NHL Playoffs: Round 1 Quick Picks

2013 Playoff Picture

East Conference:
1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs 8. New York Islanders- Penguins in 6

2. Montreal Canadiens vs 7. Ottawa Senators- Canadiens in 7

3. Washington Capitals vs 6. New York Rangers- Rangers in 7

4. Boston Bruins vs 5. Toronto Maple Leafs- Bruins in 4

West Conference:
1. Chicago Blackhawks vs 8. Minnesota Wild- Blackhawks in 5

2. Anaheim Ducks vs 7. Detroit Red Wings- Red Wings in 7

3. Vancouver Canucks vs 6. San Jose Sharks- Sharks in 6

4. St. Louis Blues vs 5. Los Angeles Kings- Blues in 7

UFC on Fox 7: Main Event

The head kick that finished Nate Diaz.

If the prelims on FX weren't already amazing enough, Fox put on an incredible main card to follow up.

• Matt Brown and Jordan Mein absolutely put on a show for fans to start the seventh Fox card off.  Brown is a guy who has hit rock bottom, but right now is on top of the world.  Mein is a young guy that is already a veteran.  For Brown, now is the prime of his career.  For Mein, the future looks bright for this vicious striker.  Brown stalked Mein around and traded blows for the majority of the first round.  He lived up to his introduction by being a "technical brawler."  Mein eventually caught him with a nasty body shot and dropped him.  Then suddenly, Brown threw up a triangle choke that appeared to be really tight.  Mein escaped and the crowd erupted to salute the incredible first round of this fight.  The second started the same as the first, with Brown stalking Mein and landing big shots. He eventually clipped Mein and finished him with elbows to the body.  Brown and Mein took home Fight of the Night bonuses for their incredible performance.
• Mein is still young despite having already fought in 36 professional fights.  He can fight a lesser opponent in his next fight to look to bounce back.  He is good at all aspects of mixed martial arts and will have a bright future going forward.  I think he could fight somebody like Nate Marquardt or Rick Story in his next fight.
• As for Brown, he is on a five fight winning streak and looks more impressive with every win.  He does have 11 career losses and 9 of them are by submission.  One of the top welterweights without a fight scheduled is Demian Maia.  Throw Brown against the best submission artist in the division to see if his submission game is legit.  If he gets past Maia then he is a top contender fight away from a title shot, against the winner of Rory and Jake Ellenberger perhaps.
• Nate Diaz came into this fight coming off a title loss to Benson Henderson.  Josh Thomson came into this fight off a title loss to Gilbert Melendez in Strikeforce.  Both of these guys are at the top of the lightweight division and were looking to bounce back from losses to jump right back into contention.  Josh Thomson did just that.  People have beaten the Diaz brothers, but to finish them is another story.  Thomson used distance and kick to pick apart the great boxer in Diaz.  He landed a few head kicks in the first round, when low with the kicks early in the second, and finally went high again to secure the TKO finish.  He threw a head kick that knocked Diaz to the ground where he jumped on him and swarmed him with punches.  Nick Diaz threw in the towel from Nate's corner at the same time the ref stopped the fight.  This was a HUGE win for Thomson.  Diaz said he was moving up to welterweight but I do not understand why.  He and Nick need to seriously reconsider what they are doing if they want to be title contenders again.  As for Thomson, he has just beaten one of the UFC's best.  I would say he should fight Jim Miller, but he just lost at UFC 159.  Thomson vs Healy would be an interesting match but I have a better idea for Pat's next opponent that I'll let you know soon.  Maybe a bout with someone like Joe Lauzon, Jamie Varner, or the winner of Trujillo vs Nurmagomedov would be a suitable opponent for his next fight.  On a side note, I must confess that after this fight I developed a sort of "man crush" on Josh, so don't expect me to pick him to do anything but win his way to a UFC title in the next few fights.  He has the talent to back it up.
• Daniel Cormier in his UFC debut handled Frank Mir without too much trouble.  Outside of a few leg kicks to the body of DC, Mir did nothing to threaten his opponent.  DC held him against the cage and beat him up for three rounds.  Herb Dean pulled them off the fence a bunch of times and he was actually getting so upset I thought Herb was going to tell Frank to take a seat so he could fire off a few punches.  Frank showed he is old and is about to be a gatekeeper or a retiree.  DC showed little punching power but he did show that the fight will take place where he wants.  The future of DC in the heavyweight division might have to come to an end sooner than later since Cain is still champ, but we shall see what the future holds for this guy.  I just hope his next fight is a tad bit more exciting.  I do have to confess that on any other card this would have been a decent fight, but this card spoiled us all night so it seemed worse than it actually was.
• Finally the main event between champions.  Benson Henderson vs Gilbert Melendez.  I have to admit, I thought Ben would outstrike, outgrapple, and all around outclass a guy like Gilbert.  Obviously I have not seen enough game film on Gil, because this guy is for real.  They almost have identical skill sets and both have seen their share of split decisions in their title runs.  This one could have gone either way, but I do think Gilbert won rounds 1, 2, and 5.  Round 2 is the one where it could have gone either way.  Gilbert got in the grove of throwing left hooks only to set up the overhand right.  Henderson neutralized this and won the 3rd and 4th round for sure.  The second round is one of those rounds where you could score it differently every time you watch the fight, and it was the determining factor in the fight.  This is unfortunate for Gil, but two of the judges thought Benson won the fight.  He will not get an immediate rematch, but he is still a top 5 lightweight without a doubt.  As for his future, how about that fight with Pat Healy?  Healy was scheduled to fight him for the Strikeforce title before a shoulder injury to Melendez.  Healy just beat Jim Miller and Gilbert went to a controversial decision with the champion.  Let the winner of Maynard/Grant get the title shot, but in the meantime Healy and Melendez should be the main event of a Fuel TV card.  5 rounds for the chance to fight for the title.  5 rounds that should have happened in 2012. As for Benson, you all know how I feel about that guy.  The sooner you lose the belt the better.

On a side note, I tried fantasy MMA for the first time ever with this card.  I had Chad Mendes, Joe Benavidez, TJ Dillashaw, Josh Thompson, and Yoel Romero.  Thompson and Romero receive KO of the Night honors while Mendavideshaw went 3-0 also.  These fighters all finished their fights with knockouts within 2 rounds.  Needless to say I finished first place in a game of 50 people!  Thanks to my buddy's blog for having this fantasy MMA contest for the free T-shirt that I will soon be rocking!  Check his page out here if you like MMA and want more opinions than just mine.

I went 2-2 on the main card to go to 54/98. (55%)

Three Stars on the Main Card:

1. Josh Thompson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Matt Brown

Overall UFC on Fox 7 Three Stars (SO TOUGH TO CHOOSE!)

1. Josh Thompson
2. TJ Dillashaw
3. Chad Mendes

UFC on Fox 7 Prelims: The Mendavideshaw Show

Chad Mendes (left), Joe Benavidez (middle), and
TJ Dillashaw (right) have dubbed themselves Mendavideshaw.

When I said this card was stacked, I truly meant it.  It tied the record for most knockouts in a single event and most of these came in the prelims.  I said the prelims for this card looked more exciting than the UFC 159 main card, and I think that proved to be true.  Even the decisions on this card were exciting because all but one of them could have gone either way.  It was truly amazing what a great night April 20th ended up being for the UFC and its fans!

