Hockey Night at 24 Sussex

So who else caught Gord Miller's visit to 24 Sussex to watch Game 2 with PM Stephen Harper and his family? I was really disappointed in the entire piece. I understand that a certain amount of respect had to be maintained in such an environment, but Gord Miller seemed as awkward and uncomfortable as Harper did. The PM also dodged giving a straight answer as to whether he was a Leafs fan or a Sens fan, as if he were being cornered in a Parliamentary scrum. Personally, I would have preferred to have seen Jennifer Hedger making the visit.

Is Chone Fig'Gone'?

For those of you who drafted Chone Figgins as your primary steals provider in fantasy leagues, let me start by saying, "I'm sorry for your luck". After all, who could have predicted this collapse? In his last two seasons, Chone hit for an average of .290 and .267 with 114 stolen bases. And when he broke two of his fingers in spring training this year, most certainly did not predict that it would cost him a month of the season, his average and all but 3 stolen bases. Now some indications coming out of Los Angeles suggest that his third base job may be all but gone. Eric Aybar who's spent the majority of his time with the club this year at second base filling in for the injured Howie Kendrick has begun taking grounders at third. Aybar played well at second in Kendrick's absence, compiling a .261 average with 11 rbis and a pair of stolen bases (certainly better than Figgins' current .133 batting average).
So where does this leave the fan favourite? Figgins has experience in the outfield, but when one glances at the players the Angels are currently fielding in left, center and right, it's hard to imagine Chone can challenge for more than spot starts in any of those positions. After all Vladi is Vladi, Gary Matthews amid steroid allegations has played extremely solidly, and mister "3 and 2", Reggie Willits has burst on the scene hitting .333 so far this season.
It's unlikely to expect Chone to be phased out of the Angels offense altogether, but don't be surprised if coach Mike Scioscia limits him to spot starts and sharing time with Shea Hillenbrand at DH until he regains his stroke. Afterall, broken fingers or not, Chone's speed and basepath awareness should be there just the same.
So for those of you wondering if it's finally time to give up on the speedster, my advice would be, if you have the roster spot, hold on to him for another week or so to see how Scioscia handles him, (afterall Hillenbrand has not played well thus far), and for those of you with a short bench, it may be time to say goodbye as things are certainly not looking promising.

Two to grab in your fantasy baseball pools

Two weeks ago the Twins dipped into their minor league reserves for one of their top pitching prospects, Scott Baker. Baker has shown a lot of promise in his career in the minor leagues and had a tonne of hype leading into this season. Don't be surprised if this hype transfers into a handful of wins in his next ten starts, but definitely don't expect him to be the next Francisco Liriano either. With the Twins' offense really coming alive (much thanks to Justin Morneau) you can count of Baker to get the run production, and will hopefully throw some solid innings to back it up. Pick him up in your shallow AL only leagues and he definitely warrants consideration in mixed leagues.

This week the Brewers called up their top hitting prospect, Ryan Braun. Unlike Baker, Braun is a no-brainer to pick up in all league formats. He tore it up last year in triple-A hitting 22 homers, and was off to a torrid pace again this year, hitting .342-10-22 in 34 games. If Braun hasn't already been snatched off of waivers in your league, grab him now and expect him to take fifth spot in the batting order behind JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder. Not a bad lineup spot to cash in some runs.

Stanley Cup predictions

Sens in 6 - overhand_right
"I think Emery is going to stay on fire... J.S. is going to steal a game or two, but won't stay consistent enough to win the cup. But it will still be the toughest series for the Sens thus far."

Sens in ?? - RedCap
I have a story. Yours Truly was Seventeen years old, working alone in the kitchen of Belleville’s Boston Pizza sometime between midnight and 1a.m., when a young waitress leans through the expo window to get my attention.
“Brock!” she says, but not so loud as to attract attention.
“BROCK!” once more, as I make my way over.
“Brock, Jason Spezza is here!” she says as her eyes widen.
“Who is Jason Spezza?” I have to ask.
“He plays for the Belleville Bulls of the OHL! He is really good!”
“Ok…what is he like?”
Now at this point, her expression changed from excitement, to somewhat of a sad realization:
“He’s a dick.”
OK so here‘s my point. The Sens will win the cup, and Spezza will more than likely play a huge role in the win. The Spezza/Alfredsson/Heatley line has been the most exciting set of forwards throughout the entire post-season. Obviously Pronger & Friends will be matched up with the Sens starting forwards, which will allow second line centre Mike Fisher more room to throw his weight around and sneak in a few nice goals along the way.

Ducks in 7 - metzeger
"I don't doubt the Ducks' grittiness and toughness. I do however have my concerns with J.S. Giguere. If Ottawa exploits his immobility in the net moving side to side, it could be a short series resulting in a Sens victory. The biggest argument I have for the Ducks is their blue liners. To exploit Giguere's weakness, the Sens are going to have to get scoring opportunities, and with Pronger and Neidermayer banging with Ottawa's top line, I like the Ducks' chances in a long series."

UFC 71...The year of the Upset continues!

