March Madness

My name is Murrell, and I run a bracket challenge group on the CBS Sports website every March for the NCAA Tourney.  Like most players, I have good years and bad.  I have a formula for picking the winner of the championship game that I use every year, and I'm going to share it with you now.

First off, I only pick a #1 or #2 seed to win the title.  That leaves me with 8 teams I can pick.  This year the #1 and #2 seeds are Ohio State, Kansas, Duke, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida. 

Teams that win their conference tourney rarely win the national title, so I eliminate any of the 8 remaining teams that won their conference tourney.  This year that eliminated Ohio State, Kansas, Duke, and San Diego State.  I'm left with 4 teams now. 

Teams that lose their first conference game rarely reach the Final Four, so Pittsburgh was eliminated.  Now I'm left with 3.

Of the 3 teams remaining, Florida was over-rated as a #2 seed, and North Carolina was probably too high for a #2 as well.  Many people were saying the Notre Dame could have been a #1, so they might have been raked a bit low.  Therefore, I picked Notre Dame.

Some years it works.  Some years it bombs.  I'll let you know how I do this year.

Thank you for reading.

News You Should Know

My name is Murrell, and there's something you all should know.  I haven't talked about it much on facebook, but have talked to some of you about this individually.  It looks like my days at ESPN Radio may be coming to an end very soon.  We will not be doing the South Bend Silverhawks games this season, which means once the Purdue basketball season ends, there will be pretty much nothing for me to do there. 
My boss thanked me for everything I've done, gave me a contact at another station and said he'd put a good word in for me.  He said he knows broadcasting is in my blood and that he would do anything he could to keep me in it.  I'm grateful he feels that way, but right now the thought of starting over at a new station just doesn't sit well.  I've worked too hard, made too many sacrifices, and quite honestly, I'm happy with what I've done.  I had a good run (at least in the early days) and got to do a lot of things that most sports fans can't say they've done.  I've asked questions at press conferences, talked to players after practice, watched a game from the press box, not to mention was occasionally doing a morning sports report that aired on 3 of our stations when my first  boss was on the road.  At the same time, going to another station means I'd end up somewhere that actually sees some value in sports programming, since the people who run Artistic Media Partners have slowly gotten rid of anything and everything they could that was sports-related.  Why they even own an affiliate of ESPN Radio is beyond me.  I probably need to clear my head before I make a decision.

I am holding on to my faith that this door is closing because there is a better one opening right around the corner.  Maybe it's the MLB Dream Job...maybe it's a new station...maybe it's focusing on Big Lots right now.  Maybe all of those are better doors. 

So as it stands right now, I'll finish out the Purdue basketball season, and then I'll see which door I want to open.

Thank you for reading.

MLB Dream Job Essay #2

My name is Murrell, and here is the second essay I wrote for the MLB Dream Job.  This is one is who I think will win the AL and NL MVP Awards and why.

My pick for American League MVP is Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox.  Most guys want to get off to a good start when they are with a new team, and there are reports his shoulder is healing on schedule, so he should ready and motivated for the season.  His numbers last year were incredible, hitting .298 with 31 homers and 101 RBI, and that was in Petco Park, one of the worst hitter’s parks in baseball.  Almost two-thirds of his home runs last year came on the road.  This year he’ll be in Fenway, and he hits the ball with authority to left field, so he can take advantage of the Green Monster.  Playing with guys like Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia means he’ll be surrounded by a better lineup that he was with the Padres.  He should have plenty of guys on base to drive in and plenty of power hitters behind him to force pitchers to throw him something to hit.  Adrian Gonzalez is poised for a career year.  With the question marks surrounding the Yankees pitching staff, and the Rays losing a key player like Carl Crawford, the Red Sox are in a position to win the American League East, and Adrian Gonzalez will be a key reason why. 

            My pick for the National League MVP is Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.  It’s no secret he’s the best player in baseball, so you know his numbers will be huge.  He’s also in a contract year, so he’ll be motivated.  And he’s not just motivated for a new contract, he’s got his eyes on the richest contract ever.  If he has an average year, which for him is .331 with 40 homers and 123 RBI, he’ll have a great bargaining position for a record contract.  If he has a career year, which is not out of the question at 31, team owners will almost hand him a blank, signed contract and let him fill in whatever salary he wants, for however many years he wants.  Some people are concerned that last year was his career low in batting average, but hitting .312 for a career low just shows how good he is.  The rest of his numbers were right on par for him.  Even if his average drops to .290, it’s homers and RBI that win MVP awards.  While I’m not crazy about the Cardinals lineup, and they already have some injury concerns with their pitching staff, the NL Central is not that deep.  The Reds could easily take a step backwards, and none of the other teams in the division have made any moves to get significantly better.  The Cardinals should be in contention in the NL Central, and Albert Pujols will be the guy to lead them there.

MLB Dream Job Essay #1

My name is Murrell, and here is one of the essays I wrote for the MLB Dream Job.  This one is on why I love baseball.

Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Even though my Dad was a fan of the Reds, I grew up a Cubs fan and would rush home from school to catch the last few innings of their day games on TV.  My Dad and I spent years of my youth collecting baseball cards, with my prize cards being two Mickey Mantle cards from the 60’s.  We still exchange phone calls whenever the Reds and Cubs play so the winner can give the loser a hard time.  That loser is usually me,

Growing up I played Little League baseball for a coach who was one of the most influential people in my life.  He taught me about the rules of the game, sportsmanship, and life in general.  I still watch the Little League World Series because it reminds me of those days.  He took the team to a Chicago Cubs game, my first major league game, and it’s a memory I’ll cherish forever.  The highlight was getting an autograph from catcher Jody Davis. 

When I was in high school I was the official scorer for that same Little League, and my former coach was the league president.  I would sit in the booth and pretend to do play-by-play for the games.  Often he would take me home at night, and we’d sit in his truck and talk until midnight.  Sometimes we’d talk about baseball, sometimes about life.  He knew a lot about both, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without him.

Eventually I got a job at the ESPN Radio affiliate in South Bend, IN.  When I started there we broadcast games for Notre Dame, including their baseball team.  This was first time I really followed college baseball.  Eventually we started airing games for the South Bend Silverhawks, the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  This allowed me to learn about baseball at another level, and really see the impact of how trading a star player for prospects forces changes at every level of an organization.  Notre Dame plays an exhibition game against the Silverhawks, billed as “Silver Versus Gold”.  I aired the first game between the teams for Notre Dame, and aired the next 2 for the Silverhawks. 

I’ve always been a “stat nerd”.  I was in the baseball card club in Junior High, and the other kids were consistently frustrated that I would usually get 9 or 10 questions correct out of 10 on our trivia games.  I’ve owned two different baseball encyclopedias in my life, and have studied them well enough to know that there was a real player named Bud Weiser, and that the Moonlight Graham mentioned in ‘Field of Dreams’ was also a real player. 

So I guess the short answer is that the reason I love baseball is because it’s played a major part in making me who I am today.