Ken Jackson

Sports Writer

You better hope the NFL owners and players can figure out an amicable way to divvy up nine billion dollars. Rough stuff, yeah I know.

The sides are talking less than twin sisters accusing one of stealing the other’s boyfriend, except to bicker about who’s going to the draft and who isn’t.

After the draft ... without talk of NFL training camps firing up soon, whattaya got this summer?

You think I’m giving you the Chicken Little treatment? Hey, there’s only 48 more hours of the basketball tournament (by the way I like VCU over Butler, UConn over Kentucky then Jim Calhoun’s boys to win it all).

Unless you can get Gandhi to come down from his mountain to take the football wonks by the hand and sing them a song of peace and harmony, go grab your glove and ball cap. I’m

serious.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack ... I don’t know when the huge guys come back ...

Opening Day for baseball was Thursday, so we’re off and running as about 10 teams began their quest for a World Series championship, and the other 20 or so began the race to dismantle at the trade deadline.

Don’t get me wrong, I love baseball, but they started playing in March. They’ll still be playing in October. It’s fun that they’re starting to play real games (Game time temperature at Yankee Stadium Thursday: a balmy 43), but come get me once we have a bonafide pennant chase.

Oh wait – I’m playing fantasy baseball again for the first time in a while. Meh, it doesn’t take long to look at stats. (At least that’s what I tell the boss/wife/kid/myself.) Plus, there could be some fun. After all, Manny Ramirez now plays for the Tampa Bay Rays, so I’m curious whether, since he’s an older guy now living in Florida, the fans will just say he’s “Manny being crabby.”

So let’s get on with the pomp and circumstance and enjoy it until it becomes drudgery next week, and dispense with some baseball picks and predictions:

National League

East — Philadelphia will win, but I don’t say it as confidently as everyone else is. The heart of the Atlanta lineup goes Chipper Jones-Brian McCann-Dan Uggla-Jason Heyward and they went 4-for-9 their first three trips through the lineup on Thursday. At least in New York, Mets still stands for My Entire Team Stinks.

Central — Can’t take our hometown Astros. Baseball Prospectus says they’ll be worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates. And the Cubs won’t win, will they? By process of elimination, I’ll go with Cincinnati over Milwaukee.

West — When most of the games don’t end until 1 a.m., who cares, right? Colorado looks like the company softball team and I’ll take their sluggers over San Diego’s pitchers and Los Angeles’ divorce lawyers.

Wild Card: Atlanta. Dark horse: Chicago. Underachievers: San Francisco.

American League

East — Red Sox or Yankees, Yankees or Sox? I’ll take Boston because they’re young, high-priced and healthy, and New York is just old and high-priced. Tampa Bay? Who knows, they’ve made a ton of moves, so ask me in June. Or, see for yourselves.

Central — Minnesota’s second baseman’s name is Tsuyoshi Nishioka. I’m sold! Give me the Twins (and some plum wine or sake) over Chicago and Detroit.

West — A four-team division, and people are making cases for all four to win. I’ll take the Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland.

Wild Card: Can we have a playoffs without the Yankees? Dark Horse: Oakland. Underachievers: Texas. (Just noticed I’ve picked last year’s two World Series teams to suck wind this year.)

Final Four: Philly, Colorado, Boston and the New York Yankees. World Series: Boston over Colorado. Notice there’s no teams known by initials like VCU. (No Kansas or Ohio State, either.)

Thought for the Week: “Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.” — Yogi Berra.