Not bad for a 4th seeded team. Knocked off the number one and number two seeds in the form of Duke and Texas to make it to their first Final Four since 1986. LSU, which has never won a national title, will face UCLA next Saturday in the national semifinals.
They did it with a dominating front court, 6'9 300 pound Glen Davis aka Big Baby shut down LaMarcus Aldridge, arguably the number one pick in the upcoming NBA draft and scored 26 points of his own as the Tigers won 70-60 in overtime. Tyrus Thomas had 21 points and 13 rebounds and overall, Texas made 21-of-69 from the field -- a dismal 30.4 percent. Barnes credited LSU's defense, which limited top-seeded Duke to its lowest point total since 1996 in a 62-54 upset Thursday.
Sylvia Fowles, no Big Baby but 13 points and 19 rebounds are nothing to sneeze at.
Not to be outdone, the LSU Women's top-seeded team defeated DePaul 66-56 in the San Antonio Regional Skirt Hoop semifinals for the 4th straight year.
*****
UCLA Drains Memphis 50-45
Ray Ratto on UCLA's Stinker Upset:
..."Thus, the Bruins will accept all the snotty remarks they hear over the next several days in a more generous spirit than in which they were given. They beat Memphis by the lowball score of 50-45 (the state Division I high school final was 43-40, and De La Salle and Clovis West played eight fewer minutes, if that helps), and they're going to the Final Four, and that smell of burning tires and long-demised polecat is in your noses, not theirs."
Bill Plaschke of the LA Times echoed the sentiment, noting:
"It was ugly, it was unbelievable, but it was pure UCLA, the Bruins bullying their way to Indiana on Sunday with a team that is less "Hoosiers" than "Pulp Fiction."
Another reason for disgust? Seeing a happy, cheering Bill Walton in the UCLA stands.
Go LSU Tigers!
*****
Looking at this photo of Astro Jeff Bagwell, traded in 1990 by the Red Sox to the Astros for Nowhere Man Larry Anderson, you'd imagine there's a little more wrong with him than just a few bone spurs in his shoulder.
Whether he's ready to admit it or not, the consensus seems to be that Bagwell's career is kaput and we can look at his 448 career homers and 1529 career RBIs, one Rookie of the Year and one MVP award as a stepping stone to the Hall of Fame.
Comparatively speaking, anyway:
Sim Player From To Yrs G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS OPS+
+---++-------------------+---------+--+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+----+
Jeff Bagwell 1991-2005 15 2150 7797 1517 2314 488 32 449 1529 1401 1558 .297 .408 .540 202 78 150
892 Fred McGriff 1986-2001 16 2201 7865 1243 2260 397 22 448 1400 1202 1698 .287 .381 .514 71 36 136
884 Frank Thomas 1990-2005 16 1959 6956 1327 2136 447 11 448 1465 1466 1165 .307 .427 .568 32 23 161
878 Rafael Palmeiro 1986-2002 17 2413 8992 1456 2634 522 36 490 1575 1140 1167 .293 .373 .522 91 39 135
837* Eddie Murray 1977-1993 17 2598 9734 1420 2820 490 33 441 1662 1187 1285 .290 .364 .483 92 38 135
820* Reggie Jackson 1967-1983 17 2287 8124 1313 2176 393 44 478 1435 1117 2106 .268 .360 .504 216 107 145
810* Duke Snider 1947-1964 18 2143 7161 1259 2116 358 85 407 1333 971 1237 .295 .380 .540 99 50 140
801* Billy Williams 1959-1975 17 2368 8999 1374 2637 422 88 415 1434 987 1002 .293 .363 .498 86 47 134
800* Mike Schmidt 1972-1987 16 2254 7814 1435 2107 380 57 530 1505 1437 1824 .270 .384 .536 171 91 150
790* Carl Yastrzemski 1961-1977 17 2571 9406 1501 2724 516 53 366 1445 1501 1158 .290 .386 .472 161 104 136
789* Frank Robinson 1956-1973 18 2579 9344 1724 2783 496 69 552 1710 1295 1410 .298 .391 .543 199 75 155
(courtesy of Baseball Reference.
*****
Other than Bagwell's speech, the famous Toe makes it's 2006 debut today as Pedro starts against the O's and as noted by Archie Bunker's Army, The Smell of Pedro Is In the Air.
*****
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