Is this the singular moment in time out of which was born such ill will?

The Miami Heat are back in the Eastern Conference Final, awaiting the Pacers to put away the Knicks, or for the Knicks to mount an unbelievable comeback. They have been led once more by LeBron James, a man who continues to prove he is the best basketball player in the world, but isn’t given one iota of the respect that he has earned.

LeBron continues to put up ridiculous numbers year after year, has won several league MVPs, a Finals MVP and is an NBA Champion. These accolades alone are typically enough for people to shout to the heavens about how talented a star athlete is, yet LeBron continues to be a polarizing figure in the NBA, and for most people I have spoken with, they claim it stems back to one incident.

July 8, 2010. An event now shrouded in infamy, better known as “The Decision.”

LeBron James played 7-years for what was essentially his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was the top draft pick, and was expected to do wonderful things for the team, and he did. He dragged a carcass of a team to an NBA Finals appearance, but nobody has ever won a championship without help. Not Jordan, not Kobe, nobody. It was no different for LeBron, so if I asked of you to name another starter from their Finals’ team, without the aid of the internet, I think you’d be hard pressed to do so.

So when his contract ended, and he was an unrestricted free agent, the NBA world was full of rumors.

Many believed there was a possibility of some sort of “supergroup” forming, with a lot of people suspecting Chicago as the landing place. But then Dwyane Wade announced on July 7 that he would be re-signing with the Heat. And Chris Bosh announced he would also be signing with the Heat and the rumors began to fly.

Before we get to this monumental media event, allow me to tell you the truth about LeBron James and his involvement with “The Decision.”

If you are a professional athlete, or a popular musician or actor, a lot of your media, let’s just go ahead and say all of it, is coordinated by some sort of a public relations person, a manager, or whoever is running the non-involved aspects of your career. LeBron works on the court, other people work behind the scenes for him.

Jim Gray, a freelance sportscaster, pitched the idea of a one-hour special to LeBron’s management and ESPN. ESPN decided to allow James and his group to make all the money from advertising for the special as long as they were the ones allowed to carry the story. So the agreement was made by ESPN and LeBron’s management.

Now why would LeBron agree to do this, you may ask. Simple. Overall, “The Decision” special earned roughly $6 million. All of this money was donated to charity by LeBron James.

Let that sink in. Every red cent made off of this special, LeBron James, the man you hate for doing this special that wasn’t even his idea, donated to various charitable organizations. He kept nothing.

This goes along with all the other money, and his time, that he has donated to various charities, most often the Boys & Girls Club. LeBron James, an evil man in the eyes of many, spends a lot of his free time with underprivileged youth. Yeah, sounds like a real terrible guy to me.

In addition to that nugget of information, LeBron almost immediately apologized for the way he handled his decision, and said if he had the chance to do things differently, he would have. This all came before a game against the Nets on October 31, 2010, and he has since spoken more about doing things a different way. One quote taken out of context is often used to show he wasn’t apologetic, that being “…but I am happy with my decision,” is not in reference to the special, but rather the decision to join the Miami Heat.

I applauded LeBron for the decision to go to Miami. Prior to it, you could find me almost anywhere saying if the “Big 3″ had any smarts, they’d all take paycuts to play together, and that’s exactly what happened. Sure, LeBron could’ve stayed in Cleveland and signed a big, fat contract, and played out the rest of his days likely never to win an NBA Championship. But instead, he took a paycut and moved somewhere where he had a better chance to win, which brings me to the next issue I have with people and their blind hatred of LeBron James.

Now usually, the fans of a sport will spit venom at a player who forgoes the opportunity to win a championship to make ridiculous amounts of money. They say that the honorable thing is to try and win a title instead of signing huge contracts. This is exactly what LeBron did, yet everyone hated him for it. They said he should toil away in Cleveland with a management group that made it clear they had no intention of improving the Cavs team to help LeBron win. They hadn’t done so for the last 7 years, why would they then change their minds?

Yes, LeBron is an endorsement juggernaut, but it is still the most honorable decision one can make to turn down a lot, A LOT, of guaranteed money to take less money for a better chance to be a champion. How is that the noble decision for literally every other athlete, but LeBron doing so continues to draw the ire of people who watch the game, and it makes no sense to me.

