E.K. NATION

Most Giants bloggers don't seem too thrilled with the acquisition of Mike Matheny. Here's a column by Mike Bauman that explains why I am very happy.

The Giants needed Mike Matheny. Their primary catcher last season, A.J. Pierzynski, an offense-first catcher, was not, to put it mildly, a particular favorite of the pitching staff. Matheny is at the other end of the catching spectrum. He will not be a big run producer. But with his defensive ability and with his diligence in working with pitchers, he is a master of the catching craft.

Don't worry about the offensive numbers, guys. We've got other guys for that.

(Although Barry may not be around until May 1. Kind of makes our quest to see Barry Bonds' 756th home run during the last week of the season a little precarious; we have tickets to the last seven games of the year, four in San Diego and three at SBC against the Diamondbacks.)

There's candy all over the damn floor and I have no hands to pick it up and my jaw is wired shut. Syracuse sucks.

One hole in this thing and it will all fall apart. I hope there is candy inside as a consolation prize.

CHICAGO: First Round: Illinois, Texas, Alabama, Boston College, LSU, Arizona, St. Mary's, Oklahoma State. Second Round: Illinois, Boston College, Arizona, St. Mary's. Sweet 16: Illinois, Arizona. REGIONAL CHAMPION: ILLINOIS.

ALBUQUERQUE: First Round: Washington, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Creighton, Wake Forest. Second Round: Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Wake Forest. Sweet 16: Georgia Tech, Wake Forest. REGIONAL CHAMPION: GEORGIA TECH.

SYRACUSE: First Round: North Carolina, Iowa State, New Mexico, Florida, Wisconsin, Kansas, Charlotte, Connecticut. Second Round: North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, Charlotte. Sweet 16: FLorida, Charlotte. REGIONAL CHAMPION: FLORIDA.

AUSTIN: First Round: Duke, Mississippi State, Michigan State, Syracuse, Utah, Niagara, Cincinnati, Kentucky. Second Round: Duke, Syracuse, Utah, Kentucky. Sweet 16: Syracuse, Kentucky. REGIONAL CHAMPION: SYRACUSE.

FINAL FOUR: Illinois def. Georgia Tech, Syracuse def. Florida.

NATIONAL CHAMPION: SYRACUSE.

Now, we must refer to our pre-season "64", the prediction of all 64 teams to make it to the tourney, and we got 43 right. Not bad, eh? Our Final Four prediction of Kansas, North Carolina, Syracuse and Washington can't exactly hold true, as the Hawks and Heels are in the same regional, but we still felt a twinge of, how do you say, "cool!" when the Huskies were announced as a #1 seed. And overall, not a bad bit of picking this year, at least in terms of prospects for the tournament. Two #1 seeds, a #3, and a #4. Last year we picked a team (California) that didn't even make it to the Dance.

We'd have been ready to stick with Washington as a Final Four pick in our bracket, but the tourney is just too goddamn wide open. Any one of ten teams can win it all, and any one of 30 can realistically make the Final Four. We were this close to leaving Illinois out of the Final Four but we figured they'd win their first two and then the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games would be in Chicago, so how could they lose before St. Louis?

We don't have any real shocking upsets in the first round. Niagara over Oklahoma is as close as we get but the Sooners have been under the radar all year and not really one of the first few teams you think about when deciding on a national champion. The second round is much more interesting: We see Pittsburgh defeating the Huskies (Wash.) and Charlotte taking down the Huskies (UConn). We also had Old Dominion taking out the Spartans until about two minutes before we submitted our bracket, and we had the Jackets losing to George Washington in the first round for a long while, but we decided not to get that silly.

In the end, we expect St. Louis to be a sea of orange, with Illinois, Syracuse and Florida there, along with Georgia Tech. Then again, What The @#%&* Do We Know?