Spring is in the Air

I think I have realized that after months of not writing, losing the ability to watch New York Yankees baseball games, the best thing I could do for myself is start writing again and letting my opinions show through. Besides, after a long winter of the Giants defense playing like a team of replacement players, spring training finally begins tomorrow with pitchers and catchers reporting.

To be honest, sports fans are currently in a weird time with football wrapping up, the Winter Olympics well under way, the stretch run of the basketball season intensifying, and the start of spring training. As the sports world collides we enjoy a time where there's always an exciting game to watch or news story to cover.

Since its my first post in months and a few potential new readers following this writing, I thought I'd use this forum to discuss some general thoughts about the current news in sports.

THE OLYMPICS

For some reason both the Summer and Winter Olympics always suck me right in. Even the small events such as curling get me excited and keep me entertained. At the same time, I wish we were still able to see college kids compete for their country such as the 1980 hockey team. It was teams like that which laid the groundwork for the Olympics today, unfortunately we will never experience another moment like fans did at Lake Placid.

THE NFL

With the dust settling from the Saints ride to their first Super Bowl, the focus of the entire league is on the the collective bargaining agreement and the possibility of an uncapped year next season. Although it can be debated whether this may or may not lead to inflated salaries around the league (see John Clayton's article on http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4915441), no one can dispute the impact this can have on the league. The NFL is the most popular professional league in the United States today; changing the CBA which helps maintain parity and upholds the competitive level in the league can only hurt the NFL, the owners, and the players who make their living off the league's popularity.

COLLEGE AND PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL

About 30 games left before the NBA Playoffs begin and its obviously shaping up to me a Lakers-Cavaliers final. Although the NBA executives may be hoping for this matchup, I'll go ahead and pick two surprise teams that could make noise this spring. In the East the Atlanta Hawks are am exciting squad that I believe could get hot and make a run at beating the Cavs. It was only a couple of years ago thhat they took the Celtics to seven games before Boston eventually won the title. By the way I'm completely aware that picking the Hawks is not much of a stretch, but I love the idea of them making a deep run into the playoffs and couldn't resist.

In the West, I will be rooting hard for Oklahoma City to be led deep into the playoffs by Kevin Durant but believe that they are still a year or two away. Since that is also the thoughts of many NBA analysts, I'll choose the San Antonio Spurs as my sleeper pick. Sure, it can be argued that since they are only one game behind Dallas in the Southwest Division that they should hardly be classified as a "sleeper." But, unlike my Atlanta pick which I believe many NBA fans would enjoy seeing, no one is picking the Spurs to make a run mainly because no one enjoys watching the Spurs in the playoffs. With Tim Duncan and his 19.4 points per game and 10.7 rebounds leading the way though I believe this team remains in a position to make one more deep playoff run before Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker are broken up.

SPRING TRAINING

My final thought of the evening is dedicated to the fact that pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, February 17. In my mind, this marks the beginning of Spring for all sports fans. Getting the baseball players down to Florida as they begin to prepare for the long season ahead means more to me than the true first day of spring (March 21 -- I believe) and Opening Day. It can only be celebrated with one early prediction before true preview articles are even drafted. In 2011 expect my New York Yankees to defend the world championship against the defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Creative? No. Bias? Of course. But the bottom line is that I believe each team will be able to pitch deep into games and will be protected by strong bullpens. Those traits are too good to bet against.