The Brackets, with barometric Pressure.

March Madness tends to bring all of the so-called "experts" out of the woodwork, and that's no different at News 14 Carolina. Mind you, I'm not lumping myself in as the resident Bracketologist, but there is one guy that thinks he's got the M.D. after his college hoops name.

Weather guy Joshua McKinney. Yeah, the weather guy.

Now, he knew I was gonna dig the needle in a little bit, but I will give him props for winning the News 14 Carolina bracket challenge a couple years ago, so in the interest of giving you more free advice for your brackets, Josh knocked out some thoughts about how he sees the field of 68 playing out. Enjoy.

Mike Solarte

"I know, I know! Why is a weather brain adding his two cents on the NCAA Tournament and attempting to forecast who wins? Shouldn't you just focus on the weather? Not like you get that right, so why are you weighing in on sports?

I get it. I'm out of my league and stand no chance to make the right picks. That's exactly where I want to be, overlooked like a lot of the field. Call me Villanova '85 edition, I'm Butler, compare me to George Mason that's perfectly fine in my book. I'm the epitome of a Cinderella thinker in a world of Ohio State and Kansas sports royalty at News 14 Carolina.

East Region: A chalk baller, but the top three seeds survive the first weekend. My only roundhouse right is West Virginia upending Kentucky in the second round. The second weekend will be appointment TV when Ohio State plays West Virginia and Syracuse squares off against North Carolina. The Mountaineers are not the same team from last year, so Ohio State marches on. A tough game to forecast, but I see Syracuse having all the right answers against UNC. Syracuse in a nail biter, but the energy spent winning the game takes a bite out of the Orange. Ohio State takes advantage of the UNC/Syracuse fight and proceeds to Houston.

West Region: I agree with Swami Solarte giving Duke and Michigan a date in the second round. However, I've spent a lot of time comparing schedules and notes. I keep coming back to the belief the selection committee has a devil for the details in this probable match up. I'm leaning upset here. Will I pick Michigan? Probably not since it's in Charlotte, but it's so tempting, stands out on my radar and is not getting a lot of national attention. I'm also on the Big Ten gravy train for Penn State. Can the Nittany Lions shock the basketball world and upend San Diego State? “Do you believe in miracles, yes!”. At the moment I have a partly cloudy vision of Texas and Connecticut in the Regional Final and UConn advancing to the Final Four.

Southwest Region: Rock, all chalk in this region. I'm thinking Kansas, Louisville, Purdue and Notre Dame in the second weekend. The Purdue, Notre Dame match up is a rivalry game and may be one of the most physical of the entire tournament. If this game pans out, it will be a battle! I'll lean Notre Dame. Kansas survives a close one with Louisville and will take down a rivalry weakened Irish earning a trip to the Final Four.

Southeast Region: Everyone is talking upset city in this bracket. I like the early match ups here, but believe Gonzaga lives long enough to meet Florida in the bottom of the bracket with Wisconsin facing Pitt in the upper half. Call it luck, or overall stupidity, but Pitt faces Florida with Florida (who is taking a beat down for being highly seeded) stealing a trip to Houston.

Ohio State vs Connecticut goes to Ohio State

Kansas vs Florida goes to Kansas

Kansas vs Ohio State... Drum roll please... Kansas as the 2011 NCAA Champion.

- Joshua McKinney

The Dance Shall Commence

OK, college hoop fans, this is your time.

You've waited 11 months, and now, the absolute overload that is the NCAA Basketball tournament is just days away. And yes, I mean Thursday, not the Tuesday & Wednesday play-in games which the NCAA is dubbing "The First Four."

If you're like me, you have your brackets in front of you, and you're pouring over them, trying to find the gem of an upset that no one but you will find. The closest I have ever come to a perfect bracket wasn't close to perfect at all. Hope your picks go well, but, in case you need some help, here's what I have (which is subject to change between now and Thursday).

