The Kid's Going to be an All-Star

I'm pretty lucky to live in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. We have UNC, NC State and Duke all within a few miles of each other, we have the Carolina Hurricanes in our backyard. We also have the Panthers and Bobcats a couple hours away in Charlotte. In addition to all of that we have two minor league baseball teams, Durham Bulls (AAA-Tampa Bay) and Carolina Mudcats (AA-Marlins). We go to quite a few games each year, you can't beat the price and the level of play is pretty good. Through the years we have seen BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, David Delucci, Elijah Dukes, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera all come through the area.
But, on Saturday night we went to a Mudcats came against the Tennessee Smokies (AA-Cubs). The Cats were down 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. They had a runner on second with 1 out. The entire game a buddy of mine and I were wondering where the hell Cameron Maybin was. If you don't know who that is, he is the center piece of the return package the Marlins got for Cabrera and Willis. I had heard all of the hype around him when the trade went down and wanted to see it for myself. Apparently they were giving him a night off. Well, the put him in to pinch hit. I can tell you, this kid looks like a big leaguer. You could tell who he was before they even announced him. From his build to the way he carried himself you could tell he was a star.

Long story short, one pitch, one hit - out of the park to straight away center field to walk off with a win. Yes - the kid will be an All-Star.

The Starter

From the Rink...

• As expected the Wings close out the Preds on the road. Lidstrom's mid-ice bouncing puck shorty was probably the thing that broke Nashville's back. That's a hard one to take. The Wings will either play the Avs - who finished off the Wild - or.....
• The winner of the Flames-Sharks game tomorrow night. Surprisingly enough the Flames fought back to shut out the Sharks to force a game 7. If the Sharks win they take on the Stars (who eliminated the defending champ Ducks) while the Wings play the Avs which would re-kindle some old hatred from the mid-90's. However, if the Flames win, they go on against the Wings while the Avs and Stars face off. I'll stick with the Sharks, but with any game 7, particularly with hockey, anything can happen.
• In the East, the Bruins stave off elimination by forcing a game 7 tonight. You have to give the Bruins credit, most everyone (including me) had written them off. I'm not sure they can finish the job in a hostile Montreal, but who knows? They were able to get this far after going down 3-1. I'll still stick with Habs.
• The Capitals also stayed alive with a win Saturday. Now they have to go on the road to force a game 7. I like the way both teams are playing, but I still stick with the Caps heading home for game 7.

From the Hardwood...

• The only real surprise is the Sixers stinging the Pistons on the road. I figured they would win one game, I just didn't think the first game would be it. I'm still picking the Pistons, but this one may be closer than thought.
• How about that for a playoff coming out party for Chris Paul?
• If Saturday was any kind of indication, Suns/Spurs could be an all time classic.

It's Getting Kind of Drafty....

• Well draft week is here, and nothing is quite like this week of lies and misdirections you will see. Pretty much don't believe anything that starts with "a team source said..." or "someone close to the organization said...". There are absolutely NO truths being leaked this week. The manipulation and angling are almost more entertaining than the draft itself.
• I have always been a draft geek. Even as a little kid. I used to (still do) just simulate seasons of Madden just to draft, re-sign, sign players trying to build Super Bowl winners. I find it intriguing the entire process that goes into it. Even though I know a lot of these players won't mean anything for at least a year, I will still be glued to see who the Bears take with their 11 picks.

Miscellaneous Ramblings.....

• Something tells me the Joba Chamberlin will be in the starting line-up within a couple weeks. I'm not sure why I feel that way?
• It looks as if Scott Skiles will be the new coach of the Bucks. Good luck with that. They will be fine for a year or two, then he will piss off everyone on the team to the point where they stop playing. See Suns, Phoenix and Bulls, Chicago. But I will offer the Bucks some advice. Once they do fire him, don't replace him, even on an interim basis, with one of "his" guys. It won't work out real well, just ask Mr. Boylan.
• Danica finally breaks through. I was completely unaware of the fact the IRL raced in Japan. As great as the accomplishment is, it has got to somewhat of a downer for her that it happened on the other side of globe while everyone was sleeping. It's especially unfortunate when you consider that NASCAR had the week off and the IRL could of had Sunday afternoon to itself (at least for those who weren't watching the NBA or NHL).