Apparently Xavier Has Gangsters On Their Team

The annual crosstown shootout between Cincinnati and Xavier took things to a new level today when the two teams decided to slug it out at the end of the game. The two schools are only a few miles apart leaving the game to decide yearly bragging rights. Last year Cincy won by 20 points on their home court and this year Xavier got their revenge winning 76-53.

These games are always intense, with their hard fouls, trash talking and general hatred for the other school. The trash talking got so out of hand that Xavier junior guard Mark Lyons was warned by officials in his locker room at halftime to cut it out or get hit with a technical. Lyons shut up in the second half.

I'm all for running up the score in games, especially in rivalry games but Tu Holloway a senior guard for Xavier has a lot of blame for what happened. After his layup he made with time running out he ran back on defense yelling at everyone and anyone on Cincy's bench before getting in the face of Cincy's Ge'Lawn Guyn. That's when freshman Dezmine Wells came over to help Halloway and then shoved Guyn. Here's what happened next:

Bearcats senior Yancy Gates is the player who sucker punches Xavier's Kenny Frease in that video. A Bearcat player appears to stomp on Frease while he is bloodied and on the ground and more punches are thrown while coaches tried to separate the teams. Not shown after the game was called with 9.3 seconds remaining was Holloway jumping on the scorer's table celebrating the victory.

Then in the post-game interview Holloway dropped this bomb on everyone, "That’s what you’re going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati,” Holloway said. “We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We’ve got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker room—not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game.”

The sad thing is neither Halloway nor Lyons apologized for their actions rather they seemed to be proud of themselves for "not letting people get in their faces". We'll see how proud they are when the NCAA and the teams' respective conferences and ADs figure this mess out and hand out their suspensions.

Good news is at least the coaches understood how incredibly dumb this was. Cincy coach Mick Cronin made his players turn in their jerseys afterwards, he even had to take them off some players. "I made everybody take their jersey off and they will not put it on again until they have a full understanding of where they go to school, what the university stands for and how lucky they are to even be here let alone have a scholarship." Cronin also said he'd be meeting with his AD and school President hoping they wouldn't ask him to resign after this.

Xavier coach Chris Mack tweeted this after the game, "No one, no one regrets our ending to the UC game more than me. My 5 and 6 yr olds were in the stands. Both teams were at fault period. I'm disappointed to the enth degree. I've got good kids. Mick's got good kids. They made DUMB decisions."

Sad thing is Xavier was a legit Final Four contender but after today's game who knows what they'll be or who will still be on the team.

Lions Still Don't Get It

The most frustrating part of being a Detroit Lions fan during their Week 13 loss, 31-17 to New Orleans wasn't the loss itself but the fact that if not for boneheaded plays and poor officiating the Lions could have upset the Saints at home. Now while I hold the Lions more accountable for this loss the officials had some critical calls that we saw the 0-16 Lions get time and time again when no one respected them.

The Lions, one week after watching teammate Ndamukong Suh selfishly stomp on an opponent and put the team in a bad spot committed three more selfish and uncalled for personal fouls this week. It started early in the third quarter when rookie Titus Young tagged a Saints defender in the facemask while a referee was trying to separate the two. Instead of 3rd and 1 from New Orleans 5-yard line it became 3rd and 16. The Lions settled for a field goal and not a touchdown that they most likely would have scored. Young was benched for most of the game after this, seeing the field for a handful snaps when needed.

Then in the fourth quarter return man Stefan Logan flipped the football into the face of an opponent after a return. Logan who hasn't been an impact on returns this year has been understandably frustrated but this selfish act came back to haunt the Lions as they settled for a 55-yard field goal attempt. They missed and gave the Saints the ball on their own 45, the seven point game quickly became a 14 point game and was pretty much over. There's no guarantee the Lions drive like they did and kick a 40-yard field goal if Logan didn't get that penalty but it's still a dumb penalty to commit nonetheless.

And lastly Brandon Pettigrew picked up a personal foul for contact with an official as he shoved an official who was trying to separate him from a Saints defender. There's absolutely no excuse for what Pettigrew did here and while his penalty didn't cost the Lions points it did cost them position.

Head coach Jim Schwartz has said that the plan is to bench those who continue to make these selfish and costly penalties. If I were him or front office personnel you can bet that not only am I benching them but I am fining them whatever amount it is under the new CBA that I can. You thought Suh's suspension would have opened their eyes, it didn't so maybe this will.

Ultimately the Lions cost themselves the game with the Saints but I do have some qualms with the officiating in that game. Right before the half the Saints clearly jumped offsides en route to blocking the Lions field goal which wasn't called. Nate Burelson was flagged not once, not twice but three times for offensive pass interference. Has there even been three OPIs called all season long? To me you can call offensive pass interference is 99 percent of the one on one jump balls and under throws, so why all of sudden was the crew working that game deciding to call every little hand check battle Nate got into? Conveniently enough they also missed the defensive pass interference on Nate which led to Stafford's only interception on the night. These were the calls and officiating when the Lions were irrelevant and the laughing stock of the league. Like I said I don't blame the officials so much but that was an awful officiated game.

Schwartz says it's on him to stop this "trend" of idiotic personal fouls let's just hope for our sake, his sake and the playoff's sake that the guys get the memo.

Jags Fire Del Rio... Who's Next?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the first of what could be many teams making changes to a coach on the hot seat by firing Jack Del Rio today. Del Rio was hired before the 03 season began and compiled a 68-70 record during his eight and a half seasons there. He won one playoff game but hasn't made the playoffs since 2007. It was no surprise that the Jags fired him, what with the team being 3-8 and Del Rio throwing his offensive coordinator under the bus the last two weeks. However the shock is that the Jags didn't wait until the end of the season. That that one hot chair has been put out, let's take a look at who might be next.

Andy Reid: Hard to imagine Reid in this position before the season started but with the Dream Team sitting at 4-7 and players (DeSean Jackson) running a muck Reid could be in serious trouble. The fans were chanting "FIRE ANDY" during this past week's embarrassing loss at home to New England. Reid's one saving grace is that team owner Jeffrey Lurie might show some loyalty to one of the most successful coaches in franchise history by giving him one more year.

Tom Coughlin: The New York Giants have been on the decline the last few weeks. They've lost their lead in the NFC East and trail Dallas by a game. At 6-5 they also fall one game short of the Wild Card. If the Giants blow their great start and miss the playoffs Coughlin might be on his way out too.

Jim Caldwell: Hard to believe the man with Peyton Manning as his QB could be fired but with no Peyton this year the Colts have no wins through Week 12. It's thought to be believed that one win could save Caldwell but an 0-16 season could mean a new coach with a new franchise QB.

Steve Spagnuolo: The Rams are 10-33 under Spagnuolo working on his third year with the club. The team has taken a huge step backwards from last year's season in which the Rams just missed winning the NFC West and making the playoffs. A strong finish could buy Spagnuolo one more year in the STL.

Norv Turner: Turner is believed to be a goner at the end of the year and rightfully so. This team has never reached their full potential under Turner and fails to win the big game when needed. Making the playoffs could save him but the Chargers are basically out of it after last week's crushing loss to Denver.

Tony Sparano: Most people thought Sparano was gone after last season when the team collapsed at the end of the season and missed the playoffs but owner Stephen Ross couldn't persuade Jim Harbaugh to come to Miami and was stuck with Sparano. After this all but disappointing season it's hard to see Sparano being the head coach in 2012.

These coaches could be next to go but only time will tell when.

What Is So Wrong With This Picture?

I'm going to preface this by saying some people might not like to hear what I'm about to say and I never play the "race card" but enough is enough already. Why is that the Lions mocking "Tebowing" and the comments they made about his performance drawing such attention?

I'll tell you why, it's because Tim Tebow is white male who stays out of trouble and openly crams his religion down you throat, not to mention the ladies think he has a cute smile. So why is he so special from every other man on an NFL roster, why is it you can't point that his mechanics are horrible, that he can't hit water with a pass if he were on a boat in the ocean, that he wasn't deserving of a first round draft pick? Now you can't even take a knee and pray if you play him because clearly Tebow was the first and only player to ever do that in a game.

People say that Stephen Tulloch, who was seen "Tebowing" over Tebow after a sack was mocking him and his religion. Here's what Tulloch had to say:

" “The fact that anyone could ever say that I’m mocking God is outrageous,” said Tulloch. “We were just having fun. If you watch the game, the guys that parachuted into the game ‘Tebowed’ as they came down. It’s a fad. “I was able to get to Tebow and sack him first, so I did it. It wasn’t out of disrespect, it was out of fun.” "

I don't like when athletes try to force their religion on me every time someone puts a microphone in their face, Kurt Warner was notorious for this. But you know what, Warner never ran and hid after a bad game he kept that forcing belief whether his team won or lost and whether he played great or awful. After Sunday's embarrassment of game, Tebow didn't want to say one thing about religion but only a week earlier it had everything to do with the Broncos comeback against a terrible Miami Dolphins team.

Where were people to cry outlandishly like this when Andre Ware was being dragged through the mud, when Akili Smith was busting, Charles Rogers JaMarcus Russell and Lawrence Phillips. Yeah sure, you laughed at Joey Harrington because Tony Siragusa basically questioned Harrington's sexuality when he mocked him for playing the piano and saying he probably enjoys strawberries and champagne. Everyone had a good time when Ryan Leaf blew up because in all honesty he was a bad QB on a bad team and he made things interesting with his temper. I don't recall anyone fighting for these guys.

Or how about when people openly mocked Shawne Merriman and his celebration. What about LaDanian Tomlinson and his TD celebration that teams love to mock when they play him? Those dumb enough to mock Ray Lewis end up paying the price because Lewis usually tags them pretty good but no one says anything. The only people to complain are the ones being jocked, sans Lewis. LT cried like a baby about but no one went on a mission to help him and crucify those who mocked he and Merriman.

To Tebow's credit, he came out and said he found nothing wrong with what happened. And it's not his fault that he isn't a good QB yet (although I don't see things getting a lot better), not his fault Denver foolishly traded up to get him in the first round. It is someone's fault though.

So you tell me, what's so wrong with this picture?

Why The Lions Should Embrace Their Role As The Bad Boys.

It's been a long time since Detroit Lions' fans could say their defense let alone the team has been walking around with a swagger. Now it would appear the Lions and their swagger have struck fear in not only the opposing team but the outside media too. Everyone outside of Detroit wants to label our defense as "dirty" or "classless" when in reality they aren't.

You say Ndamukong Suh is dirty, well then prove it. I'll give you last year's preseason hit on Jake Delhomme but other than that Suh has been a victim of his own strength. Getting flagged for unnecessary roughness for pushing Jay Cutler in his back last year was joke. Go ahead and tell me this was dirty, if you think that's dirty then football might not be for you.

