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AL EAST: Boston Red Sox

This is going to be a neck-and-neck battle all year with the New York Yankees but I like the Red Sox to come out on top because of their starting pitching and Craig Kimbrel as the closer.

AL CENTRAL: Cleveland Indians

Call me crazy but I think it's the Indians year.  All the pieces come together and they finally end the World Series drought.

AL WEST: Houston Astros

The defending Champs are absolutely loaded and should win the division rather easily.  But a World Series hangover is inevitable.

AL WILDCARDS: Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees

It wouldn't surprise to see either one of these teams represent the American League in the World Series as Wild Card winners.

AL MVP: Mike Trout

If he stays healthy Trout is hands down the best player in the game and he still hasn't reached his peak.

AL CY YOUNG: Cory Kluber

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Francisco Mejia

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Terry Francona

NL EAST: Washington Nationals

The Nats have won back-to-back division titles by an average of 14 games.  I don't see that changing this year in Bryce Harper's walk year.

NL CENTRAL: St. Louis Cardinals

I know this sounds crazy not to pick the Cubs but I got a gut feeling the Cards reclaim the division crown because they are more hungry than the Cubbies.

NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers win the division despite a valiant effort from the Rockies.

NL WILDCARDS: Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies

It wouldn't surprise me if either one of these teams won their division.

NL MVP: Bryce Harper

NL CY YOUNG: Clayton Kershaw

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ronald Acuna Jr.

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Mike Matheny

AL CHAMPIONS: Cleveland Indians

The Indians have been the American League's best team the past two seasons.  

NL CHAMPIONS: Los Angeles Dodgers

I'll take the Dodgers over the Cubs in a 7-game thriller.

 

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: Cleveland Indians

Chief Wahoo makes his triumphant return by scalping the Dodgers!

DEAD! 💀 pic.twitter.com/5GhQrcNbq7

— The Football Life🏈 (@TheFBLife) March 17, 2018

Wow I haven't seen someone get absolutely trucked like that since Notre Dame had fullbacks. All of a sudden I got flashbacks of the Bus running all over Florida in the Sugar Bowl. I just thought I swore I saw Ray Zellars curb stomping Boilermakers.  Marc Edwards busting through the Trojan's thin, sheepskin defense.

But yet here we are in 2018 on the drunken beaches of regret and humiliation that only Spring Break can provide and we got ourselves a 5-star dime piece running over the competition.  That linebacker has CTE written all over her white bikini.

Someone get that girl a beer STAT!

right or wrong, you better ride or die

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Aug 17, 2017 at 5:32pm PDT

It looks like Penn State RB Saquon Barkley gets to celebrate his future multimillion dollar NFL career next month with a brand new baby due right around NFL Draft Day. Barkley's girlfriend Anna Congdon, who also attends Penn State, announced on her Instagram that the couple who have been together for just over a year are expecting their first child.

 

one month until @saquon and i get to meet our little angel 👼🏽💛🌿

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Mar 17, 2018 at 3:05pm PDT

As a dad to two great kids I'm sure I know how excited Saquon and Anna must feel to meet their offspring.  I gotta be honest though I couldn't even wrestle my brain around having a kid in my 20's much less when I was just old enough to drink...legally.  But I'm sure these two love birds have it all figured out like most people in college do.

 

Left Scranton*

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Jul 22, 2017 at 2:18pm PDT

jax teller walked by

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Oct 30, 2016 at 6:12pm PDT

🌀

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Oct 9, 2016 at 5:25pm PDT

This might be my favorite picture of Anna keeping it nice and classy with a classic college outfit for her Happy Valley's...

penn state university... where the girls are always hot and the beer is ice cold

A post shared by ANNA CONGDON (@annacongdon) on Sep 3, 2016 at 8:58am PDT

Congratulations to Saquon.  He not only is scoring 1st round money next month but he got an absolute dime piece knocked up.  Penn State hasn't had a WIN-WIN like that since JoePa conveniently passed away.  

There's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die. pic.twitter.com/z7mKroaOQ1

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 19, 2018

This is gonna make you and me feel really old right now but can you believe The Sandlot came out 25 years ago?  In honor of the childhood classic which I egregiously waited till just a couple of years ago to actually watch the movie current Brew Crew teammates did a reenactment of the famous Hambino HR scene.  Not bad at all.  The Brewers were actually kinda better than the original kid actors.

:13 mark - Colbert switches “beers” and looks off camera to (I’m assuming) his Producer.

I’m calling BS.

Glasses were assigned/rigged.

