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Melbourne Victory is the favourite to win the A-League championship this season according to coaches and marquee players.A confidential poll of 20 respondents - the 10 coaches and a senior player from each club - has Kevin Muscats group as the most likely winner of the league, but with plenty of competition.Reflecting the evenness of the league, which begins on on Friday night when Brisbane Roar host Victory, eight clubs were nominated by key players as potential winners.With five votes, three-time champions Victory finished on top of the pile.Their cross-town rivals Melbourne City garnered three votes, with Sydney FC, Western Sydney and defending champions Adelaide supported by two figures.Brisbane, Perth and Wellington also had one backer, leaving only Newcastle and Central Coast as unloved clubs before the season kicks off.Coaches and players were asked which club they saw as the best in the league, excluding their own, on the condition of anonymity. A small minority declined to answer.Some suggested more than one club, in which case their votes were weighted accordingly.Reflecting on the competition as a whole, Roar manager John Aloisi surmised the mood among coaches when he said it was a difficult guessing game.Melbourne Victory are definitely in with a shot. Theyve got a good squad and we all know what Carl Valeri is like. Theyre going to be tough, he told AAP.But its hard to say, its too early. I think the Sydney and Melbourne sides are going to be strong.Perth boss Kenny Lowe said he expected Victory, City, Western Sydney and Sydney FC to be among the finalists.The two Melbourne clubs and Sydney clubs are at the forefront. Theyre in front of everybody with resources and recruitment, he said.Theyre driving the level of the league and the market place and everyone has got to keep up with that.First-year Central Coast coach Paul Okon said many clubs had improved their squads from last season.If I look at Wellingtons recruitment, its very good. If I look at Sydneys recruitment, also very good. Brett Holman coming on board at the Roar is going to give them something extra, he said.This year is going to be an even more even battle.THE A-LEAGUE CHAMPION AS PREDICTED BY THE COACHES AND PLAYERS:* 5 votes - Melbourne Victory* 3 - Melbourne City* 2 - Adelaide United, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers* 1 - Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory, Wellington Phoenix* 0 - Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets Replica NCAA Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. NCAA Jerseys China . LOUIS -- St.ST. MARYS, Ont. -- Tim Raines and George Bell were both superstar outfielders who enjoyed their peak years in Canadian markets. Their Canadian connection will live on for years to come. Raines and Bell will be officially inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday. The Class of 2013 also includes former outfielder Rob Ducey, former announcer Tom Cheek and longtime minor-league owner Nat Bailey. "When you start playing professional baseball, you dont ever think about this," a smiling Raines said Friday. "When your career is over its when you really start thinking about it. But I never dreamed when I first signed out of high school that this day would ever come. "But its a special day, its a special achievement and its something you have until the day you die." Raines played in the outfield for six major-league teams from 1979 to 2002 and had a glorious run with the Montreal Expos through the 1980s. The seven-time all-star won two World Series as a player later in his playing career and added a third title as a coach. Nicknamed "Rock," he retired with a career .294 average with 2,605 hits, 170 homers and 808 stolen bases. "You knew when you were facing him, you were facing one of the best," said former Blue Jays closer Tom Henke, a 2011 Hall inductee. Bell spent 12 seasons in the major leagues with Toronto, the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox but enjoyed his best success with the Blue Jays. The three-time all-star won the American League MVP with Toronto in 1987 after hitting .308 with 47 homers and 134 runs batted in. A lasting image for Toronto fans is of Bell making the game-ending catch in left field when the Blue Jays won their first American League East division title. "I think catching that last out in 1985 was the best (memory) ever," Bell said. "I went down on my knees and pray to the Lord. I (caught) the last out," he added. Ducey, a 48-year-old Toronto native who grew up in Cambridge, Ont., played for both Toronto and Montreal over his 13-year pro career. He played for Canada at the 2004 Athens Olympics and later moved into coaching. "I think a lot of the friendships and relationships over the course of 20 years, 25 years and even ongoing now, people you meet in the game and opportunities that present themselves because of the game," Ducey said of his special memories. "I think thats the fondest part of the whole deal." Cheek, who diied in 2005, broadcast 4,306 consecutive Jays games from Torontos first-ever contest right up until June 2, 2004.dddddddddddd He was recently named as the recipient of the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the Baseball Hall of Fame and will be honoured again next month in Cooperstown. Bailey, who died in 1978, purchased the triple-A Vancouver Mounties in the mid-50s and helped raise the sports interest in the city. Bell, Raines and Ducey were on hand for a golf tournament and banquet on a rainy Friday morning in the small town of St. Marys, Ont., about a two-hour drive west of Toronto. They were all smiles as they shared some laughs with old friends and recalled the fond memories of their playing days. Raines said Montreal was a very special city for him. "It meant everything to me," he said. "Actually, I grew up in Montreal. I was a 19-year-old kid when I first went there and I was almost 30 when I left. Just the raw excitement of the fans, competing at the major-league level, it was like home for me. "I felt like I was an adopted son of Montreal and I enjoyed every minute of it." Bell, often a man of few words, was happy to be back in the area and proud of his latest accomplishment. "I think its one of the more beautiful honours you can have in baseball or any kind of sport," he said. Henke remembers Bell as being a tremendous competitor. "George was a guy youd want to go to war with," he said. "He was a great teammate." He recalled Bells leadership in the clubhouse really standing out. "George was an old-school guy where he took the young guys aside and said, Hey, this is the right way to do things, this is the wrong way to do things. This is the way youre supposed to act when youre in the big leagues," he said. "He was one of those type of guys that was able to do that with young players and I think everybody appreciated that." Raines, who like Bell is 53, recalled thriving off the energy in the stadium during his days patrolling the Montreal outfield. "I was a proud guy. I was a guy that had fun doing what I was doing and the fans got me excited to do what I did," he said. "For my teammates who played with me, they knew how I was. You couldnt tell if I went 0-for-5 or 5-for-5, I was the same guy and I just enjoyed the competition and the camaraderie with my teammates. "I just enjoyed playing the game." ' ' '