2014 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

We have arrived here at last! After over six months of action, the final goal is in reach. This journey started with 30 teams and we now have the final two left standing. We have two of the largest cities in the United States set to battle it out for hockey's biggest prize, the Stanley Cup.

So here we go. We have the Western Conference Champions the Los Angeles Kings taking on the Eastern Conference Champions the New York Rangers. For the Rangers, this marks their eleventh appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, and they will seek their fifth Cup championship overall and their first one since 1994, twenty years earlier. Getting to the Finals wasn't exactly an easy task for the Blueshirts. In the opening round, the Rangers knocked off the Flyers in seven games, then followed it up with a seven game series win over Pittsburgh. In the 2nd round series, the Rangers had to overcome a 3-1 deficit to pull out the victory. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games to win their first Eastern Conference championship in twenty years. In the process, the Rangers became the first team to ever play two full seven-game series in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and still reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers were also the first team since the 1972–73 Chicago Black Hawks to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals without a full-time captain.

As for the Los Angeles Kings, this marks their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in five games in 1993, and beating the New Jersey Devils in six games in 2012 to win their first ever title. Much of the core players from the Kings' 2012 championship remained on the team. Los Angeles had a bit tougher route to get to the finals than the Rangers did.  Los Angeles needed three consecutive game sevens to advance to the Cup Finals (breaking the aforementioned Rangers' game sevens record just a couple of days later). They became just the fourth team in NHL playoff history to come back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series, defeating the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The Kings followed that up by eliminated the Anaheim Ducks, and then capped it off by beating the defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals.

This is the third playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Rangers having won both of their previous playoff series against the Kings, the most recent meeting was in the preliminary round of the 1981 playoffs, a best of five series which the Rangers won 3–1. The Kings and Rangers split this year's two-game regular season series, and haven't faced off against each other since October.

Here are the dates, times and TV channels for every possible game in this finals:
June 4 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 7 New York Rangers 7:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 9 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBCSN
June 11 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBCSN
June 13 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 16 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBC
June 18 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC

So now that we know how these teams got here and when they are going to be playing, lets take a deeper look at how they actually stack up.

Goaltending:
Jonathan Quick vs. Henrik Lundqvist
This is going to be a pretty solid matchup, but at the same time it almost doesn't even seem fair. Jonathan Quick has been good in this years playoffs. He's got a 2.86 goals against and a .906 save percentage, which are pretty good numbers. But here's the thing with Quick. He has been good but not great. See when the Kings won the Cup back in 2012, Quick was outstanding, with a goals against under two and a save percentage near .950. He stood on his head, helping carry the Kings to the title that year, walking away with playoff MVP honors. This year he has at times looked like that goalie, but for the most part has been average at best. Henrik Lundqvist, on the other hand, has been absolutely phenomenal in this years playoffs. Hank has a goals against average of 2.03 and a save percentage of .928. He has stood on his head more often than not in this years playoffs, keeping the Rangers in most games when the offense hasn't quite showed up. Hank this year seems to be playing the way Quick did two years ago.

Advangae: Rangers

Defense
There's really two ways to break down this aspect of the game. From an offensive perspective, the Kings have the advantage. Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Slava Voynov have been providing a scoring punch from the back end, which has been a big help to the Kings in the playoffs. While the Rangers can't match the scoring punch of the Kings from the blueline, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal and Anton Stralman have done a great job of shutting down the opposition. The Kings defense can score but they haven't really been able to help out Jonathan Quick in net, while the Rangers have been able to lend plenty of support to Henrik Lundqvist in their nets. Both teams we know can shut down the opposition, but they end up balancing each other out.

Advantage: Even

Scoring
Here's where you're going to see a stark contrast. Both teams we know can roll four lines, they have been doing it quite well all playoffs long. The Rangers are a team built around speed. The Kings are too, but they have more of a physical presence to their game as well. New York has gotten contributions from everybody in the lineup, with Martin St. Louis and Derek Stepan leading the charge in points with 13 each. St. Louis leads the team in goals with six, while Ryan McDonagh leads the way with ten assists. As for the Kings, they boast four of the top ten scores in this years playoffs. Anze Kopitar leads the league with 24 points. Jeff Carter has over 20 points in this years playoffs, Marian Gaborik leads all goal scorers with 12 and Justin Williams has thrown in 18 points as well. Both teams can score, but the Kings have put yup the better numbers. The Rangers have scored four or more goals in a game in this years playoffs six times in the twenty games they played. Meanwhile the Kings have scored four or more goals nine times in the 21 games they have played. Sure the Rangers have balance, but the Kings have balance and their top gunners going at the right time. Here's another aspect to take into account. Right now the Kings top scorers have been producing, Kopitar is leading the league in points while Gaborik leads the way in goals. Sure the Kings get contributions from their role players, but their best forwards are playing like it. The Rangers can't say the same thing at the moment. St. Louis, Richards and Nash have gone cold near the end of the East Finals, the team having to rely on the role players near the end of the last round to power the offense. That could lead to trouble for the Rangers in the finals.