LeBron James is not only the most talented player in the NBA, but it is my opinion that he may be one of the most honorable, upstanding citizens in the world of sports. In addition to all of his charitable work, his decision to take less money to try to be a champion, LeBron James cares about the environment. He rides his bike to practices, shootarounds and games. In a beautiful place like the Heat play, I certainly can’t blame him for doing so. In addition to being green in this decision, LeBron has said it has improved his cardio and conditioning immensely.

So after examining all the possible reasons why someone could claim that they hate LeBron James, and none of them really adding up to me as to good reasons, I came to one staggering conclusion. If you hate LeBron James, it is because you are terrified that he could surpass Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time.

If you’re not aware, us Americans tend to really build up the great things of our past, and fight with all we have that things today aren’t nearly as good as they were back then. This applies to music, movies, television shows, and of course, sports stars. Everything old beats everything new, and that’s because we only tend to look at the good of the past.

Was Led Zeppelin a great band? Heck yeah, nobody will argue that, but they weren’t the only band around back then, and an overwhelming majority of bands back then sucked.

Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever play, but will we be able to say that when LeBron is finished? That is still largely up in the air, regardless of if you want to claim there is no way James could ever surpass Jordan, and that is why you hate him.

You hate him because if he does win those championships, his combined individual stats are better than Jordan’s, and that doesn’t sit well with you. But that topic is coming soon, so until it does, sit back and chew on the reality that just got dropped.

At the beginning of spring training the Cubs anticipated the high probability of another losing season. As we move into May I cannot see anything that can contradict that expectation. The team is in last place in the NL Central, and there is very little that would give us hope that they could threaten for a playoff spot in the National League.

Yet, there have been a couple of pleasant surprises in the last few weeks of this season. One of them has been the emergent of Travis Wood in one of baseball’s best starting rotation. Yes, allow me to repeat that again: The Cubs has one of the best starting rotation in baseball and Travis Wood is their best pitcher.

Their starting five is ranked fourth in the National League in ERA, tenth in fewest runs allowed, third in fewest hits allowed, fifth in strikeouts, and has allowed the lowest opponent’s batting average. All of these achievements have occurred without their second best pitcher—Matt Garza, who has been on the DL since the start of the season. Moreover, the strong performance has come in spite of their prize free agent haul—Edwin Jackson’s poor performances. He was signed to be a workhorse in the rotation, and has yet to live up to his contract. (ESPN)

At the pinnacle of the rotation’s early success has been the 26 year-old Travis Wood. When he was acquired for the ever-reliable Sean Marshall two off-seasons ago, there was not great excitement for the young lefty. After an inconsistent first year with the Cubs, Wood has opened the season with eight straight quality starts. The last Cubs pitcher to carry out such a feat was Hippo Vaughn 94 years ago.

Not overpowering, Wood possesses command of 4 pitches and has been effective at keeping hitters off-balance in the early season. Can he maintain a low ERA (2.04) and WHIP (0.94), and continue to induce ground ball outs throughout the season? Wood has been known in the past to be a flyball pitcher; he gave up a whopping 25 HRs in 156 innings of work last summer. I expect a regression as we move into the heart of the season.

Yet I see a young pitcher who is making the case in the 1^st several weeks of this season to be part of the core of Theo Epstein’s rebuilding project. He does not have to be the number one guy in the rotation. The team potentially has one in Jeff Samardjiza. If Theo and company decide to keep the 29-year-old Matt Garza and draft a stud pitcher with the 2^nd pick in this June’s MLB draft, than Travis can thrive as an excellent mid-rotation starter.

Interestingly enough, we use the word “legacy” for a kid that I am actually a month older than. A kid that is the face of an NBA franchise. A kid that has experienced the moving of a franchise to another city. He’s led the league in scoring not once, not twice, but three times in his five-year career. Let’s face it: he’s the best player in the Association not named LeBron James. So with that being said, it’s very interesting a lot of the media is choosing to look at Kevin Durant’s legacy with these two playoff series as a “defining moment” in the said legacy of the small forward out of the University of Texas.

Here’s where the discussion takes an odd turn; many people will say that Durant had a better supporting cast than LeBron did when he single handily took the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Finals in the 2006-2007 season. To add something even more odd to the point, people will even say that if this was LeBron James instead of Kevin Durant, Memphis would be sitting at home right now, and the Oklahoma City Thunder would be advancing to the Western Conference Finals (at least).

