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Well, the Airhogs and Cats are down to their 22, so now I'll have my say:) And I am swallowing my homer pride and trying to make an honest observation. Just my opinion:

The North should be a three horse race. I got Lincoln by a nose over Sioux Falls and St. Paul. Lincoln has enough of their team back both on the field and on the mound, together with some nice additions to make a run to the top and stay there after making it close last season. They're like Sioux Falls was the year before last; the Canaries made a jump in the standings and then won it all last year. Sioux Falls still has a lot left from last year and it wouldn't surprise me if they won it again. Whether they can replace a starter or two remains to be seen but I expect them to be in the playoff hunt down to the very end. I'll take St.Paul to return to prominence again. The Saints were hit by injuries and players lost to pro teams last year..Tsamis knows talent and he always keeps the Saints competitive..they just don't have a bad season very often. I have Sioux City making a slide downward this season with Wichita bringing up the rear..I just didn't see much that impressed me with their rosters.

The South could be a three way race as well, but I think the race could very well be for the second playoff spot. For those of you who think Grand Prairie caught lightning in a bottle last year and expect them to fall off the map this season, you are in denial and need to think again. These guys are going to be very tough again this year and could take the whole thing this time around. They have 16 of their 22 players back from last year. From what a couple of their people told me, their pitching staff will be even beter than last year. The addition of Yaconetti to their lineup was a big plus. Fort Worth will be in the middle of it all again, as I expect it to be another repeat of last year with the Airhogs and Cats going at it for the top spot. Cats' main question is if they found a closer. Treadway knows talent, so I trust he's found the right guys to plug in. Defense looks improved, judging by the exhibition games. Ryan Patterson and Kelley Gulledge add power to the lineup. So I will go with the Hogs first and the Cats second. Everyone seems to be jumping on the Shreveport-Bossier bandwagon ever since their new manager made a bunch of noise about how good his team is going to be this year. The Captains did sign a bunch of the better ex-UBL players (some of them made all UBL last year). Whether that translates into the Captains staying close to the Cats and Hogs all season remains to be seen. They should be much improved..after all they only won 9 games in the second half last season, so anything is an improvment. I'll put them in third, and a possible spoiler. As far as El Paso and Pensacola, well..they're still in the league and I don't see much change there. They'll fight it out to see who stays out of last place.

As far as the playoffs go, when you have a best of five series, anyone can win it all playing a short series like that. I'll stay away from the playoff picks right now.

This is just my opinion and doesn't mean a lot. Heck, last year I said the Airhogs would be the worst team in the league and be absolutely awful based on the inexperience of their manager and front office. I did get it right with Sioux Falls winning it all, so maybe my guesswork is actually getting a little better.

Best of luck to all the AA teams, and let's play ball!!

You also said Shreveport would come in second and Lincoln would win the North, Lamearm, so don't wear out your arm patting yourself on the back just yet. Shreveport is improved and more competitive, but the entire South outside of Fort Worth is mediocre at best. At this rate, Fort Worth could hit 70 wins this season.

I said :

Fort Worth will be in the middle of it all again, as I expect it to be another repeat of last year with the Airhogs and Cats going at it for the top spot. Cats' main question is if they found a closer. Treadway knows talent, so I trust he's found the right guys to plug in. Defense looks improved, judging by the exhibition games. Ryan Patterson and Kelley Gulledge add power to the lineup. So I will go with the Hogs first and the Cats second.

The playoffs work like this. If a team wins both halves of the regular season, the team in the division with the second best overall record is the other division playoff team. Otherwise if one team wins one half and doesn't the second, whoever has the best record the second half gets in. ( I can remember being in the CBL in 04, the Cats got screwed out of a playoff spot with the second or third best overall in the league and an Amarillo team that finished 20 games below .500 overall went instead - be thankful the AA isn't that stupid when it comes to playoff rules).

Thats what the above means - I predicted a Fort Worth v Grand Prairie rematch for the South title. If that happens, right now the Cats would sweep them in the playoffs. The Airhogs better find some different decent middle relievers, because the ones they have are absolutely awful. Ive noticed unless one of the AirHog starters can pitch at least 7 innings or so they got a chance. Otherwise it's batting practice on those middle guys. So much for that pick.

I think Wichita suprised everyone this year how they're holding up. BBallfan seems to have hit on the most predictions so far. St. Paul is improving and they'll make a run on Wichita second half.

The captain obvious picks would be FW vs. roll the dice in the South and Wichita v St. Paul in the north. I'll go with Fort Worth v. St. Paul in the finals.

But I've said it before - Playoffs are best of five and in a short series, anyone can win it all.