EAST:
I'm not sure that North Carolina is ready for primetime. I know they were playing great basketball heading into the ACC Tournament, but back-to-back dreadful starts, followed by ridiculous comeback wins showed me that when they run into a team that has some degree of experience in those spots, the Heels are suspect. Like everyone, I have UNC beating Long Island, and then they face Washington. The 2-time winners of the Pac-10 tourney will provide a challenge. I think Carolina gets through to the Sweet 16, but once there, they likely face the test of Syracuse. I think their run will end there. East winner=Ohio State

WEST:
Duke is the number 1, and after they dispatch Hampton, they'll likely get Michigan. Tennessee may get a case of the shakes coming back to Time Warner Cable Arena, having lost to Charlotte there earlier this season. Even if Tennessee advances, I think Duke is better anyway. Duke likely meets Texas in the Sweet 16, and I like the Blue Devils there, too. Getting to the Final Four could mean a date with Kemba Walker and U-Conn, and if the Devils make it out (I'm not sure they can against the Huskies), they will have earned the trip. West winner=Duke or UConn. And I am leaning UConn

SOUTHWEST:
Kansas is the top seed there, but Notre Dame is in the bottom half of the bracket with something to prove as the #2 seed. Notre Dame lost a tough one in the Big East tourney, and they never really got to show just how god they are. Plus, there is Louisville, Vanderbilt, Purdue and (yes, I am saying this) Florida State that could be problematic for this quarter of the field. Strange, but I see few upsets coming from this region. Southwest winner=Kansas

SOUTHEAST:
Pittsburgh is the top seed, but this is the one region I want no part of, if I am a high seed. Kansas State could be in for more than they know in the 5-12 game as they take on Utah State. Jimmer Fredette and BYU are here as well (facing Wofford in their opener). UCLA being a #7 could find the Bruins making a bit of noise. Perhaps the most dangerous team in this region is #6 St. John's. Get past the gift win they got over Rutgers in the Big East tourney, the Johnnies are playing well. Lots of gator traps in this region, so viewers, cross your fingers that Gus Johnson gets sent to that half of the tourney. Southeast winner=Florida

Again, I reserve the right to rip up this bracket and start fresh in the morning, but so far, I like the chalk.

Mike Solarte

Labor Talks head into OT

The NFL and NFLPA were able to reach agreement on, first a 24 hour CBA extension, and then a 7-day extension. The sides continue to talk (although they'll get the weekend off), in the hopes of reaching a deal.

WHY I AM OPTIMISTIC

If the sides are talking, they aren't locking out, or spewing venom. Both sides have done a good job of keeping the talks to themselves, and not spilling it into the media (which stinks for us inn the business). This is being done at the behest of mediator George Cohen. Both sides agreed to zip their lips, and have done that. That's fine. When it all gets settled, we'll all get the details. The point is, they are talking.

WHY I AM NOT TOO EXCITED

The fact that both sides knew the deadline was looking, and they did nothing to try and avert this situation while there was time. True, it is the nature of negotiations that things get done when the deadline draws near, but these sides are playing a high stakes game of chicken where more than their interests are affected if it all goes bad. IF there is a lockout that drags into the season, it's not just the players, coaches and owners that will feel it. It will be felt by vendors, the schools that depend on Panthers games for fundraising efforts, local businesses that thrive on gameday crowds. You name it, one NFL Sunday has a bigger impact on people than whether their favorite team wins or loses. None of that mattered to the sides with 2 years of knowing this was coming, so why would they use an extra 7 days to get a deal in place?

The ruling that went in favor of the NFLPA was key in forcing the owners hand a little more, but still, this thing could have been avoided.

Let's hope these two sides can reach an agreement that works for everyone. Fans, and folks that depend on the NFL deserve to be treated right.

Mike Solarte

Willie, Mickey and The Duke

I can't imagine what my father is going through today. You see his boyhood idol Duke Snider, 84, passed away Sunday. For all of you now asking, "Who's Duke Snider?" I'm about to educate you.

The Duke of Flatbush, as he was known, was a major cog in the those great Brooklyn Dodger teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He came to the big leagues the same year as Jackie Robinson, 1947, and was a teammate of Jackie's as well as Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges. From 1949-1957 Snider averaged 35 HR and 109 RBI while hitting .305. During that span the Dodgers won five National League pennants and the only World Series title the franchise ever captured in Brooklyn.

That magical year of 1955 when the Dodgers finally beat their hated rival Yankees in seven games, Duke had his best year, slugging 42 homers, knocking in 136 and hitting .309. For you sabermetric geeks, his OPS was 1.046.

Twice Snider hit four home runs in a World Series and was the first National Leaguer to hit 40 or more homers in five consecutive seasons. In other words, it's why he was in the title of the Terry Cashman song Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Talkin' Baseball); because Snider played in an era where the greatest center fielder's in the game resided in New York.

Duke finished his 18 year career with 407 home runs and a .295 career batting average. For some reason it still took eleven years for the baseball writers to elect him to the Hall of Fame.

