The slump is over.

A summer long hot streak now appears inevitable.

It took a lot longer than most of us expected, but Albert Pujols has finally settled into his new home, and is nearing the dominant form the Los Angeles Angels emptied the bank for. If you need evidence, look no further than the line drive home run Pujols hit in the Angels 3-0 win over the Mariners on Thursday night.

But the impressive blast held a little more significance than a simple reminder of how consistently beautiful Albert's swing is about to become. It was also a personal milestone and an all-around noteworthy accomplishment, as he became the 35th member of the 450 home run club, and the fourth-youngest to reach the mark behind only Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jimmie Foxx.

Decent company, we'd say.

Naturally, Pujols himself had little to say about the individual achievement after the game. He's just happy to be progressing, making better contact and helping the Angels claw back into contention.

''This game comes and goes. I think the main thing is to be positive all the time and continue to make sure to make good adjustments,'' Pujols said. ''Today I swung the bat pretty well, but tomorrow is a new day, you have to try to be consistent.''

Actually, if you go back over Albert's past 13 games, you'll find he's been swinging it consistently well for awhile, having hit safely in 12 of them. That helped raise his average from a putrid .195 to a slightly more respectable 225. He's also connected on four home runs and driven in ten. Production that almost look modest by his standards, but is certainly a far cry from the production that made himself and the Angels a punchline for the first six weeks of the season.

Those jokes are about to become outdated.

With Pujols heating up, Mike Trout emerging, and a pitching staff that has already hurled a league best seven shutouts solidly in place, the Angels are beginning to resemble the team many predicted would cruise into the playoffs, and in the eyes of many others, play for a World Series ring come the last week of October.

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• We love this photo from Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals for three reasons. 1. John Frusciante rules. 2. Because we can't imagine how many people mistook Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers for Will Ferrell. 3. John Frusciante rules.

• Dominik Hasek, 47, would like to play in the NHL again. As a backup? As a training camp invitee? Doesn't say. But we'd love to see it happen. Preferably in Tampa Bay in a tandem with Dwayne Roloson, so he can have someone to reminisce with about the discovery of fire. [Malik]

• Steve Yzerman doesn't rule out trading for a goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning: "My preference," Yzerman said Thursday night, "is to go with a little bit younger guy that maybe has a little less experience that can step up and play well for us now." [TB Times]

• Coveted NCAA prospect Justin Schultz is reportedly leaving Wisconsin, giving the Anaheim Ducks a 30-day window in which to negotiate exclusively with him before he joins the Leafs, errrr, becomes a free agent. [Ducks Blog]

• Rick Dudley has left the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant GM. Tim Wharnsby of CBC on Dudley's mixed results. [CBC Sports]

• Joe Haggerty breaks down a Rick Nash the Boston Bruins scenario: "Fact: The Blue Jackets are asking for too much for Nash at this point. This hockey writer can only see the superstar winger coming to Boston if Columbus is willing to take on Krejci or Tim Thomas in exchange for their franchise cornerstone. That may or may not happen." [CSNNE]

• Glendale councilwoman calls Canadians interested in the Phoenix Coyotes' relocation "poachers." Mark Spector pounces. [Sportsnet]

• John Tortorella on Game 6: "I thought we were on our heels, and you have to give credit to Jersey, too, a little bit, for putting us on our heels. But I think as we've been going here, I think entering tonight's game we're in the right mindset and that's going to be very important for an important game." [NYDN]

• World Juniors made $22 million in Alberta. For a tournament that Canada lost. Crazy dough. [TSN]

• How about Ralph Krueger as the new coach head of the Edmonton Oilers? Is that something you might be interested in? [Oilers Nation]

• Puck Daddy favorite Heidi Androl will be covering the Los Angeles Kings for NHL Network during the Final. Huzzah! [NHL.com]

• Those high school kids who made racial tweets about Joel Ward after his Game 7 goal vs. Boston sure did learn a lesson. Nearly three weeks without school activities! Man, that's like being thrown in a gulag! [Gloucester Times]

• Moral of the story? Don't bitch about embellishing if you're embellishing. [s/t Nicholas Ramirez]

• Dustin Penner on the adulation being given to the Los Angeles Kings: "I think I set a personal best for most messages received, even when comparing it to Anaheim in '07. And that was another new experience, seeing that many people waiting at the airport for you. It was around 4,000 people, and seeing that is something you wish you could relive at a moment's notice, because you probably won't get that visual again until you win it all, if we do." [LA Kings Insider]

• John Davidson on his future with the St. Louis Blues: "As of right now, Tom, who I have a lot of respect for, is deciding in his own mind how he wants to have the organization set up," Davidson said. "He bought a hockey club and he runs the business. We don't know what he's going to do. He might keep everything exactly the same. He might not keep everything exactly the same. I have no idea what he's trying to do." [FS Midwest]

• Matt Hendricks and Mike Knuble of the Washington Capitals join the "You Can Play" movement. Said Hendricks: "For me, those areas are black and white: What's right, and what's wrong. If I have the opportunity to help in any way — to clear up those areas and make them more black and white — I'll take that opportunity. Hockey is a great game and anybody should be able to play it. And it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight in my opinion. It comes right to the slogan: if you can play, you can play. And as we move forward as a society, people are more open and they're willing to share a lot more freely. But it's not where it should be. It should be a lot easier than it is right now." [Dump 'n Chase]

• Puck Stops Here says Jonathan Quick for Conn Smythe, takes a shot at Abel To Yzerman. [TPSH]

• Debating shot blocking in the NHL. Says Ken Campbell: "Did you ever pause to think that blocked shots are down because teams are less inclined to shoot because they realize the chances of it reaching the net are about as good as Snookie joining a nunnery? No wonder blocked shots are down. It's pretty difficult to block a shot when all your opponent is doing is passing the puck around the perimeter. Now instead of launching bombs from the point, they're working it in deep and hoping to get the puck up and over the mass of humanity in front of the net. Oh, the excitement!" [THN]

• Finally, the black and white footage on this clip at the start and finish is pretty awesome. It's like the "Wizard of Oz," only instead of brilliant colors in the middle it's drab hockey scenes.

Welcome to Devil Ball's Proving Ground, where we put the latest golf equipment through its paces. Today, we review OGIO's new Chamber golf bag.

Initial thoughts

First impressions are so important on the golf course, and before your opponents get a look at your clubs, they're looking at your bag. If you bust out some leather behemoth from the '90s, you'd better have a good story to go with it.

Still, outside of appearance, by and large bags are bags. They carry your goods in a hopefully efficient fashion. So there has to be something more that aesthetics to distinguish one bag from another, and in the case of OGIO's Chamber, that X factor is the "Silencer." The Chamber features 14 distinct holes for your clubs, each with a top and bottom membrane designed to hold your club in place and prevent that tac-tac-tac of club rattle as you drive from hole to hole. Does it work? Read on and see!

The bag is designed with the golf cart in mind, with easily reachable tees, divot/glove pockets, an insulated cooler pocket, and a very useful Zipperless Ball Pocket that makes grabbing a provisional a snap. In all, the bag has 10 pockets, nine of them zippered, including a fleece-lined valuables pocket.

You can get the bag in one of three finishes: Black Technical, Charcoal Burst or Chrome. All look fine in 2012, but I'm thinking the latter two aren't going to age well. Five years from now, those finishes could look as dated as '80s neon. Still, by then you'll be ready for a new bag, right?

On-course thoughts

This bag will shave ten strokes off your game! Nah, not really, I just wanted to give the OGIO folks a blurb to excerpt in their ads. It's a bag, friends. There's only so much it can do for you once you're on the course. However, this is where the ZBP comes in handy: if you skull a shot into the woods, you can grab another before your rage even subsides.

Once you get the clubs "seated" in the bag, you can indeed turn the bag upside down and not lose a single one. Think there aren't many occasions when you'll need this feature? You obviously have never bent a club throwing your bag into the trunk after a bad round. (On the flip side, if you pull a Tommy Bolt and decide to fling your entire bag into the drink, every single club will go with it.) And yes, the Silencer does quiet the club clack to a significant degree.

On the other hand, the insulated cooler pocket is rather small, and condensation built up around it in a hurry, though that's probably due to the Georgia heat rather than any kind of design issue. Also, if you do want to walk the course, be aware that this model has only a single strap.

Final verdict

The OGIO Chamber is a bag tailor-made, to coin a phrase, for the kind of obsessive golf enthusiast who likes to have a place for every bit of equipment, and every bit of equipment in its place. It's lightweight, sharp, and the "silencer" technology does a fine job of quieting club clank. Recommended.

Price: $259.99 at OGIO.com.

Got a product you want us to review here at Devil Ball? Shoot us an email at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or reach us on Twitter at @jaybusbee.

So you've probably heard that Danica Patrick is going to be running in the Coca-Cola 600 rather than the Indy 500 this weekend. You'll hear about it a lot more in the coming days. Above is a video documenting all the uses of the name "Danica" in this year's Daytona 500, and it clocked in at an astonishing 47 mentions. Not bad for someone who did just two laps before getting wrecked out. Extrapolating that out for the Coca-Cola 600 (yes, we know some of that was prerace; roll with it), we would hear the name "Danica" an astounding 9,400 times Sunday night. Whew!

Look, I'm not going to count the mentions, but if you want to go and craft a video like this, we'll definitely find some cool prize for you ... once you come out of your Danica daze, that is.

Yet Uhle's fall appearance was for one day, and one day only, for a very simple reason: She needed to focus on her schoolwork to ensure that she would qualify for a scholarship to play tennis at Northern Colorado. The gamble worked, with Uhle qualifying academically thanks to improved grades.

At the same time, bypassing the girls season in the fall brought up a unique opportunity: Uhle still had a season of eligibility, and in Pennsylvania, the boys tennis season is played in the spring. That combination of factors has led to Uhle's emergence as one half of the team's top doubles partnership — a pairing which is expected to qualify for the state tournament — and a spot as the school's number three singles player.

As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the results have been fantastic for Uhle, who said she was spurred to keep playing because she wanted to get more preparation for the Division I competition she'll face beginning in the fall. Uhle finished the regular season 7-1 in singles and was 4-1 in doubles.

Perhaps most significantly, she fit in seamlessly as the only girl on a boys team, an opportunity afforded athletes in Pennsylvania and a few other states which allow girls to play on boys teams despite the existence of girls squads, and vice versa.

"She just blended right in with everybody," Wissahickon boys tennis coach Mark Daniels told the Inquirer. "And I think that's why there was no problem with the guys on the team. They saw how hard she worked. They saw how good she was."

While Uhle claims she has had her share of confused opponents, everyone accepted her as a competitor, a stark contrast to what has occurred recently in some other sports in other states. Uhle credited some of that acceptance to general norms within the sport, as tennis remains one of the only sports where girls and boys routinely practice with one another. "I know I'm used to playing with boys," Uhle said.

Still, it seems unlikely she would have blended in so seamlessly if Uhle wasn't supremely talented, something her coach attested to by pairing her with his top male player to form the team's top doubles pair for the postseason tournaments.

"If they both play well, they can go somewhere in the state tournament," Daniels told the Inquirer of his top doubles pairing. "They are both mentally tough. Neither one of them will ever give up."

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For every postseason matchup, Ball Don't Lie's resident dummy will offer a topically appropriate entry from the best-selling series of "Deep Thoughts" books written by legendary humorist Jack Handey, plus some of his own original thoughts on the playoff series. The combination will cost you literally nothing; we suggest you use the savings to purchase one of Mr. Handey's life-changing books.

No. 1 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder

"Life is a constant battle between the heart and the brain. But guess who wins. The skeleton."

The remarkable resurgence of Spurs centerpiece Tim Duncan — he of the Frank Castle knee brace and the skel-toe adidas — has been a story worth marveling over this postseason. The 36-year-old looked off-the-vine fresh during the Spurs' straight-sets wins over the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers in the first two rounds, averaging 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per 36 minutes of playoff burn, hitting 54 percent of his field goals and just under 80 percent of his free throws, and generally seeming about as sharp and dominant and as he has since San Antonio's last title run, way back in 2007.

It's tempting to suggest that, with Duncan playing at this level, there isn't a front line in the world that can slow him down. That, however, would ignore the yeoman's work that Thunder bigs Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka did against the two-time MVP on the defensive end this year.

Both Ibaka and Perkins held Duncan well below his per-minute season marks in scoring and field goal percentage during the three Spurs-Thunder contests this year, of which San Antonio won two. While it's tough to use those matchups as an accurate predictor of how the series writ large will unfold — San Antonio was without Manu Ginobili for all three games, started long-since-jettisoned Richard Jefferson in the first two and didn't get now-integral substitutes Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson into the fold until after the teams' season series ended — it's worth noting that in one area in which the principals will remain the same, Duncan struggled to a 15-of-42 (35.7 percent) shooting mark in 86 total minutes.

That includes a particularly bad 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) mark at the rim in the three games combined, about 20 percent below Duncan's season-average conversion rate on up-close tries, according to Hoopdata's shot-location statistics, and significantly behind the bounty he got against the Jazz and Clippers (22-of-34, 64.7 percent). More than any other team left in the postseason (and perhaps more than any other team in the league), the Thunder are equipped to limit Duncan's scoring effectiveness.

The problem is, the Spurs don't really need Duncan to score to win. Duncan has scored 15 points or less 31 times this season; San Antonio is 23-8 in those games. It's happened nine times since St. Patrick's Day — sort of an unofficial division point in the Spurs' season, since the March 17 loss to the Dallas Mavericks marked the first time they played with both Jackson and Ginobili back in the lineup — and they're 8-1. Part of that has to do with the brilliance of Tony Parker, who averaged 17.3 points and 6.7 assists per game without Duncan this year, who has been an absolute killer during the Spurs' lengthy winning streak, and who frequently seems capable of penetrating at will and putting defenses at the mercy of an offensive system that so often responds to defensive answers by changing the questions.

As Zach Lowe of SI.com's The Point Forward blog noted in a great breakdown of Parker's play against the Thunder defense this season, Oklahoma City has seemed to want to cut off Parker's angles of penetration in the Spurs' bread-and-butter pick-and-roll, conceding semi-contested perimeter jumpers by San Antonio's shooters off outside dishes rather than allowing Parker to get into the teeth of their defense, compromise its integrity and allow wide-open jumpers by San Antonio's shooters off his drive-and-kick game. Within that framework, Parker has been able to get his own offense, averaging 23.7 points per game against OKC this year (including a big 42-point explosion at the beginning of April) while still handing out 7.7 assists per contest.

Russell Westbrook is an amazing player who will work his backside off on defense in this series. And if he gets in trouble, Thunder coach Scott Brooks can switch some more size onto Parker — defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha, Sixth Man of the Year James Harden or scoring champ Kevin Durant, the trio that combined to harass Kobe Bryant in Oklahoma City's second-round win over the Los Angeles Lakers. But Parker's shown an ability to beat whatever defense OKC, and anyone else, has devised for him this year, whether with a bucket of his own or a dish to a teammate.

If Parker can continue to operate roughly as he has been, creating for himself or for Pop's seemingly endless ranks of shooters, then it's hard to see a way that Oklahoma City can slow San Antonio down enough to win four times in seven games, so long as Duncan is still able to hold down the myriad defensive tasks he performs so well. And he has been against Oklahoma City this season, rebounding like crazy and anchoring a defensive unit that has locked the Thunder down to a sub-Bobcats offensive rating (number of points scored per 100 possessions) while he's on the floor, as detailed by Aaron McGuire at Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell. Yes, the Thunder have allowed a tick under 101 points per 100 possessions on the defensive end this postseason, which would have been fifth-best in the NBA over the course of the regular season, but they've played nine games against Dallas' No. 22-ranked offense and the Lakers' No. 10-ranked offense; now, they're facing the best in the business, and that matters.

That said, I don't think the Spurs are going to shut the Thunder down, either.

