Forget the end of the world stuff.

But I have a feeling that 2012 might be the beginning of the end for baseball's current landscape. We heard stories this week about MLB "considering", however unlikely it is, some radical re-alignment plan that would allow teams to jump divisions depending on whether or not they hoped to compete that year. It'd didn't seem very logical, to be honest, and I'm going to hope that idea just sort of goes away. Of course, there is a more reasonable solution to the incredible difficulties team like the Orioles, Rays and Jays have - just balancing the schedules, letting all the teams in each league play each other equally, and just taking the best four records. But that, of course, would reduce the number of Yankees vs. Red Sox games that ESPN and Fox love, and hurt the chances the teams meet in the playoffs.

However, I don't think we're too far away from seeing MLB's hand forced a bit. 

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More photos » David Zalubowski - AP

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When someone tries to make predictions for the upcoming MLB, or any sport, season, a pretty common tactic is to simply take the division winners from last year and carry them forward to the title the following year unless they've taken some big hits to their roster.

That's why not many people doubt that the Phillies should repeat in the NL East. They've kept the core of their team from 2010, upgraded their ace, and likely will see an upgrade at third base (assuming that Placido Polanco's superior hitting makes up for Pedro Feliz' lost defense). By the same logic, it's why a lot of people are counting the Angels as underdogs in the AL West. They lost Chone Figgins, who was coming off such a strong season that he finished tenth in MVP voting, their staff ace John Lackey, and, though he may be declining, a slugger in Vladmir Guerrero.

With this in mind, it seems like it would be hard to argue against the St. Louis Cardinals heading to victory in the NL Central again. They'll still have Albert Pujols, the best hitter in the sport, at the center of the lineup, backed up by the re-signing of Matt Holliday, who destroyed the NL last season. Going with this, they'll sport one of the best 1-2 punch rotations in baseball, with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright.

The problem is, it sort of ends there. Outside of Pujols, they'll need to rely on Felipe Lopez to match his 2009 career-year, because the left half of their infield is nothing to write home about. Ryan Ludwick had a monster season two years ago, but fell down to earth in 2008. They'll have breakout candidate Colby Rasmus in CF, though outside of that, this is the team that will rely on a core of four players. They're four great, great players, without a doubt. But if any of them miss significant time due to injury or have a down-year, the Cardinals will be in jeopardy.

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More photos » Tony Ding - AP

Michigan is mobbed by fans rushing the court after Michigan defeated No. 15 Connecticut 68-63...theses fans have no idea they have broken several of Rick Reilly's Ironclad Rules.

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It's no secret that I am not a fan of Rick Reilly's column.  Each article he writes is like a 4th grade workbook exercise where you have to identify which phrases are similes and which ones are metaphors. No, I don't remember which is which, but I do see the irony that the previous sentence I wrote is one of the two.  I didn't always feel this way about Reilly, I was actually a big fan of his during his earlier days on the back page of SI...but something seems to happen to sports writers after a certain amount of time in the biz.  I think they become too jaded and unappreciative of their access and slowly begin to fall in love with their own font.  Or maybe it's just a byproduct of overexposure...as I've often held the belief that one man can only have so many opinions...and when you are constantly forced to opine, at some point you just start flipping a coin and saying whatever crazy shit pops into your head.  Much the way Peter King now fills his weekly column with equal parts NFL news, travel gripes, and nutmeg latte updates...Reilly seems like he's working from some sort of Dr. Seus-ian formula. (*Side note, if you've never read the KSK's weekly dissection of King's MMQB column you are missing the funniest read on the worldwide web. It's actually better if you're a MMQB regular so I recommend skimming the actual MMQB first then reliving the highlights on KSK.)

That intro paragraph was a long scenic route to my main point, which is that I whole heartedly disagree with Reilly's recent critique of sports fans rushing the court/field.  In this piece, Reilly introduces his "ironclad unbreakable rules for rushing the court" in which he demonstrates a complete misunderstanding for what it's like to be a true fan. In Rick's words "The win clinched your spot in the tournament? Big deal. Sixty-five teams make it. It's like making the white pages. Cheer from your seat."  Spoken like a true D-Bag that gets paid to opine about sports, yet doesn't appreciate how lucky he is. 