Advantage: Kings

Prediction
This is going to be a highly entertaining series. Home ice advantage isn't going to matter at all, as the home teams have struggled a little during this years playoffs. Lundqvist has played at the top of his game and then some, during this years run, placing him to be a possible favorite for playoff MVP. The Rangers defense has been solid and the Blueshirts have been able to roll their four lines really well. That goes along with the Rangers speed, which they have used to their advantage. Here's where the teams differ. Sure Hank has played better than Quick, but at the end of the day its the scoring and physical play that is going to win out. The Kings play a more physical brand of hockey, something the Rangers have had a little trouble dealing with in this years playoffs. The Kings do score a lot of goals, not exactly the prettiest of goals, but still they find a way to get to the net to score. Los Angeles will use their physical play to wear down the Rangers over the course of the series, and with their top scorers going at full tilt, something the Rangers top scorers can't say at the moment, this series will belong to the Kings, putting the Stanley Cup back in Southern California

Kings in 7!

Who, Or What, Is To Blame For The New York Mets Offensive Struggles?

Over the last fifty years, the New York Mets have been the National League team here in New York. Just like any other sports franchise, the team has its good years and its bad. Over the last five seasons, however, things haven't really looked too good for the Orange and Blue in New York. Ever since moving into the new home, Citi Field, in 2009, the Mets haven't had a winning season. In fact, the team hasn't won more than 80 games in a year since 2008, when they managed to win 89 games. That's bad enough. Now factor in what has gone on this season. Sure the Mets added some pop to the lineup by adding Curtis Granderson, who has put up good power numbers in past seasons. Yet it really hasn't helped the team out, as the team sits at 20-25 on this early year, and are just 9-14 at home. This of course has lead to a very big question: who, or what, is wrong with the New York Mets?

Now some critics have gone to say that the ballpark has something to do with it. Since the Mets moved into Citi Field back in 2009, the team has a home record of 200-227, which puts the teams home winning percentage over the last three full seasons at  .424, which is 28th in all of baseball. Meanwhile, the rest of baseball is averaging a .509 winning percentage in their home parks. Some critics are saying that the park isn't working for the team, even though the fences at the stadium have been not only moved in, but lowered, since it was opened in 09. People have been complaining that it's the park that is causing the Mets to struggle as much as they have the last few seasons. I know the team hasn't hit for much power at home, but that's where the problem lies. The problem lies in the team itself. Here's what I mean. Take a look at where the Mets used to play, Shea Stadium.  Shea, much like Citi Field, most people would agree, was a pitchers ballpark. Yet while at the old park, the Mets had some good offensive years, even making the World Series four times while playing there, winning the fall classic twice. During those golden years at Shea, the Mets were able to, during the good years at least, put a baseball team on the field that could be able to produce in that ballpark. The Mets haven't really been able to do that here.

It's not the park that's causing a problem for the Mets, its the Mets that are causing the problem. In fact, there are two things I see wrong with the Mets right now. One is their attitude towards playing in their ballpark, and two is how management is viewing their baseball team and building a team. Lets first start with the players that are here right now shall we.

Lets look at the roster that's here right now. The three biggest bats the Mets have in their lineup, as far as power is concerned, are David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda. Wright has two homers, both of which have come at home. Wright is known for being an opposite field hitter, he likes to go the other way when he hits. Since going to right center field, its 390 out to the deepest part of that park, its tougher for Wright to hit one out there than it ever did at Shea. So instead of trying to really hit for power and worry about hitting the ball out, just worry about hitting the ball in general. Same thing can go for Granderson and Duda too. Don't worry about hitting for power, focus more on average than hitting for power when playing at home. Out of the everyday starters on this Mets team, only Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares are hitting over .300 to this point in the season. They aren't hitting for power, but they are getting on base and creating scoring chances. It's the rest of the team that is having trouble. Don't focus on the long ball just hit the ball and the runs will come. Bringing in the fences at Citi Field won't change the Mets hitting. If the Mets want to hit better at home, they need to change their attitude and approach to hitting at home.