Oklahoma City stars Durant (22.7 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting), Westbrook (22.3 points on 44.8 percent shooting) and Harden (19.3 points on 59.4 percent shooting) have all scored well against San Antonio this year, and I expect them to get theirs again here. The Thunder will undoubtedly pose more offensive problems for the Spurs than either of their first two opponents did. San Antonio's difficulties defending the pick-and-roll game, which they snuffed out well against the Clippers, could rear their ugly head — they're still not a great pick-and-roll defensive team, and the Thunder were even better at generating points there than a healthy Chris Paul's Clips were during the regular season. And while defenders like Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard will do their level best to make life difficult for the Thunder's dominant wings, San Antonio doesn't have enough excellent perimeter stoppers to extinguish OKC's fire-starters entirely. (Not many teams do.)

But I think Pop would live with that level of productivity from Durant, Westbrook and Harden if no one else is really getting off — Ibaka's ability to provide a pressure release on pick-and-pop mid-range jumpers could be huge for Brooks' offense — and I think San Antonio can make that happen. While I'll allow that the Spurs' recent improvement on the defensive end has come at the expense of an unremarkable Jazz side and a hobbled Clippers team, the improvement has still been ridiculous; they've held two top-10 regular-season offenses to 95.3 points per 100 possessions over the past eight games, and the tightening of defensive screws hasn't prevented San Antonio from punishing their opponents' bottom-third-of-the-league defenses, posting a sterling 110.1-per-100 offensive rating in the playoffs.

Oklahoma City will be much better than what San Antonio has faced, but will they create enough problems for a legitimately improved defense to generate enough points to outstrip a rollicking offense four times in seven games? I just don't see it. The Spurs will lose during this series for the first time in nearly seven weeks, but they won't lose four times. The skeleton might not be the series' most valuable player, but the skeleton's not alone; this time around, he's got an army, and all the hearts and brains in Oklahoma City won't be able to turn back the horde.

PREDICTION: Spurs in 6.

Just a couple tournaments removed from being considered the best golfer in the world, the 23-year-old left the BMW Championship on Friday with more questions than answers following an abysmal 7-over 79 that resulted in his second consecutive missed cut this year.

After taking the golf world by storm just last year at his U.S. Open, McIlroy moved to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking after his win at the Honda Classic, leading many to proclaim that he was, in fact, the best player in golf. (Even though he and Luke Donald have played a game of musical chairs for the No. 1 ranking for the past 13 months.)

Regardless, everyone had McIlroy pegged for big things this season. But following his struggles this week at Wentworth, the big question on everyone's is where does he go from here?

After round of 74-79, it appears the only way he can go is up. At least that's what he's hoping. McIlroy admitted on Friday that he'd gotten away from grinding on the range and working tirelessly on his game, two things he did on a regular basis earlier in the year.

"I think I may have taken my eye off the ball a little bit, maybe not practicing as hard as I had been," he said.

Here's the deal with McIlroy: the kid's going to be just fine. He'll get his game sorted in the coming weeks. But if there's one thing that's a little troubling about the way this week went, it was the manner in which he missed the cut, packing it in mid-round when he still had a chance to make the weekend.

I can understand fighting to make the cut and coming up short, but based on McIlroy's body language late in the round, it looked like his competitive drive was non-existent. That was evident following a stretch of holes that included a double-bogey and five consecutive bogeys that torpedoed his day.

Even when McIlroy was struggling to make the weekend, it always seemed like he was still out there grinding. Blame the struggles if you want on his history at the Players and BMW (he's never made the weekend at the Players or had a finish of note at the BMW). Even still, it feels like something's amiss at the moment.

"It's been a week I'd like to forget. It's not nice to play like this and not nice two weeks in a row. Maybe it's a good thing I have two days off to practice and I'm looking to getting back to the States next week.

"I just feel I've lacked competitive rounds."

Whatever he's lacking at the moment, he needs to find it pretty quickly if he wants to have any shot of defending at the U.S. Open in three weeks' time.

/shown picture at right

//doubles down on stupid argument

Yeah, well, that's got to be a Photoshop! Or ... or ... or he's using the Force, and he's actually drawing the club TO him! No matter what, he's not as bad as Tiger!

(Please note: the above lines are SARCASM. Yes, we do have to make this public service announcement.)

Yes, Rory McIlroy threw a club this week at the BMW PGA Championship. On the par-5 12th, his shot found a bunker, and his club took the heat. "I threw the club out of frustration," he said. "I was 2-under through seven and felt like I was playing well, and then I make four bogeys in five holes ending at the 12th. It's pretty disappointing."

The BMW was McIlroy's first European tournament in seven months, and he won't be sticking around through the weekend; he missed the cut after carding a 79 on Friday.

He wasn't the only Emerald Islander with problems. Padraig Harrington had even more problems, at one point taking three strokes to get out of a bunker and eventually finishing just a few spots above DFL.

Graeme McDowell got tagged with a two-shot penalty after his ball moved ever so slightly in the woods, while he was still several steps away. He wasn't certain the ball moved, but played it anyway, asking a local TV commentator to check the replay. He was penalized one stroke for the ball's movement and another for failing to replace the ball, a crucial penalty given that McDowell finished at plus-3 and the cut was plus-1.

James "The Lizard King" Morrison leads the tournament at 12-under, with David Drysdale and Luke Donald four strokes back in second.

Palmer, a pencil portrait artist and lifelong Kentucky fan, created a giant picture of future No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis out of Kix and Reeses Puffs. The end product was so lifelike that it has gone viral since Palmer tweeted out photos of it Thursday evening, landing everywhere from Kentucky-themed blogs, to national websites to SportsCenter.

The entire project took Palmer about two weeks to complete, far longer than he expected when he first started. He told the official company blog for General Mills he used three boxes of both types of cereal to complete the project along with some spray paint to make the hair and eyebrows dark enough.

"I just built the frame, drew and outline and started sticking the pieces with glue," Palmer said. "It's pretty tricky because not all cereal pieces are the same color, but I used that to my advantage to gradually change from light brown to dark."

Anthony Davis has yet to tweet about the cereal mosaic, but it's probably just a matter of time.

He loved having a baby imitate his flight poster earlier this month. Surely he'll also get a kick out of seeing his image in breakfast cereal.

It's a (getttin' down on) Friday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Stars: It's GAME SHOW FRIDAY!, as Quizmaster Wysh crafts a new edition of "Getting High." Also, Bobby Holik joins the show!

• In which Marek and Wysh revisit 1994 and Wysh's personal pain.

• Previewing Game 6 of the ECF.

• Should Rick Dudley be allowed to join the Habs?

• Puck Headlines and Talking Points

Question of the Day: What should matter more to the NHL for the final - good games or good ratings?

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above! Click here to download podcasts from the show each day Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Feedburner.

In our continuing effort to keep everybody safe and sound at the ballpark, we're now going to have to revise our warnings, because we have evidence the danger doesn't only exist when the Marlins are hitting.

It now appears Stanton is just as dangerous when he's in the field, and there's a different set of people who reside in the danger zone. Specifically, his teammates. Because as Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison nearly learned the hard way on Thursday night, you don't want to be anywhere near one of his laser throws from the outfield, either.

Whew. That nearly dramatically altered Morrison's smile, which thankfully he was able to flash as he picked himself off the dirt.

Of course, typically Morrison would find himself at a safer distance from Stanton's right-field cannon, but since he made a diving attempt for the base hit, and because Stanton got to it so quickly, he ended up right in the line of fire. And as the old joke goes, only the Marlins clubhouse manager will know how scared he was for that split second as the seams zoomed past his face.

So now our new warning to all: Watch out for bats and balls at all times.

When Giancarlo Stanton is present: Take cover.

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If you were wondering just how well Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee (and how much he sets the pace for the Vikings), it seems that things are going fairly well. At the team's Winter Park facility for the start of this year's offseason team activities in late April, Peterson noticed that his teammates weren't running as hard as he'd like them to. So Peterson, who's supposed to be on the mend and away from huffing it at all, reacted as any real competitor would -- he challenged those same teammates to a footrace.

And left them all eating his dust.

"He was off to the side working with our trainer, Eric Sugarman, and he looked out and saw the guys doing their wind sprints," head coach Leslie Frazier told ESPN Minnesota's Tom Pelissero. "He says, 'You know, I don't think they're running hard enough.' Eric allowed him to go out and run with them, and he passed them four different times. He finished in first four different times."

Keep in mind -- this is a guy who had major surgery on his left ACL, MCL and meniscus (basically a complete knee reconstruction) just five months ago. We're guessing that Peterson's regenerative properties are fairly unusual, and it's pretty certain that his teammates agree.

"I remember [backup quarterback] Joe Webb saying, 'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it,'" Frazier said. "So, he's doing great and we're optimistic that he's going to be ready for that first game. I know that's his goal and we'll just see how he continues to progress, but he's doing great."

About the only possible knock on Peterson's amazing game is the fact that he has been somewhat injury-prone. That said, he's missed just seven regular-season games in his five-year career, and missed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground just once. That happened last year, when Peterson missed four games and finished with just 970 yards. He missed three games with a high ankle sprain, and then tore up his knee in the Vikings' 15th game of the season, against the Washington Redskins. Surgery came soon after, at the hands of famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

At the time, it was feared that Peterson would not be able to go for Week 1 of the 2012 season. Now, at least, things are looking up.

Frazier told Pelissero that Peterson hasn't been cutting on the field yet, "but that's the next step. He has to get to the point where he's comfortable cutting. Straight ahead, he's doing great. Now he has to get to the point where he's comfortable being able to go left to right or right to left and stopping and starting. So, one step at a time."

Well, more than one step. Quite a few steps, and very quickly. This jibes with Peterson's recent comments, stating that he is going as hard as possible in order to be ready for the regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 9.

"To be honest with you I feel like 50-50," Peterson told ESPN's Josina Anderson, when asked about training camp. "I feel like honestly, sitting here telling you the truth, I'll be able to participate doing certain things. I think I'll be able to participate. That's my mindset; but I'm going to follow the protocol. Whatever the Vikings and their staff want me to do, then I'm gonna do that; but I'm not going to hinder myself. I'm going to let those guys know how I feel, so if I'm able to get out there and get a couple of reps or whatever, then I'm going to participate in that way. But I'm sure they've got my best interests in hand, so we'll work it out."

Now, a new contender for crazy ump of the year has emerged, and his strikeout calls are absolutely out of the normal world because of his wild vocal talents.

As noted in the blog Sweater Punch, the umpire you see above offered up his possessed strikeout calls at a 10-year-old Little League game.

While no one knows for sure what the ump is saying — it does sound like he's uttering something in Spanish — one YouTube commenter claimed his gutteral strikeout call was "Ay Dios mio eso es out!" For those who don't habla Espanol, that means "Oh my God that was an out."

Then again, that phrase is almost indistinguishable from "Adios amigo, eres es out!", which means "See you later friend, you're out!" Naturally, that second interpretation is a bit more mean-spirited than the former, particularly when an umpire is talking about impressionable 10-year-olds.

That, of course, is the bigger question here: What are these ego-maniacal umps doing at youth baseball games? Sure, the strikeout histrionics are pretty funny, but they also are potentially scarring for some of the kids who have to trudge back to the dugout with their bat on their shoulder as soon as they've been set down.

It's tough enough striking out and dealing with at-bat disappointment when you're 10. It's even tougher when a kid is trying to wrap his head around such a setback while also feeling like he's being taunted in Spanish by a crazy umpire.

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The Indy 500 is on the horizon, and Dario Franchitti is speaking on many a topic. First, he spoke of how hard it is being without Dan Wheldon, who died in Las Vegas last year.

Next, he speaks of Danica Patrick, and how IndyCar will survive without her (spoiler: it'll do just fine):

Finally, what would he do for another Indy 500 win? He'd give an awful lot:

The Indy 500 rolls on Sunday afternoon. Kick back and enjoy a fine day of racing, all day long.

Park, a junior, took down two-time defending champ Matt Lowe by six shots at Bethpage. She shot a 68-66 in the two-day tournament for an eight-under finish. Park was permitted to play with her school district's boys' team because there's no girls' program offered. (Ah, high school athletics.) Park was one of only two girls in the 134-player field; the other was Lowe's younger sister.

This isn't the last you'll hear of Park, who began playing the game at age 8. She's already qualified for the U.S. Women's Open, and will attend the University of Southern California on a golf scholarship. In the near term, however, she hopes her win will inspire other girls to pick up the game:

"I wish a lot of girls started playing golf," she said. "They think golf is such a boring sport."

Lowe, for his part, knew he was in the presence of greatness. "It was like getting hit by a locomotive," he said. "I've never seen a human being play that good. She never misses a shot at any point, in any aspect of the game. It was ridiculous."

AnniePark wins Nassau boys golf championship [Newsday]

Things are going exceedingly well for the Los Angeles Kings lately.

They're in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993, when they needed four or five Hall of Famers (depending on if you count Rob Blake, and I do) and a virtual All-Star team to get there. They got there by beating the first-, second-, and third-seeded teams in the West. They beat them all with alarming ease, winning 12 of 14 games in a run of terrible efficiency not seen since the 1988 Edmonton Oilers won a Cup in 18 games.

They have done all of this despite suffering from something that would have ripped apart most teams' chances like a bird going through a jet engine, and brought considerable shame on the parties responsible.

Namely, two of the team's three highest-paid forwards haven't been especially good in terms of putting points on the board.

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have a combined 20 points in 14 playoff games. That includes only eight goals, three of which came for Carter in Game 2 against Phoenix. Not great totals for two guys who combined are making just over $11 million against the cap, especially when Dustin Penner and Justin Williams both have comparable point totals (both of them having more than Carter's mere nine).

The narrative has been that this has been a season in which they proved their doubters wrong because they're not actively being detrimental to their teams, as they apparently were in Philadelphia, but that they need to pick up their individual games. And they could probably do that if not for the fact that Darryl Sutter is positively burying them at every opportunity.

Behind the Net shows that both are starting considerably less than half their shifts in the offensive zone, and are getting outshot by hefty margins as a result; with Richards and Carter occupying the team's third-worst and actually-worst Corsi rates in these playoffs.

But nonetheless, both have been on the ice for more goals for than against (not necessarily hard when you're winning 12 of your 14 games, admittedly), and are also wrapping the majority of their shifts in the offensive zone despite starting more than 54 percent of them 180 feet in the wrong direction.

They've also been doing it against the toughest competition the Kings face.

All of which is a long way of saying that Darryl Sutter has been using them largely in shutdown roles. And despite that fact, they and their linemates have scored pretty consistently. Of course, it probably doesn't make sense to use two guys making more than $5 million apiece as shutdown players over the long haul, and neither has really tapped the potential they showed in the past, which netted Richards an Olympic team invite, Carter a 40-goal season and both fat, long contracts.

But if the practical upshot of putting them out there in those situations nets Dustin Penner a starring role and frees Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar to become the kind of force they've been for the Kings in these playoffs, then it's pretty hard to criticize either Sutter's personnel decisions or the performances of Richards and Carter.

Obviously, the team would like to see them put more shots on goal — Richards in particular fewer than Trevor Lewis — and certainly start filling the nets at a more convincing rate, but they'll certainly settle for this.

If either one gets even the slightest scoring touch going for themselves in the Finals, then the team that emerges from the East will probably see their Stanley Cup dreams wiped out in a hurry.

The problem with "While the Men Watch" isn't that it's sexist (but it's that too)

So much hate for the "While the Men Watch" audio channel that CBC is going to broadcast in a laughably misguided attempt to woo the approximately four people in Canada who have little to no interest in hockey (who's generalizing now?).

Most have categorized it as sexist, and it certainly is that. In the video Julie Veilleux linked on this site yesterday, the women — I hestiate to call them masterminds — behind While the Men Watch sickeningly refer to themselves as "Sex and the City meets ESPN," which assumes that anyone in the universe was actually looking for an intersection of such things.

