IT JUST MAKES THEM BETTER

The Brooklyn Nets have become a better team with the addition of Garnett and Pierce. The Nets have become older but they have gotten better. Garnett is great at setting picks, Pierce is good at the pick and roll and Lopez is a great scorer from the middle. Add Williams who will get 15 assists a game and one of the most clutch players in the league in Joe Johnson. On the defensive side of the ball, Garnett makes Lopez a better defender and also the team as a whole. Garnett brings an intangible to the team and that is a winning attitude. The downside of this line-up is that they will not be able to keep up with a running team during the season. This has become a grind it out team.

The starting line-up is going to be fun to watch, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, KG, Paul Pierce and Brook Lopez. Right now the bench can become an issue. Their glaring whole is an athletic guard coming off the bench. Another spot that is a question mark is Jason Kidd. Question to ponder is, would the Nets have hired Jason Kidd if they already had KG and Pierce or would of they went for a proven coach? The one thing that they did do was hire Lawrence Frank as an assistant.

The summer is not over and word is that the Nets are looking to bring Jason Collins back. They definitely can use him coming off the bench. With this line-up, I'm looking forward to the start of the season.

BARCA NEEDS TO SIGN THIAGO ALCANTARA

Yesterday in the European Under 21 Championships, Thiago Alcantara scored a hat trick in Spain's 4-2 victory over Italy. This is one of the reasons that Barca needs to re-sign Alcantara and not allow him to sign with Manchester United of the Premier League.

Alcantara only made 15 starts last year for Barca. He is competing with Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez for a spot at center midfield. Alcantara is an important piece to the future Barca team.

Alcantara has shown that he can dictate play at center, he can distribute the ball, he's a great tackler and he is fast enough to get past a defender. He has also shown that he has the ability to score. If Barca re-signs Alcantara they will be getting a quality midfielder like Cesc Fabregas or Frank Lampard.

MATTINGLY THE MUSH

Donnie Baseball is returning to Yankee Stadium for the first time since he left the club as a coach in 2007. Today he is returning as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that has not visited the Stadium since the 1981 World Series.

Mattingly was one of my favorite Yankees so what I am about to write is not because I don't like Mattingly but an eerie coincidence that can only happen to a Mush. In my mind Mattingly is a Mush.

Let's go down the road to Mushness. In 1981, the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. In 1982 Don Mattingly was called up to the Majors and stayed until 1995. During that time span, the Yankees did not go to the World Series, the longest draught in Yankee history. Mattingly retired in 1995 and in 1996 the Yankees go on a run of World Series.

In 2004, Joe Torre hires the Mush to become a coach. Remember the Yankees were in the 2003 World Series against the Marlins and the Mush was nowhere near that team. The Mush stays until 2007 and leaves to join Torre in Los Angeles. During the Mush's stint as a coach, the Yankees don't go to the World Series. Miraculously, the Yankees appear in the World Series in 2009 and once again, the Mush was not on the team.

We have all noticed that the Dodgers are in last place and that they are playing some bad baseball. They had such high aspirations going into this season. The owners have spent money for players, they have the best starting pitcher in Kershaw, they made some good trades and now with Puig, this team should be rolling but what the owners have not looked at is the Mush. In order for their ship to sail in the right direction, the Mush must go!!!!!!

WELCOME ALAIN VIGNEAULT

Alain Vigneault is expected to be announced as the new coach of the New York Rangers. This is good for the Rangers anemic offense.

Vigneault had seven successful years behind the bench of the Vancouver Canucks. He lead them to two Presidents Trophies and a Stanley Cup Finals. His coaching style stresses offense and puck possession. He is an easy going guy who takes his player's mistakes in stride.

He has proven that he can adapt as a coach. Vigneault played a trapping style when he was with the Canadiens. Vigneault fits a style to his players and not the other way around. That is completely refreshing to see in a coach.

The Rangers are built around King Henrik. Vigneault has Rick Nash and the untapped scoring potential of Ryan McDonough, Dan Girardi and the rest of the Rangers defense. Vigneault took the Sedin twins and made them better players and he took the Canucks defenseman and made them scorers.

