Sugar Sports Fans

Horses or Horse Power: Which May racing event do you prefer?

ladypenguin — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:55:21 -0700

The month of May is sandwiched by two of sport's biggest racing events: the Kentucky Derby on May 3, and the Indianapolis 500 on May 25. Of the two, which are you more interested in?

What professional sport activity are you looking forward to most right now?

ladypenguin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:59:58 -0700

It's a busy time of year in pro sports, with hockey and basketball winding up their seasons as baseball kicks off its first month. And already, much media coverage has been given to the NFL Draft, still a week and half away. In this sports-filled spring, what do you most look forward to?

March Madness: National Championship and Final Standings

ladypenguin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:06:46 -0700

Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks on a great national championship victory...and congrats to Ramiele Malubuy for winning the Team Sugar bracket!

The Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in overtime last night. The game was pretty close and went back and forth all evening before Memphis took a nine-point lead with 2:12 left in regulation. At that point, Kansas was able to pull itself back into the game, and the Jayhawks' Mario Chalmers hit a three-point jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining to send it to overtime.

Memphis, who had lost only one game prior to last night, had their championship hopes dashed in overtime, which Kansas controlled to earn the victory.

Sugar Bracket Standings
In addition to the championship on the court, we now can crown our March Madness champion here on Team Sugar. Please, if you haven't commented on one of the previous March Madness posts, comment below or send me a message so I can get you your gifts.

1. Ramiele Malubuy: 147 points
2. timlphillips2: 130 points
3. Janet's: 124 points
4. DRTAZPACK: 103 points
5. GlamSugar: 92 points
6. ladypenguin: 75 points
7. Molly: 71 points
8. ALSW: 63 points

Congrats to Ramiele for the win, and also to Ramiele, Tim and Janet for picking Kansas as the national champion.

Thanks to everyone for playing!!!

March Madness: Final Four Recap and Standings

ladypenguin — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:33:13 -0700

The top four seeds in the tournament met in the Final Four for the first time in history yesterday, and the match-up is now set for the national championship game on Monday night: Kansas versus Memphis.

In the first game last night, Memphis convincingly beat UCLA by a score of 78-63. The Memphis Tigers have looked great throughout the tournament, and with just one loss all season, they are poised to claim the national title.

In the second game, Kansas jumped out to a 40-12 lead in the first half, but UNC rallied back to within five points in the second. Unfortunately for the Tarheels, the Jayhawks regained their composure and won the game 84-66. Kansas showed how good they can be last night, but they might need to play that well for all 40 minutes against Memphis for a chance to win the national championship game.

Team Sugar Bracket Standings
With just two teams left, some of us (myself included) are completely out of it at this point. But depending on who wins the game on Monday, we may see a shift in the standings. Check out the current states, with possible points and championship game picks in parentheses.

1. Ramiele Malubuy: 115 points (147, Kansas)
2. DRTAZPACK: 103 points (103)
3. timlphillips2: 98 points (130, Kansas)
4. GlamSugar: 92 points (124, Memphis)
4. Janet's: 92 points (124, Kansas)
6. ladypenguin: 75 points (75)
7. Molly: 71 points (71)
8. ALSW: 63 points (63)

IU Basketball Tries To Move On

ladypenguin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:50:39 -0700

On Tuesday, Indiana University named Marquette coach Tom Crean as their new head basketball coach in another step toward putting the Kelvin Sampson mess behind the program. On the same day, current interim head coach Dan Dakich dismissed two of the team's starters, Jamarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett from the team for skipping required team functions.

While hiring Crean is a big step in the right direction for IU, the Sampson situation has left a very fuzzy picture for the immediate future of IU basketball. Currently, it looks like they team may lose all five of its starters from this season: Ellis and Basset have been dismissed, D.J. White and Lance Stemler are graduating, and freshman Eric Gordon might declare for the NBA draft as soon as Monday. Plus, two of the team's recruits for next season have asked to be released from their national letters-of-intent and may not end up playing for the Hoosiers. Add to that the fact that anytime there's a major coaching shake-up on a college team, many players choose to leave the program, transfer schools and sit out a year before playing somewhere else--so who knows how many other players IU stands to lose.

I don't envy Crean's job right now, and I still blame IU for the entire situation. I understand that the players feel loyal to their former coach. Their uninspired play after Sampson's resignation and the apparent team discipline problems are sad but understandable given the circumstances. IU should have never put their players in this situation; they should have never hired Sampson (which I felt at the time of his hiring).

I look forward to watching IU return to its glory. It may take a few seasons, but I'm sure it can be done. I think Crean was a good choice for the job, and I wish him and the Hoosiers luck.

Read ESPN's coverage of the Crean hiring here.

March Madness: Elite Eight Recap and Standings

ladypenguin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:29:37 -0700

History has been made, Sugar Sports Fans. Believe it or not, for the first time in March Madness history (since the tournament expanded to 64 teams), all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four. On Saturday, UNC will meet Kansas and Memphis will meet UCLA for chances to advance to the national championship game.

No. 10 Davidson actually had the best chance of preventing the top heavy Final Four. They traded the lead back and forth with Kansas yesterday, and were down by just two points in the final seconds. Unfortunately, they failed to get a good shot off and lost 59-57.