 According to Rick's "rules," you should not rush the court if the team you just beat was not in the top three...or if you've won a national championship within the last 20 years...and my personal favorite, you're a a University and you just beat a College.  I hope the students of Devry remember this rule if they ever beat Boston College to clinch a tournament spot.  The most boneheaded assertion is that if you're team won a national championship within the last 20 years, you can't rush the court...like some 19 UNLV year old freshman is going to refrain from rushing the court because UNLV won a championship before he was even born?  F- that.  Clearly, Rick has never had an authentic college field/court rushing experience.  To be honest, neither have I, but I have at least been close (Miami over FSU football 2000) when I attempted to rush the field but was clotheslined by a short stocky female security guard-stress.  The other 85,000 fans were scared off by the fact that the Orange Bowl had never lost a goalpost and 50 German Shepherds guarding the field.  I imagine that the moments leading up to a real "rush" are probably the most exciting in a person's entire life.  Essentially, 30,000 fans simultaneously experience the same thought process..."are we doing this?  Are we really doing this? F&#k yeah we're doing this, AHHHH!"  Is there anything more beautiful than jocks, nerds, goths, frat boys and band geeks all united by the same indiscernible yet clearly united purpose?  It's spontaneous, you can't control it...and if you resist, you actually risk your life...much like falling out of your raft in the midst of class five rapids. (simile) Reilly's latest piece makes it obvious that he doesn't remember what it like to be a fan.  Fandom isn't about logic or rules...there's nothing logical about a 300lb man spending half of his yearly salary on Jets season tickets so he can attend 8 games shirtless in sub-zero temperatures.  It's about devotion, it's about emotion...and there's no thought process involved in rushing the field, it just happens and you're either with it or underneath it.

The way Rick Reilly describes it, you'd think fans were organizing court rushing via Evite.  I think part of the problem is that Reilly is just desensitized by all of the amazing sporting events he attends without any real connection to the event.  The other issue, is that court/field rushing in this country is primarily a college phenomenon and to truly appreciate the experience, you have to be lucky enough to be in the right school at the right time...and also have tickets to the right game.  Not to mention, you're only a student for 4 years (or 8 in my case).  Reilly graduated the University of Colorado in 1981 and while the Buffs have accumulated 23 National Championships...17 are from skiing, 5 are from women's cross-country (not exactly fan faves) and one from football in 1990, long after Reilly attended as a student.

Clearly Reilly doesn't get it...but we want to hear it from people that do. The opportunity to rush anything is so rare and fleeting, I say anytime more that 20 people feel moved to migrate from their seats to the hardwood or the 50...they should go for it.  Screw it, I don't care if Valparaiso beats Johns Hopkins in an exhibition swimming match, if that gets your fan juices flowing ...then get in the damn pool and let the lifeguards sort it out.   Hit up the comments to tell us about your best and worst field/court rushing experiences.

UPDATE:for another take on Reilly's article check out the the Smoking Musket, our friend and respected WVU Mountaineer blog, http://www.smokingmusket.com/2010/3/3/1335167/rushing-the-court

Team USA dropped a friendly today in Amsterdam to the Dutch national team 2-1.  As a fan of the American team I wouldn't be too upset with the result, but I also wouldn't be ecstatic about the results.  

During the first 60 minutes of the match, the American attack lacked any kind of sustained buildup.  Often times the ball was kicked up to the front without any support available from the midfield.  Landon Donovan looked particularly disinterested and outside of Michael Beasley the starting midfield's performance was nondescript.  

Defensively while the U.S. didn't give up too many chances throughout the game they allowed way too much freedom to the Dutch midfield led by Wesley Sneijder.  Jonathan Bornstein's foul on Sneijder in the box at the end of the first half gave the Dutch a penalty kick which Dirk Kuyt converted with ease.  It's easy to blame Bornstein, but when you allow a team of the Netherlands' quality to hold on to the ball for extended periods of time eventually your defenders are going to make mistakes and you will be punished.  

In the initial phases of the second half it looked as if the U.S. would continue with their listless effort, but around the 60 minute mark they came to life, particularly when DaMarcus Beasley led the counterattack along his favored left wing.  His pace, ability to possess and control the ball and crossing gave the U.S. a much needed jolt as they started to put some pressure on the Dutch defense.  

Unfortunately Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar's shot took a deflection off of Bornstein and went past goalkeeper Tim Howard who was left helpless as the ball looped around him to give the Dutch a two goal advantage in the 73rd minute.  It was at this point that team USA started putting real pressure on the Dutch defense creating a number of set piece chances until one was finally converted by starting center back Carlos Bocanegra in the 89th minute.  

Jozy Altidore created a chance and came close to drawing the match in extra time after he split two defenders and took a shot from a little over 20 yards out from goal, but the shot was stopped by Maarten Stekelenburg.  It was nice to see an American player have a shot from distance, something that they don't do nearly enough.

All in all it was a good effort on a big stage in Europe, but in the end the U.S. simply lacked the ability to make the most out of their opportunities in the final third of the field and were dominated in the midfield for large parts of the match. They can take positives out of this match, like their ability to fight back in the end and give themselves a chance to draw the match, but falling behind and allowing opposing teams to dominate position is a dangerous game team USA continues to play when facing the world's best particularly on European soil.  

At this point team USA's best case World Cup scenario would see them advance out of the first round and then be eliminated in the first knockout round.  It's imperative that the team becomes more confident in it's ability to control the ball in the midfield and finish their chances when they present themselves.  99 days remain until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa and team USA is far from a finished product.

More photos » David J. Phillip - AP

"Oooooohhhhh - you thought I would let you off that easy?!?!?"