It's not just the current team that has a responsibility to hit at home, management plays a role in it too. In baseball, as in any other sport, you should be able to build your roster around playing at home. They call it home field advantage for a reason. A big part of success in baseball is playing to your home field, as you play 81 games a year at home. Your supposed to dominate at home. The Red Sox have the Green Monster at Fenway, and for years have been able to build teams around that park to be able to play well at home. Same thing goes for the Yankees at the Stadium. There are short porches at Yankee Stadium, thus they have built a team that can pull the ball to those short porches. All great teams are able to build their baseball clubs to fit and play well at home. When the Mets used to play at Shea, they were able to get teams together, at times, that could really play, and hit, well at home.

This Mets team is not built to play at Citi Field, and the blame for that falls strictly on the shoulders of General Manager Sandy Alderson. A really smart baseball team, management to be more specific, should to adapt its roster to its surroundings. Citi Field is a pitchers park, something the Mets have indeed stockpiled on, even though some of those top arms are currently injured. But you need to be able to score runs, something this Mets team has trouble doing at home. Alderson tried to build the club around the long ball, which as we have seen doesn't work at Citi Field. The park is not really geared towards power hitters, no matter how much the team tries to change the park.

Chaning the ballpark won't really help the Mets. Changing the Mets attitude at the plate and building a roster that can be successful at the park will help the Mets. The Park isn't the problem, the team's attitude is!

2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals Preview

I know this is about two days late but here we go. The time is upon us. When the playoffs began, there were sixteen teams left. Now we are down to the final four in the National Hockey League. The Conference Finals are here and we have two highly entertaining matchups. This series means that teams are one step away from playing for hockey's ultimate prize. The Western Conference finals is somewhat expected, as most fans and analysts had this pegged as the conference finals early on in both the regular season and playoffs. With the Eastern Conference finals, nobody really had these two teams picked to still be playing here, which just goes to show how unpredictable the playoffs can be.

So without further delay, here's our preview of the conference finals!

First up we have the Eastern Conference Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers. The Rangers got here by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round, then knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, both series going seven games. The Rangers made the conference finals back in 2012 when they lost to the Devils in six games, and the Rangers are looking to make the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since winning their last championship in 1994. As for the Canadiens, they got here by sweeping the Lighting in the opening round, then holding off the Bruins in seven games in round two. They haven't made it to the conference finals since 2010, and are looking to make their first appearance in the Cup Finals since their last title win in 1993. This is the fifteenth playoff meeting for these two Original Six teams, with each team having won seven of the fourteen previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which the Rangers won in six games. Montreal won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the Dates and Times for the rest of the series (minus game one which was already played):
May 19 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 22 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 25 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 27 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 29 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 31 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre

This series has a marquee value to it, just as much as anything else in this years playoffs. Heading in, both teams were coming off seven game series in the last round. The Canadiens had some good and some bad nights against the Bruins. That series was a very physical one, having taken something out of the Canadiens tank, and you kind of saw that in game one of this series. Montreal got done in the first round early, had rest and went into a  physical series with Boston. PK Subban and Carey Price have been the two real standouts for the Habs during this years playoffs. Montreal has rolled all four lines and been able to handle the pressure against the Bruins. The special teams has been good, especially the power play, which is going to be a factor in this series. The Rangers, on the other hand, have really stared to heat up over the last few games. After dropping games two three and four to the Penguins, the Blueshirts got something to rally around. Granted it was sadly the passing of Martin St. Louis mother, it still gave them something to rally behind. The Rangers won the final three games of that series. St. Louis, Brad Richards Derek Brassard, Benoit Pulliout and Bryan Boyle have really stepped their play up over the past few games. Despite the fact the power play hasn't really clicked, the lines are rolling right along and the Rangers seemed to have caught fire.

Game one really saw things in a new light. The Rangers dominated from start to finish. Rick Nash finally found the back of the net for the first time in the playoffs, despite firing off the most shots out of anybody in the playoffs. The Rangers are on a roll and Montreal now has another problem to deal with: the injury to Carey Price. Price was hurt after getting run over by Chris Kreider in game one, by accident I might add. Price has been ruled out for the rest of this round, which means it looks like Montreal will have to use Peter Budaj the remainder of the round, possibly longer if Montreal wins this series. I don't think that's gonna happen.  Both teams are beat up, the Rangers more so because they have gone seven games in both prior rounds. That may be a factor for the Rangers. But they have the advantage. They are coming in red hot, as you really saw in the first game of the series. They have been rolling all four lines really well, while the defense and goaltending has been stellar. Montreal had to go seven games to beat Boston, but the physical toll was taken on them, which leads me to believe they may not be able to really last long in this series.

The Pick: Rangers in 7!

