As I laid around deciding if I should flip back and forth between what will probably be Oakland's only game on ESPN this year and the UNC/MSU game or just watch one of them.  I went with flipping back and forth, but after the score was 34-11, in favor of UNC, I figured that I could safely focus my attention on Oakland and see how they fared.

I was pretty much impressed with Dallas Braden and his control during the game.  He did give up a two-run HR, but other than that, he was pretty solid.  He's not a number one guy by any means, which I don't expect him to ever be, so I had to keep that in mind while watching him.

The offense only mustered up three hits against Joe Saunders during the game and the Angels bullpen shut the A's bats down the last few innings.  I wasn't impressed with anybody on offense.  Giambi looked to be forcing the issue and a lot of guys looked stiff at the plate.  I'm sure that will change once they get into the normal routine of the regular season.

**********  I saw this article by Howard Bryant on ESPN.com that I liked.  **********