It’s water. pic.twitter.com/JYuwA7fe7Q

— Steve Braband (@stevebraband) March 13, 2018

First thing I thought when I saw this "beer chugging" contest was that it had to be fake.  I've heard stories about Tom Brady and his strict diet and the fact that he hasn't aged in 20 years.  This however was no vampire blood he was chugging.  Everybody knows beer and alcohol consumption ages this skin.  I'm a prime example of a beer guzzling lab rat.  The foam on Brady's glass looks like beer.  You could tell Brady enjoyed chugging the beer not by his smile (dude has had so much botox he passes as Jim Carrey's stunt double in The Mask) but by the glimmer of happiness in his eyes.  Stephen Colbert on the other hand is clearly a pussy who can't handle his beer because that is not a beer he's drinking.  No foam means it's likely apple juice or some white guilt piss he consumes daily to make himself feel more worthy.  Colbert switched the glasses at the last moment knowing he was about to give Brady his man juice.  Kind of sucks.  I would have loved to seen Brady's face when realizing Colbert ate too much asparagus as he brings the beer near his mouth and whiffs the aroma of white guilt and sulphur.

In conclusion Brady is drinking real beer and Colbert is drinking white guilt juice.  Neither is surprising.

You guys seriously want a QB who runs like Mose Schrute? pic.twitter.com/IwlyVdrAYw

— Joe #SammyDToCLE (@_joenick22_) March 5, 2018

After watching Wyoming QB Josh Allen run a respectable 4.76 at the NFL combine 40-yard dash I quickly wiped away the tears of laughter and came up with his nickname: Whiskey Dick Arm.

It's preposterous the way his left, non throwing, arm swings like a noodle coming out of a hot pan.  It's like a snake flapping in the dirt after getting his head cut off by farmer Joe.  Josh Allen's left arm is like a young man's whiskey dick trying to please farmer Joe's daughter after one too many.

Forrest Gump could be heard messing his pants from the stands with Allen's ridiculous running form.  I don't know about you but no self respecting athlete runs like they slept on their left arm for 8 hours.  Was Allen trying to perform "the stranger" the night before and never regained blood flow to his Rosy mistress?  

After watching this 40-yard dash I'd have to take Allen completely off my draft board.  I can't have my QB aka face of the franchise running around with a whiskey dick arm.  It's horrible for team morale.

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It wouldn't be a typical Notre Dame offseason under Brian Kelly without a QB controversy. And unfortunately this Irish Illustrated video opens up with rising senior and expected starter Brandon Wimbush completely overthrowing a wide open tight end much like he did in 2017.  If Notre Dame is going to take the next step to the playoffs in 2018 they have to get more consistency and accuracy out of the QB position.  49% completion percentage in today's college football is simply not acceptable and that's what Wimbush finished the season and why he was benched in the Citrus Bowl.  Ian Book will get the opportunity to compete for the job but I feel like it's still Wimbush's job to lose.  Wimbush has to get better and there is no excuse to miss wide open receivers like this even in practice.  If he can't make the adjustments both mentally and physically it's time to move on to either Book or freshman QB Phil Jurkovec when he enrolls this summer.

But before everybody freaks out and grabs a cold one you gotta remember this is just practice.  And it's the very first one this spring.  Plenty of time for Wimbush to get right mentally and get his confidence rolling in the right direction after a terrible November performance.

Below are some more spring practice #1 highlights from BlueandGold.com...

 

Drue Tranquill, Sam Mustipher and Tyler Newsome named 2018 Team Captains. #GoIrish ☘ pic.twitter.com/5BXgNe9nbu

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) March 6, 2018

No surprise as Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly named 5th year seniors LB Drue Tranquill, C Sam Mustipher and P Tyler Newsome as the team captains heading into spring practice today.

Tranquill comes back for his 5th year after an excellent senior season at the ROVER position.  Tranquill has natural leadership abilities and tends to be the vocal leader of the defense.  He will be counted to make an even bigger impact this season as the defense returns 10 starters but will be moved from the ROVER position to more of a middle linebacker position along with Te'von Coney.

Offensive center Sam Mustipher also returns for his 5th season and should anchor a strong offensive line that returns 4 starters (minus All-Americans Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey).  Mustipher has had an up-and-down career but had an impressive senior season leading the Joe Moore Award winning offensive line last season.

Maybe the only surprise is punter Tyler Newsome getting named a team captain.  And honestly it shouldn't be a surprise.  Newsome also returns for a 5th season and he's been the team punter for 3 seasons already.  He's also a big community leader and is well respected by his fellow teammates and coaches both on the field and off.

 

Hello world!

New Notre Dame captain Tyler Newsome introduces himself to the masses today. pic.twitter.com/wGDU3q51ml

— Pete Byrne (@PeteByrneWSBT) March 6, 2018

 

 

With these 3 team captains you get someone representing each personnel group with offense, defense and special teams.  Kelly also announced today that there would be a 4th captain named after spring practice is complete.  Basically whomever steps up and earns the respect from his fellow teammates.  Right now my thoughts would be rising junior defensive back Julian Love is the favorite because he played at an extremely high level throughout 2017 (named All-American by some pundits) and was a vocal leader and motivator with the defensive backs.  Love has future coach written all over him.

Spring practice officially started today.  Notre Dame will get 14 practices in with a spring break in between before the 15th and final practice aka the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Spring Game on April 21st.