Left-Handed Larceny

Eastern Conference Final
By Caleb Musselman

The West has turned into WWIII. Fighting tooth and nail through the first two rounds, sure Cup contenders continue to fall away as blood is shed and Game 7's take their toll on the Western Conference's elite. While war is waged in the West, the East seems more like a playground kickball contest between the nerds and the athletes. 

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The big brother Penguins outran the little brother Isles and pounded Craig Anderson and Co. into quick submission. I could write an entire article on Ottawa's embarrassing performance but I'll bite my tongue. On the other side of the ice are the Bruins who tripped over themselves and found their name in the playoffs. Look mom, we didn't study for the test but did well enough to get a C- in the class. After they righted the ship in the first round in the midst of a Houdini act against Toronto, the Bruins embarrassed a poorly coached NYR team who still hasn't found their identity. Thankfully, they no longer have to worry about Tortorella distracting them on and off the ice with his 3rd grade antics. (Maybe he'll start his own cooking show called "Torts' kitchen" so he can yell and scream at people who will actually listen.) The venting is over. 

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So, what are we in for in the Eastern Conference Finals? Will we finally see a series that is worth staying up past 11 to watch? One thing is for sure: The two best squads are facing each other in the ECF. Whether or not they stack up to one another is the real question. This Penguins team is the real deal. One of the best offensive squads put together in my lifetime, the Penguins have no match when it comes to scoring goals. Fleury, newly labeled "The Big Question Mark" (by me), was the one cog possibly holding them back. Well, Fleury is now holding the pom-poms while Uncle Tomas shows the boys how to play ball. The one issue I can see the Pens running into would be their offensive minded D-line. Always prepped and ready to jump into the attack, Pittsburgh has shown signs of weakness in giving up odd-man rushes off of neutral zone turnovers (thanks Geno). 

Crosby and Dupuis lead the team with 7 goals each and Dupuis can thank Crosby for almost all of those. In my opinion, they should put a new category in the stat sheet: Layups and Assisted Layups. If they did Dupuis and Kunitz would have more layups than Wilt Chamberlain and Crosby would have more AL's than John Stockton. 

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For Boston, Rask has a 2.22 GAA in 12 postseason games and has established himself in Boston after the mysterious disappearance of Tim Thomas. The intriguing part of Boston's game is that they seem to be scoring a decent amount of goals. Even against King Henrik, the ruler of all things crease shaped, Boston tallied 16 goals in 5 games and turned the Rangers defensive zone into a half-time shoot-around. With a very balanced scoring attack, 7 players between 3-5 goals, Boston could cause problems for the Pens. 

On the defensive end, Boston has two of the league's elite defensemen in Chara and an undervalued Dennis Seidenberg. If there is a team in the East that can potentially lock down the Potent Penguins, I believe it is this Bruins team. That is one big IF.

So what can we expect come Saturday night? First, expect a physical Bruins team (474 hits to Pittsburgh's 319) to attempt to rough up Crosby and all his BFFs. They will finish every check strong and try to wear the Penguins down from the opening face-off. Lucic, Chara and Horton lead a large Bruins team that isn't afraid to lay the shoulder. Will Pittsburgh be up for that physical challenge or will they take the finesse route and stick to their gameplan? 

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Second, expect Crosby to be shadowed all over the ice. The Bruins know that if Crosby gets warmed up, like he did against the Senators, they are in deep doo-doo. Consequently, look for Malkin's line to break through in the first 2 games followed by Crosby's as the series progresses. The home-ice last change will be huge in this series as the Bruins attempt to match-up Chara with Crosby on a consistent basis. Here is Bylsma's chance to prove his coaching prowess. 

Third, expect Boston to keep their game clean. Claude Julien knows he can't mess with this Pittsburgh power play. The name of the game for Boston is tough and clean. However, that is a very difficult balance to keep when emotions are high. 

Fourth, expect both goaltenders to shine. These guys proved last round that they aren't messing around. Vokoun has a sub 2.00 GAA and has only lost one game. That is a pretty decent playoff resume thus far. Rask will continue his stellar play. 

Think of the Bruins as a small child standing in front of a dam. The kid is given 5 pieces of gum and told to keep the dam in tact. Suddenly the holes start appearing in the dam one by one. At first the kid is successful and plugs all the holes. Eventually, he runs out of gum and soon he's running from a wave of water. This is going to be a great series. Two solid sides that love to compete and have experience at this stage. However, the Penguins simply have too many weapons. Match that with solid goaltending and the rest of the league is in trouble. Best case scenario for Boston is winning one out of the first 2 in Pitt and pushing this series to seven games. Worst case scenario is another quick 5-game series. I'll take the middle ground. Malkin posts 7 points in 6 games and Vokoun continues his consistent play. 

Penguins in 6. 

Caleb Musselman is a co-founder and writer for the Sports Eye View.

He can be reached at cbmusselman@gmail.com. 

Green - White - Checkers

Stop #12: Charlotte

By Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.skirtsandscuffs.com

Fresh off last week's record breaking win for Jimmie Johnson in the All Star Race, NASCAR spends another week in Charlotte for the famed Coca Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race of the year.  600 miles!!  The race begins during the daytime, and goes well into the night.  Drivers face tougher physical conditions inside the car than any other track, and crews have their hands full trying to make the necessary adjustments to the car to make it run under the lights just as well as it did under the sun.  So much goes into winning this race, and walking away with the Coca Cola 600 title is always well worth it.

Photo Cred www.foxsports.com

There's been a bit of controversy the past week as a result of a FOX Sports inaccuracy.  The lineup for the final segment of the All Star Race was set by the average finishing position of each driver in the four previous segments.  NASCAR lined the drivers up in the correct order.  Jimmie Johnson was to lineup fourth before the final pit stop.  Nothing wrong with that based on the first four segments' performances.

FOX Sports decided to show what the final lineup would be, and they got it completely wrong.  They showed Johnson starting outside of the Top 10.  When viewers at home saw the inconsistency, they assumed Johnson had cheated and that it was a conspiracy theory by NASCAR to put him in position to break the record for All Star Race wins, which he did.  Naturally, they took to the Twitter World to express their thoughts, putting NASCAR in a tough spot directly following the race.

