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In mid-July, Dime Smack released its updated NBA power ranking list. The folks at Fox Sports were attempting to predict the 2006-07 NBA stalwarts given the off season roster moves of each team as well as guestimate the impact of a team's draft selections.

To no one's surprise, Dime Smack had the two NBA finalists one-two, the Champion Heat at one and the rising Mavericks at number two. The Heat may have picked up a steal in signing undrafted Mike Gansey, a player who many had as one of the better NBA prospects last year. The Mavericks then signed all their key people, upgraded the team by bringing in Austin Croshere, and then may have picked another draft day gem like Josh Howard in selecting Maurice Ager.

In a modest surprise to many, Dime Smack had the Clippers moving up into the number five ranking, following the two no brainer choices in Phoenix and San Antonio, though the order of those two could be debated. Seems that the addition of Tim Thomas and the return of Corey Maggette to good health has this popular 2005-06 surprise making an even greater statement next year. I hope the folks at Fox Sports are right, I have always thought Mike Dunleavey a top flight coach and would love to see him get the coaching credit he truly deserves.

The biggest climber, however, had to be the Chicago Bulls. Many think that the team overpaid for Ben Wallace and that the former Piston will be liability on offense. In contrast, others see the acquisition as perfect for the Bulls. The team landed the best defensive player in the League and a veteran presence who should be a great asset to a very young team that could use the veteran touch. Perhaps just as importantly, the Bulls landed both Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha through the draft. Both players had received many accolades prior to the draft and they proved their ability with strong summer league play. Count me among the many who see the Bulls as challenging Cleveland next year for the number two spot in the Eastern Conference.

In contrast, Dime Smack had the Pistons slipping all the way to eighth with the loss of Wallace. Despite still having the best starting four in basketball, Smack had the Pistons as an aging also ran. We think that is a big miscalculation - after all, a different draw a year ago and I think the Pistons top the Heat if the boys from Miami had seen the Cavaliers first. Cleveland just flat out exhausted the Pistons, leaving them vulnerable to a well-rested Heat team.

Yet another team on the rise are the homeless Hornets. Dime Smack insists that you could easily argue that the Hornets, already an up and coming team, improved themselves the most during the off season. The team positively used the concept of addition by subtraction when it moved J.R. Smith out of town. Then they improved themselves with the acquisition of Peja Stojakovic and the drafting of Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons.

By landing Randy Foye, the Minnesota Timberwolves have also improved themselves immensely. Prior to the draft, many thought Foye was a special player and the early returns from summer league play attest to the fact the kid can flat out play. Throw in the signing of the underrated Mike James and the Wolves suddenly have the potential of a top flight backcourt to assist the league's best forward in Kevin Garnett. The T-Wolves should rebound strongly in 07.

Among the negative ledger surprises, and a big surprise to this writer, the Fox Sports folks had the Orlando Magic in 29th place. With the back problems of J.J. Redick and the continued health concerns of Grant Hill, the Magic are indeed vulnerable. But the team has a beast at center in Dwight Howard and a superb young point guard in Jameer Nelson. Yes, this is a weak team but it is hard to imagine this team finishing 29th in a 30-team league.

So little did Dime Smack think of the Magic, the folks had even the Portland Trail Blazers one notch above the boys from Orlando. That seems a stretch, even if the team did draft Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. The NBA eats its young normally and though both youngsters are very talented, their learning curve will need to be very steep if the Blazers are to win many games in the more talented Western Division.

Finally at the very bottom, just like at the very top, there isn't any surprise as the woeful Knicks occupy the 30th spot. There is little to believe that Isiah Thomas will be able to do any better with this group than Larry Brown, Selfish players don't think wins and losses and the Knicks just have too many players who do not care about much of anything except their stats. From Stephon Marbury to Stevie "Franchise" Francis to Jalen Rose, the Knicks are simply loaded with the wrong kind of talent.

Of course all this is based on paper analysis, summer league play, and the usual arm chair quarterbacking that comes during the off season. One will not know for sure until the first ball is thrown up and the games begin for real.

But given the current analysis, little seems to have changed in the NBA pecking order.

The Chicago Cubs have spent most of the 2006 baseball season mired in a battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the unwanted distinction of being the worst team in the National League Central Division. The Cubs and Pirates are also keeping an eye on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Kansas City Royals in the battle for the worst team in all of baseball -- a battle which the Royals seem determined to win.

Of course, it wasn't supposed to be this way for the Cubs. The team was looking forward to 2006 as the year when pitching aces Kerry Wood and Mark Prior would both be healthy at the same time, when slugging first baseman Derrek Lee would continue his amazing production at the plate, and when the newly acquired Jacque Jones and Juan Pierre would provide some much-needed defensive help in the outfield as well as some offensive pop.

Unfortunately, in a scenario that is becoming all too familiar to despondent Cubs fans, the dismal reality of the regular season has been a far cry from the rosy predictions of spring. Wood and Prior have again spent a majority of the season on the disabled list. Wood has pitched a total of only 19.2 innings this season, with his last appearance coming way back on May 18. Prior hasn't done much more, throwing for a total of 30 innings and last appearing in a game on June 18 against the Detroit Tigers. Lee suffered a broken wrist in April after colliding with Rafael Furcal of the Los Angeles Dodgers on a play at first base, and has only appeared in 34 games this year. Since the All-Star break, Lee has been suffering from inflammation and pain in that same wrist, and is currently expected to miss another 10-12 days before getting back into the lineup again.

And to add even more to the misery that is baseball on the city's North Side, Chicago manager Dusty Baker has come under fire from fans and sports media alike, and has had to deal with speculation that his job is in jeopardy. Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry finally put those rumors to rest by saying that Baker would definitely finish out the year on the Cubs bench.

Yet through all of this turmoil and disappointment, the Cubs and their fans still have something to look forward to at least once every five days. That's when the new ace of the pitching staff, Carlos Zambrano, gets his regular start in the rotation. Zambrano has been a member of the Cubs system since 1997 when he was signed as an amateur free agent. He broke into the big leagues in 2001, where he split time between the starting rotation and the bullpen. By 2003, Zambrano earned a regular starting job for the team. But his inconsistency, his inability to control his emotions while on the mound, and the incredibly strong seasons turned in by a healthy Kerry Wood and Mark Prior all combined to overshadow the progress Zambrano was making as a pitcher.

However, thanks in large part to the injury patterns of Wood and Prior, the spotlight has been focused on Zambrano for the last two and a half seasons, and he has flourished in it. During that time span, from the 2004 season to the present time in the 2006 season,  Zambrano has won 42 games versus just 17 losses. His current mark of 12-3 is best on the Chicago staff, and puts him in a tie for sixth place among all major league pitchers. Zambrano is just outside the top-10 in ERA with a mark of 3.26, and is second in the majors in strikeouts with 152 (behind Johan Santana's 160). These numbers helped Zambrano earn the second All-Star berth of his career earlier this month.

So in a season that has otherwise been filled with ineptitude, disappointment, and more heartache, Cubs fans can take solace in the fact that the starting rotation features one of the very best young pitchers in the league. Hopefully, the Cubs' front office recognizes the importance of building a championship team around solid pitching and won't make the mistake of trading Zambrano for too little in return. Zambrano is the future of this organization, and Cubs fans are banking on it!

By Robert Rousseau

The Ultimate Fighter Reality TV show (TUF) is about to start its fourth season on 8/17 after Ultimate Fight Night (Spike TV). TUF 4, entitled, "The Comeback," is going to be different than the other three editions as it's not truly about up and coming fighters. Rather, this edition of the show will feature those that have competed in the UFC before but never held a belt. The winners in each weight class will get at shot at the current champion in that division and a six- figure contract.

Many of these fighters have competed against one another in the past, a fact sure to bring some drama to the house (the fighters live in the same house in Vegas during the show, pretty much secluded from the rest of the world). Below are brief biographies on the participants (welterweights and middleweights). The trainers this year are Randy Couture and Georges St. Pierre, though they will act more in an advisory role than past coaches.

Welterweight:

Mikey Burnett- Sports a 5-2 career MMA record. This Lion's Den fighter hasn't fought since 1999 when he beat Townsend Saunders by decision in UFC 18. In 1998, Burnett lost a big fight to former champion Pat Miletich by decision. He's obviously going to need to knock off a lot of ring rust during his stay on the show, but Burnett was a pretty well rounded fighter in his day (1 victory via (T)KO, 2 by way of submission, 1 decision). Still, because he hasn't been in the ring in so long, he's a big question mark.

Shonie Carter- Sports a career MMA record of 34-15-6, with a 3-2 record in the UFC. Carter seems to fight everyday. He's a good striker with average submission skills. In other words, he's pretty good at everything but not necessarily great at anything. Of his 34 wins, only 15 have come by way of stoppage (8 (T)KO's and 7 submissions), so his fights go to the scorecards quite often. In his last UFC contest, Carter was disposed of quickly by former TUF 1 star Nathan Quarry, via 1^st round knockout. Proving his willingness to fight frequently and on short notice, Carter has already competed against two other TUF 4 participants, beating Matt Serra via 3^rd round KO in UFC 31 and losing to Jeremy Jackson by way of decision.

