Brian's Monday Mayhem

It's funny how things change sometimes. All the years I spent as a fairly avid Duke fan, back in the days of Grant Hill, Johnny Dawkins, Bobby Hurley, and I guess, Christian Laettner, too, have given way to just simply rooting more for underdog teams, as well as just the teams closer to home. People can say all they want about the great run that a mid-major team put together, but if you ask Butler, they'll probably tell you they are extremely disappointed losing a game that they had every right to win, no matter who they were playing. Some say there is no such thing as a moral victory, while others will just simply say moral victories suck. Personally, I think they are only good for conversation pieces. Yeah, Butler's loss can qualify as a moral victory, but it's more of a moral victory for all the smaller schools and lesser known programs than for the Butler program itself. A couple of years from now, most people won't remember who lost this game tonight. At any rate, it was a great championship game, and I remember thinking that of all the #1 seeds in the tournament, Duke was the one that I just did not see even making the Final Four. Oh well, I may not follow Duke as closely as I used, but I do still like Coach K (a little more than others), so good for him.

Now on to the reason this Monday is my favorite day in the sports calendar - Baseball's Opening Day! Aside from the Twins loss at Anaheim, holy crap, is Albert Pujols a beast! I don't mean to sound shocked, but if I may make a prediction, (since we all know how good I am at doing that), I expect Pujols to hit at least 50 homers and drive in at least 140 runs this year, although I do wonder if people will finally start pitching to him the same way they pitched to Barry Bonds in the prime of his career. Dude is unbelievable!! Elsewhere, watching highlights, that Tim Lincecum is pretty good, too, but Roy Halladay will win the NL Cy Young this year. Also good to see Johan Santana get off to a good start. Ryan Howard will hit 50+ homers, too, but won't even touch Pujols in the MVP balloting. Zach Greinke looked pretty decent for the Royals, but oh, that ugly Royals bullpen looks like they'll be keeping all 3,000 Royals fans in a deep slouch in their seats this season. Cubs fans, are you sick of Carlos Zambrano yet? You will be! Anyone ever hear of Garrett Jones of the Pittsburgh Pirates? You will! Ditto Jason Heyward of the Braves. Anyone realize Bob Marley was playing for the Dodgers this year (actually his name is Manny). And for folks who cheer for regional baseball teams, as a Twins fan, I'm extremely excited for this year, but I'm also looking forward to the Rockies living up to expectations. I have seen several analysts picking the Rockies to not only win their division, but even the National League pennant. Baseball's underway - life is good again - let's have some fun!