The Doug-out: Inaugural May power rankings

Doug Gulasy | KentNewsNet

Well, here we are. We’re one month into the Major League Baseball season, and there have already been quite a few surprises. After all, if I had told you at the start of the season that the AL division leaders after one month would be Toronto, Kansas City and Seattle, you probably would have either laughed in my face or recommended a good psychiatrist.

Still, one good month does not equate a World Series berth, and bad month does not equate a lost season (unless, of course, you’re the Washington Nationals). Remember, there are still 130-plus games to go.

With that being said, here are my MLB power rankings as we head into the first full week of May:

The Doug-out: MLB power rankings

So baseball season is now into its third week, but we haven’t had any baseball blogs yet. Therefore, I’ve decided to step up. Not only do I figure it’s my responsibility — I am sports editor, after all — but I also have a name very conducive to a baseball pun.

So here we are in week three. The Florida Marlins are on fire, while Nationals manager Manny Acta is on his way to getting fired. Those two teams are on the opposite ends of my MLB power rankings for this week, but who’s in between?

Let’s find out. Without further ado, here are my inaugural baseball power rankings for the 2009 season.

Cleveland sports: Don’t give up on the Tribe just yet

 

Cody Erbacher | KentNewsNet

The Cavs secured the best record in the NBA this week, and the Indians secured the worst record in the AL Central.

When I look at the Cavs, I don’t see very much worth mentioning.  LeBron has said it all for me.  Anything but a championship will be a disappointment for Cleveland fans.

But when I look at the Indians I see a lot to talk about.

Red Ice: Playoff Roundtable

I know there are alot of people on campus from Pittsburgh so I thought I’d throw this up here.

I run a blog solely dedicated to the Pittsburgh Penguins called Pittsburgh Puck Talk.  It’s just one blog in a large community of NHL bloggers.  To be honest, the NHL probably has a bigger and more prominent blog base than any other sport in the country.

Continuing on, I was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with three of the top Pens bloggers out there on what Pittsburgh needs to do against the Flyers in order to win the series.

Sound interesting?  Then jump it to see what we all had to say!

Red Ice: The second season begins!

Well the playoffs are upon us.  Yes, the greatest post-season in sports.

The NHL season ended seemingly quicker than any season has in recent memory.  The matchups are set.  The schedule is set.

Now all that’s left are my predictions!

Steel City Blog: A plea to Mark Cuban

Michael Moses | KentNewsNet 

First and foremost, sports aside, I would like to send my deepest sympathy to the families of the three Pittsburgh Police officers who lost over the weekend in what was a complete tragedy. It’s times like these when it makes me realize how lucky we are to have people who defend our communities and take risks with every “routine” call. I’m sorry for your losses, but know that your officers have now just been promoted to guardian angels. 

As I type these words, the Pittsburgh Pirates are beating the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 in the sixth inning. They would start the season a very respectable 2-1.

You weren’t dreaming. Those two sentences above are not coming from la-la-land. It’s reality. The Pirates are actually playing like a baseball team, as opposed to, say, a group of high schoolers that got cut from the varsity team.

If this keeps up (and hopefully, it will, but I’m not holding my breath), I will throw out my dream for Pittsburgh baseball. I know it’s been talked about, and probably as good as dead now.

But hell, here goes nothing … 

NBA: Sleeper playoff teams

Richie Scheuermann | KentNewsNet

As this year’s NBA regular season winds down and anticipation for the postseason grows, it’s easy to look at the league’s elite teams and choose one to win it all. I, myself, like to look beyond the smoke and mirrors and find the sleeper teams who have substantial shots at running the table.

Here are four sleepers to look out for in the playoffs:

Cleveland sports: Fantasy baseball edition

 

Cody Erbacher | KentNewsNet

The MLB season is here, and that means fantasy baseball is starting.

Surprisingly the Tribe has a lot of talent for your team, and I’m going to let you know which players to look for in your draft.

Steel City Blog: Looking back and ahead

Michael Moses | KentNewsNet

First off, lets have some fun and take a look back at my tournament predictions:

• Pitt-Xavier in the Sweet 16. I hinted at Xavier’s head coach, Sean Miller, possibly upsetting his alma mater. I’d say that was a good call, given that the Panthers had to come from behind for their 60-55 victory.
• Potential Blake Griffin vs. Tyler Hansbrough. It wasn’t exactly an epic matchup: Griffin dominated the individual battle (23 points and 16 rebounds to Hansbrough’s 8 and 6), but Tyler is in the Final Four while Blake is watching from home …

Cleveland sports: Why you shouldn’t watch the Cavs

Cody Erbacher | KentNewsNet

This is probably only one of the times during the year that I am going to tell you not to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers games.

Yes, this does sound crazy, but there are more important things that you should be worrying about.

I know the Cavs are holding the best record in the league right now.  In all reality, that is meaningless.  The Cavs are five games above the Celtics, so I’d bet that Cleveland will be holding the No. 1 seed by the end of the season.