Ah it’s that time of the year again.

It’s a time where every single player in the NFL and all the loving and passionate fans can have real hope that maybe, just maybe this is the year their team will win the Super Bowl. It’s great isn’t it? For a football fan, the start of the NFL season can be compared to a child entering a candy store for the first time in their lives, exciting and new. Each year brings new stories, new players and a healthy amount of restored hope.

As we await kickoff, the questions start to surface about which teams will still be standing in February. For the first time in my lifetime, the Super Bowl will be held in a cold weather location — MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It’s going to be a great NFL season so here are my final pre-season predictions for the 2013-2014 NFL season:

Will Cam Newton finally lead the Panthers to the playoffs? By Pantherfan11, via Wikimedia Commons

NFC East: #4 New York Giants

NFC North: #3 Green Bay Packers

NFC South: #2 Atlanta Falcons

NFC West: #1 San Francisco 49ers

Wildcards: #5 Seattle Seahawks, #6 Carolina Panthers

AFC:

AFC East: #1 New England Patriots

AFC North: #3 Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South: #4 Indianapolis Colts

AFC West: #2 Denver Broncos

Wildcards: #5 Baltimore Ravens, #6 Houston Texans

Playoff Bracket:

First Round:

#6 Carolina Panthers @ #3 Green Bay Packers (Panthers 31-28)

#5 Seattle Seahawks @ #4 New York Giants (Seahawks 21-14)

#6 Houston Texans @ #3 Cincinnati Bengals (Bengals 28-21)

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #4 Indianapolis Colts (Ravens 24-21)

Second Round:

#6 Carolina Panthers @ #1 San Francisco 49ers (49ers 34-21)

#5 Seattle Seahawks @ #2 Atlanta Falcons (Atlanta 35-28)

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #1 New England Patriots (Patriots 24-21)

#3 Cincinnati Bengals @ #2 Denver Broncos (Broncos 28-24)

Championship Games:

#2 Atlanta Falcons @ #1 San Francisco 49ers (49ers 34-31)

#2 Denver Broncos @ #1 New England Patriots (Patriots 41-38)

Super Bowl: New England Patriots vs San Francisco 49ers (49ers 28-21)

Super Bowl Champions: San Francisco 49ers

Most of my teams are the same teams that have made the playoffs the last few years with the Carolina Panthers sneaking in this year. This is the season Cam Newton finally takes charge and leads them to the playoffs — and maybe even a playoff win. I can’t wait to sit back and watch as it all unfolds, remote in hand, RedZone Channel at the ready.

What do you think about my predictions? Comment below.

Much has been made of pitching in baseball over the past few seasons. The game has seen a shift from more dominant power-hitters to more shutdown pitchers since the “steroid era” “ended.”

While there are still many bona fide power hitters in the majors (Miguel Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Robinson Cano, etc.), building a strong pitching rotation has become more of a prominent priority for successful teams. Just last season (2011), baseball had a pitcher, Justin Verlander, win both the MVP award and the CY Young award in the American League. Pitching has always been important to America’s pastime but now it’s more crucial than ever.

Here is my third installment, breaking down each team’s potential starting rotation for the 2013 season with the average Earned Run Average (we know averaging an average isn’t scientifically sound, but we’re doing it anyway…): This time, the spotlight is on the AL West…

Oakland Athletics:

1. Brett Anderson (4-2 2.57 ERA, 25 Strikeouts)
2. Jarrod Parker (13-8, 3.47 ERA, 140 Strikeouts)
3. Tommy Milone (13-10, 3.74 ERA, 137 Strikeouts)
4. A.J. Griffin (7-1, 3.06 ERA, 64 Strikeouts)
5. Bartolo Colon (10-9, 3.43 ERA, 91 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.25

Texas Rangers:

1. Yu Darvish (16-9, 3.90 ERA, 221 Strikeouts)
2. Derek Holland (12-7, 4.67 ERA, 145 Strikeouts)
3. Matt Harrison (18-11, 3.29 ERA, 133 Strikeouts)
4. Alexi Ogando (2-0, 3.27 ERA, 66 Strikeouts)
5. Martin Perez (1-4, 5.45 ERA, 25 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 4.12

Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim:

1. Jered Weaver (20-5, 2.81 ERA, 142 Strikeouts)
2. C.J. Wilson (13-10, 3.83 ERA, 173 Strikeouts)
3. Tommy Hanson (13-10, 4.48 ERA, 161 Strikeouts)
4. Joe Blanton (10-13, 4.71 ERA, 166 Strikeouts)
5. Jason Vargas (14-11, 3.85 ERA, 141 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.94

Seattle Mariners:

1. Felix Hernandez (13-9, 3.06 ERA, 223 Strikeouts)
2. Hisashi Iwakuma (9-5, 3.16 ERA, 101 Strikeouts)
3. Erasmo Ramirez (1-3, 3.36 ERA, 48 Strikeouts)
4. Blake Beavan (11-11, 4.43 ERA, 67 Strikeouts)
5. Hector Noesi (2-12, 5.82 ERA, 68 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.97

