Time Off Due To School

Hey folks, sorry about the delay in posting I will pick back up during mid May. For small updates follow me on twitter! @sportswmueller

Opening Day: Cardinals vs. Reds

Opening day in Cincinnati had the St. Louis Cardinals playing against the Cincinnati Reds: two divisional rivals, both seeking a playoff appearance for the third consecutive year. The Great American Ballpark—in Cincinnati, Ohio—has held opening day for the Reds ever since 1990.The last thing that any fan would have expected was for the game to be a shutout, which has not happened since 1953.

The two starting pitchers, Adam Wainwright for the Cardinals and Johnny Cueto for the Reds, went 7 innings and held batters to a combined 6 hits. After being hit by a line drive in the first inning on his left wrist, Cueto allowed only one run and struck out 8; meanwhile, Wainwright fanned 9 batters and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 victory.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina broke the scoreless tie in the seventh inning with a solo home run to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. In addition, the first baseman Matt Adams had two of the five hits for the Cardinals, displaying opposite field tendencies. As for Cincinnati, right fielder, Jay Bruce, and the Reds could not take advantage of two 8th inning errors: one was made by the second baseman Kolten Wong and the other was made by Matt Adams. Cincinnati had runners on first and third with no outs when Bruce grounded into a fielder’s choice, while Brandon Phillips was tagged out at third during a run-down.

The series will continue Wednesday, April 2^nd, when Michael Wacha and the Cardinals 1-0 face Tony Cingrani and the Reds 0-1.

References:
Heather Ahles
Picture by blogspot

Noles Seek Redemption

For the second time in two years the Florida State Seminoles 21-13 will host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 29-7 in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Last year, the Bulldogs defeated the Seminoles in the first round of the NIT, in Tallahassee. The winner of this year's quarterfinal match up will travel to Madison Square Garden and play Minnesota in the semifinal round.

Last Monday, the Seminoles faced a Georgetown team that had quality wins against Michigan State, VCU, and Creighton. Florida State put on their best shooting display of the season as they scored 101 points to Georgetown's 90. The Seminoles led with Sophomore, Arron Thomas, who shot 68.8% from behind the three point arc, 68% from the field, and cashed in 30 of 38 free throws (78.9%); while playing the majority of the game in a unfamiliar zone defense.

Last Saturday, Louisiana Tech was crushing the Georgia Bulldogs by 19 points at halftime, but had to hold back a furious rally by Georgia just to defeat the Bulldogs 79-71. Louisiana Tech's Senior, Chris Anderson, led the Bulldogs by scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and blocking one shot. After the Bulldogs were selected to the NIT, they made a pact that they would go to Madison Square Garden; only one win is between them and New York City.

Keys for Louisiana Tech: Louisiana Tech will look to take advantage of the inexperience of the FSU inside game with the scoring of senior Chris Anderson who averages 12.2 points per game.  The Bulldogs who are 15th in the nation in scoring will have to play against the second if not the best defense they have seen all season- Oklahoma State is the exception. Finally, Louisiana Tech will have to take advantage of the FSU turnovers as the Seminoles average 14 per game.

Keys for Florida State:  The Seminoles will have to play shut down defense against the Bulldogs who average just over 80 points per game. FSU will have to create open shots by establishing their inside presence with senior Okaro White. Offensive rebounding has been the Achilles heel for the Seminoles and will have to grab every 50/50 ball if they want a trip to Madison Square Garden.


Much is on the line for both teams: the Seminoles look to reach the final four of the NIT for the second time, while the Bulldogs will search for their first 30 win season in school history.




References:
Heather Ahles
ESPN for picture

Noles Face Off Against Last Year's Cinderella

Last night was a disappointment for the Florida State Seminoles as their bubble was popped by being selected by the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), instead of the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles received the number one seed in the NIT, and will face off against former NCAA tournament’s Cinderella, The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 22-12 (14-4). The Seminoles 19-13 (9-9) had two opportunities late in the regular season to reserve a seat for themselves in the NCAA tournament; however, the Seminoles were completely outmatched against the ACC champions Virginia, and the top ten ranked Syracuse Orangemen.

The Seminoles welcome the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles into the Donald L. Tucker Center, for the first time ever. Florida State has never won the NIT, and it will not be an easy task this time as the Seminoles will have to go through the Eagles on Tuesday night at 7:00 Est. If the Seminoles are victorious, they will battle the winner of West Virginia and Georgetown.