Now we move along to the Western Conference finals, which has the Lost Angeles Kings taking on the defending Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. Los Angeles comes into the conference finals after having to go seven games with both the Sharks in the first round and the Ducks in the second round. This marks the 3rd year in a row the Kings have made the Conference finals, as the team looks to get back to the cup finals for the first time since winning the championship back in 2011. Chicago got here by winning six games series against the Blues in the opening round and the Wild in the second round. Chicago is playing in the conference finals for the fourth time in the last six seasons, and are looking to win their 2nd straight Stanley Cup, 3rd in five years. This is the third playoff meeting for these two franchises, with Chicago having won both of their previous playoff meetings. This is a rematch of last years Western Conference Finals, which Chicago won in five games. This is the third straight Conference Finals appearance for the Kings, while it is Chicago's fourth trip to the Conference Finals since 2009. Chicago won all three games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the Date and Times for all games in this series (minus game one which has already been played):
May 21 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 24 Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 26 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 28 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 30 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
June 1 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center

Just the fact that these same two teams are playing each other in this years conference finals says a lot. With how talent heave the West was this year, it says a lot about how good both these clubs are. Los Angeles has been playing good hockey. They overcame a 3-0 deficit to the Sharks to beat them in seven.They had to come back from down 3-2 to the Ducks, who were the 2nd best team in the West, behind Colorado, to beat them in seven games. Jonathan Quick has played very well in the playoffs, Marian Gaborik has been a scoring machine, Jeff Carter Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar have been filling in quite well. Even Dustin Brown has started to pick his game up late in the series against the Ducks. The Achilles heal here for the Kings is going to be their blue line. The LA blue line is quite banged up. Robyn Regehr and Willie Mitchell have been hurt, and its taxing on the rest of the blueline. They're not the same players they once were, but they're still important penalty killers. Matt Greene and Jeff Schultz did a admirable job filling in, but they aren't quite the same players ans Regehr and Mitchell. Without those guys, the other top flight defensemen on the Kings have been wearing down. Playing a team like the Hawks is going to take its toll with an injured defense crop.

Chicago is still mostly in tact from a season ago, and their big guns are really starting to heat up at the right time for the Champs. Kane and Toews have been playing well in the playoffs, Toews has six goals already, the exact same number he's had the last few years combined. What may possibly hurt the Hawks in this series is a slight lack of depth up front. Sure they still have a dominate top six forwards, but its the bottom six that leave you worried. Head coach Joel Quinville hasn't quite been able to roll four lines as easily as he would have liked, which could end up possibly hurting him in a series like this against a team like the Kings. Still with all things considered, I think the Hawks are healthy enough and experienced enough, to be able to pull this thing out.

The Pick: Blackhawks in 7!

So there you have it. The stage has been set the final four are ready and in two weeks we will have our Stanley Cup Finals!

(Authors Note: All predictions read in article were made BEFORE the start of the series)

2014 NBA Conference Finals Preview

The time has arrived. The final four teams in the NBA are now left standing. Bragging rights are on the line. Winners of these series will face off for the NBA title. The conference finals are set to go, with plenty of highly entertaining basketball on for our viewing pleasure. When the season started back in October, most experts had this pegged as the Conference Finals. How these four teams got here is a bit more of an interesting story, as they took slightly different routes to get to where they are.

So without further delay, here is the full preview for both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals

We start things off with the Eastern Conference Finals, a rematch of last years finals as we have the top seed the Indiana Pacers taking on the 2nd seed and two time defending champions the Miami Heat. The Pacers got here by beating the Atlanta Hawks in a hard fought seven game series, followed by a six game series win over the Washington Wizards. This marks the 2nd year in a row the Pacers are in the East Finals, coming off last years loss to the Heat. Indiana is looking to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000. Indiana hasn't won a championship since they won the ABA Championship in 1972-73 season. As for the Miami Heat, they are the two time defending NBA Champions, having appeared in the NBA finals in each of the last three years. In fact, Miami is in the East finals for the 4th year in a row, the last time the Heat failed to make the Eastern Conference was back in the 2009-10 season. The Heat got this far in the playoffs by sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats in the opening round, then disposed of the Brooklyn Nets in five games. This marks the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the last meeting being in last years East Finals, which was won by the Heat. The teams played four times during the regular season, with each team winning twice. Ironically enough, the home team has won every game during the regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 18 3:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 20 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 24 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
May 26 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
May 28 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers* Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 30 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat* American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
June 1 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers* Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

