411 Sports Fact or Fiction 04.03.08: UNC to Win, Mavs Are Dead, Cubs For Real, and More
Posted by Ken Schmidt on 04.03.2008
Fact or Fiction returns to the Sports Zone with the first showdown between Sat and Schmidt, Dan.
Finally, Fact or Fiction HAS COME BACK, to the Sports Zone. Sorry about that I just watched the Rock roast the entire WWE during his induction of his father and grandfather into the Hall of Fame and I just couldn't help myself. But in all seriousness the Sports Kid has taken over Fact or Fiction and we will do it a little different. Instead of just scoring participants in how many times they agree the most opinionated man in the Sports Zone will be scoring their arguments and seeing who comes out on top. Make sure to post your comments below on who you thought won and don't forget to send any feedback to me at KS609536@wcupa.edu, if you want any questions asked to the panel I will definitely appreciate the help.
Joining us this week:
A frequent contributor to Sports Zone and I am kicking his butt in fantasy baseball but he is mainly a wrestling guy, we have worked together before when he was a member of The Office but you can catch him in the High Road/Low Road, it's Sat.
And going up against Sat in the inaugural return is a man who has not written for 411 officially but I am always able to tell when he is commenting on my columns or other columns but he usually inappropriate comments about Pittsburgh. I have known him my whole life, my brother, Dan Schmidt.
1. UNC will win this year's NCAA Men's Basketball title.
Sat: Fiction I like UNC a lot and they still could win this tournament, but I like Kansas a lot more to win. In the tournament, you win with guard play and defense and Kansas has been phenomenal in both. I think that UNC won against Louisville because of Hansbrough and I just do not see him going off against a good defensive team.
Dan Schmidt: Fiction I picked UCLA and I'll be damned if I jump of the bandwagon now. UCLA has done something this tournament that few others have done: play good defense every game. UNC played a majority of their games this tournament pretty much at home in Raleigh and Charlotte. The Final Four is neutral territory. I'm going with UCLA over UNC in the final, with Collison making the game-winning jumper.
Scoring: I am giving this one to Sat. I didn't want to hear who you picked, not to mention I like Kansas and guard play does win games. 1-0 Sat
2. Stephen Curry claims he will return to Davidson next year, if Curry does return Davidson will take the next step and reach the final four in 2009.
Sat: Fiction With the tournament, it is always hard to get to the Final Four and just because one player is returning does not guarantee that you will get the Final Four. Bill Self of Kansas has been trying to get to the Final Four for five years with good teams and he just succeeded this year. Stephen Curry had a great run during the tournament, but will he be able to duplicate this success again next year with all of the teams gunning for them next year? I don't think so. That's hurt the probability that they will get to the Final Four next year.
Dan Schmidt: Fiction First of all, it's hard to predict who makes it past the first weekend, let alone pick the Final Four for next season. Second, sorry Davidson, but your secret is out. No one is gonna be unprepared or take this team lightly come next March. Stephen Curry has established himself as a big name, he's going to get A LOT of extra attention next year. Davidson's chance to make the final four was this season, and they fell just short. If they're gonna make it there next year, it won't be because Curry does it all, they will have to get contributions from unexpected sources.
Scoring: I'm giving this one a tie because you really had the same arguments and I disagree with both. I don't think the secret being out about Curry is going to stop anyone because anyone who knew college basketball knew this kid was a real player. I sure did. Sat 1-0-1
3. With injuries and inconsistency piling up, the Dallas Mavericks will be the odd-man out in the Western Conference playoff hunt.
Sat: Fact This is a no brainer. Dallas has been struggling since the acquisition of Jason Kidd and now without Dirk Nowitzki, it is only going to get worse. Plus, the teams that the Mavericks are competing against for the final two spots are on a roll. Both teams do not play a ton of defense, but they are clicking at the right time and they are both great on offense. All of these teams have basically the same schedule left in terms of good teams and bad teams left to play and it is probably going to come down to who has the better odds of beating the good teams. And right now, I would say that would be Denver and Golden State.
Dan Schmidt: Fact The Jason Kidd trade is officially a disaster. He's lost his ability to shoot and he's become a defensive liability. With Dirk out, I can't see how this team can compete with the rest of the squads in the West. Hell, the Mavs would struggle to get a top seed in the East at this point (well, maybe its not THAT bad). Things aren't looking good for the Mavs, expect to see Tony Romo making top news in Dallas when the NBA regular season ends.
