What Happened to the D’backs?

After the month of April the Arizona Diamond Backs had the best record in baseball at 20-8 and were considered by many to be World Series contenders. Since then the “Baby Backs” have gone 21-34 and have seen their lead in the NL West go from 7 games to 2.5 games and have seen their record go from 12 games above .500 at 20-8 to .500 even at 41-41.

So just how did this happen?

Pitching: The pitching is one place that you could look as currently the proclaimed “Best Staff in Baseball” is performing brutally. In June Randy Johnson has a record of 0-5 with a 6.82 ERA which is actually better than teammate Micah Owings who owns a 8.28 ERA to go along with a 0-5 record as well. Even ace Brandon Webb is slumping 2-4 (having given up 12 runs in his past two starts). Only Dan Haren is pitching well as he has gone 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA over his past 5 starts.

Hitting: In the first month of the season, the Diamondbacks hit .268 with a .345 on-base percentage and a .468 slugging percentage. That dropped to .244/.328/.402 in May. And, so far in June, they are hitting a feeble .217, with only the Cincinnati Reds being. Those last two numbers are the worst in the league. Either league.

Also the D’backs currently have 5 everyday players batting under .250 over the last month. How are you expected to win games when more than half your team is flirting with the Mendoza Line?

Age: The D’backs has got one of the youngest teams in baseball with the average age being 30 years old (44-year old Randy Johnson skews that number a little bit). Some of their key players are still under the age of 25 including, right fielder Justin Upton who is just 20, centerfielder Chris Young and third baseman Mark Reynolds who are 24, and shortstop Stephen Drew who is 25.

The young age of these key players means that they are still developing and refining their skills. But how long can you wait when over the past 30 days your starting right fielder is batting .125 with 2 RBI and 2 HR?

Luckily for the Diamondbacks they are in the worse division in baseball where a .500 record is good enough for a division lead and a playoff spot. Also lucky for the D’backs is that they are a much better team after the All-Star break as last year's D'backs went 43-29 in the second half. I guess that break just can’t come fast enough for the youngsters down there in Arizona.

Mailbag

So what I like to do is every Sunday answer some of your questions and comments. If you would like to ask me a question or have a comment feel free to email me at james.choleras@gmail.com. Enjoy!

“Do you think in the next 5 years the Raptors can win it all? What would they need to do to accomplish such a task?” – Andrew P

5 years is a very long time to look ahead, but if I had to have an answer I would say “no”. There are too many younger teams out there who are better than the Raptors right now who have a much better chance to win it all. This all depends on contracts and if teams can keep their younger talent though. When Lebron James becomes a free agent in 2010, if he goes to a team with at least 1 other decent player then they could win a championship. The same can be said for Orlando if they can keep Dwight Howard and New Orleans if they can keep Chris Paul.

Now as far as the Raptors are concerned, what they need to do is bring in some better talent to play with Chris Bosh and show him they are serious about winning or when his contract expires in 2010 he might walk. Bringing in Jermaine O’Neal and getting rid of TJ Ford definitely helped but they can’t stop there. Also getting rid of 1-dimensional players like Jason Kapono would be a move in the right direction. Lastly what the Raptors need to do is finally decide on what kind of player they want Andrei Bargnani to be either a rebounding center or a 7’0 3point specialist.

“Which 2 storied rivals have the best chance at meeting for a league championship in 1 of the 4 major sports in the next year?” – Bryan C

This is an excellent question but the only problem is that most of the great rivalries in sports have 2 teams in the same conference i.e. Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens and Red Sox vs. Yankees so that’s an issue in itself. This year we did see two great rivals in the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers meet in the NBA Finals. So looking at rivalries across the 4 big leagues I would have to go with a Lakers-Celtics repeat.

The Lakers are basically going to have the same team except Andrew Bynum will be healthy, so that’s a huge improvement on this year’s team. Lets not forget that they sill have the best basketball player in the world in Kobe Bryant. The Celtics are still going to have Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen and the East is still relatively weak compared to that so they have a great chance of repeating.

