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At the 1:30 mark of the first period Friday night, Colton Gillies stepped out onto the Toyota Center ice for his very first action in a professional game. Playing at the left wing position on a line with center Marco Rosa and right wing Ross Carlson, Gillies provided a much need burst of energy to the team.

Unfortunately, the 19-year old Gillies (the newly-signed number one draft pick of the Minnesota Wild) could only provide so much energy, and he could not provide enough to lift the Aeros out of what is becoming a depressing pattern – lousy and crappy first and second period play.

The 7,946 fans got to witness the Aeros fall behind 4-0 to division rival Peoria Rivermen before Rosa was able to net the puck, making the score 4-1. But the Aeros could get no closer to Peoria, and Peoria managed to score again in the second period to make the score 5-1.

Today is Opening Day for baseball season. Forget President’s Day. And Flag Day. And Labor Day. If there’s any day that needs to be a national holiday, it’s today. (Oh, just forget that the regular season for the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A’s actually started in Japan last Tuesday.) So I thought I would share with you my predictions for this MLB season.

And let’s see if I can do a little better than I did last year.

Let’s start with the American League.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST:

1. Boston Red Sox. Can Josh Beckett put together back-to-back seasons? Will Curt Schilling get healthy? Will Manny be Manny? It doesn’t matter. The Red Sox are the class of the AL East.

2. Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays got off to a slow start last season, but they were in the Wild Card chase for awhile at the end. They’ve got a nice pitching staff – especially if A.J. Burnett can stay healthy and closer B.J. Ryan can get healthy. They’ll fly under the radar again this year, but they’ll contend for the Wild Card, if not for the East Division title.

Famed literary genius Jose Canseco has a new book coming out next week. I’m still awaiting my review copy, so I can’t say much about the book. But I can comment on some of the things Mr. Canseco writes.

Those who have seen copies of the book state that Canseco claims Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez takes steroids, as does New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Canseco also addresses the Rocket matter again, and once again, according to what he writes in the book, he says Rocket did use HGH and steroids.

There are, of course, a few problems with these claims.

It’s that time of year again. It’s baseball season. And come Monday, the Astros will be starting up for real. Steve Campbell and Richard Justice of the Chron tell me I should be optimistic. And that I should look on the bright side because there are plenty of positives.

Well, maybe they’re right. I, for one, am positive about one thing regarding this year’s Astros. This team is going to suck. Capital S, capital U, capital C, capital K suck. SUCK.

And as bad as you thought the Astros were last season, well, it’s going to be even worse this season.

I love baseball, and I love to travel and watch baseball. I've been to two-thirds of the 30 major league ballparks -- and I've also been to four ballparks which are no longer used for baseball (Astrodome, Arlington Statium, Candlestick Park and Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).

You're going to see photos of mine from 16 of the 20 parks (primarily because I didn't have a digital camera when I went to Coors Field, Comerica Park, McAfee Coliseum or Yankee Stadium). I hope you enjoy, and I hope this gets you in the mood for baseball. -- John Royal

The Washington Nationals are moving into a brand new D.C. pleasure palace – one the people of D.C. were blackmailed into paying for and building. But for once, I’m not going off on that. I’ve got another problem.

The Baltimore Sun architecture critic writes glowing things about the new place, saying, “It's close to downtown and open to the sky, and features sweeping views of the city beyond. There's an asymmetrical field with enough nooks and crannies to keep the game interesting - plus a state-of-the-art scoreboard, luxury skyboxes and all the creature comforts fans could want.”

It’s nice it’s got a state-of-the art scoreboard. I’m big on scoreboards – especially when they’re used for baseball stats and not stock tickers. (Boy, just think how depressing it might get around MMP this season. You can watch the team sink in the standings while the value of your 401K drops to depths heretofore uncharted.) And I’m glad the place has all of the creature comforts fans could want: Of course, the guy doesn’t define those comforts. I for one consider the proper creature comforts to be good seats with decent leg room, and well, that’s about it. I just want a decent seat with lots of leg room. I’m there to watch baseball.

Okay, so my NCAA basketball tournament picks weren’t the best in the world. But you should know better than to expect me to be perfect with these things. I will note, however, that all of my Final Four picks are still standing.

Since I started with picks last week, I feel obligated to carry on, and pick things from where they stand at this moment – though I am not changing my picks for the Final Four or the championship.

The first 40 minutes of last night’s game between the Aeros and Peoria Rivermen were disappointingly similar to last week’s two games against the Quad City Flames. The Aeros were facing a team trying to catch them for a playoff spot, and the Aeros were doing everything possible to let it happen.

The 3,346 fans in attendance at Toyota Center saw the Aeros down 2-0 to the Rivermen as the teams skated out to drop the puck to start the third period. At 1:12 of the third, Rivermen center Yan Stastny was sent to the penalty box for tripping, and the Aeros were on the power play. Aeros left wing Ryan Hamilton found himself standing in front of the net, and at 1:48 he rebounded defenseman Jon Awe’s slap shot into the net to make the score 2-1 Peoria.

A masterpiece, it wasn’t.