Sports fans are an interesting breed, and there will never be an end to the multitude of conspiracy theories about how the most minute details in every sporting event play out.  If nothing else, it makes for good media articles.

So, let's get going to Charlotte!  Race is Sunday night.  Starting around six in the afternoon, going deep into the moonlight.  Fans and drivers have complained that the action isn't as exciting since they repaved the track some years back, but I think it's still just as enjoyable to watch.  Plenty of action going on all over the track.

Photo Cred www.zimbio.com

The big story tonight is going to be Jimmie Johnson.  He has shown pure dominance at Charlotte Motor Speedway his entire career.  He's always the heavy favorite to win this race. Am I choosing him?  No, of course not!  If you've read any of my previous articles, you know I can't go with the heavy favorite to win any race.  I'm always willing to go with the underdog.  So, for the Coca Cola 600 tonight, I am choosing none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to break out of his slump and grab the victory.  He needs it, NASCAR needs it.  What, I can root for the Cinderella story, can't I?

Boom Goes the Dynamite!

Sports Sins: NHL

by Eric Berkenpas

Photo cred www.torontosun.com

Every sport has a very exhaustive set of rules by which that particular sport is to be governed. In Baseball, pitchers must pitch from 60' 6" away from home plate. In Football, only 11 players are allowed on the field from each team at any given time. In Soccer, the goalie is the only player who is allowed to touch the ball with his/her hands. In Hockey, you are not allowed to 1) leave your skates to make a check or 2) have the principle point of contact for a check be someone's head. Well boys and girls, Raffi Torres of the San Jose Sharks seems to skim over those rules whenever he reads through the NHL rule book, because once again, he fell victim to the Shanahammer with a big ol' Shanaban that will sit him for the remainder of their current series.

Photo cred www.usatoday.com

Raffi Torres is no stranger to league disciplinarians. He has been knocked for headshots to Jan Hejda, Brent Seabrook, Jordan Eberle and of course Marian Hossa just last year which resulted in a 25 game suspension that carried over to the beginning of this season (and got reduced to 21 games). The NHL has been taking serious strides over the last several years to try to protect players as head injuries have been happening more and more. After the 2004-2005 lockout, rules changed in the league to open up the rink and speed up the game in an attempt to make it more exciting for the fans and more importantly, bring in more fans. The plan worked to bring in more fans, but the cost was a decrease in player safety. The new rules removed a lot of protection that players had. The trapezoid behind the net serves as an area that goalies cannot play the puck outside of, forcing the defense to have to play more pucks behind the goal line, meaning they are more frequently in a vulnerable position against the boards for a check. The two-line pass rule was removed to open up the neutral zone which in turn sped up play through that zone making for bigger open ice hits. These things, among others, are currently being looked into and new ways are likely going to be created for protecting players because new rules alone are clearly not doing the trick...case in point: Raffi Torres.

Let's look at the hit:

          

Doesn't take eagle vision to see that Torres was clearly targeting Stoll's head the entire time. Just a year ago, this is the hit that really earned Torres a bad rep:

          

For the sake of your time and space on this article, I will not post videos of all his other illegal hits, but you get the point. There is no room in the NHL for this type of play. These players all do this for a living and most of them have families and a long life to live after hockey is over. Brain injuries are notorious for causing very long term damage and side effects that can sometimes last forever. There are not many players in the league right now who play with this kind of unharnessed aggression and carelessness but for the ones that are, and Raffi Torres is most definitely one of them, their place in the league needs to be very seriously assessed. If you ask me, I think the guy should be tossed from the league. He has shown over and over and over again that he just doesn't care about the safety of others or simply does not have the self control and restraint to stop himself. Either way, he is a danger to everyone around him and has enough of a history of incidents to, in my mind, warrant his removal. There is not a single group of people or individuals who benefit from injuries and while many are accidental and cannot be helped, this one could have.

Rounding the Bases

National League Power Rankings

by Caleb Musselman

The first quarter is almost in the books and the National League is all over the place. With only a few teams playing consistent baseball, every division is up for grabs at this juncture. Let's take a look at this season's first installment of National League Power Rankings.

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1. St. Louis Cardinals (26-13) - The Cardinals are 12-3 through the first half of May. Plain and simple, there isn't a team that is hotter right now than St. Louis. Beltran, the sage, is batting .309 with 10 homers through the first quarter of the season. Whoa. Next to him, Molina, like a fine wine, is getting better with age. He's hitting at an impressive .333 average and leads the team with 49 total hits. On the mound, Lynn has 6 wins and is closely followed by Wainwright and rookie stud Shelby Miller with 5 wins a piece. The question for St. Louis lies at the back of the bullpen. Edward Mujica, in his first year as a closer has closed 11 out of 11 this season. Can he keep it up? Can the perennially good first half pitchers (Garcia, Lynn) continue to play well all season? Will Beltran stay healthy? There are many questions for the Cards, but right now the birds are singing in St. Louis. 

2. Washington Nationals (21-19) - Oh my goodness, I can't believe he put the Nats at number 2. Relax. These are power rankings. Not a "who might win their game tonight" article. If the playoffs started tonight, I think the Nats would be just fine. That being said, they have struggled in many facets of their game and thankfully have a long time to figure it out. With the Braves slowing down, much of the pressure has been taken off of the Nats to quickly right the ship. With Harper (.300, 10 HR, 21 RBI) taking a few days off to fix his ego after having a run-in with the Mr. Centerfield Wall, the Nats must find a way to put together a winning streak.  What's the worst thing that could happen for the rest of the league? For Jordan Zimmermann to have a dynamic first quarter. 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA through 8 starts (really?!), Zimmermann is hotter than the token sweaty guy at a pool party who refuses to take his shirt off. Strasburg (1-5, 3.10 ERA) has lost a bunch of one run games. Once he gets things together and Gio starts to perform, the Nats will begin rolling. It is only a matter of time. 

3. Cincinnati Reds (24-16) - Surprise, surprise. The Reds are good again. Votto is hitting .327 but his HRs are down this year with only 4. Brandon Phillips is reaping all of the benefits of hitting close to Votto with 34 RBIs. The Reds pitching numbers have been very mediocre thus far with a few injuries to key guys (Cueto). Can this team win 100 games this year? I don't think so only because of the difficulty of their division. They will battle St. Louis tooth and nail all year with the Pirates nipping at their heels. 