This series actually seems a little easier to predict now than it would have a few months ago. Sure it's still a marquee matchup featuring the two best teams in the conference. But right now, its seems as if the two teams are going in opposite directions, at least in terms of confidence. When the playoffs started, both teams seemed to be lacking a little bit of confidence. Miami has found their swagger again, as they have lost just once, to this point, in the playoffs this year. The Heat have had very little trouble through the first two rounds of the playoffs, with Lebron James carrying the heavy workload for the Heat. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh have had impacts, but they aren't playing anywhere near the level Lebron is at the moment. James isn't doing it by himself, he is getting help from the role players on the team like Chris Anderson, Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen. Indiana, however, has struggled through the first two rounds. Sure they have walked away the victors in the first tow series, but they had to go at least six games in each of them. Roy Hibbert, the Pacers best player, has been inconsistent all playoffs long. He looked like he might have returned to form in game six against Washington, but its tough to tell if he is really back to form. With Hibbert sort of under performing to this point, Paul George and David West have had to step up. I can't exactly describe, in words at least, what's been going on with the Pacers, but you can just get this sense that something isn't quite right with the Pacers. They don't exactly look like the same team. With that taken into account, and the fact that the Heat have returned to form, this isn't going to end well for the Pacers.

The Pick: Heat in 5!

In the Western Conference, we have a better matchup of the two as we see the top seed the San Antonio Spurs taking on the two seed the Oklahoma City Thunder.The San Antonio Spurs are the top team in the West, for the 3rd time in the last four years. In the past, it hasn't really worked out well for San Antonio, as they have yet to make the NBA finals as the top seed in the West. Last year the made it all the way to the finals, coming into the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the conference. Getting to the West Finals this year, the Spurs had to go seven games to beat Dallas in the opening round, then they took down Portland in five games. San Antonio is looking to try and capture their first NBA title since 2007. As for the Thunder, they come in as the 2nd seed in the conference, knocking off Memphis in seven games in the opening round, following it up with a six game series win over the Clippers. Oklahoma City has made the conference finals for the 3rd time in the last four seasons, and are looking to get back to the NBA finals for the 2nd time in the last three years. This marks the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, the last one coming in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, which the Thunder won in six games. The Spurs took the first two playoff meetings between the teams, this was back when the Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics. These teams met four times during the regular season, with the Thunder winning all four games.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 19 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 21 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 25 8:30 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 27 9:00 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 29 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 31 8:30 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder* Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 2 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

This series is a little tougher to predict than the East finals. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have been carrying the heavy load for the Thunder in the playoffs. They've also been getting contributions from role players too, guys like Serge Ibaka, Steve Adams and Reggie Jackson, among others. The thing to note here is that the Thunder, for as good as they are, have had to go at least six games in the first tow rounds, against teams that could be possibly viewed as inferior. They have struggled a little against both the Clippers and Grizzlies. Now they have to face a better basketball team in the Spurs, a team which I still contend to be the most balanced basketball team in the entire league. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have been playing well in the playoffs. They've been getting great support from guys like Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw have all had an impact in the playoffs. That's the difference right now. The Thunder are looking to their big two and their role players, while the Spurs are using everything at their disposal. Oklahoma City will make it a good series, but depth and experience are going to win out.

The Pick: Spurs in 6!

So there you have it. The stage is set, may the best teams win!

Does Major League Baseball Have An Epidemic On It's Hands?

Tommy John Surgery. Three words that no pitcher ever wants to hear. Jose Fernandez, the young ace of the Miami Marlins staff, has become the latest member of this club, one which nobody wants to be a part of. It's becoming quite alarming how many pitchers have to go under the knife to get this surgery done. To be exact, Tommy John Surgery is ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction. It is a surgical graft procedure in which the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body. The number of baseball players who need to have this operation is quite alarming. This leads to two big overall questions. Does Major League Baseball have an "epidemic" on their hands? Is their a solution to this problem?

Is this a major epidemic? Not in the same sense as say Swine Flu no. But it is becoming a major problem. When you start seeing players getting hurt with this kind of an injury with as much frequency as they have, then it is really becoming a problem. For a long time, if you had to have Tommy John Surgery, it would mean that it was sort of an injury of attrition. Most pitchers having the operation had been pitching for a long time, with the average age being 30 years or older. Now we are seeing guys in their early twenty's having to undergo this procedure. The reason?  There could be a number of factors, but two that keep popping up in reports are too many innings and too much velocity at a younger age. Here's some interesting numbers. The first surgery was performed in 1977. Between then and the turn of the century in 2000, there was an average of no more than ten surgeries performed in a year. From 2000 to right now, the numbers have skyrocketed. Here's the number of Tommy John Surgery's by year from 2000-2014 (among MLB players only. Numbers according to ESPN):

2014 - 16*
2013 - 19
2012 - 36
2011 - 18
2010 - 16
2009 - 19
2008 - 18
2007 - 20
2006 - 18
2005 - 16
2004 - 12
2003 - 15
2002 - 13
2001 - 12
2000 - 13

That's freaking scary that there are that many players who are having to go under the knife for this operation. And in some cases, players have had to have the surgery a 2nd time. Most of the time, players are able to come back from this operation and resume their careers. It hasn't been a perfect 100% success rate, but its been a very successful operation, with some 90-95% of the surgeries being a success (ESPN).