Rich Clementi- Sports a 23-10-1 career MMA mark. In his only UFC appearance, Clementi lost to Yves Edwards via 3^rd round submission. Clementi has lost to most of the known fighters he's competed against and has made a career out of the smaller markets. Still, most of his wins have come via stoppage (9 (T)KO's, 9 submissions). In 2001, Clementi lost to fellow participant Pete Spratt, via TKO.

Jeremy Jackson- Brings an 8-4 career mark to TUF 4. Jackson can hit as evidenced by his 5 (T)KO's. However, he's also proven to be susceptible to submissions, losing 3 times via that route. In his only UFC contest Jackson lost to Nick Diaz by way of a 3^rd round submission. Further, Jackson is sure to have ring rust as he hasn't fought much in the last few years.

Chris Lytle- Brings a 21-12-5 record to TUF 4 and a 2-4 UFC record. Lytle has very good submission skills and good technical stand up skills as well. Further, he's tough as nails as was on display in a previous encounter against Joe "Diesel" Riggs. Riggs literally pounded on him in this fight, but was unable to get him to quit (a cut stopped the fight). However, Lytle's weakness is his lack of power. He's just not as physically gifted as many of the fighters coming to the house. Lytle has beaten fellow participant Pete Spratt by decision in the past and lost to Shonie Carter via the same route.

Matt Serra- Sports an overall MMA record of 5-4, but 8 of his 9 bouts have come in the UFC. Despite only 2 submission wins, Serra is an elite jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter. Though he lost a decision to Parisyan in his last fight in the UFC in 2005, Serra exhibited outstanding escapes and submission attempts during the contest that made it a noteworthy attempt. Serra is reportedly Renzo Gracie's best jiu- jitsu student. In 2003 he lost to fellow participant, Din Thomas, via split decision.

Pete Spratt- Brings a 14-7 overall MMA record, and is 2-2 in the UFC. Spratt is a reasonably well rounded fighter with a hard punch. However, he has proven to be susceptible to submissions, losing 4 of his matches that way. In his last UFC encounter, Spratt lost via submission to Josh Koscheck in the 1^st round. He's also lost by way of submission to TUF 4 trainer, Georges St. Pierre.

Din Thomas- Sports an overall MMA record of 17-6 and trains with the well- respected American Top Team. Thomas is a good jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter that has gone 2-2 in the UFC (with 9 wins coming by way of submission).

Middleweight:

Patrick Cote- Brings an overall MMA record of 8-3 to the show. Though he's 0-3 in the UFC, Cote's been a threat to win in each of his UFC matches (two close decision losses to Tito Ortiz and Chris Leben, and a submission loss to Joe Doerksen). The thing about Cote is that he's very hard to stop. To defeat him fighters need to be in shape as it's likely to go the distance.

Edwin DeWees- Boasts a 34-9 career MMA record. DeWees is a very good jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter as evidenced by his 27 wins coming via that route. However, his striking skills are only average. In his only 2 UFC contests, DeWees was stopped by Rich Franklin (TKO) and Chris Leben (a very surprising submission loss).

Travis Lutter- Holds an 8-3 career MMA record and is 1-2 in the UFC. Lutter is a good submission fighter as evidenced by his 6 submission wins. He fights out of the Lion's Den- Dallas and lost in 2002 to fellow participant Jorge Rivera, via 3^rd round TKO.

Charles McCarthy- Holds a career MMA mark of 9-4, with all of his wins coming by way of submission. So obviously he's a very good ground fighter with excellent submission skills. In his one UFC contest he was (T)KO'd by David Loiseau, via a somewhat memorable spinning back kick.

Gideon Ray- Brings a career MMA mark of 13-4-1. Ray is a fighter that doesn't like to go to the scorecards as all of his wins have come via stoppage (6 (T)KO's, 7 submissions). He fights out of UFC veteran Keith Hackney's Reality Combat camp and is reasonably well rounded. However, he's lost both of his UFC contests via 1^st round TKO (to Mike Swick and David Loiseau).

Jorge Rivera- Sports an overall mark of 13-5. Rivera is an excellent striker with good power and toughness as evidenced by his 8 career (T)KO's. He's 2-3 in the UFC with a noted decision victory over David Loiseau. However, in Rivera's last UFC encounter, he got dropped early by Chris Leben (a 1^st round TKO).

Pete Sell- Brings a 7-1 career MMA record to TUF 4, and is 1-1 in the UFC. Sell is a student of Matt Serra and is therefore an excellent jiu- jitsu/ submission fighter. His stand up skills aren't terrible either, though he doesn't seem to have much striking power. Sell is known for defeating Phil Baroni, via a 3^rd round submission. However, in his last UFC bout, he was stopped somewhat controversially in the 1^st round by Nathan Quarry (they probably could've let that one go for a moment more).

Scott Smith- Brings a 9-2 career MMA mark to TUF 4 and an 0-1 UFC record (a highly controversial 2006 stoppage at the hands of David Terrell). Smith can hit as evidenced by his 7 (T)KO's. Further, none of his fights have ever gone to decision, lending to the fact that he comes to fight and not hide.

TUF 4 should be fun to watch.

Tragedy struck the Northwestern University campus at the end of last month when head football coach Randy Walker suffered a fatal heart attack on June 29. Walker, just 52 years of age at the time of his death, had been the Northwestern's head coach since 1999, and in just six seasons moved up to second place in all-time wins in Wildcats' football history.

Under Walker's guidance, the Wildcats became known as a tenacious football team that could easily surprise opponents that took them too lightly. The Wildcats haven't been much of a threat for the Big Ten title in recent years, but nevertheless have piled up some shocking victories. For example, in 2005 the Wildcats defeated both Michigan State and Wisconsin in games that most analysts thought they would lose. Walker also lead past squads to victories over Ohio State and Penn State in other years -- two teams that are perennially among the nation's best.

After the Wildcats posted a 2005 regular season record of 7-4 to earn a berth in the Sun Bowl against UCLA last year, players and fans had even higher hopes for the 2006 season. Those hopes seemed to vanish in an instant when news of Walker's death spread around campus and across the country.

Just eight days later, the school named Patrick Fitzgerald, the Wildcats' linebackers coach under Walker, the new head coach. Fitzgerald, at 31 years of age, became the youngest active coach in Division 1-A football. Since his appointment, there have been raging debates amongst the Northwestern faithful as to whether or not Fitzgerald's age will play a factor in his ability to handle the Wildcats in the upcoming season. Here's my take on the matter.

Personally, I think Fitzgerald's age will be more of a positive than a negative. First of all, Fitzgerald had a great playing career at Northwestern not too long ago. In fact, it's possible that if any of his current players were college football fans while growing up, they might remember Fitzgerald as a standout linebacker who helped lead the Wildcats to two consecutive Big Ten championships in 1995 and '96. Fitzgerald's prowess on the field was nationally recognized in the form of two prestigious awards, the Bronko Nagurski Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award, which are given to the best defensive player in the country. He won both awards twice, becoming the first player ever to do so. Fitzgerald's resume and the relative recency of his football accomplishments will serve to give him credibility among his players. This is extremely important for any head coach, regardless of age.

Fitzgerald's age will also help him connect with his players on a more personal level. Since he is only about a decade older than most of the Northwestern team members, it'll be easier for him to understand the pressures and potential problems that they face both on and off the field. This closeness of age might also be an advantage when it comes to motivating the players. It just seems to me that someone who is 31 years old (like Fitzgerald) would be more effective at motivating and handling college football players than someone who is 50, 60, or 70 years old.

Finally, I think Fitzgerald's youth will work to Northwestern's advantage in many intangible ways. For instance, Fitzgerald might be more willing to veer from the playbook and take chances when he sees an opening than a more established, conservative coach would. Also, I think there will be a lot more media attention given to the Northwestern program this year because of Fitzgerald. That kind of thing usually serves to forge bonds between teammates more quickly because of the "us against them" mentality that it creates. The Wildcats will likely play the 2006 with two major motivations in mind: first, they'll want to honor Coach Walker's memory by carrying on his legacy. Second, they'll want to prove to the rest of the country that the program can and will go on under Pat Fitzgerald.

It will be interesting to see if the age dynamic turns out to be as much of a factor as sports analysts seem to think. I, for one, will be tuning in to Wildcats' games more often this season to see how the team copes with the pressure. Opening day for Northwestern is August 31 against Miami (Ohio).

David Ortiz nickname of Big Papi creates a sense of reverence, one that speaks of a locker room father figure. But as much as the name Papi speaks of a father figure, it speaks even more to the fact that he is now known as perhaps the greatest clutch hitter in Red Sox history.

Ortiz did it again yesterday, driving home the winning run in a 7-6 Red Sox come-from-behind win, one that wasn't in the record books until both teams had played 11 innings. This time it was a weak ground ball single through the shortstop area, vacated because of the Ortiz shift that has the shortstop move to right of second base.

With the hit, Big Papi took a page out of the Wee Willie Keeler philosophy, the hit it where they ain't notion. Of course, Ortiz also did that in the seventh inning, starting the three run rally that tied the game for Boston. At that moment, Ortiz used his more traditional format of hit it where they ain't by driving his 35th home run on up into the center field bleachers.

With the home run and game winning hit, Ortiz now has 99 RBIs in 102 games. The game-winning hit, the proverbial walkoff hit was already Papi's fourth in 2006 and pushed his major league mark to 14th in his career.

