The Sights of Opening Day

Alex Rios and Vernon Wells get ready for their turn in the batting cage before Opening Day against the Tigers, as hitting coach Gene Tenace looks on.

General Manager J.P. Riccardi looks to involve third baseman Scott Rolen in a laugh, but Rolen doesn't seem interested.

Jays' manager Cito Gaston has always been known as a hitter's manager - as Lyle Overbay learns in batting practice. Overbay's first at-bat in the game? An RBI double.

The Jays' hopes for 2009 rest on their young bats, such as Adam Lind and Travis Snider (above). Snider went deep on Opening Day.

Toronto's 12-5 Opening Day was almost marred when fans began throwing objects on the field, including 2 baseballs. After a conference between managers - and a warning from the P.A. announcer that any more objects thrown would result in a Jays forfeit - the game resumed without incident.

Now, It's Truly Spring

Yes - the NHL playoffs are almost here, the snow is long melted...and the baseball season begins on Sunday night. Here are my picks for the upcoming season:

AL:


East - Tampa Bay

The American League East certainly seems like it will fall into the same trappings as last year, even with New York making major improvements to its roster. But Tampa Bay and Boston have similar pitching and better offence, so they will survive baseball's toughest division.

Central - Chicago

The Central will come down to Chicago, Minnesota and Cleveland, but don't be surprised if Kansas City isn't in it when Labour Day rolls around. They're built like the Rays were last year, with great hitting and an amazing rotation. If not this year, then next for the Royals.

West - Los Angeles

The West seems like it will be L.A.'s party, although Oakland should make strides. Texas and Seattle are too far back to contend.

W/C - Boston

American League Champion: Tampa Bay

NL:

East - Philadelphia

Even with the Mets' improvements to their bullpen, the Phillies should have enough firepower to hold them off. Florida and Atlanta are better, but it's not their year.

Central - Chicago

There really is no other option in baseball's weakest division. St. Louis always seems to find a way to finish second, but talent-wise, they can't compete with the Cubs. The Reds could surprise, but it won't be enough.

West - Los Angeles

As much as the Giants have improved, the West is a two team race between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. L.A. needs their pitching to hold up, because the offence is there. They may not do much in the playoffs, but they should have enough to win the West.

W/C - New York

National League Champion: Chicago

World Series Champion: Tampa Bay

It's hard to imagine the Cubs making the World Series, let alone winning it. The Rays young talent leads them past the tough American League, and lets them cruise to their first ever World Series championship.

Just Lose, Baby!!

This evening, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators in overtime, 4-3. Pavel Kubina potted his second of the night off a 3 on 2 rush to give the Buds their 4th straight win.

This result is important for Leafs Nation because Toronto is "battling" with Ottawa for mediocrity in the cellar of the NHL standings, and another Leafs win moves Toronto further and further away from the possibility of a number 1 pick.

The Leafs' fans who are cheering for losses by their team certainly had high hopes entering tonight's game - head coach Ron Wilson started Curtis Joseph for the first time since January 1, possibly suggesting Toronto is tanking games like this in order to improve their chances at the "next, next one", John Tavares.

Only in Toronto.

Only in Canada's largest city could losing be seen as winning. You see, this way, when the Leafs win, fans can be happy and when the Leafs lose, fans can say "at least this improves our draft position."

This line of thinking - particularly in the Leafs organization itself, which has no reason to deflect this type of thinking, as seats get sold regardless - is dangerous for a city which badly needs a championship by its most important franchise.

When one looks at the best teams of the last dozen years - Detroit, San Jose, Colorado, Pittsburgh, New Jersey - one can see (with the exception of Pittsburgh) that #1 picks are not necessarily important to their success.

Detroit is successful because it finds gems such as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in the later rounds. San Jose is successful because it develops its young players over many years, keeping their team in the running every season.

If the Leafs truly wanted to position themselves as a team in search of multiple winning campaigns, their focus would be on whom to draft in the 4th and 5th rounds and developing said players, rather than rolling the dice for Tavares.

Maybe the Brian Burke era will do this, I don't know. But losing begets losing, and hoping to finish 14th instead of 10th does nothing to the morale of the young players in your locker room now who need to learn how to win and how to improve.

1 Down, 103 To Go

After Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs (a term so popular now, the acronym PED is commonplace), the greatest current baseball player admitted that, yes, this leaked report was correct, and yes, he took PED's while playing for Texas from 2001 to 2003.

A-Rod (or A-Fraud, or A-Roid, or just, you know...Alex) certainly has learned from his juiced predecessors. After a few hours of angst, the public and media largely forgave Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte and Jose Canseco for their admitted drug use. The reception for those players who have denied similar evidence, namely Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, hasn't been as receptive.

The question still remains, though: Why was Alex Rodriguez's name the only one of 104 from this list of "cheaters" that was leaked to SI? Why is pitcher/blogger Curt Schilling the only person bringing this up nationally?

