Sports With The StatMan #47: Show Notes

Timeline

00:00-10:30 – Open: Olympic Hockey is ramping up

10:30-29:00 – The three magic words we long to hear: Pitchers and Catchers

29:00-63:30 – 2009 NFL Season In Review

63:30-78:30 – 2010 MLB Preview: American League West

78:30-81:30 – Close: Next Week and Upcoming Schedule

Main Points

00:00-10:30 – Open: Olympic Hockey is ramping up

We got on the air just as Canada was defeating Switzerland in the shootout in their preliminary round game, 3-2.  We talk about the preliminary round thus far, the strength shown by the Canadians and the Americans, and which teams might squeak into the quarterfinals.

10:30-29:00 – The three magic words we long to hear: Pitchers and Catchers

The rite of Spring is here and teams are starting to file down to Florida and Arizona to start Spring Training.  The team that needs the most practice on fundamentals is the Mets and they report to Florida last out of all of the local teams.  A bad decision, to be sure, but you are seeing that several Mets are already down there voluntarily.  David Wright and Johan Santana are starting to talk it up, too.  Is this the start of a new page in Met history or is this more of the same?  You’ll remember Carlos Beltran pegged the Mets as the team to beat in the National League East before the 2008 season and that did not work for the Mets.  This time, jobs are on the line for the GM and the Manager.

The main questions for each local camp.  What will 2010 bring for these teams?

Mets: Question marks about the starting rotation after Johan Santana

Yankees: Moving on without Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui and the battle for the 5th spot in the rotation

Phillies: Doc Halladay replaces Cliff Lee atop the rotation, but Cole Hamels has to be better than he was last year

Red Sox: Mike Lowell is still on the team, but where will he end up?

29:00-63:30 – 2009 NFL Season In Review

Top 10 findings of our pre-season predictions

10. Overall: Pre-season game-by-game picks: 148-108 (.578); Picking every game week-by-week: 177-79 (.691) (+29)

9. Playoffs: picked PHL to lose in WC round

8. Picked ARZ-GBY playoff matchup

7. Biggest misses: CIN (+7), NO (+6, wins SB)

6. NFC: Picked 4 of 6 playoff teams (missed DAL, NO), 3 exact seeds (ARZ 4th, GBY 5th, PHL 6th)

5. AFC: Picked 4 of 6 playoff teams (missed NYJ, CIN), 1 exact seed (BAL 6th)

4. Picked very poorly for NE (-3), NYJ (+3), NYG (-3); close on PHL (+1)

3. Picked within 1 game of exact won-lost record for 13 teams

2. Picked 4 teams correctly on won-lost record (BUF, CLE, DEN, ATL)

1. Right on Colts getting to Super Bowl (wrong in picking them as WC and to win SB)

We also revisited each NFL team’s Big Question we asked in August, what those answers were, and proposed an Offseason Question for each of the 32 teams.  Find your team in the podcast, as I went division-by-division, starting with the AFC East and ending with the NFC West.

63:30-78:30 – 2010 MLB Preview: American League West

The opening installment of our baseball preview started this week with a look at the American League West.  We reviewed the comings and goings for each team, broke down what each team has on the field, and made a prediction for finish in the division and an over/under pick on wins.  Here are the predictions:

(listed in order of last season’s finish)

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2009: 97-65; 2010: O/U 87.5 wins) – Prediction: 1st, Over 87.5 (92-70)

2. Texas Rangers (2009: 87-75, 10 GB; 2010: O/U 77.5 wins) – Prediction: 3rd, Over 77.5 (85-77)

3. Seattle Mariners (2009: 85-77, 12 GB; 2010: O/U 79.5 wins) – Prediction: 2nd, Over 79.5 (90-70)

4. Oakland Athletics (2009: 75-87, 22 GB; 2010: O/U 81.5 wins) – Prediction: 4th, Under 81.5 (72-90)

78:30-81:30 – Close: Next Week’s Show Preview, Upcoming Schedule

Next Week

We will return to our regular spot on Sunday night at 8pm Eastern time.  On the show (#48), we will wrap up our Olympic hockey talk, as the Gold Medal Game will be earlier in the day.  We will also prepare for the return of the NHL on March 1st.  Also, we’ll break down another baseball division.  Next week, we’ll break down the National League West.

Upcoming Schedule

• By Saturday: “Random Musings” Sports Column (blog)

• On Sunday: Sports With The StatMan: Fantasy Hockey Edition – Week 20 (blog)

• Sunday, February 28th, 8-9pm ET: Sports With The StatMan: No. 48 (live show)

* All blogs will be available on our “secondary” blog, which is called “Random Musings from the StatMan” (http://gstatman.blogspot.com). You can listen to the show live at our show page (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-StatMan) or download the podcast, which is normally available 15 minutes after the show, either from the show page or from iTunes (search: Sports With The StatMan).

Here are the ways to follow along and get in touch with the show:

• Show Page: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-StatMan

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/gstatman

• “Random Musings” blog: http://gstatman.blogspot.com

Send your pro or fantasy questions or comments on the Show Page or the “Random Musings” blog, or you can send me a tweet. I’ll be sure to get back to you. Also, check the show page for times and schedules of our one-hour show and our latest blog entries, such as our Fantasy Hockey Edition and our Random Musings weekly sports column.