If you've watched Sportscenter any time in the past week or so, you probably already know that in the National League All-Star team voting, Manny Ramirez is in a relatively close fourth place (the top three are named starters).

Most years, this would be notable because it would be a shock that he wasn't already in the top three. This year, though, it's more notable that he has more than a few hundred votes.

He's been suspended for use of PEDs, meaning that he will miss most of the first half of the season - the time frame upon which one's worthiness of participating in the All-Star Game is typically based.

Not only will he not be helping his team during this span, but by an act of will, he is hurting his team. I'd say that's pretty much the opposite of what an All-Star should be doing.

It's hard, though, to know what to think about this—or whom to blame.

On one hand, I can definitely see the merits of having Ramirez on the team. After all, because of one of my least favorite Bud Selig decisions, the ASG has an effect on the outcome of the World Series, at least in theory.

Though the NL hasn't had a ton of trouble beating teams that aren't the Red Sox lately, one would still think that having home-field advantage would be somewhat of an edge. A fan of a National League team would want the best team possible on the field, and that would definitely include Ramirez.

You could also see this as one of two statements on steroid use. Fans are either saying that they don't care about PEDs anymore, or they're trying to embarrass Major League Baseball into doing more about steroids.

I'm not sure whether I understand the first, considering the damage that's already been done to the sport's reputation by steroids. I don't agree with the second either, mostly because as I mentioned last weekend, I'm not sure how much else MLB could be doing about PEDs.

I, for one, don't think Manny Ramirez should be on the All-Star team. First of all, the evidence seems to show that he is a cheater, and that should be punished.

He's already gotten a 50-game suspension, but that should forfeit any right he has to participate in the ASG festivities. He cheated this year. The game is supposed to be a reward for good play this year. Why should he be able to benefit from a performance that not only never happened, but in fact had a negative impact on the Dodgers?

Besides that, it's unfair to the players that haven't tested positive—the ones who have played well enough to earn their spots on the team. Ryan Braun, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Beltran are the top three vote-getters right now.

I would argue that Soriano doesn't really deserve to start, as he's having a bit of a down year, but at least he's playing. At least he didn't cheat (as far as we know). Beltran and Braun are both having very good to spectacular years (for example, Beltran has the highest OPS of his career right now, playing in a pitcher's park). None of these players should be bounced from the team for Manny Ramirez.

No matter what your feelings on Manny Ramirez or steroids, 32 hits before the All-Star break aren't worthy of playing in the game. If you want to stick it to Bud Selig, write him a letter. As much as it pains me to say it, if you want the NL team to win, vote for Raul Ibanez. But the merits of putting Man-Ram on the All-Star team don't outweigh the fact that he cheated, and he's hurting his team.

He'll be suspended for 50 games. It should be 51.

MOAR!

LESS!

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been involved in a number of big stories this season.

First, there was their long, slow start to the season that had talking heads asking questions like "what's wrong with Sidney Crosby?" and "how did this team make it to the Stanley Cup Finals last year?"

Then there was the firing of Michel Therrien, who was replaced with Dan Bylsma as the interim coach. This was seen as a mistake by everyone outside of Pittsburgh.

Then came the turnaround which saw Bylsma drop the interim tag, the Penguins making the playoffs again, and the same talking heads saying things like "these are the Pittsburgh Penguins we're used to seeing" and finally noticing Evgeni Malkin's superb play.

The entire Stanley Cup Playoffs were all about the Penguins - first they drew a matchup with their hated (by everyone, not just Penguins fans) rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers. Then there was the Pens vs Caps series, which had the same drama surrounding it that a matchup between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin always has.

Before the puck even dropped against the Hurricanes, suddenly sports writers were already pencilling in a Penguins vs Red Wings Stanley Cup Final. A rematch of last year's Final, which saw the Penguins exit in six games. The series was never really that close.

On Wednesday, May 27th, the Detroit Red Wings made that vision a reality by sending home the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins had already sealed their place in the Finals by sweeping the Hurricanes. +1 for the sports writers.

Since the Penguins clinched their place in the Final, it's been all about them. Crosby and Malkin, the dynamic duo that reminds everyone of Gretzky and Messier. This is the beginning of a new dynasty. Did you see the Penguins touch the Prince of Wales trophy?

It's been the best story of the year for anyone that covers NHL news. A story that can harken back—and with actual, notable parallels—to the beginning of the most famous dynasty in NHL history.

But wait just a minute.

What about the Red Wings?

Indeed, the team that was thought by just about everyone to be the best team in hockey—not to mention the defending Stanley Cup Champs—hasn't seen much in the way of headlines this year. All they've done is play effectively. The only time they made news was when they played poorly down the stretch, and as it turned out, that didn't matter so much.

Yet this is the same team that beat the Penguins last year, with one notable exception: they've added Marian Hossa, one of Pittsburgh's key players from last year. In all the talk about the Penguins becoming the new Edmonton Oilers, everyone has seemingly forgotten about the Red Wings. The only time they're mentioned these days is as the equivelant to New York Islanders.

I think the Pens will take this series, but then, I'm a Pens fan. I don't know how much of it is my fandom vs how much of it is my actual feeling that they can take four from the best team in hockey. This is going to be an interesting series, folks.

Pens in 6.

MOAR!

LESS!

MOAR!

LESS!

Why I Love Baseball is a nine week series that will be posted on Tuesdays. This week it makes its debut.

I love baseball, in case that wasn't strongly hinted at by the title, the graphic or the lead-in. A few weeks ago I was thinking about why I love this game so much. I know I'm not crazy, because people just like myself fill stadiums every year to watch the game.

Across this diverse nation of ours, little kids every spring play on little league teams, while the bigger children join intramural teams, church leagues, or beer leagues. We love baseball. Perhaps that stupid marketing campaign was right.

While many of us love this grand ol' game, I can only speak for myself. I can only give my reasons through my experiences. So I've decided to share some of the various reasons I thought of as to why I love baseball.

his doesn't mean that you can't join in. If you're willing to send us an email at sixtyftsixin@gmail.com giving us a reason or an anecdote telling us why you also love baseball, we'll include in next week's installment.

This series is nine weeks long (get it? like nine innings? I'm so clever. At least clever enough to copy Ken Burns.) and every week you'll see a different reason why.

This week: Baseball brings hope.

When spring training starts it signifies multiple things. It tells us that spring is here. Soon the boys of summer will take the field. Before we realize it our nights will be filled with warm summer air. Once again we can go outside and play. We can sit back, relax and just watch the grass grow.

Hope resides here—the prospect of better times to come. All the slates are clean. You can debate off-season moves, talk about how last season ended, but all of that means nothing on Opening Day.

Games are not played on paper and every team has an 0-0 record. The months to come will show the quality of the team assembled, but on that day, even in the hearts of the most cynical fans, there's hope that this could be their year.

This hope doesn't just end in major cities and the major leagues. In towns big and small baseball brings hope. There's hope that there will be a major league career in your future, that you might see a future star play, or perhaps the hope that your local high school will win a state championship.