“Cleary you are not a Leaf fan but what do you think of the moves they have made so far? And do you think they will be able to make the playoffs?” – Nathan C

You’re right, I’m not a Leaf fan but I absolutely love what they have done so far this season. Kyle Wellwood is a scrub who played on the 1^st and 2^nd lines and only managed 21 points in 59 games and who also apparently has the worst work ethic in hockey. Andrew Raycroft couldn’t stop a beach ball and has mercilessly been shipped out after fans ripped into him every time he got between the pipes and with good reason (2-9 3.92 GAA .876 SV%). Darcy Tucker was costing way too much money and wasn’t producing to earn that money, 18G 16A 34P -8, last season. But now all of these players are gone and cap room is available to try and bring in some free agents.

The Leafs chances of making the playoffs .00001%. If they don’t bring in anybody and Mats Sundin decides to take his services elsewhere then the Maple Leafs top line would be Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Jason Blake which might be the worst top line in NHL history.

“Do you think the Grizzles traded Kevin Love as to avoid having a Gay-Love line-up on the floor?” – Ryan W

At first I assumed it was because they felt that OJ Mayo was a better player and had more potential but hey you never know.

Draft Winners and Losers

Winners

New Jersey Nets - I can't believe Brooke Lopez fell to the Nets at #10. He was easily the best big man in the draft, yes I include Kevin Love in that, and teams who really need help with interior scoring passed on him over and over. Your telling me that the Memphis Grizzlies who's current starting center is Kwame Brown couldn't use Lopez? He has a great offensive game with the ability to score in bunches and can also rebound real well. He missed the first half of the NCAA season due to academic problems but came back fierce and against excellent competition to average 12.6 ppg and 6 rpg. He is going to make the teams that didn't select him regret it mark my words.

The Nets were also able to make another steal getting Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis at #40. Douglas-Roberts is a polished player and should have very little trouble making the transition from NCAA to NBA. His winning attitude and scoring ability should help fill the void left by Richard Jefferson.

The Golden State Warriors - GM Chris Mullin should have worn a mask last night because he stole Anthony Randolph with the #14 pick. Randolph's stock dropped a bit as people felt that he was too skinny too play effectively in the NBA but he could easily be the next Chris Bosh. At LSU he averaged 15.6 ppg and 8.5 rbg so we know that he can play.

The Miami Heat - Lucky for the Heat the Bulls needed a point and Michael Beasley fell to them at #2. Beasley is by far the best player in the draft and should be an excellent NBA player for a long time. He is only the 2nd Kansas State player to be named as a First Team All-American, the other being Carlos Boozer, and he also got Kansas State out of the 1st round of March Madness. Beasley was one of the most dominant players in the country, averaging 26.5 points (third-ranked nationally) and 12.5 rebounds per game (top-ranked nationally). He broke the freshman double-double record previously held by Carmelo Anthony. Anthony had 22 double-doubles while Beasley finished 28.

Losers

NY Knick Fans - Booing your teams first round pick just because you have never seen him play and he is an international player is just ignorant. Danilo Gallinari became the 1st international player selected in the 1st round by the NY Knicks in franchise history and didn't get a warm response from the fans. Let me just say that this kid can flat out play and against better competition than is provided in the NCAA. He is NBA ready and is better than most of the scrubs the Knicks call players anyway. Hopefully he has a great season and turns all those boos into cheers. I thought a lot of Italians lived in NY.

The Minnesota Timberwolves - You drafted OJ Mayo and then traded him for Kevin Love. What were you smoking? OJ Mayo has the potential to be a franchise guard and the Timberwolves could use a franchise guard right about now. By trading for Love you now have a good front court, Love and Al Jefferson, but it is undersized and will force Jefferson to continue playing center. The Timberwolves did also get Mike Miller who has one of the nicest shots in the NBA and also dumped the contract of Marko Jaric so I guess that is a positive but still a foolish move. Mayo has all the potential in the world and could very well be the next Kobe Bryant you don't pass that up.

