My American League All-Star Ballot

With the MLB All-Star Game just over 2 weeks away, it's time that we start to look at what the All-Star starting line-up should look like for the American League. The AL should have some nice fan support at the Midsummer Classic, as the game is being held in Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, which recently had a large scale renovation and was thereby promised the All-Star game by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

In the 82 MLB All-Star games played since 1933, the AL has a losing record of 38-42-2. However, the American League has been dominate in the game in the past 24 years. Since 1988, the AL has had a record of 18-5-1 in the game and they were unbeaten in the Midsummer Classic from 1997 to 2009. Here are my selections from the American League All-Star team:

AL Catching Front-Runner: A.J. Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox

AL Catching Contenders: Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins, Mike Napoli of the Texas Rangers

With none of the American League catchers having great seasons, A.J. Pierzynski is a solid choice to represent the AL behind the plate on July 10th. The 14-year veteran catcher has shown how effective he can be at the dish when he remains healthy and off the DL. Pierzynski, who leads all MLB catchers with 41 RBI's, has been one of the main cogs in the middle of the White Sox line-up and is a big reason that the team is 7th in the MLB in run scoring.

In all offensive categories, Pierzynski is having a career year. He already has 12 home runs, which is tied for the 2nd most amongst MLB catchers, and he is on pace to smash his previous season home run high, which he set in 2005 when he hit 18 long balls with the White Sox. A.J. is also 2nd in the MLB amongst catchers in slugging percentage at .493, which is 29 points higher than his previous season best mark in the category, which he set in 2003 with the Minnesota Twins when he had a slugging percentage of .464.

As always, A.J. has been very good defensively for the South Chicago team as well. He has started in 59 of the White Sox 73 games and has made just 2 errors all season, which is tied for the fewest amongst AL catchers. 

Joe Mauer is also having a pretty good season behind the plate with the Minnesota Twins but his power numbers are way down this year. Although Mauer is batting an impressive .323, he has hit just 3 home runs all season, which is tied for the 2nd least amongst the 21 MLB catchers that have had at least 150 at-bats on the year.

It has been the opposite story for Texas Rangers catcher Mike Napoli. Although Napoli has hit 12 home runs, he leads all MLB catchers with 74 strikeouts and his average, which was a career high .320 last year, has dipped way down to .245.

Pierzynski is obviously not a run away chose to start the All-Star game, but his production has been good enough to get a nod for the AL. If Pierzynski is selected for the All-Star game, it would be his 3rd appearance (2002, 2006). It would be Mauer's 5th All-Star Game appearance (2006, 2008-2010) if he were picked for the AL. If Napoli is selected to the prestigious game, it would be his first Midsummer Classic.

AL First Base Front-Runner: Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox
AL First Base Contender: Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers

After finishing 4 games under .500 last season, the Chicago White Sox should be well represented in this year's All-Star game. Like the aging A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko is on pace to have the best year of his career in his 16th year in the league.

Konerko, whose .337 batting average is the 2nd best in the American League, has shown that he is not yet out of his prime. In an age with a ton of quality AL first basemen like Albert Pujols, Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau, Adrian Gonzelez, and Prince Fielder, the 36-year old Konerko is showing no signs of slowing down. The White Sox slugger is 2nd in the AL with a .415 on base percentage and his .979 OPS is the 4th best in the AL. Despite the fact that Konerko has had fewer at-bats than most other first basemen due to the fact that he needs some more rests than younger guys like Pujols and Gonzalez, who both have had more than 280 at-bats compared to Konerko's 243, the White Sox captain leads all AL first basemen in home runs with 13.

Although Mark Teixeira has his batting average up 6 points from when it was .248 last season, the only other real threat for the AL first base spot is Prince Fielder. Fielder, who signed a 9-year, 214 million dollar contract with the Tigers during the off-season, is having another very impressive year. He leads all AL first basemen in RBI's with 46 and is the only first basemen other than Konerko in the AL that is batting above .300. It is really splitting hairs between selecting Konerko and Fielder for the first base spot in the All-Star Game.

Konerko, who is having another great season, has been an underrated star ever since he came to the White Sox 13 years ago in 1999, but his really impressive season this year should not go without an All-Star Game nod. If Konerko is selected as an All-Star, it would be his 6th appearance in the Midsummer Classic (2002, 2005-2006, 2010-2011) and his 3rd straight year appearing in the game. Prince Fielder is aiming to make his 4th All-Star Game appearance (2007, 2009, 2011) and his 1st representing the American League.

AL Second Base Front-Runner: Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees
AL Second Base Contenders: Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians

As a Red Sox fan, the guy that I have feared the most in the Yankee line-up for years has been the smooth left handed swinging Robinson Cano. Although Cano has really struggled this year in terms of driving guys in with runners in scoring position, he is still hitting for a lot of power. Cano, who has hit at least 25 home runs for the past three seasons, has been using the long ball to pace the Yankee offense. Cano leads all second basemen with 17 home runs and his 40 extra base hits are the 2nd most in the MLB. Although Cano has had so much success with the long ball, which has always impressed me about him is that he still gets on base a lot and he is not a big hit or miss guy. Cano leads all AL second basemen with a .302 batting average and his .369 on base percentage is also the best among AL second basemen.

Jason Kipnis, the Indians 2010 Minor League Player of the Year, is not yet a household commodity, but the everyday Indians second baseman has been very good this year. Although Cano is having another solid year, the Indians youngster should not be overlooked. Kipnis leads all AL second basemen with 42 RBI's and he has also cased havoc on the base paths, as he has stolen 17 bases and only been caught stealing one.

If Cano is selected to the All-Star Game, it would be his 4th All-Star appearance (2006, 2010-2011) and the 3rd straight year that he would be starting at 2nd base for the AL. Kipnis is aiming to become the first Indians second basemen to appear in the All-Star game since Ronnie Belliard participated in the 2004 Midsummer Classic.

AL Shortstop Front-Runner: Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers
AL Shortstop Contender: Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians

Don't get me wrong, Derek Jeter has been unbelievable this season for the Bronx Bombers. The 38-year old shortstop, who batted .270 in 2010 and hit just 6 home runs last season, both of which were the lowest of his career (not including 1995 when he played just 15 games), has turned it around in his 18th year in the league. The Yankee captain leads all MLB shortstops with a .304 average and leads the entire American League with 93 hits.

Although the beloved Jeter is probably going to get the most votes of any AL shortstop, Elvis Andrus  deserves to start the game at short for the American League. The Texas Rangers offense has been the most dominate attack in baseball, as the team leads the league in run scoring (388), hits (732), average (.282), on base percentage (.343), slugging percentage (.456), and on base plus slugging percentage (.800). Much of the attention surrounding the Rangers line-up goes to the middle of their order, where Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, and Mike Napoli are all big time power hitters.

However, Elvis Andrus should get a ton of credit for the Rangers offensive explosion this year because game after game he is the table setter for the teams big bats. Andrus is 1 of only 4 shortstops that is batting at least .300 and he has the 2nd highest on base percentage among middle infielders. Andrus has constantly been getting on base for the Rangers and he is a big reason for their offensive success.

We can't go through the American League shortstops without mentioning Asdrubal Cabrera. The Cleveland Indians young star, who emerged last year after 4 straight mediocre seasons, is showing once again this year why he is the next up and coming shortstop. Cabrera leads all AL shortstops with a .486 slugging percentage and a .869 on base plus slugging percentage. Despite being a shortstop, Cabrera can hit for power and he has shown that once again this year.

Andrus is looking to make his second All-Star appearance (2010) and Cabrera is attempting to appear in his 2nd straight Midsummer Classic (2011). If Derek Jeter, an All-Star regular, is selected to the game, he would be making his 13th All-Star appearance (1998-2002, 2004, 2006-2011) and his 6th straight.

AL Third Base Front-Runner: Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers
AL Third Base Contender: Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, Mark Trumbo of the Los Angeles Angels

Of all the choices for the American League All-Star starters, the decision between Adrian Beltre, Miguel Cabrera, and Mark Trumbo at third base is by fair the toughest. To look at the pure numbers that these three guys have put up so far this year is incredible. Beltre is 3rd in the AL with a .328 batting average, while Trumbo ranks 6th in the AL with a .316 average. Miguel Cabrera is no slouch either, as he is the only other AL 3rd basemen batting over .300. Cabrera is 2nd in the league with 59 RBI's, while Trumbo and Beltre are the only other MLB 3rd basemen with at least 46 RBI's.