Perhaps the hope is as simple as a wish that you can pass on your love of the game to the next generation.

Baseball is also our escape. No matter how bad your day has been, there will always be baseball. Even if your favorite team doesn't play so well, a day with baseball is always better than one without it.

It's always something to look forward to. Your boss/professor/teacher may be a jerk, but there's something soothing in the crack of the bat or the voice of your favorite announcer.

This game raises your spirits, it gives you hope. It lets you believe that even though things may look bad, you're only a rally away from turning it all around.

And sometimes your favorite team breaks your heart, but there's always the hope that you'll get them tomorrow.

MOAR!

LESS!

Earlier this week, Thomas wrote a post detailing why he felt that interleague play in Major League Baseball was worth preserving. While I admire his jubilation at seeing his two favorite teams pitted against one another, I must say that I find interleague play to be an incredible bore.

Firstly, there are very few compelling matchups created by interleague play. Sure, every once in a while you get Yankees vs Mets and White Sox vs Cubs, and that's cool, but for every game like that, you get matchups like Pirates vs Royals, which are pointless to everyone involved.

It's a cliche argument, but it's one that's true: interleague play takes away from the mystique of the World Series and the All-Star Game. In other sports, you can have conferences play each other, and it makes no difference.

Not so in baseball.

Take the NFL. A team from the AFC plays a team from the NFC. No big deal. Nothing changes about how the game is played. The same goes for the NHL and the NBA.

Baseball, however, has an actual difference between the leagues in the designated hitter rule, and American and National League teams are built differently as a result.

When interleague games happen, teams have to strategize around the fact that they are or are not built to play with a designated hitter. AL teams can elect to bench their usual DH, or they can put them at an easy defensive position to get their bats in the lineup and suffer the consequences of their poor defense. NL teams have to put a sub-par bench player in the lineup and hope they can manage to hit.

This makes for some great strategic baseball, right? Well, yes, but only when the games actually mean something, which brings me to my next point.

Interleague games are essentially meaningless in terms of the standings. Teams aren't motivated, because they know that it's unlikely that any of these interleague games will get them a wild card spot, and it's even less likely to win them a division championship.

I'd much rather we remove the interleague games and have more intraleague games where teams know they'll actually be affected in the standings.

Interleague games are exciting once a year—during the World Series, when teams actually care to strategize. When it's not just a matter of the standings, but a matter of the Championship.

MOAR!

LESS!

Last week, I did a mock draft of the first seven picks of the NBA Draft. Today I'm going to examine the second half of the draft lottery. This is where things start to get interesting, so hopefully I can make this post just as entertaining.

I expect to see a lot of trades coming from teams in this area. There are a ton of tweeners projected to go here, and I think a lot of these teams will try to stay away from it.

8.) New York Knicks- Jonny Flynn

Everyone seems to have Stephen Curry slated in here, and while I think he is a great fit for D'Antoni's offense, the Knicks desperately need a PG. Flynn is one of my favorite college players from last season, and he has the type of leadership qualities this team needs. His skill set fits nicely with a certain SF the Knicks covet who has a name that may or may not rhyme with ReDron Hames.

9.) Toronto Raptors- Tyreke Evans

The Raptors need to beef up their swing positions. Some teams think Evans can be a PG, I think they're stupid to even consider such a thing. This guy is a prototype two guard in the NBA. The Raps can play him in his true position with Calderon at the point.

10.) Milwaukee Bucks- Jrue Holiday

Holiday is a combo guard out of UCLA who really started to thrive when he got more time running the offense. He gives the Bucks who probably need a full rebuild a little more flexibility when deciding how to move forward. He could be a top five guy in the draft on potential alone.

11.) New Jersey Nets- Stephen Curry

Tough call for the Nets here. They would really like a guy like Derozan to drop to them and they may take a guy like Gerald Henderson. I think Curry's scoring potential is too much to pass up though at this point.

12.) Charlotte Bobcats- Earl Clark

I think the Cats go for the most versatile player available at this spot and Clark fits that bill.

13.) Indiana Pacers- DeJuan Blair

I don't like DeJuan Blair and I pray that if the Pacers take him they promptly move him somewhere else. He is overweight and his strength won't be anywhere near the advantage it was in college in the NBA. I think the Pacers move this pick.

14.) Phoenix Suns- Eric Maynor

Maynor is a solid PG who specialises in defense and is ready to play now. He would offer a great change of pace to Nash and I think if he is on the board, he makes the most sense for the Suns.

MOAR!

LESS!

Yesterday was one of the more exciting Indy 500's I've seen in recent memory, ending with Helio Castroneves joining the elite three-time winner club. Helio is definitely having the best month in recorded history.

First he is acquitted on tax evasion charges, then he somehow gets past the rumor that he was having an affair with his Dancing With The Stars companion Julianne Hough, wins the pole for the 500, then his team wins the pit competition, and finally he wraps up the month by winning the race. Best month ever.

There were a lot of surprises for me yesterday. The first one is that I was very impressed by Danica Patrick's performance. She has claimed that she's changed and she's going to turn it around. If she and her team keep performing like they did yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised to see her win a few races this season.

Another surprise was Townsend Bell. He qualified 24th and finished fourth. Bell has a half month contract with his current team, KV Racing. The deal only covered the Indianapolis race, so this could be the end for him this season. While most think his strong showing will lead to him finding a ride for the rest of the season, Bell isn't as upbeat, believing that he shouldn't get his hopes up after being let down in the past.

Yet another one of the things that shocked me yesterday is that Milka Duno actually finished the race. Sure it was the last position still running at the end, but it was a finish none the less. Although my prediction of her causing an accident was accurate, it wasn't big, but it occurred as she was acting as a moving chicane.

Duno, who was in the process of being lapped by Graham Rahal, didn't give Rahal the space to pass and he was promptly sent into the fourth turn wall. Rahal described her actions as "clueless."

Clueless seemed to be a popular description as it was also the word that Marco Andretti used to describe Mario Moraes after a first lap, first turn crash took them both out of the race. I have yet to see a replay of this crash, but regardless this can be attributed to the Andretti Curse.

Also, Marco comes off as a spoiled brat who thinks that success should just be handed to him. While I like him and I love hot-headed drivers, his actions show that he needs to mature a bit more before he can become a dominant force in the IRL.

It is such a shame that crash occurred though, as it took two of my predicted top five finishers out of the race.

Here was my predicted top five: Wheldon, Dixon, Castroneves, Marco Andretti, Moraes

Actual top five: Castroneves, Wheldon, Patrick, Bell, Power

Not too bad, I got 2 out of 5 and I picked two of the top 3, just a tad out of order. Also if Dixon would have been able to pass Power in the waning moments of the race, I would have been 60% on my predictions.

Now the IRL turns its attention to Milwaukee for next Sunday's ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile. It'll be interesting to see who builds off of their Indianapolis 500 performances and uses them to create a strong showing in Milwaukee.