Basketball Fans - Didn't get to see nearly enough of Stephen A. Smith who in my opinion is the best basketball analyst on television. He tells it like it is and isn't afraid of the consequences which is the perfect combo for draft day when teams make questionable decisions. Instead of being part of the analyst team he was demoted to interviewing the players which robbed him of the ability to be himself and ask creative questions. You could tell he was being forced to ask, "What are you going to bring to the [insert team]?" Instead of Stephen A fans were forced to listen to the bland Jeff van Gundy who said about 3 words all night. Come on ESPN step your game up next time and let Stephen A do his thing.

Final is Set

After Spain’s 3-0 win over Russia yesterday the final of Euro 2008 is finally set. With the win the Spanish earned themselves a date with Germany on Sunday to decide who the best team in Europe is for the next 4 years. It should be an amazing game and one that fans have been hoping for since the knockout stage began. Both teams like to play offensive football and are always trying to push forward.

Many people felt that the Spanish defense would get exposed by the strong Russian attack but after watching the game I think they are more than ready for the task of stopping the Germans. Sergio Ramos who looked like he didn’t have a pulse for most of the tournament was by far the best man on the field yesterday as he was all over the place playing strong defense and getting forward to put crosses into the area (his good play however does not excuse his awful haircut). The Germans will have to do a bit of defending of their own as they will have their hands full with the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Cesc Fàbregas pushing forward for the Spanish.

The Spanish also seem to be a team of destiny as earlier in the knockout stage they broke a long standing jinx of winning an international game on June 22nd something that had eluded them 3 times previous. The Spanish had lost its last 3 games on the 22nd of June in penalty kicks so when the game went to penalties the whole of Spain were holding their collective breath.

However the Germans are no pushover and were one of the early favorites to win it all. But after an early loss to Croatia many questioned the ability of the German team. Things got worse for the Germans as their coach Joachim Loew was banned from the pitch for the German’s first game in the knockout stage after an incident in the last group match against Austria. But the Germans persevered and made short work of Portugal dominating the match from start to finish. They then went on to be the upstart Turks in a thrilling game that showed just how versatile the Germans were as they scored timely goals seemingly at will.


The key for the Germans in the final will be getting Bastian Schweinsteiger the ball early and often as so far this tournament every time he’s scored the Germans have won. He is easily tournament MVP and should also win the award for the best name in the tournament, just say it out loud a few times it’s really one of the best names going.


Germany coach Joachim Loew was asked if Spain compared with Portugal, who the Germans beat in the quarterfinals.

"Spain is a lot better than Portugal. It is a lot more flexible and not so predictable," Loew said. "They keep the ball well in their own rows and it's very hard to intercept. The Spain team shows great ease and it's very economical."

Lowe is very correct in his analysis of the Spanish and knows that his team will have to play their best game in order to come out on top. I personally feel that the Germans will win as their team is just solid from top to bottom and my early prediction of a free kick goal by Torsten Frings may still yet come to fruition.

What Were You Thinking?

Novak Djokovic what were you thinking when before Wimbledon started you called out Roger Federer? You have 1 career Major title compared to his 15 not to mention he has won the past 5 Wimbledon's. I won't even mention the last time the two of you met in the finals of a Major, the 2007 US Open, Federer gave you a good old fashioned beat down and took you in straight sets. I also won't mention that it could be argued that Roger Federer is the greatest mens tennis player of all time. So I ask again what were you thinking when you said this,

"New names are coming, fresh talented players who believe more they can win against him and I am one of them. Suddenly he is worried a little bit. Some things are changing. I think he's a little bit shaken with that loss and mentally he has been struggling in the last couple of months."

Calling out the worlds #1 player like that is never a good move. Just because Federer isn't having his greatest year and coming off a beating at the hands of Rafael Nadal is no reason to think that he is all of a sudden a terrible player and that you can try and say he wins due to his name alone and not his skill. Even though he is only 21 Djokovic needs to grow up.

