Shifting gears

I love the Masters golf tournament. Yes, because it's a tradition unlike any other, and because the glasslike greens, the picturesque rolling fairways, and the vibrant azaleas are as aesthetically pleasing as it gets when it comes to televised sporting. (Not to mention the CBS golf commentators are incredibly unique and crafty at what they do; if you had never seen a televised golf tournament, you'd think they were all kooky. But their soft, carefully plodded words underscore the drama which never ceases to exist at Augusta in the second weekend of April.)

But the Masters also represents a bridge between the NCAA Tournament and the NBA Playoffs. It's an imperative transitional event. While March is the most exciting month in sports because of all the hoopla surrounding the Dance -- brackets, speculation, and so forth -- sports throughout April, May, and early June are more consistently enthralling. Not as enthralling as the Dance, but what I'm saying is that because the tournament is only played on 10 different days, that's far fewer than the amount of days in the spring that will have a big game to offer. Sportscenter will have no nights off.

Let us walk through the itinerary.

The Tigers play their opener at Comerica Park today against the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. At 2-4, the boys from the south side aren't beginning their season the way their fireball manager Ozzie Guillen would have hoped. Which makes them dangerous. He's the best in the bigs, in my opinion, and he'll have them fired up in Detroit for the 1:05 first pitch this afternoon.

It should be fun following the Tigers -- especially throughout the early spring -- to see if they can continue their torrid start. Chris Shelton's stats at this point are through the roof. In six games, he's hit five homers, touched 35 total bases, and is hitting for a .583 average. As a team, they're hitting .308.

From the diamond to the hardwood, where the Pistons have five regular season games to go before they begin their playoff march toward a second NBA title in three years. Ben Wallace's recent actions -- while seemingly hurtful to the team -- will actually help. By refusing to re-enter Friday night's game against Orlando, he undermined Flip Saunders' authority. Then, yesterday against the Pacers, he went out and ripped down 22 boards. Chauncey might be the MVP and the face of this team, but Ben is its backbone. The disrespect he showed Flip is not reflective of Ben's personality in any way; it's a long season, and something like that is bound to happen. In fact, it's so rare on this team that it only speaks to its cohesiveness. Whatever your view, that one occurrence will recharge big No. 3 and make him hungrier, which will rub off on everyone else, and I think you'll see the best defensive team in this playoffs wearing red and blue.

Also this spring: the NHL Playoffs, the Kentucky Derby, the French Open, and my personal favorite, the Kalamazoo College men's tennis team's pursuit of a 68th consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship. Yeah, that's right. 68. I should write a story about them and submit it to ESPN. I doubt there's much knowledge of that great feat outside of Kalamazoo, not to mention any other record of similar stature to be found elsewhere in this country.