The Seminoles could be without Senior point guard Ian Miller for this game as he was unable to practice this Monday due to an injured toe. If Miller cannot play, the Seminoles will be without their second leading scorer. Miller averages 13.7 points per game and tends to shoot just under 40% from the three point line.

Last year, the Seminoles were a four seed coming into the NIT and fell to Louisiana Tech in the first round of the tournament. This year, the Seminoles are looking to show everyone in the nation why they should have been picked to compete in the NCAA tournament.

References 
Edited by: Heather Ahles
NIT Bracket
Picture by FGCU athletics
and fansided

Bubble Burst?

The Florida State Seminoles and the Virginia Cavaliers faced off today in the quarterfinals of the prestigious ACC tournament. This was a vital game for both teams; Florida State needed to win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive, and Virginia is trying to win their second ACC tournament since 1976. Virginia breezed past Florida State, and won 64-51, in the third round of the ACC tournament. The Cavaliers are set to play the Pittsburgh Panthers in the semifinals this Sunday, at 1:00 est.

The Seminoles kept things close in the first half, with a five point lead by Virginia at halftime; however, in the second half, Virginia's offense--led by senior Joe Harris--shot over 47% from the field as the Cavaliers ran away with the game.Virginia, led by Tony Bennett's stifling defense, created problems for the Seminoles as they forced 14 Florida State turnovers at Greensboro.

For the second time in two weeks, the Seminoles faced a top 10 opponent with the same results. Florida State could have padded their resume with a win against # 6 Virginia that would have guaranteed the Seminoles a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were completely out-coached and outplayed against the top ranked team, the Cavaliers. 40 of the 51 points that Florida State scored came from Okaro White (17), Ian Miller (10), and Arron Thomas (13), who seem to always be the major contributors to the scoreboard for Florida State; with only 11 points scored by the rest of the Florida State basketball team. A Florida State victory against a primer ACC team like Virginia was obviously out of reach.

Although Florida State’s coach, Leonard Hamilton, provided the Seminoles with an ACC Championship in 2012 with a win over North Carolina, fans have to wonder if Coach Hamilton is really the future of Florida State University’s basketball. With the ACC being the strongest conference in college basketball, and the Noles potentially missing the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year, one has to question the teachings of the FSU coach. Florida State 19-13 (9-9) will head back to Tallahassee with their post-season chances in the hands of the selection committee who will decide their fate March 16th on Sunday. If the Seminoles are not selected they will play in the NIT for the second straight year.

References
theolympian for the picture
Edited by: Heather Ahles

Seminoles Keep NCAA Tournament Chances Alive

In the second round of the ACC Tournament, the Seminoles and Terrapins squared off for the third time this season; a crucial game for both teams.The Seminoles won the game, with less than 0.4 seconds left, due to a dunk made by Boris Bojanovsky.

Maryland never found it's rhythm again after the first half. Seth Allen, their leading scorer, went cold from the three point arc; however, the Seminoles could not take advantage of the missed field goals by the Terrapins, rather the Seminoles let the Terrapins back into the game. In an intense final 2 minutes, the Seminoles were fighting for their tournament aspirations to continue on to the next round and stay off the bubble. After Florida State went up by 11 points earlier in the game, their biggest lead; Maryland began to chip away at the sloppy, turnover prone team. The Terrapins, on two separate occasions, tied the game in their attempts to continue in the ACC tournament; however, a loss will move the Terrapins to their new conference, the Big Ten.

After a hand check foul against Montay Brandon, Maryland made two clutch free throws to tie the game, for the second time, now at 65. With seconds ticking away, and the Seminoles with possession of the ball, Miller brought the ball down the court looking for an open man. A bullet pass inside found a double teamed Okaro White. White somehow passed the fluttering ball to Boris Bojanovsky and put it home with 0.4 seconds left. Despite a full court heave, Maryland’s last ditch effort fell short; the Seminoles went on to win the game 67-65.

Florida State's Boris Bojanovsky recorded his first career double double, with a total of 12 points and 13 rebounds, to win man of the match. Thomas and Miller also remained red hot for the Seminoles as their combined score reached 31 points of the 67.

The Seminoles 19-12 (9-9) will face off against top seeded Virginia 25-6 (16-2) this Friday on ESPN2 at 12:00 pm EST. The last two times these teams have met, Virginia won both games decisively, and looks to cap off their season with a conference title in the ACC championship. For the Seminoles, this is the biggest game of the season. If the Seminoles are able to come out victorious, they could potentially be placed into the First Four In of the NCAA Tournament.
 

