Weekend Wake Up: Wildcats Look Fierce, Celts Not Dead, Nathan Out, Strasburg Sent Down

No ‘Cats Meow. After Kansas went out looking frustrated and flustered, Kentucky and Kansas State made sure they would not do the same. The Bluegrass Wildcats crushed Wake Forest by 30, permitting the Demon Deacons to shoot 32.8% from the field, while K-State declawed Brigham Young and Jimmer Fredette, winning 84-72 while holding the Cougars’ scoring machine to 5-of-13 shooting. Of the teams currently through to the Sweet Sixteen, both squads of Wildcats look the best.

Celtics: Road Warriors. Last Sunday, LeBron and the Cavaliers toyed with the old, slow Boston Celtics. But the C’s haven’t lost since, and scored an impressive win over Dallas in Big D last night. And though Boston is probably the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics have the second-best road record in the league (only Cleveland is better), which bodes well for stealing wins in drawn-out playoff series.

Twins Lose Nathan. Joe Nathan left a spring training game two weeks ago with a tweaked elbow. Now, the next time Twins fans will see him may be next March: Nathan will have elbow surgery that will cause him to miss the 2010 season. Losing one of the best closers in the majors is bad enough, but with the Twins’ propensity for close games, striking a shutdown pitcher from the roster has the potential to swing the season.

Strasburg Will Be Minor Sensation. In a move that the baseball world fully expected, the Nationals optioned Stephen Strasburg to Double A on Saturday. If it’s momentarily hard to swallow for Nats fans who saw the wunderkind give up just two earned runs, both on homers, in nine spring innings, it will prove wise in the long run, as sending Strasburg down preserves team control and keeps payroll down. That might give the Nats enough time to put a team around him, but, then, they are the Nats.

↵