However the poetic justice in this whole scenario is that Roger Federer has played up to his usual standards so far while Mr. Djokovic lost his match yesterday to Marat Safin and can now pack his bags and go home. Safin took him out in straight sets, winning 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 which makes me smile as maybe next time Djokovic will focus more on his game rather than his talk.

Bryan Colangelo Shakes Things Up

As of today the a trade has been agreed upon in principle between the Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers. The deal would send TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, a player to be named later, and the 17th overall pick in the NBA Draft to be held later on tonight to the Pacers in exchange for Jermaine O'neal. The trade was agreed to in principle and would only require physicals to be completed according to the press release that came out yesterday.

It was thought before the start of last season that the Raptors had struck gold and could use a two guard system to wreak havoc on the league but after Ford went down and Jose Calderon stepped in and played like an all-star Ford became expendable. Calderon was still willing to split time with Ford although he was not happy about it but it eventually became clear that Calderon was the new #1 guy and Ford was visibly not happy with the decision. With Ford's unhappiness evident to the league offers began pouring in from all over from teams trying to add Ford.

"We're talking about a player in T.J. that's an asset," Bryan Colangelo Raptors GM said. "He's a starting point guard in the NBA. Due to the fact that ... it's been known that he's available, so to speak, there's been a lot of interest. Teams have called and inquired and not put deals on the table that have been insulting in any regard. It's apparent that T.J.'s value is very high."

Earlier in the week there were talks that Ford might end up going to Phoenix in exchange for Boris Diaw but Indiana soon emerged with the offer of O'neal that was apparently too good to pass up.

O'Neal has missed over 50 games in the past two seasons due to serious knee problems, including a career high 40 last year after his knee was surgically repaired in the off-season. When he is actually healthy, O'Neal is a beast and i arguably one the NBA's dominant big men, averaging at least 19 points and nine rebounds. His numbers did drop last year a bit 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds but that can mostly be attributed to his knee issues. Along with his injury problems O'Neal brings with him a hefty contract as he has two years and $44-million remaining.

The thing that bothers me the most about this trade as a Raptors fan is that what the Raptors truly need is a center. Granted Jermaine O'neal can play center he is the same type of player as Chris Bosh a PF/C who feels more comfortable at PF. Why the Raptors didn't use Ford and the pick to move up and select Brooke Lopez is beyond me. Also I don't like trading for players who have a history of injury, are 29 years old, and have a big contract. However maybe Colangelo is trying to assemble his own Big 3 of Bosh, Calderon, and O'neal. Only time will tell but for now I remain skeptical.

PR Issues

Everyday I like to check sportsillustrated.com to see what the top stories are in sports for the day. The first page I go to is the NFL homepage to see if the Jets or any other team has made any noise overnight. Normally there are a few interesting stories but of late the stories are starting to veer away from football and are taking on an alarming pattern. Of the 13 stories that are listed on the homepage as of this morning 6 of them are about legal troubles that players in the NFL are currently having. This ranges from Javon Walker’s recent incident in Las Vegas where he was mugged, beaten, and then left for dead to the recent alcohol problems of Titan D-Lineman Jevon Kearse and Panther Wideout Dwayne Jarrett.

While these events may seem trivial as isolated incidents when added together they make for terrible Public Relations for the NFL. Their players are out as sketchy clubs late at night with questionable characters and getting intoxicated and driving around. This isn’t just the NFL however as recently Carmelo Anthony got into some alcohol related trouble with the law. Still it does seem to be a prevalent theme in the NFL over the past couple of years.

This is something that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has tried to crack down on by handing out large suspensions to players who make the NFL look bad and break the law. On April 10, 2007 he suspends Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones for the entire season and suspended Bengals Wideout Chris Henry for 8 games. He followed that up by suspending Tank Johnson for the 10 on June 4, 2007. Goodell is clearly trying to show that the NFL will not tolerate its players behaving in that manner.

