MLB Power Rankings

Here are my top 15 MLB teams through June 5th.

1. Philadelphia Phillies (35-24):
Philadelphia has the best record in all of baseball. They've gotten a bunch of help from Ace Roy Halladay who has a record of 8-3 and a 2.56 ERA. With Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels as their #2 and #3 pitchers, they can get away with having off-nights at the plate. SS Jimmy Rollins is day-to-day after fouling a ball off his knee in yesterday's game.

2. St. Louis Cardinals (36-25):


The Cards get the nod at #2 spot due to the emergence of Albert Pujols. He hit walk off homers in their last two games to bring his Home run total to thirteen. He's had a little bit of a slow start, but the rest of the team has covered for him. St. Louis has the the best collective batting average in the league (.281).

Alber Pujols was on fire this week.

3. Texas Rangers (34-26):


Ron Washington's Texas Rangers are the hottest team in baseball right now. They've won five straight games and eight of their last ten. Ian Kinsler is hitting .342 and RF Mitch Moreland, a second year player out of Mississippi State, has been one of biggest surprises this year. Things are looking even better for the Rangers as Josh Hamilton gets more at bats after returning from an early season injury.

4. New York Yankees (33-24):


Despite having the 19th highest collective batting average, the Yankees have the third highest run total. The Yankees offense has been excellent as they have the highest run differential in the Major Leagues (+73). The Yankees continue to play well as they've won seven out of their last ten games. They face a tough schedule in their next two weeks as they face three of the best teams in baseball in Boston, Cleveland, and Texas.

5. Boston Red Sox (33-26):


The Red Sox have rebounded from their awful start, and as of today trail the Yankees in the standings by just one game. Both Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz are in the top five in Batting Averages for the American League, and SP Josh Beckett has the lowest ERA in the AL. Filled with confidence after sweeping the A's,  the Sox will look to move into first place in the AL East after their upcoming series with the Yankees.

Gonzalez has been one of Boston's best players.

6. Cleveland Indians (33-24):

The Tribe have been struggling as of late. In fact, they've lost four straight and seven of their last ten. Their offense has been struggling lately, as they've only been able to muster six runs in their last four games. Their overall record puts them at the #6 spot, but they are showing a downward trend.

7. Milwaukee Brewers (33-26):

The Brewers are another hot team in the NL Central. They've won seven of their last ten games, and only trail the Cardinals by two games. Ryan Braun has carried the offense, but he's day-to day now with a sore shoulder.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks (33-27)

Despite being half a game behind the Giants in the NL West, I think their the better team in the division. Eventually, the Giants' hot pitchers will cool off and the Diamondbacks will overtake them. None of the players on the team really stand out, but they've been playing well as a team and have won seven out of their last ten.

9. San Francisco Giants (33-26):


The San Francisco Giants are the best team in the NL West which is the weakest division in the Majors. There offense has struggled this season, and things look even worse now that Buster Posey is out for the year. The Giants have relied on pitching from Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong, who has gone six straight starts without giving up more than one run, to win games from the mound.

10. Seattle Mariners (31-28):


Although Ichiro is statistically having the worst year of his career, the Mariners are still a few games over   ".500". Seattle hasn't been blowing out their opponents, but they've managed to win six straight series, along with seven out of their last ten. Once Ichiro comes around, the Mariners have the potential to win the AL West.

Ichiro's been having a poor year.

11. Atlanta Braves (32-28): 
Atlanta's pitching staff has been great this year. In fact, they've given up the fewest number of runs in the entire league (202). Despite having great pitching, they are still in third place in the NL East. Their offense has let them down through out the year, but if they get their bats going they have a chance to contend for at the very least, the wildcard spot.

12. Detroit Tigers (31-27):
Once again, Jim Leyland's Tigers are playing steady baseball. Miguel Cabrera has been crushing home runs and driving his team mates home while Justin Verlander has been solid from the mound. They've been dominant at home, but they seem to struggle when they go on the road. If Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge can get healthy, they will continue to play well.


13. Florida Marlins (31-26):
The Marlins need to wake up from their recent slump soon if they want to keep their second place spot in the NL East. They've lost four consecutive games, and seven of their last ten. One of the main problems has been that starting shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been banged up and hasn't played in a week.

14. Cincinnati Reds (30-30):
The Reds and my favorite manager Dusty Baker are playing decent ball and are only five games behind the Cardinals. They've been scoring a ton of runs, but their pitching staff can't keep opposing teams off the scoreboard. Joey Votto is hitting .338 and and Jay Bruce has hit seventeen home runs and amounted forty-seven RBI's. It's too bad they have a collective ERA of 4.45 runs per game, because this is a team I'd like to see in the playoffs.

Dusty Baker is one of the best managers in the MLB.

