It Begins Again . . .

Today is a beautiful day. The Giants win on a walk-off single by Juan Uribe to beat the Padres and pull within 2 1/2 games in the division--baseball is a game of inches, every day marking an adjustment in the scheme of things. Little things make such a difference, like Buster Posey's hustle turning a ball trickling slowly into left-center field into a double, and from which Posey came home to score on Uribe's soft single looped into right field.

And also, today is the first day of the Premier League in England. Football's back, and not the soap opera world of American football, where two San Francisco 49ers have basically walked away from football this week.

Twenty minutes in to Tottenham versus Manchester City, and Man City's Joe Hart has already pulled off three of the type of spectacular saves that allow low-scoring games to be much more exciting than the scoreline leads Americans to believe.

And he just pulled off another one. Love this game!

This is an intriguing match to start the season, and you know it was planned this way. These two teams, who for seasons have been just outside of the Big Four--Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool--battled down to the wire last season for the fourth and final European Champions League spot for this season, supplanting Liverpool, who slid into the less-prestigious Europa League. Tottenham just nipped City to the post--to mix a horse-racing metaphor into things--despite Manchester City spending big money on big names, a policy they continued this off-season, which means that these two teams could be shaping up for a rivalry somewhat akin to Barcelona-Real Madrid last year, where Real Madrid spent millions upon millions but could not catch Barcelona. The difference being that these two teams might be rivals for a Champions League spot only, not the championship of the Premier League. I'll be interested to see how that develops.

Here are the other topics I'll be thinking about this year:

Will Newcastle struggle to stay up?

Newcastle has not spent huge sums reinforcing their squad now that they are back in the top flight. Two young talents in James Perch and Dan Gosling, and an old famous name in Sol Campbell. I once had Newcastle sign Sol Campbell, but that was only on FIFA '99 for the computer. We'll see how it works out. I would love to see the Toon challenge for a Champions League spot, of course, but should I be satisfied to see them consolidate their position as a Premiership team? The result will tell a lot as to whether their relegation two years ago was a fluke, or whether they are a club in need of rebuilding. I'll be able to tell right away, as they play on ESPN2 on Monday against Manchester United, which will be a severe test to start the season.

What's up with Liverpool?

It looks like Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are not leaving, which is good, because that was a possibility with the absence of Champions League football. Their talents will be needed for Liverpool to reassert themselves with a new manager.

How will Javier Hernandez do?

I picked Javier Hernandez for my World Cup fantasy team, a selection that left me feeling quite smug, as he had an excellent tournament. He has already scored for Manchester United, in the FA Community Shield match against Chelsea, so he could be poised to have a dazzling debut season, and he could be a spark to drive United back past Chelsea for the first time in three seasons.

Halftime in the Tottenham-Manchester City game, and the score is level at 0-0, but Tottenham has been by far the dominant team on their home pitch. But the thing is, if they don't get a goal, their dominance is for nothing. Time to fast-forward to the second half, and to continue to enjoy the new season.