MOAR!

LESS!

Years ago, I liked Rick Reilly. I'm not exactly sure why, but I did. I used to look forward to reading him every week in Sports Illustrated—in fact, his column was basically the only thing I read.

Now I have a distinctly different opinion.

Now, he's quite possibly the worst paid sportswriter in the country. Most of the time I just take issue with the way he writes—there are far too many folksy puns for my tastes. But his latest column may be the dumbest set of amalgamated ideas I've ever read.

The premise is that, since baseball is so terrible, it needs drastic changes to be fixed. And, of course, Reilly is the one to fix it, since he knows next to nothing about the sport. He wants to be made MLB commissioner (aside: is there a sportswriter alive who hasn't written that column about at least one sport?) and he already has a bunch of great ideas.

Be still, my heart.

Three of his ideas are not terrible.

He wants Olympic-level drug testing, which would be slightly better than the current system, but I'm not sure how much of an issue that is now. It's not as if players aren't getting caught in the current system. I suppose any strengthening of the testing would be good, but it's not really a pressing matter.

He says that once a week, every player has to take ten minutes out to sign autographs. A better plan would be to just open gates earlier, so players can sign before they get into their pre-game preparations, but I won't disagree with Reilly here.

He wants to let umpires call rainouts instead of home teams, which, in the light of the Yankee Stadium debacle a few weeks ago, sounds decent.

The rest are just bad.

Balls that hit the foul pole are foul. Duh.

The foul line is in fair territory. Duh. If you want, call it a fair pole, but a simple understanding of the rules of baseball would be nice in a column about—you know—baseball.

He goes back to the sorry standard of "games are too long" by demanding a pitch clock. I will never understand this.

I love baseball, and I tend to want games to go as long as possible. I know that people who don't like baseball want games to be shorter, but to be perfectly honest, I see no reason to cater to people who have no interest in the game. Ruining it for people who still won't watch is foolish. The NFL shouldn't cater to me, and Major League Baseball shouldn't cater to the Rick Reillys of the world.

If you're 0-for-4, the crowd picks your at-bat music. Is it my fault if they choose "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston?

Nice throwaway line. I hope Reilly's getting paid by the word, because there's 22 of them we're not getting back.

He proposes that the National League should be forced to have a DH. Designated hitter rules will never change, because the rule is too ensconced in the American League, and the NL has its purist honor to uphold.

As any sports fan with two synapses to rub together will tell you, NL baseball is more interesting because it's real baseball. The managers actually have to manage, and the players actually have to be fundamentally sound. Bunting and double switching are strategic moves that the good baseball fan is interested by.

If anything, the DH should be taken away in the AL—and as I said, that's not happening. Once again: don't cater to the Reilly-esque moron sports fans of the world.

Possibly my favorite, though, is where he claims that there should be more fines in baseball because there are lots of fines in other sports.

The NFL fines guys $5,000 for not having their socks right. Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin got a $25,000 fine for shoving a guy.

Is he not aware that the fines the NFL levies are possibly the worst thing in sports? That they're the reason the NFL is called the "No Fun League"?

He wants these fines to keep pitchers from throwing beanballs—but, again, as baseball fans know, taking away the beanball takes away the inside pitch, which takes away the pitcher's best weapon, which essentially guarantees 15-13 slugfests in every game.

My stance on beanballs is well-documented. Now my stance on Rick Reilly is as well: he's a buffoon who knows next to nothing about baseball, and shouldn't be allowed to write about it, and should have a yearly quota of sayings like "we'll finally see who's faker than Octomom's lips." (That quota, by the way? One.)

People often say "I could do better than that" while watching a particularly bad sports performance. I did every time Aaron Heilman pitched last year, so I know it happens.

Well...I could do better than that, Rick Reilly. And so could thousands of the bloggers that you have so little respect for. Take your hackneyed writing and you lack of knowledge and get off my Internets.

MOAR!

LESS!

Every year, before the first interleague game of the year, the same discussion happens; a debate over whether or not the games are still interesting, and whether they should still be happening.

I've always come down on the Selig side of things - I've liked interleague since its inception, and these games are some of my favorites every year.

Tonight, the Red Sox and the Mets proved me right, at least for one game.

I watch a lot of baseball, but for a lot of reasons I feel like this was the best game I've seen in a long, long time.

I'll admit that one of the main reasons is that it was played by my two favorite teams, but that's part of the beauty of interleague play. Before it was instituted, the Mets and Red Sox had played seven games against each other in 1986, and that was it. I wasn't born, so I didn't get to experience that.

It's a really special event for me whenever they do get to play, and interleague play gives that opportunity.

It's not just me, either—plenty of people have AL teams and NL teams like I do, and unlike other sports there's a separation in baseball that allows that, but that same separation requires interleague play to give us games between those teams.

Besides that, there was something else about this game.

It felt like a playoff game.

When two good teams get together in interleague games, that's a fairly common occurrence. These games are all previews of possible World Series, and it has to be pretty easy for players to get focused with that in mind. That tends to breed better games (of course, Ramon Martinez's performance last night is the exception that proves the rule).

I know that not all of the games are rivalry games—the Diamondbacks and A's don't really grab the imagination—but the ones that are trump that.

The novelty's worn off a bit, and interleague play isn't nearly what it was when it started, but it's still interesting, it still produces good games, and it's worth having.

Especially when the Mets win.

MOAR!

LESS!

Shame on us. We're an Indianapolis-based blog, but we haven't talked about the Indianapolis 500.

It's not that we hate the event, quite the contrary. While I think I may be the only one of the four of us that follows the IRL or really cares, my love destroys their indifference.

Yet, while today's post was intended to talk about the race, I didn't really know what to write about. I could cover the race, talk about some dark horses (which I'll include my picks at the bottom), or I could write about why you should care.

Then today while reading Deadspin I saw that editor A.J. Daulerio was coming to Indy to cover the race and the drunken debauchery that occurs in the infield. While I love these posts because I get to laugh at hilarious ideas, I know that I need to take a joke and yes, strange things go on in the infield. Which, by the way, is gigantic. A large amount of things can fit inside the infield, like Yankee Stadium, Vatican City and several other things simultaneously.

I felt like maybe this post should be about all the great things about the race and why people shouldn't let the Deadspin article hamper them from coming, but then I realized that my article would be exactly like the Deadspin article, yet in a different manner. Instead of being hilarious the way shaming a drunk friend is (Deadspin's post), mine would be sentimental and painting the track in a very rosy light.

The point of the post is that I love the track. It's great. I have a lot of fantastic memories about it, and my uncle taught me basically everything there is to know about the track, the race and the IRL before he passed just a few months ago. It's part of what I love about Indy and it's something that anyone who enjoys racing, sports or mass gatherings of people should partake in at least once.

Yet, I think you should experience it for yourself and regardless of who says what about it, Deadspin or us, you should form your own opinion after you've experienced it.

I will say this though, if you're looking to party in Indianapolis, Carb Day (Friday before the race) is your day. Georgetown Road becomes Bourbon Street. So I guess the track really does cater to all types of people.

