...And the Beasts

With the Rays a lock for the playoffs the Blue Jays are capable of keeping out the beasts of the east out of the playoffs.  The Red Sox and Yankees are both playing poor baseball and have to improve to play in October.  Bobby Valentine has been a disaster because he was questioned in Boston even before he was hired.  The Sox lack a leader and are capable of sprialing out of control at any moment.  The Yankees just aren't hitting now.  Their only productive player is Derek Jeter, and this is a good thing.  Once all of their other bats come around they will be able to overcome their current pitching pitfalls and make the playoffs.

The Birds...

The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays are currently sitting in the drivers seat in the AL East.  Both teams have played fantastic baseball and seem to have escaped the celler of the division.  Only one of these teams is actually poised to break through.  The Orioles have been doing it with a great bullpen, and solid pitching.  They really believe in themselves, as a credit to Buck Showalter, but they do not have the firepower to stay in it for the long haul.  It would be ill advised to make an aquisition because their window to compete is in the near future, not now.  Unlike the Orioles, the Blue Jays are ready to win now.  The have an offense to sustain winning and deep enough pitching.  They are dangerous and should be treated accordingly.

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils have been dominating the New York Rangers.  It's that simple.  The only reason the Devils haven't swept them and advanced to the Stanley Cup is Henrik Lundquist.  His play has been superb, but the Devils seem to be breaking through and they should take it in 6.
http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8468685

CC's Robin

Any Yankee fan knows that Phil Hughes is not the most consistent Yankee.  In fact, he went from being an all-star in 2010 to an outcast in 2011.  A large part of that drop off was a significant decrease in velocity.  His Strike Outs per nine innings was a respectable 7.5 in 2010, but in 2011 it dropped to an abysmal 5.7.  He consistently sat at 91-93 in 2011 which helped him miss enough barrels and keep hitters off balance.  But this year he is different, he's ramping it up in big innings and recetly got three consecutive outs at 95, 95, and 94.  This year his strikeouts are up and his walks are down at 8.5 and 2.4 BB/9.  If he can keep the ball out of the middle of the plate he should be able to return to at least his 2010 form.  He's not the ace that was once predicted of him, but Phil Hughes could end up being a qualified Robin to CC's batman.

The Kings on a Quest

The Los Angeles Kings have thus far dominated the postseason.  They are no 11-1 and are only one win from the Stanley Cup Finals.  They have done it without home ice advantage (and they won't have it in the cup finals).  The key to their success has been their team play.  Each line has complete trust in one another, every line operates as one.  If one player takes a risk his limemates see this and react accordingly.  In the rare event that a blunder is made and no one is their to recoup it the Kings have the hottest goalie left in the playoffs in Jonathan Quick to bail them out.  The Kings are definitely firing on all cylinders right now and look to be tough to beat.  However, no team that has started the playoffs with eleven wins in twelve tries has won the Cup.  In the Stanley Cup Finals, when teams often elevate their games to new levels, the Kings may be left in the dust.  They are opearting at 99% efficiency which means they cannot improve much.  Both the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers play styles of hockey that can disrupt the Kings seemless flow.  The Devils pressure or the Rangers trapare capable of ending a hockey season just short in La La Land.

What the Knicks need to do

The New York basketball knicks are very close to contending.  They are limitted in free cap space and to sign anyone of major significance they will need to get extremely creative.  However, bargains are available and they should be able to get enough things done to win it all.  Their first priority has to be signing Jeremy Lin to the midlevel exception.  He is a major upgrade over the corpse like Baron Davis and Mike Bibby.  Even if Iman Shumpert supplants him in the starting role he is still extremely valuable off the bench.  Players like Aaron Gray or Greg Oden may be available at bargains due to under exposure or injury concerns respectively.  To replace the likely gone JR Smith Randy Foye should be available.  http://www.hoopsworld.com/2012-nba-free-agents

Knicks Offseason Questions

The Knicks have finally completed their path the revelance.  After years of volatility they are finally championship contenders.  Through all of the decisions made to win THE Decision they finally got there.  We swapped Channing Frye for Amare Stoudemire, Jerome Jones for Tyson Chandler, and Quenton Richardson for Carmelo Anthony.  James Dolan can't blow this up again.  This team is ready to win now.