On the fine art scale, the Rockets 108-100 victory over Sacramento rated right alongside those paint-by-number pictures you half-heartedly embraced during your pre-school days. The Rockets did just enough to win, while the Toyota Center faithful saved its loudest moments for the Jumbotron races and free visors. Apparently the fans—at least those of the bandwagon variety—are still suffering from a post-streak malaise as well.

But while the game itself seemed a ho-hum affair, the end result most certainly wasn’t. The win marked the 800th of Rick Adelman’s coaching career, granting him membership into a select group which includes only 12 others. It’s a tremendous accomplishment to be sure; one requiring excellence, longevity and even a little luck.

I know I should give Texas Monthly a break. It’s a general interest magazine. It’s not a sports magazine. It shouldn’t be expected to get all of the nuances of a sports story correct. But when that story is on Roger Clemens and steroids, well, I can’t stay silent.

First, let me hit one of the minor problems. The story’s author, Gary Cartwright, writes about all steroids enhancing performance, but he goes further, writing, “There have been a few cases where the premature death of an athlete was possibly the result of steroid use, most notably…Houston Astros and San Diego Padres slugger Ken Caminiti, a user of cocaine and steroids who died of a heart attack at 41.”

Let’s get this straight. Ken Caminiti died because he was a drug addict who overdosed on cocaine and opiates. Not because he overdosed on steroids. I know this doesn’t fit the thesis. But it’s an easy fact to check. And if Cartwright got this thing wrong, what’s that say about the accuracy of the rest of the piece?

Before Friday night’s bout against the Houston Aeros, the Chicago Wolves were 33-5-0-2 when scoring the game’s first goal. They were 24-3-0-2 when leading the game after the first period. And the Wolves, who had lost three straight, hadn’t lost four straight games since December. So when Chicago’s Jason Krog got his 34th goal of the season to put the Wolves up 3-0 at 17:41 of the first period, if you were one of the 10,211 fans in attendance, you might be forgiven for thinking the game was over.

Only it wasn’t over.

Playing like a team possessed, the Aeros stormed onto the ice in the second period and played one of the best periods of hockey they’ve played this season. Defenseman Brandon Rogers fired in a slap shot from the left circle at 9:52 of the second to make the score 3-1. And after Chicago left wing Jordan LaVellee scored 20 seconds later to make it 4-1, the Aeros hopped aboard the magic stick of right wing Joel Ward and got right back into the game.

Broadcaster Al Michaels made his name calling the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union, crying out “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” as the U.S.A. pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sporting history.

Now, if I were to tell you that the Chicago Wolves, the team with the Western Conference’s best record, and the league’s highest-scoring offense, and the league’s second best power play, were defeated by a Houston Aeros team that had lost three of four and was starting a rookie goaltender, you would probably proclaim that the Aeros would’ve needed a miracle to win the game.

Well, as Al Michaels might say: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes.”

The Houston Aeros emerged from the locker room last night ready to hit. They came out with a sense of urgency that recently they’ve displayed only when playing from behind. They played like a team tired of being pushed around by the playground bullies, and no matter how hard Chicago hit, no matter how hard Chicago tried to instigate, the Aeros didn’t let it get to them. They kept their heads on the goal.

One year ago today I wrote my first post for Houstoned Ballz – I’m still not sold on that title – and I used the space to say that Brad Lidge was on his way to another disastrous season. I’m not writing about baseball today. There’s no need to get too depressed, at least not until the season starts. Instead, I’m going to respond to some reader mail I got.

A regular commenter recently sent me a note asking about the latest on the Houston Dynamo stadium situation. I’m not going to reveal his name, because I don’t want to ruin his reputation, but I thought the least I could do for someone who’s been reading me for the better part of a year was to answer his question.

The Aeros are in a fight for the playoffs. This is that time of season where the cliché “every game counts” is actually true. There’s just one problem: Although they acknowledge the desperation and importance of the situation, the Aeros continue to come out, night after night, playing as if it doesn’t matter.

Unfortunately, every minute of every game does matter. And the crowd of 3,596 in attendance for the Aeros 3-2 loss to the Quad City Flames couldn’t be criticized if they thought the Aeros were just phoning in for the first 35 minutes or so.

The score was 3-0 in favor of the Flames with just a little under four minutes remaining in the second period before the Aeros displayed any fight on the offensive end of the game, with right wing Danny Irmen netting the puck at 16:54 of the second period, only 50 seconds after the Flames had gone up 3-0.

The game had disintegrated into a literal fight fest at about the ten minute mark of the second. The first round of blows started with Quad City right wing Carsen Germyn spearing an Aero. Aeros defenseman John Scott and Flames left wing Cam Cumming then started throwing punches and over 30 minutes of penalties were assessed. Then a mere seconds after play resumed, defenseman Clayton Stoner and Quad City left wing Brandon Prust exchanged fists for another 20-some odd minutes of penalties.

Richard Justice has given up on Woody Williams. And if Justice has given up on Woody, then the team has given up on Woody. Justice tells us that the team’s convinced that the pitching staff is the key to last place in the National League Central, and that they’re looking at all options for improvement.

All options, that is, but trading Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. Apparently, it’s okay to put Hunter Pence on the trading block, but not Berkman and Lee. And it’s this kind of thinking that will have the Astros in the basement for years to come.