First thing’s first; what?

Comparing the numbers is a good place to start: Durant in 2013 joined a VERY prestigious club. The “50-40-90″ club (50 percent field goals, 40 percent from three, 90 percent from the free-throw line). Guess who else is in that club? You can count them on one hand, but here’s the list: Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, and Mark Price. I cannot help but stress the importance of this statistic. Those are some great names to be a part of , and it’s something LeBron James has not even come close to.

LeBron’s best years in terms of percentages (after ’07, so they’re not counting in our discussion) are 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, but 71 percent at the free throw line. LBJ has always struggled from the charity stripe, although that could definitely change. His career numbers would say it would have to be an absolutely amazing improvement. (For his career, he shoots about 75 percent from the free-throw line.)

Now we all know what LBJ’s achievements are, so I won’t bother to jump into his MVP’s. Also, for the record, I’m not saying by any means that Kevin Durant is the best player in the NBA. LeBron has it for a reason, and the MVP’s back it up. I’m just going to give you ’07 LBJ’s numbers vs. the Durantula’s numbers, and we’ll go from there.

Kevin Durant 2012-2013: 28.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 7.9 rbg

LeBron James 2006-2007: 27.3 ppg, 6 apg, 6.7 rbg

When you take a look at their numbers this close, the first thing you’ll see from a glance is the assists per game numbers. LeBron’s apg total is 1.4 more per game. Pretty interesting right? Here’s the theory I’m taking: Durant certainly had a better supporting cast up until a certain point. Russell Westbrook is an All-Star. LBJ never (until Miami) had someone to play with quite like Westbrook, so his regular season numbers certainly are interesting to compare. Let’s analyze the postseason numbers for both players before we move any further along.

Kevin Durant ’12-’13 Post-Season: 30.8 ppg, 6.3 apg, 9 rbg

LeBron James ’06-’07 Post-Season: 25.1 ppg, 8 apg, 8.1 rbg

So here’s where our story takes an interesting turn. Westbrook goes down in the playoffs, and all of a sudden a team that’s built for two stars has to rely on one. I won’t get too much into the supporting casts, because the main story here is that LBJ could have led this team past Memphis.

My question is how?

First of all, you need to out score the opponent to win games. Durant certainly does his part. There really isn’t anyone on the OKC squad who can score at will (besides Martin, who struggled). He scored 5.7 more points per game than LeBron, averaged .9 more rebounds than LeBron, and only squandered in assists per game at 1.5 less than The King. His lack of assists is certainly evened out in the points (unless those assists are three’s, but nonetheless, the rebound could offset that).

Now, the next part of my theory, and probably my favorite. Kevin Durant plays in the Western Conference. Think about that for just a moment.

The superior conference is the Western Conference (the defense of the East is that it is extremely top-heavy). The numbers Durant averages are against a much tougher bit of competition. The main foe for the Cavs in 2007 was the Detroit Pistons, who won 53 games that season. This year, that team would have been the six seed in the West, and they were number one that year in the East. Seriously?

The Cavaliers played the 41 win Washington Wizards in the first round in ’06-’07. The Thunder played 45 win Houston (with a better player in terms of James Harden on the opposing side). The Wizards didn’t even have Arenas or Butler that year with both of them out due to injuries. Moving ahead, the Cavaliers then played the (wait for it….) 41 win New Jersey Nets. Seriously, the Cavs had a cake walk through the playoffs. We all know that the Thunder played the 56 win Memphis Grizzlies (and lost in five).

Here is the main point; even though records don’t tell the story, Durant played much harder competition all year. Durant had to play tougher competition in the playoffs while LeBron gets the cake walk of facing a starless Wizard squad, and a 41 win Nets squad before facing the Pistons. We can speculate all day about what the numbers for KD would have been like facing that kind of competition.

The final part of the piece is that LeBron did beat a team similar to the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2007 Pistons. I think not.

First of all, the 2007 Pistons were similarly built, sure. They were a slow team, they didn’t like to get up and run, and the Cavs had to have a monster game 5 from LBJ (probably the best playoff game of all time) to win, and a 31 point game from Daniel “Boobie” Gibson to push them past those Pistons. (Out of curiosity, who on OKC is scoring 31 surprise points to bail them out? The struggling Kevin Martin? Serge Ibaka [yeah, right], Thabo Sefalosha?? The answer is Russell Westbrook of course! But, since he’s not playing, I think the right answer is nobody would [as we saw].)