So go to the track some time, that's all we ask. Form your own opinion, and if you have questions about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, we'll have the answers.

INDY 500 PREDICTION TIME!

Winner: Dan Wheldon. Last time he started outside the top 10, he won it. Look for a repeat of 2005.

My Top 5: Wheldon, Dixon, Castroneves, Marco Andretti, Moraes

Biggest Surprise of the Race: Mario Moraes. He's been fast all month and in his second season, he seems to get better every race.

Things That Will Happen: Milka Duno will reprise her role as the moving chicane and will cause a major wreck. This will be relatively early into the race. Also, Danica will crash out, and then will blame others for her own lack of skill apparently she's "changed".

MOAR!

LESS!

If you're a White Sox fan, I'm sorry, today was not a good day at all.

First the Twins decide they're going to light you up for 20 runs, including a Joe Mauer grand salami and three 4+ run innings. Well, at least you scored that one run in the 8th right?

Then, Jake Peavy who apparently thought the frat boy infested confines of Wrigley Field were acceptable to play in, promptly told the South Side of Chicago to fuck off as he's staying in San Diego because it's what is best for his family. I'm going to go ahead and do this.

Well Sox fans, here's something to make you feel better, and Cubs fans, since you will not get the joke, here's something to occupy your feeble minds.

MOAR!

LESS!

It's easy for us to forget just how good Chris Carpenter is.

Nobody went without noticing him in 2005, when he lit the league up with a 2.83 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 213 K, 21 win, 4 shutout season. He also had a shiny Cy Young trophy to top that off.

He didn't forget how good he was the following year, when he had just as dominant of a season, capped with a league-best WHIP of 1.06 and 3 shutouts.

These past two years, however, we've forgotten about Chris Carpenter. He lost his 2007 season to surgery removing bone spurs, and his next season was spent recovering from Tommy John surgery.

He made only three starts in 2008, but looked good in those starts.

2009 started out promisingly, as Carpenter pitched seven innings of one-hit ball against the Pirates, striking out seven batters. His next start, he lasted only three innings and made another trip to the disabled list. Fans of the game sighed. "Here we go again," right?

Wrong.

Carpenter made his return yesterday, and triumphant it was. He lasted five innings against the Cubs, striking out four while walking two and surrendering 3 hits. He didn't give up a run, and St. Louis won the game for him.

Through his three starts this year, Carpenter has pitched 15 innings, striking out 13 while walking only four, with a shimmering 0.80 WHIP. He has yet to surrender a run.

Folks...he's back.

MOAR!

LESS!

The NBA draft lottery happened last night, and all the hype has had a proper time to stew and settle in. With the best amateurs in the country ready to gear up for their new NBA teams, it seems to me that this is a perfect time to do a mock draft for the lottery. Let's go for it.

1.) Los Angeles Clippers- Blake Griffin

If the Clipps don't take Griffin, they're taking stupid pills. Which brings me to my second point, we must remember that it is the Los Angeles Clippers we are talking about. No one knows what they are capable of.

2.) Memphis Grizzlies- Hasheem Thabeet

Grizz need size, but I think they will seriously shop this pick and possibly try to obtain a veteran player. Maybe Amare?

3.) Oklahoma City Thunder- Ricky Rubio

Rubio would give the Thunder an exciting young backcourt for many years alongside Russell Westbrook.

4.) Sacramento Kings- Jordan Hill

Kings will be unhappy with whoever they pick here.

5.) Washington Wizards- Demar Derozan

I think the Wiz take a chance on a guy with a high ceiling here who could make an interesting backcourt mate with Arenas.

6.) Minnesota Timberwolves- Brandon Jennings

I don't like Jennings or his attitude, but the T-Wolves have not found a suitable PG yet. They may take a chance on Jennings here.

7.) Golden State Warriors- James Harden

I think Harden is a great fit for the Warriors, but they will need to clear out some of their logjam on the wings.

That wraps up my first seven picks. Stay tuned for the second half of the lottery.

MOAR!

LESS!

Last night I decided to head down to Victory Field with some friends to watch the Indianapolis Indians take on the Syracuse Chiefs. Given the Indians position in the standings going into the game (1.5 back), I figured that perhaps the team I saw struggle several times this season was turning things around.

Nope.

It's not all bad, but the game did start out rather ugly.

Daniel McCutchen's first pitch met Justin Maxwell's bat and wasn't seen again until it landed somewhere on the left field seating berm.

Kory Casto came up next and lined a ball straight into Shelby Ford. Too bad Ford wasn't able to hold on to the ball, so Casto reached on an error. This was followed by Alberto Gonzalez grounding into a double play.

At this point we thought the Tribe was in the clear. That was a mistake.

Former Major Leaguer Brad Eldred, the forth batter of the evening, hit a home run and doubled the Syracuse lead. At this point we thought things couldn't get worse, so I politely yelled to McCutchen that if he kept the ball in the yard his team's defense would save his poor performance thus far.

That turned out to be wrong.

The next batter—center fielder Mike Vento—hit a high infield fly which was easily catchable, but due to a miscommunication between McCutchen, Melhuse and Pearce, the ball fell to the turf. After two runs allowed and two errors, the Indians did manage to get out of that inning without any further damage on the scoreboard—or to their egos—but just barely.

Neil Walker was able to send both Andrew McCutchen and Steve Pearce home on an RBI double in the bottom of the first. This tied the score at 2 and it would remain as such until the 4th.

After a Gustavo Molina strikeout in the top of the 4th, Adam Melhuse, who was playing in place of Erik Kratz (night off), threw to second on a Seth Bynum steal attempt. Sadly, no one was covering second and the ball sailed into center field allowing Mike Vento to score from third. Pitcher Marco Estrada then drove in Bynum on an RBI with two outs in the inning.

The offense slowed to a stop at that point, with very little action until the bottom of the ninth when the Indians had Pearce and Walker at the corners with two outs. It appeared that Indianapolis was going to turn it around and at least force the game into an extra frame, if not just win it in a walk off.

Then the worst possible thing that could occur happened...Larry Broadway was called in to pinch hit. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Broadway, he is a career minor leaguer who was not even good enough to make the jump from AAA to the bigs with the Nationals. That says something. He could quite possibly have the lowest baseball IQ I've ever seen in a player at this level.

Broadway comes to the plate. I'm weeping inside and calling out to the Baseball Gods for some help at this point. I really like seeing my hometown team win, really. Anything would be good. I'll settle for a HBP.

Instead Broadway runs the count full and swings at a high third strike. The Mighty steaming pile of shit career minor leaguer Broadway has struck out.

I assure you, I did my best from the second row behind the plate to remind him that efforts like that were the reason he'll never see the big leagues.

¡OTHER GAME NOTES!

• It was one of the coldest non-opening day games I've ever been to, the temperature was in the area of 52 degrees around the time of the final pitch.