This is my 1st post of many! I'll be covering mostly the world of Mixed Martial Arts, obviously with a emphasis on the UFC but also other aspects such as smaller shows, Canadian MMA and anything else related.

Last night marked the long-awaited rematch between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and reigning 205-pound champ Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell. But before the main event got underway, there were a number of other fights that did not disappoint. First off was Canadian Kalib Starnes taking a decision win over Chris Leben. While I was hoping for Starnes to take the victory, the judge's decision was definitely controversial, with the Canadian himself saying after the fight that he felt it should have gone to "The Crippler." It was an exciting fight nonetheless. The fight between Karo Parysian and Josh Burkman had the potential for fireworks and was definitely a great fight. Both fighters fought hard but Karo showed why he's been talking about a title shot all week. I'm looking forward to see who the UFC matched Karo with in the future, since it seems just about every time he goes out there it's an exciting fight.

But on to the continuing story of MMA of 2007: The Upset. First it was Dan Henderson over Wanderlei in Pride, and then Matt Serra, Gabe Gonzaga and arguably Randy Couture taking huge upset wins in the UFC. UFC 71 was no different. First, relative unknown Houston Alexander was making his UFC debut against Keith Jardine who is one serious fighter. No one gave Alexander a chance but he came out and proved everyone wrong with a huge knockout. This guy is nuts on his feet but apparently has no ground game. If he can get some wrestling skills and work on his jiu jitsu he could be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

And now the main event of the evening. There were lots of people on both sides of who they wanted to win this fight. But it seemed most people I talked to that wanted Rampage to win, still thought Chuck would be too much. I personally thought chuck would win by knockout within the first three rounds. I figured it would be a battle until Chuck caught Rampage with one of his patented right hands. Well Rampage sure proved to a lot of people the fight in 2003 was no fluke. Chuck made a mistake going to the body and with his hands dropped, Jackson took advantage. Although many could say this was not really an upset, I still think Chuck was the favourite going in. Now I'm looking forward to the Rampage/Henderson fight and hope that now we get to finally see a Chuck/Wanderlei battle that's been talked about for years now. Only time will tell.

Cat bounced from Shea

I've caught this video a few times on sports weekly highlights and I had to post it on here. A cat is caught trying to catch a game for free while hiding in a roll of astroturf last Sunday at Shea Stadium. Brings new meaning to 'getting bounced from the game'.

Youth line key to Ducks' success

Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner. A year ago they were promising newcomers playing limited minutes, and to some, perhaps, were relative unknowns. Such is not the case this season. Currently, the three form the 'youth line' for the Anaheim Ducks and have consistently provided a boost of energy for the talented team when called upon. Great plays seem to develop when these three are on the ice.
Expect to see some fireworks from this line starting Monday.

Emery key to Sens cup chances

The Ottawa Senators have broken their old playoff label as 'chokers' by advancing to the Stanley Cup finals against the Anaheim Ducks. But do they have what it takes to win the series by outplaying one of the NHL's most physical teams? Well, according to EA sports they do. The Vancouver based company performed a simulation of the finals with positive results for the Sens. Ottawa took the series in five thanks to strong goaltending on the part of Ray Emery. And while the results of the actual series will probably not quite hold true to the simulation, Ottawa's chances in real life, like the simulation, rest on Emery. His play has been decent so far in these playoffs, but Emery is no Brodeur or Luongo, and you can be sure he has yet to face his greatest challenge. How he fares is key to the Senators' bid for their first Stanley Cup since 1927.

Ducks' key to success to follow.

Rocket not long for Fenway

Roger Clemens will stay in the minors for at least one more start. Scheduled to make his season debut with the Yankees against his old team, the Boston Red Sox next weekend, Yankees GM Brian Cashman decided to postpone the aging pitcher's first start after a poor outing for Double-A Trenton earlier this week. He will instead start for Triple-A Scranton. The 7 time Cy Young award winner, who last pitched for the Houston Astros will likely make his debut outing during the Yankee's second round of interleague play, sometime in early to mid June.

FANTASY: For those of you who drafted Clemens in your mixed fantasy leagues, I don't need to tell you to hold on to him for this stretch. And if he isn't currently occupying a spot on your roster, now may be the time to make a play for him. A shaky AA outing and a fear of his aging arm might be enough for you to nab the all-star for a reasonable price. A word of warning though, it was 2003 when Clemens last pitched in the AL. During that time he pitched with the Yankees and was the owner of a near-perennial 4.00 era. And while many writers are calling Clemens the 'savior of the Yankees' this year, don't count on him to fill the same roll on your fantasy team.

Welcome

Welcome to 'In Scoring Position', a sports blog dedicated to bringing you not just sports news and information, but also analysis and opinions on the day's wheelings and dealings. This blog will seek to inform not just of the current events, but also provide a fantasy outlook for those who are newcomers to the world of fantasy sport, and those who are already hardcore fantasy sports gurus.

This blog will focus mainly on sports that are in season, but there will also be important headlines from elsewhere in the sporting world covered.

It is our hope, here at ISP to not only inform, and perhaps educate, but to entertain as well. Thanks for visiting.

--Paul Wilson