Hidden within the win was the how close the Sox came to losing the first two games of a key home series with the Angels. On the season, the Sox are a weak 13-15 against teams with winning records. Prior to the Ortiz heroics, the Sox were in danger of coming up short again, at home, just as the much-hated Yankees had closed to within a half-game before the Sox rallied to win.

Ortiz who had four hits on the day, admitted that the shift has gotten to him at times during the season, taking away numerous hits. But Mr. Clutch decided it was time to simply take advantage of the situation, taking a hard slider away to leftfield instead of trying to yank it through the right side.

Taking advantage of the shift and doing so with a critical game on the line simply added to legend that has been growing ever since the Red Sox signed him away from Minnesota. The young red Sox rookie phenom, Jonathan Papelbon, once again raved about playing alongside the Red Sox star. Said Papelbon, "He's going to be the guy that we're leaning on a lot. But he's the type of guy that accepts that role and enjoys it."

It easy to see why Papelbon calls him Papi, but as for clutch, the big fella put it all in perspective, making it clear why everyone on the team calls him Papi. About putting an end to the long affair, the major league's top slugger said simply, "I don't like to play extra innings."

Papi is indeed a name of reverence - and it is the only name befitting the man who has endeared himself to fans and to his teammates through the best way possible. The reverence comes from respect, from grasping the fact the big guy is indeed on another baseball plane, the man that you can count on when things need to get done.

Just as you would your father or grandfather.

I am in shock like the rest of the cycling world. Days after a new hero emerged from the Tour de France, we get the news that there is another failed drug test. Not by any rider either but by the Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, America's new hero.

This year's Tour de France had the theme of who was going to be the next king of cycling; who was going to emerge out of the pack after the Armstrong era. Cycling was in dire need of a new face. The poster boy, and the French escape goat, had retired. Lance Armstrong had won seven straight Tour de France races and became arguably the greatest cyclist of all time. He inspired millions all over the world. So cycling could only hope that this year's Tour de France winner would become the new poster boy. Enter Floyd Landis.

On the eve of the Tour de France, a huge doping scandal broke out. To some this might be shocking but to the world of cycling it was just another day. Cycling has been rocked by so many doping scandals that would make major league baseball look innocent. This time around, the scandal involved some of the top names in cycling. Ivan Basso and Jan Ulrich were poised to fight it out for this year's Tour de France championship. We all remember the sight of Lance, Basso, and Ulrich standing on the podium of last year's Tour de France. Even Lance Armstrong predicted one of these men to be the winner. So on the eve of this year's tour Ivan Basso and Jan Ulrich were suspended from participating. The question on everyone's mind was who would be able to save this race. Enter Floyd Landis.

With Armstrong, Basso, and Ulrich all out of this year's race, the excitement was gone or so it seemed. With no clear favorite, this year's race saw a record number of riders wear the yellow jersey. From George Hincapie to Floyd Landis, the yellow jersey became a hot potato. It also gave hope to many riders that initially had no chance of winning. There was drama, wild predictions, and suspense. For the first time since before Lance Armstrong's era there was a mystery to who would win. Enter Floyd Landis.

After a week into the race, Floyd Landis became the favorite. He looked strong in the time trial and was a force in the Pyrenees. Floyd gave hope that American cycling would survive the loss of Lance Armstrong. He gave hope that this year's tour could produce a new face, a new star, a new hero. But all that was almost lost on the second day of the Alps.

Floyd Landis was wearing the yellow jersey and poised to wear it into Paris on the last stage to claim victory of this year's tour when he cracked. Floyd went from first to 11th overall more than 8 minutes back. The cycling world was shocked. The new face of American cycling had cracked and was left for dead; until the next day.

The last day in the Alps proved that anything in cycling can happen. It proved that if you never give up you can succeed. It proved that one man's will can be invincible. Floyd Landis went out on an early breakaway. He led the whole way over every climb and won the stage. Floyd gained back seven and a half minutes on the leader and was now in third place only 30 seconds back. Cycling analysts and other riders deemed Floyd's stage win the greatest individual effort ever in the history of cycling. The tour once again saw Floyd Landis as the favorite to win and he didn’t let them down.

On the 19th stage, Floyd Landis surpasses the overall leader by riding a faster individual time trial. He was now up by a minute and was assured of victory barring any crashes on the final day. So bad hip and all, Floyd overcame the letdowns and endure the three week race to become this year's Tour de France winner. He also won the hearts of fans world wide for his performance. Floyd was an American hero; well until today.

Today we were informed that Floyd Landis was suspended by his team for failing a drug test. His levels of testosterone were too high from a test taken after his dramatic comeback on stage 17 in the Alps. So not only was his credibility and honor in question but the greatest individual effort in cycling history was now tainted. Fans world wide are in shock and we are all waiting the results from his latest test to see if he is truly guilty. Even if he proves innocent there will still be a fallout and cycling's newest hero will be front and center. Say it isn't so Floyd.

Double R

If you could make 36 million dollars over 5 years would you take the deal? Some would say that it depends on what they would have to do. Others would say that they would take it in a second. Bonzi Wells said that he wants more. I say get your sign out and head for the nearest intersection because you are not going to get more money.

Bonzi Wells was offered a 5 year, 36 million dollar contract by the Sacramento Kings a few weeks back but rejected it. The Kings' offer was higher than any other NBA team's offer but not high enough for Bonzi Wells. In fact, the most any other team could offer is 25 million dollars over a 5 year period. Apparently, Bonzi is looking for 10 million dollars a year for at least 4 years. Apparently, Bonzi has lost his mind.

Before last season, the Memphis Grizzlies traded shooting guard Bonzi Wells to the Kings for backup point guard Bobby Jackson. Wells had a terrible relationship with the Grizzlies' front office and especially with their coach. To most NBA fans this wasn't a surprise. Bonzi has had a history of rocking the boat with every team he has been on. Most NBA teams were growing tired of his antics and showed very little interest in acquiring him. So when the Kings traded for him, it was a bit of a surprise to many except for Kings' fans.

Over the last decade, the Sacramento Kings have become a home for NBA players looking for a second chance. For some, it was more like their last chance. Chris Webber, Doug Christi, Jim Jackson, and Vernon Maxwell head up a list of players who had negative stigmas attached to their NBA careers. They all entered as NBA villains but left as NBA saints. So it shouldn't be different for Bonzi Wells.

In the early part of the season, Wells was the Kings' most valuable player. He was averaging close to 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. Like players before, it appeared that Wells was on his way to resurrecting a career and entering into NBA saint hood. That was all before an ankle injury sidelined him for about 30 games.

After missing most of the mid season, Wells came back from an injury to find a new addition to the Kings. NBA's ultimate bad boy, Ron Artest, had joined the Sacramento Kings. Ron Artest was traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Kings for small forward Peja Stojakovic. Now, Wells was out of the spotlight but into the playoff hunt.

With the addition of Ron Artest, the Kings completely turned their season around and had an amazing second half run to make the playoffs. Bonzi Wells and Ron Artest brought a toughness that the Kings have never had. Both men could pound you offensively and defensively. Quickly Artest and Wells became a dominant tandem and it carried over into the playoffs.

The opening round of the NBA playoffs was of biblical proportions. It was a modern day David vs. Goliath. The NBA defending champs, and the Western Conference number one seed, San Antonio Spurs were taking on the Western Conference's eighth seed, Sacramento Kings. Most so called experts predicted the Spurs to sweep the Kings but Bonzi and Artest had a different idea. These two players raised their games, and the level of the team's game, and went toe to toe with the defending champs.

Bonzi Wells was unstoppable in this series. Nobody on the Spurs could guard him. For 6 games, Wells appeared to be the best player in the entire NBA. He averaged close to 20 points and 20 rebounds throughout the series. Even though the Kings fell short, the team and the fans became optimistic for the future. That was until Wells turned down the contract offer from the Sacramento Kings.

So here we are, 2 months removed from the playoff series loss and 3 weeks into free agency. Sacramento Kings have gone on to draft a shooting guard in Quincy Dooby and sign free agent swing man John Salmons. The team could no longer wait for Wells. A once promising future of Wells and Artest forming a tandem of bad boys gone good, is over. Wells had a team and a city that loved him and wanted him back but 36 million dollars was not enough. I guess not everyone can leave Sacramento a saint.

Double R

By Robert Rousseau

The Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and mixed martial arts in general have enjoyed a boom in popularity since The Ultimate Fighter Reality Television Show (TUF) first aired. In order to continue on this profitable path, the UFC signed a contract with Spike TV to air several more shows on public television. Here is a breakdown of the next such event, called UFC Fight Night. Please note that only the televised matches and the first fight most likely to air if time permits will be reviewed.

What Riggs brings to the table- Joe Riggs is a very strong fighter with average stand up, jiu- jitsu, and overall wrestling skills. However, when he gains the top position on the ground, he changes from an average MMA fighter to an elite one. Riggs possesses absolutely devastating ground and pound. He has achieved a career MMA record of 24-8 with 12 of his wins coming via (T)KO and 10 by way of submission (but many of those submission wins were really due to strikes). In other words, Riggs has caused several fighters to tap- in essence give up- from an onslaught of strikes.

What Von Flue brings to the table- Jason Von Flue is a tough cat from TUF 2 that sports a career MMA record of 11-5-1. He's got better than average submission skills (9 of his wins have come via submission), average striking skills, and below average power.