• Although he went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, Neil Walker's bat seemed rather sluggish. He was very slow in some of his at bats and was really behind a few pitches.

• McCutchen had another good game going 2 for 4.

• The people behind us were loud and obnoxiously annoying the entire time. They seemed like they had stepped straight out of King of the Hill. One of the females in the group kept constantly refering to an alcoholic beverage called "Buttface Beer."

• A box score can be found here.

• Larry Broadway hates happiness.

MOAR!

LESS!

A look at what's going on in the world of sports on Monday, May 18th, 2009.

MLB:

Only nine games today, with most teams taking a day off.

The big news, however, is that David Ortiz has just been pinch-hit for in a slow-pitch softball league. Not looking good for Big Papi. Even Andy Sonnanstine is having a better season with the stick.

NFL:

Michael Vick will be leaving his prison sentence behind him soon. ESPN will be there with unneccessary coverage.

James Harrison is refusing to visit the White House with the Steelers. Apparently he thinks Presidential visits are not worth the time. He also didn't make the trip with the team when they won Super Bowl XL in 2005. For some reason, this is a big story, while it wasn't one in 2005 when Harrison was a reserve linebacker.

NBA:

No games today, but the conference finals begin on Tuesday with the Nuggets vs the Lakers in the West. The East will kick off the following day with the Magic vs the LeBrons.

Also, the draft lottery will happen soon. So there's that.

NHL:

Conference finals are also underway in the NHL, where the Red Wings lead the Blackhawks by one game in the Western Conference final. The Eastern Conference final begins today with the Penguins vs the Hurricanes on Versus.

MOAR!

LESS!

I think it's time that this blog should address one of the biggest questions on the mind of baseball fans this year.

Is David Ortiz ever going to break out of this slump?

At the beginning of the season, I only had one thing to say to the Ortiz naysayers: it's still way too early. However, I think that as we enter the middle of May, we've got what looks like a significant sample size to work with.

Through 157 plate appearances this season, Ortiz has a line of .208/.318/.300. He has yet to hit a home run, collected only 15 RBI and has an OBP higher than his slugging. Not exactly what we've come to expect from Big Papi.

The similarity scores on Baseball Reference are enough to terrify Red Sox Nation. The most frequently cited name in the media, Mo Vaughn, appears on the list several times. In addition, there are several other players whos careers started to go way downhill after a dominating stretch, including Jason Giambi, Richie Sexson, Fred McGriff, Cecil Fielder and Derrek Lee.

However, in addition are a number of players who continued to contribute value to their teams long after their peak. The list includes Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Paul Konerko, Hal Trosky and Willie McCovey.

Which path is Ortiz likely to take?

One encouraging sign is that Ortiz is still drawing walks. He's racked up 20 so far this season, and I'm of the opinion that his greatest strength has always been his eye, which not only allowed him to post mammoth OBPs year after year, but also allowed him to select the best pitches to deposit deep into the outfield seats.

Alarming, however, are his strikeouts. He has 30 of those, a sign that he's pressing at the plate, especially considering he's finished his last four years with excellent K/BB ratios, including two years when he had more walks than strikeouts.

Encouraging is the fact that he has high fl ball and line drive rates, signs that he's hitting the ball well and elevating it. His .270 BABIP is most likely due for an adjustment as a result.

Discouraging is the fact that a hitter with a career high of 52 doubles has already hit 10 in a homerless season - a sign of depleting power.

How do I feel about it? Looking at this data, it doesn't look good. Looking at his pedigree, however, I think Papi has at least one more useful season in him. I think he'll break out of this slump. When he does, however, I expect him to play more like the David Ortiz of last year than the David Ortiz of 2006.

MOAR!

LESS!

For baseball it was the chase of Maris' home run record that helped the fans return to a game that had seen a decline in popularity due to a strike. Now, it appears that this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs are exactly what they needed to reignite interest in a league which has suffered since the lockout canceled season of 2004-05.

It started with the New Jersey/Carolina series in the first round, which featured both a buzzer beater and a miraculous come-from-behind victory for the Hurricanes in game seven against one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport.

Then in the second round we had a match up that every hockey fan was longing for, Penguins v. Capitals. Crosby v. Ovechkin.

At first it appeared that this series was going to only go four games with the Caps taking the first two games in a convincing manner, but Pittsburgh won the next three to bring the series to a 3-2 Pens lead. The Caps won a fantastic game six that went into overtime, forcing a game seven. Sadly game 7 was a blow out and a bit of a letdown, but it was still an exciting series that saw five of the seven games decided by one goal with three going into overtime.

This wasn't the only exciting second round match up, though. Of the four series, three went to a seventh game.

Carolina again provided a lot of great hockey to watch in their contests with Boston. The final game of that series is everything that playoff hockey is about. A game seven sudden death overtime. Scott Walker's goal with 2:14 left in the first overtime sent Carolina to the conference finals for the third time in franchise history.

So now the playoffs move to the conference finals where the Eastern Conference will feature a very interesting match up and the Western Conference will have a rivalry as old as the league itself.

Carolina and Pittsburgh are both just wrapping up series that went the distance, and they will begin their series in The Burgh on Monday.

Meanwhile two Original Six foes will meet in the West. Detroit and Chicago will renew their hate in Hockeytown on Sunday.

The NHL really couldn't ask for better conference final match ups. All four teams have some of the most passionate fan bases in the league which will make the atmospheres in all of the arena's absolutely deafening.

Regardless of what teams make the Stanley Cup Final, it will be a fantastic series. All four of these teams are great and I would not be surprised to see any of them skate off with Lord Stanley.

The NHL needed something to help bring the national interest back to the sport, and this is definitely it. In my lifetime of watching hockey, I have not seen a playoff more exciting than this one, and from the amount of people I actually hear talking about hockey recently, I think others have taken notice.

MOAR!

LESS!

As I'm sure many of you now know, Wayman Tisdale a gifted jazz musician and former NBA player has passed away at the age of 44. This hits us here at SFSI especially hard as Wayman was drafted second overall in 1985 by our Indiana Pacers.

Wayman was a brilliant college basketball player. A three time Big Eight Conference player of the year and also a three time All-American at Oklahoma. Wayman had a solid, if unspectacular NBA career. After he retired, Wayman became an extremely accomplished jazz bassist.

Wayman's love for life and kindness to others was not dampened when he was diagnosed with cancer. He continued to live life to the fullest and to inspire all those that he met. Yesterday on May 15,2009, the world lost one of its truly unique talents. Rest in peace Wayman, you will be missed.

MOAR!

LESS!

What a series this has been.

Not just for Penguins fans or Capitals fans.

This has been a great series for hockey, and this has been a fantastic series for the NHL.

The Pens-Caps series has everything a hockey fan could possibly want.

You want a marquee rivalry? The Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry speaks for itself. It's easily the biggest thing in the NHL at the moment, and it's only further magnified by the antagonistic nature of one Evgeni Malkin in Crosby's corner over the past year.