Good for Goodell who is at least trying to do something about the utterly despicable behavior of some of these players. You are a professional athlete and your in a strip club “making it rain” on some women on a weekday night? That’s the kind of behavior you would expect from someone on a TV series or in a music video not from one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Also the whole issue that athletes have with taking cabs or getting someone else to drive them home. You make millions of dollars a year and you can’t call a cab? Grow up.

Hopefully Goodell’s action will deter players from making such poor decisions in the future but judging by the summer the NFL is having it doesn’t look good.

Hits and Misses

Hits

Leafs Get it Right – On Tuesday the Toronto Maple Leafs put inept goalie Andrew Raycroft and complete bust forward Kyle Wellwood on waivers. They also announced they intend to buy out Darcy Tucker’s contract as well. Well it looks like the house cleaning is for real this time and I think it’s fair to say that it’s long overdue. Took ya long enough there Leafers.

Home Sweet Home– The Chicago Cubs are just a beast of a team at home this season and going into the All-Star break they look flat out scary. The Cubs have won 14 straight at home and are 32-8 at Wrigley Field this season. That puts them on pace for the second-biggest home winning percentage in a single season since the introduction of air travel. The only team to finish a season in the expansion era with a better home winning percentage was the 1961 Yankees who won 80.2% (65-16) of their games in the Bronx. The Cubs are currently on pace to finish at 80.0% which in today's game is just plain ridiculous.

Kent J. Desormeaux – The jockey of the once unbeaten Big Brown took a lot of criticism after he and Big Brown finished 9^th at the Belmont a few weeks ago. It was recently discovered however that one of Big Brown’s horse shoes was not on correctly and was causing the horse some pain. Desormeaux realized this and decided that rather than push the animal to certain injury he would lay off and let the horse live. While some people will say that Desormeaux is an idiot for losing the race I have to praise him for his ability to understand that horses deserve to be treated better and that he would rather have the horse live as a could have been story than die as a Triple Crown winner.

Giant Slayings – At Euro 2008 Spain is the only group stage winner to still be alive in the tournament. Portugal, Croatia, and the Netherlands were all defeated by “underdogs” which makes for an exciting semi-final round. To me the biggest surprise was the Turks beating Croatia without the use of their goaltender Volkan Demirel. Turkey is a scary team going forward as they just continue to find ways to win games.

Misses

Shut Up Don – Don Imus was in the news again this week as he decided that one inappropriate comment wasn’t enough for him. This time instead of calling the Rutgers’s Women’s Basketball team “nappy-headed hoes” he attacked African American men instead when he talked about Adam “Pacman” Jones latest troubles with the law.

“He's been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005," Wolf said.

"What color is he?" Imus asked.

"He's African-American," Wolf responded.

"Well, there you go," Imus said. "Now we know."

Imus claims he was defending Pacman and was making a point on how African American men are targeted by the police. Is anyone actually buying that? Do everyone a favor Don and just shut up.

Barry Melrose? – The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that Barry Melrose will be their next head coach after the recent firing of John Tortorella left an opening behind the bench. Melrose hasn’t coached in 13 years and the last time he was behind the bench franchise player Vincent Lecavalier was only 14 years old. A new NHL with a different style of game makes me think Melrose won’t be able to adapt. But good luck this season because you are going to need it.

DUI for Melo – Carmelo Anthony was recently in court where he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving while ability-impaired. Anthony was sentenced to a year probation, 24 hours of community service, and more than $1,000 in fees and court costs while prosecutors dropped a more serious DUI charge. How hard is it to not drive drunk? You are a millionaire. If you go to the bar and have a few too many drinks BUY A CAB, trust me you can afford it. Glad to see the team showed some backbone however and suspended Anthony for the first 2 games of the season even though the league wasn’t going to suspend him.

Pool Boy - "Looks like the guy who cleans Tiger's swimming pool." This is what NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller said about Rocco Mediate as he was playing Tiger Woods in an 18 hole playoff for the US Open. Miller likes to think he is a comedian and tries to be funny; but his sense of humor, or lack there of , often misses the mark and comes off as rude. When thinking of that comment in your brain how do you find it to be humorous? Miller needs to reevaluate the way he approaches broadcasting with his whole “humor” approach. Either that or watch some more South Park to learn what funny really is.