Scoring This is tough because both writers had different reasons but both are valid. Point goes to my brother who ripping on the Eastern Conference and people in Texas's obsession with Tony Romo in the same paragraph. Tied 1-1-1 at half time
Switch Hitting
4. Kosuke Fukudome will be a stud for Chicago Cubs, leading them to the playoffs this season.
Dan Schmidt: Fact I guess. Define "leading them to the playoffs". Fukudome will probably have a good season (25 HRs, 100 RBIs), but when you play in the NL Central, no one has to lead you. You just have to suck less than the other teams. Cubs will take that crappy division with 85 wins and probably lose first round. Must be nice to play the Pirates, Reds, Astros, and Cardinals 18 times each per year.... thats 72 games against teams who no one is afraid of. If the Cubs go 42-30 against those teams, than they just need to play .500 ball against the rest of the league and they'll make the playoffs. Damn I wish the Phillies played in that division.
Sat: Fiction The Cubs were going to make the playoffs regardless of Fukudome because of the fact that this is such a weak division. I am a fan of the Astros, so I know first hand how bad this division is. The Brewers are really their only challenge and I do not see them getting past second place because Eric Gagne is going to keeping blowing saves. Fukudome should be a good player, but he will not be the person that leads them into the playoffs.
Scoring: Somehow both of the writers came up with different answers with the same result. Point goes to Dan because I agree with the 25-100 point and I'm not ready to sell Eric Gagne short after one bad game. I think he will be the real deal once he settles into his closer role once more, like he did in L.A. and Texas. Score 2-1-1 Dan Schmidt
5. Playing regular season games in Japan will lead to expansion all over the world for Major League Baseball.
Dan Schmidt: Fiction Baseball is big in Japan, whether MLB is around or not. I don't see an MLB Europe coming out anytime soon. NFL Europe is a joke anyway, the world doesn't need another Americanized sport shoved down their throats. Most foreign players dream of making it big someday in America, not the other way around. The NFL played a game in London this year, I don't see any Brits campaigning for another one. Baseball should worry about its problems at home before creating MLB Asia.
Sat: Fiction I do not see how this is going to lead to an expansion for MLB all over the world. Just because a few games are being played over in Japan does not mean that it will help grow the game. MLB has grown in Japan because players from Japan have come over to play in the United States. The fans of these players in Japan then follow their progress here in the States and that is what helps to grow the game. The best way for MLB to grow the game is to make it easier for the Japanese players to come.
Scoring: I am guessing Dan and Sat are kindred spirits, they agree on everything today. I'm calling this one another stalemate. Score: 2-1-2 Dan Schmidt
6. Alexander Ovechkin will win the Hart Trophy (MVP) in his third season in the NHL.
Dan Schmidt: Fact Lead the league in goals and points, check. Dominate the ice every time you're out there, check. Strap a team of nobodies entirely on your back and make a push to the playoffs that no one in their right mind saw coming, check. Ovechkin deserves the MVP. Without him, the Capitals are fighting with Tampa and LA for top draft picks. Ovechkin does everything that Malkin does, only without any help. He's the MVP, hands down. I don't want to hear about Backstrom, or Huet, or Federov. The Caps are Ovechkin's team and they'd lose in 4 straight in the postseason if he got hurt before the playoffs.
Sat: Fact First, I am not the biggest fan hockey fan out there, so my knowledge of the sport is not great. What I do know is that Alexander Ovechkin is one of the best players in the league and he is the main reason that Washington is fighting for a playoff shot. Plus, the guy has scored 63 goals this year and he leads the league in points. Ovechkin is definitely the MVP of the league.
Scoring Sat loses the point on this one because he could have lied and said he knew something about hockey before making a point. You can't ruin credibility like that; don't you know most professional sports analysts are full of crap most of the time anyway? They just don't admit it.
Final Score I scored this one as a 3-1 victory for Dan in the inaugural head-to-head showdown in Sports Fact or Fiction. I hope Sat can come back again to compete once more and thanks to Dan for filling in for a 411 writer that went M.I.A.
That's it for this week's Fact or Fiction: LET THE DEBATES BEGIN.
This Ovechkin MVP bandwagon really drives me crazy. Malkin is the MVP, hand down. Ovechkin is a good player, but he's not on a very good team. The Capitals MAY make the playoffs, as what, the 8th seed? And they may miss the playoffs entirely. It's basically the NHL equivalent of LeBron carrying a terrible supporting cast in Cleveland, and I don't hear many people arguing that LeBron should win MVP, despite the fact that his numbers are way better than anyone else's, much more than Ovechkin over the rest of the NHL.
Meanwhile, Malkin has his team on top of the Eastern Conference. With one game to go, the Penguins have a 14-POINT LEAD over the Capitals. That's seven full wins. And the Pens are 3-0-1 against Washington this year, which means in their head-to-head matchups, they've come away with seven points to Washington's two.
As far as their individual stats go, Ovechkin does have 63 goals, but he has just 47 assists, so overall, he has just a four-point lead over Malkin, though he does have a game in hand. I'd say that at best, he'd win the scoring title by eight points, which isn't THAT much. Arguing that he deserves the MVP for winning the scoring title is like arguing that the league leader in scoring in the NBA or the home run leader in MLB deserves the MVP. Sometimes that will be true, but it's not based JUST on scoring. Overall play, as well as team success and value shown to the team always plays a big factor.