Back to my dad. I was the one who had to tell him his idol had passed away. I almost couldn't find the words. You see I was afraid it was another reminder of his own mortality and it certainly served notice to me that I too will have to experience losing my hero... my dad. The one who taught me how play catch, showed me how to swing a bat and passed on the love for the game of baseball.

My dad took the news in stride. He said it was "fitting" I should be the one to tell him of Duke's passing. He had a senior softball game today. He had two hits and knocked in three runs. He wore his Brooklyn Dodger hat proudly. His first words to me? "Duke would be happy."

Jason Brown

Al Michaels once asked...

"Do you believe in miracles?"

That was the now unmistakable call of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team win over the Soviet Union.

Today, NFL fans are being asked the same thing, but the answer, this time, is no.

At 11:59 pm on Thursday, March 3, the NFL's current collective bargaining agreement will expire, and it is expected that a player lockout by the owners, will commence not long after. 7 straight days of mediation produced dialogue, but nothing in the way of results. Hence, all those warnings I sent out during the football season? You know, the ones where I told you to record your favorite team as often as you could? It is baseball season, though.

Big tip of the hat to Jeff Gordon for snapping that nasty 66-race winless drought by winning inn Phoenix on Sunday. He did it in vintage Gordon fashion. Passing Kyle Busch with just 8 laps left, and racing to the win. The win comes in race number 2 of the season, and also race number 2 for Gordon with a new sponsor. After spending virtually his entire career with Dupont as his primary sponsor, Gordon takes the Drive to End Hunger Chevy to victory lane. Is this a sign of things to come? After the massive shake-up at Hendrick Motorsports in the off-season, where 3 drivers rotated to new crew chiefs and teams, who knows. Know this, all four HMS cars finished inside the top 13 in the first "real" race of the season. No disrespect to Daytona, but the entire off-season leads up to that one race, and it's a restrictor plate track at that--too many abnormal variables, If the HMS stable is stout on the intermediate tracks, it will make for a long season for the rest of the teams. And yes, I know it's just one race. We'll see how these teams sit after the opening 5-7 races of the season. Long way to go.

Congrats to a pair of Charlotte residents, Johnson Wagner and Mattt Goggin for picking up separate victories on the golf course this past weekend. Wagner winning on the PGA Tour, Goggin on the Nationwide Tour. Both guys getting their games cranked in the early schedule, and being rewarded is a big boost. Well done, guys!

Busy week on tap, with the CIAA Hoops tourney beginning, and the Charlotte 49ers announcing their first football coach on Tuesday. Stay with News 14 for the latest.

Mike Solarte

OK, Bobcats fans, exhale.

Seemed fitting that the skies above were a little grey with rain on the day after the Charlotte Bobcats traded away their one and only All Star player, along with a valuable big man at the NBA trade deadline.

Gerald Wallace was sent to Portland for Joel Pryzbilla, Dante Cunningham, and Sean Marks, along with a pair of future first round draft picks. Then, the Bobcats sent center Nazr Mohammed to Oklahoma City for Mo Peterson and D.J. White.The moves have some folks angered, others confused, and others still wondering if the Bobcats have surrendered their season.

The answer is yes, but they did so with an eye to the future.

Look, I'm not a fan of breaking up team continuity, especially when that team appears to be moving in the right direction. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bobcats, pre-deadline, would have made the playoffs. After the events on Thursday, I think it's a reach. Not because of who they got back, but because of who they lost. They lost their identity when Wallace went to Portland. Wallace did so many things for this franchise, both on and off the court. I spoke with a member of the Bobcats staff on Thursday night. He was sad that Wallace was traded. Not just any sad, but sad. Wallace meant so much to so many members of that franchise, his loss will be felt like losing a family member.

Losing Mohammed stings as well, because now the Bobcats are pinning their center spot on Kwame Brown. A guy that once upon a time, was a punchline in the league. He has been a solid contributor this season, but there has to be a fear factor involved now. The :what-if" game is in effect. What if Kwame gets hurt? The guy they call the "Vanilla Gorilla," (Pryzbilla), isn't exactly Mohammed off the bench.

So yes, in my estimation, the Bobcats got worse. But they had to get worse before they could get better. There is now a future for this franchise. Before Thursday, they were tight to the salary cap, and close to the luxury tax. Now that Wallace and Mohammed's contracts are elsewhere, the Bobcats have some money to spend, and a couple of future first round picks. It sounds good in theory, but now the onus is on the front office,

The Bobcats drafting history isn't exactly stellar (see Adam Morrison, and Sean May, both no longer holding NBA jobs). They need to hit some home runs with the June draft, and they also need to lure a name into this organization. Whether it be by trade or free agency, this team will now need a bona fide superstar. A guy that people get excited about. A guy that makes fans say, "I need to get a ticket to tonight's game to watch (insert name here) play,"rather than saying "I need a ticket to see (insert opposition team name here) tonight."

