All is all, we can look forward to another wild AL East race, with the O's pulling it off for the first time in 11 years. (No bias here, right?)

Realignment has pretty well ruined the rest of the divisional horseraces. it doesn't take a crystal ball to see that the AL West is Texas' to lose, against the Oakland A's, California Angles, and Seattle Mariners. (Memo to Mariners GM Woody Woodward: Vizquel for Felix Fermin? What were you thinking.

In the National League, the best and possibly only) divisional race will be in the NL East, where the Phillies will square off against the Atlanta Braves.

But still, who cares? The addition of the wild card to the playoff format means that hot divisional battles like last year's between the Braves and the San Francisco Giants will be reduced to battles for home field advantage Did I hear someone yawn?

Still, I'm tired of watching the NFC win the Super Bowl, and I'm tired to hearing about Toyna Harding. I'm tired of the hearing about the health-care debate, the budget deficit and Charles Barkley's bad back.

I'm ready for spring training. It's only a few weeks away.

Mike E. Ginsberg is a Crimson staff writer