Spring is finally here! With spring comes flowers, green grass and sunshine, but it also brings us my favorite sporting events. Major League Baseball begins with the New York Yankees defending their World Series Championship. Every other team will try to chase the Yankees. Will this year’s surprise team be the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs or Cincinnati Reds? Will an underdog like the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays or Minnesota Twins have a big year?
The first major golf tournament of the year, The Masters, is played at beautiful Augusta National and people are wondering if there will be another Grand Slam winner.
The NHL playoffs begin and this year the Pittsburgh Penguins will defend the Stanley Cup or the challengers will come from a list that includes the Detroit Red Wings, the San Jose Sharks, the Chicago Blackhawks or the Boston Bruins.
The NFL Draft takes place this year over a three-day period with every team trying to take the Super Bowl trophy from the New Orleans Saints. Will the Arizona Cardinals survive Kurt Warner’s retirement and challenge again or will it be the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets or Seattle Seahawks with their new USC head coach? Will Brett Favre come back and lead the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl or will he retire? Can Peyton Manning finally lead the Indianapolis Colts back to the big game? Will Peyton’s little brother Eli be able to get the New York Giants out of the crowded division with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins under his new coach?
Spring is also the beginning of the long college football season with each team having their spring game. Can Alabama repeat as NCAA national champions with the return of their Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram? The list of challengers is long every year as they are all undefeated at the moment. Will the winner come from the Big Ten’s Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan’s Wolverines, Michigan State’s Spartans or maybe the Iowa Hawkeyes or Purdue Boilermakers will finally get over the hump? Can new Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly bring them back to respectability? Will Florida get over the loss of Tim Tebow to challenge Alabama or will the Georgia Bulldogs or LSU Tigers finally make it to the top of the SEC? Will the battle for Big 12 supremacy include the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, or will Nebraska have a big year?
This is also when the NBA playoffs begin and everyone will be chasing the Los Angeles Lakers. Will they repeat or will the Lebron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers overtake the Boston Celtics and win it all? Will the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat kick him off at the right time?
Like I said, this is the best time of year to be a sports fan! I almost forgot to add that the Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May with only about 100,000 people in attendance. People love their ponies, don’t they?
Much will be decided in the sports world in the coming months, so stay tuned!