aSports don’t get much better than they are this time of year. March Madness is in full flight, the NBA is sprinting toward the playoffs, the Masters is one week away, and the NFL Draft is one month away. Now the baseball season is ready to join the fray. That may be bad news for some (such as fans in Miami and Houston), but it’s great for just about everyone else — especially if you live in Los Angeles.

(Odds provided by Sportsbook.ag).

World Series

Detroit Tigers (+900) – Opening Day is here this weekend, and what’s not to like about the Detroit Tigers? The defending American League Champions boast the best pitcher in baseball in Justin Verlander, and the reigning AL Triple Crown winner in Miguel Cabrera. If Detroit can sort out its closer-by-committee situation, it should be in good shape.

Los Angeles Angels (+1000) – Last year’s powerhouse roster failed to deliver, but another season of underachievement cannot be expected. Mike Trout should only be improving (scary, to be sure), and Albert Pujols heated up as 2012 progressed following a dismal start. Heisting Josh Hamilton from division rival Texas should also help.

Los Angeles Dodgers (+1000) – The Angels’ spending spree did not pay off immediately. Now the other L.A. ballclub hopes it will reap benefits early and often from a similar outward cash flow that took place this offseason. Matt Kemp should get some help at the plate thanks to the addition of Carl Crawford and a full season of Adrian Gonzalez.

Washington Nationals (+1000) – Washington could do no wrong during the regular season, but it will have to erase the demons from a playoff collapse against St. Louis — demons that may have been avoided with Stephen Strasburg still active. Strasburg, part of a loaded Nationals’ pitching staff, won’t be getting shut down this time around.

Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Penguins (+450) – After a streak of 24 straight games without a regulation loss to start the season, Chicago is not even the best team in hockey anymore. That’s because Pittsburgh has won 14 consecutive contests and has pulled ahead of the Blackhawks 54 points to 53. Although the standings belie the true situation (the Pens have played 35 games to the ‘Hawks 32), nothing belies the fact that Sidney Crosby and company are the hottest team in hockey.

Chicago Blackhawks (+550) – Two goalies are by no means a necessity in the playoffs, but Chicago has a luxury in that Corey Crawford and Ray Emery are both on fire at the moment. With Patrick Kane leading the way on offense, this squad simply has no weaknesses.

Boston Bruins (+650) – If the offense would just come around a bit, Boston could be the favorite to win it all. It is third in goals against at an average of 2.2 per game and it is killing penalties better than any other team in the league (91.2 percent).

Anaheim Ducks (+800) – Anaheim has a chance on Friday to bookend a dismal stretch with wins over Chicago. After beating the Blackhawks last Wednesday, the Ducks lost four in a row — two each against Detroit and San Jose. Anaheim is +140 to get back on track in Chicago while the host Blackhawks are -160.

NBA Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder (+200) – The Thunder have won three in a row and should win two more against inferior competition prior to a showdown against San Antonio next Thursday in which first place in the west could be at stake. Either way, OKC appears to have locked up no worse than the No. 2 seed and will therefore have home-court advantage at least until the conference final.

San Antonio Spurs (+240) – How good are the Spurs? All you need to know is that the Heat won 27 games in a row and are still a mere two games ahead in the overall NBA standings. San Antonio has a big two-game stretch against the Clippers and Heat starting on Friday, both at home. The Spurs are -4 favorites against Lob City.

Denver Nuggets (+600) – Had it not been for Miami, Denver would have been the talk of the league throughout March. The Nuggets won 15 games in a row until dropping two straight earlier this week to New Orleans and San Antonio. They have surged into position for home-court advantage in the first round, but Memphis is close.

Los Angeles Clippers (+800) – The Clippers will always be exciting, but great plays have been too few and far between of late. They have alternated wins and losses throughout the entire month of March aside from a brief two-game win “streak” last week. L.A. will have to pick up the pace if it wants to maintain a top-four seed in the Western Conference.

Sprint Cup


Jimmie Johnson (+350) – The 2013 Sprint Cup season is off to a scorching start, with the biggest names in the sport taking the checkered flags and plenty of feuds and off-track controversy to boot. Johnson, the Daytona 500 winner, is already on course to start a new streak of titles.

Kyle Busch (+700) – While others were busy fighting, Busch drove to victory last weekend California. He is still a mediocre sixth in the overall standings, but his confidence should be peaking at the moment.

Kasey Kahne (+1500) – After finishing fourth in 2012, Kahne is starting to heat up this season. Since two dismal showings to kick off his campaign, Kahne has three consecutive Top 10s—including a win in Bristol.

Brad Keselowski (+1500) – The defending champ has not found the winner’s circle yet in 2013, but he is once again a model of consistency. Before a disappointing 23rd last weekend in California, Keselowski had four consecutive Top 5s, including a fourth at the Daytona 500 and thirds in both Vegas and Bristol.

Read more articles by Ricky Dimon