April Will Be a Month to Watch

April will be a busy month to watch whatever sport you are interested in. Today March 4 will be the final four in NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Since three of the four teams are number one seeds and then there is Michigan State who are quite familiar with the final four though there were not ranked near the top. I have said before I am rooting for them to make the upset today as they go against Duke. Kentucky will face off against Wisconsin. To make the final four memorable will be for both games to real close and go down to the wire for the winners. Whoever wins today should make the final championship game on Monday April 6 an exciting matchup.

Baseball season begins this week starting tomorrow with the St.Louis Cardinals facing the Chicago Cubs. This may be the biggest rivalry in baseball unless you are Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankee fans who would consider themselves the biggest rivalry or the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. This year though things could be different some so called experts say the World Series could be between my home team the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals. This would be different and exciting for baseball because the Mariners and Nationals are the only two teams that have never played in a World Series.

It has been more than a decade since the Mariners have been in the playoffs though they just missed out by one game last year. Though a lot of the national media believe they can do it the Mariners themselves are just looking to go one step at a time by getting into the playoffs. If they do make the playoffs they will be dangerous having one of the top pitching staffs in baseball, and it is pitching that wins championships. Also, it is the reason the Nationals are favored to get into the World Series as well because of their pitching. They are another team with very good pitching. What makes baseball interesting is that it is like a marathon with a very long season so we could see a team come out as a surprise. The key is to start out with a very good April. It does not guarantee anything; however, it does not hurt at all. Injuries and poor seasons by key players could take a team that is expected to win to one that is not in the running for the playoffs.

Speaking of playoffs the NBA and NHL start their playoffs within the next two weeks. Though I am not a big fan of either I am sure the diehard fans will be excited to see how far their favorite team goes. The NBA is not quite the league it once was when I was a fan. I became very disinterested when the Seattle Sonics left for Oklahoma. In fact sport talk radio in Seattle they do not talk much about the NBA except when will there be another team coming to Seattle. I hope to see another team within the next five years. I may be interested then if the NBA does not become worse in the meantime.

A couple years ago while I was down in Arizona to spend time with cousins and going to the Seattle Mariners spring training games I got a chance to see my first hockey game between Vancouver Canucks and the Phoenix Coyotes. First thing I learned is that hockey fans are fanatic and passionate in the same way soccer fans are as well. Though both sports are low scoring usually a 1-0 can be exciting to those who enjoy either sport. So I am sure every hockey fan will be digging in their heels during the NHL playoffs. Most likely you will know a hockey fan they will have no voice left after the game.

So I end this by saying let the games begin and let the best teams win unless we are looking for some upsets.