Blue Jay Blues

Toronto busted through last season and broke up the stranglehold that the Pin-stripes and Bean Towners have had in the American League East Division by bumping Boston out of their reserved second place spot. The Jays did it with quality starting pitching. Sadly, Toronto's success appears to be short-lived as losing Todd Lilly will not allow the Jays to bloom again in 2007.

I don't mean to sound down on the Blue Jays because they are a good team which would win several other divisions in baseball, but there is a very fine margin for error in the elite AL East. Right handed ace Roy Halladay has helped speed up Toronto's progress over the last few seasons. Adding A.J. Burnett and Ted Lilly to the mix had the Jays' starting rotation emerging as tops in the division. But instead of picking up another guy to shore up the staff some more, the Jays lost Lilly to a handsome sum in Chicago. That loss puts a lot more pressure on A.J. Burnett to perform this season to pick up some of the slack. Another 10-8 year is just not going to cut it.

The Jays cannot afford any kind of a drop off from first basemen Lyle Overbay or Troy Glaus who were brilliant last season in their first year with the team. We won't have to worry about Vernon Wells who continues to increase his superstar status with each swing of the bat. Or will we? He just signed a mega deal and sometimes this can result in a down year. I remain optimistic as the young Wells doesn't appear to have reached his potential.

Jays backers finished way in the money last season. The boys north of the border have produced winning seasons for their backers in four of the last five seasons. This season won't match the success lining the pockets of 2006 supporters, but it should still produce profit for Jays enthusiasts. The Jays won't be quite as good this season with the loss of a solid starter, but because the go under the radar compared to the Yankees and Red Sox, the Jays will show better value than these higher profile teams.

It wasn't a big shocker when the Blue Jays jumped into the number two spot in the AL East last season. It will be in 2007. Toronto still has enough talent to leave the Devil Rays and Orioles in the dust, but the Red Sox and the Yankees will be tough fish to fry. Toronto is a team which has made great moves to put a solid team on the field, but it just isn't enough in a division which houses two of baseball's best teams year in and year out.

Big AL - NCAA

Las Vegas streets and supermarket parking lots unusually were deserted Friday night as Sin Cityites stayed home in droves or attended parties to root for their beloved Sweet 16 Rebels.

UNLV's (impossible) dream of an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight berth rudely was interrupted 76-72 by Oregon in the Midwest Regional semis at St. Louis -- an accurate forecast by Las Vegan/Los Angeleno and Professional Handicappers League member Big Al McMordie.

"I don't think so," former lawyer McMordie said Thursday when asked if he thought "our" Rebels could do it.

"That's why I gave my customers Oregon minus 2 1/2."

McMordie, who splits his time between the two Western American cities, and fellow PHL member/buddy Scott Spreizter saw one bubble burst Thursday night when their joint "big bucks" futures play on Texas A &
M at 50/1 went down the tubes.

"That's where are hearts (were)," he said.

Vegas bet shops predictably were crowded with locals, including rabid Rebel fans, who juggled their own hearts and heads; bookmakers, many of whom openly declared they were "homers" for the evening, did the same.

Sentiment always is nice consolation, but for gamblers a winning ticket and beating the house trumps it!

The Ducks, comfortably ahead during much of the second half, until the waning minutes, ended up with a cover (in many cases), thanks to a pair of last-second free throws.

The spread generally was Oregon minus 2 1/2 during the week, but the number crept to 3 by tipoff.

BoDog.com and CalNeva had it at 4.

Also winning Friday were No. 2 seed Georgetown in East Rutherford and top seeds North Carolina in East Rutherford and defending national champion Florida in St. Louis.

The 7 1/2 to 8-point favorite Hoyas squeaked past Vanderbilt 66-65, while the Tar Heels covered 8 to 9 with a 74-64 victory over USC and the Gators got a big scare from stubborn Butler, winning 65-57 but failing to cover 10.

Thus, it's still possible for all four No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four.

BoDog.com Friday night had top seed Kansas as a 2 1/2-point pick over No. 2 UCLA at San Jose in one Saturday affair, though 2s were out there.

Ditto No. 1-ranked and top seed Ohio State, which BoDog.com favored by 2 1/2 over Memphis in San Antonio.

Totals were 129 on the Jayhawks-Bruins and 135 on the Buckeyes-Tigers.

The March to Atlanta continues Sunday in St. Louis with Florida-Oregon and in East Rutherford with Georgetown-North Carolina.

Olympic opened the Tar Heels as 3 1/2-point choices and others followed.

McMordie says he has been "swimming" in hoops so much he's not yet up to speed on his baseball handicapping, but promises to hit the books, so to speak, when he returns from a European trip next week.

"Ask me about the Spurs," he added.