Don’t look now, sports fans, but summer’s coming, which means even more stories from the games we’ve come to know and love. Here are the five stories that this week has produced in the world of sports:Prepare to Play Ball! – Get ready baseball fans: we are a few days away from the start of Major League Baseball across the National and American League. Even though the Athletics vs. Mariners two-game series in Japan this week officially opened the season, the action doesn’t really get going on this side of the pond until the Cardinals and Marlins face off on Wednesday at 7:05. With the season nearly upon us, it’s time to take a look at my predictions on the final standings and how the playoffs will go:

AL

West

Angels 91-71
Rangers 87-75*
Mariners 75-87
Athletics 69-93

Central

Tigers 88-74
Twins 85-77
Indians 81-81
Royals 79-83
White Sox 77-85

East

Yankees 97-65
Rays 90-72*
Blue Jays 86-76
Red Sox 82-80
Orioles 72-90

NL

Central

Reds 89-73
Cardinals 87-75*
Brewers 86-76
Cubs 78-84
Pirates 73-89
Astros 67-95

East

Phillies 95-67
Marlins 88-74*
Braves 84-78
Nationals 79-83
Mets 74-88

* denotes Wild Card

Wild Card: Rays over Rangers, Marlins over Cardinals

Divisional Series: Yankees over Tigers and Angels over Rays, Phillies over Giants and Reds over Marlins

Championship Series: Angels over Yankees, Phillies over Reds

Word Series: Phillies over Angels in six games

An article with more details on the upcoming season, including award winners and managerial changes, will be posted next week.

Do You Believe in Magic? – The Los Angeles Dodgers ownership fiasco now appears to be over with for good, as the group headlined by Magic Johnson has bought the team for a whopping $2.15 billion. While some economists have called the amount the group paid for the team outrageous, the deal’s importance for Major League Baseball is summed up by ESPN’s Buster Olney’s tweet following the deal, which said “Magic’s group winning bid for Dodgers might be greatest stroke of fortune for baseball since distance of 90 feet between bases occurred.” Magic Johnson is a legend in the Los Angeles sports world, and while it may have been due to a sport other than baseball, you can bet that it will fire up the city to support the Dodgers again. Ticket sales have already increased dramatically in the first week following the announcement, making it appear as if Dodger blue will be trending in stadiums across the country this season. An increase in fan support will then result in a greater trust by the owners and the upper management in signing big-time free agents in the offseason, which I predict will lead to the team snagging Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels among a few others en route to a divisional championship in 2013, the team’s first since 2009.

Bryant Benched/Huddle Gate – Bless Lakers head coach Mike Brown’s heart, it just seems like he can never get things going his way in his first season in LA. First he had to replace one of the greatest head coaches in league history in Phil Jackson, then his team was labeled “too old” to win in the cutthroat Western Conference, then his players openly criticized his choice of offense, and now he is taking heat for benching star Kobe Bryant in the team’s 102-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. While Bryant was unhappy with his coach’s decision and wasn’t shy about commenting, I believe that stars should not be untouchable and that sometimes calling out a player is just what is needed. Brown did what was needed to in his given situation; a coach that did not do such was Orlando’s Stan Van Gundy, who allowed franchise forward Dwight Howard to avoid joining the huddle late in the team’s 108-86 loss to the Knicks. Howard is considered the leader of the Magic at this point in time, so for him to flake on just acting like he was interested in playing the game is pathetic. If I’m Van Gundy, I suspend Howard for the next game just to prove the point that the name on the uniform that really matters is the one located on the front, not the one on the back.

Final Four Fight It Out – The Final Four of the NCAA Tournament face off this weekend in New Orleans in what is sure to be a pair of two exciting games. The Saturday game is a Bluegrass State Battle between bitter rivals Kentucky and Louisville that pits two of the top coaches in college basketball, John Calipari and Rick Pitino, against each other. The Sunday matchup features a #2 vs. #3 seed meeting with Ohio State and Kansas, two teams that are perennially in the running to cut down the nets when its all said and done. If there’s one thing that I’m awful at predicting (and there’s definitely more than one), it’s March Madness, but I’m sticking by my bracket and saying that Kentucky and Ohio State win to move on to the National Championship game.

Rambo: First Blunt – Georgia fans, thought things couldn’t get any worse? Think again. Bulldogs safety Bacarri Rambo as well as linebacker Alec Ogletree have been suspended 2-4 games for what appears to be failed drug tests (some reports have stated that more players will soon be facing similar circumstances). Rambo’s high school coach Alan Ingram has quickly came to the defense of one of Georgia’s top defenders, saying that the player from Seminole County tested positive after mistakenly eating brownies that contained marijuana while on spring break in Panama City. I’m all for believing people when they speak and that you are innocent until proven guilty, but past incidents lead me to believe that Rambo had purposely came into contact with the drug and is only trying to backtrack at this point. As a result of these latest shenanigans, Rambo is out and might look at the supplemental draft and Georgia fans should begin to worry about the team’s perception as one full of thugs and question head coach Mark Richt’s capabilities when it comes to keeping his player’s out of trouble off the field.

Sports Quote of the Week

“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.”
– George Will, American newspaper columnist