There are a lot of problems with the whole concept, and the fact that it's shockingly misogynist isn't even at the front of the pack.

Sure, it basely assumes women are shallow idiots not interested in the sport, but the real issue is that any kind of pandering like this is always going to be poorly-received, especially when it plays exclusively to stereotypes related to race, gender, nationality and so forth. Can you imagine, for example, how insufferable an audio feed for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals would be if it was done specifically for people who like that whole "Jersey Shore" culture?

"Eyyy lookit this guy, he's gettin the puck to his buddy there, bada boom bada bing it's in the net!"

"Ohhhh that play was better than my mother's red sauce! I bet these guys can't wait to go party after this one!"

"Don't go in the corner with Dustin Brown you'll get whacked!"

It would, rightly, be called out as offensive and terrible.

And the other issue is that any women who might sit there and let their husbands tell them what they're going to watch, will almost certainly not be able to convince him that listening to two morons blather on about the makeover tips they'd give Anze Kopitar and whether Matt Greene could be their boyfriend is a viable way to spend his evening with the Stanley Cup Finals. This reeks of men in a board room trying to guess at what women want, then finding two cartoon characters to deliver it.

I'm sure more than a few people will check it out for Game 1 thanks to a morbid curiosity, and I have faith that the internet will dutifully compile the dumbest garbage these ladies have to say into YouTube videos. But think of it this way: In all the discussion about this in the media and on Twitter, how many people have said that this is even a slightly good idea, or one with any merit?

They say any publicity is good publicity, but they don't say the same about insipid gender role-reinforcing female minstrelry during hockey games, and there's a good reason for that. It's extremely offensive and will only serve to get people upset.

Pearls of Biz-dom

We all know that there isn't a better Twitter account out there than that of Paul Bissonnette. So why not find his best bit of advice on love, life and lappers from the last week?

BizNasty on the radio's hard choices: "At this point I'd rather sacrifice my ears to a whole Nickelback album than hear the song 'Someone that I used to know' one more time."

If you've got something for Trending Topics, holla at Lambert on Twitter or via e-mail. He'll even credit you so you get a thousand followers in one day and you'll become the most popular person on the Internet! You can also visit his blog if you're so inclined.

From the moment coach Brady Hoke took over at Michigan, he tried to instill some of the hard work and dedication of the Navy SEALs into the Wolverines.

Last August, Hoke gave each of his players a maize and blue trident that have each player's name and hang in the team meeting room in Schembechler Hall.

This year, Hoke has paired 22 of his team leaders with SEALs for leadership training in California. Michigan football announced the trip on both its Twitter and Facebook page.

Hoke established a relationship with the Navy SEALs while at San Diego State and has consistently tried to bring the same values to his team.

- - -
"Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

While speaking to the Polk County Gator Club last week, Muschamp didn't exactly endorse College Station tourism.

"You ever been to College Station?" Muschamp asked. "It'll be the only time you go."

Sumlin in turn told the San Antonio Express-News: "He needs to worry about his own team."

Oooo, burn.

OK, so it's not Steve Spurrier and Dabo Swinney exchanging jabs (or perceived jabs), but Sumlin is new to the conference and just getting his feet wet in terms of trash talk.

And really, Muschamp is already kind of worrying about his team - and its SEC opener in such a terrible place.

Regardless, it's good to see Sumlin sticking up for his town a little bit. Perhaps in five years he'll be telling us the Aggies are bad, but at least they're not Florida.

- - -
"Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

As if it's not bad enough to miss a fast-break dunk on national television, LeBron James had to suffer the indignity of then being taunted by an inflatable pink flamingo wielded by Indiana Pacers fan Matt Asen. Obviously, Asen was thinking ... I don't know what the hell he was thinking.

But you do, right? So how about sharing with the class? Best caption about/explanation of this situation wins OODLES of flamingo facts for your Friday. Good luck.

In our last adventure: Allen Iverson was in full throat for Game 6 of Celtics/76ers.

Winner, Big S: "Gimme the ball! I'm in my range and I'm open!"

Runner-up, Orchard: "He's so excited he's puking up handrails."

Second runner-up, Matt: Apparently, the Celtics weren't the only ones to lay an egg in Philly during Game 6.

Time again for some Burning Questions with your favorite Yahoo! Sports Jays, Busbee and Hart, discussing matters such as Jimmie Johnson's recent dominance, the staying power of Greg Biffle, and the bigger surprise: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s success or Jeff Gordon's failure. Enjoy, and turn it up loud!

Sadly, the rumor was just that. The news that Charlie Sheen was the man who bought the Super Bowl ring once belonging to Lawrence Taylor and auctioned by LT's son is not true. Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer first reported that Sheen may have purchased the Super Bowl XXV ring for $230,401.20, including buyer's commission. Not so fast!

Sheen was the one to confirm this on his own Twitter account: "RE: Lawrence Taylor's Ring: As much as I would be honored to own such an important artifact... I had nothing to do with the acquisition." Sheen also confirmed with "The Dan Patrick Show" on Friday morning that he was not the man.

So, who DID throw down that kind of cash for LT's ring? We know it wasn't Osi Umenyoira, because he didn't hit the Twitter follower landmark it would have taken for the current Giants defender to make the move. Osi fell far short of the 500,000-follower number, and reacted accordingly when he heard of the final bid.

"Yikes! I guess the 450,000 let me off the hook!"

Indeed.

Busted Racquet previews the men's draw at the 2012 French Open.

More big three in the semifinals? -- Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have all made the semifinals in five of the last 10 Grand Slams. (That number seems a little low, no?) The path to another joint appearance shouldn't be difficult for the world's No. 1 and No. 2 players. For the No. 3, it's a little bumpier.

Roger Federer's tough road -- On the bright side for Federer, he got placed on Novak Djokovic's side of the draw, which means he wouldn't see Rafael Nadal until the final. On the down side, he could see David Nalbandian in the second round, Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round and Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Some have included Andy Roddick as a tough player in Federer's draw (they could meet in the third round). This ignores the fact that Roddick was 9-9 at Roland Garros when he was a top-10 player.

Easiest early draw: Jurgen Melzer -- The Austrian is surrounded by qualifiers: He'll play one to start and then get the winner of a qualifier/qualifier match in the second round. His reward, should he survive: Novak Djokovic in the third round.

Brian Baker watch -- The 27-year-old American's unbelievable comeback story will face a stiff, but winnable, first-round test in Xavier Malisse. The last time Baker was at Roland Garros, he advanced to the finals of the boys tournament. That was nine years ago.

This makes up for last year -- John Isner drew Rafael Nadal in the first round in 2011 and took the eventual champion to five sets. This year, he has an easier start. He plays a qualifier in the first round before a possible tricky matchup against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Best first-round match: Baker vs. Malisse -- Donald Young and Grigor Dimitrov are playing in a match that's probably best described as a slow-speed train wreck. Sam Querrey tries to get back into the groove against No. 8 seed Janko Tipsarevic. But the story of the first week of the tournament could be Baker. If he walked down the Champs Elysees right now with a sign reading "I'm Brian Baker," nobody would look twice. With a single win next week, that could change.

Best possible quarterfinal: Roger Federer (3) vs. Tomas Berdych (7) -- This wins by default. Novak Djokovic would play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who probably doesn't expect to get that far. Andy Murray and David Ferrer? That'd be more fun to watch on hard courts. And it doesn't really matter who Nadal plays in the quarters, unless Robin Soderling has been hiding out in the bowels of Philippe Chatrier.

Semifinals predictions: Djokovic vs. Federer; Nadal vs. Isner -- If there are no surprises on the top half of the draw, we'll get a rematch of last year's classic semifinal between Djokovic and Federer. Who will advance to face Nadal in the other half? John Isner struggled in his two European clay tournaments, but was 3-0 on the surface in Davis Cup matches. His quarter is wide open.

Finals: Nadal d. Djokovic -- The only prediction here is picking which name to put second. Rafael Nadal continues to be the most dominant clay court player of his, or any, generation. He's 45-1 lifetime at the event. In order to make it 52 for 53, he'll have to hold off his recent nemesis. Nadal will win in straights and that 2011 clay court aberration will seem like a distant memory.

That's precisely the case in Lafayette, Ind., where 64-year-old Benton (Ind.) Central High baseball coach Gary DeHaven is leaving after a 26-year coaching career at BC and handing the reins for his program over to 23-year-old Tyler Rosenbarger.

In turn, Rosenberger will become one of the two youngest varsity baseball coaches in America, all while having to deal with the reality that he has been on the planet for fewer years than his departing coach has led the program he's about to take over.

"[DeHaven] has won a ton of games and has influenced a lot of people," Rosenbarger, who recently graduated from Purdue and was BC's junior varsity coach this season, told the Lafayette Journal Courier. "He has been a great role model. I hope I can do half the things that he accomplished."

While some might assume that DeHaven would want more trusted hands at the rudder of the program he was instrumental in building, the departing coach insisted that was anything but the case.

"He is a great kid," DeHaven told the Journal Courier. "It's going to be fun for him, and it's going to be fun to see how he does."

Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

No. 1 -- Victoria Azarenka

Last Year: Quarters, L to Na Li 5-7, 2-6

2012 record: 35-3

2012 clay record: 9-2

2012 highlights: Won Australian Open, Indian Wells, Doha, Sydney

First-round opponent: Alberta Brianti

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Samantha Stosur

No. 2 -- Maria Sharapova

Last Year: Semis, L to Na Li 4-6, 5-7

2012 record: 29-5

2012 clay record: 12-1

2012 highlights: Finalist at Australian Open, won Stuttgart and Rome

First-round opponent: Alexandra Cadantu

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Serena Williams

No. 3 -- Agnieszka Radwanska

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Maria Sharapova 6-7(4), 5-7

2012 record: 32-7

2012 clay record: 6-3

2012 highlights: Won Miami, Dubai

First-round opponent: Bojana Jovanovski

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Marion Bartoli

No. 4 -- Petra Kvitova

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Na Li 6-2, 1-6, 3-6

2012 record: 17-7

2012 clay record: 5-3

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Australian Open

First-round opponent: Ashleigh Barty

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Li Na

No. 5 -- Serena Williams

Last Year: DNP

2012 record: 27-2

2012 clay record: 15-0

2012 highlights: Won Madrid and Charleston

First-round opponent: Virginie Razzano

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Maria Sharapova

No. 6 -- Samantha Stosur

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Gisela Dulko 4-6, 6-1, 3-6

2012 record: 22-11

2012 clay record: 9-4

2012 highlights: Finalist at Doha

First-round opponent: Elena Baltacha

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Victoria Azarenka

No. 7 -- Li Na

Last Year: Champion, W over Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6(0)

2012 record: 21-8

2012 clay record: 9-3

2012 highlights: Finalist at Sydney and Rome

First-round opponent: Sorana Cirstea

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Petra Kvitova

No. 8 -- Marion Bartoli

Last Year: Semis, L to Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 3-6

2012 record: 19-11

2012 clay record: 2-4

2012 highlights: Finalist at Paris

First-round opponent: Qualifier

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Agnieszka Radwanska

No. 9 -- Caroline Wozniacki

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 3-6

2012 record: 20-10

2012 clay record: 3-3

2012 highlights: Finalist at Copenhagen

First-round opponent: Eleni Daniilidou

No. 10 -- Angelique Kerber

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Edina Gallovits-Hall 6-2, 3-6, 1-6

2012 record: 32-10

2012 clay record: 8-3

2012 highlights: Won Paris and Copenhagen

First-round opponent: Qualifier

No. 11 -- Vera Zvonareva

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7(4), 6-2, 2-6

2012 record: 7-7

2012 clay record: 2-2

2012 highlights: Quarter Finalist at Charleston and Pattaya City

First-round opponent: Timea Babos

No. 12 -- Sabine Lisicki

Last Year: Round of 64, L to Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 5-7, 5-7

2012 record: 10-10

2012 clay record: 2-2

2012 highlights: Round of 16 at Australian Open

First-round opponent: Bethanie Mattek-Sands

No. 13 -- Ana Ivanovic

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Johanna Larsson 6-7(3), 6-0, 2-6

2012 record: 18-11

2012 clay record: 4-3

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Indian Wells

First-round opponent: Qualifier

No. 14 -- Francesca Schiavone

Last Year: Finals, L to Na Li 4-6, 6-7(0)

2012 record: 8-14

2012 clay record: 1-4

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Brisbane

First-round opponent: Kimiko Dae-Krumm

No. 15 -- Dominika Cibulkova

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Vania King 7-6(10), 3-6, 2-6

2012 record: 14-3

2012 clay record: 7-4

2012 highlights: Finalist at Barcelona

First-round opponent: Kristina Mladenovic

No. 16 -- Maria Kirilenko

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Andrea Petkovic 2-6, 6-2, 4-6

2012 record: 16-10

2012 clay record: 2-3

2012 highlights: Finalist at Pattaya City

First-round opponent: Victoria Larriere

The gauntlet dropped.

With the much anticipated opening of the Yahoo! Fantasy Football season just a few days away, Brad Evans and Andy Behrens are already digging in. Two weeks ago the bullheaded fanalysts engaged in an email spat that eventually spilled over onto Twitter regarding the perceived value of rookie Robert Griffin III. Tonight, for the first time on the airwaves, the rivals will explain their stances. Expect plenty of bloodshed.

Also on this week's jam-packed show, the Freaks will attempt to answer several pressing questions heading into the football season. How should owners address the "Knee Three" (Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles and Rashard Mendenhall)? Because Sean Payton will only be coaching games in spirit, should all Saints be downgraded? Can we forgive CJ2LAME for his soul-crushing 2011? How far down cheat sheets should owners move Hakeem Nicks?

Meanwhile in hour No. 2, Behrens and Big Noise circle the bases to provide their latest slants from around the diamond, including takes on Dee Gordon, Justin Morneau and Yonder Alonso.

Noise Nation, want to get in the action? Here's how YOU can join the Freak Show:

Phone: 800.777.2907

Twitter: @YFreakShow

Quit crying over your Facebook IPO. Pull up a chair. And divert your attention. The Freaks are about to hit the air.

LISTEN TO THE FANTASY FREAK SHOW HERE

With a holiday weekend upon us, it's time to make a list and tick the items off. Clothes washed and packed, check. Various cords and chargers stashed away, check. A loaded and juiced iPod, good to go.

Okay, maybe we need one more thing to make it all complete: let's find us a winning streamer for the weekend. Brian Matusz, come on down.

Let's be clear on what I'm proposing: a short-term assignment, a streaming pick for Sunday. If he does well in that start, we can discuss future possibilities. One thing at a time.

You probably know the story with Matusz, but in case you don't, here's a quick refresher. The Orioles made him the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft and the lefty immediately went on the fast track to the majors. A strong finish to the 2010 season put him into that dangerous "improvement priced in" sleeper status, and he turned into a colossal flop last year (looking at his 2011 ERA and WHIP is more harmful than staring at the sun; you can look them up for yourself, but put on safety goggles first). We never really could tell what the problem was. Injury? Broken confidence? A stubborn refusal to bend his cap? Sometimes all you have is theories, no hard answers.

A train wreck season like that pushes you off the radar, but let's get Matusz back in our sights. He's been sharp in five of his last six starts, with the stats collecting this way: four wins, 35.1 IP, eight walks, 27 Ks, 3.57 ERA. Perhaps that final number leaves you a little cold, but keep in mind Matusz ran into the Josh Hamilton wrecking crew in his one poor start over the last month (seven runs). Otherwise, it's been smooth sailing, and he's cut his teeth against a handful of strong offenses. He's faced every AL East rival (and you know they can all hit) during this revival.

The Orioles are so impressed with Matusz's recent run, they're keeping him on normal rest and using him Sunday (meanwhile, Tommy Hunter gets bumped). And Matusz doesn't have to worry about an AL East rival in this spot: the Royals are the opponent on the schedule. Let's step up, take advantage.

