The doldrums of February are over and the ides of March are set to begin, starting this weekend with the college basketball conference tournaments. With the Olympics through, it's on to the bigger and better, with March Madness highlighting the sports calendar.
Truth: The AU Men's Basketball team got a great draw in the Patriot League Tournament.
Let's face it, this isn't the Eagles year; next year is. However, you look up and they have a legitimate shot to make some noise in this year's tournament. They play Lafayette in the first round, a team they drubbed twice in the regular season. If they get through the Leopards, they play undefeated Bucknell at home.
If Bucknell loses at all, it will be Friday.
Jeff Jones will have his guys ready to go and the young Eagles will provide Bucknell with a tough test. Look for Andre Ingram to play a money tournament and Garrison Carr, Derrick Mercer and Jordan Nichols will have a huge impact against the veteran Bison.
Truth: Josh Glenn and the AU wrestlers are the best feel-good story of the year.
Sorry, field hockey ladies. I was rooting for you to win the NCAA Championship this fall, but it just didn't happen.
Not only are the Eagles title contenders heading into the weekend's championships, but they have the No. 1 wrestler in the nation in Glenn. After their recent feature on ESPN.com, they have the exposure needed to make a name for the AU wrestling program.
If Glenn and coach Mark Cody can lead the Eagles to their first national title ever, it would make huge strides for the athletic program, which will never get a national title from the basketball teams, its biggest programs. This will gave AU the national recognition needed to recruit not only for wrestling, but for other nationally ranked sports like field hockey and soccer. It will also to help basketball become a perennial PL favorite, like Holy Cross and Bucknell.
Lie: Alfonso Soriano will be traded by the Washington Nationals this season.
It's really nice that the team and player are in a standoff of epic proportions. At the end of the day, though, Soriano will be a contributing member of the 2006 Nats. And he should be. Moreover, I think he'll be the starting second baseman. Jose Vidro, cominig off back-to-back knee operations, will either be so great that he'll have trade value for the Nats, or he'll break down and they'll insert Soriano into the lineup.
I don't understand why they haven't moved him back to shortstop, where light-hitting Royce Clayton and Cristian Guzman are competing for the starting gig. Either way, manager Frank Robinson will put Soriano's name at the top of his lineup on opening day.