The night started with a pair of knockouts on Facebook.  Yoel Romero proved to be a really scary middleweight with his flying knee KO.  He is stupid talented and has a bright future with the UFC.  Roger Bowling hits hard but just did not connect enough to win the second fight on Facebook.  Anthony Njokuani stayed patient and eventually clipped Bowling to earn the KO victory.

Facebook ended and everyone who tuned in on FX was in for a three hour treat:

• The first of the self proclaimed Mendavideshaw trio stepped up to face Hugo Viana.  I did not make this name up, they did. This trio is part of Team Alpha Male along with fellow bantamweight Urijah Faber.  Duane Ludwig had just entered their camp to be their head coach as well as striking coach.  Faber had an impressive win just a week prior to this event.  The success did not stop with Faber.  Dillashaw looked incredible and won with a first round TKO.  He had a second round KO just a few weeks prior to this fight so he is on a tear with two finishes in 2013 already.  Give credit to Viana for escaping Dillashaw's back mount without being submitted, but it was not enough for him to avoid his striking.  Dillashaw is a serious contender in the bantamweight division.
• The next fight was between Jorge Masvidal of Strikeforce against Tim Means.  Masvidal won a unanimous decision 29-28 on all three judges scorecards.  However, I think Tim Means landed so many elbows and hammer fists from the ground to score points.  It is tough to win a fight laying on your back but Tim came awfully close to doing so.  Despite his active guard, Means was not the better fighter on this day so Masvidal escapes with the decision victory.
• Flyweight contenders Joe Benavidez and Darren Uyenoyama were next up to bat.  Benavidez is the second of the Alpha Male trio, so obviously he won.  His standup looked better than ever and his ground game was cautious but solid.  He ended up winning with some serious shots to the body of Darren.  Benavidez looks ready for a title shot but might have to take another fight while he awaits the winner of Moraga vs Johnson.  As for Darren, he looks like he needs to do some serious work before  he can fight top level flyweights again.
• Myles Jury took on Ramsey Nijem in the next fight.  Ramsey and Myles had a crazy grappling match in the first round that was very interesting despite nobody being submitted and very few punches being thrown.  In the second, Jury kept it standing and really capped off the fight with an insane second round KO.  On most cards this could have won Knockout of the Night, but it did not on this one despite two KO of the Night honors being given away.
• Francis Carmont entered his fight against an undefeated top middleweight from Strikeforce in Lorenz Larkin.  Carmont also had a controversial split decision win (let's be real, he lost) in his last fight.  Larkin showed amazing takedown defense in this fight but really couldn't get any offense going.  Carmont did nothing to win the fight either, but he did.  I do not know who I would have given the decision to since it was so close.  Either way, Carmont needs to do something better in his next fight if he expects to get any respect in the middleweight division.
• The final bout of the preliminary card saw Chad Mendes taking on Darren Elkins.  Needless to say, Mendes won this fight.  He is the third Mendavideshaw member and he knocked Elkins out in a minute.  It was a great day for Team Alpha Male and a bad day for fighters named Darren.  Mendes is on a tear winning his last three fights by knockout in under five minutes total time.  If someone has the guts to face him, step up.  If not, he will most likely look to fill in for a potential injury on the UFC 162 card.  If Jung or Lamas goes down, he would gladly fill in a title eliminator fight.  I am sure he is down to fight Cub, Siver, or Frankie Edgar too if he is needed to do that.

Predictions came into this event at 45/86.  I was 7/8 on the prelims (DAMN YOU AND YOUR CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS CARMONT!!) to move up to 52/94.  (55.3%)

This event was so ridiculous because I am combining 3 people into 1 person, AND doing another 3 stars for the main card too.
Three stars:

1. Mendavidashaw (Duane Ludwig)
2. Yoel Romero
3. Myles Jury

UFC 159 Quick Picks

Jon Jones on his way to tying Tito Ortiz's record.

Due to final examinations this week, I am late on a bunch of blogging.  UFC on Fox 7 recap articles are on the way.  As for this article, I have only hours to submit my picks before the fights without being a cheater.  So hear they are in writing, my UFC 159 picks.

I do not know who half of the preliminary card fighters are so hopefully they come out and impress and make names for themselves.  Here are the two fights I will weigh in on from the prelims:

• Cody McKenzie vs Leonard Garcia: Bad Boy only has his job because of his exciting brawling fight style.  McKenzie is a killer who is only employed because he had the balls to actually accept a fight with Chad Mendes, even though he was embarrassed in that fight.  Will it be another classic Leonard brawl or another guillotine victim for McKenzie? I think Garcia has been in there with good enough submission artists to survive Cody's ground game.  He has power despite a lot of his recent fights going the distance.  I say Leonard knocks out McKenzie in the first round.
• The other fight I will touch on is of course the 3rd women's fight in UFC history, Sara McMann vs Sheila Gaff.  Sheila is a finisher but McMann might be the best pure wrestler of all women in MMA.  I am taking McMann via decision.

On to the main card we go:

• Pat Healey has been on quite the winning streak since his loss to Josh Thompson but Jim Miller is an animal.  Look for Healey to be game and weather a tough storm of punches and elbows but lose a tight decision.  Miller via bloody decision.
• Phil Davis actually thinks he can submit Vinny Magalhaes.  This is laughable, but the idea of Phil winning is not.  Davis wrestles Vinny to a Jon Fitch style victory.
• Roy and Congo are two of the best sluggers in the heavyweight division.  Congo just isn't the fighter he used to be so I see Nelson winning this.  Nelson has one of the best chins in the game so he will eat a few shots and throw a knockout blow of his own.  Nelson via KO.
• Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher were both a win away from a potential title shot or top contender fight with Weidman.  They both lost.  They have trashed talked away and this fight has to be a classic. Look for Bisping to get hit almost as hard as he was by Dan Henderson.  I am a little biased here because I love Belcher, but I just don't see Bisping finishing him.  Belcher can use his sick kickboxing to put "the Count" out for the count.  Belcher via KO of the Night.
• Do not disrespect Chael Sonnen.  He is in Jon Jones' head without a doubt.  He is an Olympic caliber wrestler and one hell of a fighter.  That said, Jon is a talent that does not come around very often.  Jones should get beaten up a bit early, but as the fight rolls on he will stuff takedowns and pick Chael apart.  Jones via 4th round submission. (Standing Guillotine)

A Rant: Benson Henderson

Nate Diaz loves Benson Henderson as much as I do.

On this blog I try my best to give my most professional opinion from a fan's point of view.  Any writer from Yahoo or ESPN gives you news and their "expert" analysis.  I do not claim to be an expert on any form of sports, nor a master in journalism.  But I am a passionate fan who loves sports and has an opinion on pretty much everything.  As for day 1 of 3 on last Saturday's UFC on Fox 7 card, I am going into a personal rant on why I am sick of the current UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.  From his fighting down to his personality, he is not what we, the fans, deserve to have as our champion.

Let me first start with his fighting.  I have watched many Ben Henderson fights over the years, his last 11 fights to be exact.  These fights date back all the way to the WEC days.  Just four times in all of those fights did he seem like an invincible champion caliber fighter.  The other seven fights I have seen he barely won very controversial decisions.  I am going to break down all the fights I have seen and give my take on who won on my scorecard.  The four dominant performance for Benson I highlighted in blue while the especially sketchy wins are in red.