You want great defense? This series has it. With three overtimes so far, the defense and goaltending has been absolutely lights out. The players are checking hard, there have been some amazing saves, and the Penguins will be returning Sergei Gonchar to the ice tonight.

You want high-scoring madness? Somewhat paradoxically, this series has that as well. This fact was perhaps best illustrated when Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby both scored hat tricks...in the same game!

Are you only watching for the chance of a fight? Go watch a boxing match and never disgrace a hockey rink with your presence again.

This series has been absolutely epic so far. It's the marquee matchup of the NHL. It has the games two biggest stars going head to head, and in perhaps the best thing to happen to the NHL's beleaguered commissioner all year, it's managed to go to game seven. It's almost a shame that it has to end tonight.

This series alone could help to bring hockey to the mainstream after the strike. The interest it draws to these two teams could easily trickle down to fans seeing things like the Ducks taking the mighty Red Wings so deep into the series. It could draw attention to the Blackhawks, and exciting young team that's set up to be a contender for a long, long time.

In other words, folks...get your popcorn ready.

MOAR!

LESS!

The press conference was just to announce that Danny Granger has won the Most Improved Player Award. While that's awesome and as Pacers fans we're really excited, we already knew about this. It was reported last night.

Sorry for the panic we've caused. Although we do understand that in the panic we've incited it caused a rich British dude to do this.

MOAR!

LESS!

It apparently is a major announcement. This scares us a little given all the talk about instability of the franchise in Indy.

Here is the official blog reaction:


Honestly, my guess is that they've reached a new lease agreement that will keep them in the city for a long period, but until they announce whatever this is...PANIC!

MOAR!

LESS!

I am not a huge fan of the White Sox in general, but considering the fact that only a few days ago I said that the Mets should throw at Shane Victorino, I feel like I should share this video, which shows White Sox closer Bobby Jenks throwing at Texas Ranger Ian Kinsler.

I find it interesting for a few reasons. First of all, it shows how much the WGN White Sox crew sucks. Listen to them go apoplectic over the umpire warning both benches, and then read this quote from Jenks:

Yeah, I wanted to go in and send a message, and I think that message was sent. Basically, I was saying, 'I'm sick of seeing our guys get hit and hurt and almost get taken out of the game.' I threw it with intention.

The warnings were warranted, and Hawk Harrleson is a moron. I'm just saying.

The more important thing, though, is that I'm with Jenks. They had a lot of hitters getting pegged in that game, and when that happens it falls to the pitching staff to stand up for the rest of the team. And Jenks was able to send his message in a fairly safe way. He didn't throw at Kinsler's head, aiming instead for the lower body. And, though he didn't actually hit him, the message was clearly sent by throwing behind him instead of in front of him. The only real problem is that instinct prompts the hitter to jump backward, so throwing behind a hitter is more dangerous than in front of him. But all told, Jenks handled his business pretty well.

I'm not saying that this should be happening in every game, and maybe Jenks overreacted to what may have been accidental HBPs. It was a one-run game in the ninth inning, after all, and this business is maybe something that could have been dealt with the next time the White Sox and Rangers play. But this is a part of baseball, and it's sometimes a necessary thing. Handling it well is important, and I think Jenks did that to an extent.

MOAR!

LESS!

As the lone Boston sports fan on this blog's roster, I feel that it's necessary for me to take up the city's mantle and point out the day Boston sports teams had yesterday.

Three major teams - the Bruins, the Celtics, and the Red Sox - all had games yesterday. Two of the three teams had crucial playoff games. All three won, two in dramatic fashion.

Any one of these games would have been a pretty good day for a city. Any two would have been great. But all three in one day is a pretty remarkable feat (though considering the recent resurgence of Boston as a sports city in the last decade, a feat that seems like it happens there more often than you'd expect).

First off (with a 7:30 start time) was the Boston Bruins' Eastern Conference semifinals Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins had lost three straight in the series to go down 3-1, making this an elimination game. The Bruins showed up, though, besieging the Canes with 40 shots and scoring four times. Tim Thomas, the Bruins' star goalkeeper (I say "star" because I, a non-hockey fan, have heard of him) made 19 saves to preserve the 4-0 shutout.

Next up (an 8:00 start, and the next earliest finish) was the Celtics' Eastern Conference semifinal Game 4 against the Orlando Magic. The Celtics were down 2-1 in the series going in, and a loss would likely have crippled them and reduced their odds of moving on to face the LeBrons in the conference finals to nil.

They played a much closer game. Neither team was able to extend a lead to double digits, and with 11.3 seconds to play, the Magic were ahead by one. The Celtics were able to run a set play to get their third option - Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who has referred to himself also as "The Ticket Stub" - open for a long jumper at the buzzer to give them a 95-94 win, and a 2-2 series tie going back to Boston.

Which brings us to the evening's grand finale, a Sunday Night Baseball game between my Red Sox and Peter's Tampa Bay Rays, which I believe is either the best or second-best rivalry going in Major League Baseball right now (if the Mets and Phillies have a fistfight this year, which is highly possible, they'd probably be the outright winners). It was a tight game, with both Josh Beckett and Matt Garza pitching fairly well, but with both offenses able to get a few shots in. In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox' new Captain Clutch, Jason Bay, followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with one of his own to put the Sox on top, 4-3.

So the closer, Jonathan Paplebon, came in to shut the door in the ninth. He promptly put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs, and was facing three-quarters of the Rays' Murderer's Row - Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, and Carl Crawford, but thankfully not Evan Longoria - in a position where he basically had to strike all three out to avoid blowing the save. He then struck all three out to avoid blowing the save.

There are a lot of cities with multiple major sports teams, but I honestly can't remember a time when one city's teams were all so good, at least not a city with so many teams. In 2003, the Pacers won 61 games and the Colts went to the AFC Championship Game (losing, appropriately enough for this post, to the New England Patriots). But that's only two teams, neither of which was able to win a championship. The New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI only a few months after the Mets won the 1986 World Series (again, appropriately, against the Red Sox), but the Yankees finished second in their division (missing the playoffs) and the Jets lost their last five games, still making the playoffs but losing to the Cleveland Browns (the Browns!) in the second round. So neither of these examples quite measures up to the last decade of Boston sports - three Super Bowls, two World Series, and an NBA Championship, with more possibly to come.

This is really just an interesting coincidence, since these teams don't really affect each other that much (though surely having other good teams in the city excites fans at each event, and it's been documented before how Patriots players and Red Sox players go to Celtics games, and Patriots go to Fenway, etc.). But as a fan of Boston sports in general, it's an interesting coincidence that makes sports a little bit more fun to watch.

MOAR!

LESS!

I am sure by now that if you follow the NBA at all, you are familiar with the controversial end of Game Three between the Mavericks and Nuggets.

If not, you can watch it here.

Basically, the Mavs were up two with roughly six seconds to play and a foul to give. Antoine Wright was defending Carmelo Anthony and attempted to take their foul to give with roughly three seconds left to play.