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4. Atlanta Braves (22-18) - Well, the Braves were hot. Going 4-6 in their last ten and dropping off the map in May, Atlanta has finally come back down to earth. Easily the best team through the first 25 games, the Braves have a few kinks to work out. Justin Upton has clubbed 13 homers thus far. Wow. Problem? He is hitting most of those with nobody on base. He only has 23 RBIs on the year which is dismal for a player with so much long ball success. While Justin is thriving in his new city, his brother B.J. is easily the biggest disappointment of the early season. Batting .145, with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs, older brother Upton could be the biggest stumbling block for the Braves in the days to come. In addition, the Braves starting rotation must step up their game if they want to keep their nose in front of Washington. 

5. San Francisco Giants (23-17) - Surprisingly for the Giants, 8 of their 9 top fielders are hitting over .250. A team that is perennially grounded in stellar mound presence is getting an unexpected lift from the bats. The Giants lead a muddled Western Division that is legitimately up for grabs at the moment. The upside for the Giants is that their pitching hasn't been playing particularly well. Upside you say? If they can lead their division with subpar pitching, once the sleeping giants are awoken, this team will be flying high. Leaving the Dodgers in the dust, I might add. 

6. Pittsburgh Pirates (23-17) - Is this the year?! I don't want to jinx anything but I truly believe it is. Problem, they are the third best team in their division! The Pirates are a solid team, but at best I see them playing the play-in game. Regardless, Grilli has been absolutely superb in taking Hanrahan's spot at the back of the bullpen. Further, Starling Marte has arrived on the scene. He's the real deal, people. The Pirates are getting legit pop from a host of players which is encouraging. If McDonald can have a solid year and Wandy can keep up his solid play, the Pirates could make some noise. In fact, I expect them to. 

7. Arizona Diamondbacks (23-18) - Arizona at #7? I know, I know. Just wait til you see #8. Right now, you can't argue with the standings. Led by Paul Goldschmidt, the D-Backs have put together a solid first quarter. Goldschmidt is an absolute stud. We saw flashes of dominance last season, and now with .322, 10 homers and 32 RBIs, Goldschmidt has staked his claim. On the mound, Patrick Corbin leads Arizona with 6 Ws. I expect the D-Backs to finish right around .500, but for right now things are exciting once again in the desert. 

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8. Colorado Rockies (21-19) - Haha. This will be the highest the Rockies make it all year, but I figured I'd give them their spot in the sun just this once. Off to a hot start, the Colorado has gone 3-7 in their last 10 and are quickly declining. Like an inexperienced runner, they seem to have used up all their speed in the first leg. Could get ugly from here. 

9. Los Angeles Dodgers (17-22) - I wish I could say I am surprised. LA quite possibly has the two most stacked rosters in all of baseball. What does that get them? Two teams who are floundering under .500. The Dodgers are a conundrum. They can't get any fans and they can't get any wins. What's the problem? Hanley. Hanley Ramirez is one of the worst team leaders in all of baseball and until teams realize that, he will continue to bring down every team he joins. The Dodgers have the potential to win 90 to 93 this season, but a LOT has to change for that to be a possibility. 

10. Philadelphia Phillies (19-22) - The Phillies...a team who bought the barn in 2010 and looked destined for multiple rings is losing speed quickly. Laced with talent, the Phillies have a wretched bullpen and a dismal bottom of the lineup. Couple that with Hamels starting 1-6 and Halladay on the DL and that explains the mediocre start. However, with such a rough start to the year, the Phillies still have hope to turn it around. Led by Utley and a hot hitting Howard, this team has shown signs of 2008 throughout the young season. A playoff run rests of the backs of Rollins and Hamels. 

11. Chicago Cubs (17-23) - The Cubbies, baby. This team has had the same problem for about 10 years now. They have fantastic individual talent at various positions, but too many holes at key spots to make anything happen. Rizzo is nasty (9HRs and 29RBIs). Their problems lie chiefly in the bullpen. Marmol has been atrocious for a few years now and Shawn Camp has a 7.39 ERA in 19 games. Goodness gracious, stop putting him in. The Cubs will win 72 games. Another year with the curse screaming in your ear. 

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12. San Diego Padres (18-21) - San Diego has one of the worst offenses in the MLB. Well, unless you don't count the Marlins (minor league team?). The Padres have been surprising thus far but that is mostly due to the jumbled mess that is the West. Jason Marquis, who was banished from St. Louis to live a life of solitude at Petco Park, leads the Padres with 5 wins. They will fall as the rest of the division wakes up and puts their dancing shoes on. 

13. Milwaukee Brewers (16-22) - Nothing makes me happier than to see the Brewers at the bottom of the Central. Interesting stat - There are only 3 active players who have over 200 homeruns before the age of 31. Cabrera, Braun and Fielder. Unfortunately, Milwaukee can't count on interesting statistics to win them games. 

14. New York Mets (14-23) - In easily the most unbalanced division in baseball, the Mets are one step above the worst team in the league. New York has been bracing for this type of year for a while now as they shipped everyone off and started fresh with a bunch of middle schoolers. It's going to be a rough year in Flushing Meadows. If it were up to the fans, they would have flushed this one down the ole john after the first week. 

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15. Miami Marlins (11-29) - Miami....New park. No fans. Ugly seats. No fans. In the biggest bandwagon city in America, Miamians are trying to block this Marlins team out of their vision. Really, I just feel for Stanton. He needs a get out of jail free card. 

30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: Bojangles Southern 500

By Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.yahoosports.com

The Victor:  Once again, we're calling Matt Kenseth's name in this segment!  All he does is win!  We're used to seeing Matt run consistently well, around 5th-6th-7th place, not consistently GREAT around 1st-2nd-3rd place.  This is his third win of the year.  Jimmie Johnson currently has the points lead, but it's because of circumstance, not skill, that has him there over Kenseth.  Watch out Jimmie, there's a new sheriff in town!

The First Loser: Denny Hamlin, I am sorry I ever doubted you.  I take back everything I said about you not being able to make it through Darlington physically.  Hamlin finished runner up in his first full race back from a compression fracture in his lower vertebrae!  How's that for silencing the critics (me)?  Good finish.  I don't see him having any trouble breaking into the Top 20 in points before the Chase starts.  Now, let's start moving up to 'The Victor' segment soon so we can grab that Wild Card Berth!

