Quick post-mortem on UL, and Opening Day in MLB

First, UL's Elite 8 performance vs UNC last saturday night was all you could have wanted from this team. They played very well, only falling in the late minutes to a superior "team", in UNC, which had one of the best players in the nation making plays in those final minutes to take the Cards down.

I, for one, and many other UL fans have expressed similar sentiments, think this team did exceptionally well. If you had asked someone in January, after UL had dropped a home court game to lowly Cincinnatti, if UL would make the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, most people would have laughed. But at the end of the season, this team started putting all of the pieces together to have a very good run.

-----------------

Secondly, now that basekball is over, it is now "officially" Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Last night the Washington Nationals hosted the Atlanta Braves, and the Nat's won in a bottom of the ninth walk-off homer fashion, 3-2 over the Braves.

Today the Cubs take on intra-divisional rival Brewers.

Finally baseball is being played again.

As noted, in my other post about the NL Central, here is my prediction for the NL-East.

NL-East

This might be one of the best divisional races to watch come September, if everything works out right. The Mets have all of the talent and pitching staff, but BOTH the Braves and the Phillies have a ton of talent and all of the pieces to contend for the title.

For the Braves, I think their season will all hinge around "health". They, (like the Yankees), have a lot of veteran players that need to do it this year. I would not say this is a "do or die" year for the Braves, but it is close. Two key things for the Braves must happen though. They must get production out of Hamilton in their starting rotation, and Chipper Jones must stay healthy. Considering Jones has not had a full season healthy over the last few, the chances of that are slim. And unlike other NL divisions, a small losing streak in this division could end playoff hopes.

I think this division will come down to a fight, (just like last season), between the Phillies and the Mets. And honestly, I think with the off-season acquisition of Santana by the Mets, I will give the edge to the Mets. Unlike the Braves, while the Mets do have a few key veteran players, (like aging 1st baseman Carlos Delgado), they are not dependant on them for success.

So my pick for the NL-East champs is the NY Mets.

(note, I do think that the Phillies will end up with the NL-Wildcard spot.)