Sure it's great to see that this surgery has been a success, as a lot of guys have gone on to resume careers. What is really making me worry, though, is that players have to even go under the knife for the operation to begin with. Now the big question is, how do you stop pitchers from having to go under the knife in the first place?

There's no real, exact way to be able to stop and control pitchers from having to undergo this operation. There are ideas being put out there as to how to try and prevent this from happening.

Everybody has their own theories as to how to possibly cure this problem. Some say it has to do with bad mechanics in pitching.  Some pitchers are being taught to pitch "downhill" which is where pitchers are being taught to throw towards the bottom of the strikezone. That seems to be putting more strain on the arms of pitchers. Some people believe that the drop and drive pitch style that made Tom Seaver so successful, and was used by many pitchers in the 70's and 80's, allowed pitchers to have better mechanics, stay healthier and pitch more innings. Some mechanics can play a factor in this. A lot of that is taught in youth baseball, which is another cause to the problem.

A study was done recently that showed that some youth pitching to be a culprit for players having surgery at later points in life. Some studies show that pitching past fatigue and pitching year round really isn't good for such young arms. Pitching past fatigue isn't allowing the young arms to be able to rest and recover the way it should. Same thing goes for pitching year round. Pitchers aren't getting the proper rest for their arms. The results might not be harmful right away, but they have shown up later in life. So resting young pitchers and changing their mechanics could go a long way to helping out pitchers avoiding having to take the surgery.

It's not just youth baseball either that can undergo changes to help save pitchers arms. It should really start at the Major League level as well. Some people are trying to push to get the pitching mound lowered, something I think they have a valid argument for. The argument for this was being made at a MLB roundtable last week by Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek and biomechanics expert and former pitcher Tom House that the greater the slope of the mound the greater the forces that are applied to the arm. Reduce the height of the mound and you reduce the forces upon the arm (Sports Illustrated).

It really makes perfect sense, because it really would put less strain on the arm of a pitcher. And it can be passed down to the youth and armature level as well. The reason to throw this in is that, according to some reports, 13 year old kids are pitching off Major League size pitching mounds. Doing that is really putting a ton of strain on the arm, which later in life is going to be harmful, possibly leading to having this surgery. So if you lower the pitching mound, that might alleviate some of the pressure on the pitching arms.

This is just some thoughts and theories as to somewhat cure Tommy John Surgery. There's no set rule or way to take the pressure off the arms of pitchers, but at least steps are being taken in the right direction to get this problem taken care of.t

Grades For The NFL Draft

I know this post is a few days late, so please forgive me. We know that the NFL Draft was last weekend, the one weekend a year where teams start to select the possible cornerstones of their franchises. Last week here on the blog I posted about what the local area teams, the Jets and Giants, need to do in the draft to try and fill their holes. Some of the picks were good, while others may leave fans scratching their heads. Some holes were filled, while others still need to be addressed. So here now is the grades for both the Jets and Giants for their respected drafts this year.

Big Blue had quite a few holes they needed to try and fill. They needed to try and pick up another receiver, offensive line help, help in the secondary and help with the pass rush. The Giants had seven picks to try and fills those holes. General Manager Jerry Reese did make a huge splash with their 12th overall pick when they took Wide Receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. from LSU. This was a great pick for the Giants. Beckham is really quick, to the point where he can make moves after the catch to get more yards, and he has the speed to be able to beat a defensive back downfield. Beckham will be a nice complement to Victor Cruz. Reese then upgraded the offensive line in the 2nd round, when he selected Weston Richburg, the center from Colorado State. Richburg is smart and agile, and he is equally good as a pass protector as he is in the running game. He is going to be a good pickup to help protect Eli, which is something that didn't really happen last year for the Giants.

Another solid pick the Giants made was their 4th round selection, which they used on Andre Williams, the Running Back from Boston College. According to what I've read and heard, he is a bruising running back, almost kind of a ground and pound style back, that could be utilized late in a ballgame to help hold a lead.  When it came to addressing the defense, it may be hit or miss with the Giants. The team used their third-round draft choice on Jay Bromley, the defensive tackle of Syracuse. From what I've been hearing, he is a versatile player, but he may have difficulty anchoring at the defensive tackle position, a position which the Giants have been looking to anchor down for a while now. Lets face facts the Giants pass rush hasn't been as feared as it once was.