• WEC 43: Henderson vs Cerrone for the interim lightweight championship.  This won fight of the year and was an absolutely incredible fight.  Henderson won a 48-47 decision on all three judges scorecards but I feel that Cerrone did enough damage from the bottom with submissions and upkicks to warrant a win.  Henderson showed crazy good submission defense and won the interim belt.
• WEC 46: Henderson vs Varner to unify the interim champ with the actual champ.  I had Varner up two rounds entering the third where  Henderson looked impressive and caught Varner in a standing guillotine choke.
• WEC 48: Henderson vs Cerrone 2 for the belt.  Henderson caught Cerrone in a first round guillotine choke to retain his belt.  This was the most recent fight Henderson finished his opponent. (4-24-10)
• WEC 53: Anthony Pettis defeats Benson Henderson in the last fight in WEC history with the "Showtime Kick" that sealed the 5th round and unanimous decision victory for Pettis.
• UFC 129: Henderson vs Bocek in his UFC debut.  Outwrestled a mediocre fighter for 3 rounds.
• UFC Live: Henderson won a decision over Jim Miller in which he was rocked and in submission danger.  I did score that fight 29-28 Henderson though.
• UFC on Fox 1: Henderson and Guida put on a show in a #1 contender fight that was insane.  Definitely could have gone either way but Henderson won a decision.
• UFC 144: Henderson vs Edgar for the belt in Japan resulted in an upkick stealing the fight.  Henderson won a decision because he took less damage.  Fight statistics showed Edgar landed significantly more strikes and Edgar caught all of Ben's kicks, but Ben did more damage and got a decision.
• UFC 150: Henderson vs Edgar 2 was more controversial than the first.  Henderson won a split decision although after now having seen the fight three times I still score it 48-47 Edgar.
• UFC on Fox 5: Henderson vs Diaz was the first dominant performance Henderson has put on in the UFC but come on, we all know the Diaz brothers can't beat dominant wrestlers.
• UFC on Fox 7: Henderson won a controversial split decision over Gilbert Melendez.  Gil clearly won rounds 1 and 5, plus I gave him round 2.  Apparently two judges thought Henderson won 2, 3 and 4 though.

Now many of you have seen these fights, but if you haven't then take my word for it, they were close and VERY controversial.  Other champions such as Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and even GSP leave no doubt in who the champ is after a fight.  Silva and Jones are finishers, but GSP wins decisions so decisive that there is no question he is still the champion when the fifth round ends.  Aldo and Barao are others that leave no question at the end of their fights.  So why is it that at the end of every Henderson fight a debate immediately begins?  Because Ben Henderson is not the absolute best at 155, just one of the best.  I am not saying Ben is a bad fighter or he does not deserve title fights.  I am just simply saying he is not dominant and really needs to finish guys before he loses a controversial decision in similar manner to his opponents.  I have even moved Benson up to 7 in my pound for pound rankings last month.  Like I did with DJ after his title defense against Dodson, I am moving Ben down a few ranks after his subpar performance against Melendez.  Gilbert won in my opinion, so Benson is about to slide down a notch because the truly elite pound for pound fighters on the planet finish fights, or are named Georges St. Pierre.

A quick remark on the state of the 155 pound division:

This has widely been considered one of the UFC's deepest division and that is not debated.  With Henderson, Maynard, Melendez, Grant, Pettis, Diaz, Thompson, Miller, Cerrone, Varner, Guillard, Healy, Barboza, Chiesa, Jury, Lauzon, Nurmagomedov, and Trujillo to name a few, this division is stacked with top level talent.  However, most divisions in the UFC have that elite guy that reigns over the division for a number of years.  Silva, Jones, Ortiz, GSP, Hughes, Aldo, and Cruz are examples of this over the years.  The lightweight division has had Pulver, Sherk, Penn, Edgar, and now Henderson as champions.  None of these guys are on the same level as a Jones or even a Tito Ortiz in his day.  Three is the maximum number of title defenses these guys have made.  Henderson is due to lose his next fight if the trend continues and I have a sneaky feeling Gray Maynard will beat Grant and follow it up by winning the belt.  This division is deep but I feel the truly dominant champ has yet to come.  Maybe it will be Aldo when he can no longer make featherweight, stay tuned.

Back to Benson Henderson we go.  I have talked about his past fights and how I do not think he has shown champion caliber dominance.  Let me talk about what I think of him as a person.  He is more of a "Jesus freak" than Tim Tebow when it comes to media time.  He quotes Philippians after each fight, except his last one where he felt it was necessary to propose to his girlfriend on national TV.  His walkout song is "Our God is an Awesome God."  He is so smug when it comes to religion he actually has a tattoo of angel's wings on his back.  I am sorry Ben, but just like Tim Tebow, I am not buying the act.  Nobody that makes a living off fighting is that big of a Jesus lover.  Forget about the religious views of Ben for a second.  He started the controversy of having a toothpick in his mouth last fight against Nate Diaz.  Who do you think you are to put a toothpick in your mouth during a title fight?  You arrogant dummy.  By the way, get a freaking hair cut.  What is going on with your weird hair that is constantly in your eyes?  It looks awful.  This guy just finds a way to get under my skin every time I see his face and someone just NEEDS to put him in his place.  A decision win is not enough, he needs to be knocked out cold.  Maybe a KO will give him some real perspective on life instead of the fantasy world, nobody can touch me because I am the champ attitude he has now.

All of this being said, I have one last thing to say about you.  Ben Henderson, figures like you are needed in sports.  Fans need a guy to love, they need a guy to hate.  For me it is the latter and I love hating on you, but I do not want you to be the UFC champion any longer.  You are a somewhat exciting fighter historically so I do not want you to leave the UFC altogether.  Just please try finishing a fight and go 10 minutes without being a tool and maybe, just maybe, I will root for you once more.

UFC on Fox 7: Strikeforce VS UFC

Even though it is not official, Strikeforce vs
the UFC is the main theme of UFC on Fox 7.

On Saturday, April 20, the UFC will do its 7th broadcast on national television and they are going to put on a show.  The UFC is putting on a Fox card that is arguably better than any Pay Per View card so far this year.  The theme of Strikeforce vs UFC on all four of the main card fights and the majority of preliminary fights adds an extra element of excitement to a card that guarantees fireworks.  The night starts on Facebook, moves to FX, and finishes on Fox.  Strikeforce has had so many of its events from San Jose so it is only fitting that HP Pavilion be the site for this event.

Facebook:

• The night starts on Facebook with what else but a Strikeforce vs UFC middleweight bout.  Clifford Starks came in to his UFC 143 bout with Ed Herman with an undefeated record before being submitted.  His opponent Yoel Romero is in the same situation.  He was undefeated before his first and only Stikeforce fight which saw Feijao knock him out in the second round.  He held his own in that fight before a crazy spinning back fist caught him.  Romero will be fighting for the first time since September of 2011, and will be doing so in a lower weight class.  I see him being bigger at middleweight and knocking Clifford Starks out despite the ring rust.  Romero via KO.
• Following this match, Anthony Njokuani and Roger Bowling will go at it.  The UFC veteran Njokuani will have his hands full representing the UFC against yet another Strikeforce guy in Bowling.  And when I say he will have his hands full, I mean he has an easy opponent.  The only thing guaranteed with this fight is that the loser will be unemployed.  Bowling has recently dropped a fight to Tarec Saffiedine and his last 2 fights in the Bobby Voelker trilogy.  Njokuani has an unimpressive 15-7 record with a no contest heading into this fight, but won many WEC knockout of the night bonuses in wins.  Despite only having 3 losses, I do not like Bowling in this fight.  He has beaten nobody worth noting and although he has a bunch of losses, Njokuani has some decent names on his hit list.  Anthony has been in there with some veterans, including the current lightweight champion, and I see Njokuani winning this with a decision.

