Its finally upon us! Cincinnati Reds Spring Training begins this Saturday when pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, FL. This is a big year for the Reds as they go into camp with a lot of optimism that they can win the National League Central Division this year. Considering how mediocre the division is, the Reds winning it is not out of the realm of possibility at all. Hell, a record of 82-80 could win the division anymore.

In the offseason the Reds made a couple key moves that could take this team to the next level, that being the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. They made the trade for a big-time closer is Francisco Cordero. He'll have to adjust to the hitter-friendly park at GABP and if he can, look for him to become one of the top closers in all of baseball. Its been quite a long time since the Reds have had a dominant closer. The last time they had one was when Danny Graves was here, and then they went and messed that up by trying him out as a starter. He was never the same. But Reds fans don't have to worry about that happening with Cordero. They have much more competent guys in the front office now. Cordero had 44 saves last season with the Milwaukee Brewers. The hard-throwing right-hander finished the season with a 2.98 ERA, a little high for a closer, but not too bad considering what the Reds have had in the past several seasons. With Cordero in the mix that allows David Weathers to move to the setup role, a much more comfortable spot for him where he should do very well.

In addition to trading for Cordero, the Reds made an addition by subtraction really by trading away OF Josh Hamilton. He was the feel good story of last season, but because of his past lifestyle choices, he is an injury risk. The Reds already have enough of those, especially in the outfield with Ken Griffey Jr. patrolling right field and Ryan Freel running into walls and whatever else is between him and the ball out on the field. So by trading away Hamilton, the Reds have opened the door to possibly bringing up the #1 prospect in all of minor league baseball in OF Jay Bruce. He was coined as the heir-apparent to Griffey once Junior retired or moved on, but with him now over in right field, the door is wide open for Bruce to run right through it and slam it shut to anyone looking to take the job. While he may not make the Opening Day roster, expect Bruce to be on the Reds roster at some point this season. He has amazing potential, so much that the Reds management are not willing to trade him for anyone, even a front-line starter like Eric Bedard.

The Reds also got starter/reliever Jeremy Affeldt in the offseason. Some questioned this move, including myself, but he could make for a decent #5 pitcher in the rotation or a good guy coming out of the bullpen. He'll be fighting for a starting job in spring training along with Homer Bailey, Edinson Volquez, and Johnny Cueto. The top two spots in the rotation are already locked up by their ace in Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo.  The #3 spot could go to either Matt Belisle or Bailey with the other one being put in the #4 slot. As of right now the starting rotation according to the Reds website is actually six pitchers deep. They list the rotation as Harang, Arroyo, Belisle, Bailey, Volquez and Affeldt. Obviously the Reds won't actually work on a six-man rotation so changes will surely be made by the time Opening Day rolls around. I'd expect to see Cueto jump in there somewhere, possibly at the back-end which will move Affeldt to the pen.

Baseball season is almost here. The smell of hot dogs and peanuts is faintly in the air. I can almost hear that drunk guy in right field yelling at Junior telling him he washed up. The crack of the bat and the popping of the catchers' mitt are sounds we'll be hearing soon. Just like every year, Reds fans feel this is the year their team will finally make it. The talent is there to do just that. Only thing left to do is PLAY BALL!

Today the NCAA denied University of Cincinnati QB Ben Mauk's petition for a 6th year of eligibility.  Mauck had redshirted his freshman year at Wake Forest.  He then broke his arm in the first game of the 2006 season and missed the rest of that season.  Mauk had petitioned for the extra eligibility on the basis that he was forced to redshirt at Wake.  The NCAA didnt' buy it.

But don't despair Bearcat fans.  UC will have Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones on hand next season.  He sat out all of this season after starting the first game for the Irish, only to transfer to UC shortly afterwards.  The Bearcats will also have QB's Dustin Grutza and Tony Pike in house as well.