In the Octagon- Joe Riggs has far more experience against top level talent than Von Flue does. Also, he's much stronger. Though Von Flue is tough, he doesn't seem to have the power to knock Riggs out, nor the overall athleticism or strength to handle him on the ground. It's not that he couldn't pull off a submission or somehow score enough points on his feet to win, it's just that it's extremely unlikely.

Prediction- Joe Riggs wins via referee stoppage from ground and pound strikes in the 2^nd round.

What Goulet brings to the table- Jonathan Goulet is an excellent fighter with a career MMA record of 16-6. Further, he's won 11 of his last 12 fights and 2 of his only 3 UFC encounters. His only UFC loss came at the hands of Duane "Bang" Ludwig by way of a lightning fast first round knockout. Still, Goulet has very well rounded skills (7 of his wins have come via submission, 6 via (T)KO, and 3 by way of decision). Further, he comes to fight and is in shape.

What Koscheck brings to the table- Josh Koscheck sports an overall MMA record of 6-1. He's got phenomenal wrestling, takedown, and ground control skills. Further, he's hard to submit and is approaching average submission/ jiu- jitsu skills himself (he's finished 3 fights by way of a jiu- jitsu hold). When he lost against Diego Sanchez on TUF 1 in a fight that didn't count on his record, he was able to steer clear of several attempted submission by Sanchez, reinforcing his avoidance capabilities.

Koscheck exhibits below average, though improved stand up skills. Along with that, his only recorded loss- against Drew Fickett- was really due to a knee strike that left him dazed enough to allow his opponent to apply a submission hold. In other words, though it's labeled a submission loss, it really was a KO. However, up until that point in the 3^rd round when Koscheck got caught, Fickett was being dominated in ground and pound fashion. Only the referee standing the two fighters up saved Fickett.

In the Octagon- Goulet looked very good grounding and pounding his way to a win against Luke Cummo in his last fight. However, there will be none of that against Koscheck; he's simply too good a wrestler. Goulet has to keep this one standing, and although he's got very good takedown defense, that's a tall order against a man with world class wrestling skills. His best chance is to land a big punch which is possible but unlikely.

Prediction- Josh Koscheck wins a unanimous decision.

What Sasaki brings to the table- Yuki Sasaki comes to this fight with a 20-12-1 record (mostly from Shooto and Pancrase contests). Twelve of his 20 wins have come via submission, while only 2 have come via (T)KO. In other words, his submission/ jiu jitsu skills are very good.

What Lister brings to the table- Sasaki is about to take someone on with the same strength as him (submission/ jiu- jitsu skills). Unfortunately for him, his opponent is better at it. Lister, who enters this fight with an 8-4 career MMA mark, is widely considered one of the best ground fighters in the world. He's won all of his fights via submission- and has never been submitted- with all of his losses coming via decision.

In the Octagon- It's hard to fathom Sasaki out dueling Lister on the ground; it's also unlikely that he has enough to keep this one upright. Sasaki is good on the ground, so there's always the slimmest of chances, but he's certainly not "The Boogeyman".

Prediction- Dean Lister wins via 2^nd round submission.

What Santiago brings to the table- Jorge Santiago has some skills. He's won his last 4 via stoppage, with 3 of those 4 coming via (T)KO. In addition, he's proven himself to be well- rounded, with six of his 11 victories coming by way of submission (though many of his fights have been of the small market variety). Santiago trains with the well- respected American Top Team which is likely a major reason why he's on such an upswing. His career record is 11-5.

What Leben brings to the table- Chris Leben is a strong, hard- hitting guy who simply found out the hard way that he's not an elite stand up fighter yet as evidenced by Anderson Silva's 49 second knockout of him. Still, Leben is talented, has a big heart, good takedown defense, and a very good jaw (but every jaw, as Anderson Silva showed, has its limits). In other words, Leben does have a future in MMA. In addition, his submission skills are improving and may be average at this point. However, he has slow hands (which was clearly on display against Silva).

In the Octagon- If Santiago is able to get Leben to the ground for a significant length of time he's got a good chance. But, it's doubtful that he'll be able to as Leben has improved his takedown defense a whole bunch since TUF 1. The likely scenario is that the majority of this fight will take place trading on their feet. Leben's extreme confidence may have been shaken against Silva, but Santiago is no Anderson Silva on his feet. This could end up being a close fight, one that could tilt either way.

Prediction- Chris Leben wins via decision.

What Parisyan brings to the table- Karo Parisyan sports a 15-3 career MMA record. He's won 5 straight mixed martial arts matches and 9 of his last 10 (4 of his last 5 victories have come in the UFC).

Karo Parisyan has a very strong skill set. His takedown skills, particularly of the judo variety, are second to none in the division and are truly as beautiful as they are effective. Further, he's got excellent jiu- jitsu/ submission skills. Of his 15 victories, 9 have come by way of submission (and he's never lost via submission). Beyond the above, Parisyan has great cardio. He also seems to have a good jaw.

On the other end of things, Parisyan is only an average MMA striker with little stand up power. In the past, he's been bullied by very strong fighters with solid wrestling skills as evidenced by his two losses to Sean Sherk- once via TKO- and most recent loss to Georges St. Pierre in 2004.

What Sanchez brings to the table- Diego Sanchez is very strong for this weight class. He's got excellent takedown skills of the wrestling variety- and his submission/ jiu- jitsu skills are also excellent (8 of his 15 wins have come via submission). Further, he's a ground and pound nightmare with cardio that never seems to quit. He's also never lost before. Oftentimes it's hard to deal a fighter their first loss.

On the other hand, Sanchez's stand up skills are below average, though improving. Also, he's predictable. He goes for takedown after takedown and other fighters know it. This flaw was clearly on display in his most recent decision victory against John Alessio. However, what Alessio also showed is that in order to shake Diego's takedowns, even when it was obvious they were coming, he pretty much had to abandon all of his offense.

In the Octagon- Diego Sanchez has never fought someone of Karo Parisyan's caliber, while Parisyan has tried his hand against several excellent fighters. However, when Parisyan has fought a stronger man with excellent takedown/ ground and pound skills in the past, he's struggled. Unfortunately for him, Diego Sanchez fits that bill. Further, Parisyan is unlikely to be able to take advantage of his opponent's stand up weaknesses because striking isn't his forte. This is still a tough one to call because Parisyan is good enough to catch anyone, but. . .

Prediction- Diego Sanchez wins a close decision.

The three division set up in baseball was created to ensure as many potential playoff races as possible. After all, a chance at the post-season draws fan support late into September, so the more teams battling for spots, the greater the attendance and of course, the greatest number of dollars from ticket sales.

If that is the premise, then the 2006 American League season is shaping up to be one of the best in ages. That is of course, if we focus on teams with a chance to earn a post-season berth.

In the East, the perennial Red Sox and Yankee battle is going through yet another chapter, but this season those two stalwarts have been joined by the much improved Toronto Blue Jays. Injuries to Yankee regulars Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield and to Red Sox pitchers Matt Clement, Tim Wakefield, David Wells and Keith Foulke have left both mainstays vulnerable in the quest for the coveted wild card slot. One will likely take the Division but the question of whether or not the other can gain the wild card is one that will need to be decided as the season progresses.

At the same time, the Blue Jays are making their presence felt. Toronto has the best hitting lineup in baseball, with a .294 team batting average and a collective slugging percentage of .488. Vernon Wells is an emerging superstar and the addition of Troy Glaus makes the Jays a nightmare for opposing pitchers. Through in Reed Johnson, Alex Rios, Frank Catalanatto, Lyle Overbay, and Aaron Hill, all three hundred plus hitters and you have lineup from top to bottom that can put pressure on the best arms in the league. If one more pitcher begins to perform like Roy Halladay and Ted Lilly, then the Jays could also be heard from during the latter part of the season.

In the Central, the surprising Detroit Tigers are literally running away with the Division crown, but two teams, the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins are fully immersed in the wild card battle, and not just by virtue of parity. With a 7-4 triumph this afternoon over the White Sox, the surging Twins completed a three-game sweep of Chicago to move into a second-place tie with the talented Sox. The Twins stood at 25-33 in early June, but since that time the team has gone 34 and 8 to move into a tie for the wild card berth.

Though many still look for the White Sox to recover, the defending champs will have their hands full with a Twins team that features two of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball in Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano, and the American League's best hitting catcher, if not best hitter period, in Joe Mauer. Come playoff time, no one will want to see this Twins team, not with Brad Radke as the team's number three starter.

Neither look ready to catch Detroit unless the Tigers begin to struggle. That seems highly unlikely, not with the league's best pitching staff and the game's best manager, Jim Leyland, part of the mix.

Finally, out West, we have the proverbial race, without perhaps the same gusto as there is a race only because of parity amongst the teams. Though all four teams are still in the playoff hunt, none seems a match for any of the six aforementioned teams and therefore is not likely a true contender once the playoffs begin.

But at this juncture, all four teams are separated by a measly 3.5 games from first to last. After an Oakland win over Boston this afternoon, the Athletics are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the coveted division crown and the guaranteed spot in the playoffs. The hard-hitting, pitching-starved Texas Rangers are third, one game back, and the steady Seattle Mariners hold that fourth slot.

All four teams have flaws so the race is likely to go down to the final games. The division winner will likely finish a few games above five hundred so the second place finisher will not be a candidate for the wild card, not given the current performance level of the Twins, Sox, and Yankees.