FX:

I must say I was disappointed Jon Tuck was injured and his fight with Norman Parke was scrapped.  This could have been a great fight between two of the more promising prospects in the UFC.  It must have been a serious injury because Tuck had no problem fighting with a broken toe before.

• The FX portion of the night is one of just a few fights without a Strikeforce guy fighting a UFC guy.  T.J. Dillashaw is the first of 3 fighters on this card coming into this fight fresh off a win in Canada at UFC 158.  His opponent, Hugo Viana, is coming into his fight with a perfect record yet only 1 finish.  He knocked out Ruben Duran in his last fight but is stepping up in talent to take on the talented Dillashaw.  Last time I picked Dillashaw to win with a submission and he surprised us all with a knockout victory. His game is ever expanding and has looked like a totally different fighter since his first and only loss to John Dodson in the TUF 14 Finale.  I see him sinking in a choke on Saturday night.  Dillashaw via submission (RNC).
• Back to UFC vs Strikeforce we go, Tim Means (UFC) will be taking on Jorge Masvidal (Strikeforce).  Means is on quite the unbeaten streak since his last loss in March of 2010.  Masvidal has won 3 of his last 4 with his only loss being to Gilbert Melendez, the man challenging Henderson for the belt in Saturday's main event.  Means is a scary guy with plenty of TKO finishes, but Masvidal is the more experienced fighter who is going to try his best to keep the Strikeforce train rolling.  I think Masvidal can use his boxing to beat up on Means and take home a victory.  Masvidal via decision.
• Joe Benavidez has had an extremely interesting career so far.  He has only lost to the bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz twice and the flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.  Two of those 3 losses were via split decision.  He has gone from being scheduled as the headliner of UFC 152 (before the Jon Jones fiasco made that the co-main event) to being in the middle of a preliminary card.  Despite this, he is still one of the best fighters on the UFC roster today.  His opponent Darren Uyenoyama is no slouch either.  He has a solid 8-3 record and won his flyweight debut with an impressive submission.  It is worth noting that even though he has been with the UFC for a while, he does have some Strikeforce bouts under his belt.  Despite his talents, Joe Benavidez should outclass him and take home a decision victory.  Benavidez wants that rematch with DJ for the title and will keep beating up on a bunch of flyweights until he gets it.
• In the next fight, Ramsey Nijem will be looking to take out another TUF Live guy in Myles Jury.  Jury is undefeated in his professional career but lost to TUF Live finalist Al Iaquinta on the show via split decision.  He entered his UFC 155 bout with all first round finishes, but won that fight with a decision.  He has well rounded his game and could look to make a statement on Saturday.  As for Nijem, I was more unimpressed with Proctor than I was impressed with him in his last win.  I know MMA math is not an exact science but Nijem lost the Ultimate Fighter 13 to Tony Ferguson.  Tony Ferguson lost to Michael Johnson.  Michael Johnson lost to Myles Jury.  Therefore, I am taking Jury to win this fight via TKO.
• Middleweight Francis Carmont is looking to keep his controversial winning streak alive against Lorenz Larkin of Strikeforce.  Larkin has one career loss, which became a no contest after King Mo tested positive for steroids.  You cannot really take that fight into consideration because he was fighting a fighter on steroids at a weight class he did not belong at.  Since then he has dropped to middleweight he won his only fight against Robbie Lawler (who now fights at welterweight).  Speaking of Lawler, a man with a very similar name of Tom Lawlor was the victim of a controversial split decision in Carmont's last win.  The Canadian judges robbed Lawlor when the hometown boy Carmont received a split decision nod.  Carmont is a giant middleweight who has serious potential, but Larkin has just as much potential.  He was schedule to fight Luke Rockhold at Strikeforce's last event to challenge him for the title but Rockhold had to pull out due to an injury.  Larkin has been off for a while, but he is motivated and talented.  Strikeforce should win another fight as I see Larkin winning via KO.
• Last but not least, Chad Mendes looks to keep his winning ways alive with a win over Darren Elkins in a UFC vs UFC battle..  Elkins boasts a 16-2 record and is on a 5 fight winning streak but this is a huge step up in talent.   He also had a win early in his career against Bellator champ Pat Curran who is tearing it up at 145 in his organization.  Elkins is the 2nd guy from UFC 158 taking a fight on short notice.  This is a situation where Elkins can move from nowhere all the way up to the top 5 in the featherweight division with a win.  Mendes just wants a fight because everyone keeps pulling out of fights with him due to mysterious injuries.  If Elkins actually shows up and does not magically get injured this week, I see Mendes winning a decision.

Fox:

• Jordan Mein is the 3rd man from UFC 158 that has saved this card by fighting on short notice.  He filled in for Dan Hardy who has a rare heart condition that could end his career.  Matt Brown is probably wishing that Hardy was still 100% healthy because Mein is a very promising prospect.  This youngster has the ability to end the fight wherever it takes place.  At age 23, Mein is already a veteran of the game with a solid 27-8 record in his professional career.  Mein won his last fight being the first man to finish Dan Miller.  He has won 9 of his last 10 with the only loss being a split decision loss to top welterweight Tyron Woodley.  Matt Brown is on a 4 fight winning streak and has had ups and downs throughout his career.  He thinks he finally has put it all together entering his fight with Mein.  I picked both of these guys to lose their last fights, but now I realize just how good they are.  Mein should be able to pick Brown apart with his reach advantage so I am taking the youngster in a huge fight for the future of the welterweight division.  Mein impresses again with a KO of the Night bonus.
• Strikeforce has done nothing but impress entering the Fox 7 event and there seems to be no reason why this trend should stop on this huge stage.  I find it incredibly interesting that Josh Thomson lost to Gilbert Melendez in his last fight and Nate Diaz lost to Benson Henderson in his last fight.  Had those 2 fights been different, this would be the main event fight for the title.  Obviously that is not the case so instead these two guys are trying to prove they still belong in the top 10 of the division.  Diaz used boxing and submissions to get his title shot, but did nothing to threaten Henderson at all in that fight.  He needs to utilize his boxing like he did in the Cerrone fight if he wants to get back on the winning track.  Thomson is only 3-3 in his last 6, but two of those were to Melendez.  He has had a trilogy with Gilbert, winning the first, dropping the second, and barely losing a split decision in the rubber match.  I look for him to use that wrestling to give Diaz fits.  The Diaz brothers have struggled as of late, and this might continue if Thomson can execute his gameplan.  Keep in mind that Diaz and Melendez are training partners, so Melendez has likely given Diaz plenty of advise on what to expect on Saturday night.  All of this being said, I am taking another Strikeforce guy, Thomson via decision.
• I have to say at this point I am already second guessing every single pick I have made, and I am unsure about the co-main and main event as well.  Frank Mir will be taking on undefeated Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier.  DC is an unreal Olympic caliber wrestler who has taking the MMA world by storm with incredible athleticism.  Like Brock Lesnar, he is making his debut against Frank Mir with high expectations.  The difference is, he has experience and he has striking.  Brock came into the UFC with almost no MMA experience.  DC has been fighting for a while and proved himself with wins over Barnett, Bigfoot, and Palelei.  Bigfoot is currently set to fight DC's training partner Cain Velasquez for the title, so that shows just how good Daniel is.  Daniel dominated Bigfoot with strikes despite a huge reach disadvantage.  Frank Mir will have a 79 inch reach to Cormier's 71 inch reach.  Frank Mir is a guy that has done it all.  He rose to the top to win the title, then saw a knee injury shatter his career.  He came back from the injury and worked his way back to becoming the interim champ.  He lost his last fight to, at the time champion, Junior Dos Santos despite his best efforts.  He has never lost two fights in a row his entire career.  He is the best submission artist in the division and has used this to defeat wrestlers before.  All of this being known, I still have no idea who could possibly win.  I guess that means it is coin flip time.  Heads for DC, tails for Mir.  Tails never fails, I am picking Frank Mir to pull of the upset and submit Daniel Cormier (armbar).
• Now on to the main event:  San Jose has been the backyard to Strikeforce and is home to nobody more than Gilbert Melendez.  Many consider this top lightweight to be in the top 10 pound for pound best fighters on the planet today.  He has devastated his opponents with striking, grappling, and wrestling.  Back in 2006 he won the lightweight championship in an exciting fight with Clay Guida.  As I mentioned earlier, Thomson is the only guy who was able to take that strap away from him, and only for a moment as he avenged that loss.  Gil will be put to his toughest test yet when he faces off with former WEC and current UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.  Neither of these guys are proven finishers, so expect a decision.  Not finishing fights does not mean these guys aren't the two best lightweights on the planet today.  Henderson has won all 6 of his UFC fights via decision and is favorite to do just that again on Saturday.  I honestly think Henderson has the ability to wrestle Melendez to a decision win.  BUT, Henderson is an arrogant man and is trying to pick a fight with Aldo, Pettis, and GSP.  He is overlooking Melendez without a doubt and Melendez could pull of the upset.  Again I am torn as I think Henderson will win but I really hate that guy, and love Gilbert.  I guess it is coin flipping time again but Henderson is tails and Melendez is heads.  Tails never fails.  Henderson takes home a decision and keeps that belt.  Nonetheless your favorite "unbiased" blogger will be rooting for Melendez to knock this guy unconscious on Saturday.  Sharks fan vs Ben Henderson, come on of course I want Gilbert to win!

