Alex the Great vs. Sid the Kid

After Tuesday nights Game 7 thriller the NHL will have their dream match up as the Washington Capitals take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ideally you would like to see your two best players in the Stanley Cup but unfortunately both guys play in the Eastern Conference. If your the NHL you have been waiting for this since both Ovechkin and Crosby entered the League, and with good reason. Since Crosby has been in the NHL he has been slated as the next Gretzky earning the nickname Sid the Kid, but Ovechkin is the one putting up all the numbers. Ovechkin has more Goals 219-132, Ovechkin has More Points 420-397, Crosby actually has more Assists 265-201.
Ovechkin also has all the Hardware he has won the:
Calder Memorial Trophy - NHL Rookie of the Year: 2006
Lester B. Pearson Award (Most Outstanding Player): 2008
Kharlamov Trophy - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player): 2008
Art Ross Trophy: 2008 (112 points)
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy: 2008 (65 goals), 2009 (56 goals)

Crosby has Won
Art Ross Trophy (Most points in the regular season): 2007
Lester B. Pearson Award (Best player as voted by his peers): 2007
Hart Memorial Trophy (Most valuable player in the NHL): 2007

No matter how much hardware the two have won or who you think is better, this could finally be the moment that the NHL becomes wildly popular this Crosby-Ovechkin Rivalry could be to the NHL what the Magic-Bird rivalry was to the NBA.

Hey Ravens forget Boldin draft Heyward Bey

There has been plenty of talk leading up to draft week of the Ravens trading for Anquan Boldin, which all in all i don't disagree with but to me you have to weigh the options. First of all Boldin will be 29 this year so realistically you might have 4 to 5 years max with him. Second the Ravens don't have much cap room to play with so if you sign Boldin for 4 to 5 years that probably means 2009 will be the last for Suggs in a Ravens uniform. If you draft a wide receiver you will have much more time with that receiver, also Boldins style is not what the Ravens need, they need a game breaker, Boldin is solid but he doesn't stretch the field. The one player i like is Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey proved at the combine that he could stretch the field running a 4.3 40, the fastest of the receivers. Now on Baltimore radio for awhile now they have been saying that if you draft Heyward-Bey its like drafting Yamon Figurs. I totally disagree Heyward-Bey had more catches, more yards and more TDs than Figurs, and to me Bey is a more accomplished receiver. Bey does not have hands like bricks and the only reason his college numbers aren't better is because look at the quarterbacks at Maryland not exactly Heisman candidates. To me Heyward-Bey is the game breaker the Ravens offense sorely needs and hopefully the Ravens feel the same.

"Baltimore" Back on the Road Jersey

When the Orioles went into Texas Monday Night a little bit of history was made. For the first time since 1972 Baltimore was on the road jersey. To be honest i don't see the big deal, i really don't care what it says on the front of the jersey. Maybe i have a little different perspective because i have always seen "Orioles" on every jersey (i was born in 1986). Also I am a little surprised on how passionate the Oriole fans were on the subject. Sometimes it seemed the fans were more worried about what was on the jersey and not who was wearing the jersey. I also heard some fans boycott the team until they made the change this season, which is stupid. Hey i am an Oriole fan just as much as any other person in Baltimore, but i just feel there are more important things than the uniform. Be mad at the team because they have had 11 losing seasons, be mad that until McPhail this was one of the worst run franchises in baseball, but don't be mad at a team because on what it says on the uniform.

Teixeira Greeted with Rude Homecoming

When the Yankees made their opening day trip to Baltimore the main storyline was Mark Teixeira's first time in Baltimore since signing with the Yankees. Not surprising to anybody was the reception Mark got from Oriole fans. Every time Teixeira came to the plate he was overwhelmingly booed. The crowd also had signs that said "Sellout" and "Severna Park hates you Tex". Maybe the most surprising thing about the boos was the backlash Baltimore fans got. Peter Gammons on Baseball Tonight thought it was a little extreme, and Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio thought the O's fans were being petty. First of all this is not the first time fans have booed an opposing player, hell the Yankees fans have booed their own players. Second i think the Oriole fans have a very good reason to boo. Every time Mark Teixeira was interviewed over the last couple seasons whenever the Orioles were brought up he stated how much he wanted to play for his hometown team, but when the opportunity arose he went to New York. I have no problem with Mark taking more money but dont say one thing and do another, if you didnt want to play for the Orioles you should have said it from the start. As far as i am concerned if the fans want to boo let them boo all they want. Mark Teixeira could have been like Call Ripken in the eyes of Oriole fans but now he will be treated like Bob Irsay.

Cutler Saga Continues

After a few months of bickering between the Denver Broncos and Jay Cutler it seems the disgruntled quarterback will get his way and the Broncos will be looking at offers for Cutler. This all started when reports surfaced that the Broncos were considering a trade to bring in Matt Cassel. Now i do think that the Broncos were stupid to want to get rid of Cutler but Cutler has acted like a whiny little baby. Cutler needs to realise that pro football is nothing more than a business and to prove that here is a list of great quarterbacks to be traded.

Johnny Unitas---Traded from Colts to Chargers in 1973
Joe Montana---Traded from 49ers to Chiefs in 1993
Ken Stabler---Traded from Raiders to Oilers in 1980
Fran Tarkenton--Traded Twice once to the Giants, then back to the Vikings
John Elway---Traded from Colts to Broncos (Granted circumstances were different but still hall of fame quarterback traded)
Brett Favre---Traded from Falcons to Packers in 1992
Steve Young---Traded from Buccaneers to 49ers in 1987

So this list if nothing else shows that Hall of Fame or future Hall of Fame quarterbacks get traded and Cutler should not take this so personally. But it is obvious that this relationship is beyond repair. And if or when this trade happens then the finger pointing will begin, was the Broncos new head coach fault for running the quarterback out of town or will Cutler be looked at nothing more than a whiner.