COMPLETE STORY

Another day and another round complete in the GetSports Mock Draft. Not surprisingly, three more relievers were chosen after Papelbon finished round five. There were also a few 'risky' veterans chosen. Take a look:

ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | ROUND 3 | ROUND 4 | ROUND 5

61) HUMBERT #2 - Miguel Tejada, SS, HOU

62) POLKING - Aaron Harang, SP, CIN

63) WETZEL - J.J. Putz, RP, SEA

64) BOLTON - Corey Hart, OF, MIL

65) BARTEL - Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, WAS

66) DINSMORE - Bobby Abreu, OF, NYY

67) MUEHLENKAMP - Carlos Pena, 1B, TB

68) FISCHER - Francisco Rodriguez, RP, LAA

69) HUMBERT #1 - Carlos Zambrano, SP, CHC

70) MURDICO - Torii Hunter, OF, LAA

71) SIMONS - Roy Halladay, SP, TOR

72) CLASGENS - Joe Nathan, RP, MIN

After the embarrassing loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night the NCAA has agreed to allow UK to hold open try-outs for the remainder of the season.  Apparently this ground breaking decision was a result of UK scoring a whopping 11 points during the first half of the game.  In order to keep the credibility of the SEC and college basketball intact the NCAA felt it was necessary.

The criteria for those that are interested in trying out are the following...

1.  Can walk and chew gum at the same time ( to help with dribbling skills).

2.  Have at least one good eye (to help with locating the rim).

3.  Can play paddy-cake (to help with chest passes).

4.  Has an IQ higher than their shoe size (this is needed to run the offense)

5.  Can count on both hands (to 5 for inbounding the ball and to 10 for getting across mid court)

6.  Has a pulse (for tax and scholarship purposes)

7.  Can score more than 1 point per minute.

8.  Age between 5 and 72 (hoping to get 5 people that can handle the above criteria)

I've had enough!

Here are just some of the things we learned in yesterday's so-called "sports" world. 

Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens are both big, fat liars.  Both have lied so often, and about so many different things, neither of them will be prosecuted because no one, federal investigators included, is able to make heads-or-tails of their lies.  Heck, I'm not even sure if Clemens and McNamee can keep all their lies straight.  The congressional hearing was the biggest waste of time on the planet.

Kelvin Sampson is still calling recruits illegally, even after he's been punished at two different universities for it.  Now it appears that he's sullied the previously good reputation of Indiana University.  And worse yet, it appears the Athletic Director knew of Sampson's past, and either boldly ignored it or just decided to take a flier and hoped he'd change his ways.  No dice.  As the saying goes, a leopard doesn't change their spots.

The one actual sports news story from yesterday also got screwed.  The Mavericks and Nets had a deal in place to trade Jason Kidd for a whole host of players, expiring contracts, etc.  Unfortunately, Devean George was one of the players involved going from Dallas to New Jersey and guess what?  He doesn't want to leave.  Even stranger, he has an obscure provision that allows him a no-trade clause in his contract.  I say obscure because George is on a one-year deal that he signed at the beginning of this season.  Who the heck gets a no-trade provision on a one-year contract?  Anyway, he decided to exercise that clause because, let's be honest, who the hell wants to go to New Jersey when you've been playing for Mark Cuban?  Needless to say, the Dallas fans were brutal on George last night, and several times is almost got U-G-L-Y.

And lastly, UK fans were going bonkers/borderline insane over the stomping they suffered at the hands of Vanderbilt two nights ago.  For those of you who missed it, they were handed their worst beat-down in close to 20 years.  They only scored 11pts. in the first half.  Any witty quip I could write here would just be piling on.  I won't do that.

So in the interest of public service, I would like to get the sports world off to a fresh start.  Let's refocus on the games.  Out of the abyss of darkness comes light.  Yesterday might have been one of the worst in sports news, but today is going to be one of the best.

For NASCAR fans, like myself, the Twin 125 qualifying races at Daytona are today.  That marks the official countdown to the Superbowl of racing, the Daytona 500.  And for real NASCAR geeks, once again like myself, it's time to start evaluating drivers for my fantasy team.

The baseball fans can finally come out of their winter hibernation, as pitchers and catchers report to most camps today.  That means that there are only a scant number of days before all of Spring Training in full-effect.  For you fantasy players, again I'm guilty, you can officially begin answering some of those offseason question marks you had about your teams.  In my case, I need to see if Randy Johnson's back is healed enough for me to warrant keeping him in my keeper league.   I'm sure you have similiar questions. 

And not to be forgotten, if you're a golf fan, you have another tournament in a beautiful location.  The Northern Trust Open (formerly the Nissan Open, or the LA Open for those of you who go way back) in beutiful Pacific Palisades tees off today.  For those of you who are not golf fans, but have HDTV, I highly suggest you flip over every now and then this weekend to see the view in HD.  No better Zen for a sports fan than that.  Definitely worth the look.

So cheer up sports fans.  The dark days of needles, gauze, and abcesses on the ass are behind us.  We're going full steam ahead toward the light.  The light that is the goodness of sports.