Class Act

Oren Koules is the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and after his actions at the most recent NHL Entry Draft he is now in my good books forever.

With the 203^rd pick in the draft the Tampa Bay Lightning, on the specific orders of Koules, picked David Carle of Shattuk-Saint Mary’s School. David is the younger brother of current NHLer Matt Carle of the San Jose Sharks and was considered to be a 2^nd round pick. However only weeks before the draft David was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart that can cause a sudden heart attack and death especially in athletes. The disease was actually only discovered at the NHL combine which was held earlier in the month requires each player to take a physical.

"It was a selection made by our new owner, Oren Koules," said Jay Feaster, the Lightning GM. "He did some discussions with some people, but he came and asked us if we would make that pick. He said the young man worked his whole life to be in a position to be drafted today. He wanted us to make the pick and that's why we did it."

That right there is pure class. It is one man realizing that someone has worked their whole life to try and achieve that dream and then something out of their control comes along and that dream gets shelved. Koules wasn’t about to let that happen to Carle and he went out of his way to make the selection. That is a sign of an exceptional human being.

Many people would argue that the pick is irrelevant and that 7^th round pick is useless anyways. But try telling that to the Detroit Red Wings and Henrik Zetterberg who they drafted 210^th overall in 1999. The fact that it was the 7^th round is arbitrary the point remains that Koules saw an injustice and used his authority to do something about it. A big thumbs up goes out to Koules and the entire organization down there in Tampa Bay.

Will New Managers Make Difference?

In the past seven days three different managers have been fired. First it was Willie Randolph of the NY Mets, then John McLaren of the Seattle Mariners, and finally John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays. These three were all managing teams with big expectations for this season but were struggling mightily so far. Only 13 teams who have made in-season switches have advanced to the postseason, and only two have won the World Series. (That'd be the '03 Marlins, who switched from Jeff Torborg to Jack McKeon, and the 1978 Yankees, from Billy Martin to Bob Lemon.) With that in mind is there anyway that these three teams could join that prestigious club and turn it around to make the post season?

To really understand the chances of these teams turning it around we will examine them on a team-by-team basis starting with the woeful Mariners.

The Seattle Mariners were expected to battle with the Angels in the AL West but as of today currently sit 19.5 games back with a 27-49 record good enough for worst in the majors. This however is not necessarily the fault of the manager though as almost every single player on the team is under performing right now. Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro look like they belong in little league and free agent pitchers Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva have turned out to be a huge busts. Only the ace of the staff Felix Hernandez and slugger Raul Ibanez can hold their heads high as they have been performing at a major league level. The rest of the team might as well be pylons and with a gaping chasm between the Mariners and the Angels in the standings don't expect to see the M's in the post season this year.

The New York Mets may have the most talented team in baseball as they boast players such as David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran. To add to these impressive bats they went out in the off-season and signed the best pitcher in the game in Johan Santana. But alas it was not enough as the Mets continue to struggle like they did in September of last year and can't seem to get back their old swagger. Even more unfortunate for the Mets is the fact that they are in the same division as the Philies who look unbelievable and will more than likely not have a collapse like the Mets did last year. One bright spot for the Mets however is that they are only 6 games back of the wildcard and with a team so loaded with talent you have to like the Mets chances of getting into the post season.

Lastly there are the Toronto Blue Jays. After having the best record in May in all of baseball the Jays followed up this feat by losing 14 of their next 19 games including losing series' to the Cubs, Mariners, Angels, Brewers, and most recently the Pirates. The Jays pitching has been great this season but the bats have been lacking as players like Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and Lyle Overbay have not been playing to their full potential. Add in the fact that BJ Ryan can't go two appearances without blowing a save and their 36-41 record starts to make sense. Unfortunately for the Jays they play in the AL East aka the best division in baseball and would require some divine intervention to make the playoffs. But they did hire Cito Gaston who is the best manager in Jays history so that should give them some sort of a boost (or at least I hope).

