Fearless Predictions

It's the opening of baseball season and it's time for my fearless predictions for this years campaign. As I do every year, I predict that this will be the year the Pittsburgh Pirates win it all!
-
No, I'm not crazy. I grew up in a coal mining town 60 miles from the golden triangle, and I always pick the Pirates. Seriously, there are two types of baseball fans; those that stand by the team they first followed and those who switch allegiances. It may not make sense, but I'm a do or die Pirate, Steeler, Penguin, Penn State, Pitt and West Virginia fan.
-
Alas, my more rational side can only hope for a Pirate revival. The sad fact is, that baseball's business structure has reduced the game to a handful of true major league teams, united with a whole host of other teams that exist as super farm systems for the Yankees, Red Sox and a few others. Unlike, say the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pirates don't even make an attempt to juggle the buying, selling, and keeping of talent for some sort of run at a championship. I used to think that the worst thing that happened to the game was French philosopher, Jacques Barzun's theory that to understand America it was necessary to understand baseball. Barzun made it acceptable for all those aspiring intellectuals, looking to Europe for some sort of validation to burden a rather simple and pleasurable pastime with one pretentious pronouncement after another. Of course, that was before I saw several decades of the destructive influence of George Steinbrenner and the evil empire in New York. With out further ado, my true predictions for the season.
-
AL East. I hate to write this, but the New York Yankees on top. The American League wild card will be the Boston Red Sox, though the Tampa Bay Rays have an outside shot to over take an aging Boston team for the wild card.
-
AL Central. The Minnesota Twins. The Twins are lucky to be in a division dominated by small market teams.
-
AL West. The Los Angeles Angels. I'm tempted to pick the Mariners, mostly because they are a good, but not great team and I'm a huge Chone Figgins fan, but the Angeles, while far weaker than last year, still have a strong core of players and the money to go out and add more talent.
-
NL East. The Philadelphia Phillies are so obviously the cream of the division, that there isn't even a point in thinking about a real challenge to their supremacy. Look for Atlanta to take the wild card. I really, really hate the Braves.
-
NL Central. The St. Louis Cardinals, like the Phillies dominate their division. Look for the Chicago Cubs to plummet, as the curse continues. As for my Pirates. They won't finish last.
-
NL West. If it wasn't for the McCourt divorce, I'd have not problem picking the Dodgers. If the Dodger owners can keep their marital problems out of the club house, which I doubt, the Dodgers could still win the west, but if not, it's the Colorado Rockies.
-
World series, Phillies over Yankees.
-
This morning, I was watching some of Tiger Woods press conference, and it got me thinking. Political revolutions are usually accompanied by social revolutions. Part of the social revolution that went with the Reagan era was a fascination with wealth and privilege. Is the return of consequence part of the Obama era? John Edwards, Tiger Woods, and the completely inconsequential Jesse James are all getting raked over the coals for indiscretions that, on the surface, would seem to be fairly minor scandals. Edwards, because he stressed his family man credentials during his presidential run, could be charged with a certain level of hypocrisy, but Woods and James are just fairly common rich guys with a straying libido. Are people just plain tired of the rich and famous getting away with things? I'm predicting that Tiger wins the Masters, well, mostly because he's the only golfer I know. I mean, who in their right mind would watch golf?
-
Because I love cycling, I'm calling the Tour of California for Levi Leipheimer. And the Tour de France; Astana isn't a strong enough team to put Alberto Contador in yellow, and Lance is getting up there in age. If it's between those two, I'll go with Lance just because Team Radio Shack, provides a stronger supporting cast. Look for a new winner.
-
I'm rooting for Butler, but if I had to put money on it, I'd pick Duke. As a matter of fact, I'd take Duke and give points. And if anyone tells me they picked Butler for the finals, I won't call them a liar, but I will ask for proof.