Pat on the Back: There really weren't too many guys finishing ahead of where they should have.  Juan Pablo Montoya is the only one that really comes to mind.  On a team that has struggled as of late with a million different issues, this is the second Top 10 he's reeled in in the past three races.  Things seem to be moving in the right direction at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Other notables: Ryan Newman finished 10th, a great finish for any Stewart-Haas Racing car this year.  Kyle Busch was the favorite to win, but cut down a tire in the last 15 laps. He limped the car around the track to come home 6th, which is crazy good considering most drivers either would have had to pit or spin the car out.

Photo Cred www.nascar.com

The Feud:  I'm making more out of this than is necessary, but that makes it more fun.  Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch have some sort of rivalry brewing between them.  To set the stage; Kahne currently drives the #5 car for Hendrick.  Kyle Busch started out driving the #5 car for Hendrick.  Coincidence?  Probably.  Three times this year, Busch has inadvertently taken Kahne out.  Two weeks ago at Talladega, he got into him from behind and started a chain reaction crash the collected over a dozen drivers.  In the Southern 500, they were battling for the lead when Kyle got into the corner a little deep, drifting up the track and making Kahne's car lose control. Watch now.

Now, I totally believe Kyle in that there was no purposeful intent in any of these situations, and Kasey understands that as well. But c'mon man, same guy three times?  I'd totally support Kahne if the next time he sees Kyle on track, he gives him an 'innocent' spin around the rosie. 

This weekend is the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Enjoy it Saturday night as racing's finest take their best shot at $1,000,000!

Rounding the Bases

American League Power Rankings: 1st Installment

By Ryan Frisco

So we're roughly a month and a half into the 2013 MLB season, and I think we can all agree that minds have been blown.  We have already seen the implosion of some of the preseason favorites, and some explosions of perrenial bottom dwellers.  Who would have thunk?!

Let's sort things out here and take a look at what the 15 American League teams are looking like as of late.

Photo Cred www.huffingtonpost.com

1. Texas Rangers (26-14) - The team that I felt had lost so much in Josh Hamilton and Michael Young has been the most consistently good so far in 2013.  They are tied with the Yankees for the American League's best record and are already 5 games up in their division so early in the season. Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre have filled the power hole left when Hamilton left, and Ian Kinsler, Jeff Baker and Mitch Moreland have added consistency throughout the lineup. Their division looks like one of the MLB's weakest as far as records go, but the only team that's a walk in the park is the Astros.  Looking like we'll be seeing them in the Divisional round this season.

2. New York Yankees (25-14)  - The Yankees this year are not near what they have been for a while as far as talent goes, but they somehow have worked past all of the injuries to once again be leading the AL East, the best division in baseball.  Still without Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson, NY has rallied behind the big bats of Robinson Cano, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay.  Starting pitching has been what's won them games, as most starters are under a 4.00 ERA.  Mariano Rivera, on his fresh ACL, has been the ultimate closer, going 15 for 15 to start the year perfect.  This team's good in the state they are now.  Just wait till the big pieces are back.

3. Boston Red Sox (22-17) - Boston has had a rough go of it lately.  Had I written these rankings the beginning of last week, they would have been a shoe in for #1.  As it is, they have lost 8 of their last 10 and continue to slide down the rankings.  Not to worry though, we've already seen what this team can do, and it won't be long until they're back in the saddle.  These guys are great at getting on base one way or another (6 players have an OBP of .370+) and Mike Napoli is killing it with the RBIs, already at 33.  With more than enough great pitching to get them through, things are looking good for my preseason Dark Horse Red Sox.

Photo Cred www.rawstory.com

4. Baltimore Orioles (23-17) - I know it's crazy, but yes, three of the Top 4 in rankings are from the American League East.  This division is so good!  The Orioles have been great this year, and a huge part of that is their ability to score runs.  The first 5 in their starting lineup all have over 20 runs scored this year.  They have 4 players hitting over 300, 4 with over 40 hits and 5 with over 20 RBIs.  They are second in the East.  So why are they below the Red Sox?  Their pitching worries me.  They have a talented, young staff, but they aren't veterans yet.  Not a single starting pitcher has below a 3.00 ERA.  If they keep scoring runs like they are they'll be fine, but I ranked the Red Sox higher because they're pitching is much better.

5. Detroit Tigers (22-16)  - I am very surprised the Tigers haven't run away with this division yet.  The AL Central isn't weak, but it's full of mediocre-at-best teams that don't really stand a chance except for the Tigers.  They're getting  a lot of hits and scoring a lot of runs, but aren't winning as many games as they should.  The 1-2 punch of Miguel Cabrera-Prince Fielder is like no other combo in the game right now.  Those two alone will win them games.  Still, they are barely holding on to the Central lead right now, and with that barely hanging on to a Top 5 Power Ranking.

Photo Cred www.detroitnews.com

6. Cleveland Indians (22-17) - It's nice to see the Indians back in the playoff race.  I remember their run in 1997 behind Sandy Alomar, Jr., and this year it's another great catcher, Carlos Santana, leading them along.  Their bats got hot midway through April, where they torched teams like the Phillies.  Mark Reynolds has been consistent swinging the bat, being the Indians main power source, and he has figured out how to cut the strikeouts down a bit, as he's hitting .279.  Starting pitching has been good behind leader Justin Masterson.  It will be interesting to see just how long this club can keep this up.

7. Oakland Athletics (20-22) - The Royals look like they should come next, but I'm going with the A's.  Why?  Because they're proven.  They started the season HOT-HOT-HOT! before cooling off immensely.  They've just hit a rough patch.  This team is young and talented, they'll shake it off and be back before you know it.  They're only 5 games out, and the good news for them is the Astros are in their division this season, which means extra games that should be easier to win than most.

Photo Cred www.twitter.com

8. Kansas City Royals (19-17) - Where did these guys come from?!  I'm pretty sure this is the first time since I've been born that I can say the Royals might be in the playoff race! It's a nice story, and would be cool to see, but like I implied before, this team has not yet proven anything.  They have a great foundation in young guns Alex Gordon and Jeremy Guthrie, and power coming from Billy Butler...but not much else.   Let's take a look at what's going on in July and then maybe I'll start to believe in the Kansas City Royals.