So the future doesn't look too bright for these three teams this season as only the Mets have a realistic shot of making the post season, if they can get their confidence back that is. Either way when things are going wrong it is better to make changes than sit back and hope everything will fix itself.

Kobe vs. Shaq New "Beef"

If the feud between Shaquille O'neil and Kobe Bryant is going to be called "Beef" then I would have to say that this beef is burnt and needs to be thrown out. Last night while watching the College World Series I was informed, by the ticker at the bottom of the screen, that Shaq had insulted Kobe in a freestyle rap at a club on Sunday night. Apparently Shaq said, "Kobe couldn't do without me" and things of that nature. Whoa stop the presses someone in sports said something negative about somebody else.

Does anyone really even care anymore? I know I don't. How starved are you for a media story that ESPN and other sports media sources feels the need to make a federal case out of someone rapping? Shaq burned Kobe ooooh its not as if the whole thing will end violently with a steel cage match. Both players will go on about their business and the incident will be forgotten by both men in less than a week. The fact is Shaq said something then will be forced to apologize as to not fuel the "fire" and Kobe will say its not a big deal. Case closed.

But we all know that won't be the end of it don't we. The media will try and drag this out for as long as possible and when the two players meet next year it will be blown so far out of proportion. When asked about his action Shaq had this to say, "I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MC's do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all." As if he is going to say anything else.

Hopefully this incident goes away quickly and without little discussion so it never gets brought up again.

Serves the Leafs Right

I realize that writing this will probably earn me the ire of every Toronto Maple Leaf fan out there but I feel the need to address this current issue. Over the weekend it was revealed that the Montreal Canadiens have been granted exclusive rights to talk to Leafs captain Mats Sundin about becoming a Canadien. Now Leaf fans are up in arms that Sundin might leave and the Leafs will get nothing in return when he could have left at the deadline and the team could have received boat loads of compensation. To this argument I say, "it serves you right."

Mats Sundin has been the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs for 10 seasons now and has been nothing but great to the organization. He has scored at least 70 points in each of those seasons and led the team in points every year except 03-04 when Alexander Mogliny beat him by 7 points. He is the organizations leading goal scorer (420) and points leader (984) and this is while playing with bums. He has done everything for the team and more and yet what has he gotten in return? Nothing.

His last few seasons Sundin has winged by career 3rd and 4th line players in an attempt to help them "develop" and to "spread out the talent" to me this means the Leafs don't care enough about Sundin to go get a play maker. Ever since the departure of Mogilny Sundin has been forced to play with the likes of Matt Stajan, Nik Antropov, Alex Steen, Alexi Ponikarovsky, and Jiri Tlusty. Does the man not deserve better line mates than these stiffs? In an effort to address the problem before the start of last season the Leafs went out and signed Jason Blake a decent player but he is a GOAL SCORER and not someone to set up Sundin. Go out and sign an Alex Tanguay or someone who at least knows how to PASS the puck unlike shot happy Jason Blake.

Coincidentally since the departure of Alexander Mogilny the Leafs have yet to make the playoffs. Coincidence? I think not. When Sundin has a play maker with him the Leafs can do great things and be an offensive force but when 4th liners populate your top line your going to have a problem.

Mats Sundin has done everything ever asked of him and he has earned the right to do what he wishes with the remaining years of his career. Maybe the reason he didn't leave at the trade deadline was because he believed in his team like a REAL fan should. He didn't just give up and say blow up the team for picks and young talent. He thought they could win and played hard every night to try and get a spot in the playoffs. Yet what does he get for all his hard work? Fans now say he is a traitor and a bum and were trying to run him out of town at deadline day. Its shameful behavior and i'm not surprised that it was perpetrated by Leaf fans.

So Mats Sundin if you want to leave Toronto for greener pastures and a chance to actually play in the playoffs then by all means pursue that opportunity. Because it won't happen with the Leafs and after seeing the way the fans and organization have treated him in Toronto lately would he really want to help them?