15. Tampa Bay Rays (31-30):
You have to feel a little sympathetic for Tampa Bay. They are a small market team playing in the toughest division in the league. If you are above .500 in the AL East, you must be doing something right. They've gotten outstanding pitching from Jeremy Hellickson and the rest of their staff, but their offense has been weaker than in past years. Maybe things will change once 3B Evan Longoria is healthy again.

Tressel Resigns

 Two months ago, Ohio State's President,  E. Gordon Gee, was asked about Jim Tressel potentially losing his job. His response: "I just hope he doesn't dismiss me." Fast forward to Memorial Day, and Tressel's already been fired resigned. In one of the highest profile occurrences of NCAA violations and corruption, the sweater vest wearing and good morals preaching coach finally got what he deserved.  After being warned that several of his players were trading Ohio State memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor in return for tattoos, he failed to notify the NCAA or Ohio State administration about the violations. He found out about his players breaking the rules in April of 2010, meaning he knowingly allowed his players to play despite knowing they were violation NCAA policies. In September of last year, he signed a document saying he was unaware of any violations from his players. Even when five players were suspended five games (but not their bowl game), he kept his mouth shut. Only after the Ohio State Office of Legal Affairs found his emails with the businessman that alerted him of his players' wrongdoing did Tressel confess. Even now, former players are coming out of the woodwork and talking about the benefits they received. In December, Antonio Pittman, a former Ohio State player, tweeted:

"this osu stuff is silly, cats been getting hookups on tatts since back in '01."

From all the press about the scandal that I've read, it appears that many people around Columbus, knew what was going on. It was common knowledge that football players got special treatment. How can anyone explain how QB Terrelle Pryor has been spotted driving seven or eight different cars around school. How can a player, whose job is playing football at Ohio State for zero dollars, afford to drive so many different cars. That should probably be a red flag. Sooner or later that was going to catch up to Pryor. Maybe he's not the smartest guy in the world (Here's a link to to a paper Pryor wrote, allegedly). At the end of the day, Tressel got ousted because he lied to the NCAA and broke the rules. But at the end of the day, these types of violations will keep on happening as long as student athletes aren't compensated for their play. College football is a business. That's why Tressel had so much power. He was responsible for bringing in revenue to the university. As long as these players bring wins and money to the program, why should Tressel rat out his best players? It doesn't make sense to do so. Players should be paid for their efforts. They bring in so much revenue, and they don't see any of it. Yes, many of the players are attending school for free, but how are they supposed to live. Even college students need money. They spend so much time practicing and working out that they don't have time to get jobs. If I was in their position, it would be hard for me to not accept a discount somewhere. If the NCAA wants to get rid of these scandals involving players getting improper benefits, players need to somehow be compensated.

There's just a little bit of irony in this picture.

Burrows Bites Bergeron

You can't just go "Mike Tyson" on Patrice Bergeron on national television in the Stanley Cup Finals. I think that's against the rules.

NBA Finals Preview

Lebron wants to silence his critics.

I'm very conflicted writing this post. My heart wants the Mavs and the teamwork they embody to win the Championship, but my mind tells me that the Heat and their mercenaries are too much for the Mavericks to handle. In this series we have a match up between a team with a star surrounded by possibly the best supporting class in the league and a team with three stars who don't get much help from their bench. The Mavs have been relying on veteran role players like Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, and Jose Barea. Comparatively, the Heat really only get points off the bench from Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers. The

Dirk has most of America's support.

Heat need their three stars to play well every game if they want to win. I also don't think Dwayne Wade is going to have another bad series like he did against Chicago. Both teams can score, so ultimately, I think this game's going to come down to two things: defense and Lebron. While Lebron took over games on the offensive end against the Bulls, we expect that from him. What was surprising was to see him shut down Derrick Rose the entire series. Obviously Derrick Rose and Dirk Nowitzki are polar opposites of each other, but I still think Lebron will have a huge impact on the defensive end. If the Heat's defense can keep the games within reach until the fourth quarter, look for Lebron to close out games. The games that the Mavericks win in this series will be blowouts. Unfortunately for the Mavericks and most of America, I don't see the Mavericks blowing out the Heat  too many times in this series. Even though the Mavs have had the Heat's number in the regular season, I predict that the Heat will beat the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

2011 Milton Academy Tennis Recap

            The Boys Varsity Tennis team entered the 2011 season hoping to build on a 14-1 record and second place finish in the I.S.L standings. Once again, we came up a little bit short.  Unfortunately, to win the I.S.L. crown we needed to go undefeated, and we narrowly missed doing so, finishing with a final record of 14-1. Milton tennis had another great year, and finishing second in the league is still a big accomplishment. This year, the team was comprised of five returners: three seniors (Noah Bragg, Andrew Strang, and Tyler Edwards), one Junior (captain Matthew Lebovitz), and one Sophomore (Alex Lauretti). The team added two freshmen (Bart Panarese and Chris McDonough) and a Junior, Henry Arndt, to round out the eight-man roster.  