But whether or not the teams out West are serious contenders for the American League pennant, the three division structure is setting up the 2006 season just as the baseball powers had hoped for when creating that structure. Though the league has 14 members, the end of September could well arrive with as many as 10 of those 14 teams thinking they could be in the playoffs.

And if the players think they could be in the post-season, then no doubt their fans will think likewise. That will lead to record attendance numbers and ticket sales that will actually have the players justifying their massive salaries.

As well as the league justifying the three division structure when truly only a handful of teams have the talent to actually win it all.

For most Notre Dame football players, the end of July means that official team workouts are just around the corner. They are focusing wholly on football, the upcoming season, and the opening game against Georgia Tech on September 2. Other pursuits, hobbies, and probably even academics, are the farthest things from their minds right now.

I said for "most" Notre Dame players because wide receiver Jeff Samardzija certainly doesn't fall into that category. Instead of spending his days and nights studying the Notre Dame playbook, Samardzija is more likely to be working on his fastball or curveball. That's because he's currently pitching in single-A baseball as part of the Chicago Cubs farm system. For those of you who might not know it yet, Samardzija is a legitimate two-sport star and has played varsity baseball and football at Notre Dame ever since his freshman year.

Though Samardzija was relatively unknown on the gridiron until his breakout junior season, he had pretty good success on the baseball diamond right from the start. In fact, he was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine in 2003 on the strength of a 5-3 record and a 2.95 ERA. Compare that to Samardzija's freshman football season where he only had seven receptions for 53 yards, and you can see why The Shark might have favored baseball at that time.

Things didn't get much better for Samardzija on the football field during his sophomore season with the Irish, either. Although he appeared in all 12 of Notre Dame's games, he had only 17 receptions for 274 yards, including a long of 41. But he still hadn't found the end zone in a regular-season game, and appeared to be the odd man out behind starters Rhema McKnight and Maurice Stovall. Meanwhile, he continued to shine in baseball by posting an 8-1 record and fanning 56 batters in 10 starts.

Then came the 2005 football season when Samardzija broke out as a national star. In his first year under new head coach Charlie Weis, Samardzija got an opportunity to start. He repaid Weis' confidence by hauling in 71 passes for 1,190 yards and 15 touchdowns. Samardzija's totals for receiving yards and touchdowns were both good enough to set Notre Dame team records. He was also voted as a consensus First-Team All-American and was a finalist for the Belitnikoff award. Suddenly, Samardzija was on the radar screen of every pro football scout in the country and he had to seriously think about which sport he wanted to pursue.

Although no one but Samardzija himself can say for sure what's going on, a majority of sports analysts think that he will try to pull off playing both professional baseball and professional football and postpone making a definitive choice for as long as possible. Fans have of course seen two-sport stars before. Perhaps the most famous athlete to give the baseball-football combination a try was Bo Jackson. He had some very successful years in both sports until a hip injury forced him into a premature retirement. More recently, Deion Sanders gave both baseball and football a try for a few years before finally settling on football.

As things stand now, Samardzija won't have to make a decision for at least a few more months. He was selected in the fifth round of the MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs and did sign a contract with them, but he'll likely have to toil in their minor league system for a while before getting a chance to break into the big leagues. That means Samardzija will be able to enjoy his final season of Notre Dame football without any baseball pressures, and he'll probably wait to see how high he goes in the NFL draft before making a choice. If he's a first-rounder as many analysts are predicting, then I think he'll stick with football. Apparently, baseball scouts feel the same way, which is why Samardzija wasn't drafted until the fifth round despite being ranked as a top-20 prospect.

Since I like both baseball and football, it doesn't matter much to me which sport Samardzija picks. While I would love to see him play for the Cubs someday, I can't deny that it would also be fun to see him making incredible touchdown grabs in the NFL too. I guess this is one of those rare instances where fans win no matter what decision is made!

In the annals of major league baseball, there likely has never been a season when so many quality rookie pitchers began their major league careers at the same time as in the American League in 2006.

Much has been made about the incredible Red Sox rookie reliever Jonathan Papelbon and the year he is having for Boston. The 25-year-old has dazzled, earning a major league leading 29 saves in 32 chances. His ERA of 0.53 and 36 base runners in 51 innings hearken people back to the dead ball era of major league baseball.

Throw in the fact that Keith Foulke, the presumed Red Sox closer has been hurt once again and Papelbon's performance has elevated him to being thought of as more than just a reliever and rook of the year candidate. In fact, the Sporting News selected the Sox reliever for three major awards for the first half of the season, the presumed slam dunk choice as Rookie of the Year, but the more controversial concept of both the Cy Young and MVP.

But as the second half of the baseball season gets underway, it should be noted that two other pitchers are climbing the charts when it comes to such recognition. Minnesota Twins lefthander Francisco Liriano and the Detroit Tigers righthander Justin Verlander, two starters, are making enormous statements for their respective teams.

Liriano pushed his record to 12-2 for the Twins after yet another dominating outing against the Indians, racking up 10 strikeouts over five innings. The lefthander now leads the American League with a 1.93 ERA (as a reliever, Papelbon does not qualify for the ERA title due to too few innings pitched).

But then, Verlander hasn't lost a game for the surprising Tigers in a month and half. He won his 12th game of the season last Friday, putting him second in the league in wins (Josh Beckett 13). The youngster also is second behind Liriano with a 2.77 ERA.

As if those three were not enough, two other youngsters, the Red Sox Jon Lester and the Los Angeles Angels Jered Weaver have been early season call ups who have also excelled thus far. Both are still undefeated, Lester at 5-0 and Weaver at 7-0, and both have been dominating at times. In fact, Weaver's ERA of 1.15 would top both that of Liriano and Verlander if he had enough innings in for the Angels.

The rookie pitching stats are rare but several players in competition for the rookie of the year award is actually even more rare. After all, in 2004, the Oakland A's Bobby Crosby won the honor with a measly .239 batting average.

However, in all of baseball history, only 11 pitchers have managed to claim the AL Rookie of the Year. For those seeing these three rookies as potentially more than rookie of the year material, it should also be noted that no pitcher has ever won Rookie of the Year and the MVP in the same season.

Voters will have a difficult choice, especially if Papelbon, Liriano and Verlander continue their early season pace. They will have an even more difficult decision if both Lester and Weaver continue their development as well.

Imagine the possibility, Papelbon saving 50 plus games and finishing with an ERA under 1.00 while Verlander and Liriano win 18 to 22 games and finish with ERA's of 2.00. The both Lester and Weaver could win 12-15, match Liriano and Verlander in ERA, and yet not receive so much as a single vote.

Likely, the winners often come down to the team that performs the best, especially for consideration of awards beyond the rookie of the year selection. There again, the Red Sox and Tigers are in first while the Twins are hard charging and pushing their way into wild card position.

So writers will have a tough selection, one that should keep fans interested into the off season and help fuel the blogs and opinionated-sports writers with a great deal of material rebutting the final selection.

Whatever the case and no matter who is selected, one thing is for certain. The pitching-starved major league baseball teams have not seen a year like this in recent memory.

Perhaps, maybe not ever before in the history of the game.

By Ed Jennett


Apparently there are some teams that get it. There are some teams that understand that the whole purpose of the lockout and the salary cap was to protect the teams against overspending. These teams realize that the entire point of the lockout and the salary cap was to protect teams from themselves. These bargain shoppers should be hailed:

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens signed Sergie Samsonov to a two year, $7.05 million deal.
On the surface this would appear to be an odd signing, and one certainly not worthy of praise and hailing, because the Canadiens have a roster filled with players similar to Samsonov. But the others are similar toSamsonov only in the fact that they are small in stature. Where they clearly differ is in the immense talent level of Samsonov. The strength of the Montreal lineup is speed and stickhandling. Samsonov excels in these two areas of the game. His addition will make the offense of the Canadiens much more potent. The signing of Samsonov could potentially have a huge impact on the Canadiens other star Russian winger, Alexei Kovalev. If the two form chemistry on the ice it will give Montreal a duo that is nearly unstoppable.

New York Rangers

No, Hades has not frozen over. No, the antichrist is not walking among us. But yes, the New York Rangers really did make a list of bargain shoppers. Although the Rangers did continue with their tradition of signing free agents in the offseason, these signings deviated from the usual signings. All three were good signings and made fiscal sense. The Rangers signed left wing Brendan Shanahan to a one year, $4 million contract. Center Matt Cullen was signed to a four year, $11.2 million contract. The Rangers also signed defenseman Aaron Ward to a two year, $5.5 million contract.

Cullen is a young, versatile third-line center who will give the Rangers depth down the middle. Ward provides the Rangers with a physical, shot blocking defenseman. He was also the best defensive defenseman on the Carolina Hurricanes team that won the Stanley Cup this past season. Cullen was also a valuable contributor to the Hurricanes championship.

Shanahan will provide the Rangers with another big time scorer to help take pressure of right wing Jaromir Jagr. Shanahan will also provide the team with a great deal of veteran leadership as he was a vital cog of the recent Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup winning teams.

Florida Panthers

It looks like the Florida Panthers have finally gotten it right and found their man. Panthers General Manager has unsuccessfully brought in veteran defensemen over the last couple of seasons in an attempt to have them aid his young defensive corps on and off the ice. This year Florida signed defenseman Ruslan Salei to a four year, $12 million contract. While he is a veteran, Salei is still in his prime and is a good teammate.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning needed to find an offensive defenseman to replace Pavel Kubina, who left for Toronto and a huge contract. Jay Feaster, General Manager of the Lightning, found his man in Filip Kuba.