I might have all 4 of these fights wrong, but I do see the main card being a 2-2 split between the UFC and Strikeforce.  I also have the preliminary fights scored a 3-1 record in favor of Strikeforce.  (3-1.5 if you count Uyenoyama as 1/2 Strikeforce since he has 3 fights with both organizations)  The thing is that when I say I very well could be wrong on every single pick I have made, all that means is the fights are incredible.  Every single fight on this card could go either way and outside of Joe Benavidez and Chad Mendes, I have little confidence in any of my picks.  Tune in on Saturday and see how it all goes down.

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TUF 17 Finale Recap

Travis Browne finishes Gonzaga with elbows.

For those of you who missed Saturday night's fights, you missed out.  The TUF house had some serious talent this season and it showed in pretty much every fight.  The non-TUF fighters put on an equally entertaining show and this is how it went down:

Main card quick results:

• Bubba McDaniel edged out Gilbert Smith with a 3rd round triangle choke/armbar combination.  The decision was not clear and could have gone either way so good for him for securing the late finish.
• Gabriel Gonzaga was knocked out by some controversial elbows from Travis Browne.  Travis was against the cage defending the takedown when he dropped some serious elbows that knocked out the resurgent Gonzaga.  He took home a $50,000 KO of the Night bonus for his handiwork.
• Cat Zingano pulled off the huge upset by securing a TKO victory over Miesha Tate.  More about this fight later.
• Uriah Hall was edged out by Kelvin Gastelum via split decision.  I did not think it was close enough to warrant a split decision but this was an entertaining fight.  The last pick of Chael Sonnen on the show is now the season 17 winner of TUF.
• Despite dominating the first 3 rounds and likely being ahead on all three judges scorecards, Urijah Faber did not rest on that in the championship rounds.  Faber sunk in a 4th round rear-naked choke victory over his good buddy Scott Jorgensen.

Now it is time to go into more depth on the card:

I will start with the main event fighters, Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen.  As for Scott, he took a chance by taking a fight against the #3 guy in the bantamweight division.  If he won it would have possibly secured him a title shot, and a loss does not really affect his standing in the division.  He is widely considered to be near the bottom of the top 10 but he definitely has a bright future despite the loss.  As for Faber, he has still only lost title fights his entire career and he continues to boast spectacular submissions.  He has lost recently to the champion and interim champion.  What's next for him could depend on what happens in Winnipeg on June 15th.  If Barao keeps the win streak alive, Faber could have to win another fight to get that title shot.  Should Wineland pull off the upset, Faber could be getting that interim title shot.  He has a win over Wineland so the rematch would be a grudge match where the champion is the one seeking revenge which has a cool feel to it.  However, Urijah has never been one to take a lot of time off in between fights, having already fought twice in 2013.  He will likely take on a top 5 guy in Pickett, McDonald, or even Assuncao.  Should he win that, it is impossible to deny him a title shot whether Wineland, Cruz, or Barao is champion at that time.

As for the co-main event, this is the best thing that could have happened for the UFC.  Kelvin Gastelum is now a star, yet Uriah Hall losses no fame.  Hall is going to get a contract to fight top competition despite losing the fight in the finale.  He is too talented and is a fan favorite due to his devastating striking abilities.  Kelvin came out of nowhere to win the show.  Kelvin is now respected as a great fighter, and is only the young age of 21.  He is a potential star in the game and him winning is a great thing for the UFC.

Last but not least, it is time to talk women.  Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano not only fought for a title shot against Ronda Rousey, but also a coaching spot on the next season of TUF.  That is about as high as stakes are going to get.  Throw in the pressure of being just the second women's fight in UFC history and you can imagine that both of these ladies had tremendous pressure on them heading into fight night.  Miesha Tate came in as the heavy favorite, but why?  She was the former Strikeforce Bamtamweight Champion and has significantly more name recognition that Zingano, but is far from the more superior fighter.  Zingano is a proven finisher with both submissions and knockouts.  Cat is also undefeated in her mixed martial arts career.  It was even apparent on TV that the UFC was trying to sell Miesha Tate to the fans by only showing her walk in, while Cat made her entrance during a commercial break.  Despite all the hype being behind Tate, Zingano is the girl who stole the show.  During the first round there were a few exchanges in which both girls landed before Tate eventually took the fight to the ground and beat up on Zingano for a bit.  The second was all Tate early, but Zingano eventually reversed it and beat up Tate from a top position to finish the round.  Two of the judges had it 20-18 Tate, while the 3rd had it at 19-19.  Keep in mind the fighters do not know this heading into the 3rd round, this is all revealed much later following the fight.  Zingano needed to finish Tate in the 3rd and final round, and she did so in spectacular fashion.  She beat up Tate on the ground for a while after securing an early takedown.  When Tate tried to get up, Zingano threw some powerful knees over and over again and finished it off with an elbow that dropped Tate to the ground.  Kim Winslow stopped the fight securing a TKO victory for Zingano.

