How Good are These Tigers?

The 2012 baseball season is still quite young, but as always, there has been plenty of excitement to start off the new season. Since the Detroit Tiger's are the home team and have a strong following around here, I've decided to take a serious look at how good this team is and where I can see them going this season.

Now, at 3-0 and coming off the swept series against the Red Sox, a team that has been an upper echelon team for years despite their current struggles, it might be easy to predict the sky for this ball club. While I don't agree that this makes them an automatic lock for the World Series, I think it is safe to say that the team is off to a very potent offensive start and if they can keep that level of run production up, they need only for their defense and pitching to calm down and they are serious contenders. They currently sit at 2nd in the league in runs scored and OBP, and lead the league in batting average and slugging percentage. Their large offseason acquisition, first baseman Prince Fielder, along with Miguel Cabrera, arguably the most underrated hitter in baseball, have already combined for 5 home runs and eleven runs batted in. I'm not going to drool over "on-pace" numbers because they are incredibly premature at this stage, but at least to this point, the offense seems to revolve well around these two.

From a pitching standpoint, I don't think Detroit has much to worry about. Justin Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, looked great on opening day, which is no surprise, but it is certainly encouraging to see that he is picking up where he left off last season instead of dropping off. No.2 man Doug Fister has been spectacular for the Tiger's both this season and last after being traded away from the Mariners. Fister is actually a very good starter, he just never got the run support he needed in Seattle, an issue that he will not find in Detroit. And when Detroit needs to turn things over to the 'Pen, they're in good hands, as Duane Below has looked solid early this season, and the returning closer, Jose Valverde, was one of the best in baseball last season, not blowing a save all season on his way to a career high forty nine saves.

Moving on, I think a fair point to be brought up is what is to be done with Brandon Inge. A capable player for the Tiger's in years past, Inge has had a cataclysmic drop in value to this franchise, as both his defense and especially his hitting have been deplorable. Management hoped some time in the farm organization might straighten things out for him, but it doesn't seem to have worked, and on Opening Day, he received boos from his own home crowd. It's an unfortunate situation for all involved because of what he has meant to this organization, but at the end of the day, he remains more of a liability to this team than a viable piece of a contender.

As far as this season goes, it doesn't look like the Tiger's will have much of an issue taking the AL Central, they appear to be the dominant team in the division, both with pitching and hitting, and they are also very viable contenders for the World Series as well. It is possible this team could get even better with a trade, possibly to tinker with their leadoff position or maybe try and move Inge or Young. Either way, the Tiger's have assembled one of the better teams in baseball this season so far, and if they can continue this hot play, they can possible bring home a title this year. Just don't go counting on 162-0.

We're goin to DisneyWorld!

Well folks, March Madness came to an abrupt yet long awaited end last night as bracket favorites Kentucky rolled over Kansas to secure the national title. In  a gesture of celebration for the school, ESPN has been gracious enough to leave a picture of some serious man/trophy love makeout session in case we needed a reason to lose our appetite.

I say a long awaited end because this year, like always, The Committed Fan filled out a bracket. He took careful consideration and thought into his bracket. He considered coaches, eligibility, hot streaks,  the wind speed inside auditoriums, and the revered science of "Bracketology" as he made his picks. This year, however, a collection of high seeds simultaneously decided they didn't belong in the tournament and went ahead and lost to some teams that no one has ever heard of. I'm pretty sure there was a high school boys team in there somewhere that advanced to the second round. It was ridiculous the amount of brackets  that turned to garbage so early on, and how many people simultaneously went "aww, f*@k it", and went back to watching How I Met Your Mother.

My best pick this year? Not filling out  a damn bracket.

Ok, I've got a group of people to give a shout out to. With how nasty the tournament got this year, I was of the belief that no one could have possibly won their bracket pool that everyone seems to have through their work (do bosses check for illegal sports gambling anymore?). However, somehow, people ended up picking some of these games correctly and won their pool. So respect to you sir, or you ma'am, for keeping your cool while others wept and pulled their hair out, for keeping that smug shit eating grin on your face because you knew you had it won. I respect you, and I will do so for the next year, but come March, watch your back. 

Interestingly enough, while watching the game last night an important piece of news did come out from the announcers. While it had been previously stated that Anthony Davis was departing for the NBA draft, Kentucky will be able to count on his unibrow returning for a sophomore season to shore up what will undoubtedly be a weakened front line for the Cats. 

"Ultimately, it was a very hard decision, but in the end, my eyebrow had to do what
was right for its future. It will be returning to Kentucky next season for Coach Calipari"

All kidding aside, Davis joins several teammates from Kentucky that are going straight to the NBA after only one or two seasons in college, and they are not alone. Now consider what you, the fan, would view as the top 10 players in the NBA right now.
1. Lebron
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwayne Wade
5. Dwight Howard
6. Pau Gasol
7. Carmelo Anthony
8. Derrick Rose
9. Dirk Nowitzki


    Now, depending on the fan and who they view as the top players in the NBA, the Committed Fan can pick 5 out of his top 10 players in the NBA right now and notice that they did not play any college ball. Three came right out of high school and two came from overseas. Now, does this undermine the belief that a college career is necessary to refine the game and will make you more successful in the pros? I think it has to call this idea into question, because you have an extremely talented group of individuals who seized their potential and  jumped to the NBA and haven't looked back since. Can everybody do it? Of course not. Some players are just made for the college game and will develop, through 4 years of collegiate competition, the skills for the next level. However, as far as the notion of players needing to go through college beforehand to break into the NBA, the idea is quickly going the way of the skyhook.