9. Tampa Bay Rays (20-18) - It's unfortunate for the Rays that they find themselves in the AL East.  In most divisions, if you have a .526 winning percentage, you're relatively close to the top, probably second or third at worst, within a good homestand of the lead.  Not the AL East.  The Rays are in 4th place, 4.5 games out of first.  Their starting pitching has been consistent (no pitcher has missed a start yet) which will be big later on, but without Matt Moore's dominance (7-0, 2.44 ERA) the Rays are a below .500 team.

10. Minnesota Twins (18-19) - The Twins are having an average year, hence the .500 winning percentage.  They've played well and beaten some of the better teams, but they've also played down to teams like the Mets and Royals.  Joe Mauer and Justin Mourneau continue to be the staples in this lineup, without too much backup.  With a pitching rotation that's nothing to write home about, Minnesota will be stuck in mediocrity for a while.

Photo Cred www.bronxbaseballdaily.com

11. Seattle Mariners (18-20) - There has been next to nothing to get excited about in Seattle since their stellar season in 2001.  Big guns Ichiro Suzuki, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez all went elsewhere.  This year is turning out better than most, probably because the Astros have joined up.  There is minimal offense (no player has reached 20 RBIs on the season).  The lone bright spot is the pitching tandem of (King) Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, who are a combined 9-3 with ERAs of 1.53 (Hernandez) and 1.74 (Iwakuma).  Unfortunately, two pitchers can only take a team so far.

12. Chicago White Sox (17-21) - This team is perplexing. They look to have so much talent.  So why are they at the bottom of the AL Central?  Hitting has been horrid.  Paul Konerko has been the guy in the White Sox organization for years who has taken the team on his back.  This year? He's hitting .214.  He's a lifetime .282 hitter.  Adam Dunn is supposed to be the big man in big spots. So far?  7 Homeruns, 13 RBIs and a .137 average.  Ouch! This team's going nowhere until those numbers get up big time.

Photo Cred www.ctvnews.ca

13. Toronto Blue Jays (16-24) - Looks like Caleb's preseason predictions of the Blue Jays is spot on.  They owned the offseason this year nabbing all kinds of big names to hopefully make a run at the ring.  Tis not to be.  Toronto is currently at the bottom of the AL East by a whopping 9.5 games.  The Yankees are great at putting together an All Star team.  Most other teams aren't.  Just look at last year's Los Angeles Angels.  Hopefully for Toronto, it just takes some time to mesh, then things will get better....hopefully.

Photo Cred www.blog.bettor.com

14. Los Angeles Angels (15-24) - Hmm...I thought for sure they would be in the running this year! I had them sitting at number 2 in the AL, not number 2 from the cellar.  Listen to the names in this lineup; Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Howie Kendrick....pitchers C.J. Wilson, Jered Weaver, Justin Vargas....  I have no explanation.  They began to pull it together towards the end of last year, but they might be well too far out of the race if they keep this up any longer.  Like the Blue Jays, building an All Star team doesn't always work.

15. Houston Astros (11-30) - I feel bad for the Astros.  They stunk big time in the National League, then got shipped to the American League to get pounded on.  We are very far removed from the glory days of Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman.  They have a winning percentage of .268.  'Nuff said.

Left Handed Larceny

The Wild Wild West (Part 2)

by Eric Berkenpas

Well round 1 is in the books and while I don't normally like to brag, I am gonna have to here and inform you that I picked the winners of each series correctly, oh yeah! Let's see if I can keep the magic alive in round 2. Round 1 saw San Jose pull an upset sweep of the Canucks, the Blackhawks handle the Wild as everyone knew they would, the Kings win 4 straight after losing the first 2 and Detroit win 2 straight when facing elimination to dismiss the Ducks. The next round offers two divisional rivalries that definitely deserve a lot of attention so without further ado, let's take a look!

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Detroit Red Wings

01/27/2013 DET 1 @ CHI 2 OT

03/03/2013 CHI 2 @ DET 1 SO

03/31/2013 CHI 7 @ DET 1

04/12/2013 DET 2 @ CHI 3 SO

Photo cred sportspyder.com

As you can see from the scores above, the Red Wings did not manage even one win against the Hawks this season, which hasn't happened in 36 years. So going into this series, one might assume that Detroit has little chance against the powerhouse Blackhawks. Well I am here to tell you to think again! The Detroit team coming into this series is not the same Detroit team that lost all 4 of those games. The Red Wings spent almost the entire season in mourning over the retirement of Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom and waited until the last 4 games of the season to snap out of it and squeak into the playoffs. With the past finally behind them, this is a completely transformed team. Henrik Zetterberg has taken the reigns this year and, especially as of late, has really lead by example for his teammates to propel them to 1) avoid a missed playoff appearance for the first time in 21 years and 2) complete a big upset over the #2 seeded Anaheim Ducks who many thought were the only team who could topple the Hawks. Zetterberg and Datsyuk lead the team in playoff points with 8 and 7 respectively and have played their patented two-way game that has landed 3 Selke Trophies in Datsyuk's possession in his career. Jimmy Howard played a great series despite the amount of rubber he saw and made the huge saves when his team needed him to to keep them in each and every game.

Photo cred www.usatoday.com

Looking ahead to the series against the Hawks, the Wings are going to need to improve if they want to win. Jimmy Howard was great against the Ducks but he needs to be better. The defense needs to tighten up and make life easier for Howard. Chicago has a lot of speed but not a lot of size so Detroit will want to get physical with them right from the get go to slow down their game. Babcock likes to run a trap in the neutral zone which he will definitely need to do against the Hawks to slow down their approach and force them to dump and forecheck. Zetterberg is going to need to continue to lead by example or Detroit will find themselves out of the playoffs in a hurry. Franzen needs to step up his game as he only registered 3 points in 7 games and was a team-worst -5. The Wings need more from their 3rd highest paid player. Justin Abdelkader was one of Detroit's best players in the first series. He scored a huge short handed goal in game 7 and played an extremely physical brand of hockey for the entire series. He will need to continue that kind of play and make his presence known on the ice much like Chris Neil for the Senators, Matt Martin for the Islanders and Raffi Torres for the Sharks do.