Houston Astros:

1. Lucas Harrell (11-11, 3.76 ERA, 140 Strikeouts)
2. Bud Norris (7-13, 4.65 ERA, 165 Strikeouts)
3. Jordan Lyles (5-12, 5.09 ERA, 99 Strikeouts)
4. Phillip Humber (5-5, 6.44 ERA, 85 Strikeouts)
5. Alex White (2-9, 5.51 ERA, 64 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 5.09

Felix Hernandez will be the best pitcher once again in the American League West. By Keith Allison on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t forget, the A’s (not the Angels or Rangers) are the reigning champs of this division after shocking the baseball world and making a historic run to enter the postseason. But I think that the lack of a “star” pitcher will hurt the A’s this season, as they will no longer be running under the radar like last year. But as for the Angels, I believe that although they may have lost three fifths of the starting rotation they put on the field last year, they did a pretty decent job filling the holes. Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas are good alternatives for Zack Greinke and Ervin Santana. Joe Blanton had his moments with Greinkes’ new team, the Dodgers last year after being dealt. Look for them to all have decent years.

As for the rest of the division, I do believe that the AL CY Young winner will come from this division in the form of Mariner pitcher Felix Hernandez. He will be the bright spot in what is shaping-up to be another disappointing season for Seattle. The division will be a three team race between the Angels, A’s and Rangers, ultimately with the Angels coming out on top, but I wouldn’t be surprised if either the Rangers or A’s sneak into one of the wild card spots. The Angels have had huge spending off seasons consecutively and this will be the year that it pans out and they reach the postseason.

As I stare off tonight, starry eyed–ala Joey “Blue Sky” Harrington–into the planetary space of the abnormal, my wife is faithfully paying the bills and deciding whom to socially network with this week.  She is the planning operator, the assassin, the Nancy Kerrigan of the union. I, on the other hand, am a self-confessed Tonya Harding.

My only form of social networking is spinning over a few cold ones in a rundown pub–talking with middle-aged, divorced, unemployed conspiracists. They usually view professional baseball as a relative to marriage–systematically dead and broken, absorbed in its winner, less in its faceless building blocks. “Every winner needs a loser,” these men mutter, with overgrown hair hitting their eyelashes.

“Pre or post 18 Britney?” I ask to change the subject, counting the freckles on my left arm. My father called them war wounds in the womb. “Damn right,” I think (thirteen to be exact) turning one eye toward the TV, where an ESPN announcer blankly spits on my beloved Angels for overpaying  a thirty-two-year-old loser from Toronto. I always liked Vernon Wells… just not for eighty six million over the next four.

The pause is timely, allowing our intoxicated minds to find meaning in the topic at hand. “Pre” he says, slamming the frothing stout on the greasy bar top, with a Reagan-like head nod.  A belly the size of a ten pound bag of potatoes with black fuzz and poor complexion smiles from the creased top of his pants.

“Pre…nah,” I say shaking my dog mane hair, stepping a bit back,  examining him closer…world spinning.

“Another on me,” he slurs, pointing to the empty glasses glimmering in the dim-lit bar.

I like the whacked out Spears, like a rock conniseurewould like the Beatles drug induced psychedelic jams. Things need to be frayed, in disharmony, boundless, outside the box. Not collected, perfect, take home to your mother kind of stuff.

When I decided on the California Angels in 1987, I was five, and they were losing a game to the Minnesota Twins 21-1. Chuck Finley, who had pitched the day before, had to spell the Angels’ final relief pitcher in the 6th inning. My father was a fan of Wally Joyner, but growled with disapproval at my penitence of faith in arguably the worst franchise in league history. He had raised me on the greats of his generation: Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax. His interlink between coach and fatherhood ransacked my father’s ability to see clearly when it came to giving his growing son real advice (he once told me marriage is like hanging yourself by your nads). But in this instance, learning the hard way was learning the best way of all. My father saw this, and went with it. “Oh yea…” he said, chopping some hash on his lap,”better get used to the pain of losing, then.” And I did.

My marriage to the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is now in its twenty-fourth year of union. For seventeen of those I got used to losing and being the laughing stock of any sports or barbecue gathering. Most of my friends growing up were die hard Giants or Dodger fans. They idolized popular names like Barry Bonds, Orel Hershiser, Francisco Valenzuela, Matt Williams, Will Clark, and Mike Piazza. In 1988, the Dodgers won a World Series, and in 1989, the Giants played in the famous earthquake series against the A’s. Loving the Angels was like dating their ugly adopted sister. Which is why to this day I can still hear the faint laughter of my friends chewing on a dripping piece of tri-tip.

