Wold Golf Championship Standings

No, not the leader board of the actual tournament, the leader board of the pool. The points are 2, 4, 8, 16 for winners of the rounds leading up to the championship round. 25 for each Final Four winner, 40 for picking the third place winner and 50 for the overall champion. Here are the standings after round one:

1. Chris- 46 points (23-9)
1. Gail- 46 points (23-9)
1. Nate- 46 points (23-9)
4. Dan H.- 44 points (22-10)
4. Dan F.- 44 points (22-10)
6. John- 42 points (21-11)
7. Gaddis- 34 points (17-15)

Total Total Points which can be won by each player:

1. Gail- 46 points earned + 300 available = 346 possible
2. Dan F.- 44 points earned + 292 available = 336 possible
3. Chris- 46 points earned + 280 available = 326 possible
3. Gaddis- 34 points earned + 292 available = 326 possible
5. Dan H.- 44 points earned + 280 available= 324 possible
6. John- 42 points earned +272 available= 314 possible
7. Nate- 46 points earned + 235 available= 281 possible

I will try and update this after every round, but will be out of town this weekend, so my internet access will be limited.

AL Central

Ahh, the long awaited preview of the American League Central division. This is a division which has been dominated by the Minnesota Twins in recent years, and after signing ace Johan Santana, the Twins look for a fourth straight division title under manager Ron Gardenhire. Why shouldn't they, that's all he's given them. However, the Tigers, Indians, and White Sox all have a chance at the division as well. I'm not even going to give Kansas City a punchers chance because, they don't have one.

A few questions heading into the season for the division; will the Royals lose more games than last year, can the Twins use the same formula of playing hard, good defense, and one shut-down pitcher to another division championship, will the White Sox have the Contreras the Yankees thought they were getting, or the one they got, are the Tigers going to allow few enough runs in games to lean heavily on their stacked bullpen, and did the young Indians learn enough last year to finally move from rebuilding to contention? All of these questions will be answered this summer, but for speculation on how it will turn out, read on.

Simply click on one of the items to go directly to that column

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Final Standings

Previous Previews:

AL West

Minnesota Twins

Will Ron Gardenhire win his fourth straight division title? You'll have to keep reading to find out, but you'll probably realize what I think by the end of this column. The Twins won the Central crown last year with a 92-70 record, winning the division by 9 games. They will get a healthy Joe Mauer back and have their entire starting pitching rotation returning, including Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.Minnesota led the league in pitching last year and has a good shot at doing the same again this season.

Led by Santana (20-6, 2.61) the top four pitchers should turn in the same performances as last season. Brad Radke (11-8, 3.48), Kyle Lohse (9-13, 5.34), and Carlos Silva (14-8, 4.21) are all ready to go again this season in which their pitching will lead them to another title run. Joe Nathan is a qualified closere and should get plenty of chances to do so this season.

The Twins were 10th in the league in hitting last season, so the pitching needs to be in top form again. Joe Mauer should be solid behind the plate as he was looking before his injury. The outfield is one of the best in baseball with Shannon Stewart, Torii Hunter, and Jacques Jones patroling the Metrodome turf. Lew Ford is also more than adequate as a back up outfielder. With the outfield and their defense, hitting, and speed returning, the questions about the team surround the infield. Doug Mientkiewicz and Corey Koskie are both gone, as is their excellent defense. Second year man Justin Morneau will be the first baseman and the hot corner will be tamed by Michael Cuddyer. The Twins will find out if the defense on the corners will hold up well enough to keep pressure off the pitchers and offense. Luis Rivas will start at second base and do fine, but the shortstop position is up for grabs and will be a question mark for the team this season.

A fourth straight division title is well within the reach of the Twins, it will be up to the pitching, and the stacked outfield to deliver it.

Kansas City Royals

Let's see, the Royals had the worst record in the league last season at 58-104, the third worst offense, worst pitching, and second most errors in the league last season. How have they looked to improve these stats? They signed Jose Lima, Kevin Appier has been invited to Spring Training, Terrence Long, and Eli Marrero were brought in to solidify the outfield and the starting third baseman will either be Mark Teahan, Chris Truby, or Chris Clapinski.