Cabrera, who has batted at least. 290 with at least 25 home runs and 100 RBI's in his last 8 seasons, is once again on pace for another fabulous season with those type of numbers. The Tigers slugger, who has finished in the top 5 of MVP voting 5 times since 2005, has made the transition over to third base much better than people expected as well. His .963 fielding percentage is the best among all AL third basemen. Despite the fact that Trumbo has been getting most of his starts for the Angels in the outfield at right or left field, he is qualified on the All-Star ballot as a third basemen.

Although Cabrera and Trumbo are having phenomenal years, Beltre should have the slightest of edges to start at third base for the American League. Along with Josh Hamilton, Beltre has been the biggest threat on the best line-up in the majors. The three-time Gold Glover and three-time Silver Slugger is killing right handed pitching, as he is batting .361 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI's against righties.

If Beltre is selected to the All-Star Game, he would be playing in the Midsummer Classic for a third straight time (2010-2011). Miguel Cabrera is hoping to make his 7th All-Star Game (2004-2007, 2010-2011) and his 3rd straight. Trumbo is looking to make his first ever All-Star appearance.

AL Outfield Front-Runners: Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles, Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays
AL Outfield Contenders: Josh Reddick of the Oakland Athletics, Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, Josh Willingham of the Minnesota Twins

The easiest choice in the entire All-Star Game is selecting Josh Hamilton as one of the three outfielders for the American League. Hamilton, who has received over 7.3 million votes, which is already just shy of the record for the most votes for a player in a single year that was set by Jose Bautista last year, has been on a torrid pace this year.

Hamilton is tied for 2nd in the league with 23 home runs and leads the MLB with 66 RBI's and that includes an 8 game stretch in May where he hit 9 home runs and had 19 RBI's. With his unbelievably light hands, Josh has been able to maintain the 5th best average in the AL at .318. Although Hamilton has cooled off a little bit in the month of June, his slugging percentage is still tremendously high as he leads the league in the category. If Hamilton keeps up his pace, he would become just the 10th player in the last 10 years since 2003 to have a single-season slugging percentage of at least. 650.

The other two choices for the outfield spots were obviously much harder to pick, but the slight nods should go to Adam Jones and Jose Bautista.

In an offense that doesn't really have a lot of weapons, Adam Jones has been one of the most consistent contributors in the entire American League, as he is batting .300, has hit 19 home runs, and has driven in 40 runs. Jones, whose 6-year, 85.5 million dollar contract extension was the largest in Orioles history, is on pace to become the 2nd Orioles player and first since Frank Robinson in 1966 to hit at least 40 home runs and bat at least .300 in a season.

After two straight years of 40 plus home runs and 100 plus RBI's, Jose Bautista began the 2012 season very slowly. His numbers at the end of April were a .181 batting average to go along with just 3 home run and 10 RBI's.

However, since his early season slump, Joey Bats has returned to his normal power hitting self. Bautista has hit 12 home runs in his last 21 games in June and he now leads the league with 24 long balls and is in top three with 57 RBI's. Although Bautista is obviously a big time power guy, he  has stuck out just 49 times, while other power hitters like Curtis Granderson, Nelson Cruz, and Josh Willingham have all stuck out at least 69 times. In fact, Bautista has batted above .255 in the last two months and has gotten his average up to a little under .240.

The other three guys that I think are in the mix for the outfield spots, Reddick, Granderson, and Willingham, have all had solid years, but none of them have been up to the standard of Hamilton, Jones, and Bautista.

After being a part-time outfielder last year with the Boston Red Sox, Josh Reddick has been a really nice pleasant surprise for the Oakland A's. Reddick, who has already had more at-bats this season than he did all of last year, is showing big time power, as he has hit 17 home runs including a 21 game stretch in May when he hit 10 long balls. However, Reddick's 70 strikeouts are the 3rd most in the AL and his .344 on base percentage doesn't even rank inside the top 60 in the league.

Although Curtis Granderson is just 6-1 and 185 pounds, his numbers look like that of a typical power hitter. The Grandy Man is in the top 4 in the league in home runs with 21 and his isolated power ranks 10th in the AL, but his batting average is just .243 including .230 against right-handed pitchers.

Finally, Josh Willingham, who has hit at least 20 home runs 4 times in the last 6 years, has shown his power once again this season, and he is also getting on base much more often this year. Willingham, like Adam Jones, has been really consistent across the board, as he is batting .275 to go along with 15 home runs and 49 RBI's.

Josh Hamilton is vying to make his 5th straight All-Star Game (2008-2011), while Jose Bautista is trying to appear in his 3rd straight Midsummer Classic (2010-2011). Adam Jones hopes to make his 2nd All-Star Game (2009) and become the first Orioles outfielder since Brady Anderson (1992, 1996-1997) to appear multiple times in the prestigious game.

If Curtis Granderson is selected to the game, he would be making his 3rd All-Star appearance (2009, 2011). Josh Reddick and Josh Willingham are both vying to appear in their first ever Midsummer Classic. If Reddick is selected to the game, he would be the first A's All-Star outfielder in 14 years since Ben Grieve in 1998.

AL Designated Hitter Front-Runner: David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox
AL Designated Hitter Contender: Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays

Remember back in 2008 and 2009 when David Ortiz began both years awfully slowly and people left and right were wondering if the Red Sox slugger's career was coming to an end? Well, that seems like a distant memory now because Big Papi is on pace to have one of the best years of his career in his 16th year in the league at the age of 36.

The Sox designated hitter ranks in the top 3 in the league in runs scored, 6th in the AL with 20 home runs, 8th in the AL with 52 RBI's, 5th in the AL in OBS, 3rd in the league in slugging, and 4th in the MLB in OPS. Ortiz doesn't look like he is slowing down anytime soon and he has been the only consistent bat in a line-up without Jacoby Ellisbury and Carl Crawford due to injury and where perennial All-Stars Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez have mightily struggled. Papi is seeing the ball so well right now and he is hitting anything in the strike zone. Ortiz is now just 2 long balls away from 400 home runs, and if he continues his current pace, he will become the first Red Sox to ever hit 40 home runs after the age of 36.

Although Ortiz should definitely get the nod at the DH spot for the AL, Edwin Encarnacion's impressive season should not go without notice. Encarnacion, who could not play another game for the rest of the year and still have the best numbers of his entire 8-year career, has been on a tare up in Toronto. The Blue Jays DH is in the top 4 in the league with 21 home runs and he has accounted for 51 RBI's. His .575 slugging percentage is the 4th best in the AL as well.

Ortiz is looking to make his 8th All-Star game at the DH position for the AL (2004-2008, 2010-2011). If Encarnacion is selected to the Midsummer Classic, he would become the 4th ever Blue Jay to appear in the prestigious game as a DH joining Paul Molitor (1993-1994) and Shea Hillenbrand (2005).

The Host Nations Of Poland And Ukraine Haved Fared Well So Far In Euro 2012

The 14th European Championship is off and running, and the storylines surrounding the host nations through the first week of the tournament have been very intriguing. We have seen some lovely goals from Poland like Jakub Blasczykowski left footed rocket shot against Russia and the Ukrainian wingers, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andriy Yarmolenko, have taken the world by storm with their fantastic pace on the wing.

Coming into the European Championships, there was no real sense of how the host nations of Poland and Ukraine would fare in the tournament. Neither nation is a football powerhouse, and since they both qualified automatically, their only tune-ups for the competition were some friendlies, and it is always difficult to gage a team's performance based on those matches. With every team in the tournament ranked in the top 16 in Europe, the road looked like a very trickery one for the host nations.

Although it is nice to have the support from your home fans when hosting a competition, it is sometimes difficult to deal with the pressure from trying to perform in your home country. In the 2000 European Championships, Belgium was unable to make it to the knockout round. In Euro 2008, both Austria and Switzerland failed to make it out of the group stage.