Photo cred blackhawks.nhl.com

The Blackhawks had an easy go of it against the Wild and played their game to land Minnesota on the golf course in 5 short games. Corey Crawford silenced the doubters who thought he would implode in the playoffs and posted a 1.32 GAA and .950 SV%. Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp led all Blackhawks skaters in points and picked up Jonathan Toews who only managed 2 assists in the series. Chicago is so deep though that they get scoring from every line. Hossa, Sharp, Kane and Toews don't always have to be at their best because someone else will always step up which is truly the mark of a championship team. They were very disciplined in playing their game and got scoring when they needed it, which wasn't  very often due to how well Crawford was playing.

Photo cred www.chicagotribune.com

The Hawks really just need to keep playing their game if they want to beat the Red Wings in the next series. Divisional series in the playoffs are always interesting and can tend to level the playing field. They absolutely cannot underestimate the Red Wings and will need to put aside what happened in the season series because like I said earlier, this is a completely different Red Wings team with a completely new attitude. They are playing with a lot of confidence and Chicago is going to have to be well aware of that. Brandon Saad had a rough go of it in his first ever playoff series and Chicago could use a little more production from him. Patrick Kane needs to light the lamp for the first time as does Jonathan Toews. The defense played great and will need to continue to block shots like the did against the Wild and of course, Corey Crawford will need to continue his excellent play. If Kane and Toews provide more offense against the Wings, Brandon Saad steps up and the defense and goaltending stays on par, the Wings will have to play an absolute perfect series if they want to come out on top.

Prediction: Chicago wins in 7.



#5 Los Angeles Kings vs. #6 San Jose Sharks

03/14/2013 LAK 3 @ SJ 4
03/16/2013 SJ 2 @ LAK 5
04/16/2013 LAK 2 @ SJ 3 SO
04/27/2013 SJ 2 @ LAK 3

Photo cred www.zimbio.com

This series is very interesting. Taking a quick look at it, it seems to be an absolute toss up. Both teams had shaky years but are playing great hockey right now. Both teams have goalies who won a Stanley Cup and are playing their best hockey.  Both won their first round matchups rather easily (after LA's first two losses, they breezed through the next 4). The teams split their season series but LA won out overall, gaining one more point due to the SO loss. Needless to say, this is going to be a spectacular series!

Photo cred thegoalienews.com

For LA, they have to be very confident right now regardless of who their opponent is. Jonathan Quick is back to his Vezina-runner-up form which only spells trouble for the Kings' opponents. Not too much stock can be put on this though because he shut down an offensively inept Blues squad. Regardless, Los Angeles is looking like the team that won the cup last year, but their task is tough. San Jose trounced the Canucks with a 4-0 sweep and were the only team to sweep their series. The Kings are going to have to constantly be aware of Logan Couture whenever he is on the ice. He is tied with Joe Pavelski for the lead in points so far at 8 and is carrying the momentum he gained at the end of the season. Patrick Marleau has 4 goals in 4 games and him and Thornton look to be back in the form they were in at the start of the season. LA is going to have to find an answer to all this offensive firepower because the Sharks have a ton of it and it is spread out through 3 lines. The Kings were extremely physical against St. Louis and will definitely have to bring that physicality against the Sharks to wear and slow down the Shark forwards. Jonathan Quick is going to have to be as good as he was against St. Louis and the defense is going to have to stay disciplined. The Sharks drew a lot of penalties against the Canucks and their successful PP had a lot to do with the Canucks being downed so easily. If the Kings can play solid, disciplined defense, Quick makes the saves he needs to and the whole team stays out of the box, they should find themselves coming out on top.

Photo cred www.foxsportsasia.com

San Jose should also be feeling very confident, knowing that their goalie is playing good hockey and their PP is banging on all cylinders. They will continue to try to draw as many penalties as they can like they did against the Canucks. They had 7 PPG on 24 attempts in 4 games. The only team with a higher PP% is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Patrick Marleau has been finding the back of the net at a pace he is used to, Joe Thornton is playing his typical style of hockey and Pavelski and Couture are on fire. The Sharks are going to need to find a way to crack Jonathan Quick or they will have severe problems beating the Kings. The Sharks don't play good enough defense to get by scoring 1 or 2 goals per game like the Blues did. Since they have a severe strength in their PP, they will need to try to get that going by getting a lot of offensive zone time, cycling the puck and creating frustration for the Kings. Raffi Torres is going to have to get under the skin of the Kings and throw his body around more than he did against the Canucks. Tommy Wingels played great for the Sharks in their first series and really wreaked havoc on the Canucks by throwing his body at anything that moved. The Sharks are going to need a lot of that and if they do it, this is shaping up to be one physical series. If the Sharks can play to their strengths by getting to their powerplay and can hold LA to 2 goals per game, they should find themselves moving on.

Prediction: San Jose wins in 6.

Left Handed Larceny

The Big East

by Eric Berkenpas

Caleb is busy getting an education so I am filling in to analyze the upcoming East semi-final matchups. The first round had a ton of fireworks and left a lot to be excited for in the upcoming series. The Islanders, who everyone expected to roll over against the Pens, especially after a Game One 5-0 loss, made a heck of a series out of it. They battled the Penguins tooth and nail in games 2, 3, 4 and 6 and proved to the world that the belonged in the playoffs and should legitimately be considered one of the top teams in the East. Ottawa shocked the Canadiens and got some timely scoring in game 4 which in essence sunk the already bruised Habs.

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Ottawa Senators

01/27/2013 PIT 2 @ OTT 1 SO

02/13/2013 OTT 2 @ PIT 4

04/22/2013 PIT 3 @ OTT 1

Photo cred www.usatoday.com

It really seems like the Penguins squeaked into the second round despite winning the series 4-2. Many fears were awoken again in the hearts of Pittsburgh fans as their team took a form very similar to the team that got dominated by Philadelphia just a year before. Marc Andre Fleury was extremely shaky and the Vokoun came  in and played as well as anyone could have hoped for and more. He posted a shutout in his first outing in game 5 and stopped 35 of 38 shots in game 6 to secure the series winning victory. The stars were certainly shining as Malkin, Crosby and Iginla are 2, 3 and 4 in playoff points with 11, 9 and 9 respectively. The defense, goaltending and poor decision making are all causes for concern going forward for these Penguins, but they just have so much firepower that they have proven to be able to still get by. This can only work for so long in the Stanley Cup Playoffs though.