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No major surprises from today's ABC/ESPN poll getting fan's opinions of Tiger's recent press conference and his general image in the aftermath of what has to be one of the greatest falls from grace in sports history. Although it does look like he's finally beginning to dig himself out of the hole of public scrutiny and has a fighting chance to win the fans over again.

They surveyed 1,000 people and put the top answers on the board:

• 54% of respondents said they believed his apology was sincere
• 22% thought he was full of BS
• 39% had a "favorable" opinion of Tiger now
• 55% of fans area ready to "forgive" Woods
• 29% believe Elin should forgive her husband

While this is all a far cry from his 2008 "approval rating" of 88%, we were actually a bit surprised that the public sentiment was somewhat positive considering how low he had sank in the last few months.

The night you win a gold medal you can do whatever the f you want (besides murder)

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Who are these people that are always bitching?  Who is this invisible moral group that feel's that they should be the conscious of the world?  Whoever these people are they need to just stfu, I am talking about the people that decided to rain on the parade of the Canadian Women by complaining about the nature of their on ice celebration after winning the gold medal.  Who the hell cares if they drank champagne and took a couple of puffs of cigars in celebration of achieving a goal they worked for all of their lives?  News Flash they are adults and most adults celebrate achievements  by having a glass of champagne and having a good old time, hell, most people celebrate the end each workday of their lives by doing the exact same thing.  Not to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, but, who are these people?  Get real, get a life and keep your opinions to yourselves, why would you go and take away from their moment by bitching about their celebration?  I truly feel bad for those women who worked their butts off their entire lives just so that someone or some group could open their stupid trap and take away from their great accomplishment.  I think the whole thing reeks of sexism, I mean when that dumb oaf Mark Texeira straps on his goggles and douchely dumps champagne on Johnny Damon while A - Rod lays down on his back and catches the stream coming off his ass - nobody bitches.  These women should be pissed and they should never have given these people the satisfaction of apologizing, a straight middle finger would've done just fine. 

More photos » Paul Battaglia - AP

I have no idea who these old guys are - but I now know enough to be sure that they were'nt the ones playing today

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Although the USA came up short in its bid for hockey gold today, the final game of this OIympics proved to be one of the most exciting sporting events in recent years, and, possibly, a watershed moment for hockey in the United States. I personally could care less about hockey and was once in Calgary during a Stanley Cup Game 7 and spent most of the evening walking around the city looking for a restaurant that was open and not just full of people watching some game I didn't understand. That night I eventually broke down and saddled up to the bar to watch the final period, but I was still not sucked in.

I've been to a couple of games in person, sitting fairly close and up in a skybox and (despite what hockey fans always tell you), did not find it to be that much better live. Even through this Olympics I probably watched more speed skating than I did hockey, but as the excitement built up for the gold-medal game showdown, I started getting pumped and even broke out the 4th of July party supplies so that I could be fully decked out in red, white and blue. My wife, a dual-citizen (born in Canada, now American), attempted to root for both before eventually deciding her heart was with her motherland. We went to a local bar for the game with a group of friends and I was actually impressed with how many others had turned out to watch - particularly considering that we are in LA, not really a big hockey town. Another strong sign of the surprising interest, was that despite the Laker's playing a tight match-up against the other Western Conf powerhouse Denver Nuggets, the hockey took up all buy one TV in the bar (and that was some small 27 inch in the corner).

The game was fun and exciting - even for a total non-fan who cant even follow the puck. And clearly the end of regulation provided as great a singular sports moment as we've seen in a couple of years. I was remarking that the last time I recall being a bar that erupted that loudly on a single play late in a game was Chalmer's shot at the end of the Kansas - Memphis NCAA hoops title. While it was unfortunate to see Canada come back and win in OT, it was such a good game that when it was over the whole bar of Americans gave a solid round of applause for the performance.

I definitely wasn't enough to get me to go looking for Kings or Ducks tickets this week - and I certainly wont be surfing around for the Versus channel anytime soon. But, if the Stanley Cup goes 7 games this year, I probably wont go out of my way to avoid it... so I guess thats a step in the right direction for the sport of hockey as it looks to attract a larger US fanbase.

More photos » Chris O'Meara - AP

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Spring Training baseball games kick off in just a few days, which means we're about to get to really excited about players and performances that don't really matter. It's been proven on a bunch of occasions that Spring Training results have very little to do with what we see in the year ahead. That doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch the games, pour through the stats and guess what kind of impact they'll have on the season - just that it probably isn't the best tool to judge players.

I've been looking forward to a chance to make my predictions for the upcoming baseball year, and to avoid getting my mind mixed up with spring training excitement, I thought I'd beat it to the punch and give some of my guesses now, as a little prelude to Spring Training. I'll start today with the main single player awards, MVP and Cy Young.

I'm also going to avoid listing the incumbents in my predictions. It would just be too easy, and too likely, that Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Zack Greinke, and Tim Lincecum run away with the awards. So please, no hate-mail for excluding them! With that said, here are my predictions for the big award winners for MLB in 2010, with a couple of runners-up thrown in as well.

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