Kuba will get to chance to show his offensive talents in full now that he is away from the Minnesota Wild and their strict defensive style of play. The Lightning play an offensive style in which Kuba should flourish. Kuba was signed to a three year, $9 million contract. This is $500K less per season than the Lightning had offered to Kubina.

Dallas Stars

The first round playoff loss of the Dallas Stars exposed their lack of depth on their checking lines. That depth was addressed with the signing of center Jeff Halpern. The Stars signed Halpern to a four year, $8 million contract. Despite the fact that the $2 million per season that he will make under his new contract is almost $800K more than he made last season with the Washington Capitals, Halpern is still a bargain. In addition to improving the defense of their third line, Halpen will provide a decent scoring touch. As a former captain in Washington, he will also provide leadership.

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are another team that improved their checking lines. Despite being a defensive player, Grier was also helped by all of the rule changes of the NHL. The changes did not just aid the quick offensive players, they also aided the quick defensive players, and the fast, tough Grier was no exception. Grier is fast enough to keep up with all of the scorers and punish them with his hard hitting style. Since the Sharks are a deep team it is also possible that Grier will be able to help them offensively. The depth and offensive power of the Sharks will allow Grier the chance to get ice time with offensively skilled players and opens up the possibility that he could score 20 goals again, as he has done twice previously in his career. The Sharks signed Grier to a three year, $5.3 million contract.

St. Louis Blues

Since the Blues were such a mess last season it was not difficult to figure out what the team needed to address in the offseason. The answer to that is everything. One of those things was the lack of a shut down, defensive forward. The closest player to that in St. Louis last year was the aging Dallas Drake, who just is not capable of being the best defensive forward on a team anymore. The Blues addressed this not e of contention by signing rugged Dan Hinote to a three year, $3 million contract. Despite being slightly injury prone, Hinote is tough and a hard worker. As a member of the 2001 Colorado Avalanche team that won the Stanley Cup he will also be able to provide a great deal of leadership to the rebuilding Blues club.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The perpetually poor Penguins needed to get on this list more than any other team in the league. Their signing of Jarkko Ruutu to a two year, $2.3 million contract puts them there. Adding the super pest does not add another scorer to the roster, but it will defer a lot of the attention of the opposition away from the Penguins budding superstar Sidney Crosby.

Crosby was often harassed by opponents last season in an attempt to make him lose his temper and pick up penalties. This season the Penguins can do the same thing to their opponents by using Ruutu, and his tough, irritating style of play against the best players on the other team. What is good for the goose is good for the Penguins.

Chicago White Sox fans have to be wondering what is going on with their team. When the season started, nearly every sports analyst out there agreed that the '06 version of the Sox was actually stronger than the '05 team that won the World Series. The Big Four pitchers in the starting rotation -- Jon Garland, Mark Buerhle, Freddy Garcia, and Jose Contreras -- would be back, and the team picked up Javier Vasquez as a replacement for Orlando Hernandez.

But unlike last year's squad that relied on "small ball" to win games, this year's Sox team has a formidable lineup built around both speed and power. Everyone knows by now that Jim Thome was one of the best offseason acquisitions made by any team in the majors, and players like Joe Crede, Paul Konerko, and Jermaine Dye continue to put up huge numbers for the South Siders. As of today, the Sox lead all of baseball in team home runs with 141, runs scored with 542, and RBI with 521. In addition, they are second in the league in team batting average, hits, and total bases.

So it sounds like the White Sox definitely have a recipe for continued success here. And their record of 58-37 at this point in the season isn't that far off last year's pace. Nevertheless, the White Sox now find themselves a whopping 6.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central. That's thanks in large part to the fact that the Sox have lost five of their last 6 games against the Tigers and the New York Yankees, and eight of their last 10 overall when you factor in the Red Sox series from before the All-Star break. Speaking of the Yankees, they're slowly creeping up on the Sox for the American League wildcard berth. Currently, the Yanks are just 2.5 games behind in that race.

There are of course two ways to look at Chicago's current plight. On the one hand, you could easily say that there are still 67 games left in the season. That leaves the team with a lot of time to make up the ground they've lost over the last week or so. 6.5 games isn't very many when you look at it in this light. It essentially means that the White Sox would have to gain 1 game on the Tigers for every 10 games played -- a task that sounds very doable.

On the other hand, you could look at the season the Tigers are having and say that there's no way the White Sox are ever going to be able to catch up. The Tigers have won in every possible manner all season long. They've jumped out to huge leads and held on for the win, they've come from behind to win, and they've won close one- or two-run ballgames. And the most troubling part of it all for White Sox fans is that the Tigers show absolutely no sign of slowing down or burning out. It doesn't appear as though the Sox will be able to count on a Detroit collapse to help them ease into the playoffs; if the team is going to make a repeat appearance, they're going to have to earn it.

As if the Tigers and Yankees weren't enough to worry about, the Minnesota Twins are still in Chicago's rearview mirror as well. The AL Central has turned out to be the strongest division in baseball this season. With most of the focus on the Tigers and White Sox out front, the Twins have quietly been keeping pace with both teams, and gaining on the Sox for the wild card berth. Right now, the Twins are just 3 games behind Chicago for that final postseason spot. Minnesota is another team that has all the pieces of a championship team (pitching, hitting, defense) in place. There could be a great three-way battle for the AL Central crown down the stretch here!

It's hard to say at this point whether or not the White Sox have it in them to battle back to the top of the division. If I had to guess, though, I'd put my money on Ozzie Guillen and company. They've been down this road before and know how to win when it counts.

By Ed Jennett


After an entire season was cancelled due to a lockout that was supposed to get spending under control, one would have thought teams would take a long time to get back to their overspending ways. One would have definitely been wrong. Several teams apparently had flashbacks to the dreaded days when blank checks ruled the land:

Toronto Maple Leafs

It should come as no surprise that the worst culprit is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs were notorious for sending old and overpaid teams out onto the ice under the previous CBA, and are obviously determined to keep doing it under the new one too. Toronto General Manager John Ferguson Jr. is under the impression that the best way to build a team is to overpay to put together a mediocre defense.

Even though offensive defensemen Brian McCabe and Tomas Kaberle are already on the roster, Ferguson signed Pavel Kubina to a four year, $20 million contract. This was simply idiotic, not only is Kubina redundant, the other two players are better than him offensively and defensively. Ferguson also added huge stay at home defenseman Hal Gill with a three year, $6.3 million contract. Gill struggled under the new rules that made the NHL faster last season and will progressively get worse during his contract as he gets older.

Boston Bruins

Once again the notoriously cheap Bruins make a horrible decision on one of the few occasions they decide to spend some money. Just as they did with the awful Martin Lapointe signing from several years ago, the Bruins grossly overpaid to snatch Zdeno Chara away from a much better team. While Chara is clearly a much better player than Lapointe, the five year, $37.5 million contract that the Bruins signed him to is still ridiculous. Although he is a legitimate All-Star, Chara is not an elite defenseman such as Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit or Scott Niedermeyer of Anaheim.

The Bruins are not as clueless as the Maple Leafs as the other foolish contract that they gave out at least went to a forward instead of another defenseman. Marc Savard stumbled backwards into a four year, $20 million contract due to the fact that he put up 97 points playing on a line with All-Stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa in Atlanta last season. The Bruins will be stunned when he does not produce as well for them next season. Boston management will also be flabbergasted when they realize that the addition of these hideous contracts only leaves them with $10 million in cap space to re-sign talented young players Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes, and put together a competitive team for next season.

New Jersey Devils

New Jersey sold their souls to the devil by resigning forward Patrik Elias to a seven year, $42 million contract and Jamie Langenbrunner to a five year, $14 million contract. Although the Devils were a very good team and these players were key contributors, New Jersey overpaid them and will eventually regret these contracts. These bad deals come on the heals of the bad contracts given to Alexander Mogilny, Vladamir Malakhov, and Dan McGillis, all players who are no longer on the active roster. All of the big contracts given out in these past two offseasons drastically cut into the cap space of the club as General Manager Lou Lamariello looks to re-sign a trio of talented youngsters in Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, and Paul Martin. All three are up for new contracts and will obviously want significant raises. Despite the fact that they are all players that the Devils should build around, the club might have deal at least one of them to avoid going over the salary cap.

The worst part about the contracts given to Elias and Langenbrunner is that they will continue to cut into cap space while their skills deteriorate due to age.

Minnesota Wild

After spending their entire existence trying to save every penny that they possibly could, the Wild went wild this offseason and started handing out contracts to players like they were sandwiches at a homeless shelter. Minnesota signed free agents Mark Parrish, Brando Radivojevic, and Keith Carney, and also trade for Pavol Demitra. The Wild also gave a ridiculous four year $19.4 million contract to Kim Johnsson. All of the spending was done with the intention of helping to convince All-Star right wing Marian Gaborik to stay with the team. The plan worked as Gaborik signed a three year extension. Unfortunately the plan did not factor in that the Wild are still not a contender for the Stanley Cup and now do not have the cap room to acquire players to make themselves a contender.

Nashville Predators

Desperate teams do desperate things. The Predators were desperate to find a center to play on the first line with All-Star Paul Kariya and talented Steve Sullivan. Nashville signed Jason Arnott to a five year $22.5 million contract to fill that hole. Arnott has the talent for the job, but is to prone to injury and inconsistency to hold it down. The Preds will eventually regret this burdensome contract as it holds them down.

