>Well, basketball season’s over in Dairyland (yeah, yeah, I know, the Bucks are still playing. … They could do something good. … They could, y’know, make the playoffs and make a run and stuff. … It could happen. …)

Sucks.

So … what else is there to talk about now?

The Ice Badgers are preparing for an appearance in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. That’s exciting, right?

I mean, yeah, they’ve only managed one win in their past five contests, but they still have a chance. …

Granted, it’s a bit hard to get excited about a team that just dropped a series to a team nicknamed the Seawolves that plays somewhere just west of Siberia.

The Big Ten baseball season is about to pick up in most our rival colleges’ hometowns, which could, in theory, be kind of exciting. But, alas, there is no baseball at UW.

So what is there to hope for? What is there to take up the 90 percent of the mind devoted to sports fancies?

This is something that I’ve noticed about Wisconsin since I’ve moved here. Come late March, real sports just sort of end. The Bucks fall apart, Bo and the Badgers end their yearly tournament run, and everyone is forced to start paying attention to a team that even its most devoted fans don’t seem to really understands why is attention-worthy.

Well, I’m tired of that nonsense. So, in the spirit of actually finding something interesting to pay attention to, I’m going to make something of a bold little prediction here.

It won’t be a trendy one, and it won’t be one that every one of you is going to be able to understand. But I’m going to make it, I’m going to stick by it and I’m even going to try (for now, at least) to believe it as definitively as I know how.

This is … and, mind you, I say this without a single ounce of sarcasm in my voice (or writing, or whatever). This is the Brew Crew’s year.

That’s right, the Brewers will win the World Series in 2004.

Start placing your bets.

If you’re one of those people who doesn’t quite see how this can happen yet, I’ll give you a bit of a break. It is true that the Brewers have been … a bit below average in the past two or three seasons.

But anyone who doesn’t recognize the makings for a reversal simply doesn’t recognize brilliance.

You may as well call Picasso a fingerpainter, or Shakespeare a thief or Jayson Blair a plagiarizer as deny it.

Sure, the NL central is gonna be tough.

During the offseason, the Astros added the New York Yankees to their already talented starting pitching rotation. Craig Biggio sucks these days, but even though Jeff Kent seems to have maybe actually been a bigger jerk than Barry Bonds back in that two-pronged attack, he, Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman are undeniably ballers.

The Cubbies … well, they’ll be tough to beat in the regular season. Mark Prior has as much talent in his right arm as the Crew’s major league, AAA, AA, A and rookie teams put together. And, yeah, Greg Maddux is a pretty decent fifth starter (i.e., ten times better at 50 years of age than Ben Sheets is at 25).

And the Cards are always tough to count out. Pujols is probably the best baseball player of all time, and Renteria (I believe … I haven’t actually looked at the stats) had more hits in Miller Park last season than the entire Brewer roster.

But forget all of that. Forget it!

If there has been one crucial theme linking the past three baseball seasons, it is that if a team is supposed to be good enough to win a World Series, they won’t do it. And that can be nothing but encouraging for the Brew Crew.

I mean, the Marlins won it last year, and the freaking Angels won it the year before that. Neither of those teams was “highly touted.” Other than talent, what makes Milwaukee any different?

And check out the standings. Cards: 11-10. Cubs: 10-10. ‘Stros: 9-7.

Brew Crew: 12-8.

Granted, it’s spring training, but the signs are obvious.

So as you feel the normal Wisconsin spring sports dulldrums taking over, step back and at least pretend that there’s something in this state right now worth rooting for.