Another year of being in the cellar is in store for Kansas City.Good things going for the Royals this season are the depth at first base and solid middle infielders. Mike Sweeney, Ken Harvey, and Carl Pickering are all more than serviceable at this position, throw in emergency first baseman Matt Stairs and they are the deepest team in the league at first. Shorstop Angel Berroa and second baseman Tony Graffanino are both solid defensive players and should continue to show improvement in their offensive skills this season.

The pitching rotation is quite... well... weak. They have three starters pretty much in place, Zack Grienke (8-11, 3.97), Runelvys Hernandez, and Jose Lima (13-5, 4.07). After this it's a toss up between guys like the veteran Appier and rookie Denny Bautista, it's not looking good for KC.Losing Carlos Beltran in the offseason was going to happen, so the trade in July wasn't surprising. What may be surprising is how bad the team is going to be this year without him, and not having the prospects to replace him. Make a lot of other plans Royals fans, it's going to be a long season.

Detroit Tigers

After finishing in fourth place with a 72-90 record last season, the Tigers improved the bullpen a bit this year by trading for former Cub Kyle Farnsworth and signing free agent closer Troy Percival. Already having Ugueth Urbina in the pen will make this team hard to score on after the starters wear down. The Tigers will once again look to catcher Ivan Rodriguez for leadership and are hoping new addition Magglio Ordonez will produce runs necessary to put the bullpen in position for a lot of saves.

The pitching staff was ranked second last in the league last season and didn't grab another starting pitcher in the off season. Not even having Jeremy Bonderman ranked fourth in the league in strikeouts per nine innings helped this staff last season. The returning starters; Bonderman (11-13, 4.89), Jason Johnson (8-15, 5.13), Gary Knotts (7-6, 5.25), Mike Maroth (11-13, 4.31), and Nate Robertson (12-10, 4.90) don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of opponents, but all they have to do this season is get to the seventh inning before handing the game over to Farnsworth, Urbina, and Percival.Rodriguea, Dmitri Young, Bobby Higginson, Ordonez, and Carlos Pena will try to improve a middle of the pack offense this season to get games to the bullpen.

Alex Sanchez will provide speed at the top of the lineup and will steal a lot of bases to get into scoring position for the big bats. Rodriguez was fourth in the league in batting average last season and doesn't look at all like he'll fall from the top of his game. The Tigers are a talented team and are a little bit older than the Indians. The new stadium in Detroit could finally produce a consistent winner this season, if only the stacked bullpen would matter.

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians finish last season in third place with an 80-82 record. Not bad for a team which has been rebuilding for only 3 short seasons. If the record is to improve and the Indians are to be serious contenders, the young talent which was seen for much of last season will have to do better this season and for the entire year (instead of fading in August with another 8 game losing streak).

The team will have 2 everyday players 30 years or older, a young team with loads of talent; this could be one of the more dangerous teams in the division as they try to get back to winning the division year after year like it was the 90's again.The Indians' pitching staff is completely intact from last season and they may even get Jason Bere back regularly for the first time in two seasons.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, they ended just infront of the White Sox for fifth worst in the league in pitching last season. Jason Davis (2-7, 5.51), Scott Elarton (3-11, 5.90), Cliff Lee (14-8, 5.43), C.C. Sabathia (11-10, 4.12), and Jake Westbrook (14-9, 3.38) are all back. Westbrook had the third lowest era in the league and Sabathia is one of the best young pitchers around, but everyone else will need to bring the eras down a bit for the Indians to be taken seriously. Bere may indeed be back with the club by the end of Spring Training, but needs to show he still has Major League Stuff. Their oldest starting pitcher is 28 and staff ace C.C. Sabathia is only 23. Talent is one thing, experience is another. After last season's losing streak to take them out of contention, this team has to have learned a few lessons.