Kansas City's offense has been vulnerable to left-handed pitching this year: the Royals are ninth in OPS against righties (.736), but the rank drops to 23rd against the southpaws (.656). Andy Pettitte cruised through this lineup earlier in the week. And it's not like the Royals are presenting a dynamic starter to go opposite Matusz: if you can't see the flaws in Luke Hochevar right now, you're not trying very hard.

I can't say definitely that the Orioles will be in the race all summer, but this certainly looks like an improved and competitive ballclub. Meanwhile, the Royals are stumbling along with a 17-26 mark. You don't win fantasy titles on paper, and paper can't throw strikes, but this has the look of an exploitable matchup. Matusz is available in 97 percent of Yahoo! leagues as we go to post. Who's with me?

• The Yankees offense hasn't been great of late, to the chagrin of so many fantasy owners. But I love the idea of trying to buy low on some people here, almost any big name in the lineup. Your mileage will vary, of course; maybe you can't get any of these guys at a good price. But just be open-minded and try, just the same.

New York has just 103 runs over the last month, which ranks them 23rd in the majors. But has the offense really been that bad? New York ranks 12th in batting average for the same period (.253), thirteenth in OBP (.321), fifth in slugging (.430) and fifth in homers (37). If I merely presented the slash line and power stats to you in a blind survey, you wouldn't expect the scoring column to be so depressed. Heck, the Yanks were the AL's lowest scoring team in May before the recent breakout against Kansas City. I know a fluke when I see one.

Work the phones, gamers. I know someone's sick of Mark Teixeira, somewhere (or Alex Rodriguez, or perhaps several others). This still looks like an elite offense to me, a lock to be Top 5 when all the counting is finally done come October. Even if you have to pay full market for someone like Robinson Cano or Curtis Granderson, there's a likely path to profit. Yankee Stadium is going to show its teeth many times this summer; get in on this while the getting's good.

• And sticking with the comeback theme of this Opening Time (east coast bias? nah), let's give a word about the rallying Phillies offense. As my buddy Mike Gianella pointed out earlier this morning, the Philly offense is third in wOBA over the past month, and the runs have been flowing as well (132 in all, which is third in the NL over that point). In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Given the loaded rotation here and the state of the bat-slumbering NL, I fully expect Charlie Manuel's gang to get back into the thick of the race. Okay, they're pretty much in it already — despite being in last in the NL East, the Phillies are just four games back of Washington. I'd be surprised if GM Ruben Amaro Jr. turned into a seller at the deadline; he has enough horses to compete, and you might as well take one more stab with this talented-but-aging core anyway.

Fantasy takeaway? Better days should be ahead for winless Cliff Lee and temporarily-struggling Roy Halladay. I doubt you can get a discount on them, but at least be open to the slight chance. Back in the real world, I'm not afraid to take a swing at a boring and unproductive veteran like Jimmy Rollins: shortstop is still a thin roto position, and this could be a fun lineup later in the summer - grab the triggerman. Despite the poor start, he still is on pace for 35 steals and 85 runs. That latter stat surely goes up if the club gets anything from Chase Utley and/or Ryan Howard (he's moved up to batting practice) later on.

• That jolting sound you heard in the middle of the night was the window slamming shut on the Dan Haren buy-low opportunity. Haren toyed with the Mariners over a dazzling four-hit shutout, walking no one and striking out 14. Roll the tape, enjoy the pictures. Resurgent Albert Pujols sparked the offense, hitting his fifth homer and adding a couple of singles. I still don't consider Pujols a first-round bat going forward; to me he's an early-third rounder. But at least he's been productive of late; the angst of an Internet world can now focus on something else.

The Mariners didn't have much to cheer about, but let's make a quick note about reliever Steve Delabar. He mowed down the Angels over two clean innings (three strikeouts), and for the year he's carrying a 0.91 WHIP and 28 whiffs (with just six walks) over 22 innings. The 4.50 ERA might push some people off the case, but this is a useful arm — and someone you want to consider in K/9 formats. He's out there virtually everywhere, owned in less than one percent of Yahoo! leagues.

• The Tigers offense could use a shot of adrenaline (the Indians earned their sweep and have to be considered the AL Central favorites right now), but help won't be coming from Austin Jackson for a while. The transcendent defender and improving hitter has been placed on the 15-day DL due to his abdomen injury. Such a shame, because this had "breakthrough year" written all over it.

Let's run through some possible Jackson replacements in the mixed roto environment: Brennan Boesch (45 percent owned, swinging a lot better of late), Andy Dirks (41 percent, a shorter but similar model to Boesch), Jeff Francoeur (40 percent, finally waking up), Mitch Moreland (36 percent, hitting .354 over last month), Yonder Alonso (30 percent, no power but super BA potential) and Coco Crisp (28 percent, use him before he gets hurt again). If you need to look deep, consider Daniel Nava (12 percent), Ty Wigginton (12 percent), Michael Brantley (10 percent) or Bobby Abreu (five percent).

That's why it was both hilarious and awesome to see the rapper return the favor by giving Bilas a shout-out in a new song.

The track in question is actually a newly released remix to E-40's "Function." In his verse, Jeezy says "we goin' to work like Jay Bilas," a reference to the ESPN analyst's typical weekday morning tweet which includes a verse to Jeezy song followed by the phrase, "I gotta go to work."

Bilas clearly got a chuckle out of hearing his name in the song based on his tweets about it Friday morning.

Wrote Bilas, "Jeezy drops a "gotta go to work like Jay Bilas" line in the E40 Function remix, 'cuz, this is what he sees in me...." What followed the ellipsis? A picture of the word "SWAG" in giant block letters, of course.

Bilas shared the story of how he became a Jeezy fan in an interview with XXL magazine in December. It started during a 2011 College GameDay broadcast when Michigan State forward Draymond Green told host Rece Davis he listens to Jeezy on his headphones before games.

"Hubert Davis and I started joking," Bilas told XXL. "Hubert asked if it was on my iPod and I said, 'Damn straight, it's the first thing.' I knew who Jeezy was but I wasn't an avid listener. But I started listening and I liked it.

"I ended up getting a question on Twitter and someone asked me about my favorite rappers and I said Sugarhill Gang and Young Jeezy. I started listening to Sugarhill Gang when I was in high school. Then and now I knew all the words. It was a serious answer. And then someone said no way does Bilas know Young Jeezy. And I started quoting Thug Motivation [101] and it's been fun. I enjoy the back and forth. It's been neat banter on Twitter."

Bilas now has the ultimate comeback for anyone who still says he isn't a true Jeezy fan: His name appears in a song. Not many others can say that.

(Thanks, CollegeBasketballTalk)

Think about the most cynical cynic in your life, or the curmudgeonliest curmudgeon. What percentage of their personality is an act? What percentage is authentic? Where does this worldview develop?

When you watch New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella and his natural comportment — short, intimidating answers with the media, screaming down the bench at players or opposing coaches — you can't help but wonder what influenced it. Did Tortorella emerge from the womb complaining about the doctors' treatment, sneering at an orderly who looked like Larry Brooks?

Craig Wolff of the Star-Ledger attempted to answer this with an origin story on John Tortorella that's rather terrific — speaking with his father, his former coaches and teammates back in high school and college.

On authenticity, Wolfe writes:

Posturing is not his thing, old coaches, friends, family and former teammates say. The fiery coach with darts for eyes, especially on display in the storm of the Stanley Cup playoff season in news conferences and behind the bench, is not contrived, they say.

But it was Tortorella's behavior in baseball and hockey as a young athlete that really gives you a sense of how demanding he is as an NHL coach.

From the Star-Ledger, speaking with Brent Clark, Concord-Carlisle High School baseball coach, for whom Tortorella was a captain:

"If he couldn't reach a ground ball, if it meant getting an out, he blocked ground balls with his face," said Brent Clark, the school's baseball coach back then. "This was not a once-in-a-while occurrence."

Clark said he came to appreciate Tortorella's intolerance for teammates whom, he thought, had not given a full effort, even if it meant fists flying in the locker room, often between him and his brother, Jim. "Some of the kids who played with John were afraid of him," Clark said. "He was into sending a message."

Play by play man Gary Thorne called University of Maine games when Tortorella was there, and told the Ledger:

"He played in the net with the goaltender," Thorne said. "He was black and blue after every game, but he would not be moved."

After practices were over, Thorne said, Tortorella ritually did 50 extra pushups, 25 sprints and took 25 shots from the blue line, then skated to the bench completely spent. "He went further than his body could take, throw up, then leave," Thorne said.

Check out the full story from Wolfe, including an anecdote about Tortorella wearing his baseball uniform under his graduation gown in high school. For all the digital ink spilled about Torts this postseason, this is a nice curveball.

Game 6 between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers is Friday night, and it's a defining moment for Tortorella's tenure in New York. His opponent, Peter DeBoer, has outmaneuvered him in this series. His team has been called fatigued, because of their style of play and Tortorella's own demanding nature.

After falling behind 3-0, the Rangers gave Tortorella their best effort of the series. Maybe desperation brings out their best, as it did in the previous two rounds.

It's time for the Rangers to do whatever it takes. And there's no better coach than the black-and-blue kid who used to block ground balls with his face to get it out of them.

What is that, Dwyane Wade? Is that fuchsia? That's nice.

Coming off back-to-back excellent performances, the star Miami Heat guard entered Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Thursday night intent on making a statement in Game 6 by putting away the Indiana Pacers in dominating fashion ... an intent he declared with some dominating fashion that stunned even teammate and noted fashionplate LeBron James before the game, according to ESPN's Rachel Nichols:

LeBron: "Damn, for real, those are closeout pants? And the finger sleeve?"

Wade: "You gotta coordinate."

LeBron: "You look like Eddie Murphy in the '80s."

Wade: "Eddie Murphy wishes he looked like me."

I mean, especially now.

It's not a bad goof by LeBron — the simple combination of words "Eddie Murphy in the '80s" is a pretty can't-miss laugh-inducer — but strictly speaking, assuming James is referring to the bright leather suits Murphy rocked for "Delirious" and "Raw," it's not quite accurate. What Wade brought to the arena was actually more of a Chad Johnson/Ochocinco or John Daly look, when you get right down to it, with maybe a bit of "Nashville Star" winner Chris Young thrown in, via that wrist bandana (obviously). If anything, Present-Day Eddie Murphy kind of has more of a Russell Westbrook thing going on, really.

[Related: Dwyane Wade and LeBron James at peak as Heat roll into East finals]

Regardless of their analogue or origin, Wade's pink pants caught many an observer's gaze, including the jaundiced eye of NBA TV host Rick Kamla, who proclaimed them a "flagrant fashion foul" during the cable network's "NBA Game Time" program. While I am sure such critiques wound Wade to his core, he's probably found some solace in the fact that he got to show out before, during and after a 41-point, 10-rebound performance that sent him to the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth time in eight years.

Well, that, and the knowledge that, as any major mom would say in times like these, if they're making fun of you, they're just jealous:

I'll leave it to someone else to prove Wade wrong by effectively rocking pink pants; he's dead on in my case. Luckily, we're guaranteed at least four more opportunities to see what Wade can come up with next.

Hat-tip to Brian Floyd at SB Nation.

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No. 1 -- Novak Djokovic

Last year: Semifinal, L to Roger Federer 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5)

2012 record: 30-5

2012 clay record: 10-3

2012 highlights: Won Australian Open and Miami

First-round opponent: Potito Starace

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

No. 2 -- Rafael Nadal

Last Year: Champion, W over Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1

2012 record: 33-4

2012 clay record: 16-1

2012 highlights: Finalist at Australian Open, Won Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Rome

First-round opponent: Simone Bolelli

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Janko Tipsarevic

No. 3 -- Roger Federer

Seed: No. 3

Last Year: Final, L to Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-7(3), 7-5, 1-6

2012 record: 31-4

2012 clay record: 8-1

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Australian Open, Won Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Madrid

First-round opponent: Tobias Kamke

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Tomas Berdych

No. 4 -- Andy Murray

Last Year: Semi, L to Rafael Nadal 4-6, 5-7, 4-6

2012 record: 22-7

2012 clay record: 5-3

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Australian Open, Won Brisbane

First-round opponent: Tatsuma Ito

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: David Ferrer

No. 5 -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 2-6, 3-6

2012 record: 24-10

2012 clay record: 5-4

2012 highlights: Won Doha

First-round opponent: Qualifier

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Novak Djokovic

No. 6 -- David Ferrer

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-8

2012 record: 33-7

2012 clay record: 19-4

2012 highlights: Won Acapulco

First-round opponent: Lukas Lacko

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Andy Murray

No. 7 -- Tomas Berdych

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Stephane Robert 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-9

2012 record: 28-8

2012 clay record: 9-3

2012 highlights: Won Montpellier

First-round opponent: Dudi Sela

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Roger Federer

No. 8 -- Janko Tipsarevic

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Roger Federer 1-6, 4-6, 3-6

2012 record: 22-11

2012 clay record: 6-4

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Madrid

First-round opponent: Sam Querrey

Highest possible quarterfinal seed: Rafael Nadal

No. 9 -- Juan Martin Del Potro

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6

2012 record: 33-8

2012 clay record: 10-2

2012 highlights: Won Marseille and Estoril

First-round opponent: Albert Montanes

No. 10 -- John Isner

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Rafael Nadal 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 2-6, 4-6

2012 record: 21-9

2012 clay record: 4-3

2012 highlights: Finalist at Indian Wells

First-round opponent: Qualifier

No. 11 -- Gilles Simon

Last Year: Round of 16, L to Robin Soderling 2-6, 3-6, 6-7(5)

2012 record: 25-12

2012 clay record: 13-6

2012 highlights: Won Bucharest

First-round opponent: Ryan Harrison

No. 12 -- Nicolas Almagro

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-7(5), 4-6

2012 record: 30-11

2012 clay record: 16-6

2012 highlights: Won Sao Paulo

First-round opponent: Paolo Lorenzi

No. 13 -- Juan Monaco

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6

2012 record: 18-7

2012 clay record: 11-4

2012 highlights: Won Vina del Mar and Houston

First-round opponent: Guillaume Rufin

No. 14 -- Fernando Verdasco

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Ivan Ljubicic 3-6, 6-7(6), 4-6

2012 record: 19-11

2012 clay record: 15-7

2012 highlights: Finalist at Acapulco

First-round opponent: Steve Darcis

No. 15 -- Feliciano Lopez

Last Year: Round of 128, L to Roger Federer 3-6, 4-6, 6-7(3)

2012 record: 11-13

2012 clay record: 6-6

2012 highlights: Semi Finalist at Munich and Houston

First-round opponent:Qualfier

No. 16 -- Alexandr Dolgopolov

Last Year: Round of 32, L to Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6

2012 record: 15-11

2012 clay record: 6-4

2012 highlights: Finalist at Brisbane

First-round opponent: Sergiy Stakhovsky

Information in this post was compiled by Daniel Salcetti.

Fascinating story on this week's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on HBO focusing on the rise and dominance of South Korean women in the world of golf. This is a country the size of Indiana, with about one percent of the world's population, and yet it's had an outsized effect on the women's game. Here, get a look at Bryant Gumbel's visit to South Korea, and be prepared for some sticker shock ($10,000 a month for families to train their daughters to be the best, for instance). This episode of "Real Sports" airs this week and in repeats on HBO; check your local listings and work it in around "Game of Thrones" or whatever.

This week, the San Francisco 49ers QB was asked about his passing yards, which averaged under 200 yards during the Niners run to the NFC championship game.

"I could absolutely care less on yards per game," Smith told reporters. [Wait, so he's saying he cares a little bit?] "I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you're losing games in the second half, guess what, you're like the Carolina Panthers and you're going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That's great. You're not winning, though."

Says the guy who entered last season with a 19-31 career record.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason heard about Smith's comments and responded on Twitter:

To which I respond: Like the crowd in 8 Mile, "daaaaamn!"