However, both Poland and Ukraine have started off the tournament in fine fashion. Both nations have put themselves in a position where they could possibly advance onto the knockout stage, which is more than their fans could ask for.

In Poland's opening match against Greece, the Poles backup goalkeeper, Przemyslaw Tyton, made a diving save to his left on a penalty kick from to prevent the host nation from walking away with a terrible defeat. A loss would have been very disappointing for the Poles, as they played a very quality game and Greece were playing down a man after Sokratis Papastathopoulos picked up a red card right before halftime. However, the Poles almost blew the game when their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off after fouling Dimitris Salpingidis in the box on a goal scoring opportunity. However, the crisis was averted with Tyton's save and Poland managed to pick up the draw.

Przemyslaw Tyton's penalty save proved to be vital in Poland's draw against 2004 European Champion Greece

Poland knew that they would have to play an even better game against a really good and hot Russian team, and they did just that. Although Russia went into halftime a goal up, the Poles didn't fret and they got the goal that they so thoroughly deserved with a crack of a shot from Jakub Blasczykowski. Although Russia had a good share of the ball during the game, Poland were actually the side that had the majority of the chances. Russian keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev needed to make several saves in order to keep the game at a level draw.

Poland played Russia to a wildly entertaining 1-1 tie in Warsaw

With two points through two games, the Poles are in contention to make it out of the group stage for the first time ever. In a muddled Group A, Poland is playing the Czech Republic in a must win game. If Poland can get a victory against the Czechs, they will be secured of at least a 2nd place finish in the group. If the Poles win and Russia losses to Greece, Poland would be atop the group at 5 points, while Russia, Greece, and the Czech Republic would all be sitting on 4 points. If the Poles win and Russia and Greece draw, Poland and Russia would both be sitting on 5 points each and group goal difference would ultimately determine which team would win the group and play the second place team from Group B in the quarterfinals.

Ukraine has also come out of the tournament gates very impressively. In their first ever European Championship as an independent nation (Ukraine was previously apart of the Soviet Union), Andriy Shevchenko led the side in front of their home fans in Kiev to an improbable 2-1 victory over Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden. After Andriy Yarmolenko's failure to get a header out of the box led to a Swedish goal, the 35-year-old Shevchenko gave the home fans a blast from the past with his two headed goals in the following 9 minutes. The victory was well deserved for the Ukrainians, as their speedy wingers, Konoplyanka and Yarmolenko, created chances all game long.

Andriy Shevchenko's double gave Ukraine an inspiring 2-1 victory over Sweden.

In their second game of the competition, Ukraine was due up against France, who had been one of the hottest teams in all of international football entering the tournament. The Ukrainians stuck right with Les Blues through the first 45 minutes, but the French, who had been playing very well since they fired Raymond Domenech after the 2010 World Cup debacle and hired Laurent Blanc, were too much for the host nation to handle. Although Ukraine walked away from the Donbass Arena with a defeat, they did have some very nice moments during the match.

Although Ukraine fell to France 2-0, they still have a chance to make it out of the group stage.

Despite their loss to the French, Ukraine still has a chance to advance onto the knockout stage, as they have a crucial game against 1996 semifinalist England in their third match of the group stage. A tie against England would not be enough for the Ukrainians to advance, even if France still losses to Sweden. In that scenario, England would be on 5 points, while France and Ukraine would both be sitting on 4 points, but France would own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Ukrainians and would secure second. However, if Ukraine is able to knock off England in Donetsk, they would guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals. In fact, Ukraine could top the group with a win and a France draw or loss to the already eliminated Swedish team.

No-Hitters Are Becoming Much Less Special in Today's Game

Pitching a no-hitter has always been one of the most ionic achievements in baseball, and the no-hit club is a group that every pitcher wants to be apart of. More than any other sport, baseball is a numbers game and it cherishes its past history and stats. There is no other club in sports, like the no-hit club, where a player from 1876 will always have a connection to a player in today's modern game. Another component that makes a no-hitter so special is the fact that it can happen on any given day that a pitcher steps to the mound, and history has shown that no-hitters can come from the most unlikely of places. In 1999 for example, Jose Jimenez threw a no-hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Arizona Diamondbacks, despite the fact that entering the game Jimenez had just 5 career wins and was 3-7 during the year with a 6.69 ERA. Finally, the atmosphere around a park with a no-hitter in progress is a unique electric nervousness, and an amazing sight to see.

Although no-hitters have always been treasured, they are becoming less and less valued today because of their increase in frequency. With more and more no-hitters being thrown, no-hit outings are becoming less special by the month.

We all remember the power surge that took place in the MLB during the 1990's and much of the 2000's. Who can forget Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run battles during the 1998 and 1999 seasons when McGwire knocked out 65 and 70 homers in the two years respectively, while Sosa was not far behind with 63 home runs of his own in 1998 and 66 the following year in 1999. How bout 2001 when Barry Bonds hit an MLB record 73 home runs, and Sosa hit 64 in the same year, while Rafael Palmeiro's 47 home runs were only the 8th most in the league. To put that in perspective, last year Jose Bautista led the league with 43 home runs, and in 2009 the most home runs by any AL player was 39 by Carlos Pena and Mark Teixeira.

But that era was tainted by steroid usage, and now that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has made it his personal mission to have the toughest drug testing in all of sports in order to attempt to ensure that steroids will no longer be present in baseball, run scoring has gone way down.

In 1999, the Cleveland Indians led the MLB with 1,009 runs scored, while in 2010 the Yankees led the league but their run total was all the way down to 859 over the course of the year. Also, in 1999, the Twins were dead last in the MLB in runs scored as they produced just 686 runs over the 162 game season, while two years ago 12 teams scored less than 686 runs and last year 14 teams scored less than 686 runs including 9 of the 16 teams from the National League. In fact, in 1999, every team in the playoffs scored at least 820 runs, while the Giants made the playoffs in 2010 after scoring just 697 runs over the course of the year.

Times have obviously changed since the early 2000's and the league has totally shifted from being dominated by big time power hitters like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez to pitchers such as Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia. With the increasing effectiveness of pitchers, there has be a rapid rise in no-hitters, which are making no-no's much more common and therefore they are losing a little bit of their luster.

Just this year alone, we have already seen 5 no-hitters and there is still almost a month until the All-Star Game. The 5 no-hitters before the All-Star break are the most no-no's before the Midsummer's Classic since 22 years ago in 1990. And the scary part is, we could be in store for a few more no-hitters even before we get to the All-Star Game, as in the last 13 days alone we have witnessed a no-hitter by Johan Santana, a combined no-hitter by 6 Seattle Mariners pitchers, and a perfect game by Matt Cain.

Pitchers throwing no-hitters right after each other has been a trend for the past couple of years. In 2009, Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter for the Giants on July 10th and thirteen days later Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game for the White Sox. Last year, Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter for the Twins on May 3rd and four days later Justin Verlander threw a no-no for the Tigers.

A perfect game, were a pitcher doesn't allow a base runner all outing, is obviously admired by all baseball fans. But often times after a pitcher has allowed a base runner in some form other than a hit and the perfect game is shattered, the no-hitter doesn't always look as pretty. Many detractors think that numerous walks and base runners take away from a no-hitter.

For example, the beauty of a no-hitter is lost when A.J. Burnett doesn't allow a hit for the Marlins, but still walks 9 Padres batters. The elegance is no longer present when Erving Santana no-hits the Cleveland Indians but the Indians still manage to score a run.

However, the bigger problem has to do with the pure rise in no-hitters in today's game. In the last three years dating back to 2010, there have been a total of 14 no-hitters thrown. The 14 no-no's are the most over a three year span since there were 15 no-hitters thrown from 1990 to 1992. In fact, in the last 6 years since 2007, pitchers have thrown 21 no-hitters. To put in perspective the extreme increase in no-no's, in a 6 year span from 1984 to 1989, there was a total of just 5 no-hitters.

Obviously in a literal sense, there is no difference between Eddie Cicotte's no-hitter for the White Sox in 1917 and Jered Weaver's no-no last year for the Angels, as both pitchers didn't surround a hit all game. However, with the barrage of no-hitters in today's game, the significance of Weaver's no-hitter was much different than what it would have be if no-hitters were still a very rare feat.