The team returned to campus after March break ready for the season to begin. After a strong performance in a scrimmage against Dexter, the team moved on to our I.S.L. schedule. The team dominated its first five opponents. Out of a possible seventy-five sets, Milton won a staggering 69 sets. Milton’s first real test came on April 23^rd when we played a Belmont Hill team that is always in the I.S.L. title hunt. This match was even more meaningful for us considering Belmont Hill was responsible for our only loss during the 2010 season. With revenge in mind, Milton’s three doubles teams (1. Noah and Bart, 2. Matt and Tyler, 3. Andrew and Henry) set the tone by sweeping all three pro-sets. With a 3-0 cushion entering singles matches, we only needed five more sets to clinch the victory. At 2^nd and 3^rd singles, Matt and Bart won both of their two sets to give Milton some breathing room. At 4^th and 5^th singles, both Tyler and Andrew were able to bounce back and win their second sets after dropping their first sets to lock up a 9-6 victory for Milton. After two easy wins, we found ourselves facing our toughest opponent of the season in Roxbury Latin. Once again we came out strong in doubles as we picked up two of the three points. However, we struggled in singles and were only able to pick up three sets to make the final score 5-10. While the loss was still a huge disappointment, the match was closer than the score indicated as Roxbury Latin won three of their sets by a score of 7-5.  
Our next tough match came on May 18^th against an improved St. Paul’s team at their indoor facilities. After winning two of the three doubles points, Noah, Matt, and Bart defeated their opponents to give us six more points. At sixth singles, Henry clinched for us by defeating his hard-hitting opponent in an exciting match. His victory gave us a 9-6 victory. Unfortunately, due to a technicality we were not selected for the New England Tournament. While we had shown that we had the ability to compete for the Class A title, the committee didn’t give us a bid because we hadn’t played any other Class A teams. The only Class A opponents on our schedule were Exeter and Groton. Exeter was cancelled due to rain and our match with Groton, which we won 11-4, was scheduled for the Wednesday after the tournament.  After Groton, our last match of the year was against a young and up-and-coming Nobles team at Nobles. While they made it difficult for us, we were able to win the match handily and give Coach Duseau his one hundredth victory in only six years as Milton’s coach. The team will look to build off this year’s results, and our five returning players will continue to build on Milton’s strong tennis tradition. The team will miss the seniors, and we would like to wish them the best of luck as they move on to their chosen colleges and universities.

Barcelona Wins Champions League Final

Messi celebrates his goal in the second half.

Today, Barcelona were named Champions of Europe for the second time in three years. They made defeating Manchester United 3-1 look easy. Even though they were playing three hours from Manchester, the Spanish side put on a show for their loyal fans who made the trip and treated Wembley Stadium like it was the Camp Nou. Besides the first ten shaky minutes, Barcelona completely controlled the game. Led by Lionel Messi, Barcelona played keep away from the Man U team for the full ninety minutes, creating a huge possession difference of 63-37%. You can't score if you don't have the ball, and when United was able to wrench the ball away from Barcelona it usually wasn't in a threatening position. Wayne Rooney was the only player who was able to inflict damage to Barcelona, as he was the player who scored United's lone goal that leveled the game with about ten minutes left in the first half.

Wayne Rooney shows his frustration.

Other than the singular goal, Barcelona cruised the entire game, utilizing one touch passing and great movement off the ball to score two second have goals to put away their opponents. United looked powerless to do anything but dig in to their own half and hope for a clearance that would reach Rooney and allow him to make a run at the Barcelona defense, and this strategy could only produce one goal. You can't say that Man U played poorly because Barcelona is truly the better team.The ball seemed glued to Lionel Messi's feet as he sliced through Manchester United's defense. Even Barca's back four weren't afraid to venture forward and involve themselves. The machinelike offense created waves and waves scoring chances. Edwin Van Der Sar, playing his last career match, can't be at fault for the three goals he let in. I've never seen a more dangerous or fun to watch offense than the skills Barcelona showcased today.  After the success Barcelona has had this year in La Liga and the Champions League, I don't think anyone deny that Barcelona is the best soccer team in the world.

Why I Love College Sports

These two videos are perfect examples of why I love college sports. They're out there having the most fun imaginable. No way an MLB team lets its players joust during a rain day. In professional sports, you can't even play a game of pick up basketball because you risk getting hurt and having the team try to void your contract. In college, its about having as much fun as possible. I don't think the guys jousting from Radford and High Point are too worried about getting hurt and risking their professional careers. They play baseball because they love the game and its fun, not for money or fame because most likely they will never even have that opportunity. The Clemson vs Davidson video is just pure entertainment and creativity. Just teams having a good time with each other during a rain delay. You don't see that in the MLB. Professional players are too busy calling restaurants to change their dinner reservations.