We know Ovechkin and Crosby will have their moments, as will Green and Malkin will have opportunities to shine...but the difference maker often is a second or third tier player--and David Steckel has been absolutely huge in this series. The cliche is "does the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet"-- well Steckel's been doing the little and big things (from his game one rebound shot to his OT goal in game six) all series long. Here's to one more moment--CAPS 3, PENGUINS 2.
The NBA Playoffs are just as entertaining this May-- with Boston scraping by thanks to duct tape and rubber bands as well as surprising performances (Glenn Davis and Rajon Rondo grew up this postseason)...while the Los Angeles Lakers are the proverbial riddle wrapped inside a mystery... consistently inconsistent with surprising losses (game one) while being well-rested, jaw-dropping blowouts both ways (what a twist from game four to five)... and despite back to back sweeps Cleveland is comfortably under the radar-- just quietly taking care of business (granted Detroit was a grease-fire and Atlanta is a year away). How dominant has Lebron James been? He's led the Cavs in scoring all eight games, led them in rebounding six times and been their top assist man five times.
Baseball's regular season doesn't really gel until Memorial Day; it takes a while for schedules to even out (thus the Marlins April Mirage after going 6-0 against the Nationals) and everyone to get into their rhythms. At least the Nationals have something to look forward to every day with Ryan Zimmerman's hitting streak reaching thirty. The presence of a healthy Nick Johnson in front of him and protection from Adam Dunn and Elijah Dukes gives Zimmerman better pitches to hit; now if only the Nats bullpen can recover from early season struggles that include a 1-10 record (worst bullpen mark in either league), nine blown saves (second most in the majors-surprisingly Houston has ten) and an ERA of 6.02 (only the Los Angeles Angels are worse). The back end of the staff has been a garbled mess since day one--and will only continue to get more frustrating until manager Manny Acta finds a stopper.
AL BEAST-- Jason Bay has been absolutely huge for Boston this season (9 homers and 35 RBI)... a nice payoff to getting Manny out of town. Toronto and Tampa Bay are both looking good as well (although the Rays are 15-19 they have a +13 run differential)... while the New York Yankees probably wish they had saved some of their Burnett/Texiera money for bullpen help (6.02 ERA ties them with the Nationals for 28th in MLB). Unfortunately for Baltimore fans, the Orioles appear destined to enjoy another season of irrelevance.
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