.

—The Cubs’ Angel Guzman is indeed done for awhile. At least four to six weeks. But likely much longer. Torn ligament in pitching shoulder seems less than ideal.

It is hard to imagine that at this point, even as undeniably cool as New York City is, that Lebron James is New York Knicks bound, all things considered. That doesn’t stop the drumbeat of “oh please” articles from New York. Today’s entrant is the note that the Knicks hope to increase their appeal to James this summer by getting back in the Marcus Camby business. Or, at the least, improve their interior defense regardless. It’s good to have goals.