In addition to this recap of the women's fight, I have a few more things to say.  Kim Winslow is probably the worst ref in the game right now.  Dana White always talks about Steve Mazzagatti being the worst ref, but Mazzagatti did an excellent job from what I saw on Saturday.  Winslow the entire Tate vs Zingano fight was barking out orders.  She gave them more instructions than the corners of the fighters gave.  The whole time it was on the ground she was saying "watch the eyes" or "watch the back of the head" to make sure the girls were fighting clean.  Earlier that night she warned Blanco to stop holding the fence at least 10 times and never stopped the fight to take a point away from him.  She also told the girls to "work" a couple times when clearly there was active ground and pound and there was hardly a dull moment the entire fight.  Throw in a controversial stoppage and you had a bad night Ms. Winslow.  Miesha was going for a single leg takedown when Winslow jumped in a called it a fight.  Now to say Miesha was getting her ass kicked would be an understatement, but come on Kim, let her have a chance to get out of danger and fight on.  This was not some fight on an undercard between two unheard of fighters with little to no implication.  This was a title eliminator with a TUF coaching job on the line.  Kim Winslow should not be a ref for big UFC fights anytime soon.  If Saturday night wasn't enough to get Kim Winslow fired, ask King Mo or John Albert what they think about her.

Sorry for that rant, but Kim Winslow needed to be criticized for her subpar performance.  Here are some positives to take out of the women's fight.  These two girls seriously went at it and put on a show.  Both Zingano and Tate took home Fight of the Night honors which earned them $50,000.  That means that women are now 2 for 2 on winning the FOTN honors.  To be 2 for 2 is one thing, but to do so on extremely exciting fight cards is ridiculous.  UFC 157 was one of the best cards the UFC has put on in recent memory yet Rousey/Carmouche still stole the show.  Zingano/Tate had the same back and forth aspect to it which made the fight so entertaining.  Women's MMA is here to stay and fans need to embrace it.  I have rarely seen a boring women's fight because they have so much to prove.  They keep laying it all out there and the fans are winning big.  The 3rd UFC women's fight is coming up at UFC 159 between Sheila Gaff and Sara McMann.  This is on the under card and will be shown of FX.  Tune in if you have not seen the women fight yet, you will not be disappointed.

Three Stars of the TUF 17 Finale:

1. Cat Zingano
2. Kelvin Gastelum
3. Clint Hester (he did his best Chris Weidman impression and should have won KO of the Night in my opinion with a spectacular elbow KO)

My career predictions are coming in at 45/86 after Saturday night. (52%)

TUF 17 Finale Preview

Even during the week leading up to their fight
in Vegas, Faber and Jorgensen are good friends.

On Saturday, April 13th the world will watch two best friends slug it out in a huge 135lb fight, the next TUF coach and opponent of Ronda Rousey will be decided, and the TUF 17 middleweight winner will also be determined.  Throw in a match of talented heavyweights Travis Browne and Gabriel Gonzaga and you have some must see TV.

This season of The Ultimate Fighter has been infinitely more entertaining than the last season for many reasons.  First and foremost, Jones and Sonnen are far more intriguing coaches than Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson were.  Sonnen has come on to TUF and shown his true colors.  He will still always have that arrogant yet comical persona surrounding him.  However, in this season of TUF he has shown the ability to be a sincere and pleasant guy who really knows the sport of mixed martial arts and really cares for the kids on his team.  He has given some of the most inspiring speeches I have ever heard that were never really present in previous seasons of TUF.  Like Dominick Cruz did a couple seasons ago, Chael Sonnen has gone from a guy many people hate to a guy who people admire and respect due to his abilities as a coach.  Jones has not been an awful coach, but Sonnen clearly beat him in that department.  This is also evident in the fact that the two men competing for this season's crown, Kelvin Gastelum and Uriah Hall, are both from team Sonnen.

That brings me to my next point, the talent pool.  The Carwin/Nelson season of TUF had nobody on it that I see as a legitimate title contender.  Mike Ricci and Coltin Smith were the only fighters of note in that entire season.  This season had some serious talent.  Most notable among these fighters is the man most people are expecting to win on Saturday, Uriah Hall.  Chael made it a point a couple times to ask, "where did this kid come from and how did the UFC not find him before?"  Hall has been nothing short of spectacular winning his fights with devastating knockouts.  His professional record entering the show was 7-2, with the two losses being to guys rated in the top 5 of the middleweight division right now, Costa Philippou and Chris Weidman.  Many people have criticized Chris Weidman saying he does not deserve a title shot against Anderson Silva due to lack of competition.  Uriah Hall's success on this show is helping Weidman claim he has fought top talent and won.  Costa is in the mix for a title shot in the future too, so Hall's success could help him as well.

So that brings me to the fun portion of writing, the predictions.  As with most non PPV or Fox cards, I will only be doing predictions for the main card:

• Bubba McDaniel and Gilbert Smith went a combined 1-3 in the house since Bubba received the wildcard bid from his coach and friend Jon Jones.  Despite him losing two fights, I am taking Bubba to win this fight.  He unimpressively defeated Kevin Casey and lost to the two guys in the Finale, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and pick him to win against an unimpressive Smith.  To be honest, this does not deserve to be on the main card of any event, even one on FX.  Bubba via boring decision.
• Following the outspoken Bubba's fight will be a huge heavyweight fight.  Travis Browne was unbeaten in his career headed into his last fight.  He injured his leg in a fluke accident during that fight before eventually being finished off by the current heavyweight top contender Bigfoot Silva.  I see him getting back to his winning ways by defeating a resurgent Gabriel Gonzaga.  Although he is coming off of three straight submission victories and is on the rise, I do not see Gonzaga having the chin to handle Browne's shots.  I see the giant wrestler taking Gonzaga to the ground and finishing him in the 1st.  Browne via TKO.
• A huge matchup of women's bantamweights will follow the massive heavyweight fight and the stakes are large.  Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano are not just fighting for a title shot, but also the chance to be coaches of men and women on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter.  Many people are hoping Miesha wins just so the Tate vs Rousey rivalry continues to grow into a very anticipated rematch.  Cat is looking to ruin those plans and make a name for herself.  Tate is a dominant wrestler who is tough as nails.  Cat is undefeated and has finished 6 of her 7 opponents with both submissions and KOs.  The only reason I am taking Tate over Zingano is because of her size and experience advantage.  Tate is the former Strikeforce Champion and Zingano is a fighter used to fighting at 125, not 135.  Unfortunately for her, the UFC only has one division so she will be slightly undersized and the powerful wrestler Miesha Tate should come out on top.  Tate via unanimous decision.
• The co-main event of the night features the finalists of season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter.  Kelvin Gastelum was the last pick on Sonnen's team and an underdog in every fight so far.  He is undefeated and turning heads as he continues to surprise people.  Barring a miracle, he will not surprise again.  Uriah Hall has been a killer in the house and is looking to be an immediate factor in the middleweight division following his final TUF fight.  I expect another beautiful Uriah Hall win via KO.  After this win he should jump right in the thick of things.  He should look to make his next fight against a top 10 middleweight or somebody with name recognition, like Nick Ring or Brian Stann.  Uriah Hall could be the next big thing in the UFC.
• Finally comes the main event, a bantamweight fight scheduled for five rounds with big implications.  Urijah Faber has always been at the top of the heap his entire career.  He is going to be up against a top 10 bantamweight and a good friend of his on Saturday night.  After a title fight between Johnson and Moraga fell through, Faber and Jorgensen stepped up to be the main attraction of the night.  Scott Jorgensen has said many times before that Urijah Faber is the one who got him in the fight business, and Scott has never looked back.  It was only a matter of time before these two had to face one another and the time will come on Saturday.  Since 2009, Jorgensen has compiled an 8-3 record but his losses have come to the best of the division.  The current champ Dominick Cruz, the interim champ Renan Barao, and the current top contended Eddie Wineland are the three who defeated Jorgensen.  Cruz and Barao have also both bested Urijah Faber, so they share common enemies.  The pupil eventually surpasses the master in most things, but I do not think Jorgensen is about to dethrone Faber just yet.  The big kicker in my decision making process with this fight is very simple, Faber does not lose non-title fights.  His 6 career losses have been for the UFC, WEC, or Gladiator Challenge (way back in 2005) titles.  It is also worth noting that Faber did defeat Eddie Wineland back in his 2011 UFC debut.  As much as I admire Scott and think he is an excellent fighter, Urijah Faber should win this fight.  Faber via submission of the night! (guillotine choke)

