It is a Great Day in Sports

My hand might suffer a little carpal tunnel tonight as I will be furiously switching between the NCAA National Championship and the Twins Season Opener. These are the days where I wish I had two TVs in the same room.

National Championship

If you watched UNC play MSU in Ford Field in Dec. 3rd in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, you had two thoughts. North Carolina is unbeatable and will walk to a national title and MSU will not be back to Ford Field. Well, UNC has proven throughout the season that they can be beaten and MSU has clubbed and clawed it's way into a rematch.

Why UNC will win: They are far and away the most talented team in the NCAA. This team doesn't even rely or use Hansborough that much this year. This team when it focuses can beat any team by 20 points. They are determined to win after all coming back to avenge last year's loss to Kansas.

Why MSU will win: They are the most underrated 2 seed in the history of the tournament. People are acting as if this is some Cinderella story but they are a 2 seed and if they had won the Big Ten tournament they would have been a 1 seed. This team can play fast and they can play slow. They will outrebound any team by 15. This team played UNC before without Goran Suton who has been an absolute force this tournament and should be able to control Hansborough. This team has a decided home field advantage and plenty of momentum.

Who will win: Teams have overlooked MSU all tournament only to get smacked in the mouth. UNC will not be overlooking them but they have to be thinking they are overwhelming favorites after beating them in December. The difference comes down to two things. One is the coaching, Roy Williams is a good coach and a great recruiter, but Tom Izzo is a wizard. He has outcoached Bill Self, Rick Pitino and Jim Calhoun this year. Williams is just not the game coach that Izzo is. The other difference is defense. UNC has faced this team before but they are a completely different team with Suton in the game. They will be a tougher defense than UNC has seen all year and the one UNC weakness is that they are a little soft. If MSU starts out hot and gets a lead this could be a magical night in Detroit.

Michigan St. 75, UNC 71

Opening Day

One of the best days of the year will only be diminished by the Dome for one more time. That said there is plenty of excitement surrounding the 2009 Minnesota Twins. This should be a great game with the duel between Felix Hernandez and Liriano. Seattle might steal this game due to Hernandez but the Seattle Lineup with out Ichiro is a joke. Here are the opening day lineups:

Minnesota
LF Denard Span
2B Alexi Casilla
RF Michael Cuddyer
1B Justin Morneau
DH Jason Kubel
3B Joe Crede
CF Carlos Gomez
C Mike Redmond
SS Nick Punto

Seattle
LF Endy Chavez
CF Franklin Guetierrez
DH Mike Sweeney
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Ken Griffey Jr.
2B Jose Lopez
1B Russell Branyan
C Kenji Johjima
SS Yuniesky Betancourt

Every one is looking at Young sitting and trying to read into it and make something out of it. Someone had to sit in the first game and it was Delmon Young. That being said I'm not surprised it is Delmon Young. Gardenhire loves Cuddyer and I see Gardenhire giving him all the chances in the world. I would guess it is going to be a lot of rotating and I would expect Young will be in the lineup on Tuesday. In place of who in the lineup I have no idea but this thing should play itself out that by the middle of June we will have three regular starters in the outfield and the odd man out.

If You Weren't Excited About Opening Day Enough

You have even more reasons to be pumped about Monday's opening day. Due to Scott Baker being put on the DL as a precaution, Twins fans will be treated to a matchup of Francisco Liriano versus Felix Hernandez. The Franchise versus King Felix. Two of the youngest and brightest stars in the Majors will get the season off with a bang. I have never wished for a weekend to end as much as this weekend. 2009 is about to go down and it should be an exciting and possibly great season, and Liriano versus Felix is the perfect way to kick off the season.

#26 Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners
Last Year: 61-101 Last in AL West
This Year: Last in AL West

Last year the Mariners entered the season with great expectations. They had added Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva to a team that finished 88-74. They were hoping to contend with the Angels for the division title. It all unraveled very quickly. Bedard was never healthy, Silva threw batting practice for the opponent, and Richie Sexson became a joke batting .218 and they ended up with 101 losses. This year does not figure to be an improvement as they lost Raul Ibanez and J.J. Putz, and Ichiro is not getting any younger. They added Ken Griffey Jr. in a move to draw a crowd not to win games. They are in serious rebuilding mode.

Opening Day Lineup w/Projections
RF Ichiro Suzuki .321 6 HR 42 RBI 36 SB
2B Jose Lopez .291 19 HR 92 RBI
3B Adrian Beltre .271 25 HR 85 RBI
1B Russell Branyan .241 14 HR 57 RBI
CF Franklin Gutierrez .258 15 HR 53 RBI
DH Jeff Clement .247 15 HR 52 RBI
LF Ken Griffey Jr. .245 14 HR 62 RBI
C Kenji Johjima .259 9 HR 44 RBI
SS Yuniesky Betancourt .284 9 HR 57 RBI

Rotation
RHP Felix Hernandez 12-12 3.32 ERA 183 K
LHP Erik Bedard 9-13 3.79 ERA 184 K
LHP Jarrod Washburn 5-9 4.78 ERA 104 K
RHP Carlos Silva 4-16 5.97 ERA 73 K
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith 6-9 4.15 ERA 104 K

CP RHP Mark Lowe 4.47 ERA 19 SV 55 K

Best Case Scenario: Bedard stays healthy and both he and Hernandez have Cy Young caliber seasons. Jeff Clement comes into his own and becomes the cleanup hitter. Ichiro fights off aging and produces as only Ichiro can. Either Mike Morse or Wladimir Balentien take over the corner outfield spot so the Mariners don't have to run Griffey out there. The team wins 70 games.

Worst Case Scenario: Bedard sneezes putting him on IR for the season. They have to use Carlos Silva every 5th day. The team's batting average is .245 and they have to keep Russell Branyan as the clean-up hitter. This team losses 100 games again.

Player Most Important to Success: Brandon Morrow. He is very similar to Joba Chamberlain. The team can not figure out what to do with him. Last year he was in the bullpen and filled in as a closer very well. Early indications is that they are trying to make him a starter this year. He has very good stuff. If he can find his role as a starter and give the team a solid 3rd starter this team can be a decent team. If he struggles with his role similar to Chamberlain last year this team will be in trouble and they lack any pitching depth behind Hernandez and Bedard.

Outlook: This team has two top-notch starters. It is hard to imagine that Hernandez is still only 22 years old and he has already thrown 666 innings. It is a shame he has to spend it on this Seattle team that will offer very little in support. If you have Russell Branyan in the 4-hole and relying on Ken Griffey to provide offense you are not in good position. This team is full of guys who will struggle to hit .250 and that does not lead to a lot of victories especially considering none of them are going to hit 30 home runs. It is also likely that Seattle will continue to rebuild trading Beltre and maybe Bedard if he healthy and effective. It will be a long season in Seattle.