Beason just James Harrison'd Alex Smith. That was the verbal equivalent of a helmet-to-helmet hit in the open field. It doesn't even matter that Smith is right about football stats being meaningless. There are plenty of ways to make that point without ripping on the guy who put up the best rookie season in NFL history.

One of the best events of the year isn't even on the Sprint Cup schedule: it's Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream, the dirt-track charity event that levels off everyone and brings in some other motorsports stars to compete with your favorite NASCAR cats. Last year, Clint Bowyer won in dominating fashion; here he recalls that triumph and looks ahead to the 2012 showdown.

This year's Prelude to the Dream will take place June 6 at 8pm ET on HBO Pay-Per-View. Check your local cable listings or satellite provider for details on how to order.

Since then, JDS has rattled off seven straight wins. Only two have gone to the judges cards, and he won two Knockout of the Night bonuses. Will that streak continue against Frank Mir on Saturday night? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Winslow was told last Saturday by Schiano, the Bucs' new coach, that he was persona non grata after missing a series of organized team activities, and the Bucs shipped the productive tight end to Seattle for a 2013 seventh-round pick (conditional sixth). So you'll forgive Winslow if he wasn't participating in team reps during Thursday's practice -- after flying from San Diego to Tampa to hear of the trade, and then from Tampa to Seattle to complete it, he might have been a bit jet-lagged.

"It's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow told Ross Tucker of SIRIUS NFL Radio on Monday morning. "[Schiano] said he was upset that I wasn't working out with the team in the offseason, and then, the first week of OTAs. But, look -- I've been there the last three years, and I've had a successful career so far, and you just don't get rid of one of your best players because of that. That's just what I was told, but I have nothing bad to say about coach Schiano -- it was just a disagreement on why I'm not there yet. I was training in San Diego, and I was going to start [in OTAs with the team] today, but I got the call on Saturday that they're looking for somebody else."

Similarly "lagged" in 2011 was the Seattle passing offense, especially at Winslow's position. Despite the free-agency acquisition of Zach Miller and a propensity for two-tight-end formations (39 percent last season), the Seahawks got just 25 receptions out of Miller, and he led the team. Winslow, in Tampa Bay's hamstrung offense, caught three times as many balls for the Bucs -- so, on the surface, Pete Carroll's excitement about the deal was understandable.

"Kellen is a unique football player," Carroll said after practice. "He's got special talents. He's got a tremendous record of consistency, and I think we add a guy that we know can make things happen. But we think it's just a fantastic addition because he can make things happen, he can make plays, should be a big factor on third down and the red zone and we'll see how we fit him in. It's going to take us awhile to do that, but we're really fired up."

The injury history is an issue -- Winslow has had six separate surgeries on his right knee -- but he hasn't missed a game in the last three years and caught at least 66 passes in each of those campaigns. He's not a dominant player, but he is very productive, and that's a balm for a team that has had a bit of a black hole at the position for most of the last decade.

"I'll be good," Winslow said. "Zach Miller is a proven veteran here. Hopefully we'll be able to do something like the Patriots are doing with [Rob] Gronkowski and [Aaron] Hernandez. We kind of fit that mold, so I'm sure we'll be fine."

Matching their sets to the Patriots may be wishful thinking -- there's nobody catching passes of Gronk's caliber on this team -- but the point is well-made nonetheless. What Winslow allows the Seahawks to do is to keep Miller inline as the more traditional blocker, while Winslow lines up in different parts of the formation on the other side. Though Tampa Bay's 2011 offense was the ultimate cure for insomnia, Winslow was all over the place -- in the formation, flexed out, and sometimes, the man widest out from the line. He was also oftentimes the one tilting the field and forcing coverage out of the box, as much as anyone did for the Bucs last season. That's appealing to a Seahawks team desperate to do more with tight ends.

"He can do a bunch of stuff and he's done a lot of it in his career," Carroll said. "He's a wide receiver in a tight end's body. He's got all of that ability and route-running like I mentioned, but more than that he makes plays. As well as — the thing that I love about the guy the most — is that he's a great competitor. He just loves to play the game and we can't have enough of that around here."

Winslow agreed. "Yeah, you want to create mismatches so I'm kind of the knight in the chess game. You can move me around and control the middle of the field. So I guess you could label me as that. I do like to move around a lot though."

As to Winslow's reputation for off-field concerns and on-field attitude, it appears to be a manageable risk. None of Winslow's 2012 contract, inherited in the deal, is guaranteed, so the Seahawks can continue their practice of finding the fits with value gambles as they go.

"We like guys with special dimensions and he's got them," Carroll said of his newest weapon. "He's a real route-runner and a great, great catcher and he does stuff with the ball after he catches it, too. Zach is a dynamite 'Y' tight end in this offense — we use him for so many different special things because he's so good at it. To have the complement of these two guys going and the way we can mix it it's a really exciting aspect for our offense ... we're going to make the most of this trade and it's going to be really good."

As Winslow said on Thursday, "It's good to have a job." Now on his third NFL team in an eight-year career, the first-round pick of the 2004 Cleveland Browns has an opportunity to move past the past and get started on a better future.

As you may recall, after the Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated by the Los Angeles Kings, the two teams combined for one of the most uncomfortable handshake lines ever. Rather than shake quickly and move on (standard etiquette in handshake lines and at public urinals), Martin Hanzal and Shane Doan gave an earful to Kings' captain Dustin Brown, who had gone unpenalized on a borderline collision with Michal Rozsival just moments before Dustin Penner's game-winner.

It was a decidedly uncomposed, unsportsmanlike moment for the Coyotes, but if some of the stuff they said in the locker room afterwards was any indication, they weren't exactly thinking clearly. Maybe we should give them a couple days to calm down, we all thought.

Well, it's been a couple days, and sure enough, cooler heads have indeed prevailed. On Thursday, Shane Doan admitted some regret to how heated things became in the handshake line, and explained what was said between he and Brown. Doan, from NHL.com:

"We went to do the handshake and he was trying to explain and I said "Not now!' then he said 'Come on' and tried again and I said "No, not right now,' and that was it, Doan said. "That's really all it was.

Doan added that he didn't swear or say anything disrespectful. Still, he regretted losing his composure in the moment.

From AZ Central:

"But at the same time, everyone who has ever played in a playoff game has done the handshake line. Am I arrogant enough to think I'm the only player who felt bad? No. And in that situation, I have to be in better control of my emotions."

Doan also apologized for his postgame comments, where he suggested that the NHL was conspiring against the Coyotes (and before you suggest that it's laughable for a company to conspire against a property they own, consider that Warner Bros. released Catwoman.) Will his apology be enough to avoid a fine?

Speaking of things better left unsaid, Doan wasn't the only one regretting what went on after the game. Goaltender Mike Smith has shaved a couple games off that lifetime ban he felt Dustin Brown deserved for the hit.

"Obviously, a lifetime ban is little much," he told reporters. And then everyone had a good laugh (and somewhere, Pete Rose shed a single tear).

It's good to see the Coyotes getting some of the postgame silliness behind them, because they didn't need that stuff staining what was otherwise the greatest season in franchise history. It's a season that deserves to be remembered and commemorated, something Fox Sports Arizona will doing with the following commercial, beginning Friday:

UPDATE: Via the Globe & Mail, the NHL said it will investigate the Coyotes' action after Game 5:

Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations who handles discipline outside of playing matters, said he does not know when his investigation will be complete because contacting players once their season ends can be difficult. "Not sure ... [it's] tough when a player's season is over and to co-ordinate times [for interviews]," Campbell said in a text message Friday morning.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of suspensions that would take effect next season or fines. Campbell said in a text he wasn't sure what form any punishment would take since he has not started interviewing those involved. The maximum fine he can assess, according to the collective agreement, is $2,500 (U.S.).

So, in summary, the NHL is investigating the team it owns.

Lamar Odom, master of his destiny and not at all a creature of habit and/or willing participant in whatever the heck Khloe Kardashian/E! Network/Ryan Seacrest Productions tell him to do, might want to play for the New York Knicks in 2012-13 and beyond.

Dwight Howard, ruler of worlds, might be as good as gone from Orlando this summer, because the Magic's ownership group appears to have soured on dealing with the guy.

Both rumors make plenty of sense, in basketball terms and in consideration of the respective players' personality, and history. Odom is from New York, cannot stand playing outside of major markets, and is ultra-sensitive who he runs with and under what circumstances. Howard, a year and a half removed from beginning to turn down contract extensions from the Orlando Magic, should have worn out his welcome with the team by now, and it makes sense for Orlando to have decided to move on. But, even in late May and just five weeks removed from the official start of the offseason, is any of this worth leaning on? Come on, guy.

Odom's plea is by far the less significant of the two. The New York City native has played with both Los Angeles teams since entering the NBA in 1999, along with a season in Miami, and a disastrous stint with the Dallas Mavericks — the defending champion, always on TV, very famous Dallas Mavericks — in 2011-12. With his options limited and very few teams interested in a 32-year-old who shot 35 percent last year and couldn't be bothered to make it a full year with the Mavs despite plenty of chances, of course the offensively starved Knicks seem like a perfect retreat for a player looking to turn it all around.

There's just one obstacle, though. Actual NBA contracts, including the one Odom signed back in the summer of 2009.

Lamar may have been dismissed from the Mavericks two months ago, but he's still under contract with the team for the rest of this season, and technically for 2012-13. Though the $8.5 million he's due to make in 2012-13 is only guaranteed for $2.4 million, and the Mavericks will certainly decline to pick up Odom's team option for the full amount for myriad reasons that go beyond his play in 2011-12, he still is a Maverick until July.

And between now and July, the Mavs are shopping the veteran. Which means LO is in no way in control of his destiny, here. Even if "New York is somewhere he can be comfortable."

The Mavericks took what seemed to be a low-risk chance on Lamar in December because his all-around talents would have seemingly fit in swimmingly with a veteran Mavs team already featuring borderline position-less veterans like Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion. Sadly for us lovers of all things orange and leathery, it didn't work out. Dallas' commitment goes beyond that, though, because all along the team has been clearing cap space for the 2013 offseason, one that could see the team attempt to pounce on trading for Howard, or adding Deron Williams in the free-agent market.

This is why the team is going to be proactive with Odom, in the days leading up to the June 29 deadline to either pick up Odom's full deal for 2012-13, or buy him out at the cost of that $2.4 million. If Williams continues to hint that he doesn't want any part of the borderline-rebuilding Mavericks, the team could ship him to another team desperate to cut salary, knowing they can send out around $9 million in contracts and only end up paying $2.4 million (once they decline Odom's option) in return. Toss in the ability to pick up draft picks or add to that cap space by including Marion or Brendan Haywood in any deal, and you can see why the Mavericks are more than in charge, in this situation.

And Odom, despite his representative-placed plea ("It definitely won't be the fiasco that it was last year. He's won championships in the past and he wants to win another." — mine eyes hurt from all the rollin') isn't really in charge of any of this, anytime soon. And even if he hits the open market, he'll have to take on a minimum salary from the Knicks, and not even a part of the team's mid-level exception — because the Knicks will likely be looking for more shooters and guard help, instead of a player whose skill set is already pretty well represented on the Knicks. Again, Lamar's not really in charge here.

To a lesser extent, the same goes for both the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard, somehow concurrently, in their dilemma.

It more than makes sense, as you read Chris Sheridan's report, to believe that the Magic are sick to death of Howard's hemming and hawing. We were begging the team last year to pull the trigger with the MVP candidate, because it was more than obvious ages ago that he was in no hurry to re-sign with the only team's he's been a part of since being drafted first overall in 2004. And even if the Magic secure a fantastic win-now coach between now and training camp — say, a Stan Van Gundy-type — the team's limited roster only gives them an upset's worth of a chance to knock out a Miami or Chicago in the playoffs this time next year in the final weeks of Howard's contract.

So, you trade the guy. Right?

Of course, but we're not there yet. Sources around the Magic (who would also have great interest in trying to sway Howard by leaking fake trade rumors) might claim to have made their minds up, but they're ages away from figuring any of this out. Without a working general manager — no, CEO Alex Martins is not a basketball guy — the team has little indication as to how the market is set, and will be set. And as stupid as the team was to drag this saga out while hanging onto the mercurial Howard, they'd be stupid to make up their minds before the offseason hits.

Because things could change. Even if we've decided, without reflex, that Howard won't be back after the summer of 2013, making a final decision before prodding is the height of absurdity.

What if the team's finances are better served to keep Howard around (after all, he was the guy that famously put pen to paper in March to pick up his player option for 2012-13) and fill the seats in that stadium through at least the first round of next year's playoffs, considering how un-movable his teammates are in the trade market?

What if the trade market for Howard, because teams know he's on the block this summer, could be more rewarding next February, in the days leading up to the trade deadline?

What if going quiet with this, as the Utah Jazz did in dealing Deron Williams 15 months ago, is the way to go?

What if, as it is with Odom, teams are waiting to see how the May 30 draft lottery shakes out? Or the actual draft, on June 28? What if they're waiting on getting a better idea of where the NBA's cap limit will settle into, even if news of that hits after Odom's June 29 deadline?

What if this is all nonsense, until things shape out?

Aye, you're on to something there.

The conference finals start this weekend. The season still has a few weeks to go, and we're five weeks away from anything substantial happening in the 2012 offseason. Teams and players have an idea of what they'd like to do between now and the start of training camp this fall, but beyond that nobody has a clue. And that goes for even your most plugged-in player representative, front office source, and the writers that happily represent their side of the story in order to reel in hits.

Apologies for the cold water take, but you're as plugged in as anyone. It's early. There's still a lot to figure out, and nothing is as simple as it seems save for the simple way of saying that we've still got a long way to go before anything settles into anything resembling reality. Much less a roster.

Enjoy your hot stove league, even in this heat. Just understand that nothing is anywhere near certain at this early stage. If that bores you, we understand.

Get in a nap, then. We'll see you in July, and have a bit of fun.

Tim Tebow and American hurdling star Lolo Jones share two things in common: They're saving their virginity until marriage and they get made fun of incessantly for that decision.

Jones, the 29-year-old world indoor champion and Olympic medal hopeful, recently told HBO's "Real Sports" that she was still a virgin. Once that interview aired, she drew immediate comparisons to America's most famous sexual holdout, Timothy Richard Tebow. That similarity wasn't lost on Tebow's New York Jets teammates.

[ Photos: U.S. track star Lolo Jones ]

According to Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News, Tebow was serenaded with chants of "Lolo! Lolo!" when he entered the locker room following Thursday's OTAs and it wasn't because he's good at hurdling and sort of looks like Rashida Jones.

Those chants don't seem right to me. If Tebow gets "Lolo!" chants, it's only fair that Antonio Cromartie enter to the calls of "Duggar!"

Jones told Mary Carillo that keeping her virginity is harder than training for the Olympics. Sometimes, men will try to entice her into the bedroom by claiming sex makes you run faster. As I wrote on a Fourth-Place Medal post earlier this week, that'd certainly explain Cromartie's speediness.

[ Y! Sports Fantasy Minute: Fantasy football stars on the mend ]

Carl Edwards gave us an interesting revelation at Charlotte Media Day: when he's behind Martin Truex Jr., he starts singing the "NAPA Know-How" song just like the rest of us. And if you know that song, and everyone who's heard it once does, you know it worms its way into your subconscious, wrapping itself around your cerebral cortex waiting to pop out and make you sing it at inopportune times: your wedding, a funeral, driving around a track at 200 mph.

Here's my question, though: we're most often subjected to this ad while we're watching the race. During that time, shouldn't Carl be, you know, racing? Unless he's got a TV feed in his car, which would explain a lot.

Round 1 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is in the books, and we had some fine play right from the word go. Familiar names like Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Louis "The Eagle" Oosthuizen were in fine form. Could this be Sergio Garcia's week? Probably not, but hey, two strokes off the lead after Day 1 ain't bad. And Jason Dufner is playing just fine, a single stroke off the lead. Zach Johnson leads the field at -6; play continues Friday.