But this year, people want to reward Ovechkin for putting up big numbers on a mediocre team. They cite Mario Lemieux's first MVP season as a precedent, since the Pens missed the playoffs that year. That's ridiculous. Mario's '88 season is an example where individual brilliance can trump team success. He scored a whopping 168 points and 70 goals that year. Wayne Gretzky was second with 19 less points and 30 (!) less goals. Mario was so much better than everyone else that year that the voters had no choice but to give him the MVP. This year, that's not the case, as Ovechkin has just a slim lead over Malkin.
Furthermore, last year's MVP, Sidney Crosby, missed 28 games this year with an ankle injury, and Malkin was the one who had to step up, which allowed the Penguins to rise to the top of the conference. He averaged 1.64 points in Crosby's absence to .88 when he's the second scoring option with Crosby. That means he DOUBLED his output when Crosby went down, and he had to be the primary option. If he was the primary option all year, he'd be ahead of Malkin by 15-25 points.
The Penguins' didn't suffer either, as Malkin led them to a 16-8-4 record in Crosby absence, an average of 1.29 points a game, which is slightly higher than the 1.25 a game they got going 31-18-4 with Crosby.
I'm sorry, but this isn't close. Malkin is your MVP.
Posted By: John (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 06:47 AM
Penguins have Crosby, Sykora, Gonchar, Malone, Hossa, Whitney, Letang, Staal, etc...does anyone even know who plays on Ovechkin's line? If you take Malkin off the Pens, they are still a top team. If you take Ovechkin off the Capitals, they are nothing. Hence, Most VALUABLE Player. You act like Malkin plays with scrubs. Next...
Posted By: 0wned (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Not to add any opinion on anything here but you said no one is arguing LeBron for MVP, Todd Spehr wrote a nice little article on LeBron for MVP and I've mentioned it a few times in the Sports Kid Rankings, so thats atleast two people talking about LBJ
Posted By: Ken Schmidt (Registered) on April 03, 2008 at 08:41 PM
To be fair, I said that not too many people are arguing for LeBron. I didn't say nobody was.
As far as Malkin's better team, let's not forget that most people in the media (that I saw, anyway) predicted doom for the Penguins as soon as Crosby went down with that high ankle sprain. Most thought the Pens would either fall out of the playoffs altogether, or they'd be battling lesser teams like the Capitals for the final playoff spot. And that wasn't an unreasonable argument. They looked to be in trouble.
If Malkin doesn't double his output with Crosby out, the Penguins are the Capitals or even worse. The argument that if you take Malkin off the Pens, they're still a top team MIGHT be true ("top team" is a little strong), but if you take Malkin AND Crosby off the team, they're in the basement of the NHL.
Crosby missed more than one third of the season this year. What other player could see his teammate and captain--last year's MVP and unquestionably the best player in the league--go down for a third of the season and then immediately double his scoring to keep his team near the top of the conference until Crosby returned?
Malkin is the main reason the Pens are on top of the East right now.
I'm sorry, but the "Ovechkin is carrying a mediocre team" argument only works if he either carries them much higher than the 8th seed or barely missing the playoffs, or if his stats are WAY better than everyone else's (i.e. Lemieux in '88).
I've been reading that Ovechkin's numbers are "mind-blowing," but unless he scores 10 points in his last two games, he won't even match Crosby's points total from last season.
The argument for Ovechkin as the MVP isn't a terrible one. Personally, I disagree with it, but whatever.
What infuriates me is that I've looked all over the Internet for sportswriters' positions on the Hart Trophy this year, and I found only ONE that picked Malkin (and that was a newspaper in Erie, PA, so it was obviously biased).
And not only that, just about everyone I read made it sound like it wasn't even close, when in fact, Ovechkin is at best the third best player in the league. I'm sorry, but I'd rather have Crosby for sure (he would have scored at least 120 points if he hadn't gotten hurt), and Malkin has been better this year.
If you want to talk about what Malkin could do on a lesser team...well if you take his average of 1.64 points a game without Crosby (and 28 games is a pretty large sample size), he would have scored 134 points this year, including 58 goals. If he had THOSE numbers, he'd win the MVP, and it wouldn't be close.
And considering the Pens did slightly better without Crosby, they'd probably still be better than the Capitals, though not quite as good as they are now, which would have made it even more of a no-brainer.
Posted By: John (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Oh i was just throwing some names out there John. Hey everybody, how comes there are no words about a former MVP by the name of Joe Thorton, let him not be forgetten because Malkin and Ovechkin aren't the only two deserving this season. This is why I don't participate in my own FoF
Posted By: Ken Schmidt (Registered) on April 03, 2008 at 11:27 PM