I knew growing up that the Angels would finish dead last in the division nine times out of ten. So losing took on a meaningful life of its own. Each “L” accrued night in, night out, gave me a sense of pride that I, unlike so many of my friends, could be true to an organization no matter how bad they were (yes I am speaking to you Clipper fans). I idolized Wally Joyner–“Wally World”–the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year. Had it not been for various injuries, the lifetime .289 hitter with 204 home runs and 2,060 hits, would have landed himself in the baseball Hall of Fame. But like  “Wally World” was a rust riddled park in Chase’s famed “Family Vacation,”  so was Joyner’s body. It did as an Angel should do: fall apart.

Which reminds me of our famous collapse in 1995. For the first time in ten years, my Angels, who consistently lost 90-100 games a year, were flirting with the postseason.  On August 6th, the Angels had a 10 1/2 game lead on the Texas Rangers and an 11 1/2 game lead over the Mariners. But a nine game losing streak from August 22nd to September 3rd, and one from September 13th to September 23rd, found the Angels one time gargantuan lead whittled to a tie breaker game with the Mariners to decide who made the postseason. The Mariners ace Randy Johnson hurled a one run, three hit effort, obliterating us 9-1.

From 1987-2002, the Angels missed the postseason. So in order to find pride in things, I had to fall in love with the faces of their losing tradition. Each one of them, like me, was a stalwart ballplayer who played more for the love of the game than he did to experience a winner’s glory.

Remember Chili Davis,  the Angels starting left fielder from 88-90, 93-96? Davis enjoyed an eighteen year career that saw him quietly finish with 350 home runs, a .279 batting average, and 2,355 career hits. More known for the hilarity of his first name, Davis was a rock for the Angels clubhouse in the mid-90’s.

How about Luis Polonia, the 5-8  145 pound gremlin lead-off hitter from 90-93′? Most of Polonia’s thirteen year career was littered with injury. But from 90-93′, Polonia played in 90% of his games and celebrated a .297 batting average. He had the keen ability to slap the ball the other way, and steal bases to set up runs for the Angels big hitters.

Big hitters like the famous Kelly Gruber. Gruber’s forgettable ten year career was predominately played in Toronto, till he finished even more forgettably in 93′ with the Angels. He played eighteen games with three home runs and nine RBIs. Let’s just say Gruber is a favorite of mine when playing “name that random athlete.”

Or how about a big overweight piece of you know what in first baseman Mo Vaughn? Vaughn, the poor man’s Big Papi, signed a record size contract at the time–80 mill over six with Anaheim in 1999. The supposed savior for a franchise with no big names, struck out one hundred eighty times in 2000, and missed all of 2001 with a torn ankle ligament, after slipping in the dugout.

Gary DiSarcina played all eleven (’89-’00) of his big league years with the Angels.  A myriad of injuries created a sort of cult following for the hardworking DiSarcina, which was odd, considering he was only a lifetime .258 hitter. For much of my young life I believed DiSarcina was a near .300 hitter who had played in numerous all-star games.  It was not until last year, that the rose-colored glasses of Angel fandom were ripped from my eyes, showing me just how bad DiSarcina was for most of his career.

As we all know, you can’t win games without great pitching. Which was exactly what the Angels did not have. Besides Chuck Finley and Mark Langston, the Angels starting rotation mimicked that of a little league team. John Farrel, a true workhorse, always made me feel secure when he was on the mound. In 1993, the stud finished 3-12 with a 7.35 era.  It must of been the lack of run support for guys like Farrel or Kirk McCaskill (yeeeaaa riggghhhhhttt). McCaskill’s stunning performance in 1991 left quite a legacy for Angel pitching, finishing the season 10-19 with an amazing 1 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.

On the eve of the 2002 season I made a bet with my father. I told him the Angels would make the playoffs for the first time in sixteen years. He took the bet and gave me three to one odds. As the season progressed and the Angels got better and better, my father found himself rooting for them as I did. He took a sense of pride in knowing that his son was the kind of man who had stuck it out with no-name failures. When the Angels wrapped up the wild card and a season of 99-63, my father and I reminisced on all the past Angel greats (or “not so greats”). We chuckled remembering Mark Langston’s high leg kick, and Devon White’s inability to hit a change up.

When the Angels shocked the world and won the World Series, I lamented a bit in the celebration. I now had an expectation that they would win year in year out.  No longer could I use their losing as an excuse for my languished faith or diligent grit. “Welcome to the big leagues,” my father said jokingly, during the World Series celebration. Slapping a hundred in my hand (original bet was thirty bucks, which means with my win he owed me ninety), he continued, “take the extra ten dollars as a tip for being so damn faithful all these years.”

As the 2011 season fast approaches, I am unamused or concerned with our 80-82 campaign in 2010. For many of the new era fans, the people who hopped on after our 2002 World Series, winning is everything. From 2002 to present the Angels have developed into a perennial power with five division titles and six playoff births. But winning is just a speck in the eye of my love for Angel baseball, and does not deter me from celebrating a lifetime of appreciation for players who paved the way for our recent string of success. My love for the unexpected is far stronger than a insecure need to be crowned champ every year.

In fact, with all this winning I am beginning to get a bit uncomfortable. Which is why the Kansas City Royals are sounding pretty damn good right now.