Roy Nelson got a chance to speak at Thursday's UFC 146 press conference, but his beard remained silent. That is, until now. In a Cagewriter exclusive, Roy Nelson's Beard (RNB) spoke about its past, future, and what it brings to Nelson's game.

Cagewriter: How are you feeling today?

RNB: Good. Full. Ready to take on Dave Herman.

CW: How long have you been with Roy?

RNB: Well, I've been a part of his life for some time, but it was just in the past year or so that Roy really let me shine. He and I push each other to make each other great. It's truly a symbiotic relationship.

CW: What do you bring to his MMA game?

RNB: What DON'T I bring to his game? Striking, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, I taught him all of that. When he and his coaches come up with his game plan, they turn to me for advice. TKOing "Cro Cop"? That was all me.

CW: So then do you also take the blame for the fact he's lost three of his last four bouts?

RNB: Well, we're a team. We lose together, y'know? It's not just Roy out there. It's me, the belly, the mullet.

CW: Is there ever a rivalry between you?

RNB: Well, I'll let you in on a secret. The belly is TOTALLY jealous of me. He always used to get all the attention, but since Roy has been getting in better shape, he's lost prominence. Now it's all eyes on me.

CW: Has Roy talked to you about the future? Will he definitely keep you around or is there discussion of ... a razor?

RNB? Why would you ask such a thing? That's sick. Seriously. A razor? To what? Shave me off? You don't shave me off. You don't get rid of a glorious beard like this one. Are you crazy. I'm done. Interview's over.

CW: Well, thanks for your time.

As reported by Opposing Views, and quickly disseminated across the web, the 5-year-old Dzheus completely stole the show during a testimonial match for Belarussian side Torpedo Zhodino star Vadim Evseev. With Evseev set to retire, the club hosted a final testimonial for its star, with Evseev's club rolling to a 4-1 lead.

Yet that lead would expand in the most unlikely of circumstances when Evseev was taken off the pitch and replaced by none other than Evseev's 5-year-old son Dzheus, who wasted little time before slotting in his side's fifth goal of the game.

Yes, Dzheus was only brought on as a gimmicky thank you meant for his father, who runs an all-Russian Children's Center called Eaglet. Yes, the defense disintegrated as quickly as Moses parting the Red Sea, leaving Dzheus with a pretty clear take on goal.

Still, anytime a 5-year-old scores an actual, registered goal in a professional soccer match, that is some news. In this case the news is that Dzheus has some degree of his Dad's talent and Evseev is such a well-respected character that opponents are even willing to help one of his successors find the goal to bring a smile to Torpedo's loyal fans.

Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

On Thursday night, it was D-O-Double-Gizzle Day, as in the world famous rapper and entertainer Snoop Dogg, who stopped by to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before heading off to his scheduled performance at the Horseshoe Casino in nearby Hammond, Ind.

And I must say, I came away impressed with Snoop's dedication to his craft, and the results it garnered. Especially compared to the majority of celebrity first pitches we've seen lately. Not naming names, Gary Sinise.

Not only did Snoop successfully get the ball over the plate and on the fly, he did so while displaying good balance, sound mechanics,  a very deceptive delivery. And of course he gets an A+ for showmanship, concluding the performance with an homage to Usain Bolt and Tim Tebow. 

But I really want to know: Was that Snoop's best fastball, or did he dig deep into his bag of tricks?

"Oh man, that was special," Snoop Dogg said. "It was a strike. It was a changeup, screwball. It was one of my pitches that I normally don't really go into, but we are in the Windy City so I had to make sure it got over the plate the right way."

The winds were whipping at The Cell on Thursday night, reaching gusts of 25 mph, so he was wise to pitch to the conditions. But I don't think I'd go as far to call the pitch a strike. It was a very respectable effort to be sure, but he needs to bring that down to get a strike call.

But, then again, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised that Snoop Dogg would be in favor of a high strike zone.

Looking for more baseball chatter?
Follow @bigleaguestew, @Townie813 and check out the BLS Facebook Page

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

The Magnificent Mesoraco: Devin Mesoraco delivered a timely first on Thursday night. With his Reds trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Reds rookie catcher deposited Kris Medlen's 2-0 pitch deep into the left field seats (just inside the foul pole) for his first career grand slam.

''That's kind of why I paused at the plate at the start,'' Mesoraco said. ''I wasn't sure it was going to stay fair, but it stayed true. It didn't tail. That's a pretty good sign for me as a hitter.''

It was a no-doubter, at least in terms of distance. And once the Reds handed the ball to their bullpen — even with Aroldis Chapman unavailable — the result was also no longer in doubt. Reds win it 6-3, completing their first four-game of the Braves in Cincinnati since 1980, and pushing them into first place in the NL Central.

All about Choo: It's not often that a hitter gets a good piece of a Justin Verlander offering. It's even rarer when a hitter gets all of one, but that's exactly what Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo did on Thursday, hammering a first inning solo home run that traveled an estimated 454 feet into Progressive Field's second deck.

As expected, though, the reigning American League CY Young and MVP rebounded well from the initial blast, allowing only one more run in his eight-inning complete game. But with the Tigers offense unable to solve the trio of Justin Masteron, Vinnie Pestrano and Chris Perez, Verlander was the tough luck loser — his first road loss since July 5, 2011 — as the Indians completed the sweep with a 2-1 victory.

Give and take: It looked like an easy night at the office for the Phillies after jumping out to a 6-0 second inning lead in St. Louis. Only these aren't the Phillies we're used to. Nothing comes easy. By the time the fifth inning ended, the game was all square at seven. But that's where rookie Freddy Galvis took the game back for good, knocking in the go-ahead run — his third RBI — in the sixth in what ultimately became a 10-9 win.

Photo of the Day: Welcome to the Big Show

Minnesota Twins pitcher Cole De Vries prepares for his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately, it didn't go well, as De Vries was knocked around to the tune of six runs (three earned) in five innings in Chicago's 11-8 triumph.

Three Facts for the Water Cooler:

• The San Diego Padres fielded a lineup in which the 6-7-8 hitters were all hitting below .200, yet pounded out a season-high 18 basehits in their 11-5 win over the Mets.

• Ryan Vogelsong struck out three more times and is now 0-for-15 with 13 strikeouts on the season. But the Giants pay him to pitch, and he did that just well enough in their 14-7 victory over the Marlins.

• The Angels notched their league best seventh shutout in a 3-0 win over the Mariners. Oh, and that Pujols guy hit a home run. He has 450 of those since 2001.

Looking for more baseball chatter?
Follow @bigleaguestew, @Townie813 and check out the BLS Facebook Page

In anticipation of Euro 12, Dutch supermarket chain C1000 produced a music video featuring stars of the Netherlands team and hundreds of the little birdie toys it's offering fans/potential shoppers.

During the video, you'll see Nigel De Jong's teammates sticking the orange toys to his head, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar almost eating one (but it wasn't made of grass, so he didn't), someone putting three on a kebab stick and grilling them, plus Arjen Robben sticking them to his backside and bending over. In other words, it's...strange.

And now we must wait and see if these things horrify the world by bursting out of Robin van Persie's chest during a group stage match.

Video via 101gg

Also, he doesn't want to low-five you, ya punk kid. Check out West's -- I'm sorry -- hilarious reaction to the eight outstretched hands of various children and one adult in the hallway leading from the Pacers' home court back to the team's locker room. And, it should be noted, this video was taken at halftime, and before West's Pacers saw their season end with a 105-93 defeat at the hand of the Miami Heat. Watch, because it's so good:

Now, you can get haughty at the idea of a professional athlete making eight figures a year snubbing some children who just wanted to offer their support. You can look at Danny Granger, who seconds later hooked up to five with the fans on his way to the locker room. You can call him a bad example, because high-fiving people is a necessary skill that all youngsters need to perfect in order to succeed in adulthood. You can point out the tired "makes more than a schoolteacher!"-argument, Dr. Obvious, until your dying day.

Or, you could laugh out loud as West just blatantly spurns these kids with no remorse, like I can't stop doing. I think this is the greatest, and if I see David West this summer I'll ... well, I'll probably just leave him alone.

Kids have to learn rejection. It's all downhill from here, and they're going to figure it out at some point. For this guidance, we should be thanking David West.

Now, everyone go wake up your children to tell them the truth about Santa Claus, and what exactly makes Elmo's mouth move. You'd be creating a stronger society along the way.

Miami Heat 105, Indiana Pacers 93 (Heat win series 4-2)

A dominant five-day and 10-quarter stretch from the Miami Heat has put them back in the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row and the fifth time in franchise history. And the Indiana Pacers will be left to figure out just how they went from series leader after Game 3, with all the momentum on their side, to out of the postseason in just a week's time.

And the rest of the NBA is wondering just what doctor Dwyane Wade visited last weekend. Does he do other body parts and does he work on Friday afternoons?

It was an astonishing night for Wade, a player who has been beyond dominant during the Heat turnaround that started with the third quarter in Sunday's Game 4. Forty-one points for the All-Star, missing just eight shots in 25 tries while pulling in 10 needed rebounds for a team featuring big minutes for two of the best-defending-but-worst-rebounding front-court players in the NBA in Joel Anthony and Shane Battier. Most frightening was the way Wade was scoring, consistently going glass with a series of runners, not exactly taking and making bad shots, but taking and making tough shots. Gorgeous game from Wade, and after all our worry from last week, it's great to watch.

LeBron James was the needed closer, of sorts, in the game's final minutes. The Pacers had cut the lead to seven before curiously pulling Roy Hibbert (who had trouble containing Heat drivers once they blew past their men). James scored on two expertly timed quick-hitters around the rim, finishing the night with 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals, and it just wasn't fair. Mike Miller (!) and Mario Chalmers combined for seven 3-pointers on 7 of 11 from behind the arc, Anthony paired great "D" with two fantastic scores in the paint (!!), and Battier made up for his 1-for-7 night from the floor by staving off two Indiana runs with both an assist and make in the deciding third quarter.

As with all potential champions, the Heat are becoming a third quarter team. Good thing, because Indy made a strong showing to start Game 6. LeBron was slightly off his game early, settling for jumpers that weren't awful, but not the best shots he could have taken. Indiana also successfully adjusted to the way Battier was anticipating Pacer screens by running counters and eventually dominating the paint in the second quarter.

Things fell apart again when Indy had to go to its bench. Coach Frank Vogel defending extended minutes for his pine guys ("you have to play your bench at some point"), but the fact remains that things fell apart offensively for his team with Leandro Barbosa (who didn't play in the second half) killing his team's momentum with ineffective play. The ball went away from Hibbert, an unfortunate trend over the last week, and the Pacers either didn't have the legs (or, in Vogel's estimation, the horses) to trap Miami's stars and for more pell-mell ball movement and plays created by lesser known Heat'ians.

[Video: LeBron's embarrassing miss ]

Though, as we noted above, Miller, Battier and even Anthony acquitted themselves quite well when things got hairy.

We'll have more on the Pacers later on Friday. For now let's just marvel at how scary the Heat can be, especially without playing alongside the spacing from Chris Bosh and/or Udonis Haslem that we thought necessary for them to beat great teams.

Erik Spoelstra has been absolutely on top of it during this postseason with his adjustments. He was one step ahead of Frank Vogel in this series, and save for some goofy asides (like starting Dexter Pittman in Game 3, sitting Udonis Haslem in the second half of that contest), he's been fantastic. And he's had help — Haslem in Game 4, Battier in Game 5, Miller in Game 6 — along the way.

Wade and James have combined to average more than 65 points per game in the squad's last three wins, and while basketball orthodoxy will tell you to not expect this moving forward for this duo … they're Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. It's doable. It's necessary to win, which is an unfortunate thing for such a top-heavy team, but it's doable.

It's the Miami Heat. And it's scary.

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• Pau Gasol enters offseason wondering if he will remain with the Lakers
• True or not, rumors of Yankees sale are further evidence of softening of Steinbrenner regime
• Charlie Sheen reportedly buys Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring

On billboards driving down I-30, bus stops in downtown, and in convenience store windows, there's no way you can miss the fact that the PGA Tour is in town this week.

The ads feature David Tom, Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler, three of the tournament's most prominent names. But the hottest golfer on the planet? He's nowhere to be found in the advertisements ... even though he's in the field at Colonial.

By now you probably know who we're talking about. That would be Jason Dufner, a guy who, until last week, was considered "just another PGA Tour winner" to a lot of fans.

But following his win at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, which capped an incredible run of two wins in 22 days, it seems like everyone wants to get a glimpse of the quiet golfer with the mop of brown hair.

As one kid told his dad as they were walking to the tournament on Thursday, "I want to see Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner." Rickie Fowler I can understand.

But Jason Dufner? The way he's been playing of late, maybe it isn't so crazy. Dating back to his win in April at the Zurich Classic, he's now carded nine sub-70 rounds in his last four starts, including Thursday's opening round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial where he fired a 5-under 65 and sits just one shot off the lead.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, but the way things are going for Dufner at the moment, you have to wonder when the incredible run is going to stop. On a day when his iron play was off -- he hit only 66 percent of his greens in regulation -- Dufner had the putter going, needing only 26 putts to get around Colonial's greens.

Dufner seems to have a fix for everything these days. At some point the streak is going to end and the wheels are going to fall off -- at least for one round -- but for now it appears as if the two-time winner can do no wrong.

If this 26-day run has taught us anything, it's that Jason Dufner has staying power in golf. As much as we want to believe the next big superstar on the PGA Tour is a twentysomething (and it most likely is), the best player in golf at this very moment is a dude from Auburn, Ala., who walks around with a dip in his lip.

The Western Conference finals, which tip off on Sunday, figures to be the best series of the playoffs so far. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have been the two most impressive teams in the postseason by a wide margin, losing a whopping one game between them and seeming to have very few, if any, major weaknesses. It's the kind of series where predicting who will win is almost besides the point — really, it's best just to watch some great basketball and enjoy whatever happens.

In the meantime, though, we're all going to speculate about what might happen and how each team might attack the other. For the media, that means asking key players what they expect from the opposition. For some reason, Kevin Durant is tired of being asked these questions. From Darnell Mayberry for The Oklahoman (via SLAM):

Kevin Durant was just three minutes into his 10-minute session with reporters Wednesday when he grew a bit testy.

Of the first seven questions lobbed at him, Durant was forced to field five about the San Antonio Spurs. [...]

Once that fifth question came — a reasonable query about what he anticipates from the Spurs defensively against him — Durant tried to supply an answer but soon found himself swerving off script.

"I'm just going to play my game," Durant started. "I can't really think about how those guys are going to defend me. They're a tough defensive group. But every question is about how the Spurs are going to come and how the Spurs are going to play. But you got to ask me how we're going to come at them. We're a tough team as well. We come out and play hard. We have a lot of weapons as well. I know they're the No. 1 seed, they're a tough group and they haven't lost in a couple of months but I think that we bring another dimension to the table as well. And we can come out and compete."

The Spurs are the favorites in this series — they haven't lost since the second week of April and have looked flawless in their eight playoff games. Durant is right not to treat them like they're unbeatable, but it's also natural for the media to ask him and his Thunder teammates how they'll handle the challenge. The Spurs might not get quite as many questions about the Thunder as the Thunder have gotten about the Spurs, but they're being asked similar things. It's just what happens in a playoff series where both teams are really good.

More than anything, what Durant's doing is buying into an "us against the world" mentality that drives so many athletes. When basketball players feel disrespected, they gain a competitive advantage. Durant might be blowing this issue out of proportion, but it's also the sort of thing that athletes do all the time. What's interesting in this case is that, given the likely competitiveness of this series, the Thunder could become the favorite after one game. Durant might feel disrespected now, but he could also be the toast of the league in a week.

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With the draft over and all wrapped up, we thought it would be a good idea to get back on the phone with our buddy Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's "NFL Matchup," and talk about the NFL by division. Who did themselves the most favors in the draft, and who came up short when addressing their roster deficits?

