THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Random thoughts for a random kind of Tuesday....

Can snow removal be that tough? I'm just asking.....

The Reds are picked to finish 11 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central this season. So says the PECOTA theorists and numbers crunchers at Baseball Prospectus. St. Louis, predicted to win the division with 88 wins in 2010. Are the Reds really eleven games worse that the Cards? I'll give you Prince Albert at first, Matt Holliday in left, Yadier Molina behind the plate and the top of the rotation with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. But you'll have to concede Brandon Phillips at second, Scott Rolen at 3B and Drew Stubbs in CF. And, I'll take Francisco Cordero to close over Ryan Franklin. The Cards may win the division, but not by eleven over the Reds.....

I'm hearing more and more grumbling about the Bengals having the audacity to offer Pac Man Jones a tryout. I'll grudgingly accept Matt Jones, who had his trouble with coke, among other things, while with the Jags. But Pac Man Jones? The 'Make It Rain Man' from Vegas?

Let me ask you this: when the Indianapolis Colts want to get better, do they look at thugs? Or do they draft smartly? When the Giants Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg by carrying a concealed weapon into a New York City night spot, what did the Giants do? They suspended him indefinitely even though they were in the middle of trying to make the playoffs. When the Colts Mike Doss got into trouble, Indy cut him. The Bengals then signed him. Just when you thought the Bengals were about to behave like a responsible organization, they go back to their future. And they wonder why they can't win.

If you had any doubts about the Big East being the best conference in college basketball, they should have been erased after what happened inside of 36 hours this weekend. Sunday, Rutgers goes on the road and beats Georgetown. Rutgers has struggled all season and the Hoyas will skate into the NCAA Tournament. Then, Monday night, Connecticut goes on the road and knocks off #3 Villanova. That's two road upset wins inside of a day and a half.

Xavier is back home Wednesday night against St. Joe's. I have a feeling the Muskies will now run the table into the Atlantic 10 Tournament and reach, at least, the finals. If all of that happens, they'll be no worse than a #7 seed, maybe higher.....

UC needs to beat one of the big three left on its schedule to get in, IMHO (Georgetown, Villanova or West Virginia) and the Bearcats have to take care of business with Marquette, DePaul and South Florida. But if they beat at least one of the 'big three' they have left on their schedule, it will be the NCAA clincher.....

I'm into the Olympics big time. But if NBC doesn't change its mind and put the USA vs Canada men's hockey game on 'over the air' TV, I think the network is making a big mistake. NBC has a vested (monetary) interest in the NHL. How can you have that and not put your home country's hockey game on TV, banishing it to cable? The rumor is, the game goes to cable so NBC can televise ice dancing. If the suits at NBC like ice dancing so much, why did their programming department pass on the chance to buy the Dancing With The Stars franchise, which instead was gobbled up by ABC,

Like I say...I'm just asking here....