St. Louis Blues

Another desperate team decided to do another desperate thing. St. Louis has a ton of cap space and decided to use some of it to bring in leader and solid defensive defenseman Jay McKee. This would have been a great idea if they had not given him an insane four year, $16 million contract. This will come back to haunt them as the contract of McKee will prevent them from adding a valuable piece when their young blueline develops and the team should be in position to improve.

By Ed Jennett


It is never too early to make a first impression. Unfortunately for many of the players selected in the 2006 NHL Draft last month, and the teams that selected them, some of those first impressions are bad. Only crystal balls and the future will reveal how these players will pan out, but it is definitely not too early to pan some of the selections. Here are the grades for the Western Conference teams:

Anaheim Mighty Ducks

The Ducks have a very solid draft. With the 19th pick they selected Mark Mitera, a big, stay at home defenseman. Anaheim selected another defensive defenseman, John DeGray with the 83rd pick. Between those two rearguards the Ducks selected right wing Bryce Swann with the 38th pick. Swann had been ranked 17 among North American Skaters, but suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss half of the season and drop in the draft.

Grade: B

Calgary Flames

The Flames may have found the eventual successor to starting goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff when they selected Leland Irving with the 26th pick. Irving played 67 games for his junior team last season. His style has also been compared to that of Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes. Calgary tried to solve it offensive problems by selecting seven forwards during the rest of the draft. Unfortunately for the Flames, none of them are very highly regarded though.

Grade: C

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago is another team that was unable to win games but won at the NHL Draft. The Blackhawks used the 3rd pick on Jonathan Toews. The two way forward will be a fixture on the Blackhawks top two lines. Chicago selected Igor Makarov, the son of Sergei Makarov, with the 33rd pick. He obviously is not expected to be as good as his father, but he is expected to become a valuable forward on the team. The Blackhawks also selected 6'7" Simon Danis-Pepin with the 61st pick.

Grade: A-

Colorado Avalanche

While he lacks the offensive upside of his older brother Anthony Stewart, Chris Stewart will provide Colorado with the large physical winger that it has been in need of. The Avalanche then added a larger defender in Nigel Williams with the 51st pick.

Grade: B+

Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus selected offensive force Derick Brassard with the 6th pick. The Blue jackets then made a surprising selection. With their next pick Columbus selected goaltender Steve Mason with the 69th pick. Mason only played in 12 games last season.

C +

Dallas Stars

Dallas has wisely begun searching for an eventual successor to Norris Trophy candidate Sergei Zubov. With the 27th pick the selected defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy. Although he is a high risk, high reward player, the Stars obviously felt that they could not pass up his puck moving ability. The other picks of Dallas were also high risk but do not come close to having as high of a reward. Aaron Snow was selected with the 90th pick. Despite his good numbers in junior he is projected to be a third line player in a best case scenario. Then with the 120th pick the Starts selected goaltender Richard Bachman. The Central Scouting Bureau had rated him as the 26th best goalie in North America.

Grade: D

Detroit Red Wings

Despite trading out of the first round, the Red Wings still ended up drafting a first round talent. Detroit selected potential first rounder Cory Emmerton with the 41st pick. Emmerton is both an excellent scorer and an excellent playmaker. He projects to develop into a second line player. Although power forward Dick Axelsson was not ranked in the top 160 European prospects, the Red Wings selected him the 62nd pick. Detroit then selected Daniel Larson with the 92nd pick. Larson was not in the Central Scouting Bureau rankings for European goaltenders. The Red Wings have had success in the past with Swedish picks but these still have to be considered incredibly risky choices.

Grade: D+

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers followed up a surprising and impressive run to the Stanley Cup Finals with a surprising and unimpressive draft. Edmonton used its highest picks on a trio of lowly regarded prospects Jeff Petry, Theo Peckham, and Bryan Pitton. These players probably will not be leading the way the next time the Oilers are playing for the Cup.

Grade: D-

Los Angeles Kings

New General Manager Dean Lombardi knows how to build a team and quickly got underway with the Kings. Los Angeles took the undisputed best goaltender of the draft in Jonathan Bernier with the 11th pick. The Kings then selected forward Trevor Lewis with the 17th pick. Lewis could develop into a top six forward. The blueline was addressed when Joe Ryan was selected with the 48th pick. Ryan is a physical, stay at home defenseman.

Grade: A+

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota was unable to land a top prospect but picked up several who will have the chance to make the team. The Wild surprisingly selected James Sheppard with the 9th pick. Sheppard brings size and great hands, but he also brings questions about his skating ability. Ondrej Fiala was taken with the 40th pick and will provide speed. Unfortunately for the Wild it is debatable if he will be able to provide any offense. Fiala will most likely develop into a third liner and play alongside Cal Clutterbuck who was chosen with the 72 pick. Clutterbuck is a gritty and tenacious player who should complement the quick Fiala. Minnesota possibly made a historic selection with Niko Hoivonen in 132nd spot. If the 6'7" Hoivonen makes it to the league he would replace 6'5" Stephen Valiquette as the tallest netminder to ever play in the NHL.

Grade: B-

Nashville Predators

The Predators only had one pick in the first 100, so they should not have expected to have a good draft. Those low expectations were certainly met. Nashville managed to snag a possible potential second liner with Blake Geoffrion with the 56th pick. Blake Geoffrion is the grandson of the late Bernie Geoffrion. Blake is a very good skater, can score and has heart. Unfortunately that last attribute does not describe Ryan Flynn, who was selected by the Predators with the 176th pick. Because of his talent Flynn was ranked 77th by the Central Scouting Bureau. Because of his sickening lack of drive Flynn tumbled all the way down to the 176th pick.

Grade: C-

Phoenix Coyotes

The Coyotes selected Peter Mueller with the 8th pick. The big, smart, well rounded center might be able to make the team next season. Phoenix traded up in the draft to take defenseman Chris Summers with the 29th pick. Summers is a slick skater who can also play forward. The only downside to Summers is that it will take him a few years to be ready for the NHL. Goaltender Brett Bennett was chosen with the 130th pick due to his impressive performances with both the U.S. Under 17 National Team and the U.S. Under 18 National Team.

Grade: A-

San Jose Sharks

San Jose had a very poor draft. The only player who should be considered a virtual lock to eventually make the team is defenseman Ty Wishart, who was taken with the 16th pick after the Sharks traded up to make sure they got him. Unfortunately Wishart is projected to develop into just a number 4 or number 5 defenseman. San Jose then selected Jamie McGinn with the 36th pick. McGinn has everything it takes to make it to the NHL except for one thing. Unfortunately that one thing is the drive to make it. The Sharks selected right wing Ashton Rome with the 143rd pick. Rome became a re-entry player after the Bruins declined to offer a contract to him. Unfortunately it appears that he is only good enough to play in the American Hockey League though.

Grade: C-

The best thing about being the worst team in the league is that you can not get any worse than that lowly station. After the unbelievably successful draft of the St. Louis Blues, they will not be that bad again for a very long time. St. Louis drafted Erik Johnson 1st overall to give themselves a future superstar to build around. In some circles he is described as being even better than All-Star defenseman, and former Blue, Chris Pronger at the same age. St. Louis then traded the 30th pick and a third round pick to move up to the 25th spot. The Blues selected big, talented center Patrik Berglund with the pick. Berglund could eventually develop into the top line center. With the 31st pick St. Louis selected Tomas Kana, who should develop into a quality depth forward. The Blues also added a quality goalie prospect in Reto Berra with the 106th pick.

Grade: A+

Vancouver Canucks

The host team did not have a lot of picks, but made the most of what they had. Vancouver selected high scoring right wing Michael Grabner with the 14th pick. He will eventually be looked upon to replace All-Star right wing Todd Bertuzzi. Daniel Rahimi was chosen with the 82nd pick. The Canucks hope that the big (6'3", 212 lbs.) defensive defenseman will eventually help make up for the loss of two way All-Star Ed Jovanovski. Swift Sergei Shirokov was taken with the 163rd pick. If Vancouver can get him to play in the NHL he could turn out to be a steal. Shirokov was tremendous in the 2006 World Junior Championships and has also played in the Russian Superleague.

Grade: C+

By Ed Jennett


It is never too early to make a first impression. Unfortunately for many of the players selected in the 2006 NHL Draft last month, and the teams that selected them, some of those first impressions are bad. Only crystal balls and the future will reveal how these players will pan out, but it is definitely not too early to pan some of the selections. Here are the grades for the Eastern Conference teams:

Atlanta Thrashers

With the 12th pick Atlanta selected Brian Little who projects to be a two way, second line center. The ironically named Little makes up for his lack of size (5'10", 194 lbs.) with speed, great hands, and an extraordinary work effort. The Thrashers selected Michael Forney with the 80th pick. Forney had been considered a potential first round pick (top 30 players) but fell in the draft because he is very raw. Atlanta selected goaltender Alex Kangas with the 135th pick. Kangas has the potential to make the 2007 U.S. National Junior Team.