The only real comparison from the Pistons to the Grizzlies is (besides the obvious in Tayshaun Prince) Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace. Big guys down low. I will say (at the time) Billups was a better guard than Conley, but I still prefer to say that Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were superior to the Wallace combination. Both were great on defense, there is no doubting that. Marc and Ben were Defensive Players of the Year. Here’s where the differ: Marc Gasol actually has the ability to score buckets. Ben Wallace couldn’t hit a free throw to save his life, let alone score a bucket.

Big Ben reminds me more of Kendrick Perkins than Marc Gasol. Rasheed had something that Randolph didn’t have though: range. Randolph does have a 17 foot jumper (that he rarely uses anymore), but that is nothing compared to the three ball that Rasheed (at times) possessed. But, Rasheed wasn’t quite the low-post defender that Randolph is. The difference maker is Gasol, hands down. While the teams are similar, the Grizzles were/are the better team.

The wrap this all up all pretty and such, just simply swapping out Kevin Durant with LeBron James would not have won Oklahoma City anything. The team still would have lost to the Grizzlies, especially considering the Grizzlies being the superior team. Numbers don’t lie my friends.

These Tigers have helped put the team atop of the Central Division

Starting Pitching: A

This is the top staff in the American League and arguably the top staff in baseball. Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, and Sanchez are the best top four in baseball. Porcello is not a terrible starter outside of the one inning against the Angels where he gave up 9 runs on 3 infield hits, 3 bloopers and a grand slam, he has been pretty solid. Justin Verlander has had a couple of bad starts, but his ERA is not that high. This staff has lived up to all the billing. They strike a ton of people out and their ERA is in the top 5 of baseball. This staff has the lowest batting average against in baseball. The Tigers’ starting staff is one of their strongest points. Straight A and perfect marks for the starting staff.

Hitting: A

This lineup can strike 1-9. It features the best 3-4 combination in Cabrera and Fielder. This lineup has also been sparked by Torii Hunter and Omar Infante who along with Cabrera and Peralta are top 15 in batting average in the AL. So far, this lineup has been the best in baseball as it is top 5 in runs, batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage. This lineup is outstanding and has done a great job this season. Another straight A.

Bullpen: C-

This has been the Tigers’ Achilles’ heel this season as it was last season. They are middle of the road in ERA, have one of the highest walk rates in the major leagues, have one of the highest blown save rates. The bullpen has a record of 3-6 overall. This bullpen strikes out a lot of batters, but can be better. They will have to be better for the Tigers to make a run this postseason.

Fielding: B

The Tigers’ are top 5 in fielding percentage and errors in the league, so why do they get a B? The Tigers’ infield outside of Infante has about as much range as three fire hydrants. If a ball is hit to Fielder, Cabrera, or Peralta, they make they play, but there are some plays that are not made by this infield that others could make. This is something that hurts ground ball pitchers, especially Rick Porcello. This is something that we knew coming into the season so this is what was expected so the fielding gets a B.

Overall: B+

So far, this season has been a success for the Detroit Tigers. They find themselves atop the AL Central. The Indians and Royals are hot on their tail, but the Tigers are in good shape. This team shows spurts of greatness like when they swept the Atlanta Braves and show their shortcomings like when they were swept by the Los Angeles Angels.  Fans of the Detroit Tigers should demand greatness from this team. That means a Division Title, an AL Championship, and a World Series Championship should be the expectation for this team, not just a hope.

Hitter of the Night:

- Paul Goldschmidt (1B, Ari) continues his impressive season, getting 4 hits last night including 2 home runs. He also batted in 4 runs and scored 4 more. That means he accounted for 8 of his teams 9 runs last night.

Pitcher of the Night:

- Chris Sale (SP, ChW) would get the nod if he didn’t only have impressive games against the Angles. He had 12 K’s last night, on no ER and only 3 hits over 7.2. I would be more impressed though if he didn’t have a 1 hit performance against them last week…

- James Shields (KC, SP) went 8 strong only giving up 2 ER and had 9 strikeouts, but he too only gets an honourable mention

- Hiroki Kuroda (NYY, SP), pitched a 8 inning shutout where he kept the Blue Jay hitters to only 2 hits (both in the first inning I believe). He had 5 strikeouts and only 1 walk leading him to have an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.38

Injury Report:

- Ross Detwiler (SP, Wash) & Alexi Ogando (SP, Tex) both will miss their next start due to upper arm injuries, neither one is worth hanging on to while they are hurt.