Throwing a no-hitter will always be a great accomplishment, but no-no's lack the meaning and specialness that they one had in the past.

The Los Angeles Kings Championship Proves That A Hot Team Is The Most Dangerous Team In The Postseason

Let me say one thing before I begin, I unequivocally hate the BCS and I am hoping that the proposed four team college football playoff will go into affect by the 2014 season.

I hate how the champion of each of the power six conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) receives an automatic bid to one of the BCS bowl games. Just look at 2011 when the Big East Champion Connecticut, who had a 8-5 overall record, got to play in the Fiesta Bowl, while Boise St., who had a 12-1 record during the season and a win over ACC Champion Virginia Tech, had to play in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas because the WAC didn't have an automatic bid. I don't think anybody would argue that Connecticut was anywhere near as good of a team as Boise St. was that season.

I dislike that the different bowl committees determine which team will play in their bowl as the at-large selection because they often chose the team that will guarantee the most revenue and fan support, rather than the team that had the best season. Just look at last year when Virginia Tech, who didn't beat one team ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season and lost in the ACC title game by 28 points to Clemson, was selected over Kansas St., whose only two losses were to the highly ranked Oklahoma schools (Oklahoma and Oklahoma St.), as well as Boise St., who had a 11-1 record and beat the SEC East Champion Georgia Bulldogs, for the Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan referenced the fact that Virginia Tech's fan support was "extremely important" in their inclusion in the game, showing the extreme flaws in the BCS, as the Hokies were picked largely because their fan base travels well and the game would sell more tickets than if Kansas St. or Boise St. were playing.

With all that being said, unlike most other sport, almost every season the best team in college football walks away National Champion because the BCS National Championship game slates the number 1 ranked team vs the number 2 ranked team. Of course, some years there is debate over the teams in the title game, but often times the top two teams meet for all the marbles.

However, when you look at some of the other sports, the team that gets hot during the playoffs often wounds up champion rather than the best team during the length of the season.

We all love the upsets that come with March Madness, but the tournament winner is not always the best team, as it is often the team that gets hot coming into the big dance.

For instance, just two years ago, the Connecticut Huskies finished the regular season outside the top 20 and had a 9-9 mark in the Big East, which was only good enough for 9th place in the conference. In fact, the Huskies had a record of 0-7 against the top 5 teams from the Big East that year during the regular season (0-1 vs Pittsburgh, 0-2 vs Notre Dame, 0-1 vs Syracuse, 0-2 vs Louisville, and 0-1 vs St. John's).

However, the Huskies went on an incredible run en route to their Big East tournament title, as they became the first ever team in Big East history to win 5 games in 5 nights. On the back of their conference tournament championship, where they beat four straight highly ranked teams, the Huskies came into the NCAA tournament flying high with a ton of momentum. They used that momentum to mount a run through the tourney, where Kemba Walker led the Huskies to the program's 3rd ever National Championship. It is pretty obvious to see that the Huskies were the hottest team in college basketball coming into the big dance, and they rode their wining streak all the way to a National Championship.

A similar phenomenon has happened the past two years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants Super Bowl runs. Both the Packers and the Giants were forced to fight for a playoff spot through the last week of the season, as they each had to win their final two games just to make the postseason.

Two years ago, the Packers were entering week 16 with a 8-6 record and had been thoroughly struggling, as they had dropped 3 of their previous 4 games. Coming into their final two games, only 1 of the Packers 8 wins had come against a team with a winning record at the time of the game.

Despite their struggles against quality opponents through the first 14 weeks, the Packers found a new gear in their final two outings of the regular season. In week 16, the Packers destroyed the playoff hopeful New York Giants, who had been a game ahead of the Packers in the NFC Wild Card standings entering the game, 45-17. The following week, in a must win game to hold off the Giants and Buccaneers against the NFC North division winning Chicago Bears, the Packers won in an ugly battle, 10-3.

The Pack used their late season momentum with wins over two very good teams to make a run through the postseason en route to their 4th Super Bowl in franchise history. The Packers had been in playoff mode since week 16 and were ready to go for the postseason, while the Eagles, for example had been resting their starters the previous week and looked rusty in their Wild Card loss to the Packers. The Pack also used the confidence from their win over the Bears to once again knock off their arch rivals in the NFC Championship game.

Last year's New York Giants are another example of a team that got hot right before the postseason and used their strong play entering the playoffs to propel themselves to a title.

Following a week 15 loss at home to the Washington Redskins, who had just 4 wins at the time, the Giants were sitting at 7-7 having dropped 5 of their previous 6 games. The Giants were really struggling defensively, especially in the secondary, as Drew Bress, Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo each threw for more than 320 yards against them in three consecutive losses.

However, the Giants turned their season around with two do or die wins at the end of the year. They topped their crosstown rival New York Jets in a huge game for both teams playoff chances and then won a winner take all NFC East divisional game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The wins sparked the Giants playoff run to the Super Bowl, as they came alive following their successful end to the regular season. Not only was the Giants confidence soaring, but they also were much sharper than other teams, like the Green Bay Packers, who had been resting their starters for the last week of the season.

This same pattern of not necessarily the best team winning the title, but rather the team that gets on a winning streak and is the hot team in the postseason, also showed itself during the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, as the Kings got on a roll and never looked back.

Everybody knows that in postseason hockey a hot goaltender can lead his team to a Stanley Cup title and that is exactly what happened with the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick had the most unbelievable stretch of 20 games of his life and his incredible play between the pipes were the main reason that the Kings became the first ever 8 seed in either conference to ever win the Stanley Cup. In fact, the Kings were just the second ever 8 seed to even reach the Stanley Cup finals, as the 2005-2006 Edmonton Oilers reached the Cup finals as an 8 seed, but ultimately fell in 7 games to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Quick had one of the greatest postseason stretches for a netminder in NHL history and his hot play gave the entire Kings team confidence that they could pull off a run through the postseason.

When the Kings joined the 1991 Minnesota Wild, the 2000 San Jose Sharks, the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, the 2009 Anaheim Ducks, and the 2010 Montreal Canadiens as just the 6th team to knock off the Presidents' Trophy winner in the first round, Jonathan Quick was the difference maker in the series. He held the Vancouver Canucks to just 5 goals in the Kings 4 victories and had a shutout in game 3 to put the Kings up 3-0 in the series.

In the Western Conference semifinals, the 2nd seeded St. Louis Blues scored just 6 goals in the entire 4 game series, as the Kings swept the Blues 4-0. The Kings used the strong play of Quick to become the first ever team to knock off both of the top two seeds in their conference during the playoffs. En route to their 2nd Conference Finals appearance in franchise history, the Kings had won 8 of their 9 playoff games and were riding high with confidence and momentum behind the out of this world play of Jonathan Quick.

In the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Coyotes, Quick had .939 save percentage and led the Kings to their 2nd Stanley Cup Finals appearance in franchise history and their 1st since 1993 when Wayne Gretzky and crew lost to the Montreal Canadiens in 5 games. Entering the Stanley Cup Finals the Kings had an overall postseason record of 12-2.

Finally, in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead and Quick allowed a total of just 2 goals in the team's first three victories. Although the Devils won the next two games, as the Kings scored just 1 goal in both Game 4 and Game 5, Quick finished out the series with a dominant performance and his hot play led the Kings to their first Stanley Cup in their 44-year franchise history.

Deservedly so, Quick won the Conn Smyte Trophy and added on to the long line of goaltenders who were awarded the playoff MVP award after they led their team to an appearance in the Stanley Cup. Quick became the 5th netminder in the past 11 postseason since 2001 (no postseason in 2005 due to the NHL lockout) to take his team to the Cup Finals and win the Conn Smyte award, showing that a hot goaltender often leads to success in the playoffs.

Kings center Colin Fraser said, "I've said to my buddies, we've got the right team, but we just have to get hot at the right time. The last six weeks of the regular season, we were in a dogfight just to get into the playoffs and we got hot at the right time. We just started rolling."

Mario Gomez Finally Comes Through For Germany

In clinical fashion, Mario Gomez scored his first ever goal in the European Championship to give Germany a vital 1-0 victory over Portugal in the brutally difficult group of death. After Netherlands, the 3rd highest ranked team in Europe, fell in shocking fashion to the Danes in Kharkiv in the other group B contest earlier in the day, Gomez put Germany in a great position to advance onto the knockout stage with an opening match victory. Gomez's goal will relieve much of the pressure from Germany's shoulders, as many have called them the pre-tournament favorite, despite the fact that the Spaniards are the current European and World Champions.

Ever since Mario Gomez joined Bayern Munich in 2009 from Stuttgart in a German record transfer fee, he has been a big time goal scorer for the German side. Gomez led the Bundesliga with 28 goals during the 2010-2011 season and was second in the German league with 26 goals this past year. His 54 combined goals in two consecutive seasons were the most in the league since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge scored a combined 55 goals over the 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 seasons.

Despite all of Gomez's success with his club in the Bundesliga, he had struggled with the German National Team to find the back of the net in major competitions. His failures to score in big time games, including in the Champions League Final last month against Chelsea, had left many wondering if Gomez was unable to come through in major tournaments.

In Euro 2008, Gomez was put in the starting XI for all three of Germany's games during the group stage and he was unable to ever find the back of the net. In fact, Gomez almost cost Germany a trip to the knockout stage after he failed to score a wide open goal against Austria with their goalie way out of position. After that miss, Gomez failed to see the field for the rest of the tournament except for a brief spell in the team's 1-0 finals loss to Spain.

Granted that Gomez didn't get any extended minutes on the field with Germany during the biggest tournament in international football, he still failed to score in 4 substitute appearances during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Once again another major tournament went by without Gomez showing his goal scoring ability and presence up front.

With Gomez's poor international goal scoring past, many German fans hoped that manager Joachim Löw would start Miroslav Klose as the lone forward in Germany's 4-2-3-1 formation against Portugal. Despite the fact that Gomez scored 41 goals in all competitions for Bayern during the season, Klose, who is second in Germany's all-time international scoring with 63 goals only behind Gerd Müller's 68 national team goals, seemed to be the favorite for the striker role with Thomas Müller along the right side and Lukas Podolski along the left side.

However, Low went with Gomez in his starting XI, but as the minutes rolled along and the game remained tied without a goal, the calls for Klose to replace Gomez grew louder and louder. The more possession that Germany had in the attacking third without truly testing Portuguese keeper Rui Patricio, put more and more pressure on Low to bring on Klose.

After being frustrated by Portugal's stingy defending for well over an hour, Gomez was finally able to break out of his international goal scoring slump in the 72nd minute. His goal scoring header, which came off of a deflected cross from midfield teammate Sami Khedira, not only silenced all of the Portuguese fans in the stadium in Lviv, but also quieted all of the doubters who began to lose faith in Gomez's ability to score with the national team.

Gomez's first goal in a major international tournament couldn't have come at a better time, as Germany looked like they lacked the creative genius needed to break down a back line with the likes of Pepe and Fábio Coentrão. His finish was world class, and a quintessential Mario Gomez goal, as he used his large body frame and 6'2'' height to lift up over Portuguese defender Joao Pereira for the headed finish.

Gomez's brilliant headed goal sealed the 1-0 win for Germany over Portugal.

Gomez's goal puts Germany in the driver's seat to win the group of death, but things are far from being set in stone. The Germans will take on a Netherlands side in four days that will be desperate to get a victory to crawl their way back into the top of the group. Following that match, Germany will have a fixture against a tough and impressive Denmark side that proved it deserves its number 9 FIFA World Rankings after it notched a 1-0 win over Holland in its opening match.

UNLV Is Going To Be A Very Dangerous Team Next Year

After leading Oklahoma to a poor 15-16 record and an 8th place finish in the 10 team, Big 12 with a 5-13 conference mark, Lon Kruger has to be looking back at his former job and envying that he isn't in Dave Rice's position. Kruger, who left UNLV to take the Oklahoma job last year, left the door open for Rice, who was a former Jerry Tarkanian player with the Rebels when they won the National Championship in 1990, to take over the job.

Rice's first year at UNLV began with a bang after his Rebels knocked off the top ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in the Las Vegas Classic. It was the first time that the Rebels had beaten a number 1 ranked team since 1989 when they toppled number 1 overall seeded Arizona in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. UNLV finished the season 26-9 and earned themselves a trip to the big dance, as Rice became the first coach in UNLV history to lead the Rebels to the tournament as a first year head coach.

After a successful first year at UNLV, bigger and better things are going to be expected next year from the Rebels. Not only does the team return their monster rebounder and double-double machine Mike Moser as well as their all-around playmaking guard Anthony Marshall, but Rice has also been able to load up this off-season by luring in top recruits and transfers from other schools.

Unlike other post-Tarkanian UNLV coaches, Rice has been able to compete with other top flight college basketball programs in terms of recruiting. Under Lon Kruger, the Rebels were unable to keep players from high school powerhouse Findlay Prep in-state. From 2009 to 2011, 5 Findlay Prep players were top 25 recruits according to ESPN 100, and the Rebels were unable to land any of them.

However, Dave Rice was able to secure one of UNLV's best recruiting classes of all-time when the number 7th ranked recruit according to ESPN, Anthony Bennett, announced that he would stay in Vegas and commit to UNLV instead of going to play for Florida, Washington, Oregon, or Kentucky. Bennett, a 6'8'' McDonald's All-American power forward, can step out and shoot the three-ball as well as use his size and strength down low in the paint. Bennett will also be joined by shooting guard Katin Reinhardt from Mater Dei in California, who is the number 47th ranked recruit according to ESPN. The signings of Bennett and Reinhardt will likely make an impact right away as both players will see a lot of playing time. UNLV's recruiting class was ranked number 13 by ESPN, above powerhouse programs like Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Florida.

But the fun doesn't end there for the Rebels, as Rice has been able to lure high quality tranfers to the UNLV program.

Former USC guard Bryce Jones and former Pittsburgh center Khem Birch will both be apart of the Rebels plans for a major season next year.

Bryce Jones, who was ranked 69th in the 2010 recruiting class according to ESPN, was unhappy with his lack of playing time at USC after Jio Fontan became eligible to play for the Trojans, while he also had off the court issues with teammate Garrett Jackson. Jones is going to be a very important piece to UNLV's success next year, as the 6'5'' guard is extremely long and athletic and can shot the ball from three. In the Trojans first 8 games, Jones averaged nearly 13 points per outing.

Khem Birch will be one of the most interesting stories to watch around college basketball next year. The 6'9'' big man will be eligible to play for Dave Rice's squad around Christmas time and the Rebels will be hoping that they will be able to get the most out of the former McDonald's All-American and 12th ranked recruit (in ESPN's 2011 recruiting rankings). Birch, who left Pittsburgh mid-season last year after being disgruntled with his teammates and the team's playing style, has a tremendous amount of ability and talent. Birch is a very good rebounder and shot blocker, as shown by his 6 block game in just 29 minutes against Robert Morris last year, and will only continue to improve on the offensive end of the floor.

Finally, former Connecticut power forward Roscoe Smith has decided to transfer to UNLV from the Huskies as a result of UConn's 2013 postseason tournament ban. Connecticut is unable to play in next year's NCAA tournament because the basketball program didn't reach the NCAA's academic standards from 2009 to 2011, as they had a low Academic Progress Rate. Usually the NCAA only grants waivers to players whose postseason bans span over their entire eligibility, but Smith is going to ask the NCAA for a wavier to not have to sit out a season although he has two years of eligibility remaining and UConn's ban only spans one year.

Nonetheless, Smith is a very nice transfer to land, as the big man is a solid rebounder and also a very good defender. Smith is able to impact the game without taking a lot of shots and his productivity will increase with the added minutes that he will get in the Rebels frontcourt.

UNLV is not going to be just a dangerous mid-major team, but they are going to be in the picture as one of the best teams in the country. They are loaded in both the backcourt with Anthony Marshall, Justin Hawkins, Katin Reinhardt, and Bryce Jones, as well as in the frontcourt with Mike Moser, Anthony Bennett, Khem Birch, and possibly Roscoe Smith if he is eligible to play.

The Heat Really Missed Chris Bosh In Their Game 2 and 3 Losses To The Indiana Pacers

Since Chris Bosh signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat during the summer of 2010, his role on the team and his place among the big three along with LeBron James and Dwayne Wade has constantly been questioned. Fitting in alongside an 8-time All-Star and a 3-time MVP in LeBron James and an 8-time All-Star and 2006 NBA Finals MVP in Dwayne Wade has not always been an easy task for Bosh.

Despite the fact that Bosh has been an All-Star for 7 straight seasons dating back to 2006, he has been highly criticized for his play with the Heat. Bosh is often labeled as soft and as a power forward who is reluctant to bang with the big boys inside. Often times, fans even jest that there isn't a big three in Miami but rather the Heat have a dynamic duo with LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

For a guy that was the second highest scoring power forward in the Eastern Conference during the regular season at 18 points per game, Bosh has been the subject of a tremendous amount of criticism. His detractors point to the fact that he averaged just under 8 rebounds per game during the regular season, which was not a very high number considering the Heat's opponents shot the fifth lowest percentage from the field during the season at 43.4 percent.

In the Heat's game 1 victory over the Pacers, Bosh suffered a lower abdominal strain after finishing off a dunk during the ladder stages of the second quarter. The injury forced Bosh to miss games two and three of the series, and without Bosh, the Heat have fallen in a 2-1 series hole with game 4 left in Indiana. Without even being on the court, Chris Bosh has shown his true value to the Miami Heat and how much the Heat struggle without him on the offensive end of the floor.

Without Bosh on the court, Joel Anthony and Ronny Tuiaf have received extended minutes at the power forward and center positions. Although Anthony and Tuiaf are good rebounders and give great effort, especially with their intensity on the defensive end of the floor, they are both non-scorers. Therefore, Pacers center Roy Hibbert is able to clog up the paint and prevent driving lanes for LeBron and D-Wade because he doesn't have to worry about Anthony or Tuiaf scoring the basketball. In game two, Hibbert had 3 blocks, while he followed that up with 5 blocks in game three. With Hibbert hanging around the lane, Dwayne Wade has struggled to score around the basket, as he was 2 for 13 in the Heat's game three loss.

Although Bosh is 6'11'', he is a very comfortable and confident shooter, as has a very good elbow jump shot. Bosh is able to set up for open jumpers off LeBron and D-Wade's penetration, especially on the pick and pop. He is vital to Miami because he is able to extend the floor due to his ability to shot the basketball, which causes match-up problems because teams rarely have power forwards who are agile enough to stay with Bosh outside. Without Bosh on the floor, Roy Hibbert's lack of mobility has yet to be exposed by the Heat.

Any time that a team loses one of its best players and an 18 point per game scorer, it is going to struggle, but the Heat are a team that have even bigger problems replacing a guy like Bosh because of their lack of quality bench players. During the regular season the Heat's bench averaged less than 24 points per game, as none of their bench guys scored more than 7 points per game during the season. The Heat were 28th in the NBA in bench points per game. In game 2 for example, Miami's bench scored just 11 points.

The Pacers have been able to key on LeBron and D-Wade during the last two games of the series because they no longer have to worry about the threat of Bosh. The Heat have severely struggled to get in a rhythm offensively since Bosh went down with his injury and they have scored just 75 points in two consecutive games. In game 2, the Heat scored just 14 points in the third quarter and they followed that up in game 3 by scoring just 12 points in the third frame.

Not only have the Heat missed Bosh on the offensive end, but they have also missed him on the defensive end of the floor. Since Anthony and Turiaf are not going to score offensively, Erik Spoelstra has used LeBron at the power forward position to ensure that the Heat have enough on the offensive on the floor. Although LeBron is a specimen and is extremely strong, he has very little position playing the power forward position. In game 2 of the series, with LeBron on him for large parts of the game, David West had 16 points including 7 points in the final 7:05. LeBron said about defending in the post, "It's a lot more taxing being in there with bigger guys. [Defensively] is the biggest difference. When you're on the perimeter, there is more space. The interior is more cramped and physical."

Shootouts Are Perfect For The Regular Season But Overtimes Have Made This Postseason

In a season where Sidney Crosby played just 22 games due to his post-concussion symptoms and Alex Ovechkin had career lows with 65 points and just 27 assists (his lowest totals since he had 85 points last year and 46 assists during the 2006-2007 season), the NHL wasn't dazzling with star power. 

It is easy to take a quick glance at the team's remaining in the NHL playoffs and not get overly enthused. 

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, who finished 2nd in the East, were eliminated in the first round in 7 games by the Washington Capitals. The Bruins joined the 1989-1990 Calgary Flames, the 2002-2003 Detroit Red Wings, and the 2007-2008 Anaheim Ducks as just the 4th Stanley Cup Champion since 1990 to lose their first round match-up after winning the Cup, despite having home ice advantage.

The star studded Pittsburgh Penguins were extremely disappointing in their first round defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Pens, who were 14-4-1 during March and April largely fueled by Crosby's return, were sliced apart by the Flyers offense. In Philly's 4 victories, they averaged more than 6 goals per game.

In the Western Conference, the top seeded and Presidents' Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks could only muster one game during their opening round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Without Daniel Sedin for the first three games of the series, the Canucks fell in a 3-0 hole. The Canucks became just the 6th Presidents' Trophy winner to lose in the first round of the playoffs joining the 1990-1991 Chicago Blackhawks, the 1990-2000 St. Louis Blues, the 2005-2006 Detroit Red Wings, the 2008-2009 San Jose Sharks, and the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals.

Finally, instead of powerhouses like the Red Wings and the Blackhawks in the Western Conference semifinals, they have been replaced by much less attractive teams like the Phoenix Coyotes, who knocked off the Blackhawks in 6 games, and the Nashville Predators, who defeated the Red Wings in 5 games.

Despite both conference semifinals lacking the star power of a normal year, the NHL playoffs have been nothing less than magnificent due to all of the close games and the wild finishes in overtime.

During the 2003-2004 NHL season, 170 NHL games ended in a tie with neither team walking home the winner. In fact, the Minnesota Wild only had 20 ties that year, which means they had nearly 3 ties every 10 games.

Following the NHL lockout in 2004, Gary Bettman decided to implement a shootout during the regular season if both teams remained tied after three periods and a five minute overtime. Although the rule has received some criticism especially from hockey purists, it has made the end of games extremely exciting as no fan wants to see a game end without a winner.

However, there is nothing better than sudden-death hockey overtime in an intense and highly contested playoff game and that is what this year's playoffs have provided.

During the conference quarterfinals, of the 48 games, 16 of them were won in overtime, which set a record for the most overtime games during the first round of the playoffs. This mean that a third of the opening round games took at least one extra period of thrilling hockey to declare a winner. In fact, every series had at least one overtime game aside from the Predators-Red Wings 5 game battle.

Both the Bruins-Capitals series and the Panthers-Devils series went into overtime in game 6 as well as in the decisive game 7.

The Capitals were unable to close out the Bruins at home in the Verizon Center in game 6 after Tyler Seguin scored just 3 minutes and 17 seconds into overtime. However, the Capitals regrouped and returned the favor in an exhilarating game 7 overtime victory after Joel Ward slammed home a rebound for the series win.

After falling behind the Panthers 3-2 in the series, the Devils were able to keep their championship hopes alive by winning both game 6 and game 7 in exciting overtime periods. Travis Zajac became the hero in game 6 with his goal in OT, but the intensity of game 6 was nothing compared to the pressure of game 7, which lasted two overtimes before rookie center Adam Henrique won the series for the Devils with en electrifying goal.

Finally, the Coyotes-Blackhawks series was overtime galore, as the first 5 games of the series all went into overtime, which tied an NHL record with five consecutive extra periods. Even though the Coyotes are still flying under the radar despite the fact that they are one win away from reaching the Western Conference finals and the Blackhawks were without Marian Hossa for the final 3 games of the series, the Coyotes-Blackhawks were a can't miss matchup because every game was nip and tuck.

Best Trades During The First Round Of The NFL Draft

Although the first two picks of the NFL draft lacked the drama of a normal year, there wasn't a dearth of quality selections and as always a lack of head scratchers.

On Wednesday, Colts officials confirmed the overwhelming thought that they were going to take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in the NFL draft. General Manager Ryan Grigson said, "We didn't see the point in prolonging what the world already knows. It's about Andrew and we wanted to do the right thing by him... We've exhausted the process. We've pretty much made up our mind and we're going to go from there. We feel good about it and we'll go from there."

The next day, Redskins G.M. Bruce Allen announced what most people assumed when the Skins gave up three first round picks to acquire the second overall selection from the Rams, which was that the Skins would take Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with their selection. Allen said, "We think that Robert fits our offense to a tee. We're excited about being able to complement him with what we've already been able to do with some of his special talents. Obviously his charisma is going to be embraced by the Redskins Nation."

Although this year had no where near the amount of anticipation at the top of the draft like in 2006 when questions swirled all draft week on the Texans difficult decision between taking Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, and Vince Young with the first pick, a lot of another intriguing stroylines emerged.

With offense numbers at a record high last year and team's slinging the ball all over the field with the passing game taking over the league, defense was a priority in the draft. From picks 6 to 21, there were 13 defenses players taken, compared to just 3 offense players selected.

Coming into the draft, most people thought that there wouldn't be as many trades as last year because of a lack of really can't miss guys and not a great disparity between players projected to go in the first round and the second round. For example, instead of a team trading up to try and get a guy like Quinton Coples, the assumption was that they could wait until the second round and select a guy like Andre Branch, while not losing any more picks.

However, the first round was littered with teams trading up to get a player they desperately wanted as well as teams trading down to stockpile on picks. There were eight draft day trades during the first round, as the Colts were the only team in the top 7 to hold on to their draft pick from the start of the draft process. The Patriots, Broncos, and Rams all made two trades to change their position in the draft (including the Rams pre-draft trade with the Redskins).

Best Trades During The First Round:

#5 Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars - WR Justin Blackmon from Oklahoma State:

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up from the 16th pick in last year's draft to acquire Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri with the 10th overall selection, the Jags expected Gabbert to become their quarterback of the future. Due to the ineffectiveness of Luke McCown (McCown was picked off 4 times in three quarters against the Jets in week 2) Gabbert was forced to play much earlier than expected, and the rookie severely struggled in his 14 starts.

In 8 of Gabbert's starts he threw for less than 150 yards and he had a woeful completion percentage of 50.8 to go along with a league low 65.4 passer rating. Gabbert was hit a ton in the packet, as he was sacked 40 times (tied for the most in the AFC along with Big Ben), and his confidence looked down and he looked deeply flustered when he would drop back to pass. Gabbert almost looked fearful of staying in the pocket and making a throw down the field because he was always getting hit.

Jacksonville's inept offense, which ranked dead last in yards per game and passing yards per game last year, will be getting a huge lift with the addition of 2-time Biletnikoff Award winner (given to the best receiver in college football) Justin Blackmon. Blackmon will provide the outside threat that Jacksonville so desperately needs, and a go-to-guy for Blaine Gabbert, who didn't have a receiver last year with more than 44 catches or 460 yards.

The Jags made a terrific move by giving the Buccaneers their 7th overall selection and a fourth round pick, in order to move up two spots and ensure that they would land Blackmon. Blackmon, who is 6'1'', is often compared to Anquan Boldin because of their similar stature and their great hands. Blackmon, who was third in the FBS last year with 121 catches, is very comfortable in catching the ball over the middle and he is also a huge red zone threat, as he ranked 2nd in the FBS last year with 18 touchdowns.

Whether Gabbert can be a successful quarterback in the NFL remains to be seen, but Jacksonville has found themselves a pro-bowl caliber receiver in Blackmon.

#6 Pick: Dallas Cowboys - CB Morris Claiborne from LSU:

The Cowboys time to win with their current core group of players is starting to run down and Cowboys fans are growing inpatient of their team's lack of success, despite all of the talent that they have assembled. By the start of next year, Tony Romo will be 32, Jay Ratliff will 31, DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten will be 30, and Marcus Spears will be 29. For a team that has a 1-6 playoff record since 1998 and hasn't made it past the Divisional Round since they won the Super Bowl 17 years ago in 1995, the Cowboys had to move up in the draft.

Last year the Cowboys downfall was their atrocious secondary play. They ranked 23rd in the NFL in opponents passing yards per game, as the opposing quarterback threw for an average of 244 yards against them. After the worst season of his 9 year career, the Cowboys released their long time top cornerback Terence Newman. Newman looked like he lost a step, as he struggled to stay with speedy receivers and had a career low of just 8 pass deflections all season long. As Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said," We've had our shortcomings in our secondary for the last three seasons."

It was a great draft day trade by the Cowboys to make a leap up 8 spots to the 6th pick and give the Rams their 14th overall pick and a second rounder because the Cowboys desperately needed a cover corner with the ability of Morris Claiborne. Claiborne, who has been overshadowed in LSU's daunting secondary the past two years because of the play of Patrick Peterson (who was taken 5th in last year's draft by the Arizona Cardinals) and the "Honey Badger" Tyrann Mathieu (who finished 5th in the 2012 Heisman Trophy voting), is the best pure cornerback of all three guys.

Claiborne is everything that a team is looking for in a cornerback that is going to try and shut down the opposing team's best receiving threat. The 2012 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Jim Thorpe Award Winner (given to the best cornerback in college football) is extremely athletic and has unbelievable ball skills for a cornerback, as Claiborne had 6 interceptions last year. Although the move was a bold one, it was necessary because the Cowboys need a shutdown corner, which Claiborne has the ability to be. The Boys will have to stop top receivers like Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, Roddy White, A.J. Green, Mike Wallace, Marques Colston, as well as Victor Cruz and DeSean Jackson twice a year if they want to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

#12 Pick: Philadelphia Eagles - DT Fletcher Cox from Mississippi State:

Last year, the so called "Dream Team" began the season 1-4 and after a week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Eagles were sitting at 4-8. A season that started so promising with the signings and acquisitions of quarterback Vince Young, running back Ronnie Brown, defensive end Jason Babin, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, and cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, ended without a playoff birth. It was the first time the Eagles didn't make the playoffs in back-to-back years since 1998-1999.

The Eagles downfall last year was their inability to stop the run. Through the Eagles first 5 games, they were allowing over 165 rushing yards per game and they allowed 6 rushing touchdowns in that span where they dug themselves into a huge 1-4 hole. The Birds allowed at least 100 yards to all of the top tier running back that they faced including Michael Turner, who ran for 114 yards, Frank Gore, who ran for 127 yards, Fred Jackson, who ran for 111 yards, Matt Forte, who ran for 133 yards, Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 148 yards, and finally Reggie Bush, who ran for 103 yards, and the Eagles had a 1-5 record in these games.

The Eagles made a smart move by trading their 15th overall pick, as well as a 4th and 6th rounder to the Seattle Seahawks, so that they could move up three spots and ensue that they would improve their run defense. With defensive tackle Dontari Poe from Memphis already off the boards after he was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 11th pick and no insurance that the only other two top defensive tackles, Fletcher Cox and Michael Brockers, would still be around by pick 15, the Eagles had to pull the trigger and move up. The Birds will be more than pleased with their selection of Cox out of Mississippi St.

Cox, who was a Pro Football Weekly All-American and a First-Team All-SEC selection, will be a large presence in the middle of the Eagles defense. The pick of the 6'4'' and nearly 300 pound interior linemen, along with the trade to aquire linebacker DeMeco Ryans from the Texans will greatly improve the Eagles defensive interior.

Early Season American League Storylines To Keep An Eye On As The Year Progresses

I understand that we are still in the opening month of baseball and that it was just over three weeks ago when the Athletics and Mariners were playing overseas in Japan to kick off the MLB season. I also recognize the fact that the season is tremendously young, as the Cleveland Indians for example have played just 11 games thus far.

However, my excitement for the MLB season is shared by millions of other fans and it is never too early to start to look at some of the biggest storylines of the young season and predict how they may affect the outcome of divisional races and playoff seedings in October.

Mark Teixeira's Struggles On The Left Side Of The Plate: 

Before Mark Teixeira signed his lucrative 8-year, 180 million dollar contract with the Yankees in 2009, he was just as effective batting lefty as he was batting righty. In his 6 previous years in the league with the Texas Rangers (2003-2007), Atlanta Braves (2007-2008), and Los Angeles Angels (2008), Teixeira was such a lethal hitter because of his switch hitting ability on both sides of the plate.

In 2005 with the Rangers, Tex had 37 home runs and batted .304 when he hit lefty and he added 6 homers and a .293 batting average when he swung the bat righty. In 2008 with the Braves and Angels, Teixeira hit 26 home runs and batted .311 from the left side of the plate, while also adding 7 homers and a .303 average from the right side.

However, since Teixeira has come to New York, things have changed. Although his power numbers on the left side have remained impressive over the past three years, his batting average is way down. Two years ago, although he hit 23 home runs lefty, he batted .244 from that side of the plate. Last year, he hit 24 home runs from the left side, but batted an awful .224 when he swung the bat lefty. To put that in comparison, aside from his rookie year, his previous career low batting average from the left side was .266, which was his average in 2004 with Texas. The short porch in right field has become a home run heaven for hitters at Yankee Stadium (just ask Curtis Granderson). However, Teixeira's average from the left side has dropped so dramatically because he is constantly swinging for the fences by trying to pull the ball to right field. Through the Yankees first 14 games, Teixeira is batting .273 from the left side and he has already struck out 5 times batting lefty, compared to just once batting righty.

Injuries Are Severely Hurting The Red Sox: 

Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had Tommy John Surgery last year due to a right elbow injury, is still recovering from the surgery and he will be unable to enter the starting rotation until June. Without Daisuke, the Sox four and five starters, Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard, haven't look great as of yet. Doubront has only lasted five innings in both of his starts, while Bard, who pitched very poorly this spring, was rocked in his first start for five runs in five innings against the Rays.

Also, Carl Crawford, who received off-season surgery on his left wrist, will be unable to return to the Sox lineup until late May. The Sox outfield injury concerns multiplied exponentially after last year's AL MVP runner-up, Jacoby Ellsbury, was put on the 15-day DL due to a right shoulder injury, which he sustained while sliding into second base against the Rays. Without Crawford and Ellsbury, two of the best outfielders in the entire league, the Sox have struggled to find a productive outfield combination. They have been forced to play Jason Repko in center-field due to the injuries, and Repko has just 1 hit in 9 at-bats.

As if matters weren't worse enough for the Sox, Andrew Bailey, who was expected to become the Sox new closer to replace Jonathan Papelbon, injured his thumb during the spring and will be out until after the All-Star game. With Daniel Bard, last year's setup man in the rotation, and Alfredo Aceves having to move to the closer role, the Sox bullpen has let up a ton of runs. Mark Meancon, who had 20 saves last year with the Houston Astros, has let up five home runs and 10 earned runs, while recording just 6 outs in 4 appearances this season. In his last appearance, he let up 6 runs, 3 home runs, and didn't record an out in the 8th inning vs the Rangers, and his 49.50 ERA got him sent down to Triple A-Pawtucket.

The bullpen struggles of the Red Sox were evident in their implosion against the Yankees on April 21st. After Felix Doubront pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball, the bullpen blew a lead that apperared to be insurmountable. Vicente Padilla got just one out in the 7th inning and let up a grand slam to Nick Swisher, which cut the Sox lead from 9-1 to 9-5. When Matt Albers came in to relieve Padilla, he let up a three run home run to Mark Teixeira and the Yanks got to within one run of the Sox after a 7 run 8th inning. The Bo Sox didn't fare much better in the 8th inning. Alfredo Aceves, the Sox closer, was lit up by the Yanks. He was unable to record an out and let up 5 earned runs before being pulled for Justin Thomas, who came in and allowed a two run double off the center-field wall to Russell Martin. Once everything was said and done, the Sox had allowed 7 runs in the 8th inning. After leading by 8 runs entering the top of the 7th, the Red Sox bullpen had allowed 14 runs in two innings and they trailed by 6 runs by the bottom of the 8th.

The Tigers and Rangers Look As Good As Expected:

With the difficulties of the American League East, the Detroit Tigers are by far the most popular pick to win their division of any team in the AL, especially after they signed Prince Fielder to a 9-year, 214 million dollar contract this off-season. Despite the huge signing the Angels were able to pull off by getting Albert Pujols to come to LA, the reigning two-time AL Champion Texas Rangers are still considered the favorites to take home the AL West crown. Neither the Tigers or Rangers have disappointed in the early season.

The power of Cabrera and Fielder right in the middle of the Tigers lineup is any pitchers nightmare to have to face (just ask Josh Beckett). They have combined for 6 home runs and 20 RBI's in the team's first 13 games. If Cabrera and Fielder can get some timely hitting from Brennan Boesch, Delmon Young, or Alex Avila, their lineup will be nearly impossible to hold down. Cabrera has also played fairly well in his transition to third base and he will only improve as the season goes along.

Obviously, Justin Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young and AL MVP, is going to be a workhorse for the Tigers and a dominate ace. Aside from his ninth inning against the Rays in his second start when he let up 4 runs to blow the win, Verlander has looked nearly unhittable. The even more promising sign for the Tigers is that Rick Porcello, who has somewhat struggled since his impressive rookie season in 2009, has looked very good in his first few starts.

The 12-2 Texas Rangers are once again being led by their powerful offense, as their isn't an easy out in the entire Texas lineup. The Rangers lead the AL in nearly every hitting category including average, hits, runs batted in, runs, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli have started the year off incredibly hot, as they both have hit 6 home runs and Hamilton has 15 RBI's and Napoli has added 12 RBI's. Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz have started with 2 home runs each and both power hitters are likely going to be around 30 home runs if they can stay healthy. As if that wasn't enough offense firepower, Michael Young and Ian Kinsler are two of the most underrated hitters in the entire league, and their starts to the 2012 season have been business as usual. Michael Young, is hitting .400 and has 12 RBI's, while Kinsler, who is arguably the best power hitting second basemen along with Robinson Cano, has hit 4 early season home runs.

Albert Pujols' Power Drought:

No matter how good Albert Pujols was in his first 11 years in the MLB with the St. Louis Cardinals, questions were obviously going to be risen about his lengthy 10-year, 254 million dollar contract with the Angels. Although I questioned the move to give a 31 year old a contract that will be paying him 30 million dollars 10 years from now when he is the age of 41, I thought it was a sacrifice that had to be taken in the long run because Albert is such a dominant player and is the best hitter in the game.

Although I suspected Albert's struggles to begin during the ladder stages of his contract, his 2012 season has not started as most people in L.A. would have hoped.

Albert hasn't hit a home run through the Angels first 14 games and they have started the season 5-9 after all the hype that was surrounding them this off-season. The Halos are already 7 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. Pujols, who has hit at least 34 home runs in every year of his career, has not hit a home run in 58 at-bats this season.

Although fans in Los Angeles are rightfully concerned, they should not freak out over Albert's slow start. Last year, Albert began the season with just 1 home run over the Cardinals first 12 games. He also went without a home run in a 27 game span last season from April 24th to May 22nd, which was apart of a larger 36 game stretch where he had just two home runs from April 24th to June 2nd. Looking at a month drought like that, you might have expected Albert's power numbers to have been down last year. However, he still had 37 home runs with the Cards, and he could easily hit 35 plus home runs this year once he starts to get it going, which he is destined to do.

Finally, Albert isn't showing any worries over his lack of power early on in the season. He said, "Listen, it's not being cocky, but I know I can hit. I showed that in the spring. I've shown that for 11 years and I don't think it's going to go away.... I think if you watch over my 25 at-bats or 30 at-bats, they've been really quality at-bats. So, if you're watching the game, I think I'm putting good at-bats, and that's all I can ask for myself... I'm not going to change the way I prepare myself just because I want to do a little bit more. I'm still going to get prepared and get my swing. I'm not going to overswing, because I feel good. I'm seeing the ball good. Last year I went through this, and I think if I would've been striking out or rolling over a lot of ball, I would've said something's wrong, I have to stay back. But I'm putting in good swings."