Boris' Dunk to Win the Game

References

Edited by Heather Ahles

Picturesand video from Seminoles.com

Second Round of ACC Tournament: Seminoles vs. Terrapins

     The #9 seeded Florida State Seminoles 18-12 (9-9) and the #8 seeded Maryland Terrapins 17-14 (9-9)  will be featured in the second round of the ACC tournament at 12:00pm est, on Thursday. The two teams have squared off two times this season and both won at their respective home courts. Maryland currently holds the series lead against Florida State in the ACC tournament with a record of 4-0.

     The January 12th ACC conference game earlier this season featured the two teams searching for their offense identity and competing for a crucial ACC victory. Following a season low of 56 points scored in a win against Clemson, the last thing Seminole fans expected was a breakout shooting night at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. According to ESPN, the Seminoles went on to shoot 16-24 (67%) from the arc, while the Terrapins only shot 17-51 from the field (33%). Ian Miller led the scoring with 20 points and gave the Seminoles a crucial victory early in the ACC season 85-61.

     The second time, these two teams met was at the Comcast Center. The Terrapins 14-10 (6-5) and Seminoles 14-9 (5-6) were both looking to keep pace in the ACC where Seth Allen recorded his career high of 32 points, 21 of which he scored in the first half. According to ESPN, Allen went 11 of 15 from the floor, and 7 of 10 from the three point arc. Leading 46-29 at halftime, the Terrapins never looked back and defeated the Seminoles by 12, 83-71.

     The season ended for both teams with very different endings to their regular season. Maryland won an absolute thriller against the regular season champions, Virginia, in overtime 75-69. The sellout crowd at the Comcast Center seemed to get to the Cavaliers, Virginia only shot 37% from the field and 28% from the arc. This victory against a top 5 team in the nation should give the Terrapins a lot of momentum heading into the ACC tournament.

     The Seminoles had a lot more to play for last Sunday. According to Joe Lunardi, the Seminoles were going to be the first four out to make the NCAA tournament. They were heading in to their biggest game of the season against the top ten ranked team, Syracuse, only to be overpowered and out rebounded by a much stronger and more determined team on their senior night.

     The Terrapins (2-2) and the Seminoles (3-1) had their fair share of neutral site games earlier in the season as they will in Greensboro, North Carolina for the ACC tournament. The Seminoles had a a great early tournament in Puerto Rico where they defeated #10 VCU, #22 UMASS, and Charlotte; and had a two point loss to #14 Michigan in overtime.

     This Thursday, FSU and Maryland will face off for the last time in the ACC while Maryland heads to the Big Ten. The winner will play against the top ranked and ACC regular champion, Virginia, on Friday at noon. FSU has fallen twice, while Maryland (1-1) ended Virginia's winning streak last Sunday.  The Seminoles have struggled on the boards with Boris Bojanovsky and Michael Ojo whom both seem to lack the experience needed to become a significant presence inside. The key for the Seminoles on Thursday will be to play a strong defense and work quick in their transition offence as well as to knock down perimeter shots as they did in January.





References
I do not own any of the videos shows by ACC Digital Network or any pictures by docsports and gamedayr and http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/52/florida-state-seminoles
Edited by: Heather Ahles

About Me

Hello, my name is Ryan Joseph Mueller. I graduated from St. Petersburg Catholic in 2012 and I am currently a student at St. Petersburg College and it is my plan to one day become a sports analyst. Aside from my present college career at St. Petersburg College, I am  currently employed as a Sales Associate at Allen Sports Center. Sports has always been a passion of mine; I have played  baseball, basketball, football, and competitively swam since before I could remember. This is just a fraction of what peaked my interest to evaluate sports and their teams. The majority of my interest in analyzing sports came from my love of football, Florida State's college football team to be exact. I have always been a Florida State Seminoles fan since I was very young; I was born into--my father, Vincent Joseph Mueller, and my uncle, Tony Beyer, were both alumni of Florida State University. I have ever since become an avid fan and follow them extensively.

In this blog, I will be analyzing any team of any sport that I happen to be watching at the time. While I will try to have a wide range of teams and different sports, the majority of my posts will be unbiased analysis of all Florida State teams, Arsenal F.C. London, England's Premier Futbol League, and the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball.








All edits made:
Heather Ahles