None of the referees chose to make the call for Wright. This lead to Anthony hitting an off-balance three, winning the game for the Nuggets. It also lead to a general fit being thrown by just about everyone associated with the Mavericks, particularly Josh Howard and owner Mark Cuban.

This lead to the obvious question, who is to blame for this missed call? The NBA issued a statement saying the refs should have made the call shortly after the game. This does nothing to help the Mavs who now find themselves in a three to none series hole.

While the refs missed an obvious attempt to foul, the Mavs have no one to blame in the end but themselves. Wright should have gone for a much more convincing foul, than the simple hand check that he used on Anthony. The Mavs should have also made it clear to the refs that they were going to take their final foul and left no room for the error.

MOAR!

LESS!

I have a decent amount of baseball related items on my list of things I want to do before I die. In fact, there may be enough to construct a baseball-only "bucket list" from them. So I decided that on Thursday I would cross two of those things off my list...sorta.

The Indianapolis Indians often hold 11:00am games during the season. They're usually known as the "Business Day Special." I've always wanted to go to one based solely off the premise that I think it is absurd to be watching a pro baseball game (in person) at 11am.

Another thing I have always wanted to attend is a doubleheader. With the intent to go to the game Thursday, the Baseball Gods granted me a gift by allowing a downpour on Wednesday to cause a doubleheader to occur on Thursday.

Too bad the Indians had to ruin it with absolutely dreadful play.

Unlike some of our other minor league recaps, I was not accompanied by any of my blogmates, but I was accompanied by an attractive woman who I happen to be dating.

Due to the rain out the day before, the game time was moved up to 10am, thus making my rationale for wanting to go stronger because I was spending my first day of my last "summer vacation" at a ballpark when I could be catching up for all that sleep I missed this semester.

It was "Education in Baseball" day at the stadium which basically means that the game began early to allow school children to see a professional baseball game. I wish my field trips would have been as awesome.

Going into it, my girlfriend and I thought that the kids would be elementary aged and it would be fun to watch a baseball game with a bunch of little kids.

We were wrong.

Almost all of these kids were in middle school. Upon seeing this, I let out a groan because I knew what was to come.

When we entered the stadium there were about 30 people in the actual seated area of the field. While there were school buses parked in the street, we saw no children. Then slowly, the stadium started to fill and within two innings the ballpark became crowded and the chatter in the stands similar to what you would hear in a middle school cafeteria erupted from all corners of Victory Field.

Now, since you're reading this blog, I'm going to assume you've been inside of a ballpark or a stadium of some sort. I'm also going to assume that when you were in the stadium, the process of finding your seat was quite simple.

Well apparently, none of the adults who were chaperoning this event had any fucking idea what section numbers or seat numbers were, nor did they understand that their ticket was this magical map that could guide them to their seats if they matched it up with the corresponding numbers.

People were constantly changing seats, middle schoolers were making life and death decisions about whether to go walking around or sit next to that cute boy and act interested in the game. All the while, they were OBSTRUCTING MY VIEW!

People were everywhere, standing in the aisles, standing in rows (what the fuck?), constantly making me have to stand up and sit down and then came the screaming.

Oh god. The screaming.

You know what I mean, when a little girl decides that she needs to make noise at a sporting event so she screams at the top of her lungs and it's always the most blood curdling noise you've ever heard. That happened, multiple times.

Needless to say, my idea of relaxing at the ballpark on the first day of summer wasn't going as swimmingly as I had thought it would be.

Here's a recap of what happened in the first game.

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after four and never really looked back. They then put the game away in the sixth by scoring four more runs and eventually won the game 7-2.

• ¡Romulo! came in to pitch with two out in the fourth. He went 2 2/3, surrendering two hits and giving up three runs.

• Garrett Jones apparently doesn't care about hustling, or really fielding for that manner as he almost seemed to walk to the ball every time it was hit in his direction.>

• Erik Kratz was one of the few bright spots for the Tribe as he went 3 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI.

• Jack Wilson who is on a rehab assignment with the Indians did not play in this game.

• I noticed that almost every player for the Scranton/WB Yankees was hitting near .300 which actually surprised me a little as I did not know the Yankees try to buy AAA championships as well.

• A rhyming beer vendor spoke exactly how I felt during this game, "90,000 kids, you need another beer?"

• Apparently AAA doubleheaders end the games after 7 innings. I was pissed, but not too angry as my one standard priced ticket gave me admission for both games. So essentially I paid a 9 inning price for 14 innings of baseball.

After the fantastic display of athletic performance exhibited by the Indians, I couldn't wait to see what was in store for the next game. This game was quite different from a fan perspective as the crowd heavily dissipated due to the fact the schoolchildren needed to get back in time for school to end.

Here's the game two recap:

• The Indians gave up three runs in the second and after three the score was 3-1.

• Indianapolis showed signs of life in the bottom of the 4th, with no outs and runners on the corners. Then a half-hearted steal attempt by Pearce, a line out by Walker and an out by Broadway ended the inning. This is a typical half inning for the Indians this year. I'm quite sure something like this will have to happen in the clubhouse to turn things around.

• In the bottom of the fifth, McCutchen hit a perfectly placed line drive on a double steal, which brought the game within one run. Then Shelby Ford brought home the tying run on a sac fly.

• Some Indians fans have begun to refer to Andrew McCutchen as "McClutchen" and I hope that nickname sticks.

• Steve Pearce went 2 for 2 with a homerun and a walk.

• Tom Gorzelanny went six innings and gave up 3ER on four hits. He also had 8 Ks.

• Jack Wilson did not make an appearance in this game either, meaning the Indians and I missed a fantastic opportunity to do this.

• Things were looking up for the Indians until the top of the seventh happened. Juan Mateo came into the game and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits in only 1/3 inning's work.

• With two outs in the seventh, there were maybe 200 fans left in the ballpark.

• By the bottom of the 7th our section behind the plate was composed of us, 15 people who had moved up and a bunch of scouts. It isn't a reflection of the economy, but rather the fact that people have better things to do than watch poorly executed baseball at 3:15 on a Thursday.

Indianapolis Indians: Apathetic or Incompetent? I'm going to go with lollygagers.

MOAR!

LESS!

Yes, it's time for my long-awaited return from my school-induced hiatus.

And I bring tidings of war. I want the head of Shane Victorino on a pike.

It seems like every year, the Phillies are bellyaching about the Mets celebrating too much, and showing disrespect to the game, and things of that nature. I, for one, tend to disagree, mostly because I find athletes who celebrate accomplishments to be...well, human, and those who don't to be robotic and boring. I want heart and spirit from my players.

But I wouldn't be as upset about the Phillies' whining if it wasn't for their complete and total hypocrisy. You see, in the midst of the virtuous and not-at-all insufferable Rollins et al. is the National League's A.J. Pierzynski. He is Shane Victorino, the worst person in baseball.

Watch this clip from tonight's Phillies-Mets game. Here, Jose Reyes is called for obstruction. Later, Victorino would score on a home run, which would force the Mets to waste Frankie Rodriguez in a game in which he shouldn't have had to appear.

I see no obstruction. I see a forearm shiver. If Victorino was a referee and Reyes a quarterback, there would have been an uproar. But since he's a Phillie, one of baseball's paladins fighting the dark, celebrating scourge that is the New York Mets, it likely won't be an issue. In fact, Jerry Manuel's going to get the worst of it, since evidently his hat hit Bill Welke's when he was (rightfully) blowing his top after the blown call.

In a perfect world, two things would happen. First, Welke would be suspended for three days without pay for not having functioning eyes. Honestly, when there's a rundown play, he should be looking for bullshit like that. The aforementioned Pierzynski has done it before, and it should be a point of attention for MLB umpires. It's not a heads-up gritty play, and it's not good baseball - it's cheating, it's dirty, and it should be stopped.

Second, on June 9, in the top of the first inning, Shane Victorino should be hit in the elbow with a pitch. That is how scores are settled in baseball, and the Mets' pitching staff needs to stand up for Reyes. This Philadelphian assault on Reyes has gone on long enough, and Victorino's reign of terror has as well.

The Mets have made too many compromises already, too many retreats. The Phillies complain about Reyes' exuberance, and they fall back. The Phillies charge to the division title in September, and they fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, and no further. The Mets must make Victorino pay for what he has done.

MOAR!

LESS!

Welp, here we go again.

Another superstar caught with a failed PED test. Another person Jose Canseco has busted before an official leak came out.

By this time today, you've all heard the story.

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance and will be suspended for 50 days by Major League Baseball. He won't be paid.

Manny has already come out and said it was for an unrelated medical reason, but then, it seems like every player that gets caught uses that excuse until more evidence condemns them, now doesn't it?

The drug that Manny took was a female fertility drug. It's commonly used by steroid users to balance out natural hormones. There would be no reason for him to use it if he wasn't using steroids, unless Manny also has a uterus that we don't know about.

I find that highly unlikely.

At least now Red Sox fans won't be able to act so smug about A-Rod and their two "clean" rings.

Random prediction time? The next big name to fall will be Albert Pujols.

MOAR!

LESS!

Well, I'm back from the edge of hell, and I'm ready to talk some NBA playoffs.

The simple answer to my question is no.

The long answer is maybe.

There are ways to counter Cleveland's attack, but the real question is how do you attack what has been an incredible defensive effort so far? I plan on telling you what I would do, which is almost certainly something most NBA coaches would laugh at, but screw them, if they were that smart, they would have figured out long ago that the Cavs are a fairly simple puzzle to piece together.

Let's dive in, shall we?

The Cavs offense shockingly enough begins and ends with Lebron James. We all know that Lebron is now the MVP of the NBA at the ripe old age of 25. He earned it, and when you look at his team that won 66 games this season you can't help but shake your head. His second best offensive threat is Mo Williams, who is a one trick pony. He is a shooting guard stuck in a point guard's body, but Lebron's ability to handle the basketball has minimized the impact of this on the Cavs offense.

Williams saw himself become an all-star this year, and he owes it all to Lebron. His assist numbers look pretty miserable for a PG, and you must realize that he is already benefiting from the fact that Lebron gets himself easy buckets and all Williams has to do is deliver the ball to his hands. I'm willing to bet any of my colleagues could average 6 APG playing next to Lebron.

So how do you slow down the Cavs offense? You take the ball out of Lebron's hands. You force him to get his looks by coming off screens. More than likely Lebron will still get his 30 PPG, but you won't have him dropping 8-10 APG which is where he really hurts you. Make him more of a shooting guard and less of a point forward. Put the pressure on Mo Williams and Delonte West to create for the rest of the Cavs.

The chance that Mike Brown is able to come up with an entirely new offense for the Cavs on the fly is slim to none, considering the best he has come up with so far is hand the ball to Lebron and watch. That's worked up until this point, but it's a strategy that could be foiled if the Hawks use their athletes to force Lebron to give up the ball.

One caveat. If you can stop the Cavs from scoring, but can't score on them, then what's the point?

The Cavs defense has been superb. This is a function of a number of things, but part of it is the sheer effort the Cavs have exerted. Unfortunately for the Hawks, their up tempo pace plays right into the Cavs being able to use every ounce of energy they need defensively as the Hawks prefer a quick possession and shot.

The Hawks need to find a way to slug this out, and maximize each position. Use screens to create mismatches for Joe Johnson if the Cavs go small. Just because you don't have a dominant inside man doesn't mean you have to avoid the paint. Get Johnson and Josh Smith switched onto smaller weaker guys like Mo Williams or West and watch them squirm.

This will force help from other Cavs, and Johnson is one of the most proficient passing two guards in the NBA. Put him in the high post against a smaller guy, and let him create. The Cavs love to do this with James, and Johnson can have a similar impact on the Hawks offense.

All of this is how I theoretically believe you could stop the Cavs, but more than likely I doubt you will see any team capable of doing it.

Why? Lebron simply won't let them. He's a 6'9" 260 pound wrecking ball, and he is not going to stop until he is holding that championship trophy.

MOAR!

LESS!

I've come to the conclusion lately that May just may be the best month to be a sports fan. At the very least, it's the best when college sports are excluded.

In fact, I believe that May could possibly be one of two "sports equinox" events that happen every year, when everything is perfectly aligned in the world of sports. The other month would be October. I'll explain why.

May:

• Two sports have playoffs that are in full swing. Both the NBA and the NHL are getting down to the nitty gritty in the race to the Championships, and compelling matchups are happening all around both leagues.

• Major League Baseball is starting to really take shape. We're able to look at larger sample sizes now and get a feel for which teams that start hot every year had a flukey first month and which teams have a legitimate chance of being a shocker. The season is still young enough for fans of bad teams to have hope, but not too old to dash the hopes of fans of good teams.

• The NFL is in the best part of the offseason. There's still no football, but for the first time in a long time people can bring up the NFL without looking like desparate fan boys. The Draft has been completed, training camps are started, and the teams are making their final push to sign some key free agents. May is the equivelant of spring training for football fans. Hope springs eternal.

October:

• Fans of Major League Baseball don't need an explanation as to why October is such a special month. It's the playoffs!

• The NFL's regular season is in full swing. There's still a lot of football to be played, but due to the limited number of games in an NFL schedule, every game still carries the weight of the world with it.

• The NBA and NHL seasons both start, assuring you that when baseball and football are both done, you'll still have a full plate of sports action. Hope springs eternal.

So, what do all you readers think? Which month is better, May or October? Or am I just off base when I name these as the two best months? If so, what month do YOU think is the best? I've set up a poll in the right sidebar. Please take the time to voice your opinion.

MOAR!

LESS!

Sorry again loyal readers for the lack of posts. This is finals week and we're all a little nervous about the outcomes of tests. We'll be back to full posting mode very very shortly.

In the meantime, here's a video I found on Operation Sports that I absolutely love. Also, MLB the Show 09 is a fantastic game.

MOAR!

LESS!