The Giants used their final three picks in the draft on a linebacker and secondary help. They selected Nat Berhe, a Safety from San Diego State,  Devon Kennard, the Linebacker from Southern California and Bennett Jackson, the Cornerback from Notre Dame. Berhe doesn't offer the Giants much, as he is, according to some experts, an overachiever who lacks size and speed, which is going to be a problem. The best pick of the lot could be Kennard of USC. He may not crack the starting lineup but could be good in pass coverage and on special teams.

Sure the Giants did upgrade the offense with adding a threat receiver, a solid lineman and a pounding running back. On defense, there hasn't been much of an upgrade. So they sort of balance each other out. All in all, a very solid draft by the Giants.

Final Draft Grade: B

As for the New York Jets, they had more to work with, in regards to their picks. Gang Green had 12 picks to work with, trying to fill holes at wide receiver, tight end and in the secondary. For the fourth year in a row the Jets used their first round selections on defense, an area they really needed to address. This time, the Jets used their 18th overall pick to select Calvin Pryor, the Safety out of Louisville. Pryor is an explosive hitter with good but not great ball skills. Some could make the argument that there was a better option at safety but this is the guy the Jets felt could help them out better. Still a very solid pick. Same thing can be said for their 2nd round pick, Jace Amaro, the Tight End from Texas Tech. He will be a big help in the passing game from the tight end position. He is 6'5 and 265 pounds. The guy has good pass catching range, something that will be able to help out the Quarterback. It will be a nice complement to Jeff Cumberland at tight end.

The Jets used their 3rd round pick to help out the secondary, taking Dexter McDougle, the Cornerback from Maryland. He may not have had a super distinguished college career and is coming off a shoulder injury, but according to reports he has the excellent instincts and intangibles to play at this level. As afar as the receiving core goes, the Jets added two new possible targets for their quarterbacks to throw to. Fourth-round wide receivers Jaleh Sanders of Oklahoma and Shaq Evans of UCLA should be a solid duo. Sanders is fairly elusive, while Evans is a smart route runner who knows how to get open even if he is not a burner. But then again it's been a question mark for the Jets, as they have had a little trouble getting good receivers out of the draft, so it will be interesting to see what happens with these two guys possibly in the lineup.

The Jets did pick up some good pieces they needed to make the team better, that's for sure. Some of the picks could turn into big stars in this game, but some of the picks are leaving you scratching your head. There is still more work that needs to be done for this team to be a threat in the AFC East, that's a given. After this draft, the Jets may have pieces in place to build around, either by hanging onto current talent or possibly moving it in a deal. All in all it was a solid draft for the Jets.

Final Draft Grade: B

So there you have it, the draft grades for both the Giants and Jets for this year's draft!

2014 Subway Series Preview

That time of the year has arrived. The battle for New York is upon us as the Subway Series is set to go in Major League Baseball. Both teams have made some major changes in the offseason, trying there best to improve their baseball teams, with some interesting words being thrown around during the winter. We will get to that in a little while. There is a promise of something you will see every year. At least once a year the Mets and Yankees will leave a memorable moment in time. So before we get into this years series, this crosstown rivalry does have a little bit of history behind it.

This will mark the 18th time since interleague play began in 1997, that the teams will face off during the regular season. The Mets won the first ever game played between these two teams, 6–0 behind Dave Mlicki complete game shutout. The Yankees went on to take the final two games of that series. In fact the Yankees won the first two series between the teams, before they earned a split of the series in 1999. In total, the Yankees have won the season series eight times, while the Mets have won the series three times (2004, 2008 and a sweep of last year). In total, the Yankees are 54-40 all time in the regular season against the Mets. The teams have split the series five times. There have been great memories associated with this rivalry, like June 12th, 2009 when Louis Castillo droppped the game ending pop up allowing the Yankees to get the walk off win, Mets get the walk off win over Mariano Rivera twice during the years and so on.

So now that we know that there have been some great moments between the two clubs, with more to come in this season. There's a lot of interesting ways to look at this series, with focus on two storyline in particular. First is that this is going to be Derek Jeter's last series against the Mets, something the Mets are going to be very happy to see. During his career, Jeter has killed the Mets, as he has a .368 average with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 84 games against the Amazins.  Jeter has felt very comfortable hitting, and playing, against the Mets so he is looking to close out this rivalry with a bang before he retires.This year Jeter been able to hit .250 with a homer and seven RBI in his final year in the bigs.

