Long missing, I'm back with 4 topics

I have not written for a long time.  I have been super busy with whatever.  In this edition of the Sweet Up and Down I want to discuss 4 topics.  On the plate today, we have Duke basketball, a stupid rule in basketball, Tiger Woods, and Major League Baseball.

1.  Duke won the title in 2010.  Whoop de do.  Has there ever, in the history of the tournament, been a less-deserving champ?  Over the course of the 3 week tournament, Duke beat the likes of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Cal, Purdue, Baylor, West Virginia, and Butler.  On the other hand, Butler, this year's runner-up beat the likes of UTEP, Murray St, Syracuse, Kansas St, Michigan St, and then lost in the final by 2 to Duke.  I think it is safe to say Butler deserved the title and would have had it had they gotten a call or two go their way.  Specifically, Jon Scheyer drew a charge midway through the second half.  It was easily the worst call I have ever seen and had it been called the right way, Butler would have gotten an 'and 1' from the play.  Boom, 2 points, tie game.

2.  A stupid rule in basketball.  This rule works in both college and the NBA.  Let's picture a late game scenario.  Let's say you are LeBron James.  You are down by 3 points late in the game.  You have one last chance to hit a shot to possibly tie the game.  As you take the ball down the court, you are fouled before you get the chance to take a shot.  The other team is not letting you get the chance to tie the game.  Instead of playing defense, they foul.  Is that good for the game?  Is it good for the fans?  No and No.  I can understand when you are losing at the end of a game, the need to foul.  A team that is trailing needs possessions.  In this situation, a foul is justified as a way to try to steal.  BUT when you are winning the game and you foul someone so blatantly, how is that justified?  I think this is the single dumbest rule in the game and it should be changed.  A foul at the end of a game that is intentional in nature by the team that is winning should be called intentional.  The best way to fix it.

3.  Tiger Woods is presently playing his first round at Augusta.  Yesterday, the Chairman of the Masters, Billy Payne, decided to read a statement about Tiger Woods.  He basically said things like Tiger has let us down and that he is sincerity is what we must now look to.  And on and on.  I can only think that is just not the place or the time or even the person to be saying these sorts of things.  Who the F cares what Billy Payne, Chairman of the Masters, thinks we need to feel about Tiger?  Who is he to judge?  I thought his comments were wholly inappropriate and at best misguided.

4.  MLB.  I just read the quotes from Jerry West about the length of the Yankees-Red Sox games.  What the hell is going on here?  Their games last for nearly 4 hours?  Last night Angel Hernandez had to deny 4 (yes, 4) timeout requests.  Why does everyone need a damn timeout after every pitch?  I saw a few days ago that there was some research done in this and they went and looked at a game from 1957, I believe, and in that game they found that not one batter ever stepped out of the box once they had stepped in.  No one batter, not one time during an entire game.  Nowadays, people step out of the box after every pitch for every at-bat for an entire career, much less a season and even more lesser, a game.  This isn't just a Yanks Sox problem.  It's league wide and needs to stop.  Now, please.