Can you smell it? The fresh cut grass and pine tar in the air. Can you hear it? Flashbulbs popping and crowds cheering as the home team takes the field. Baseball season is rounding third base, and a month from now the craziest off-season of all time will hopefully be followed up by a great season of America’s favorite pastime. Forget about the steroids, someone get Don Zimmer some Preparation H for his hemorrhoids, and let’s talk some baseball.

In the American League, A-Rod was a reydonkulous pick-up for the pinstripes, but their biggest acquisition was pitcher Kevin Brown. Can he stay healthy and can he handle the pressure of leading an all-right handed pitching staff? You can bet the pitchers in Beantown are ready. Curt Schilling is already a fan favorite, and for good reason: He is the man. Schilling will lead the Red Sox to battle against the Bombers William Wallace-style. Who can forget the All-Star game where Schilling walked up to A-Rod, told him he was going to throw him three fastballs down the middle of the plate, and begged him to hit one? Three pitches, three wiffs, one set of steel balls.

Will Detroit lose 100 games again after spending $60 million on six free agents, one the World Series MVP? Pudge is good, but who is he catching? I know my baseball, but still I can’t think of a single pitcher on that wack-ass staff. How will Guerrero hit in Anaheim? Will Miguel go from hotter Tejada in Baltimore? Will rookie catcher Joe Mauer prove that he’s not the next Sam Bowie, and justify being a top pick, ahead of Mark Prior?

In the National League all the talk is Cubs, Phillies and Astros. They’ve got pitching staffs general managers dream about, and offense to back it up. Maddux is a solid acquisition by the Cubbies, simply because he’s the fourth best pitcher on that rotation. He’s not going to be facing the Randy Johnsons and Jason Schmidts every fifth day anymore with the young arms of Prior, Wood and Zambrano taking charge.

Are Philly fans excited enough to lay down the batteries and pick up the thunder sticks? You better believe it. Brand new stadium, brand new bullpen, and one of only two pitching staffs in the big leagues with five starters posting career winning records. But one name has the fans of the Fightin’ Phils tingly with joy and local pharmacies expecting a dip in ulcer medication: Wagner. Away with Jose “Pepto Abysmal” Mesa and hello to the best left-handed closer in baseball.

The Astros should contend with the Cubbies in the NL Central with the acquisitions of the Rocket and the Nose (Andy Pettite). But Houston plays in a hitter’s ballpark, so don’t expect Clemens or Pettite to crack 15 wins, especially with their Wagner-less bullpen.

Is there another Anaheim Angels/Florida Marlins Cinderella story in the making this year? Royals’ fans think they could sneak their way into the playoffs in a weak AL Central and take down the evils of the East. But with all the free agent movement this off-season, it’s hard to think the small teams could contend with the likes of the Yanks and Cubs. The Yankees payroll advantage is more obvious than Barry’s ‘roids, but what can small market fans do about it? At least find solace in the fact that your fan base isn’t 75 percent fake, and remember that on any day in any ballpark, it’s anyone’s game. Well, as long as the Phils face off against the Red Sox come October. This is the year folks, at least until next year.

As I sat down Sunday to simultaneously watch the CBS and ESPN men’s basketball tournament selection shows, I awaited hearing where my team would be headed. Unfortunately, that team is my hometown Texas Longhorns, not my beloved Hoyas.

If someone told me five years ago that I’d be certain Texas was in the tourney and Georgetown was out, I’d have called them crazy. Texas is a football school, and basketball is a post-pigskin distraction before the orange-white intra-squad scrimmage ending football spring practices.

That all changed when the Longhorns brought in former Providence and Clemson coach Rick Barnes, who resurrected the program and turned Texas into one of the country’s most consistent teams. Barnes invigorated recruiting, got improved facilities overnight, and has increased attendance and wins each year. Last year he took the Horns to the Final Four behind the hand of now-Milaukee Bucks guard T.J. Ford.

In fact, Ford is the perfect point of divergence between Georgeown and Texas. When Ford was a senior in high school, he nearly signed with Georgetown. He visited campus, met players, and the recruiting publications felt the Houston product was a lock for Esherick’s Hoyas. Unfortunately, like so many games his team has lost since, Esherick couldn’t close the deal. Ford backed out of his commitment and bolted for the greener pastures of Barnes’ renewed Longhorns team. Yes, a coach can make that big a difference.

The Georgetown basketball program has problems in all facets, but that’s not to say we can’t compete with the best in the country. We have players with plenty of talent: Look at Brandon Bowman’s season averages, Ashanti Cook’s three-point percentage when not point guard, and the dishes and slashes of first-year Matt “tha’ professa” Causey in the Big East tourney loss to BC. Unfortunately, under past tutelage they’re weren’t able rise to great skill, hype, or coverage.

Luckily the administration has finally stepped up their commitment to reinvigorate our once glorious tradition with the firing of Esherick Tuesday night. Bringing in a big time coach is the first huge step towards resurrecting the historic past. Whichever new coach comes in to fix the damaged team and souls of wearied fans will also have the best recruiting class that Georgetown has had in years, and should have the nuclues of talent that kept the team competitive, if still losing, most of this season.

Georgetown basketball has always been an integral part of campus life, if not the defining characteristic itself. The auras of John Thompson, Patrick Ewing, and Allen Iverson still stalk the campus by McDonough at nightfall, and there’s no reason why the next generation of these superstars shouldn’t be inheriting their legacy.

Just look at tiny programs like St. Joeseph’s and Gonzaga, both Jesuit schools and a no. 1 and no. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament respectively. With talented coaches, who mold players and recruit the country’s best players, the schools have risen to national prominence almost overnight, just as Georgetown did in the ‘80s.

When Ford passed on flying up to Georgetown, our program lost its luster, while he drove Texas to a Final Four. I’m glad that we acted now so we can get it back, before it was too late.