I've got Baseball Fever....

....and the only prescription is more Cowbell! If that video was made available by NBC it would so be on this blog. Instead you get my picks and insights for the upcoming season.

For the Cardinals I expect an exciting, well played season of baseball. I like that we have a youth movement on our hands and I look forward to Wainwright, Rasmus and Ankiel establishing themselves as the next generation of Cardinals greats (clearly Wainwright is well on his way). But I think injuries will keep us well short of the playoffs. You can't take Carpenter and Mulder out of a rotation and expect a team to excel. Plus I feel Pujols elbow problem will land him on the DL at least once, if not off/on all season. Therefore my optimistic prediction for the Redbirds is a third place finish, although I will accept a fourth place standing as well. It will be fun, but not always a victory.

As for the rest of the league here are my playoff predictions:
NL
Philadelphia, Milwakee, Arizona and San Diego as my suprise wild card.
AL
Boston, Detroit, Seattle and Cleveland as my non-Yankee wild card.

World Series:
Detroit over Arizona.

The NL is hard to pick, but I really like the pitching staff of Arizona regardless of Randy Johnson. I think that team can put it together for a full season and grow as a team.

In the AL it was a tough choice between Detroit and Boston. Both teams look fantastic this season. But I put Detroit because I like their pitching more and because it would be great for the game. It was about 5 years ago Detroit lost almost 120 games. If they can turn it around and win there is hope for the Washingtons, Pittsburghs, Kansas Citys and Tampa Bays of the world. I want to see it happen.

Also, the Cubs will choke and it will be glorious. Play Ball!

Sheet of Futility

I love the first weekend of March Madness. If I could, I would watch 4 days of basketball. Usually I catch about 2 games a day, but with Holy Week and Easter this year I doubt I will get that many. But it's still one of the best sports weekends of the year.

For the first time ever I filled out two brackets (for an office pool). So I have my #1 bracket to share with you, or my Sheet of Integrity. I am really good at picking Final 4 teams, and not so great at picking the winner. Here it goes:

My Final 4 are North Carolina, Kansas, Texas and UCLA with North Carolina beating UCLA. Not very exciting, but I went with some solid picks. I can't show you my whole bracket, but some of my upset picks are Villanova in the sweet 16 and both Pitt and Purdue in the Great 8.

"Good Luck, to ME!"

Happy Green Day!

Today is the day when everybody is Irish. As someone with an entire side of a family that is Irish, let me tell you what it means to be Irish:
- You have several relatives with red hair. (Given)
- Family events involve consuming alcohol no later than 1pm (including big holidays)
- Funerals have more laughter than you would ever expect.
- You wear extra green on St. Patrick's day to prove your ethnicity.
- You own Notre Dame apparel because they are the Fighting Irish when in actuality you don't even know where the school is located.
- You have very pale skin and either turn red or orange in the sun.
- You are probably Catholic and therefore are probably related to a priest or a nun.
- You can't hold your alcohol, you just like to drink it.

There is your cheat sheet for the day. Enjoy! Since Green is the color of the day, here is the best Green Screen bit from Whose Line is it Anyways?

Here it goes again

Spring Training is in full swing, and I am excited. My prediction is that the Cardinals will play hard and play well, but still fall short of the post-season. We just don't have the overall talent to win consistantly enough. Throw in the Pujols is already hurting and I think we are a 4th place team. Let's have those Cards prove me wrong!

Spring training makes me think of all those players getting in shape. Exercise leads to treadmills. Treadmills lead to OK GO. Somehow this song feels like an apropriate spring training song.