One of the hottest Spring Training competitions will be in Chain of Lakes Park in Florida, and will take place between Alex Cora and Jhonny Peralta to see who will replace Omar Vizquel at shortstop. Peralta is younger and is expected to take the starting job for the season. The infield will also have all-star Ronnie Belliard and former Red Sox killer Aaron bleeping Boone is healthy and ready to be a solid third baseman again. Coco Crisp is one of the best young outfielders in the game, his speed and athleticism allow him to catch up to any ball hit towards him and will lead to runs for the Indians on the offensive end. The team will flank Crisp with Jody Gerut and the ageless power hitting Juan Gonzalez. Designated hitter Travis Hafner looks to improve a 2004 season in which he was number two in the league in OPS, and hit .311 with 28 home runs and 109 rbi. The offense was ranked fifth in the league last year. They should be right around the top five again this year and if the team era comes down half a point to a point, this team won't get worn down by the summer heat again and will be warming up fans well into September.

Chicago White Sox

One season ago the White Sox finished in second place with a 83-79 record; 9 games behind division winner Minnesota. Ozzie Guillen is entering his second year as the White Sox Head Coach and will do it without Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee, but will be with Scott Podsednik, Orlando Hernandez, a lot of speed, and hopefully a healthy Frank Thomas. Without the power hitters Ordonez and Lee in the middle of the lineup, Guillen and the Sox will rely heavily on their ability to manufacture runs through "small ball"; advancing runners by stealing, sacrifices, and bunts.

The pitching staff is pretty much the same as it was at the end of the season minus Scott Schoeneweiss and plus Hernandez. Having Freddy Garcia (9-4, 4.46), Jose Contreras (5-4, 5.30), Mark Buehrle (16-10, 3.89), and Jon Garland (12-11, 4.89) back may not be a positive thing for a team which had the 4th worst pitching in the league last year with a combined 5.13 era. Losing run producing hitters will put more pressure on a staff which didn't exactly shut down opposing offenses last season. Adding Orlando Hernandez (8-2, 3.30 with the Yankees last season) should help, but only if he can make it through an entire season healthy. He has suffered in the past with "dead arm". This is a condition which pitchers sometimes go through where the arm is simply constantly fatigued. It is obviously not a good thing for pitchers to go through and Hernandez has suffered with this affliction for the past few seasons and has needed time off in each. A healthy and improved staff would go a long way to helping the Sox get closer to the division crown, but don't count on this happening.

The offense was a highlight of the 2004 White Sox, but after losing Ordonez and Lee, don't expect Chicago to be number 3 in the league in hitting again in 2005. They will be able to manufacture runs better than last year's club, but won't score more runs. The team has two serviceable catchers in Ben Davis and A.J. Pierzynski and both with see playing time. The outfield is full of speed with Scott Podsednik, Aaron Rowand, and Jermaine Dye roaming the grass. Podsednik's defensive liability and less-than-strong arm with be less exposed in left with less ground to cover. His speed should make up for his defensive lapses of the past in center field. Paul Konerko will join Frank Thomas as being the heavy hitters in this lineup. Both players will be looked towards to knock in the runners who get on and move up the bases infront of them. Konerko and Thomas need to produce in order for the White Sox to truly take advantage of their speed.

The Sox aren't rebuilding this year in the traditional sense of slashing payroll, but they kind of are because they are going to change to way they play the game. Gone are the days of balls rocketing out of U.S. Cellular Field, here come the days of players rocketing around the bases. We'll see which is more successful.

AL Central Final Standings

1. Twins 88-76
2. Indians 83-79
3. White Sox 80-82
4. Tigers 75-89
5. Royals 55-107

Accenture Match Play Golf Championship

This weekend on the PGA Tour schedule is the match play world championships. Tiger Woods is the two time defending champion in the event which was scheduled to start today. However, because of torrential rains in California the first round is not to begin until tomorrow. If you can't hold off the bracket madness until March, Sportsline.com has printable brackets for the field of 64 here. Or if you would like to fill one out for the pool put on by Our Turn Next; post a comment with your email address and Gaddis or I will send you a bracket you can fill out and send back to one of us. Also, check back on March 13th or 14th for the first ever Our Turn Next NCAA Pool.