Side notes:

3 stars from the Fuel TV card last Saturday:

1. Conor McGregor
2. Brad Pickett
3. Reza Madadi

My career predictions entering Saturday night: 42/81 (52%)

NHL Power Rankings (3 of 4)

Most teams have completed around 36-38 games of the 48 game season and they playoff races are beginning to heat up.  There were some buyers, sellers, sitters, and traders at the trade deadline and now teams are finalized heading into the final stretch of the NHL season.  This is the 3rd of 4 power rankings:

Pavelski and Galiardi celebrate a 7 game win
streak that has the Sharks right back in contention.

1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Boston Bruins
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. San Jose Sharks
8. Minnesota Wild
9. Los Angeles Kings
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
11. Ottawa Senators
12. St. Louis Blues
13. Detroit Red Wings
14. New York Rangers
15. Washington Capitals
16. New Jersey Devils
17. New York Islanders
18. Edmonton Oilers
19. Winnipeg Jets
20. Phoenix Coyotes
21. Columbus Blue Jackets
22. Nashville Predators
23. Philadelphia Flyers
24. Dallas Stars
25. Carolina Hurricanes
26. Tampa Bay Lightning
27. Buffalo Sabres
28. Calgary Flames
29. Florida Panthers
30. Colorado Avalanche

This is how I see all the divisions as of now:

Atlantic:

Obviously Pittsburgh is on top after that incredible 15 game win streak they put together.  They made some huge trade deadline acquisitions but lost Crosby, Letang, and Martin to injuries.  If they can get healthy in the final month of the season they will be the front runner to win it all come playoff time.  The Rangers and Columbus made their second blockbuster trade of the season in an exchange that sent Gaborik out of New York.  The depth they added with Brassard, Clowe, and Moore should put this team in a good spot heading into playoffs.  Do not forget the Rangers also have one of the very best goalies in the league in their net.  The Islanders are still hanging around and could be a late season hot streak away from a playoff spot.  New Jersey got off to a quick start but have only won 2 of their last 10 and dropped 5 straight.  They need to get it together if they want this shortened season to be a little bit longer.  Philly is on bottom of the division despite playing some of their best hockey the past week or so.  They have an outside shot at sneaking in the playoffs but chances are this year is done for them.

Northeast:

Montreal and Boston are still battling it out for 2nd place and the loser of that battle will most likely finish 4th.  They both have 24 wins and 8 regulation losses and they meet each other tonight.  These teams have been consistent and are looking like true contenders in the east.  Toronto and Ottawa are still in the mix as well.  Surprisingly, this may have beaten the Atlantic division as the strongest in the east.  Buffalo was a major disappointment this year but they made some moves thinking about the future and could be back in the mix next year.

Southeast:

This division makes me laugh.  Washington jumped from 11th to 3rd in the east with a win the other night.  They have less points than New Jersey who is currently outside of the playoffs.  Winnipeg is on a 5 game skid that cost them the division lead.  No matter what happens in the regular season, nobody in the Southeast should be expecting a Stanley Cup this year.

Central:
Chicago is still sitting pretty on top of the Western Conference as they keep winning games.  Detroit and St. Luis are still hanging on to the last two playoff spots while Nashville and Columbus look to stay in the hunt.  Columbus sent 4 guys out to New York for Marian Gaborik in a surprise move.  Meanwhile Nashville is getting desperate in their own way by playing Pekka Rinne every night for the rest of the year.  This is a deep division with great playoff aspirations, and it is still wide open going down the stretch.

Northwest:
Vancouver was expected to be on top of this division and most people expected Minnesota to be in the mix too.  This is exactly the case.  This division is very predictable due to the huge range of talent on the respective clubs.  Calgary is doomed for this season and years to come.  Although Vancouver has not been as dominant as many people expected, they have a good shot at having a deep playoff run if they can get their goalie situation ironed out.  It is worth noting the young Oilers are very much alive in the playoff race, but again they are a long way from Cup contention.

Pacific:
Anaheim has dropped off a little bit but they still look like a lock for the 2 seed in the West.  Perry and Getzlaf have received their massive contracts so they have sit back a little bit and slowed down their scoring. The Sharks are in their 2nd 7 game winning streak of the year.  They won their first 7 on the year before appearing to be a bad team.  They moved a couple of players out and brought a few into town and now look poised to have a deep playoff run that Sharks' fans have wanted for years.  Los Angeles is quietly hanging around the middle of the West while Dallas and Phoenix have dropped out of the playoff mix.  Dallas traded away Morrow, Ryder, Roy, and Jagr despite still being in the mix for most the season.  It seems they need to really reevaluate where there are as a team and decide whether or not next year is the year they are buyers or sellers.

Worst GM of All Time: Jay Feaster or Mike Milbury?

Mike Milbury looking clueless as ever as the Islanders' GM.

Lately I have been giving Jay Feaster a hard time, and deservingly so.  I have already emphatically mentioned not once, but twice that he needs to be fired.  The first time I said "Jay Feaster will always be in the shadows of Mike Milbury when the list of the worst GMs in NHL history is brought up."  Well since trading Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester away in the past week and getting pretty much nothing in return it is time to look things over and see if he possibly could be worse than Milbury. We will take a look at some of the NHL's worst transactions and make a determination.

Before we jump in let me explain the Jay Bouwmeester trade.  I already discussed the Iginla trade and how little return they received for him, but last night Feaster sent Bouwmeester to St. Louis for almost nothing.  The Blues gave up a conditional 1st round pick and 2 nearly unheard of prospects for the veteran defenseman.  Mark Cundari and Reto Berra are their names if you feel like looking up their subpar statistics. I was all for a Calgary fire sale and I thought Iginla and Bouwmeester needed to be part of it.  But come on Feaster bargain at least a little to get someone who can turn your team around.  Vladimir Sobotka, the Blues 4th line center is better than every single center the Flames are sending out each night, go after him or a prospect who has at least a little bit of hype behind him.

Now for the Milbury portion of the night.  I am going to borrow a lot from an article I previously read and comparing it to what I researched on Jay Feaster.  I read this article a while ago and it made me laugh, made me cry, and made me realize just how awful of a GM and all around human being Mike Milbury is.  The intro paragraph says it all, "Many might remember Mike Milbury as the hockey player who jumped into the MSG stands and beat a fan with his own shoe. Others might remember Milbury for his many controversies on and off the ice, but New York Islanders fans are imprinted with other not-so-fond memories of their former GM and coach."