Winston Watch-list:

- Scott Feldman (SP, ChC) has been hot in the month of May. He is a low ERA/ WHIP guy and is worth a look if you need some pitching help this weekend.

Probable pitchers for May 18th

*Stats represent the past 21 days (about 3 starts)

AL

NL

* * Match- up Rater uses the pitchers ERA (earned run average), WHIP ([walks * hits]/innings pitched) and OBPA (on base % against) from the past three starts and combines that with historical records versus particular teams and batters. It also takes into to consideration other factors such as injuries.

“Ten” represents the highest possible match up rating and indicates a hugely significant match up in favor of the pitcher while 0 represents a horrible match- up for the pitcher. The Winston Report recommends starting all pitchers with a rating of 6 or above and to use caution with those ratings lower than that

Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan is a defender of almost unparalleled brilliance. He’s the owner of the great shortstop’s trifecta: outstanding glove and arm combined with spectacular range. He seems to make at least one play a night that virtually no one else at the position could. And we here in Mariner Nation have remained grateful for his effort and ability.

Unfortunately, Ryan is every bit as terrible as a hitter as he is brilliant defensively. Entering yesterday’s series finale against the Yankees, Ryan was batting .133 with a slugging percentage to match and a .202 on-base percentage.

There are a number of pitchers in the NL who have been superior to Ryan at the plate thus far (admittedly in fewer at bats). And anyone who supports an NL team is sure to cringe at least once in any given game when the pitcher comes to bat in a significant situation. That’s how we in Seattle feel when our shortstop comes to bat- every single time.

It’s worth noting that, once upon a time, Ryan wasn’t the single worst hitter in baseball. In 2009, he actually batted .292 in 129 games for the Cardinals with a .740 OPS that was more than double the one he carries for the 2013 M’s.

Yes, it’s still reasonably early in the season and the law of averages all but guarantees that Ryan will see his average climb at least modestly. But it still won’t be good enough. The Mariners as a whole seem to be at least a slightly better offensive team this season, but that’s a little like saying the 2013 Astros appear slightly better than their 2012 counterparts; again, still not good enough.

The biggest problem with Ryan is that he’s actually his own worst critic. More to the point, he beats himself up when he has an especially bad AB or misplays a ball in the field, and that added burden often leads to additional miscues and lapses in concentration.

Having Ryan in the game essentially forces the M’s to work with an eight man lineup. On those occasions when the almost equally inept Robert Andino is playing second, it becomes a seven man lineup. A team can win a few games here and there with such a handicap, but any kind of long-term success under this model is next to impossible.

For those who will inevitably claim that Ryan’s stellar defense makes up for his offensive shortcomings, please allow me to refute that argument through the power of numbers. Ryan’s dWAR (defensive wins above replacement) is a very strong 0.7. However, his oWAR number (same as dWAR, except for hitting and base-running) is -0.9. In other words, if you combine everything Ryan has done on a baseball field this season, you’re actually slightly better off with a replacement-level player.

Since it’s all too clear that Andino- who is a slightly better hitter but a noticeably worse defender- isn’t an acceptable replacement, the only sensible course of action appears to be looking to the minor leagues. Depending on who you ask, the Mariners shortstop of the future is either Nick Franklin or Brad Miller. Unfortunately, the club doesn’t seem to believe that either is quite ready yet, which leaves  long-time minor leaguer Carlos Triunfel as the best short-term option.

Now in his seventh season of pro ball, Triunfel is far from a plus defender at short. But the 23-year-old has logged more than 800 at bats at the Triple-A level – not to mention nearly a thousand at Double-A- so he’s not likely to get any better languishing in the minors.

It’s also worth mentioning that Triunfel is enjoying his most productive season to date, hitting .308 with 16 extra-base hits and a career-high .827 OPS.  He’s not Troy Tulowitzki, but at least he can put a decent swing on the ball, which is (much) more than can be said about Seattle’s incumbent shortstop.