In our Sugar bracket, things continued to widen up a bit in the standings. Here's where things stand today (possible points in parentheses):

1. DRTAZPACK (167): 103 points
2. Ramiele Malubuy (163): 99 points
3. timlphillips2 (130): 82 points
4. GlamSugar (124) and Janet's (124): 76 points
6. ladypenguin (139): 75 points
7. Molly (119): 71 points
8. ALSW (63): 63 points

No upset recap today, because there were none! Have a good week and get ready for the Final Four!

Happy Opening Day, Baseball Fans!

ladypenguin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:09:48 -0700

Today is opening day for MLB, not counting an "opening night" game last night in Washington and the two games Oakland and Boston played in Japan last week. For the next week or so, major league baseball cities will be hosting season or home openers. Does it feel like spring yet???

There's something about the start of the baseball season that's different than other professional sports--a sort of pomp and circumstance. Why is that?

It could be because baseball, more than the other sports, is a game of tradition and history. Or perhaps because it's more than a celebration of baseball, but a celebration of spring and a coming summer as well.

Whatever the reason, it's a chance for every fan of every team to feel optimistic about their chances this year (even for us poor fans in Pittsburgh).

Our home opener for the Pirates isn't until next Monday against the Cubs, and I'm looking forward to attending. I haven't made it to a home opener in eight years (since high school) because of college and work schedules. And this year, my college roommate and huge Cubs fan will be flying in for the game as well.

Happy spring baseball fans, and best of luck to your favorite teams this year!

March Madness: Sweet Sixteen Recap and Standings

ladypenguin — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:36:48 -0700

After the Round of 16, we're down to the Elite Eight, and the biggest surprise is Davidson, who knocked off No. 3 Wisconsin for a chance to make it to the Final Four.

In the Sugar bracket, things are widening up a bit as we get closer to the national championship game. Here's a look at the standings (possible points in parentheses):

1. DRTAZPACK (167): 71 points
2. Ramiele Malubuy (163): 67 points
3. Janet's (148) and GlamSugar (132): 60 points
5. ladypenguin (139): 59 points
6. timlphillips2 (154): 58 points
7. Molly (119) and ALSW (71): 55 points

Upsets

No. 3 Louisville over No. 2 Tennessee (Congrats DRTAZPAK, Ramiele Malubuy, Janet's, ladypenguin and Molly)

No. 10 Davidson over No. 3 Wisconsin

Good luck to your teams in the Elite Eight and enjoy the games today and tomorrow.

March Madness: Second Round Recap and Standings

ladypenguin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:10:29 -0700

We're down to the Sweet Sixteen! After Round 2, things are still pretty close in the Team Sugar bracket, but if you look at the possible points, you'll see things should widen up soon.

Round Two Standings (possible points in parentheses)
1. DRTAZPACK (167), Ramiele Malubuy (163) and ladypenguin (159): 43 points
4. GlamSugar (164) and Janet's (152): 40 points each
6. Molly (135) and ALSW (75) : 39 points
8. timlphillips2 (158): 34 points

Upset Recap:
Looks like most of us didn't see any of these coming...

Midwest Region
No. 10 Davidson over No. 2 Georgetown

South Region
No. 5 Michigan State over No. 4 Pittsburgh (Congrats Molly)

West Region
No. 7 West Virginia over No. 2 Duke (Congrats ladypenguin and Molly)

Good luck in the Sweet Sixteen!!!

March Madness: First Round Recap and Standings

ladypenguin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:59:36 -0700

The first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament is complete, and things are pretty tight in the Team Sugar bracket challenge. Read on for the current standings...

But first: if you signed up for the bracket challenge, and I haven't already added you as a friend, can you please comment below or send me a private message? I want to make sure I can find your profile if you win.

On to the standings. Remember, you get more points for a correct pick in the later rounds, so no matter where you stand now you have a good chance to win.

1. Janet's: 24 points
2. DRTAZPACK, Ramiele Malubuy, ladypenguin and ALSW: 23 points each
6. Molly: 21 points
7. GlamSugar: 20 points
8. timlphillips2: 18 points

Upset Recap:
On day one, it looked like this was going to be a pretty upset-free tournament. Thankfully, that changed yesterday. Check out these upsets and which Sugars picked them!

East Region
No. 9 Arkansas over No. 8 Indiana (Congrats Janet, ALSW and Molly)

Midwest Region
No. 12 Villanova over No. 5 Clemson (Congrats Janet and GlamSugar)
No. 13 Siena over No. 4 Vanderbilt (Congrats Molly, Glam Sugar and Tim)
No. 11 Kansas State over No. 6 USC (Congrats DRTAZPACK, ladypenguin, ALSW and GlamSugar)
No. 10 Davidson over No. 7 Gonzaga (Congrats Janet, DRTAZPACK, Ramiele and ladypenguin)

West Region
No. 9 Texas A&M over No. 8 BYU (Congrats Molly, GlamSugar, ALSW, ladypenguin, DRTAZPACK and Janet)
No. 12 Western Kentucky over No. 5 Drake (Congrats GlamSugar)
No. 13 San Diego over No. 4 UConn (Congrats GlamSugar)

And to my fellow Duke haters...we almost saw them lose in the first round to No. 15 Belmont. So close!

Good luck in Round Two!!!