We started off with the NFC West two weeks ago, and then jumped to the hyper-competitive AFC North last week. Now, it's time to turn our attention to the NFC South. Appropriate, given Greg's recent post on the NFL Films Blog about division quarterbacks Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, and Josh Freeman. With that in mind, we asked Greg what he thought the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers did to bolster their teams.

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the NFC South Draft

Related: [Cosell on quarterbacks, running backs/wide receivers, tight ends/offensive line, OLB/DE/DT stars, the ILB/DB class, and overall draft review]

On Atlanta Falcons second-round G/C Peter Konz: "I looked at him more as a athlete than as a strong, physical player. Not that he was a weakling -- I thought he had a nice combination of movement and strength -- but I certainly wouldn't call him a road-grader. But in tandem with his active feet, he was effective. He is an efficient player -- very assignment-disciplined. Do I think he could fit right in? Yes I could, and I did make a note that I thought he could play either guard or center.

On Carolina Panthers first-round linebacker Luke Kuechly: "I absolutely loved him, and the more I watched him, the more I loved him. I thought he played with his eyes as well as any linebacker I've ever evaluated. He beat blocks with play recognition. Now, the question is, will he do that in the NFL? I think he probably will, because I'm sure that comes from film study, and I don't think he'll be a slacker al lot a sudden. I thought he was the best linebacker in this draft without question, I think he's far more athletic than he's given credit for -- as I watched each game, I was actually more and more impressed with his athleticism."

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the NFC South Draft

On New Orleans Saints fourth-round receiver Nick Toon: "We won't time well, but he plays faster as a route-runner, because he's very fluid. And I think he'll get a real opportunity with that team, because of what they like to do -- Sean Payton won't be there this year, but it's the same concepts. They use receivers in many different ways, they find what their strengths are, and they utilize those players to their strengths. He's a physical receiver against press coverage -- he did that very well against Alfonzo Dennard from Nebraska. He was very effective getting off the line."

On Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round running back Doug Martin: "After Trent Richardson, I thought Doug Martin was the only other true foundation back in this draft. He ran with the mentality of a feature back -- he ran hard inside, he moved the pile, and he ran with some wiggle. I wouldn't say that he was incredibly shifty, but he ran with enough wiggle where I wouldn't say he was just straight-line, either."

As with everything involving Greg Cosell, this podcast is a must-listen for those fans of advanced tape analysis. Subscribe to the Shutdown Corner iTunes link (in iTunes, go to "Advanced/Subscribe to Podcast," and paste this link in: http://ysportspods.podbean.com/category/shutdown/feed/). You can also use the link below to either left-click and listen, or right-click to save to your computer.

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the NFC South Draft

Here's how it works, my friends: I rank 133 starting pitchers so you don't have to. You peruse the list, we have respectful and smart debate, everyone wins. What a wonderful world we live in.

The ranks are in Phase 1.0 right now, with is the pre-burrito phase. I never commit to any rank until I have my Thursday evening Mexican food (that's why I overrated Ismael Valdéz all those years). After the meal, I'll return here, smooth some ranks here and there, add extensive comments. (Update: full comments are now added, and prices are locked in. Your witness, your honor. Burrito? Delicious.)

What's happened to this point is an audition, not a ranking mandate. I'm trying to figure out who's worth the most going forward. Yes, I know Cliff Lee is winless, and yes, I know Philly's offense is a joke — right now. But that doesn't mean those things will continue in that direction.

Anyone currently on the DL or in the minors is considered verboten to the ranks. You'll find wide-ranging, league-dependent values on those guys; you can decide what they're worth. For everyone else, assume a 5x5 format (we're not pagans, we're reasonable) and rotisserie scoring.

Make the jump and let's figure out these crazy pitchers, together.

$32 Justin Verlander
$31 Clayton Kershaw
$30 Cole Hamels
$28 Cliff Lee
$27 Jered Weaver
$27 Gio Gonzalez
$27 Felix Hernandez
$27 CC Sabathia
$26 Roy Halladay
$25 Matt Cain

Justin Verlander hasn't thrown less than 100 pitches in a regular season start since June 22, 2010. Think about that for a second. He's made the mark in the last 53 starts since then. It doesn't get any more automatic than that. … Cliff Lee's HR/FB rate is in uncharted waters (17.9); he's never been close to there before. No need to worry about it. He's outstanding at getting a ground ball (55.4 percent) or a double play when he needs it (11 of 25 instances this year, best among starters). The Phillies have scored just 14 runs in his six starts, which explains the win column. … For some talk about Jered Weaver's home/road splits and the idea of potentially steering him from Arlington in the future, head over to the bottom of Thursday's Closing Time.

$23 Stephen Strasburg
$23 David Price
$22 Zack Greinke
$22 Madison Bumgarner
$22 Anibal Sanchez
$21 Yu Darvish
$21 James Shields
$21 C.J. Wilson
$21 Dan Haren
$20 Brandon Morrow
$20 Jake Peavy
$20 Brandon Beachy

I've been a Brandon Beachy guy from the moment he hit it big last year. He has a wide arsenal of pitches; he challenges hitters and can put them away; seems like a good guy off the field too (by all accounts). I see his ridiculous 2012 numbers and trust me, I want to rank him higher. But we have to see the downside here, and all the odd trends floating around.

That glittering 1.77 ERA could easily be a mirage. Beachy's strikeout rate has plummeted to 6.5/9 (that's down from 10.74 last year) and he's been the beneficiary of a .209 BABIP. I'm all for inducing weak contact (and there's also been a ground-ball spike), but that hit rate isn't sticking. A 5.7 HR/FB rate has to be taken with a grain of salt, too. The peripheral-suggested ERAs paint a different Beachy picture: 3.11 FIP, and 3.84 xFIP.

But I've got a second reason to push Beachy down my list: workload concerns. How deep into the season can Beachy pitch before a tax is paid? This is someone who came into the Atlanta system as a reliever and has just 450 innings in pro ball, from 2008 to the present. Last year's log of 146.2 innings is the furthest he's gone. What happens to a young arm when you ask it to go far past the previous benchmark? Does a regression kick in? Will the team pull back on the reins? We can't ignore this vital concern, and that's why I have to stay grounded with the price.

I like David Price but he's still a "very good, not great" arm to me. We've yet to see a dominant ERA or WHIP on his resume: his numbers are routinely valuable, but never pushed into an elite area. You know all about the division context and risk, obviously. Price also needs to be more effective away from the catwalk: the lefty carries strong career ratios in Tampa (2.71/1.11), but they jump up to 4.02 and 1.30 on the road (and the split has been even more extreme in 2012).

$19 Adam Wainwright
$18 Jordan Zimmermann
$17 Mat Latos
$17 Jon Lester
$16 Yovani Gallardo
$16 Tommy Hanson
$16 Matt Garza
$16 James McDonald
$15 Lance Lynn
$15 Johnny Cueto
$15 Ian Kennedy
$15 Colby Lewis
$15 Bud Norris

A spot of gopheritis has affected Colby Lewis on the road (10 homers), though he still has a 1.04 WHIP and 29 strikeouts (against just three walks) in his suitcase turns. He's been one of the more underrated AL starters for a while. … The only downside to James McDonald right now is the awful offense he's tied to (clearly the worst in baseball). But this is a potential ace, a power righty with swing-and-miss stuff, and the park plays along nicely as well. How did the Bucs ever steal this guy for a two-month rental of Octavio Dotel? … I gave Ian Kennedy a good look through the car wash and I don't see any problems that slightly-better location and sequencing can't fix. Velocity is stable, and while strikeouts are slightly down, he's still getting 3.2 whiffs for every walk. Might be a good time to try to trade for him.

$14 Wandy Rodriguez
$14 Tim Lincecum
$14 Josh Johnson
$14 Jeff Samardzija
$13 Ryan Dempster
$13 Doug Fister
$13 Chris Sale
$13 Ricky Romero
$13 Chris Capuano
$12 Tim Hudson
$12 Shaun Marcum
$12 R.A. Dickey
$12 Jeremy Hellickson
$11 Johan Santana
$11 Jason Hammel
$11 Carlos Zambrano
$10 Ted Lilly
$10 Kyle Lohse
$10 Jason Vargas
$10 Erik Bedard
$9 Josh Beckett
$9 Felipe Paulino
$9 Derek Holland
$9 Anthony Bass
$8 Wade Miley
$8 Matt Moore
$8 Edwin Jackson
$8 A.J. Burnett
$8 Dan Hudson

There's never going to be a consensus on Tim Lincecum this year. Let's accept that. Maybe a 2.4 mph drop in his velocity means nothing to you, perhaps you don't care that he's throwing his slider less, maybe you can live with the spotty command, figuring he'll get it back sooner or later. Here are some of the things I don't like:

Just one quality start - hard to win if you can't go deep and keep the runs down; a recurring walk problem, which has his K/BB rate barely over two (you expected and need much better); very messy numbers on the road (8.15 ERA, 2.04 WHIP). Lincecum's BABIP has been unlucky at .351, sure, but he's also rolling with a 5.1 HR/FB, which might be good fortune. And opponents are squaring the ball up against Linecum like never before, rocking a 24.3 line drive rate. When you're lacking your best velocity and missing your spots, line drives happen.

I see more fleas and red ink than I'm willing to absorb. Unless the price is dirt cheap, I don't want him. What's the best pitcher you'd trade for Lincecum right now, 1-for-1?

If Ricky Romero can't reel in his control problems, it's going to be a brutal summer in the YYZ. He's walked 21 men (against 20 strikeouts) over his last four starts, and that's been over a reasonable schedule (at Oakland, Minnesota and Tampa, and home against the Mets). It's surprising that he doesn't do better against lefty hitters: for his career he allows a .727 OPS to lefties, as opposed to .578 when batters have the (theoretical) platoon advantage. …Ryan Dempster looks like a lock to be dealt when trading season kicks in, so he could be hitting a spike in the middle of the summer in a better short-term situation. And some of the extreme hitter parks are probably off the table: Colorado won't be a buyer, and it looks like Arizona won't be, either

Josh Johnson has been tripped up by two things: a puny strand rate, and an increased line-drive rate (strikeouts are down an eyelash but the K/BB is still in a good place). There's no reason he can't get both of these things in line, but I'm a little leery on his long-term physical prospects, given that he's only had one season over 184 innings. … The amateurs in the crowd dismiss A.J. Burnett because of the 12-run nightmare in St. Louis. The open-minded and shrewd players note that he's been excellent in his other five turns (8 ER, 9 BB, 31 K). The ballpark fit (and low-pressure fit) is perfect for this type of pitcher and personality.

$7 Ryan Vogelsong
$6 Jerome Williams
$6 Tommy Milone
$6 Max Scherzer
$6 Jaime Garcia
$6 Gavin Floyd
$6 Ervin Santana
$6 Bronson Arroyo
$6 Andy Pettitte
$5 Wei-Yin Chen
$5 Trevor Cahill
$5 Jake Westbrook
$5 Henderson Alvarez
$5 Edinson Volquez
$5 Bartolo Colon
$4 Kyle Drabek
$4 Jonathon Niese
$4 Joe Saunders
$4 Joe Blanton
$4 Drew Smyly

The strikeout numbers look good with Edinson Volquez and he still has a cosmetically-acceptable 3.49 ERA, but this story doesn't hold up in the splits. Volquez has build that ERA through seven Petco starts and just three road turns. He's only won a single home start, which is part of what you get tied to the Padres offense, I suppose. On the road he has a 4.24 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and more walks than strikeouts. This is a stock that could collapse at any time. … Max Scherzer's 15-K parade was a clear invitation to trade him in deeper leagues. Maybe you can't really sell high on someone this inconsistent, but the video at least gives you a promotable item. I'm reluctant to buy into a mixed-league hurler who has trouble lasting seven innings; Scherzer's game would improve significantly if he could trade a little of the swing-and-miss stuff for weakened contact and quicker outs. … The Mayday Milone story lines up neatly: he's been super at home (0.60/0.79), if somewhat lucky, and messy on the road (7.16/1.52), if somewhat unlucky. The gap between those results will obviously normalize and narrow as the year goes along, but the case for him in Oakland is obvious (fly-ball bias, big park). You'll enjoy watching him pitch: he's around the zone and he works quickly. But you can't trust him in any hitter-favorable park on the road. … It would be nice to see Ryan Vogelsong push his K/BB rate over 2, just so we could trust him a little bit more. I've always enjoyed watching him pitch: competitive, smart, good curveball (and most of the NL West parks are enjoyable backdrops). His stats are significantly slanted towards the home work over the past year and a third, so make sure you're streaming him primarily by the bay.

$3 Zach McAllister
$3 Ricky Nolasco
$3 Mark Buehrle
$3 Justin Masterson
$3 Jeanmar Gomez
$3 Jarrod Parker
$3 Felix Doubront
$3 Derek Lowe
$3 Bruce Chen
$3 Brad Lincoln
$3 Alex Cobb
$2 Ubaldo Jimenez
$2 Scott Diamond
$2 Randall Delgado
$2 P.J. Walters
$2 Kevin Millwood
$2 Jake Arrieta
$2 Ivan Nova
$2 Dillon Gee
$2 Daniel Bard
$2 Christian Friedrich
$2 Chad Billingsley
$2 Barry Zito
$1 Ross Detwiler
$1 Philip Humber
$1 Phil Hughes
$1 Mike Minor
$1 Matt Harrison
$1 Marco Estrada
$1 Juan Nicasio
$1 John Danks
$1 J.A. Happ
$1 Brian Matusz
$1 Aaron Harang

The key for Mike Minor going forward is finding a way to dress up his fastball so it stays in the park. It's too flat a pitch right now, and batters are just teeing off and reaching the seats regularly. Sometimes a lofty HR/FB rate tells us more about the pitcher than it does about bad luck. The zesty K/BB numbers remind us that Minor has superb potential, but there have been too many disaster starts in a row for me to use him right now. I'll need to see a few get-well auditions before I risk my precious innings on this case. … Derek Lowe's extreme sinker makes for some of his good luck, but a 83.7 strand rate and a 5.1 HR/FB rate aren't things you should be betting on. And more walks than strikeouts? Please. Forget him in a mixed league, especially if you're limited in innings or starts. I'm reluctant to suggest him as a sell-high because I respect the common roto player more than that; no need wasting time giving you unexecutable advice. Basically you use Lowe in AL-only (obviously) and maybe you stream him now and then in uncapped leagues, and that's it for me. I'm in on this Cleveland story — I think it's misguided to assume the club folds like last year, this team looks a lot better — but Lowe is one area where I'm fully expecting a mad correction. … My buddy Mike Salfino likes the case for Dillon Gee as a deep sleeper, and I think Mike's on-point (as usual). Gee's solid K/BB rate and ground-ball spike suggest he's a lot better than his surface ERA shows, and I dare any pitcher with his component skills to maintain that bloated 18.4 HR/FB rate. In shallow and medium mixers, no need to watch this one: you need to aim higher. But in deeper leagues, keep an open mind: Gee could easily be someone who gives us a sub-4 ERA and reasonable strikeouts and innings the rest of the way.

$0 Tommy Hunter
$0 Rick Porcello
$0 Mike Leake
$0 Josh Tomlin
$0 Homer Bailey
$0 Hiroki Kuroda
$0 Clayton Richard
$0 Carl Pavano
$0 Blake Beavan
-$1 Paul Maholm
-$1 Clay Buchholz
-$1 Hector Noesi
-$2 Jeremy Guthrie
-$3 Randy Wolf
-$3 Luke Hochevar

The Clay Buchholz rank got some jeers on Twitter: he's not worth $0, a few of you say. You might have a point; let's push this one into the red. The Red Sox really should send Buchholz down to Triple-A for a tune-up (and maybe a wakeup call), but they've been reluctant to do it for some reason. Buchholz was seen as an attractive trade piece a few years ago; Theo Epstein surely regrets not moving while the market was optimistic (that is, if Theo even bothers to look back these days; he has his own problems to deal with in Chicago). One other piece of Buchholz advice: trust in your catcher and defense and work quicker. Being the slowest starting pitcher in the majors isn't helping you, and it's nothing to be proud of. And for all the talk of Buchholz's three good pitches, how come his strikeout rate isn't showing any growth?

