Three Seasons Active for L.A. Teams

Let's start with the upcoming seasons first, namely the one with the smallest contingent of fans: The Galaxy. Despite being an avid soccer fan and purchasing tickets to Opening Day this Sunday, I must say the Galaxy are a mess. Millions of dollars to Beckham I get. Loaning him to Milan, I get. But come on, did anyone in the Galaxy front office really believe that after getting a taste of real football he was going to come back smiling? I have no problem supporting the MLS, and I enjoy watching Beckham play. His vision and touch are miles ahead of everyone else. However, I have now spent a bunch of money on Opening Day to see Donovan (overrated), an aging Eddie Lewis, and one of the worst goalkeepers I've ever seen. Last year was a debacle because they spent all their money on offense. Although Ruiz was hurt, they did score a lot of goals. Unfortunately they had no money left for the defense and gave up even more goals than they scored. If I were Beckham I'd be ticked as well. I figured that with Lalas gone, the Galaxy brass would figure it out. Now they have Arena who is an egomaniac and still have a questionable defense. Great. Looks like another season of frustration and Beckham opting out of his contract at the end of the season.

Next up the boys in blue. "I'm baaaaaaaaaack." Usually that phrase brings chuckles as people think of that crazy little girl from Poltergeist. This time, it brought nothing but joy to the people of L.A. Manny started off his press conference with that line and later, while discussing when he would begin playing this Spring said he wanted to take it easy to protect his gold glove and cannon of an arm. I swear I thought Torre was going to fall out of his seat laughing! Despite the hamstring strain we all know Manny is the key to the lineup. Look for Ethier to hit .300 with 20+ homers again and Matt Kemp to finally break out. I'm thinking .275, 25+ homers, 20+ stolen bases. I'm looking forward to early April, a couple of crushing victories over the Giants (and probable losses to Lincecum, that guy is sick), and of course I'll be at Chavez Ravine April 13 for Opening Day!

Lakers. Let's get up by 15, let the bench blow the lead, and try to pull out the victory late. Sound familiar? Yeah, it's called the Lakers for the last week and a half. Of course, we have to include the bad loss to Philly (real bad).