Maybe now with Vigneault behind the bench, Carl Hagelin won't "stink" on the power play as Torterella pointed out to Rangers fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EBBETS FIELD

Today would of been the 100th Anniversary of the opening of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. In 1913, the Brooklyn Superbas (pre-Dodgers) lost to Philadelphia 1-0 in front of a crowd of 10,000. Had Ebbets Field remained, it's 100th birthday would of been between two other ballparks, Fenway and Wrigley.

There are many reminders of Ebbets Field. Citi-Field had been constructed in Ebbets' likeness. The Mets owner Fred Wilpon went to Lafeyette High School in Brooklyn. His classmate and good friend just happens to be Sandy Koufax. The Brooklyn Nets placed a flagpole from Ebbets in front of the Barclay Center. The Barclays Center was built on the exact site where O'Malley wanted to put a new stadium for the Dodgers before he moved them to Los Angeles.

The Nets honored the 100th anniversary of Ebbets Field by displaying the 1955 Championship Flag on the court prior to their game against the Philadelphia 76ers. How ironic on the 100th Anniversary a Brooklyn team is playing a Philadelphia team, only this time Brooklyn prevailed.

The blueprints for Ebbets Field are stored in an archive in Manhattan. These blueprints helped the movie people in getting Ebbets Field correct for the upcoming movie 42.

Vin Scully, who has been broadcasting the Dodgers since 1950 tells a story of how intimate Ebbets Field was, "Because every day you would see the same people in the box seats. They'd wave up, they'd say hello. Hilda Chester, who once hollered at me that she loved me, which embarrassed me and I lowered my head. Hilda hollered up at me and said. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." It must of been a great place to see a ball game.

Ebbets Field did not stand much longer after the Dodgers left but it has taken on an afterlife that no extinct ballpark has ever done.

ROAD TO THE DERBY

The Wood Memorial and the Santa Anita Derby are two of the bigger prep races for The Derby. The Wood Memorial being run at Aqueduct in NYC and the Santa Anita being run at the Great Race Place.

The Wood Memorial has Todd Pletcher's trained horse Verrazano, who is going off as the 4-5 favorite. This three year old has been touted as the big name in The Derby. If he performs well in The Wood, he will definitely be the odds on favorite come May 4th.

Verrazano has had three starts as a three year old and he has gone 3 for 3. He has won all three races by a combined 27 lengths. I believe that his biggest competition in this race is going to be Vyjack, who has won his last four starts. I liked the move of putting Joel Rosario on this horse. Rosario is a great rider and he has a way of calming the horses down in big situation. Vyjack is 4-1 on the morning line. Post time is approximately 3:30 PM (PT).

Going across the country to the Great Race Place, a big scratch came in. Jerry Hollendorfer's trained Hear the Ghost has been scratched and will be out for at least four months. This means that Hear the Ghost will miss The Derby. Hear the Ghost was supposed to give Bob Baffert's trained Flashback some good competition. Besides Flashback, Bob Baffert has two other horses entered into this race, Power Broker and Super Ninety Nine. This is definitely going to fuel the feud between Baffert and Drug, I mean, Doug O'Neill.  Goldencents has been entered for the Santa Anita and let's see if O'Neill complains that Baffert is having his horses gang up on his one. This makes for an interesting side bar now that Hear the Ghost has been scratched. Depending on how this race plays out, all four of these horses can win this race. The Santa Anita Derby goes off at approximately 4:00 PM (PT)

NBS Sports Network is going to have these races live, they should be good races to watch, especially if you have interest in The Derby on May 4th.

OPENING DAY

Can the Yankees overcome an injury riddled roster? Can the Yankees deep pitching staff keep them close until some of the injured come back? Can the starting pitching perform as well as it did last year?

Today is going to be the last Opening Day for the great Mariano Rivera and the last Opening Day that the number 42 is going to be worn by any baseball player.

The Yankees will be taking on the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium to start the 2013 season. Their line-up is not what we are used to but it might be a line-up we have to get used to.

The starting line-up is this:

Brett Gardner - CF
Eduardo Nunez - SS
Robinson Cano - 2B
Kevin Youkalis - 1B
Vernon Wells - LF
Ben Francisco - DH
Ichiro - RF
Jayson Nix - 3B
Francisco Cervelli - C
C.C. Sabathia - P

Right now on Opening Day, everyone is in first place.