Photo cred www.nhlpa.com

Ottawa absolutely embarrassed the Habs in round one, outscoring them by 20-9 in 5 games. Karlsson and Alfredsson lead all Ottawa skaters in points with 6 and was a combined +10. This series was really all bad timing for the Canadiens and good timing for the Senators. The Habs closed out the season on a very bad stretch of games and the Senators were on a high after getting their Vezina quality goalie back and their Norris winner defenseman back. Anderson was very solid and the young guns really contributed offensively; Pageau, Turris and Conacher all tallied 3 goals in those 5 games. The Senators enter the semi-finals with a ton of confidence and look to enact revenge on the Penguins after losing the season series 3-0 and of course, the injury to Karlsson in the second game.

Photo cred www.pensburgh.com

The Penguins are going to need significant improvement in their game if they want a chance to come out on  top of the Senators. Ottawa is a much better team than their record suggests after getting back Karlsson and Anderson from the IR. I would venture to guess that they would have finished #2 had they not had any injuries in the season. I foresee  Vokoun starting the series in net but the Penguins will make sure to reinsert their #1 guy before this series is over and he is going to have to get his game together. Defensively the Pens are going to have to do a lot less watching and be quicker to loose pucks. The defense needs to be more careful making passes when exiting the zone as Ottawa no doubt is studying what the Islanders did to create so much trouble for Pittsburgh. The Penguins need to get more physical too. They seemed to back off of the Islanders for whatever reason and need to rediscover that physical game against Ottawa because the Senators will definitely bring it. Lastly, the timely scoring and capitalizing when opportunities present themselves needs to continue. Ottawa plays very stingy defense and Anderson is not an easy egg to crack. If Fleury can get back to normal and the defense plays how they did during the 15 game win streak, the Pens could soar through this series. If not, they may find themselves hitting the links way earlier than they should.

Photo cred www.zimbio.com

Ottawa doesn't need to do much improving as they played almost flawlessly against the Canadiens. What they definitely need to make sure they do is ignore Cooke and whatever ill-will they harbor towards him. That was a very evident distraction in the 3-1 loss in the third game of the season series and the Senators cannot afford that distraction in the playoffs. Anderson is going to have to play the way he has all year and Alfie is going to have to continue his play because it really drives all their young talent to excel when they see their seasoned veteran captain playing his heart out. Karlsson has been great so far and is going to have to continue that. But more than any of this, the defensive core is going to have to play smart, physical and disciplined against the extremely talented and deep offense that Pittsburgh possesses. With Pittsburgh's PP converting at over 30%, Ottawa can't afford to take bad penalties and give Pittsburgh extended time in the offensive zone. There are few better in the league than Crosby when it comes to drawing penalties. If Anderson continues to play how he has been, Alfredsson continues to lead the young forwards by example and all players can manage to stay disciplined and stay out of the box, Ottawa may find themselves sending Pittsburgh packing.

Prediction: Pens take series in 6 games



#4 Boston Bruins vs. #6 New York Rangers

01/19/2013 NYR 1 @ BOS 3
01/23/2013 BOS 3 @ NYR 4 OT
02/12/2013 NYR 4 @ BOS 3 SO

Photo cred www.zimbio.com

Both of these teams are coming off of thrilling victories in game 7  of their first round series. Boston mounted one of the greatest playoff comebacks of all time and scored 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of regulation to push the game to OT in which they took only 6 minutes to score in. The Rangers ended a hard fought series where each team won all their home games by walloping the Capitals in Washington by a score of 5-0. Henrik Lundvist posted two straight shutouts to dismiss the Capitals. Considering both these teams are part of the NHL's original 6 group, they have only met 9 times in the playoffs, the most recent of those meetings happening 40 years ago in 1973. That fact alone makes this meeting all the more exciting to look forward to outside of the fact that these two teams create an intriguing matchup. Lunqvist's shutouts is reason for concern in Boston, but the breakout of Lucic and Horton is cause for concern in New York. The question is, which seemingly unmovable force will be shaken?

Photo cred www.zimbio.com

The Boston Bruins showed the whole world yesterday that you can never count them out, even down to the last 51 seconds! The Bruins had a very tough first round matchup with their division rival Toronto Maple Leafs, who haven't been in the playoffs in many years. Questions were being asked about how good this Bruins team was who had a very up and down season. After their first series, many questions still remain. Tuukka Rask certainly did not play his best in his first playoff series as a starting goaltender but played well enough to win the series. The Rangers have a ton of skilled players who have the capability of putting the puck in the net so regardless of their scoring potency in the year, Rask will have to be sharp. Boston's main problem all year were the under performances of Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton who were both in poor shape to start the season. Oh how things can change when playoffs roll around. Lucic and Horton combined for 6 goals and 16 points and were a huge

Photo cred www.csnbayarea.com

reason the Bruins moved on. David Krejci leads all players in points with 13 and is playing some of the best hockey of his career. Boston is going to need that kind of play against the Rangers who have a significantly better goalie in net behind a significantly better defense than Toronto has. Lundqvist showed how much of a factor he can be by shutting out one of the NHL's most potent offenses two games in a row. Jaromir Jagr is my key to this series for the Bruins. He has not played well since joining the Bruins and Claude Julien is going to have to find a way to get Jagr going. He is too good of a player to be under producing like he is and if the Bruins are going to crack Lunqvist, Jagr will have to be involved. If not, it is going to be a very tough and grueling series.

