A Few Thoughts.....

- Man did I want Butler to win that game last night. The David vs. Goliath thing is tired, Butler was a good team. Anyone who watched Butler throughout the season knows they were a good team. But if that same person tells you that they knew in December that Butler would be in the National Championship game I bet they are lying. Hayward and Mack are two tremendous players, but the fact that they made it that far is remarkable. Duke vs. Butler last night was the epitome of the old adage "Defense wins Championships." Butler held their opponents under 60 in each of their tournament wins. That is just getting it done of defense.

- One game into the season and it seems as if Cincinnati Reds fans are ready to run Dusty Baker out of town. Baker makes some decisions that make me scratch my head but I still don't think he needs to go. Dusty Baker is a proven manager, I will take him over the "baseball enthusiasts" in the crowd. I was screaming yesterday because of his decision to start Laynce Nix over Drew Stubbs. That was until I looked at the numbers. Did you know that Carpenter held right handed hitters to .214 last season. I would say based on that number Baker was justified in trying to see what Nix could do against Carpenter.

- I still think the Reds are going to be okay. With scheduled starts from Cueto, Bailey, and Arroyo we really have yet to hit the meat of our pitching. Aaron Harang got the Opening Day start because he is the elder statesman of the staff, but any Reds fan know he is at best our 4th or 5th best arm on the staff now. Add to that you are going up against one of the best starting pitchers in Baseball with Carpenter and one of the most potent lineups in the National League. I am okay with losing yesterday. From the best that I could gather that was Molina's first career grand slam, I think it was a good idea to pitch to him in that situation rather than Lopez.