There are 104 baseball players who took PED's before baseball make them illegal. It's time for the less-famous names to be released, so those who bemoan players like Bonds, Clemens, and now Rodriguez, will release steroid use in baseball was a wide-spread problem not limited to superstars.

Once that happens, maybe we can all move on.

It All Comes Down To This...

Cardinals vs. Steelers.

Whisenhunt vs. Tomlin.

Warner vs. Roethlisberger.

My accuracy in picking winners vs. reality.

Okay, so that last one isn't a storyline going into Sunday's Super Bowl (the 43rd of its kind), but with my 5-5 record in the playoffs, this pick will determine my success rate. Last year, I picked the Patriots to win, even though I desperately wanted them to lose - what with the cheating and all. And I was wrong - happily, I might add.

This year, I freely admit I am pulling for the Cardinals. How can you not cheer for a franchise as pathetic as this? The Cards make the Leafs look like a successful franchise when you look at their respective histories.

This is a team which hosted its first playoff game in 61 years this season, then hosted their second 2 weeks later.

This is a team with a quarterback who was left for retired 3 years ago and who wasn't the starter when training camp began.

This is a team with as many names before the word "Cardinals" as the Bills have AFC championships (Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, Arizona).

This is a team that won their last championship in 1947.

This is a team to root for.

But they are playing the Steelers, the epitomy of success in the NFL. With a 5-1 Super Bowl record, they are tied with the 49ers for most Lombardi trophies (although San Francisco is 5-0 in the big game). A win on Sunday cements Pittsburgh as the league's best team all-time.

A team that found a way to beat the Seahawks 3 years ago for this trophy, even with its quarterback having an awful game (after all, the most important throw in that game was by Antwan Randle-El).

This is a team that didn't do anything special all year, except win when it mattered.

So who will win?

My heart says Arizona. My head says Pittsburgh. I'll go with my head in the hopes, like last year, it is wrong.

Pittsburgh Steelers 30, Arizona Cardinals 24.

Record: 5-5

Will The Real NFL Champion Please Stand Up?

So, after 17 weeks of punishing regular season play and 2 weeks of playoffs, only 4 teams are left in the race for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

In the AFC, perennial favourites Pittsburgh host resurgent Baltimore in an AFC North battle which, like last week's Ravens/Titans game, will likely see the first team to hit 10 points win.

In the NFC, the most unlikely of matchups: The 6 seed Eagles, who needed the Bears and Bucs to lose on the last day (to the Texans and Raiders, no less) and to beat the Cowboys just to make the playoffs, visit the worst franchise in the history of professional football for the NFC Championship. The Arizona/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals franchise took 61 years in between hosting playoff games. They'll now host their second in three weeks.

I'm 4-4, so you have to be impressed with my consistency.

AFC - Ravens @ Steelers: In recent weeks, the Ravens have always seemed to find a way to win, but, with the Steelers winning both matchups this season, I think Baltimore will be hard pressed to knock out the Steelers. Steelers 16, Ravens 12.

NFC - Eagles @ Cardinals: Anyone who said these two teams would meet in the NFC title game at the beginning of the season, let alone when the playoffs began, was either very lucky or very good. Like these two teams, I'm going with the former. Arizona's strength all year has been their play at home, but the Eagles seem like a team of destiny. I planned to pick Arizona all week, but I'm changing my mind. Which never goes well... Eagles 27, Cardinals 23.

Record: 4-4

NFL Divisional Weekend

Okay, so 2-2 isn't all bad for my first round of predictions in a while (of the first round, no less), but I'd still like to improve that this weekend. Say, 3-1?

AFC

(6) Baltimore @ (1) Tennessee: Since the Titans lost at home to the Jets (which seems horrible looking back), Tennessee hasn't really shown themselves against a strong team. Baltimore, meanwhile, showed why defence wins championships. Yes, I still don't trust the Titans. Ravens 16, Titans 13.

(4) San Diego @ (2) Pittsburgh: As soon as the Colts were eliminated by the Chargers on Saturday night, I said to myself: Okay, so now it's the Steelers going to the Super Bowl. Even with Big Ben coming off a concussion and the last meeting between these teams being a 1 point game, I still like Pittsburgh. Steelers 17, Chargers 9.

NFC

(6) Philadelphia @ (1) New York: Say what you want about the Plaxico distraction, the slide down the stretch, and the difficulty of repeating as champs, but New York is still the league's best team, and I don't trust Philly to win 3 straight games against good teams. Giants 27, Eagles 19.

(4) Arizona @ (2) Carolina: The fact that one of these teams is guaranteed a spot in the NFC Championship game speaks to how far back these two were last year. But, alas, here they are. The Cards won't pull it off again, especially with the vaunted Panther running game and the fact that Arizona is horrible on the East Coast. Panthers 34, Cardinals 10.

Record: 2-2