So the worst moves of all time by an NHL GM, let's do this starting with the kinda bad moves and approach the disgustingly terrible moves: (Milbury in blue) (Feaster in red)

• Islanders traded Chris Osgood and a 3rd round pick to St. Louis for a 2nd round pick and Justin Papineau.
• Feaster traded Rene Bourque and a 2nd round pick for Mike Cammalleri and Karri Ramo.
• Feaster signs Hudler for 4 years at $16 million and Wideman to 5 years at $26.25 million and expected Calgary to make playoffs in 2013.  He also resigned Cory Sarich for 2 more years for $4 million.
• Calgary traded away Iginla and Bouwmeester for 2 late first round picks and low rated prospects.
• Milbury drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000.
• Feaster signs Vincent Lecavalier to an 11 year, $85 million dollar contract to stay with Tampa.  He will be 39 when the contract expires and will still be a $7.72 million dollar cap hit.
• Feaster drafter nobody of worth in 2003, which is widely considered the most talent rich draft in NHL history.  Really in his entire tenure with both Calgary and Tampa he has yet to draft a single All Star.
• Mike Milbury traded youngsters (at the time) Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi, and a 3rd round pick (who ended up being Jarkko Ruutu) for a past his prime Trevor Linden.
• Milbury Traded Zdeno Chara and the 2nd overall pick (who ended up being Jason Spezza) for Alexei Yashin.
• Milbury promptly resigned Yashin for 10 years at $87 million dollars. To put this one in perspective, Sidney Crosby just resigned for 8 years at the same salary that Yashin received in this contract.
• The Ryan O'Reilly offer sheet: this is probably the dumbest thing a GM possibly could have done but Jay Feaster can thank the Colorado Avalanche from saving him from potentially making this #1 on my list.
• Milbury traded Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen to Florida for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish.  This deal speaks for itself, 2 of the games top players for 2 guys who barely saw the NHL ice.

It is very apparent that both these GMs have done stupid things in their careers.  While Feaster may have more mistakes as GM, the magnitude of Mike Milbury's mistakes let him retain his top spot as worst GM in NHL history.  Also, I do have to say for as much as I dislike Jay Feaster as a GM, he seems like a good guy when he is interviewed or speaking publicly.  I cringe every time I see Milbury on a CBC or NBC broadcast.  Who are you to comment on a hockey game?  Clearly Milbury is clueless when it comes to hockey, and was a dirty player when he was still skating in the NHL.  Feaster is one terrible move away from jumping over Milbury for the worst spot, however.  So Calgary, please fire him before this happens.

Celebrate away Jay Feaster, you aren't
the worst GM of all time........yet.

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Baseball Season Is Here

Justin Verlander and the Tigers have
high hopes for the 2013 season.

I apologize this article is a day late as the undefeated Astros have thwarted the Rangers in the opening game of the year.  Nevertheless, it is baseball season and I have a few things to say about it.  Like I did with the NHL at the beginning of their season, here is my take on how the 2013 MLB season will play out:

Let me start with the National League:

NL East:

1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. New York Mets
5. Miami Marlins

Yet again, the Nats look to be the best team in the NL East.  However, it will be no surprise if they are on top this year.  They have a ton of expectations and look to improve on an incredible run last season.  The difference for them this year, they have Strasburg for the entire season.  Also, do not forget that they had the 2nd round all but locked up until the Cardinals had a comeback for the ages to steal game 5.  The Braves have young talent, pitching, and the Upton brothers who look to make noise in the division.  The Phillies have an old Doc and not the same dominant Cliff, but Hamels and company are still solid enough to make this team competitive.  Howard and Utley could make or break the Phillies season.  The Mets surprised a lot of people early last year, but fizzled out as a mediocre team towards the end.  Expect more mediocrity out of them in 2013.  The Marlins have Stanton.  Outside of this they are laughable since half their team is now playing in Toronto.

NL Central:

1. Cincinnati Reds
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Milwaukee Brewers

The Reds will look to dominate under Joey Votto and the Reds offense.  The Cardinals are always dangerous and have great batting as well.  The Cubs are a wild card team that could be great or simply awful.  They are young but seem to be heading in the right direction.  The Pirates have become relevant again, but are still a few pieces away from being a playoff team.  Milwaukee has little talent outside of Ryan Braun, who could be on the downside of his career after being busted for PEDs.

NL West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

The defending World Series Champions come out of the NL West, but pitching alone does not make a great regular season team.  Despite their great pitching, I see the Giants coming in second due to lackluster offense.  The Dodgers behind Kemp and Kershaw are looking to become a powerhouse in the West.  Watch out for even a potential LA vs LA World Series.  The Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres are all laughable contenders, so do not expect any of these teams to make too much noise in the National League.

American League:

AL East:

1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Boston Red Sox
5. New York Yankees

Is that backwards?  No, the Yanks are on the bottom and the Rays are on the top.  I still think this is the most talent rich division in baseball, but it is not the way it once was.  Old age and injuries have allowed the rest of the league to catch up to New York.  Boston made some solid signings to replace the guys they traded away last year, but that organization is still in disarray.  Tampa traded away great pitchers in Wade Davis and "Big Game" James Shields but receive more than adequate compensation for this trade.  They know how to develop young talent, and they have a lot of that.  Longoria, Zobrist, Price, Hellickson, and Rodney are the heart and soul of this team.  Do not underestimate them because of their payroll, they are for real.  As for Toronto, I had mentioned before that they have plenty of talent heading into 2013.  If they can properly utilize these tools to make a great team, they could be very scary.  Baltimore was a surprise team last year that was able to beat Texas in the Wildcard game but could not handle the Yankees in the ALDS.  They are a young team with promising pitching.  They could be at the top or the bottom when this year is over, so I took the easy road and put them in 3rd.

AL Central:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins

The AL Central is one of the more polarized divisions.  The Tigers have plenty of expectations heading into this season and should live up to it.  There is no real competition they face and the addition of Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez returning should lift up this offense to new heights.  The Royals added some pitching to go along with their young bats.  Cleveland added Swisher and veteran coach Terry Francona to make them a solid team in 2013.  Chicago was a surprise team last year and could be good again this year.  Their young pitching could struggle with the departure of AJ Pierzynski behind the plate.  The Twins have lost most of their talent and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are not the players they once were.  It is about time to rebuild in the twin city.

AL West:

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers
5. Houston Astos

The Angels added Josh Hamilton to a team that already had MVP candidates Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.  Throw in Trumbo and other great batters and the Angels have an offense few pitchers can stop.  Oakland was a fluke team last year when they won the division, but they have made movements towards being a contender again in 2013.  They could surprise again and be a top team in the West.  Seattle added Kendry Morales and Jesus Montero to strengthen their team.  They have solid pitching and could be a force in the AL West for the first time in a while.  The Rangers obviously lost Josh Hamilton, but also Michael Young and Mike Napoli.  There is also a slim chance that Beltre produces like he did last year.  Throw in the fact that Nelson Cruz is injured every year and the Rangers do not look as scary as they once did.  I see them struggling mightily and finishing the year below the .500 mark.  Houston is undefeated after a big opening day win.  However, this will be just one of only a few wings the Astros get this year.  They struggled in the NL and will do no better in the AL.  Houston will most likely be on the bottom of the division this year.

Here is how I see the standings at the end of the year.  Note the top 3 teams are division winners, and the 4th and 5th place teams secure the Wildcard spot.

National League:

1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Atlanta Braves
6. St. Louis Cardinals
7. Philadelphia Phillies
8. Chicago Cubs
9. Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Arizona Diamondbacks
11. New York Mets
12. Colorado Rockies
13. Milwaukee Brewers
14. Miami Marlins
15. San Diego Padres

American League:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles
6. Oakland Athletics
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Kansas City Royals
9. Cleveland Indians
10. New York Yankees
11. Seattle Mariners
12. Texas Rangers
13. Chicago White Sox
14. Minnesota Twins
15. Houston Astros