Teams like the Atlanta Falcons have cried about Suh and Cliff Avril taunted Matt Ryan when he got hurt even saying Avril was kicking Ryan's feet as he cringed in pain. In the lead up to the Week 8 matchup with the Broncos, NFL.com posted a picture of Suh and Tim Tebow. The headline read "Good vs Evil", if the league if willing to give you this kind of cred might as well take it.

That's exactly what they did too as they made that game a nightmare then the controversy swirled again. Stephen Tulloch sacked Tebow and then struck Tebow's prayerful "pose" also known as "Tebowing". Let's get one thing straight, one, Tebow isn't the first player to drop to a knee and say a quick prayer. Two, Tulloch mocked the ridiculous movement not the player and if he was mocking the player that's fine too. Tebow is being paid to play this game just like Tulloch so why not mock the guy being made out to be the second coming of Christ and the greatest thing to football since the forward pass.

Tebow wouldn't be the first thing the Lions have mocked this year. Week 1, Tony Scheffler celebrated his touchdown against the Buccaneers by pretending to be a swashbuckling pirate. Week 2, Scheffler this time mocks the Chiefs by sending out smoke signals after a touchdown and Roary the mascot was temporarily blamed for Jamaal Charles tearing his ACL. Weeks 3 and 4, people took offense to Jim Schwartz's fist pump he threw after his team completed second half comebacks from 20 and 24 points down. Week 6 people questioned why Schwartz wouldn't just take Harbaugh's post game back slap and shove and let it go, here's a question, would you have been fine with it? Week 7 the Falcons cried like babies and falsely accuse the Lions of dirty play. And now Week 8, we had Tulloch and Scheffler both go "Tebowing" and Scheffler even threw in a Mile High Salute.

If this makes the Lions "dirty" and "classless" so be it but the Lions need to embrace it and run with it. They looked completely different this past week after that fire had been lit underneath them as opposed to Weeks 6 and 7 when they lost to San Francisco and Atlanta and looked to be swaggerless. People don't like change, they like having the Lions as the laughingstock of the NFL and now that the Lions are willing to hit you in the mouth and let you know about it people are scared. People outside of Detroit should get acquainted with this because these Lions aren't backing down from it.

2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Stanley Cup Finals

Oh how I should have known better than to pick the San Jose Sharks to win the Stanley Cup, thus making my prediction useless. The Sharks and Canucks have been known as choke artists lately in the playoffs, unfortunately I picked the wrong ones to bust out of that role. The Canucks dismantled the Sharks in 5 games deserve to be playing for Lord Stanley's Cup. Meanwhile I still have the Boston Bruins playing for the Cup, like I predicted as they needed 7 games to squeak by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tim Thomas played phenomenal and if the Bruins win has to be strongly considered for the Conn Smythe trophy.

Before we breakdown the final matchup, I am 12-2 these playoffs but I am missing the key piece to the puzzle, my Stanley Cup winners, the San Jose Sharks.

3. Boston Bruins v 1. Vancouver Canucks

The Boston Bruins have gotten to the Stanley Cup finals by piggybacking Tim Thomas, to win they'll continue to do that but they're going to need help. They'll need to stay out of the penalty box and the Canucks punished the Sharks whenever they were given the opportunity including back-to-back-to-back 5 on 3 power play goals in one game. Another thing they'll need their power play to show up as so far this postseason the Bruins 5 for 61 (8.2%). The Bruins need to cash in on a some of those opportunities because the Canucks are the more talented team. Finally if the Bruins plan on winning the Cup they'll need to be the more aggressive and physical team because if Vancouver's skilled guys are skating freely without taking hits it'll be a quick series for Boston.

The Vancouver Canucks got some good news during their time off before the Stanley Cup finals, forward Manny Malhotra has been cleared to return to the team after taking a puck in the eye on March 16th. The Canucks jumped all over the Sharks in the Western Finals as they won in 5 games in dominating fashion. They did it on the power play, even strength and penalty kill. They got scoring from guys not named Sedin or Kesler and their defense was active too. Lastly they neutralized the Sharks talent by being the more physical team, enabling them to shutdown Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Did I mention Roberto Luongo? He's totally put that disaster of a first round behind him and has looked near unbeatable at times. If the Canucks continue to play like they have these playoffs they can make fans forget about that 1994 crushing defeat to the New York Rangers.

Vancouver Canucks in 6.

The Check Swing: 2 Months Gone and Suprises Everywhere

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, which means that the baseball season in two months deep. I'm not sure what's more surprising, the fact that the Indians hold a six game lead in the AL Central, the Arizona Diamondbacks taking the lead in the NL West or the fact that Boston is in first so quickly after their horrible start to the season. In the other spectrum, who could have foreseen the Minnesota Twins or Chicago White Sox playing so poorly at this point? The Twins rank near the bottom in every major statistic category in the AL. How about the tight race in the AL West as every team is one and a half games back or less. Just an absolute crazy season so far.

One topic that has been bumped up by baseball is collisions at home plate after Buster Posey had his season end earlier this week on that very play. Later in the week we would see Prince Fielder collide with the Giants backup, Eli Whiteside and Ryan Roberts injured Astros' catcher Humberto Quintero. Quintero has been place on the 15-day DL with a right ankle sprain. Now people are talking about taking the play out of the game but to me, if MLB didn't do it after Pete Rose plowed Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game then how can they do it now? I mean Fosse was never the same after the collision and subsequent broken bone in his left shoulder killed his swing. The collision is part of the game whether MLB and the fans like it or not.

Arizona Diamondbacks: 29-24, 1st NL West. For the first time since Sept. 5, 2008 the D'Backs are in first place in the NL West. The D'Backs have been the hottest team in baseball the last two weeks as they've gone 14-2 since May 14th to overcome a 5 1/2 deficit in the West.

Atlanta Braves: 30-24, 3.5 GB 3rd NL East. Jair Jurrjens is leading all of baseball among starting pitchers in ERA with an outstanding 1.51. Jurrjens has allowed 11 earned runs in his nine starts this season and in no start has he allowed more than two earned runs.

Baltimore Orioles: 24-27, 5 GB 5th AL East. As if things couldn't get any worse for Baltimore, they lost center fielder Adam Jones Sunday to a sore right shoulder. No word on how serious of an injury it is, but skipper Buck Showalter doesn't think it'll be too serious.

Boston Red Sox: 30-23, 1st AL East. David Ortiz hit a pinch-hit game-winning home run in game one of Sunday's double header to give the Sox a 4-3 win over the Tigers. The last time Ortiz hit a pinch-hit home run came April 27, 2003 which just so happened to be his first as a Red Sox.

Chicago Cubs: 23-28, 7.5 GB 5th NL Central. Here's how badly the Cubs starting pitching has been this year, last year they led the league in quality starts. Yesterday was only their 17th quality start of the season, good for dead last this year.

Chicago White Sox: 24-31, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Ozzie Guillen seemingly lost his mind this weekend in Toronto. After Saturday's loss in a 14-inning game the manager ripped his team then before Sunday's game he ripped the fans and his critics. To say Ozzie is feeling some heat woud be an understatement.

Cincinnati Reds: 27-27, 5 GB 3rd NL Central. The Reds are coming off a rough 2-8 10-game road trip which saw them play a 19-inning game and a 12-inning game. However one Red not struggling is Jay Bruce who hit his NL leading 15th home run last night. In May, Bruce has hit 11 home runs with 29 RBI.

Cleveland Indians: 31-19, 1st AL Central. The Indians got Grady Sizemore back this week but perhaps the guy they miss even more is Travis Hafner. Since Hafner has been out of the lineup the Indians have gone 5-6 and have been shutout three times. In seven of the 11 games he has missed, the team had scored two or fewer runs.

Colorado Rockies: 25-27, 3.5 GB 3rd NL West. When it rains it pours and Colorado is finding that out the hard way. In the midst of some horrible baseball, the Rockies lost their top starter, Jorge De La Rosa to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the left elbow. He's expected to have Tommy John this week and be out until next summer.

Detroit Tigers: 26-26, 6 GB 2nd AL Central. After the 2009 season the Tigers decided to let Placido Polanco go because of the amount of talent they thought they had at second base. So far that decision has been awful, the guy thought to replace him Scott Sizemore was traded away on Friday and the likes of Will Rhymes, Danny Worth and Carlos Guillen have failed to hold down the spot. The team hopes Ryan Raburn can now fill the hole but the team may want to look at Ramon Santiago who should do enough to get them by until the offseason.

Florida Marlins: 30-21, 2 GB 2nd NL East. Logan Morrison extended his reaching base safely streak to 30 games on Sunday when he doubled in the seventh inning. Bad news for the Marlins is shortstop Hanley Ramirez had leave Sunday's game in the second inning with lower back stiffness.

Houston Astros: 19-34, 12.5 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros placed starter Wandy Rodriguez on the the 15-day DL this week and have turned to 20-year old Jordan Lyles to take his place in the rotation. Lyles is considered to be the Astros top pitching prospect.

Kansas City Royals: 23-29, 9 GB 3rd AL Central. What's going on with Joakim Soria these days? Soria blew his fourth save in 11 chances on Sunday which is odd because prior to this year, Soria had never blown more than three in a season. That being said manager Ned Yost is sticking with Soria as his closer for now.

Los Angeles Angels: 28-27, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Things aren't going well for some Angels players on the DL. Vernon Wells out since May 9th with a groin pull still can't run much, Kendrys Morales just had a second surgery including a bone graft for ankle his snapped off last year and Scott Kazmir got rocked in his first rehab start in AAA Salt Lake.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 24-30, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. Clayton Kershaw has been one of the lone bright spots for the Dodgers this season. Kershaw (6-3) picked up his second complete game shutout Sunday in the 8-0 win over Florida and is picking up All-Star considerations. He ranks top ten in every major NL pitching stat including first in strikeouts.

Milwaukee Brewers: 29-24, 2.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Most Brewers fans were excited about the chance to see Zach Greinke pitch, now they might get excited about seeing him bat too. Greinke hit his second home run of his career and first since 2005. Greinke was also considered a great prospect in the field too before signing to pitch with the Royals.

Minnesota Twins: 17-34, 14.5 GB 5th AL Central. Joe Nathan was placed on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his right forearm, the Twins were told by Nathan's surgeon who performed the Tommy John surgery on him last year that this isn't uncommon.

New York Mets: 24-28, 8.5 GB 4th NL East. Jose Reyes is leading all of baseball with his 76 hits on the season which is good news for the Mets as it seems like they probably won't re-sign him this offseason. But if Reyes continues to play like this, the Mets could cash in nicely on him come July 31st.

New York Yankees: 28-23, 1 GB 2nd AL East. Quite the weekend for Yankees captain Derek Jeter this weekend. First he passed Rickey Henderson as the Yankees all-time leader in stolen bases with 327. Then he went 1 for 3 Sunday leaving himself 20 hits away from 3,000 in his career.

Oakland Athletics: 27-27, 1.5 GB 4th AL West. The A's might be able to put their closer controversy to rest soon as they activated two time All-Star Andrew Bailey off the DL. The A's plan to move slowly with Bailey before putting him in the closer role again.

Philadelphia Phillies: 33-20, 1st NL East. Wilson Valdez became the second player ever to start a game as a position player only to end up as the game's winning pitcher when he pitched a scoreless 19th inning Wednesday. The other player to do it, Babe Ruth.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 24-27, 6.5 GB 4th NL Central. On Sunday the Pittsburgh Pirates lost their catcher Ryan Doumit, who was believed to be a possible trade bait material for the San Francisco Giants. Doumit injured his ankle when Carlos Pena slid hard into him on a play at the plate.

San Diego Padres: 22-31, 7 GB 5th NL West. For the second time this month, one of the Padres better starters picked up his first win with Tim Stauffer getting his on Saturday. Stauffer is 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA this season and the Padres are 6-5 in his starts.

San Francisco Giants: 28-24, 0.5 GB 2nd NL West. If you live under a rock then you probably missed Buster Posey breaking his ankle on a collision play at the plate Wednesday night. Posey had ankle surgery the other day to fix two ligaments and is done for the year. He's is however, thought to be ready by the 2012 opener.

Seattle Mariners: 26-26, 1.5 GB 3rd AL West. Before Sunday the M's had won nine of their last 10 and fans were so happy about the streak they decided to go streaking themselves. On Saturday, four separate fans went streaking during the Yankees Mariners game, including one guy who made a naked b-line for Derek Jeter.

St. Louis Cardinals: 32-22, 1st NL Central. Kyle Lohse is tied for the league lead with seven wins this season, what's more impressive is the fact that Lohse has had to overcome injuries the last two years which saw him win a combined 10 games. Lohse should surpass that total if he stays healthy.

Tampa Bay Rays: 28-24, 1.5 GB 3rd AL East. Evan Longoria had been struggling mightily in the cleanup spot as of late and figured he'd drop a few spots in the lineup. Instead on Saturday, Joe Maddon moved Longoria into the leadoff spot. In the two games there, he's been on base 10 times hitting 4 for 7 with three walks with a homer and a double to boot.

Texas Rangers: 28-25, 1st AL West. Mike Napoli might have taken advantage of the recent rash of catchers getting hurt on collisions at home plate with his play on Sunday. Royals catcher Brayan Pena had the plate blocked but appeared to brace for a collision when Napoli slid and caught him off guard. Can you blame Pena for not wanting to get plowed by Napoli?

Toronto Blue Jays: 27-26, 3 GB 4th AL East. Tonight Jo-Jo Reyes will attempt to make avoid making history for all the wrong reasons. Reyes has gone winless in his last 28 starts which has tied the record and if he fails to get the win tonight at home against Cleveland he'll have the record to himself.

Washington Nationals: 22-30, 10.5 GB 5th NL East. Closer Drew Storen has seen his 21-scoreless inning streak go by the wayside. Sunday Storen took his second loss on the season and has allowed runs in each of his last three appearances.

Until next week... FIRE LEYLAND!

How To Fix The Detroit Red Wings

The 2011 Detroit Red Wings had their season end in a near similar fashion to the 2010 season, a semi-final knockout at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. The one glaring difference between last year's playoff run and this one's was the goaltending as Jimmy Howard proved that he's ready to take this team forward. The Wings were second in the league in scoring goals while they ranked 23rd in goals allowed, the main problem for the Wings in the regular season was inconsistent play from their defense and Jimmy Howard. Both seemed to improve in the playoffs when the Wings cut their goals against to 2.48 opposed to the 2.84 they were allowing in the regular season.

Taking a look at what the Wings have coming back from their 2011 team.

Forward: Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi, Valterri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Tomas Holmstrom, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader.

Defense: Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart, Jakub Kindl.

Goalie: Jimmy Howard

The Wings have some decisions to make and some money to spend now that Brian Rafalski is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow. Factor that money with the cap expected to jump anywhere from one to four million dollars next year and the possibility of Nicklas Lidstrom retiring too and the Wings can seriously hit the market. The team is likely to bring back Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller, both forwards who do their damage on the third and forth line and killing penalties. But their real attention needs to be aimed at improving the defense. Mike Modano and Kris Draper are unlikely to return to the team.

Jonathan Ericsson has reportedly turned down a two million dollar per year deal and is likely to walk after failing to develop into a big, physical defenseman. They'll wait on captain Nick Lidstrom to make his decision on retirement or returning for his 20th season. The team could very well let Jakub Kindl and Brendan Smith both play on the blue line next year especially after Kindl blossomed post all-star break. The Wings could make a play at Shea Weber but he's a restricted free agent and Nashville has a chance to match any offer. Nashville has also been on record saying that they will in fact match any offer.

If the Wings can't land Weber there are plenty of other possible replacements. Some top unrestricted defensemen: Andrei Markov, Scott Hannan, Eric Brewer, Tomas Kaberle, Joni Pitkanen, Kevin Bieksa, James Wisniewski, Christian Ehrhoff and Ian White. The salaries on those gusys were three million or higher, so it is highly unlikely the Wings would sign more than one of those guys. Some cheaper UFAs include: Shane O'Brien, Hal Gill, Steve Montador and Kent Huskins.

The Wings could go after some restricted free agents the likes of: ATL Zach Bogosian ($3.3 mil), CHI Chris Campoli ($1.4 mil), COL Matt Hunwick (1.45 mil), EDM Ladislav Smid ($1.3 mil), LAK Alec Martinez ($875,000) and PHX Keith Yandle ($1.2 mil). Now the problem with going after RFAs is the team they came from can choose to match any offer they are given. And if you do sign a RFA compensation usually costs you a draft pick, usually first round picks and sometimes multiple first rounders.

One last problem is finding a backup goalie because Chris Osgood and Joey MacDonald are both free agents. They'll have to decide if it's worth the risk to re-sign either of them. Osgood is aging and missed the last half of the year due to a sports hernia surgery. Meanwhile, MacDonald has been a life long minor league goalie while spending some small amount of time in the NHL with a handful of teams.

If I were Ken Holland I'd try to target one defenseman on each of those lists and with the near 14-20 million the Wings will have to spend this offseason it shouldn't be too hard for Holland to revamp this team. But his main focus needs to be defense and a backup goalie.

The Check Swing: The Day of the DL.

Seems like Monday, May 23rd is the day of the DL for many big names throughout the MLB, either going on it or coming off. Some notable players returning to their teams from the DL include Chase Utley, Jim Thome, Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. Meanwhile one big name, Jason Heyward hit the DL today while Aroldis Chapman, Josh Johnson, Marlon Byrd and David Wright all hit the DL earlier in the week.

In case you live under a rock, the legendary Twins player Harmon Killebrew passed away from esophageal cancer this past week. Killebrew was an all-star at three different positions in his career: third base, first base and left field. In his 22-year career Killebrew hit 573 home runs good for 11th all-time, was the 1969 AL MVP and has been rumored as the iconic figure for the MLB logo.

Arizona Diamondbacks: 23-23, 4 GB 3rd NL West. The Diamondbacks are at the .500 clip for the first time since April 20th but the bigger news is that earlier in the week the D'Backs designated Armando Galarraga for assignment and as of today no one has tried to claim his rights. Bad luck for Mr. Near Perfection.

Atlanta Braves: 26-23, 3.5 GB 3rd NL East. Brian McCann became the second player in history to hit a pinch-hit game tying home run in the 9th inning and later in the game hit the walk-off home run to win the game. That was the good news, the bad news is Jason Heyward's sore right shoulder landed him on the DL. Tim Hudson and Nate McLouth could soon be joining him too.

Baltimore Orioles: 21-24, 4 GB 5th AL East. The O's are the only team in the AL East under .500 and things might get worse before they get better. Brian Roberts is going to see a concussion specialists and if you remember Roberts missed the last couple of weeks of the 2010 season with a concussion.

Boston Red Sox: 25-21, 0.5 GB 3rd AL East. Remember when people said David Ortiz couldn't hit? Or when the Red Sox seemingly couldn't win a game this season? Yeah those days are long gone as the Sox are only a half game back for first in the East. And Ortiz became the fifth player to hit 300 home runs as a Red Sox.

Chicago Cubs: 20-25, 6.5 GB 5th NL Central. For the first time since 1918 the Chicago Cubs visited Fenway Park and after this weekend series they might not want to go back... ever. Jeff Baker suffered a mild groin strain, Matt Garza was scratched from his start Sunday and Marlon Byrd suffered facial fractures after being hit in the face Saturday night.

Chicago White Sox: 22-26, 9 GB 4th AL Central. The White Sox seem to be heating up along with the weather after going 11-4 in their last 15. Jake Peavy threw a complete game shutout earlier in the week showing all signs of being healthy. But Adam Dunn is an awful 0 for 30 vs left handed pitching this year.

Cincinnati Reds: 25-22, 2.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Aroldis Chapman and his arm have hit the DL with inflammation, that's never good. But what's worse is starter Edinson Volquez and his 6.35 ERA calling out his offense. Volquez had this to say, "Everybody has to step up, start to score some runs. In the last five games, how many runs have we scored? Like 13? That's not the way we were playing last year. We're better than that." Volquez may want to recount, they've scored 12 runs not 13.

Cleveland Indians: 29-15, 1st AL Central. Even without Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner the Indians continue to win, earning the nickname the WINdians. One reason why is shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera who is doing it at the plate and in the field. Sunday he became the fifth shortstop to record five hits with two home runs and five RBI since 1920. And on Thursday night he gave us the new defensive play of the year with this gem.

Colorado Rockies: 23-22, 3.5 GB 2nd NL West. Jason Giambi hit his first career 3-HR game this week in Philadelphia driving in all seven of the Rockies runs in a 7-5 victory. That was the Rockies only win on a five game road trip to Philly and Milwaukee. They lost three of those four games by one run and the other by two.

Detroit Tigers: 23-23, 7 GB 2nd AL Central. Rick Porcello had a chance to get his first career complete game shutout Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, throwing 84 pitches through eight innings. Skipper Jim Leyland opted to go to closer Jose Valverde who converted his 11th save in 11 opportunities making his manager look good. On a side note, Porcello picked up his third career hit Sunday, the other two came in a start he made in 2009 also in Pittsburgh.

Florida Marlins: 26-19, 1.5 GB 2nd NL East. Josh Johnson leads the majors in ERA with a 1.64 but he's headed to the DL with shoulder inflammation. Johnson says he's been pitching with some discomfort since Spring Training. Reason not to be concerned is the Marlins say this isn't the same injury that forced him to be shut down for the last three weeks of the season.

Houston Astros: 17-30, 10.5 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros snapped their six series losing streak this weekend taking two of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto. It's also possible Bill Hall might be losing his job at second base with his slow start.

Kansas City Royals: 22-24, 8 GB 3rd AL Central. Jeff Francis picked up his first win of the season when the Royals beat the Cardinals 3-0 on Friday. In other news, the Royals snapped their 11-game streak of not committing an error by committing two on Sunday.

Los Angeles Angels: 24-24, 0.5 GB 2nd AL West. The Angels have lost 11 games this season by one run, that leads the majors. In other news, Jered Weaver attempts to right his disastrous May, losing all four of his May starts and allowing 14 of his 19 earned runs in May.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 21-27, 7 GB 4th NL West. To say that the Dodgers have had a long and rough season would be an understatement. This weekend they've lost Juan Uribe, Andre Ethier and Rod Barajas. Although they did get Rafael Furcal back on Sunday and he went 0 for 5 while committing a throwing error.

Milwaukee Brewers: 24-23, 3.5 GB 3rd NL Central. Zack Greinke has struggled since returning to the Brewers from the DL but one reason why the Brewers remain within an earshot of St. Louis is Shawn Marcum. Marcum is 6-1 with a 2.37 ERA over 10 starts this season.

Minnesota Twins: 15-30, 14.5 GB 5th AL Central. Times are tough in Minnesota, so tough that it appears Kevin Slowey might have made his last start for the Twins. The Twins want to demote him to Class AAA Rochester while Slowey wants to remain a starter in the big leagues. Something has got to give, most likely it'll be the Twins giving Slowey his pink slip.

New York Mets: 22-24, 6 GB 4th NL East. Owner Fred Wilpon had some harsh words about his superstar trio of Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright. On Reyes he said,"He wants Carl Crawford money, he won't get it. He's had everything wrong with him." Said this about Beltran, "We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. He's sixty-five to seventy percent of what he was." And about Wright, "Really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar."

New York Yankees: 25-20, 1st AL East. If it wasn't for Jose Bautista everyone would be talking about Curtis Granderson. Granderson is hitting .263 with 16 home runs and 34 RBI and those 16 homers are good for second in the majors.

Oakland Athletics: 22-25, 2 GB 4th AL West. Josh Outman is making his first start of the season for the A's this year. Outman missed all of the 2010 season after recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2009. Outman was obtained from the Phillies in the Joe Blanton deal.

Philadelphia Phillies: 28-18, 1st NL East. The first place Phillies just got the boost they need when getting Chase Utley off the DL for tonight's game. The Phillies are expected to take it easy with Utley likely going on three days on one day off type routine.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 22-24, 5 GB 4th NL Central. Paul Maholm suffered another tough luck loss this season pushing his record to 1-7 on the season. What's surprising is his ERA is at 3.65, in his 10 starts the Pirates have only scored 14 runs for him.

San Diego Padres: 19-28, 8.5 GB 5th NL West. The Padres have struggled in their home park to say the least. At home the Padres are hitting .203 while scoring 2.27 runs per game and are hitting .134 (26 for 194) with runners in scoring position. On the road the Padres are hitting .265 while scoring just over five runs a game and are hitting .315 (57 for 181) with RISP. The Padres are 8-18 at home while 11-10 on the road.

San Francisco Giants: 27-19, 1st NL West. Winning close games at home are becoming a trend for the Giants. They're 11-0 in one run games at home while winning seven of those games in walk-off fashion. The latest victims are the Oakland A's who lost Saturday and Sunday in walk-off wins to the Giants.

Seattle Mariners: 22-24, 1.5 GB 3rd AL West. Starting pitching has been the reason why Seattle has made a surge in the standings. Not only has King Felix regained his form but lately Michael Pineda, Erik Bedard and Jason Vargas have been nearly unhittable.

St. Louis Cardinals: 28-20, 1st NL Central. What's wrong with Albert Pujols? That's the question most Cardinal fans are asking themselves and everyone. Pujols has gone a career high 103 at-bats without hitting a home run and has grounded into more double plays than extra base hits. If you told me Pujols would be struggling like this and Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter would have combined for one win at this point in the season only to see the Cards atop the Central I would have said you were crazy.

Tampa Bay Rays: 26-21, 2nd AL East (on percentage points, no games back). James Shields is in the last year of his contract and is in need of a good season after last year's rough 13-15, 5.18 ERA. This year Shields is 5-2 with a 2.00 ERA and is coming off a complete game shutout of the Marlins in which he struck out 13 hitters and gave up three hits.

Texas Rangers: 24-23, 1st AL West. The Rangers missed Josh Hamilton and Nelson for a good chunk of the season, not to mention Neftali Feliz. Many thought that the Angels or A's would pass by the Rangers for first and distance themselves. Turns out they didn't as they're still in first and today they're getting Hamilton and Cruz back from the DL.

Toronto Blue Jays: 23-23, 2.5 GB 4th AL East. A touching story coming out of Toronto on their 3-2 win over Tampa on Thursday. In early April Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia and pitcher Ricky Romero met and played with Ryley Martin, a 2 1/2 year old diagnosed with leukemia. Martin died on Wednesday, a day before Romero started in the Thursday win which also saw Arencibia hit the game-winning two run homer in the seventh. Romero carved the initials of Martin on the mound and drew on that for inspiration while Arencibia held up a picture of he and Martin he keeps in his locker.

Washington Nationals: 21-25, 7 GB 5th NL East. Umpire Phil Cuzzi has blown numerous calls in his career and Thursday was just another one for him. He called Jayson Werth out on a play at first which saw Werth beat the throw and the throw bring first baseman Daniel Murphy off the bag. Nats GM Mike Rizzo was so mad that after the game he confronted the umpire about the call, causing MLB to launch a probe into the situation.

The Check Swing: Teams are Streaking, Yankee Drama and the Reds-Cards Best Rivalry?

Incase you missed it, the Yankees have been quite the story since Saturday when the struggling Jorge Posada asked to be taken out of the lineup after being demoted to ninth in the lineup. He claimed her had a bad back and needed a day off to clear his head. GM Brian Cashman said Posada wasn't hurting and the next day Posada apologized to the team and his GM. End of the story right? Wrong, Derek Jeter then told reporters he thought Posada didn't need to apologize because he didn't do anything wrong, this only angered management more. If the Yanks think this is bad now, just wait until it's Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez that start to struggle like this.

The Tigers, Reds and Giants are among the hottest teams in baseball right. The Tigers have won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11, they're getting it done thanks to pitching and Victor Martinez's hot bat. The Reds just swept the Cards and have won eight of their last 10 to jump into first place while the Giants also have won eight of their last 10 to jump the Rockies for first in the West.

While most baseball fans will tell you the Yankees-Red Sox or the Cardinals-Cubs are the best rivalry in baseball I'm here to tell you they're wrong. The Reds-Cardinals rivalry is quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the game. It started last summer when the two were competing for the NL Central and Brandon Phillips called the Cards "a bunch of complainers" going on to say that he "hates the Cardinals". That then led to this fight last August between the two teams. The Reds would go on to win the Central and things seemed to cool off until yesterday when Francisco Cordero hit Albert Pujols on 0-2 count, 1 out with a runner on second base and the Reds up two. Cordero was seen yelling at the Cardinals dugout after the game because Gerald Laird was apparently yelling at him, now if Pujols didn't take the beaning personal then Laird and his solid .200 batting average might want to pack up his stuff and get on the bus. This rivalry is just heating up and it's only May, keep an eye on this series the rest of the year because more fireworks are going to come.

Arizona Diamondbacks: 17-22, 5 GB 4th NL West. Josh Collmenter became the first pitcher in the last 100 years to win his first career start while throwing six shutout innings and allowing two hits or less when his team had only one hit, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Atlanta Braves: 23-19, 3.5 GB 3rd NL East. The Braves just took two of three from division foes the Philadelphia Phillies so you'd think they're feeling good right now right? Wrong! Chipper Jones has a slight tear in his meniscus in his right knee. Given Chipper's history a trip to the DL is looming.

Baltimore Orioles: 19-20, 3.5 GB 5th AL East. The Orioles are treating Tropicana Field like it's their home away from home this year improving to 5-1 after taking two of three from the Rays this weekend. If you remember the O's swept the Rays in the Trop to start the season this year.

Boston Red Sox: 20-20, 3 GB t-3rd AL East. For the first time this season, the Red Sox are playing .500 baseball and they got there thanks to a sweep of the Yankees in New York. Four previous times the Sox had a chance to get to .500 but failed to, finally they've gotten there and look to improve over .500 with a two game series with Baltimore.

Chicago Cubs: 17-21, 5 GB 5th NL Central. The Cubs seemed to have caught some luck on Sunday when they got rained out and avoided having to face Tim Lincecum. Their luck ends there though as the Cubs get ready to take to the road to face the Reds, Marlins and Red Sox this week.

Chicago White Sox: 17-24, 9 GB 4th AL Central. Ozzie Guillen has gone to a six-man starting rotation to give his pitchers an extra day of rest but also to try and figure out which starter is the weak link and could face a demotion. The six in the mix are: Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Phil Humber and Jake Peavy.

Cincinnati Reds: 23-17, 1st NL Central. Dusty Baker has had to do a lot of juggling with players hurt to keep the Reds close in the Central, now that those injured players have started to return since May 5th the Reds have won nine of their last 11 including a three-game sweep of the Cardinals. The sweep allowed the Reds to jump the Cards for first in the Central.

Cleveland Indians: 24-13, 1st AL Central. It was only a matter of time before adversity struck the Indians and finally it arrived. Grady Sizemore has been placed on the 15-day DL with a right knee contusion, the move is retroactive to May 11th. Let's see how these young Indians handle this.

Colorado Rockies: 20-18, 1.5 GB 2nd NL West. The Rockies started the season hot, seemingly putting their slow starts to a season behind them. However, in their last six series the Rockies are 1-5 which is why they've fallen from first to second in the West. Their problem has been the cooled off offense coupled with spotty pitching. The Rockies need to right the ship soon before too much damage has been done.

Detroit Tigers: 22-18, 3.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Tigers have won seven games in a row and jumped the Royals for second in the Central thanks largely to great pitching and Victor Martinez. V-Mart has a 13-game hitting streak going and 15-for-37 with a home run and 12 RBI in 10 games since coming off the DL. The Tigers hope that Verlander's early no-hitter propels the team much like Jack Morris' did in 1984 as the Tigers went on to win the World Series.

Florida Marlins: 23-16, 2 GB 2nd NL East. One reason the Marlins are where they are this year is because of closer Leo Nunez. Nunez blew eight saves last year but this season he's a perfect 14 for 14 in saves. Javier Vazquez has a first inning ERA of 15.75 this year, Vazquez for whatever reason just can't escape the first inning this year as he's allowed runs in the first in all eight of his starts.

Houston Astros: 15-25, 8 GB 6th NL Central. There hasn't been much to cheer about in Houston as the Astros struggle to win games this season. Just like the Astros are struggling so are the security guards and cops working the game as they failed to catch a fan on the field Friday night. For what it's worth, the Astros claim that the perp was eventually caught. Sure he was.

Kansas City Royals: 20-19, 5 GB 3rd AL Central. Thanks to Eric Hosmer and their offense the Royals got their first series win against the Yankees in New York since 1999. Hosmer helped lead the charge hitting his first two home runs in back-to-back games.

Los Angeles Angels: 22-19, 1st AL West. While trying to intentionally walk Paul Konerko Wednesday night, relief pitch Kevin Jepsen uncorked this wild pitch allowing Alexi Ramirez to score, the Sox eventually won 6-4. More bad news, through Sunday the Angels batters have struck out 309 times which is the most in the American League.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 19-22, 4 GB 3rd NL West. Chad Billingsley became just the 44th pitcher to lose a game in which he and relief pitcher Kenley Jansen allowed only one hit combined. With Stephen Drew standing on second, Billingsley went to pick him off only shortstop Jamey Carroll never covered the bag. Drew took third and scored on a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Tough way to lose a game.

Milwaukee Brewers: 19-21, 4 GB 3rd NL Central. Since 2007 the Brewers have won 33 of 36 games at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. So if you're wondering, yes the Brewers did go on to sweep the Pirates this weekend. Ryan Braun is hitting .309 with 12 HR and 33 RBI, he's just throwing his hat in to the MVP conversation.

Minnesota Twins: 12-26, 12.5 GB 5th AL Central. You hate the write the Minnesota Twins off this early in the season but at the quarter of the season mark the Twins have been downright awful. The Twins rank 12th or worse in every major hitting or pitching stat in the American League this year.

New York Mets: 19-21, 6.5 GB t-4th NL East. Two days after it seemed Carlos Beltran was back, hitting three home runs in one game he was missing a game due to a swollen eye. Don't worry he was back in the lineup Sunday. Justin Turner hit his first career home run Sunday, if you remember correctly Turner took a pitch to the face in 2003 College World Series trying to bunt. Props to Turner for sticking with it.

New York Yankees: 20-18, 2 GB 2nd AL East. Never mind the Posada drama going on in the Yankees clubhouse these days. The new speculation in New York is Bartolo Colon and his stem cell surgery he had done in the offseason. The doctor who performed the surgery has been known to use HGH, which is banned in baseball. The doc claims he didn't use it in Colon's surgery, only time will tell.

Oakland Athletics: 20-20, 1.5 GB 3rd AL West. .500 baseball seems to be the A's MO over the last two seasons. Last year the A's finished the season at 81-81 good for .500 and were at the .500 marks 33 times. This year they're back at it as they've been .500 12 times already this young season.

Philadelphia Phillies: 25-14, 1st NL East. Roy Halladay picked up his second straight complete game and for the second time in a row Halladay also picked up the loss. Halladay also picked up his major league leading fourth complete game this season.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 18-22, 5 GB 4th NL Central. Former Pirates shortstop Mario Mendoza is the man credited for the term Mendoza Line, which is a .200 batting average. The Pirates have five starters who are close to the Mendoza Line, Andrew McCutchen at .235, Ronny Cedeno at .232, Jose Tabata at .226, Lyle Overbay at .224, and Pedro Alvarez at .210.

San Diego Padres: 17-23, 5.5 GB 5th NL West. No one in the Padres locker room was happier than Mat Latos was Sunday after their 8-2 win. Latos had been on a 0-10 streak and was finally able to lay his streak of bad luck to rest.

San Francisco Giants: 22-17, 1st NL West. Tim Lincecum's Sunday start was rained out which means he'll get start today in Denver against the Rockies. Lincecum has made it a habit to own the Rockies, so we'll see if that trends continues.

Seattle Mariners: 16-23, 5 GB 4th AL West. Brandon League had to be the happiest guy about the back-to-back rain outs in Cleveland this weekend. His last appearances have seen League take four losses including three blown saves. League was supposed to be given Saturday/Sunday off but had not lost his job...yet.

St. Louis Cardinals: 22-19, 1.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Never mind the fact that the Cards got swept by the Reds this weekend. The real highlight came when Kyle Lohse did his best impersonation of Tony La Russa Thursday in Wrigley Field. Don't believe me, check it out.

Tampa Bay Rays: 23-17, 1st AL East. The Rays got Evan Longoria back this week and couldn't be happier after struggling to stay afloat in the East early without him. Now that he's back he makes the Rays much more scarier the way they've been playing without him.

Texas Rangers: 21-19, 0.5 GB 2nd AL West. The Rangers have hit the tri-fecta this season. Julio Borbon joined Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz on the DL meaning their Opening Day outfield is now hurt. This marks the third time in history a team has had their Opening Day outfield on the DL at the same time.

Toronto Blue Jays: 20-20, 3 GB t-3rd AL East. Jose Bautista hit three home runs on Sunday giving him 70 home runs since the start of last season. Of those 70 home runs only three of those have gone to the opposite field. Ironically enough all three of those homers have come at Target Field, where the Twins call home.

Washington Nationals: 19-21, 6.5 GB t-4th NL East. Roger Bernadina made the catch of year on Friday against Marlins robbing Mike Stanton of a double at the least. While he might have made the catch of the year it's not safe to say that this is the play of the year though.

The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals

The Conference Semi-Finals proved us with some great action going from a shocking sweep to a near miraculous 3-0 rally. The Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Washington Capitals, which sent the title of chokers from the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks over the Caps who continue to disappoint the fan base. Meanwhile the Boston Bruins just went ahead and beat down the Flyers causing the Flyers to yank Brian Boucher twice and start Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 4. The Vancouver Canucks had their hands full with the Nashville Predators but disposed of them in 6 even after losing their green men who are fan favorites in Vancouver. And the last series to wrap up saw the San Jose Sharks jump out to a 3-0 lead on Detroit, only to choke that lead away and see the series even up 3-3 and give us a Game 7. The Sharks almost became the all-time choke artists of the playoffs but ended up squeaking past the Red Wings in a thrilling Game 7.

Quick recap to catch you up, I'm now 11-1 on my predictions with Washington over Tampa as my lone screw up and I still have both my of my finalists in the running. I've also predicted six of the 12 series down to the very game they'd end, high five! Now let's breakdown these Conference Finals.

Eastern Conference Finals

3. Boston Bruins v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Bruins are fresh off their dominance of the Philadelphia Flyers and moving on to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston went 3-1 against Tampa in the regular season winning both games at home and splitting on the road. Tim Thomas shook off a rough first round and rebounded into the Vezina winner he'll likely be, which is good news for the Bruins. The only bit of bad news for Boston is that center Patrice Bergeron is likely out for the series if not the remainder of the playoffs due to a concussion he suffered in Game 4. 19-year old rookie Tyler Seguin will likely take his spot in the lineup.

Never would I have thought that Tampa would sweep the Capitals but that's exactly what they did. They did it with great and timely goaltending and having an equal scoring balance while still converting on the power play (4 for 18, 22%). Martin St. Louis is playing like a Conn Smythe candidate and Vinny Lecavalier have provided the spark for Tampa. However, guys like Steve Downie (12 points, 10 assists), Sean Bergenheim (7 goals) and Teddy Purcell (11 points, 10 assists) have really stepped up. They'll need to continue at this rate if Tampa hopes to make it to the Stanley Cup. The main concern for the Tampa is if their 41-year old goalie, Dwayne Roloson can avoid getting rusty during the time off.

Boston moves on in 6 games.

Western Conference Finals

1. Vancouver Canucks v 2. San Jose Sharks - The Canucks find themselves in the Conference Finals for the first time since 1994, this time their not led by a Russian Rocket but rather Swedish twins and an American firecracker. There's no secret that the Sedins are the best players on the Canucks, Daniel (6 goals, 4 assists) and Henrik (1 goal, 8 assists) but they're both a -8 this year in the playoffs. Ryan Kesler has been a difference maker for the Canucks, scoring 5 goals with 10 assists and is a +6. Not only does he score but he hits and gets under people's skin to the point of drawing penalties. Roberto Luongo seems to have put his shaky first round performance behind him and there's no word on Mikael Samuelsson who was injured in Game 5 and didn't play in Game 6.

The Sharks are coming off a draining seven game series which almost saw them choke a 3-0 lead off. Antti Niemi kept the Sharks in every game in the Detroit series and was a huge reason for their advancement. Devin Setoguchi had 5 goals last series and Logan Couture seemed to score a big goal when needed for the Sharks. Two pieces of good news for the Sharks, Joe Thornton found ways to be productive even when he wasn't on the score sheet and Patrick Marleau finally showed up, it only took Jeremy Roenick calling him out to do so. The Sharks need to remain physical if they hope to advance to their first Stanley Cup final ever.

Sharks top the Canucks in 7.

The Check Swing: Mother's Day Pink and History in the Making?

What a week we saw this past week. It started with Francisco Liriano throwing the first no-hitter of the season, it also saw Justin Verlander one up the kid with his no-hitter and near perfect game. Andre Ethier saw his run at history end with his hit streak at 30 games and Jacoby Ellsbury is now working an 18-game streak. We saw numerous umpires eject numerous players and saw some top prospects make their debuts. But more importantly, we saw the players on Mother's Day show their support for their mothers and the fight against breast cancer with players going as far as to wear all pink cleats this year. It was a great week indeed, let's recap it!

Arizona Diamondbacks: 15-18, 4 GB 3rd NL West. After going 1-3 in six starts with a 6.49 ERA the D'Backs have sent Barry Enright down to the minors. No word on who will replace him and if that's not bad enough, the team's trio of first basemen are drawing the ire of skipper Kirk Gibson. Someone needs to step up and win this job.

Atlanta Braves: 20-16, 4 GB 3rd NL East. The Braves have been surging lately as they surpassed the Nats in the standings this week and it's largely because of their pitching. As a team the Braves rank second in ERA, first in WHIP and second in opponents' batting average. If the offense picks up this team could be scary good.

Baltimore Orioles: 14-19, 5.5 GB 5th AL East. To say things are going bad in Baltimore would be an understatement. In their three-game sweep by the Rays on Mother's Day weekend, the Orioles never held a lead and saw BJ Upton torch them as he appealed his two-game suspension. SS J.J. Hardy could be activated today.

Boston Red Sox: 17-18, 3.5 GB 3rd AL East. SS Jose Iglesias was called up due to Marco Scutaro going on the 15-day DL and made his debut Sunday as a pinch runner for Jed Lowrie and scored the game-winning run in extras that night. Jacoby Ellsbury is attempting to make a run at the hitting streak as he's working on a 18-game hitting streak.

Chicago Cubs: 15-18, 4 GB 4th NL Central. The Cubs renew their rivalry this week with the St. Louis Cardinals and Ryan Theriot might be sought out for revenge when he made comments about being on the right side of the rivalry now. Jeff Baker hit a ground-rule double in Wrigley that means the ball hopped over the 11-1/2 foot fence.

Chicago White Sox: 14-22, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Paul Konerko was one of the few players to sport all pink cleats on Mother's Day and all he did was go 5 for 5 in the game. While Konerko undoubtedly took some ribbing from teammates he did back up his decision to wear them.

Cincinnati Reds: 19-16, 1 GB 2nd NL Central. Pitching was supposed to be a key aspect for the Reds but it wasn't until lately that this was true. In their last six games, Reds' starters are 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA and the Reds have won five of six in that stretch.

Cleveland Indians: 22-11, 1st AL Central. Jeanmar Gomez was designated to triple-A Columbus to make room for Carlos Carrasco which means that rookie Alex White will stay with the club for a little longer.

Colorado Rockies: 19-14, 1st NL West. Catcher Chris Iannetta seems to be the only one of the Rockies who seems comfortable at the plate as he's hit safely his last six games. The Rockies just went 1-5 on last week's road trip and managed to scored 16 runs, the Rockies need to be careful as the Giants are right on their heels.

Detroit Tigers: 18-18, 5.5 GB 3rd AL Central. Justin Verlander became the 27th pitcher in history to throw multiple no-hitters when he did so on Saturday in Toronto. The Tigers are now at .500 again on their season and things seem to be on the right track with Austin Jackson and Victor Martinez are heating up. One piece of bad news is slugger Miguel Cabrera has been playing through a bad back as of late.

Florida Marlins: 20-14, 3 GB 2nd NL East. Hanley Ramirez is struggling so bad right now that he's using bats from the 2009 season when he won the NL Batting Crown. Ramirez went 2 for 4 in Monday's game putting his average over the .200 mark. Tonight is a matchup of Aces as Roy Halladay squares off against Josh Johnson.

Houston Astros: 13-22, 7 GB 6th NL Central. Bill Hall was one of the numerous victims of the umpires in the past week. Although it seems that Hall was thrown out for no real reason as I've seen far more players get away with far more worse than that.

Kansas City Royals: 18-16, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals finally caved and called up their top prospect Eric Hosmer who was hitting .439 in the PCL. The rookie went 3 for 9 his first three games this weekend including plating his first RBI on Sunday. The job appears to be his to lose.

Los Angeles Angels: 20-16, 1st AL West. Vernon Wells is showing signs of breaking out of his slump, unfortunately for him he's now headed to the 15-day DL. In other news, manager Mike Scioscia won his 1,000th game as a manager on Sunday.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 16-20, 4.5 GB 4th NL West. Andre Ethier saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end earlier in the week but Ethier picked back up after that. Also, manager Don Mattingly picked up his first ejection as a manager on Monday night along with Juan Uribe.

Milwaukee Brewers: 15-20, 5 GB 5th NL Central. Brewers fans got what they wanted out of Zack Greinke when he made his home debut Monday. Greinke went 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER with 9 K but the real highlight was the double play turned by the Brewers middle infielders.

Minnesota Twins: 12-21, 10 GB 5th AL Central. The Twins season has been so bad that they're now the worst team in baseball and they're missing three of their top hitters. The good news for the Twins is Francisco Liriano might be righting his stuff after no-hitting the White Sox last week.

New York Mets: 15-20, 8.5 GB 5th NL East. Bad news for the Mets and their pitching rotation, Chris Young is likely done for the season after re-tearing the anterior capsule in his right shoulder. Young was 1-0 in four starts with a 1.88 ERA and 2:1 K to BB ratio. Young now has to decide between surgery and rehab but either one is likely to end his season.

New York Yankees: 19-13, 1st AL East. Derek Jeter might have silenced the critics temporarily when he hit his first two home runs of the season Sunday in Texas. The new focus is now locked on Alex Rodriguez who hasn't homered in 14 straight games and is batting .170 with 1 RBI in that stretch.

Oakland Athletics: 19-17, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Josh Willingham was tossed out of Saturday's game and "bumped" umpire Bill Miller getting him a one game suspension. Willingham appealed and on Monday he had three-run home run and two-run single in the A's 7-2 win.

Philadelphia Phillies: 23-11, 1st NL East. Joe Blanton returned from the DL on Monday and helped the Phillies get a win, next the Phillies hope that Roy Oswalt will return too. Oswalt is hoping to return before the road trip ends and is eying a May 17th return.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 18-17, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Stop the presses, the Pirates are over .500 on May 10th for the first time in seven seasons. While this may be a small step in the right direction, the Pirates still have had 18 consecutive losing seasons. If the Pirates are over .500 come the All-Star Break, then we'll talk.

San Diego Padres: 14-21, 6 GB 5th NL West. Hard to imagine that Aaron Harang and his five wins could be overshadowed in San Diego right now but it is largely due to the Padres hitting a league worst .216. It should also be noted that no other starter has more than one win on this staff while Mat Latos is still searching for his first win.

San Francisco Giants: 18-16, 1.5 GB 2nd NL West. The Giants have a lot of players on the DL right now with some of them coming off soon, which presents a problem for Bruce Bochy. Mark DeRosa, Andres Torres and Barry Zito are set to come off the DL soon but guys like Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz have produced in the outfield. Meanwhile, Mike Fontenot has been lights out at shortstop and Ryan Vogelsong has pitched better than expected. Tough times ahead for Bochy.

Seattle Mariners: 16-19, 3.5 GB 4th AL West. It appears that not only are Milton Bradley's days in Seattle done but the troubled outfielder's day in the Majors might also be numbered. On Monday the Mariners designated Bradley for assignment allowing for younger players to come up see what they can do.

St. Louis Cardinals: 20-15, 1st NL Central. Things have been going well lately for the Cardinals until news broke today that Tony La Russa won't be managing the team today when they start a series with the Cubs. La Russa has a case of shingles that has been effecting vision in his right eye and has been causing him to be fatigued. No word on when he'll return to the team.

Tampa Bay Rays: 20-14, 2nd AL East. B.J. Upton also fell victim to the umpires as he was ejected and given a two-game suspension for his behavior on Wednesday. Upton appealed the suspension because he enjoys hitting in Camden Yards, hitting to the tune of .297/.350/.535 with nine homers and 31 RBI. Odds are he'll serve the suspension in Cleveland this week.

Texas Rangers: 18-18, 2 GB 3rd AL West. Staying healthy has been quite hard for the defending AL Champions this year as they've lost numerous guys in the bullpen and Josh Hamilton. Now you can add Nelson Cruz to the list too, as he's suffering from a strained right quad. If the Rangers can survive this, they could still contend for the AL West.

Toronto Blue Jays: 15-20, 5.5 GB 4th AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays got Jose Bautista and he picked up where he left off before missing five games with neck spasms. The Jays are also being careful with hard throwing Brandon Morrow who struggled in last night's start against the Tigers. Morrow saw a dip in his velo between the second and third innings causing some concern.

Wahington Nationals: 16-18, 7 GB 4th NL East. Things are so bad offensively right now for the Nationals that Jayson Werth is their leading qualified hitter with a .227 average. As a team the Nats are hitting .224, that's only eight points better than the Padres and their league worst .216 average.

Check back next week as I'll hopefully be on time and have the newest Check Swing ready come Monday! Have a great week!

The Check Swing: April's Over, What's May Got In Store?

The first full month of the season is over, at this point most teams are around 30 games played give or a take a few. Andre Ethier is making a run at history after making history in April, Lance Berkman has resurrected his career in St. Louis and Alex Avila is quietly becoming one of the best offensive and all-around catchers. Let's go through this week's check swing!

Arizona Diamondbacks: 12-15, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. After losing 23 times in a team's last at-bats last year, the D'Backs finally had their first loss of that kind in 2011. Closer J.J. Putz gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning of Saturday's game against the Cubs. Sunday he bounced back and got the save making Putz a perfect 6 for 6 on save opportunities this year.

Atlanta Braves: 15-15, 4.5 GB 4th NL East. Thursday starting pitcher Derek Lowe was arrested for a DUI. This came following news earlier in the week that pitching coach was to take a leave of absence following a homophobic slur incident in San Francisco last weekend. For what it's worth, Lowe went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in his start Sunday, the first since his DUI.

Baltimore Orioles: 13-14, 4.5 GB 3rd AL East. Rookie left-handed starting pitcher Zach Britton is making a strong case for rookie of the year. On Sunday he turned in another quality start in the O's 6-1 win improving to 5-1 on the season. But the impressive number this season for him would be his outstanding 2.63 ERA, not bad for a kid who was supposed to start in triple A this season.

Boston Red Sox: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Much to Marco Scutaro's disliking he's been relegated to the bench in favor for the hot hitting Jed Lowrie, who's off to a .342 start going in Tuesday's game. But now the pressure in on Lowrie to keep hitting or else he runs the risk of losing the job back to the scuttling Scutaro.

Chicago Cubs: 12-16, 3.5 GB 5th NL Central. After setting a franchise record for home runs in April (10) the slugging Alfonso Soriano is back at, homering in Monday's game to give him 11 on the season. Those 11 home runs separate him from Ryan Braun for the lead in all of baseball. At this rate 50 isn't out of the question, assuming he can keep this up.

Chicago White Sox: 11-19, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected from Wednesday's game in New York, which saw him promptly fire off two tweets about the ejection. Those actions got Ozzie a two-game suspension and easily more Twitter followers. Unfortunately for Ozzie, the move didn't fire up the troops as they lost the next four games after his ejection.

Cincinnati Reds: 14-14, 1.5 GB 2nd NL Central. The Reds got rained out on Monday scheduled to play the Astros. Now they'll play the makeup game on Thursday since both teams have an off day that day. But the bigger news is the return of starting pitcher Homer Bailey, which means Sam LeCure goes back to the bullpen.

Cleveland Indians: 19-8, 1st AL Central. In case you missed it, the Indians are for real... right now. They've won 13 games in a row and had a six sweep of the two teams closest to them in the Central right now, the Royals and Tigers. Cleveland's record at home is 13-2 best in the bigs.

Colorado Rockies: 17-9, 1st NL West. The Rockies can't be happy that ace Ubaldo Jimenez is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA on the season and the the team is 0-4 in starts but they should be happy that they're still in first. But Jimenez isn't the only guy in a slump, CarGo is hitting .232 this season and Troy Tulowitzki hasn't homered in his last 56 at-bats.

Detroit Tigers: 12-17, 8 GB 3rd AL Central. Not much is going right in Detroit right now as the club is on a seven game losing streak. Joaquin Benoit is getting lit up, Austin Jackson and Magglio Ordonez are batting under .200, Will Rhymes has been optioned to Toledo because of his lack of offense and Jim Leyland has begun to manage his way into losses, a common theme the last few years under Leyland. The Tigers however, have to be happy about the production their getting from second year catcher Alex Avila. Avila is hitting .309 with 5 HR and 21 RBI.

Florida Marlins: 18-9, t-1st NL East. While Hanley Ramirez hit his first home run of the season he's still hitting a meager .191. Ramirez continues to slump but the good news is Mike Stanton might be heating up. Sunday Stanton crushed a homer off the back wall in center field in Cincy and Monday he belted one 426 feet over Big Mac land in St. Louis.

Houston Astros: 11-17, 4.5 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros caught a break this week when X-rays and a CT scan came back negative for fractured ribs on slugger Carlos Lee. Lee stayed in Houston on Sunday and joined the team Monday in Cincy, Lee is considered to be day-to-day for the time being.

Kansas City Royals: 15-13, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals are the only other team besides the Indians to have an above .500 record. They've done so without Jeff Francis picking up a win this season as he's 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA, tonight he goes up against Baltimore.

Los Angeles Angels: 16-13, t-1st AL West. Jered Weaver was looking to be the first pitcher to go 7-0 in his first seven starts of the season for the first time since the late 1800s. He was scratched from Sunday's start due to a stomach virus and said he lost nine pounds during his illness. He made his start last night, in Boston and looked like a guy who had sick. Weaver didn't have his best stuff and suffered his first loss of the season.

Los Angeles Dodgers: 15-15, 4 GB 2nd NL West. Andre Ethier is trying to catch the hardest record in maybe sport to be caught, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak. He's currently at 28 but it was his 26-game streak in April that made history for the longest streak in April. Ethier has eight infield hits during the streak which is surprising considering he had only nine all of last season.

Milwaukee Brewers: 13-15, 2.5 GB 4th NL Central. Nyjer Morgan should be activated off the DL before today's game in Atlanta and if he stays hot like he did before going on the DL then Carlos Gomez could possibly be out of a job. Gomez is hitting .236 with an on-base percentage of .278.

Minnesota Twins: 9-18, 10 GB 5th AL Central. Not much is going right for the Twins these days, especially on Sunday when Carl Pavano failed to break a bat in his tantrum following his yanking from the game. Pavano is 2-3 with a 5.84 ERA on the season.

New York Mets: 12-16, 6.5 GB 5th NL East. If you missed it Sunday, Philly fans broke into a USA chant following the news of Bin Laden's death. David Wright summed it up best saying, "I don't like to give Philly fans too much credit but they got this one right." Yeah David, they did.

New York Yankees: 17-9, 1st AL East. The good news for the Yankees and Phil Hughes is that all his tests for thoracic outlet syndrome came back negative. Now the fun of diagnosing what is the problem starts for the Yanks.

Oakland Athletics: 15-14, 1 GB 3rd AL West. Kurt Suzuki has been one of the hottest hitters for the A's since the birth of his daughter on Thursday. Suzuki has gone 6 for 14 with two home runs and five runs batted in.

Philadelphia Phillies: 18-9, t-1st NL East. Sunday provided a great act of patriotism as fans united in a USA chant leaving the players on the field clueless as to why. The fans were rallying around the news of Bin Laden's death.

Pittsburgh Pirates: 14-15, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Good news for the Pirates and their fan base, stud center fielder Andrew McCutchen is willing to negotiate a contract extension through 2015 taking him through his arbitration years. McCutchen has said he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, they need to get this deal done for their sake!

San Diego Padres: 11-18, 7.5 GB 5th NL West. The Padres players decided that they wanted to wear their camouflage jerseys for Monday's home game in honor of the capture of Bin Laden and to show their support for the troops. Good move on their part.

San Francisco Giants: 13-15, 5 GB 3rd NL West. The Giants are 3-4 on their current 10 game road trip and wrap up in New York. What's surprising is their ability to make the pitching of the Pirates and Nationals make look very very good.

Seattle Mariners: 13-16, 3 GB 4th AL West. Justin Smoak returned this week to the Mariners following the death of his father and he seems to be playing with a heavy heart. Smoak hit two home runs and 10 RBI in his first four games back.

St. Louis Cardinals: 16-13, 1st NL Central. Lance Berkman seems to have things figured out, he's hitting .406 with nine home runs and 27 RBI. He's slowly been making people forget about the Pujols struggle but he'll need to keep it up now that third baseman David Freese is out at least a month due to a broken hand.

Tampa Bay Rays: 15-13, 3 GB 2nd AL East. Tampa Bay has some good news coming their way... Evan Longoria is expected back today and thinks he's close to 100 percent. Imagine how much scarier this team gets with the return of Longoria.

Texas Rangers: 16-13, t-1st AL West. The Rangers have been able to piece together their bullpen with closer Neftali Feliz on the DL, good news for them is they might not have to do it much longer. Feliz could be back as early as Friday which means Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver can return to their normal duties.

Toronto Blue Jays: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Jo-Jo Reyes hasn't won in his last 23 starts, a streak that dates back to 2008 when Reyes was a Brave. Reyes is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA this season, but his ERA could be higher. Reyes needs a good start Tuesday in Tampa if he hopes to stay in the rotation.

Washington Nationals: 14-14, 4.5 GB 3rd NL East. The Nats wore their dark blue jerseys with the W that looks like the American flag on Monday. What was more surprising was the effort they got from Tom Gorzelanny, going eight innings of shutout ball. The Nats are .500 despite their offense hitting a weak .228 this season.

Will Andre Ethier still be the talk of baseball come next week? Check back and find out with the Check Swing.

The 2011 NFL Draft Day Review: Winners, Losers, Shockers and Surprises.

Day 1 of the 2011 NFL Draft has come and gone leaving many fans happy, sad, mad or stunned. Plenty of surprises from last night's draft rolled out but one thing that wasn't a surprise was the boos commissioner Roger Goodell received last night, although he did handle it rather well. With that said let's get this recap started.

Shockers

Jake Locker - I didn't doubt that Locker would be a first round pick, I did however doubt that he'd be a Top 10 pick. If you missed it last night, this move was so shocking that Denver Bronco fans were seen saying, "wow" over and over. It's rather ironic that they would question this move after last year's move of boldly taking Tim Tebow in the first round. Locker has the tools and the talent to be a good QB, but he needs to work on his accuracy and pocket skills. I'd be surprised if he takes the field next year beyond mop up duty of some blowouts.

Christian Ponder - If the Jake Locker picked shocked you, this one blew your mind out. There's no doubt that the Vikings need a quarterback and maybe they underestimated teams trading up to snatch Blaine Gabbert in the two picks before them. Ponder is a talented kid who was probably the most ready for the NFL, but he was by no means a first round QB. Ponder now has added pressure to be successful because of how high he was drafted. Although the good news for him is he's surrounded by a talented running back (Adrian Peterson) and receivers (Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin).

Baltimore Ravens - The Baltimore Ravens missed their pick last night which allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to move ahead of them. So what happened you may be asking. Well the Ravens believed they had a deal worked out with the Chicago Bears to swap picks. The Ravens thought the Bears would announce it, the Bear thought the Ravens would announce and it turns out the Bears dropped the ball. The Ravens could get a small compensation from the Bears for this.

Surprises

Da'Quan Bowers - You have to feel bad for the kid who was predicted by many as the first overall draft pick in January. Then he started sliding a bit to somewhere Top 10. And then came the news of his knee and possible microfracture surgery looming. He slid out of the Top 10 last night and all the way out of the first round. Someone will draft him, whether it be Day 2 or Day 3 of the draft and he'll make that team very happy once he's healthy.

Nick Fairley - Fairley once was rated the best defensive tackle, then he and Marcell Dareus switched spots but he was still believed to be a Top 10 pick. Fairley fell all the way to the Detroit Lions at 13 where he'll get to team up with Ndamukong Suh, who he sought of before the draft for advice. Now Suh will get to give him all the advice he'll want and need. The Lions have created one beast of a defensive line.

Patrick Peterson - It was no surprise that Peterson was drafted fifth let alone inside the Top 10 but what was surprising was the team who drafted him. The Arizona Cardinals had more glaring needs than drafting a corner back, like finding a quarterback to throw to Larry Fitzgerald. But adding Peterson to their team solidifies their secondary which in turns strengthens their defense as a whole.

Winners

Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons made a huge splash to get Julio Jones, but it was a move they needed to make to give Matt Ryan better options to throw to. They swapped first round picks with Cleveland and gave up their second, fourth and next year's first round pick. If Jones pans out and works well opposite of Roddy White, the Falcons could be unstoppable for years to come.

New England Patriots - The Patriots went into Day 1 with two picks and they came out of it making one pick and trading the other. They traded the 28th overall pick to New Orleans, missing out on Mark Ingram but they got back the 56th overall pick and the Saints' first round pick in 2012. The Pats can still bolster their defense in Day 2 while stocking up for the future like they did yesterday.

New Orleans Saints - The Saints took care of both sides of the ball last night, first drafting defensive end Cameron Jordan 24th overall and then trading up to take running back Mark Ingram 28th overall. Besides the other three teams in the NFC South, the only other person who didn't like this draft was Reggie Bush who has tweeted he's out of New Orleans.

Losers

The NFL - Usually the one boos heard at the draft come from Giants', Jets' and Eagles' fans when they hear the name of their draft pick. However, all of Day 1 was marred by boos and chants of "WE WANT FOOTBALL". The fans let both sides know they aren't happy with this lockout and their patience is running thin.

Jimmy Clausen - The reigning Carolina Panthers starting QB might be reduced to a clipboard holder once the season finally starts. While Clausen had every right to be upset, he wasn't. He sent Cam Newton a text welcoming and congratulating him and he followed that up be being the first person in the building for the Panthers today. Got to hand it to him, he's not just going to roll over and accept his fate, he's going to fight to preserve it.

The Draft Picks' Fashion Sense - Last night was a weird night with the boos and lockout pending, but it was even weirder thanks to the fashion the picks wore up on stage. The bow-ties, the thick lense glasses and other questionable items. For a good look, check out this article. Props to Yahoo!'s Shutdown Corner for the find.

The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Bring on the Conference Semi-Finals!!

If you haven't been keeping up with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, shame on you! You've missed quite possibly some of the best hockey the Conference Quarterfinals have ever seen. For starters, there has been overtime hockey nine straight nights in a row. There's nothing better than overtime hockey, it keeps you on the edge because one mistake leads to the demise of a team, one odd man rush save can deflate a team there's nothing like it. On top of the overtime streak, we had four series go the full seven games including the Canucks-Blackhawks series which saw Chicago come back from 3-0 only to lose in a heartbreaking Game 7 and the Penguins-Lightning series which saw Tampa come back to win from down 3-1. And if I may brag here before the Law of Averages comes crashing down on me heavily, I went 8-0 in my Quarterfinal predictions and called four of the series down to the games it would go which means my Sharks over Bruins Stanley Cup Finals is still intact. Let's get to the Conference Semis matchups:

Eastern Conference

1. Washington Capitals v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Capitals went 4-1-1 this season against the team that almost dethroned them from their division title. In their last series the Caps had showed us that they were no longer the choke artists they had been in years past by playing great defense and getting even better goaltending. They allowed eight goals in their five game series with the Rangers and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth had a 1.38 GAA and a .946 save percentage while posting one shutout. In his career Neuvirth has never lost a series, winning back-to-back Calder Cups in the AHL and now winning his first NHL series. The Caps definitely have the skill and goaltending to matchup well with the Lightning.

The Lightning fell behind 3-1 in the Quarterfinal matchup with the Penguins then they came striking back winning 8-2 and 4-2 to force Game 7 which they won 1-0 in Pittsburgh. The Lightning have some great skill and scorers on this team but those guys need to show up as Martin St. Louis had 4 goals and 4 assists in the series. Steven Stamkos can't wait for Game 5 to show up in this series because if he does, he might be the only one showing up to it. The line of Sean Bergenheim-Dominic Moore-Steve Downie was a great third line down the final games for the Bolts. If they want to win they'll need to be effective on the penalty kill (34 for 35 in the series with Pittsburgh) but they'll also need to stay out of it too. They can't afford to give the Caps 35 power plays and win this series. One has to wonder how much the seven game series took out of the 41-year old Dwayne Roloson? One stat to remember, Rollie the goalie is now 6-0 when starting in elimination games for his team.

Ultimately the Caps are too much for the Bolts and win in 5.

2. Philadelphia Flyers v 3. Boston Bruins - The Flyers got all they could handle from Ryan Miller and the Sabres but advanced in 7. One glaring question for the Flyers is how confident are they in their goalies? Philly used three different goalies in this series and they all made at least one start while Brian Boucher eventually started and won Game 7. The Flyers went 1-3-0 against the B's in the regular season but they have to be happy to see Boston the way their power play is performing as the Flyers killed only 75% good for 12th in the playoffs. Getting Chris Pronger back is huge for the Flyers and Jeff Carter is questionable for Round 2 with a knee injury.

The Boston Bruins became the first team in history to win a 7 game series without scoring a power play goal going 0 for 21 in their series with Montreal. If the B's hope to advance they're going to have to figure the power play out and take advantage because Philly's forwards are a bit more talented than Boston's. Tim Thomas appears to be back on his game after a rough start to the series for Boston but the bad news is the team could start the series without defenseman Andrew Ference for his questionable hit he put on Jeff Halpern in Game 7. Boston is 3-0 in overtime games this post season.

In a tough, gritty series Boston wins in 7.

Western Conference

1. Vancouver Canucks v 5. Nashville Predators - The Vancouver Canucks were one goal away from blowing a 3-0 series lead and becoming the fourth team to do so. Alex Burrows made sure that didn't happen as the Canucks recovered to win Game 7 2-1 in overtime. Not only that but after a horrible three game spell, Roberto Luongo seemed to return to form as he made a big save early in the overtime when the team was shorthanded. One thing the Canucks need to do is to get Ryan Kesler going as he was held without a goal and only had 4 assists, they'll also need him to shutdown Mike Fisher the way he shutdown Jonathan Toews. The Canucks finally beat the Hawks in the playoffs as the last two years the Hawks were the team to bounce Vancouver from the playoffs.

For the first time in their 12 years of existence, the Nashville Predators finally advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Now they have the task of beating the NHL's top team in Vancouver to make their first Western Conference Finals. For that to happen, the Preds are going to need goalie Pekka Rinne to steal them a couple of games. Rinne who was outstanding in the regular season was hardly ordinary in the first round posting a 3.29 GAA with a .876 save percentage. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter draw the task of shutting down the Sedin twins which is no easy task. Good news for the Preds, they went 2-2-0 in the regular season with the Canucks.

Canucks take this in 6.

2. San Jose Sharks v 3. Detroit Red Wings - In their series with LA, the Sharks at times looked like a team that could win the Stanley Cup and looked like a team that still hasn't shed that choke artist label. Well they shed and in a big way. Joe Thornton who has been a big reason for past chokes scored the OT winner and series ender in Game 6 in Los Angeles. The Sharks might be the deepest team in the playoffs when it comes to forwards. Joe Pavelski, Dany Heatley and Ryan Clowe led the team through the series in goals but seven other guys scored for the Sharks as well. Goalie Antti Niemi showed he's not rock solid getting pulled twice but he did go 3-0-0 against the Wings with a .935 save percentage in the regular season. This matchup could come down to the Sharks power play vs the Wings penalty kill. The Sharks went 2 for 23 in the first round while the Wings PK was torched for 6 goals in 18 kills.

The Wings came into the playoffs battered and facing a tough challenge in Phoenix but quickly disposed of them in 4 games hardly trailing at all in the series. With 8 days off between games the Wings have gotten healthy and should have both Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen for the start of this series. 13 different guys scored in the 4 game series against Phoenix which is good news because the Wings can't rely on Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to carry this team alone if they want to advance. Another thing they'll need to do is stay physical, last year the Sharks took the fight to the Wings and eventually knocked them out in 5 games. Guys like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi have to lead the Wings in a battle to win the tough pucks in corners. One last thing is stay out of the box and improve the PK, killing only 66.7% of the penalties they took in round one was bad. Penalties last year help lead to the Wings downfall. Jimmy Howard posted a 2.50 GAA with a .920 save percentage, he allowed only 4 goals in full strength situations in round one.

The homer in me wants to say Wings in 6 after round one but I have to stick with the team I took to win it all and say Sharks in 7.

The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game 7s Galore

With three Game 7s upon us and a possible fourth looming I thought I'd update everyone on what's happening with the Stanley Cup Playoffs and how I've done predicting the series.

Western Conference

1. Vancouver v 8. Chicago - Tied 3-3

When Vancouver took a 3-0 lead eeveryone thought that this series was over and Roberto Luongo had shaken his playoff yips and all was good. Then the Blackhawks lit Luongo up for 10 goals in the next two games. That led to rookie goalie Cory Schneider sstaring Game 6 and playing well enough to keep the team in it before he got hurt. Luongo comes in, game goes to overtime and the Blackhawks win. Now Luongo is going to start Game 7 tonight and no one knows what Luongo they're going to see tonight, the siv from Game 4 and 5 or the stud from Games 1-3. I like Chicago's odds to pull this comeback off.

2. San Jose v 7. Los Angeles - SJ wins 4-2

It looked as if Los Angeles was going to force a Game 7 with the way Jonathan Quick played but unfortunately for him his defense and offense didn't support him enough. Joe Thornton sealed the series with his OT winner last night. One worry for the Sharks going on is their goalie was pulled twice in this series. The Sharks will face either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Detroit Red Wings next.

3. Detroit v 6. Phoenix - Detroit wins 4-0

Detroit looked like the best team in all of hockey the way they disposed of Phoenix in four games, trailing only twice in the series. The Wings played without Henrik Zetterberg for the series and Johan Franzen in Game 4 so just imagine how scary this team will be when they get somewhat healthier. The Wings will face either the San Jose Sharks or the Nashville Predators next.

4. Anaheim v 5. Nashville - Nashville wins 4-2

The Predators have finally won their first playoff series in the franchise existence and are looking to keep it going. They played a hard, physical series with the Ducks and are going to enjoy the little time off they'll have. The Preds will either face the Vancouver Canucks or the Detroit Red Wings next.

Eastern Conference

1. Washington v 8. New York Rangers - Washington wins 4-1

Washington pretty much owned the Rangers for most of this series but after the Rangers lost Game 4 in the fashion they did, you knew the series was over. And the Caps finished them off with 3-1 Game 5 win. The Caps will face either the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Tampa Bay Lightning.

2. Philadelphia v 7. Buffalo - Tied 3-3

These two teams have come to hate each other in this series because of all the physical play. The Flyers are lucky to have captain Mike Richards available as he escaped two dirty plays suspension free. Ryan Miller has been up and down in this series but has followed a bad game with a great game. The Flyers have used 3 goalies in this series and Brian Boucher is supposed to start tonight. I like Philly tonight given the injury problems Buffalo is facing tonight, plus the Sabres are 0-4 in road Game 7s.

3. Boston v 6. Montreal - Boston leads 3-2

The series started out with the road team winning the first four games before Boston took Game 5 at home in double overtime. If Montreal wants to stick around a little longer they'll have to play better tonight at home and get some luck. The Canadiens are one great Tim Thomas save away from being up 3-2 with the chance to close out tonight at home. That said, I see this series going to a Game 7 in Boston.

4. Pittsburgh v 5. Tampa Bay - Tied 3-3

The Penguins looked to have this series wrapped up after stealing both games at Tampa Bay, but the Lightning didn't go away quietly. They responded with a 8-2 win in Pittsburgh and again last night with a 4-2 win at home to force Game 7. You have to wonder if the Lightning have figured out Marc-Andre Fluery and have rattled his confidence. Bad news for the Pens, they're 1 for 30 on the power play this series. I like the skill and talent of Tampa in Game 7 over the grit of Pittsburgh.

With 4 series complete, I'm 4-0 with nailing 2 of the 4 on the dot. So in theory I could go a perfect 8-0 in the opening round. Check back and find out.