Grade: B

Boston Bruins

The buffoonish Bruins appear to have finally got something right. Although in all fairness their draft success is probably a case of the old adage it is better to be lucky than good. Boston was lucky that phenomenal prospect Phil Kessel fell to them at the 5th pick. Kessel would have been selected first overall but had a mediocre year. The Bruins might have stumbled into the best forward of the draft. The later picks of Boston were solid as well. With the 37th pick the Bruins selected potential top four defender Yuri Alexandrov, who captained the Russian Under-18 team. With the 71st pick Boston chose speedy center Brad Marchand.

Grade: A-

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres must be sick of having too many quality goaltenders. Boston could have selected goalie Leland Irving with the 24th pick, but instead took defenseman Dennis Persson. Buffalo then took a less talented goalie, Jhonas Enroth, with the 46th pick. The Sabres did manage to get something right with the selection of center Felix Schultz with the 117th pick. Schultz was considered to be one of the biggest sleepers of the draft.

Grade: B-

Carolina Hurricanes

Not that they care, but the Hurricanes had a pretty lousy draft. Carolina did not have a first round pick since it was shipped to St. Louis in the trade package for center Doug Weight. When they finally got to pick the Hurricanes selected solid defensman Jamie McBain with the 63rd pick. They then picked a possible steal in center Bobby Hughes with the 123rd pick. Hughes would not have still been available if he had not gone through an injury plagued season this year.

Grade: C-

Florida Panthers

Mike Keenan was Iron Mike as a Head Coach but has been Mediocre at Best Mike as a General Manager. Keenan kept up that not so proud legacy at the draft. With the 10th pick the Panthers selected Michael Frolik who will either be very good or the bust of the draft. Florida selected Brady Calla with the 103rd pick. Despite being ranked as the 28th best player in North America by the Central Scouting Bureau, Calla was obviously not thought of too highly by the actual people making the draft selections.

Grade: C

Montreal Canadiens

Needing to restock their blueline pipeline, the Canadiens reached and selected David Fischer with the 20th pick. He is expected to stay in college for at least the next two years.

Grade: C +

New Jersey Devils

Although Matthew Corrente may have looked like a stretch with the 30th pick, he was selected by the outstanding head scout of the Devils, David Conte, so the physical but undersized defenseman will most likely prove to be worthy of that spot. New Jersey also made a trade with St. Louis in order to add the 77th pick and select forward Vladamir Zharkov. The Devils used the 58th pick on forward Aleksander Vasyunow, which gives them two forwards who have the potential to develop into players for the top two lines.

Grade: B+

New York Islanders

Despite their front office apparently fighting from the time it was constructed until the time it was deconstructed with the firing of General Manage Neil Smith six weeks later, the Islanders somehow managed to have a decent draft. With the 8th pick the Isles selected right wing Kyle Okposo, who will eventually play on the first line. The Islanders then started taking huge gambles with their picks by selecting players that have huge upside but also have huge question marks. With the 60th pick the Isles selected Jesse Joensuu, who is a hard shooter but very slow. Rhett Rahkshani, who was selected with the 100th pick is a tough player but is too small. Tomas Marcinko was considered to have first round potential but he has a difficult time finishing which caused him to drop to the fourth round and the 115th pick.

Grade: B-

New York Rangers

After several years of being the biggest joke in the league, the Rangers are finally heading in the right direction. The Blueshirts selected offensive defenseman Bob Sanguinetti with the 21st pick. The Rangers are hoping he develops quickly as the team needs someone to move the puck and run the power play. With the 54th pick the Blueshirts selected Artem Anisimov, a potential second line center who would have gone in the first round but dropped into the second because of his questionable desire.

Grade: B

Ottawa Senators

The Senators made a solid choice by taking Nick Foligno with the 26th pick. He supplies both speed and grit, and should develop into a solid third line player. Their later pick of Kaspars Daugavins with the 91st pick was clearly a gamble that might not payoff.

Grade: C

Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke had the equivalent of a four goal game at the Draft. First Clarke selected Claude Giroux with the 22nd pick. Giroux is small (5'10", 169 lbs.) but is a great scorer. His next selection was Andreas Nodl at 39. While it will take a few years for him to make the Flyers roster Nodl is another excellent scorer. Clarke then took addressed his future blueline by selecting Michael Ratchuk with the 42nd pick and Denis Bodrov with the 55th pick.

Grade: A

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins may not win during the regular season, but they definitely won on draft day. Pittsburgh selected an outstanding prospect in Jordan Staal with the 2nd pick. The Penguins then focused on their awful defense by selecting Carl Sneep with the 32nd pick and Brian Strait with the 65th pick. Neither will be a star, but both will be solid contributors.

Grade: A

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning did not have a lot of options in the draft. Tampa only had four picks and was in desperate need of a goaltender. The Lightning added goalie Riku Helenius with the 15th pick. He will take time to develop, but was spectacular at the World Junior Championships. Tampa used the 78th pick on Kevin Quick, an offensive defenseman.

Grade: C

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs added two forwards who might play on their scoring lines next season. Highly regarded prospect Jiri Tlusty fell to the Leafs at the 13th pick. Scorer Nikolai Kulemin was taken with the 44th pick.

Grade: B

Washington Capitals

The Capitals wisely selected Nicklas Backstrom with the 4th pick. This team needs help as soon as possible and Backstrom is the player believed to be most ready to immediately play in the NHL. Washington also selected highly regarded Semen Varlamov with 23rd pick. The 35th pick, Francois Bouchard, and the 157th pick, Brent Gwidt, are also projected to develop into solid contributors. This is expected to end up being one of the Capitals best drafts ever.

Grade: A

By the time the year is over, Sox historians may have to go back to 1975 to find a pair of rookies with as big an impact on a Red Sox squad as the two rooks on this year's edition. That 1975 season saw the Sox called up two kids to play in the outfield, center fielder Fred Lynn and left fielder Jim Rice, and those two led the Sox to the American League title and into one of the most memorable World Series ever, the epic seven game battle against the Big Red Machine.

With the Sox barely ahead of the Yankees at this point and a long way to go before the American League Championship series is to be played, it is still possible that the Sox season could go South later on. Any failure to get to the post season will likely end any comparisons to the Lynn and Rice connection, but if the Sox manage to handle the dog days of August and September in the same manner that they have handled the first sixty percent of the season then those comparisons will likely begin.

Instead of the outfield, this time the two kids are pitchers. Like Lynn and Rice, they throw from different sides, and like the two stars of 1975, Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, though highly thought of by team management prior to the season, were not expected to have the impact that they have had on the Red Sox team in 2006.

Two days ago, rookie call up Jon Lester ran his record to 5-0 with a masterful one hit shut out of the hapless Kansas City Royals. In winning his first five decisions for the Sox, the 22-year old pitcher entered rarefied territory, becoming the first Sox rookie lefthander to ever accomplish that feat. That cannot be considered a small feat given that Boston has been home to some very talented lefthanders that include none other than Babe Ruth, along with Mel Parnell, Bill "the Spaceman" Lee, and Bruce Hurst.

It has not been all sun and glory for the kid however. Going into that one hitter, Lester had struggled to get his team deep into ball games and his walks and hits per innings pitched were amongst the worst on the team.

But in the two most important categories, mental toughness and pitching under pressure, the lefty has been extraordinary. He has battled through the base runners, accumulating the team's second best era, a paltry 2.38. He has also now given the team five innings or more in his last seven starts and has given up three runs in a game only once, his first major league start.

As good as Lester has been since he has been called up, the real story of course has been another Jonathan, reliever Jonathan Papelbon. The big righthander is still considered a rookie despite a late season call up a year ago.

In that September call up, the 25-year-old dazzled Sox fans with a sterling 2.65 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings. The only blemish was 17 walks in those 34 innings.But in 2006, the kid has simply been lights out. Taking over the closer role, Papelbon has put up numbers that are simply unheard of in the realm of the designated hitter in the American League.

The hard throwing righthander has 0.54 ERA for the season and in 50 innings pitched thus far has given up just 36 baserunners, 27 hits and just nine walks. The youngster has also earned a major league leading 29 saves in 32 chances. The three blown saves represent the three times he has given up a run in a game this year. With forty-four appearances, 50 innings pitched, and only a total of 3 runs over the first 90 plus games of the season, it is easy to see why the term lights out fits this big righthander.

The Sox have also relied on their three superstars to move to the top of the AL East, the very same teammates that helped bring home the Sox World Series title in 2004. David Ortiz is having another monster year, driving in a run a game and providing his patented game winning hits. Manny Ramirez after a slow start has reached the 25 homer, 68 RBI plateau already, and is now hitting over .300. He will likely have his usual 40 homer 120 RBI season by years end.

And Curt Schilling has returned from his injury prone 2005 to become the team's number one starter. The veteran pitcher has given up just 153 baserunners in 141 innings, mainly due to his measly 17 walks on the season. Schilling has lowered his ERA to the mid threes and is now supporting an 12-3 won lost record.

But the big news for Boston is that a depleted and injured pitching staff, one that is short of starters and that had expected to fall back on veteran reliever Keith Foulke's return to form only to see him become a victim of the injury bug, has been held together by the two kids. Boston is in first place in mid-July only because of the sterling performances of the two youngsters.

It also appears that if Boston is to return to the postseason, it will have to do so by riding the performances of these two rookies through the months of August and September. No doubt, two more tough months await Boston.

But two more months of Lester and Papelbon performing at their recent level will no doubt have folks remembering that memorable 1975 season and World Series, and with it, the inevitable comparisons of these two players to the legendary Red Sox outfielders, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice.