Welcome to the Show, Bryce Harper

With much anticipation, the 2010 first overall pick by the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper, will be making his big league debut today for the Nats.  His travels to the bigs has been a closely watched one at that, with many people expecting his debut to come last season when the rosters expanded in September, but that never came.  Then, many expected him to crack the opening day lineup this season, but still, he was sent back down to AAA-Syracuse to start the season.  But, finally, he will make his debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers out in LA tonight.

The former 1st-overall pick back in 2010, has had a solid career feasting on pitchers in the minor-league, with a .290 average, 18 home runs, and 61 RBIs.  In order to preserve him, the Nationals organization has converted him from the catcher position to an outfielder, hoping to save his knees and legs and allow him to be one of the many cornerstone pieces of the organization, along with Stephen Strasburg, for many years to come.  His fielding numbers in the minors average out to a .953 fielding percentage, with his best numbers coming in RF, while he showed signs of need-for-improvement in LF, where he .857 average with Syracuse this year ranks way below the average. 

Harper, much like Strasburg, was highly-touted at a young age, when he graduated from high-school in three years so he could attend junior college and begin playing against kids who were three-five years older than him.  He has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as "The Chosen One" and was showcased in a home-run derby in Tampa Bay, FL, where he is most-known for launching a home-run off the back wall at Tropicana Field, one measured over 500-feet. (skip to 3:00 for the home-run derby footage)

For the soon-to-be 20-year old, Harper's path to "The Show" has taken him through A-Hagerstown, AA-Harrisburg, and finally AAA-Syracuse, before he finally dons the Nationals uni in a regular season game tonight against the Dodgers.  First pitch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m.

NHL Award Predictions

The NHL Award Show isn't for another several weeks, but the finalists for the major awards have been released, so I've decided that now is a good time to give my loyal readers my predictions.

Hart Trophy (MVP): Evgeni Malking (Pittsburgh)- The league-leader in points (109) is hands down the favorite to win this award.  For much of the season it was a three-man race for the scoring title, but Malkin was able to pull away down the stretch and was the only player to eclipse the 100+ point mark.  But that isn't what did it for me.  The fact that he was able to put the Penguins on his back while Crosby and other stars were out and lead them to the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and the second-most points in the Eastern Conference showed a lot of his critics that he can play in both ends of the ice.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie): Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)- The three finalists (Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, and Pekka Rinne) all had tremendous years and each one is in the top-5 of all of the major goaltending statistical categories and are all deserving.  But, I think what puts Lundqvist over the top is the fact that he led the Rangers to the top-spot in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the NHL.  Quick led the league in shutouts and had the second-best GAA, while doing it for the Kings who ranked 29th in goals scored.  If not for him, the Kings probably would have missed out on the playoffs and would be on the golf links rather than in the second round.  As for Rinne, the former 8th round pick is what we like to call a workhorse, playing in 73 of the 82 games this season for the Nashville Predators and led the league in wins (43) and saves (1987).  All three are very deserving.

Norris Trophy (Top Defensemen): Shea Weber (Nashville)- Everyone thinks the young-gun Erik Karlsson is going to win it based on the fact that he led all d-men in points.  However, his defensive zone play needs improvement and therefore, I think he's out.  Chara and Weber are clearly the elite of the defensemen in the NHL and I think it's Weber's ability to play over 26 minutes (26:09) per game and be a force in both the defensive and offensive zones is what gets him his first Norris Trophy.

Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward): Patrice Bergeron (Boston)- Over the past handful of years this award could easily be named after Datsyuk, who has won it three of the past four seasons.  However, Bergeron's numbers don't lie.  He doesn't light up the stat sheet, but his +35 rating led the league and he won 936 faceoffs, also most in the league.  If this year wasn't enough for Bergeron to finally break through as the winner, then I don't think he'll ever win it.

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Matt Read  Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado)- You mean to tell me that Read's rookie-leading 24 goals doesn't even get him nominated?  Huh.  Well in that case, I have to give the award to Gabriel Landeskog.  The second overall pick in last year's draft tied for the rookie lead in points (52) with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1st overall), but RNH only played in 62 of Edmonton's 82 games.  However, Landeskog was a +20 to RNH's -2 and Landeskog had the Avalanche fighting for a playoff spot coming down the final two weeks of the season, something that hasn't happened in the past few years.  Landeskog will clearly be the cornerstone of the Avalanche franchise for year's to come.

Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach): John Tortorella (NY Rangers)- The finalists have yet to be announced for this award, so this is just off of my assumptions.  But, the guy that everyone came to love (due to his passion for the game) during HBO's 24/7 led the Rangers to the top-seed in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the NHL.  He's always been a fiery coach and he managed to take a team that has always seemed to underachieve and play a full season and never looked back.  Coming into the season, he was one of the many coaches on the hot-seat and got his team to perform at a top level and even had some of his passion rub off on his players.

All images courtesy of Google Images

What's Next For Roberto Luongo?

In its final media session of the season, Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo came out and said the one thing that people were wondering: would he waive his NTC (no trade clause) and choose to leave Vancouver?  Simply put, yes he would.
Luongo has been a goalie who has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few seasons, called a choke-artist and titled the "goalie that can't win the big game."  Now, the 33-year old netminder, who was replaced after Game 2 in favor of the young, up-and-coming Cory Schneider, is on the hot seat as to whether he would be willing to come back.
With Schneider an RFA (restricted free agent), it is obvious that the Canucks are in a tough spot about whether or not it wants to commit to Luongo for the remaining 10 years of his 12yrs/$64mill and let Schneider walk.  But, after this past playoff series, a 4-1 series loss to the eighth-seeded LA Kings, a series in which Schneider played three of the five games and earning the only victory, all the while playing very well for the Canucks, it seems that the short leash on Luongo has all but run out and it is time for him to leave.

Luckily, for Luongo and the Canucks, his contract was front-loaded, with $16 million of his contract already paid for in the first two seasons, he shouldn't be too hard to ship out.  He is still due $38 million over the next 10 seasons, but his cap hit is $5.33 million, not making him too unreasonable to bring on, especially if its a team who is in need of a goalie (i.e. the New Jersey Devils).
Schneider, who is very close, if not already, is in his prime and will demand a pretty penny and it won't surprise me if Vancouver gives him what he wants.  So I ask the question: where will Luongo wind up next?
We already went over all of the cap stuff regarding Luongo, now it's a matter of trying to come up with a list of teams who are in need of a #1 goalie and have the pieces to give up to obtain him.  My first team, I already stated above, is the New Jersey Devils.  They have over $12 million in caps space available, but only 13 players under contract for next season.  They'll definitely have to give up a couple players to get Luongo, but can definitely take on his contract.  And oh yeah, both future-HOF goalie Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg are UFAs at the end of this season.
The second team I see him going to is, well back to Florida.  He really came onto the scene in Florida and the Panthers have close to $24 million in cap space and are losing back-up goaltender Scott Clemmensen to free agency.  Veteran netminder Jose Theodore is under contract for one more year, but at a measly $1.5 million.  It has 16 players under contract for next season, but a few key RFAs it will need to re-sign, including Wojtek Wolski and Kris Versteeg.
My final destination is the Edmonton Oilers.  Edmonton is a young team, who are just a few small steps and pieces away from finally making the playoffs.  They have the space to take on his contract and also some pieces that Vancouver will be willing to accept in return.  Nikolai Khabibulin is under contract for one more year at $3.75 million and after taking a backseat to Devin Dubnyk in the latter part of the season, he can clearly handle being an over-paid backup.
The options will be there, now we just have to wait and see.

My 2012 NFL Mock Draft

So, unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you know that the 2012 NFL Draft begins Thursday (just the first round.  Somehow the NFL made picking players a three-day event).  But, every day it seems that ESPN has had Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay on ranting and raving about who should go where in the first round, who their sleepers are, and who they think are overrated.  In my opinion, the real draft begins with the third pick, the Minnesota Vikings.  Everyone knows that Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III aka RG3 are going 1-2 respectively, but the #3 pick is a toss-up.  So, without wasting anymore time here is my mock draft top-5 and any other notable picks.
1. Indianapolis Colts- Andrew Luck.  This is clearly no surprise.  I mean, the whole Peyton Manning saga revolved around whether or not they wanted to waste its top-pick on Andrew Luck sitting behind Manning.  Well, Manning is gone and so it's obvious that this is soon going to be Andrew Luck's town.

2. Washington Redskins- Robert Griffin III.  The Redskins traded up with the St. Louis Rams to get the #2 pick and it's been pretty much unanimous with all NFL scouts that RG3 will go directly after Luck.  RG3 is being compared to the likes of Michael Vick and Cam Newton (last year's top-pick) with his athleticism and throwing ability, while also having the ability to turn a five-yard sack into a first down.  He'll be a huge asset in the nation's capital come next season.

3. Minnesota Vikings- Matt Kalil.  This has been a toss-up.  Clearly Minnesota feels comfortable in the offensive side of the ball with its main position players in QB Christian Ponder, RB Adrian Peterson, and in the WR department.  Now it's just a matter of whether or not it wants to assess a defensive need or an offensive need.  I went with the offensive need.  Kalil is a big, mobile OT who can help give Ponder protection in the pocket, while also allowing Peterson to have huge holes to run through and if needs be, can block down field for any short passes to the wide receivers.  I like Matt Kalil to go in this spot.
4. Cleveland Browns- Justin Blackmon.  Any pick that helps assess the team needs at the star offensive positions will be a good one for the Browns.  Whether that be a QB, RB, or WR, they need help.  McShay likes them to take QB Ryan Tannehill from Texas A&M, but I think that they have a good, not great QB in Colt McCoy.  Now, it needs to give him the personnel to work with.  Blackmon is the top-WR prospect in this year's draft and by giving McCoy a big target to throw to, I think the team will begin to see success and good results, not just from McCoy, but from the entire team as well.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Morris Claiborne.  So his Wonderlic scores sucked.  Dude can ball.  Put him in the defensive backfield with Ronde Barber (I think he's older than my dad) and Aqib Talib and you have yourself one heck of a defensive backfield.  The youngest team in the NFL already has a good-young core, so it will only be a matter of time until they get it all together.  Claiborne is certainly a piece that will help make this team a lot better.
6. St. Louis Rams- Michael Floyd.  I know I said the top-5 picks, but the Rams are in desperate need of some help and need a notable WR to help out Sam Bradford and Stephen Jackson.  If Blackmon is still on the board, it will certainly grab him, but the way I see it, it will have to settle for Michael Floyd. Floyd had a great career at Notre Dame and made it apparent that he can be the go-to guy for an offense.
15. Philadelphia Eagles- Fletcher Cox. You didn't actually think I'd leave out my beloved Eagles in this, did you?  The Eagles need desperate up the middle defensive help and after trading for DeMeco Murray, it solved its LB woes, now it needs help along the DL.  Cox is getting a lot of hype, so it won't surprise me if it ends up trading away Asante Samuels to possibly a top-10 team to get Cox before anyone else takes him.
32. New York Giants- Coby Fleener.  It's hard to say what the Giants actually need after winning the Super Bowl, but it suffered tough losses at the TE position to Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum in the Super Bowl, so who knows whether they'll be fully healthy from their ACL surgeries.  Coby Fleener was a huge target for Andrew Luck at Stanford, so expect him to be the first TE off the board and be the final pick in the 1st round.

The Problem With the Sox

Blowing a 9.5 game lead in the month of September to miss the playoffs is bad.  Blowing a 9-0 lead to your rival is even worse.  So what is the problem with the struggling Boston Red Sox?
After a historic collapse last September, the Sox needed a change.  And that change came with the firing of manager Terry Francona and the leaving of GM Theo Epstein, who became the President of the Chicago Cubs.  Unfortunately, Francona wasn't the problem.  By dismissing Francona amidst the rumors of him losing control of the clubhouse and members of the pitching staff drinking in the clubhouse on their days off, the organization made clear that the problem didn't lie in the hands of the players, but that it was Francona's doing.

Francona was easily the best manager that the Red Sox ever had.  He ended the dreaded "Curse of the Bambino" and was able to make the team prominent and powerful once again.  But, his firing (or resignation, or whatever you want to call it) was about as big a mistake that could be made.  When the team hired Bobby Valentine to become his successor, it seemed a step in the right direction.  Valentine is known as a fiery manager who is strict and doesn't accept bullshit from his players.  Simply put, he demands respect.
But he doesn't play the game.  Everything came out on Saturday when, entering the 7th inning, the Red Sox led the New York Yankees 9-1.  Back-to-back seven run innings for the Bronx Bombers changed that score in a hurry and the boo-birds rained down on Bobby-V every time he made a visit to the mound to change pitchers.  But he isn't the one pitching.  Clearly Alfredo Aceves is unhappy that he isn't in the starting rotation.  He sucks now.  Daniel Bard is a fragile piece that, if you ask me, should have stayed in the bullpen.  It is always a risky move trying to convert someone who is dominant for 1-2 innings when throwing 98-100mph and then trying to force him to tone it down to 94-95mph for 5-6 innings.  It just doesn't work.  He's struggling.  And most importantly, Josh Beckett.  He's a drama-queen, hot-head, Mr. Big-shot who clearly doesn't care about anybody or anything but himself.

Beckett should have been the one to leave last season, not Francona.  But, instead, now the Beantowners are stuck with him and the crappy record that comes with being a team with no identity, except the one of being a team with a brutal starting rotation and a bunch of selfish players.  Don't get me wrong, Lester is too talented to pitch this poorly all season and Bucholz is still in the comeback stage of missing the last half of the season last year with a serious injury, so he'll come around.  You obviously still have the leadership of Pedroia and Youkilis and Ortiz and Gonzalez, but everyone else is up in the air.
Right now the Red Sox are sitting in last place in the treacherous AL East and quite frankly, they don't seem to be leaving there anytime soon.  The aura is gone in Boston.  And who knows how long it will take to get it back.

100 Years of Fenway

So today was the 100th birthday of Fenway Park.  America's ballpark, with so much tradition, history, and allure, it was quite a spectacle.
Despite the slow moving ceremony, it was a grand gesture by the Boston Red Sox organization to invite back any living members from every Red Sox team in the organization's history.  I can say that I HATE the Red Sox, but it is an organization that has so much tradition and is one of the cornerstone organizations in the history of the MLB.  There are a few teams that every boy growing up would want to play for and the Sox are one of them.  So, for role players on past teams to share the same field as Red Sox greats such as Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and Pedro Martinez, today was a day that will live forever in the hearts and eyes of Boston players.

The happiest moment in the whole ceremony for me was seeing former manager Terry Francona come back and pay tribute to the fans of Boston.  He was by far the best manager that the organization has ever had and the way that he was dismissed from the team this past offseason didn't do him justice.  But he stoned up and paid tribute.

And what better way to cap off the pre-game events than by setting the record for largest toast, with everyone raising a glass of Welch's sparkling grape to 100 years of Fenway Park history.  Too bad the Sox lost 6-2 (hahahaha).

Where's the Goaltending in the Flyers vs. Penguins Series?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been asking this for the past week, but where is the goaltending in the Flyers vs. Penguins series?
Even someone who loves goal scoring would have to be disgusted by the lack of defense and goaltending that has been on display in the first four games of the series (thankfully, my beloved Flyers still hold a 3-1 series lead).  But, in the first four games, the teams have combined to score 45 goals! That's 11.25 goals/game, a disgusting number.  It's sad that the first game of the series saw seven goals given up in a Flyers OT win and that was considered the defensive struggle of the series.
Since that game last Wednesday, the scores of the games have been as followed: 8-5 Flyers, 8-4 Flyers, 10-3 Penguins.  Frankly, I'm embarrassed as a goalie myself that this is actually happening in the playoffs.  But, any Flyers fan who has watched them closely this season knows that $51 million goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is streaky and has been known to look lost out there, but for Marc-Andre Fleury to be just as bad, if not worse, is a complete surprise in itself.

If the Flyers go on to win this series (and I swear to God, they better), then they are going to need a huge improvement not just in the goaltending department, but in the entire defensive zone.  I've been saying it since they went up 2-0 in the series that they're going to need to be able to win close games, such as Game 1, and not just outscore opponents because as everyone witnessed last night, the scoring well can run dry and then they give up double-digits.
Let's hope that Bryz turns things around and finds his month-of-March groove, in which he had a shutout streak of over three games and only gave up more than two goals twice.  Let's hope that is very, VERY soon.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack! And Talking NHL Playoff Suspensions

So, today, my sports journalism class had our first minor group function together, meeting at 1:30 at the Isenberg School of Management to have a private talk with sports journalist Kevin Blackistone, probably more known by everyone for his frequent appearances on ESPN's "Around the Horn."  One thing that he always tells his students is to start a blog, and it got me thinking, "well, since I already have one, I should probably start back up with it." So, I'm BAAAAAAAACK!
My first post in my first attempt at a comeback will have to deal with the immense amounts of NHL suspensions being handed out by former NHL star and current NHL head of disciplinary Brendan Shanahan.  Today marks one week since the 2012 NHL Playoffs began and already there have been more suspensions handed out than the Boston Bruins have goals (that's at least six).  The playoffs are a time when you would expect to see great play from star players, but this year, it has been more of a blood-bath on the ice than finesse and skill.  Don't get me wrong, there has been plenty of fantastic play, but the suspensions handed out by "Shanny" have overshadowed the results of the series.
Most notably, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had three players suspended for a total of six games, all from a result of actions in its Game 3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.  Forward Craig Adams (1 game), 40+ goal scorer James Neal (1 game) and forward Aaron Asham (4 games) will all be serving time on the sidelines for incidents that have come in a heated, intense, rivalry.  Head Coach Dan Bylsma was fined $10K for his team's actions.

The majority of the suspensions handed out have been due to contact to a players' head, a huge part of the new NHL that the league is trying to move away from.  Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw was suspended three games for delivering a blow to the head of Phoenix Coyote goalie Mike Smith when Smith came out behind the net to play the puck.
Many avid hockey fans that have been hooked to their TV sets this past week watching all of the action believe that the tone was set at the end of Game 1 of the Nashville Predators vs. Detroit Red Wings series when Preds d-man Shea Weber grabbed superstar Henrik Zetterberg's head and slammed it into the glass, only triggering a $5K fine from Shanny.  The inconsistency in the decisions from the NHL has triggered many hockey fans to be unhappy because there is a sense that certain players are being favored in questionable situations.
Coyotes forward Raffi Torres is the most recent recipient of a suspension, as he has been suspended indefinitely until he has a hearing with Shanahan about his hit on Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, forcing Hossa to be carted off the ice on a stretcher.
The complete list of all suspended players is below:
Byron Bitz (Vancouver)- 2 games
Matt Carkner (Ottawa)- 1 game
Carl Hagelin (NY Rangers)- 3 games
James Neal (Pittsburgh)- 1 game
Aaron Asham (Pittsburgh)- 4 games
Craig Adams (Pittsburgh)- 1 game
Nicklas Backstrom (Washington)- 1 game
Andrew Shaw (Chicago)- 3 games
Raffi Torres (Phoenix)- Indefinitely