If you're telling people that your NCAA Tournament bracket is looking good this morning, you are either a tremendous liar or you have degrees from La Salle, Oregon, Wichita State, and Florida Gulf Coast.
At this point, you can't even call this improbable. The college basketball regular season taught us to expect the unexpected and the first weekend of the tournament was no different. Florida Gulf Coast - a team that lost to Maine and East Tennessee State this season - become the first ever 15-seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. La Salle, a 13-seed, knocked off 12-seed Mississippi to advance to the Sweet Sixteen all the way from the play-in games. Wichita State, a 9-seed, lived up their nickname by shocking 1-seed Gonzaga.
The Sweet Sixteen is still littered with top programs such as Louisville, Kansas, and Indiana. The major powers are still favored to win the whole thing in Atlanta in a few weeks. Still, it's pretty amazing to think that tiny Florida Gulf Coast could knock off a school like Florida or that the Wichita State-La Salle winner will find itself just one win away from a Final Four appearance come Friday morning.
Two of my Final Four picks have been eliminated but my championship game of Louisville and Indiana is still possible. I'll now go with Arizona in the West and Michigan in the South to round out the Final Four while sticking with my choice of Louisville over Indiana for the title.
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The Boston Herald reports that the Patriots have agreed to a contract with free agent tackle Sebastian Vollmer.
Having Vollmer back, despite a recent history of knee and back injuries, is a great thing for the Patriots offense. Stability on the offensive line is critical for an explosive offense and allowing Tom Brady to feel secure when he drops back to pass is a great feeling for Bill Belichick to have. Vollmer's return would give Belichick the opportunity to have all five starters back on the offensive line from a year ago when Brady was only sacked 26 times in 16 games and Stevan Ridley emerged as a 1,000-yard rusher.
The Patriots probably won't make too much noise in free agency so expect them to be relatively quiet until the draft, which is in a month.
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It looks more and more like Jackie Bradley Jr. will break camp as the Red Sox everyday left fielder.
As excited as I am to see Bradley breathe some much needed life into the Red Sox lineup, I'm even more intrigued to see the Red Sox roll out an outfield of Shane Victorino in right field and Jacoby Ellsbury in center field to go along with Bradley. That kind of defense will save the Red Sox a lot of runs and help the pitching staff recover from a poor 2012 campaign.
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I'm no NHL expert but with a shot at winning a second Stanley Cup in three seasons on the line, I hope the Bruins pull the trigger on a trade for Calgary's Jarome Iginla.
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Enjoy the stories about Andy Enfield this week.
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