The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT March 24, 2012

With the news of suspensions, trades and brackets, the biggest news of spring has escaped even the best sports fan.

Opening Day in baseball is now less than a week away.

IT MIGHT not have the same fanfare as the league-wide openers for the rest of the teams, but later next week, the Oakland Athletics will face the Seattle Mariners in a two-game series in Japan.

OK, so staying up until 3 a.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday isn't your ideal way to watch the opening games - it's still baseball that counts. Of course, for those that can't stay awake that long those nights, games will be rebroadcast in the evening.

The rest of baseball begins the regular season the first weekend in April.

Both Oakland and Seattle, after playing games in Japan that will count, will return to playing exhibition games in the U.S. before continuing the regular season in Oakland on April 5.

As the Mariners have progressed through spring training, it still remains a mystery just what to expect from this team.

Expectations were sky high two years ago after acquiring Cliff Lee, but when it came down to it - the team couldn't live up to any of them and found themselves well out of the playoff race by the Fourth of July.

Last year, with almost the same lineup, the Mariners flirted with a playoff spot in the first two months of the season, only to drop to the bottom of the AL West by season's end.

This year, with the Los Angeles Angels adding Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, as well as the Texas Rangers being a two-time defending American League champion, don't expect the long playoff drought to end quite yet.

UNLESS SOMETHING changes soon, it could be another photo finish to the spring sports schedule for area high schools.

Almost the entire prep sports schedule was cleared out due to a rain and snow mix on Wednesday and Thursday, with some storms being strong enough to already cancel events scheduled for today.

And with a good amount of schools out for spring break, only a few games are scheduled for next week, regardless of how great the weather might be.

But this won’t be anything new for those in North Idaho — playing three or four games in a week is something they do almost on a yearly basis.

In passing by Morehouse Field in Osburn two weeks ago, I joked with the Wallace baseball coach that the team should have been shoveling the remaining snow off the field for a practice the following day.

Passing by on Thursday, as the outfield was completely buried in snow and the infield under water, it might take more than some sunshine to get on that field anytime soon.

But it is early, with teams only playing a few games before a long break.

Those athletes might need to use the time away wisely.

Because if the weather wreaks havoc, there won’t be time for stopping once the sun comes out to stay.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.