The other big storyline in the series is the fact that Curtis Granderson will be making his return to the Bronx for the first time since leaving for the Mets as a free agent. Granderson made a pretty big splash when he was first introduced as a member of the Mets when he said “A lot of the people I’ve met in New York have always said that true New Yorkers are Mets fans.” (WFAN) So he made a pretty bold statement in his first press conference with his new team. Sadly he hasn't really been able to back up that claim, as he is hitting .185 with three homers since signing the four year deal with to play in Flushing. So you know, thanks to his bold comments and his underachieving play to this point in the year, that Yankees fans are going to be all over Gradnerson. It will be intriguing to see how well he is going to handle the situation.

With all that taken into account, its going to make for some must watch baseball. Of course, both teams will always be compared to eachother. So staying in that spirit, we will do that now for a breakdown of this series.

Catchers (Brian McCann vs. Travis d'Arnaud)
This one is almost a no contest. Sure d'Arnaud has done an alright job behind the plate. The offensive production isn't quite there just yet, but the Mets hope he will be able to turn it around. Meanwhile Brian McCann has been as advertised in a Yankee uniform. He has provided the offensive pop that the team was looking for when they signed him. Same thing goes for his defense.

The Edge: Yankees

1st Baseman (Mark Teixeira vs. Lucas Duda)
This one isn't even a contest really, Teixeira is just so far ahead of Duda in both offensive production and defense it's not even really funny. I'll give Duda a little bit of credit, he hasn't been too bad on the defensive side of things. From an offensive perspective, it's not even really close, Tex has the advantages, being he is a much better hitter.

The Edge: Yankees

2nd Baseman (Brian Roberts vs. Daniel Murphy)
This is the first time I will flip the switch here on the two teams.  Brian Roberts has been average at both sides of the ball this year. Defense is ok but hitting is a little below par. Murphy is a better defensive second baseman and better hitter. This one is a little easier to pick.

The Edge: Mets

Shortstop: (Derek Jeter vs. Ruben Tejada)
This one almost isn't really fair to pick. I know that Jeter isn't near the top of his game like he was almost ten years ago. Jeter and Tejada can play well on the defensive side of the ball, Jeter is better but not by much. When it comes to hitting, however, that's a different story. Tejada can't hit a lick, while Jeter still can to a degree. This one is again a no contest.

The Edge: Yankees

3rd Base (Yangervis Solarte vs. David Wright)
From a defensive perspective this one isn't even really close, Wright is a better all around defensive 3rd baseman. Simple as that. When it comes to hitting, at least right now, its a little closer than people would have guessed. Solarte has driven in 20 runs and is hitting .315. Wright is hitting .289 but has driven in two more runs than Solarte. Both guys have hit two homers. But if you look at the whole body of work, I think it might be a no contest.

The Edge: Mets

Right Field (Carlos Beltran vs. Curtis Granderson)
This one is an interesting position to look at. We know both guys can hit for power and can play the outfield. But there is a few stark differences. Beltran has a slight edge on defense and when it comes to hitting it's not really close. Sure both guys are power hitters but Granderson strikes out too much while Beltran is a much better all around hitter. Figuring out the advantage is pretty easy.

The Edge: Yankees

Center Field (Jacoby Ellsbury vs. Chris Young/Juan Laguares)
Another case of almost a no brainer. Ellsbury is a better all around ball player than whoever the Mets have roaming Center field. It would be a lot closer though if it was Laguares in for the Mets. Laguares is a better defensive outfielder but the hitting aspect favors the Yankees.

The Edge: Yankees

Left Field (Brett Gardner vs. Eric Young Jr.)
Both guys have good speed, both guys have good range in the outfield and both guys are decent hitters, with a slight edge in offensive production from Gardner. This one will be fun to watch

The Edge: Even

Designated Hitter (Bobby Abreau vs. Alfonso Soriano)
This one too is a bit of a no contest. I know both guys are getting up there in years, but Abreau is 40 and hasn't played much the last few years. After being a once feared power hitter, he hasn't been at that level in quite a while. Soriano still has a little jump in his bat. He can't hit quite as well as he did in his first stint with the Yankees, but he can still swing the bat once in a while.

The Edge: Yankees

Starting Pitchers:
Bartolo Colon (2-5) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (2-3) 
Zach Wheeler (1-3) vs. Vidal Nuno (1-0)
Rafael Montero (0-0) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (5-0)
Dilon Gee (3-1) vs. Paul Maholm (1-3)
Pitching staff has been weird this season. They have had some inconsistencies on both sides that can be said. Just based on who is starting in this four game set, they may be able to pull out a split of the series.

The Edge: Even