-Until next time...

All- Stars, Fast Cars, and More

If this weekend was any indication, when the two founders of this site get together, there will most certainly be good music, good food, good company, good beer, and good sports. Getting to the bar 10 minutes after eating, Gaddis, Janke, and I spotted a table near the television and Gaddis changed the channel to the Skills and Dunk Contests. The $10 we pumped into the juke box lasted us all night and the All-Star festivities kept us entertained.

Josh Smith may have single-handedly resurrected the Dunk Contest after his outstanding dunks and winning the contest hands down over Amare Stoudamire. Apparently the first dunk Smith did was even better because of the history of the dunk. Gaddis informed us, "You don't understand the history of that dunk. Dr. J did it first in 1981 and that led to Jordan doing it and everyone else. It's a great dunk." An amazing stat from an encyclopedia of this kind of knowledge. There were times during this contest I actually turned away from the table and put down my beer to watch these guys dunk. Smith had I believe 3 perfect scores which is outstanding in this contest. Stoudamire had some nice trys and his teamwork with Nash was excellent. Chris Andersen needs to realize if his dunk doesn't work the first seven times, it probably isn't going to work and even if it does, you aren't going to get many points. You really need to have a back-up plan, because watching him fail for 10 minutes was painful. If Josh Smith and J.R. Smith and some of these younger guys keep entering this contest and work on their dunks before the weekend, it could be the showcase of the weekend it once was.

While we were at the bar we decided we would watch the Daytona 500 on Sunday before the All-Star game. Gaddis and I seriously watched the whole thing. Well, I was reading the paper and was online almost the entire time, and Gaddis fell asleep on and off throughout the entire race. He did wake up in time to see the final three laps, so I guess that's good enough, because really that's all you need to see. I don't know how people can watch races start to finish and actually be entertained the whole time. People can't understand how I can watch golf and be entertained, so I am not putting NASCAR fans down, I just don't understand it and probably never will. When Jeff Gordon passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. on what the 196th lap, the announcers didn't even notice it right away. They kept going on and on about Jr. and what a race he was having. I saw Gordon take the lead and they were still talking about Jr, but then suddenly they realized about 20 seconds later that Earnhardt wasn't even in the lead anymore. There were also features of the telecast like "crank it up" when the viewers are supposed to turn up their televisions or surround sound to hear the cars better, or every pit interview, just unecessary for the telecast. Although only televising 200 laps of a race would be bad, they need some other features.

After the race was over we watched Duke/Wake Forest. This was quite an intense game and J.J. Redick had one of the best games of his career. It was an important win for the Blue Devils who had lost 2 in a row and still have to play at Georgia Tech and North Carolina. Many people had been doubting Duke after dropping those 2 and 4 out of their last 7 but you have to remember this team (like the Yankees) judges itself on how it does in the postseason. They have a great coach and great guards, two things you need in the tournament. They could do very well in March and will probably make at least the Sweet 16. I was also quite impressed as I usually am with Wake Forest, by the way they came back to make the game close in the final 2:00 of the game. Chris Paul is just an outstanding player and had the Demon Deacons playing tough right to the end. His ability to get to the rim late in the game showed us the suspect interior defense of the Blue Devils again (just like Raymond Felton two weeks ago). I still think Wake Forest will end up in St. Louis, but can't see them winning it all.

The All-Star game was the final viewing for the weekend, and it was okay. I wasn't too thrilled about the game, kind of just had it on in the background and we were flipping between that, The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, and Boston Legal almost the entire time it was on. I didn't understand why the pregame show was so long, but oh well, good thing cartoons were on. Saw the ending, thought the game lacked any kind of intesity, but how much can you really expect from an exhibition game? My favorite part of the game was the dunks by McGrady and Carter.

Other than that, the UWM game was nice to have on at the restaurant, and they had a big win. Marquette beat a good DePaul team, but needs a Conference USA tournament championship to make the field of 65 at this point.

-Until next time...