I'll break the rules from the introduction and briefly discuss two unlisted pitchers, if only for a moment. I'm guessing Roy Oswalt eventually signs with an AL club, albeit my NL Tout Wars squad could desperately use him over there. The best real-life fits are mostly in the AL, but unfortunately most of the logical landing spots are with clubs that play in offensively-friendly parks (Baltimore, Texas). Oswalt still could be a $8-10 arm in a good NL fit (can we twist your arm, Washington?), but he won't come close to that in an AL city, not that I can see.

It's hard to tell how the Diamondbacks are going to spin their ugly start to the season. Can they hop back in the race? Can they get the infield solidified? My guess is that we'll see Trevor Bauer around mid-June, but that's just one intelligent (but random) guess to go along with your morning coffee. What's your gut feel on this one?

Because Bauer has significant strikeout upside, he has a chance to be a double-digit arm right out of the box. I'm not guaranteeing anything, just endorsing the legitimate upside. It's not that unusual to see a high-pedigree arm pile up strikeouts immediately. I'm holding onto Bauer for now in the Yahoo Friends & Family League, though I could easily drop him at any moment for a different flavor of the week. In high-volume mixers with short benches, I'm reluctant to waste resources on someone with an extended (and indefinite) waiting period attached.

I'm not someone who looks too far back with the shuffling exercise — any rank that's multiple weeks old is just about dead to me — but I know many of you want the look-back links, so here they are. I'll keep them parked at the bottom of future shuffles. And following the established cycle, we'll revisit the corner infielders next week. Go study Brian LaHair for a week and we'll tackle it on May 31.

Previous Shuffles: Outfielders (5/17), Catchers (5/14), Middles (5/10), Corners (5/4).

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Eight Points, Nine Seconds. A pointed look at the Pacers as they prepare for perhaps their penultimate performance.
PF: Vice. David Roth on Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic.
SF: Magic Basketball. Eddy Rivera on Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic.
SG: Orlando Pinstriped Post. Evan Dunlap on Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.
PG: True Hoop. Kevin Arnovitz: 'The unthinking brilliance of Tim Duncan.'

6th: SB Nation. Attempting to fix the Lakers, with Tom Ziller's help.
7th: Forum Blue and Gold. Metta World Peace's exit interview was lovely, per usual.
8th: CSNNE. Brandon Bass credits his late mother for his NBA ascension.
9th: Washington Post. Michael Lee discusses the up and down and up rookie season of Jan Vesely.
10th: CSNNE. Jessica Camerato goes over Paul Pierce's legendary career with veteran Tony Battie.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at kdonhoops (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter.

Thursday afternoon during workouts, the wideout fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, a setback that will likely sideline him for the next 12 weeks, and potentially longer.

Only two months out from the opening of Giants training camp, Nicks' availability is definitely in jeopardy. Best case scenario: He misses the first two weeks of camp, busts his tail over the final couple weeks of the exhibition season and suits up Week 1. Tom Coughlin is hopeful that scenario unfolds, but concedes it's very possible he will be without the playmaker's services to begin New York's championship defense September 5 versus rival Dallas, the NFL opener. From NFL.com:

Asked if Nicks will be ready for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, Sept. 5, Coughlin said that "it's probably going to be close."

"He feels very confident about it," Coughlin said. "The doctors have expressed it as being something that they think will heal very, very well."

However, Coughlin acknowledged that if Nicks takes the full 12 weeks to recover, "you're going to be sitting right up next to that opening game, and we certainly hope that Hakeem is correct in saying that he heals fast."

Coughlin said that when Nicks was injured, he was running the route as normal, then "all of a sudden, he started limping. I thought he rolled his ankle over; well, it wasn't his ankle."

Obviously, this is a devastating letdown for Nicks, who has yet to suit up over a full 16-game slate in his three-year career. Coming off a season in which he experienced a numbers dip due to the emergence of Victor Cruz, this just elevates concerns over his perceived status as a WR1 in 12-team leagues. Because of the slow-healing nature of the injury, it's entirely conceivable he will miss the first week or three of the regular season. Even if the former Pro Bowler recovers rapidly, he could prove largely ineffective out of the gate. He isn't blessed with Adrian Peterson's superhuman DNA. It takes time to get back into football shape. Currently the fifth WR off mock boards (26.2 ADP), his stock should tumble some 20-30 picks over the next few weeks. For the reasons discussed above, he's completely avoidable given the increased risk. At this point, A.J. Green, Steve Smith and Demariyus Thomas (Man-crush worthy with Peyton) are more attractive options.

If Nicks indeed dons street clothes against the 'Boys and beyond, Cruz certainly stands to benefit. Undoubtedly, last year's breakout sensation would garner 10-plus targets per game. Going some 10 picks after his teammate on average, the Salsa King is the more attractive of the pair. Move him up your cheat sheets.

Rookie Rueben Randle also receives an uptick in value due to the injury fallout. Originally, the LSU product was slated for slot work, filling the void left by Mario Manningham. But it's fathomable Coughlin will prep the youngster to play a variety of positions in the event Nicks is unavailable Week 1. If he meets the challenge, Randle could be a beast in the making. He possesses terrific size, hands, strength and awareness, particularly against zone coverages. Maintaining consistency will be key, but he is certainly capable of making a cannonball splash immediately. No question his ADP will rise (currently 159.4). Still, he should remain one of the finer post-100 picks available in drafts.

Nicks suffered a tough break Thursday, but his misfortune could lead Cruz/Randle investors to instant riches to begin 2012.

By Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve?

The stage is nearly set for the ultimate NHL showdown. The Devils and Rangers battle it out at center stage while the Kings wait in the offing for their opponent to be named. It's a long, hard fight to be among the last teams standing. Every one inch is earned.

This week, we salute the beards of some Unsung Unshaven Heroes. Marquee name or rookie sensation, it doesn't matter what their contracts say now.

They fight on - and the proof of is all over their faces.

Dan Girardi, New York Rangers

Dan Girardi leads the NHL in playoff ice time and it shows.  He's sporting 511-plus minutes worth of bruises, stitches and scrapes like he's gone 2 1/2 rounds against the zombie apocalypse... and then run straight to the mall (they always do), where he found a mirror and groomed his beard.

This thing is flawless, and it's multi-tasking - padding his jaw against errant goalie sticks, hundreds of blocked shots and probably hiding a few more welts.  Pull that Broadway Hat down over his forehead and Girardi could be checking his reflection in the Prince of Wales Trophy if the Rangers can survive Friday night.

Mike Rupp, New York Rangers

Mike Rupp might not have any points in the playoffs, but it kinda doesn't matter when you're sporting a beard like this.

Rupp's reputation as a tenacious player clearly extends to this full, if slightly unkempt beard.  It shows he's a man who knows just what to do and how to grow it.  Rupp and his beard come to play every game and aren't afraid to punch a goalie when they're fired up.  They've amassed 36 PIM these playoffs and have even inspired a new word ("Rupping" instead of "roughing") and hashtag (#RuppPunch).

With the Rangers facing elimination, Rupp and his beard are up to the challenge.

Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils

Calder finalist Adam Henrique has arguably NJ's biggest goal this postseason -- the double-OT, Panthers-eliminating game-winner from Round 1.  He also has the perfect visage for someone in a Devils uniform - dark hair, sharp cheekbones, this goatee.  Very Faustian. It's the look that talks you into eternal damnation and makes you think it was your idea.

We are impressed by a 22-year-old who can not only grow a convincing facial asset but knows how to shape it, like an argument, so you leave empty-handed yet somehow strangely happy. Henrique can keep this beard year-round, and we don't give that advice to just anyone.

Travis Zajac, New Jersey Devils

Travis Zajac is our new Emergency Contact. This is the beard of a capable, overworked young ER doctor who would stop at a fender bender after an 18-hour shift to make sure everyone is OK.  (Wow. Way to date ourselves with a Noah Wyle reference.)

He missed almost the entire regular season with an Achilles tendon injury, finishing with two goals in 15 games.  Now he's pulling out all the stops - seven playoff goals, two of them game-winners, including the OT goal that forced Game 7 vs. Florida.

Dwight King, Los Angeles Kings

Goal-tastic rookie Dwight King is loving the playoffs. Not only is he scoring at twice his previous rate (five goals in 14 games), but, at 22 years old, he can grow one heck of a beard.

If he rocked this fuzziness for any team, we would have been mentioned it much earlier.  Now even among all the competition on the Kings' bench, he's bearded like a veteran.  This, and the same-name-on-back-and-front-of-jersey joke, will be amusing right up till the end.

Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty has really stepped up these playoffs -- both in his play and his grooming.  We applaud No. 8's beard/hair combo -- not only because it's burly in a Men of the Night's Watch sort of way, but also because of what it has done for the Kings. In Game 5, Doughty's shot led to Kopitar's short-handed goal. He then scored the Kings' second goal on a wikkid slappa from the blue line. And best of all -- in overtime, Doughty broke up a Coyotes' two-on-one with some impressive stickwork.

With the Kings rolling over opponents like a war machine, and heading to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993, we are looking forward to what Drew, his beard and all the Kings' Beard Watch facial hair can accomplish.

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It's a cliche to say that great athletes are capable of feats better suited for video games. For many reasons, that idea no longer makes much sense. But the idea remains anyway, because in some cases it's the only way to give a sense of what it's like to watch an unbelievable athlete do his thing. It doesn't even seem real, so it must be virtual.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin is one of those players. So, in an inspired mashup, the video wizards at SB Nation added graphics and sound effects from the old version of "NBA Jam" to some of Griffin's best dunks of this season. Make sure you watch until the end, because that's when Griffin actually defies the laws of physics.

All the clip is missing, really, is a random halftime appearance from Horace Grant and indiscriminate pushing with no fouls. Flops don't work so well when fouls don't exist, Blake.

The awkward moment occurred while the Tigers were mounting a threat against starter Justin Masterson in the seventh inning. With two men aboard and one out, Acta casually strolled to the mound to discuss strategy, and perhaps gauge how much Masterson had left in the tank as he approached 100 pitches.

Meanwhile, out in the Indians bi-level bullpen stationed in right-center field, the interpretation was that Acta's appearance signified the end of Masterson's afternoon, which is an understandable assumption. It's very rare that a manager's visit doesn't involve a pitching change. But in this case, the signal never came, and reliever Joe Smith, who had jogged down the stairs and made it about 10 yards into the outfield, was forced to make a U-turn and camp out in the lower portion of the bullpen.

[MLB Full Count: Watch live look-ins and highlights for free all season long]

As it turned out, Smith's services were not required at any point during the game. Masterson escaped the inning without any damage. Setup man Vinnie Pestano followed with a perfect eighth inning. And then closer Chris Perez converted his 16th consecutive save since opening day, as Cleveland expanded its lead to four games in the American League Central overall, and six games over the heavily favored Tigers.

Looking for more baseball chatter?
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"We're going to go in and win Game 6. That was the focus this morning and it's the way we feel right now. We've done that all year, we've won all the games we've had to win. … I know we're going to go in and win Game 6 and bring it back here (to the Garden) for Game 7 ... We have enough talent and experience to turn the tide. That's exactly what we're going to do in Game 6."

That was Mark Messier on May 24, 1994, making the statement before Game 6 at the Meadowlands between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. He then scored a hat trick to force Game 7, where the Rangers eliminated the Devils in double overtime.

With the Devils again leading the conference final against the rivals heading into Game 6 in Jersey, the inevitable parallels between the two series were bound to come up — even if Rangers captain Ryan Callahan, Brad Richards and coach John Tortorella refused to take the bait on any 1994 questions on Thursday.

[Related: Rangers won't Mark Messier-type guarantees going into Game 6]

There would be no more painful way for the Devils to exit the playoffs than to have history repeat: Having the chance to eliminate the Rangers on home ice in Game 6 — on the anniversary of Messier Day, no less — blowing it, and then falling short of the Cup Final with a loss at MSG.

Which is probably why none of the Devils that discussed the events of 18 years ago were really interested in focusing on the past.

New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer, when asked if this run for Martin Brodeur was redemption for 1994:

"I don't even think about '94.  In '94 I still had hair. It was that long ago. That plays no part in what we're doing."

Brodeur had this exchange about 1994 on a conference call on Thursday:

Q.  What are you feeling about tomorrow as in regards to '94?

MARTIN BRODEUR:  Nothing.

Q.  Nothing?

MARTIN BRODEUR: Yeah, I think the question was asked yesterday to me.  I don't see anything that is similar.  I know if you guys look at it, it looks the same.  But it's different teams and a different way of playing the  game. That's 18 years ago.  That's a long time. I know I'm feeling a lot different.  I'm feeling a lot more appreciative of what's going on.

Before, the Rangers were a good team when they beat us.  We were not supposed  to compete with them at all in '94.  They made these trades and they had all  these  big  guys  at  the  end, and they pulled it off in a dramatic way.

But this time around, we feel we can play with them. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable going into these games coming up.

More 1994 talk from ESPN's Scott Burnside, who mentions that Chris Kreider had just turned 3 when Messier made his guarantee.

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According to Milwaukee CBS affiliate WDJT, 31-year-old Steven Springsteen-Hensel was arrested in the parking lot of an Elkhorn middle school after police officers were tipped off to the advances Springsteen-Hensel had made to a teenager by a school resources officer.

Springsteen-Hensel, who is an Elkhorn resident, was arrested and held on bail of $15,000 and made his first court appearance in the case against him on Wednesday afternoon. Milwaukee Fox affiliate WITI reported that Springsteen-Hensel has admitted to his role in the incident, and has been banned from making any contact whatsoever with minors, as well as a blanket ban from using computers or cell phones for any reasons.

Meanwhile, the Elkhorn Wrestling Club, for which Sprinsteen-Hensel coached along with his role running the Southern Lakes Wrestling Center, quickly cut all ties with the coach despite Springsteen-Hensel's position on the Elkhorn Club's Board of Directors.

"We were completely shocked and devastated," Travis Showalter, vice president of the Elkhorn Wrestling Club, told the Janesville Gazette. "The person that you believed and trusted, this has come to the surface, and you don't know who this person really is.

"It's difficult to explain [to children] what Mr. Hensel's being charged with, and you've got to kind of make it so that he can understand it, yet it doesn't introduce him to a whole world that an 8-year-old doesn't need to know about."

Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

OK, I'll tell you. It was Tim Tebow. Word from New Jersey is that he struggled. Here are details from Jenny Vrentas at The Star-Ledger:

Some of Tebow's passes came out a bit high. He was picked off on back-to-back passes in 7-on-7 drills, by Bart Scott and new Jets safety Yeremiah Bell. Tebow finished 6-for-8 in the nine snaps he took in 11-on-11 team drills, by an unofficial count.

There are two ways we can look at this: One, it's evidence that the Jets acquisition of Tebow was a mistake, and that he's an awful quarterback who will never, ever be good. I don't recommend this way.

Or two, these are relaxed seven-on-seven drills in OTAs, with plays Tebow's never run before, and he's not going to be the quarterback there anyway, so none of this matters, even a little bit, in terms of projecting Tebow's performance with the Jets in 2012. This is less than nothing. That's the approach I'd recommend.

Also, Mark Sanchez was said to have looked terrific, so there's further evidence that a Thursday OTA in May means absolutely nothing.

Tebow didn't just work at quarterback, though. When the Jets ran through their punt plays, Tebow was back there as the personal punt protector. There was no word on how he performed there, but I think it's pretty hard to mess that up.

Stick with Shutdown Corner this summer for all of your Tim Tebow minutiae.

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