Photo cred www.nydailynews.com

The Rangers also had a ton of question marks throughout the entire season. There were huge expectations from the start of the season after the offseason acquisition of Rick Nash. He had himself a good season but seemed to impact the team in a negative way as their goal scoring went down from last year and their goals against went way up. Lunqvist was a horse all season and is the sole reason this team earned a spot in the playoffs; that and the trade deadline moves Glen Sather made to acquire Ryan Clowe and Derick Brassard. The Rangers continued their scoring woes in the playoffs and tallied only 11 goals through the first 6 games before the floodgates opened in game 7. Derick Brassard was a huge reason the Rangers moved on as he tallied 2 goals and 9 points in those 7 games, almost doubling the next best on the team, Mats Zuccarello, who has 5. Rick Nash was abysmal for the Rangers and if he didn't get a verbal lashing from Tortorella, he deserves one. He played with no passion at all and just looked dazed and confused out there. For a player with the skill and toughness he possesses, that is inexcusable for him to play that way and he is absolutely my key for the Rangers this series. If he can elevate his game to a level that he should be playing at, the Rangers should be able to beat the Bruins. Lunqvist and the shot blocking of his defense will be solid for the Rangers as they always are. The goal scoring is what will make or break it for the Rangers as they too will be facing much better goaltending and defense in this series.


Prediction: Rangers win in 7

Green - White - Checkers

Stop #11: Darlington

By Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.thedarlingtonian.com

So here we are, the prestigious Darlington Motor Speedway for the Bojangles Southern 500.  This track goes way back to the glory days of NASCAR.  There are some races each year that mean more to drivers than your average race.  The Daytona 500 is one, as well as the Coca Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and tonight's Southern 500...under the lights, I might add.

Darlington has earned the nickname 'Lady in Black' for the way it seems to reach out and bite drivers who get to close to the wall.  No, there is no relation of this track to the awesomely suspenseful Daniel Radcliffe thriller 'The Woman in Black.'  If you haven't yet, watch it.  You will hide your eyes the whole movie and hate the ending.

But back to Darlington; no driver leaves unscathed.  The price to pass 500 miles at this track is at least one sideswipe to the wall during the race...the Lady will take nothing less.

So, before we preview, let's talk about some of the penalties going around in NASCAR.  First up, Penske Racing.  Both Penske teams (Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano) were penalized a few races back for rear end housing that was 'not in the spirit of NASCAR.'  They appealed the ruling, and while it was not reversed, their appeal helped.  Instead of losing personnel (crew chief, car chief, engineer) for 6 races, that suspension was cut down to 2 races.  Major win for both teams, especially defending champion Keselowski, whose partnership with crew chief Paul Wolfe is darn near unstoppable.

Photo Cred www.forbes.com

The other team working an appeal this week was Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs Racing.  We heard what the penalties originally cost them: 50 points, 1 win, $200,000 crew chief fine, 6 race suspension and no owners points for Joe Gibbs for 6 races.  What did the appeal do?

New totals: Only 12 point penalty, the win counts now, still a $200,000 crew chief fine, only 1 race suspension and no penalty on Joe Gibbs. Major win for this team!

The fine was lessened so much because this truly was a mistake on Toyota, the manufacturer, and not the team.  They had no access to the part in question and never touched it...not to mention it gave Kenseth no competitive advantage at all.

Whoo, I'm exhausted over talking about fines!  Please teams, no more rule infractions this season!!

So what's in store this weekend? 

Denny Hamlin will be back behind the wheel, and he's trying to run the entire race tonight.  That should be even tougher for him as driving Darlington is one of the toughest tracks on a driver's body.  I think Brian Vickers should be well prepared to climb in at some point tonight.

Kurt Busch starts on the pole tonight after breaking the track record in qualifying.  He could definitely be in the running.  I'm sure he'll be thinking about the 2003 race here all night, as he lost to Ricky Craven in the closest race ever.  Take a peak at that last lap 10 years ago...

Well, it's a milestone race for Jeff Gordon, as he is making his 700th career start!  He doesn't even seem that old, but I guess people haven't called him Wonderboy in a while. He's got 7 career wins here at Darlington, and he's my favorite to win the race tonight.  Go get 'em Jeff, show the world you're not an old washed up elder behind the wheel who should be using your sponsor (AARP)!

30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: Aaron's 499

By Ryan Frisco

For some reason these reviews of Sunday's race keep getting later and later in the week...I'll blame it on the baby. Alright let's go!

Photo Cred www.espn.com

The Victor: What did I say in last week's preview article?  'These tracks make winners out of no name or average drivers...'  Look at that!  David Ragan for the win! Bet you didn't see that coming.  Two laps to go, you've got Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson all battling for the win, and who scoots around them but David Ragan.  It's not his first NASCAR victory...he did the same thing two years ago at the July Daytona race (another restrictor plate race).  All in all it's not the most impressive victory, but it's great for his career and Front Row Motorsports, which leads me into my next segment...

The First Loser: David Gilliland, the teammate of Ragan at Front Row.  The pair finished on the front row this week, how's that for irony!  I'm impressed that Gilliland was content to ride it out for second place instead of making a move on his teammate for the win.  That's impressive to be able to restrain himself.  I'm guessing the duo have an agreement that next time they're in that boat, it will be Ragan pushing Gilliland to Victory Lane.

Pat on the Back: Obvious first choice here goes to Front Row Motorsports for the Top 2 sweep at Talladega.  But we've already talked about them.  So who else finished higher than they should have at Talladega?

Regan Smith: An impressive win Saturday night in the Nationwide Series, and was actually in contention for the weekend sweep before settling for 6th place.  Not too bad at all for a guy who's one of the many battling for a full time cup ride next year.

Photo Cred www.teferic.de

Scott Speed: This was good for Speed, who ended the race 9th!  I can't remember the last time he finished in the Top 10 in a race, he's usually one of the drivers starting and parking early.  Good run for him!

Aric Almirola: Another week goes by, another Top 10 for Almirola.  He's up to 7th in points.

Michael Waltrip: I guess I'll give him a shout out here.  He only runs three or four races a year and he finished fourth!  He definitely knows how to drive these restrictor plate tracks...now if only he could learn ovals.

The Big One(s):  Once again, pack racing led to big wrecks at Talladega.  One slip up ruins everybody's race. Not suprisingly, drivers weren't too happy about it.  Watch the below video of the race's biggest and scariest crash.

As exciting as it is to see one of these wrecks, it is definitely scary, especially for the drivers and their families.  Kurt Busch exclaimed that there are only two races his mom doesn't come to, Daytona and Talladega.  Ryan Newman expressed his dissatisfaction (to the tune of a $25,000 fine) that NASCAR can't figure out a way to keep cars from going airborne. We're just thankful that everyone is okay!

Tune in later for a preview of Saturday night's race at Darlington, nicknamed the Lady in Black!