I said this Thursday morning during my radio show on Fox Sports 730, that the Bobcats are so very close to being loved in this town. The Hornets hangover still lingers, but the Bobcats are making in-roads. The question now is, did they burn some of that good will by sending away arguably the team's most popular player for 3 players with no chance of being long term solutions, and 2 unknowns in 1st round picks?

The team also waived Sherron Collins, Derrick Brown, and Dominic McGuire on Thursday. Those moves were necessary to clear roster spots for the newly acquired players. I've been told that the Bobcats would like to bring back Brown and Collins if they clear waivers. It's a gamble, but one they had to make to look to tomorrow.

Bayne, Bobcats, 'Melo and more

Recapping things first...

What a weekend for Trevor Bayne. In fact, what a Speedweeks. When he got to Daytona, he was a 19 year old kid making his 2nd Cup series start for a race team that was perilously close to shutting its doors a few years ago.

When he left Daytona he was a 20 year old (by a day), that had just won his first Cup race, not to mention the biggest race of the year. In doing so, he became the feel-good story that NASCAR has desperately needed. Bayne's win for Wood Brothers Racing gave the series a new fresh face to market, put the historic team back in victory lane, and may have jump-started interest in NASCAR again.

Only a win by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on Sunday would have been bigger, and he was in the mix until a flat tire late pushed him to the back of the field for a restart. He got hung up in a wreck in the green-white-checkered laps, finishing 24th.

After watching the "pairs" racing on Thursday, I was hoping the 500 would be different, but it wasn't. While different, it wasn't bad. It's just something we'll have to endure for a few races until a change is made to the cars, or the track loses some of its grip. In all, fairly entertaining start to finish.

Charlotte Bobcats have 26 games remaining on their schedule, and forward Stephen Jackson feels they need 17 wins in their final 26 to reach the playoffs. 17 wins gets them to 41 on the season, which wold give them a record of 41-41. In the Eastern conference, .500 is plenty. In the west, .500 (right now, anyway), is good for 10th place, 2.5 games out of the playoffs.

Can the Bobcats do it? It won't be easy. Next week, the Bobcats head back out west, as they are kicked out of Time Warner Cable Arena for the CIAA Tournament, but the good thing for them is that they have home games late in the year, unlike years' past. The Charlotte Jumper Classic would displace the team when they craved home games for a shot at the playoffs. Also on the schedule, trips to San Antonio and Oklahoma City, a home date with Chicago, Boston and others including Orlando. The challenge is there, it's up to the Bobcats to answer it.

Call me old fashioned, but I was just sick about the wheeling and dealing going on for Carmelo Anthony. Then I was just sick and tired of hearing the talk. It was akin to Brett Favre watch in the NFL. Now that it's over (Carmelo went to the Knicks in a blockbuster deal-pending league approval at this writing), we can go on with our NBA watching lives. The thing that sticks out to me in this deal is that both Denver and the Knicks are at the bottom of the playoff picture, and now, this multi-player deal basically blows up their rosters. We all watched and saw how slowly Miami got out of the gate. I can't imagine a change in midstream will bode well for either New York or Denver.

Lastly, the Carolina Panthers remain on the clock, and they are also contemplating using their franchise tag. Given the current labor climate, it makes sense to apply the tag, but unless a new CBA is in place by March 4, it makes me wonder if the tags will be valid after the current labor deal expires. If I had to guess who would get the tag, it would be center Ryan Kalil. DE Charles Johnson had a big year, but the jury is out on if he can maintain it. RB DeAngelo Williams would be another viable option, however, he may be a victim of the numbers game with Jonathan Stewart, Mike Goodson and Tyrell Sutton all in the stable of backs. Personally, I would hate to see Williams go, as he is a fun guy to talk to, and exciting to watch. I do realize, though, that business is business. If he goes elsewhere, I sincerely wish him well.

**EDIT 3:09 pm Several outlets reporting the Panthers are franchise tagging C Ryan Kalil, which would pay him $10M this coming season. A tough choice for the Panthers given the year Charles Johnson had last season, and the franchise leading RB that Williams is. More on this as it develops.

Mike Solarte