Nevertheless, Triunfel’s defensive shortcomings are alarming enough that the M’s shouldn’t ride him any longer than necessary. I would only advocate calling him up if the club believes that either Miller or Franklin will be ready to dip their toes in big league waters by July at the latest.

It would be a little ridiculous to expect a hitter as awful as Ryan to bring back anything worthwhile in a trade, but that doesn’t mean he lacks value. He would be a great fit as a late inning defensive replacement for a team with playoff aspirations. He could probably even find some success as a semi-regular on a team with a potent offense like Detroit or St. Louis.

But a team that has seen its three most highly prized young position players – Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero and Justin Smoak- fall far short of expectations simply cannot afford to give away three to five at bats a night. Which is why it would be best for all concerned that Ryan is thanked for his service and shown the door…a door that should be locked and bolted the moment Ryan passes through it.

And that’s what the Seattle Supersonics started to do in 2007 when they drafted Kevin Durant with the second overall pick. They would later continue to build the team in the draft, taking Serge Ibaka later in the 2007 draft, Russell Westbrook in the first round in 2008 and James Harden in 2009.

As history goes, the Supersonics would become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 but they already had a nice foundation built. GM Sam Presti has been recognized many times for the way he built this team up but he would soon be faced with a tough decision. The Thunder had locked up Durant and Westbrook to new contracts but at the end of the 2013 season, the contracts of James Harden and Serge Ibaka would expire.

With the money given to Durant and Westbrook, the Thunder knew they would have a problem giving both players the money they wanted. So once James Harden turned down a 4 year extenstion worth around $52 million, Presti decided to be proactive and trade him.

As soon as the trade happened, there was a mostly negative reaction. How could the Thunder trade one of their best pieces? Why him and not Ibaka? As we know now, Harden got a max contract in Houston and was voted to his first All Star Game. Today though, we’ll look back and wonder; what if James Harden wasn’t traded?

The Thunder had four options last year. Sign Harden to a long-term deal, let him walk at the end of the year, trade him at the deadline, or the option they took in trading him before the season started.

Looking back on it now, the obvious option would be to sign Harden to that long-term deal. He’s developed into a superstar as the first option in Houston and he’s now the centerpiece of their team. For the Thunder to bring Harden back, they would have most likely had to have given him the max deal he wanted. As stated earlier, this would mean they would have to sign Serge Ibaka to a smaller deal or not bring him back at all.

At the time, it didn’t seem like an awful idea to sign Ibaka instead of Harden. Ibaka had been All-Defensive first-team and lead the league in blocks. Harden was a great scorer but the Thunder needed a defensive player like Ibaka over another scorer in Harden. Even without Harden in 2013 the Thunder were one of the best offensive teams, behind only the Nuggets and Harden’s Rockets team.

What wasn’t expected though was for Russell Westbrook to go down when they needed him the most. With Westbrook out, the Thunder could have really used Harden to take some of the scoring stress from Kevin Durant. While Kevin Martin- the main piece in the Harden trade-played well for most of the season he struggled in the playoffs. While it may have had to do with the tough big men they were playing against, Serge Ibaka also didn’t play the way that the Thunder would have hoped when they needed him.

Oklahoma City managed to record the best record in the West without Harden, but when Westbrook went down in the playoffs it became obvious how much the Thunder missed him. While it’s hard to say for sure that they would have advanced farther with Harden, you have to remember that the Thunder played in the Finals last year with him and Durant and Westbrook were better than they were in 2012.

If the Thunder had stuck with their decision to keep Ibaka over Harden, a lot of people wondered why they didn’t wait until the end of the season to try and make a move with Harden. Surely the Kevin Martin deal would still be there at the trade deadline and possibly some new offers would have opened up.

If they wanted to stick to their decision, why not make a final run with Harden and then let him walk at the end of the year? Kevin Martin is only on a one year deal in Oklahoma City he probably would have been available in free agency if they decided they really wanted him.

The Thunder with Harden would have had a better shot at the Finals than the team they do have and even if they lost him at the end of the year, isn’t a legitimate run at the title worth it? And who knows, maybe Harden would have considered taking less if the team did well in the playoffs again.

The Thunder have been a very well run team but the Harden trade made some people question their front office. Sure they were able to finish with the best record in the West but there’s no doubting that they would have done better with Harden. It is yet to be seen what the Thunder will do with the draft picks they received from the trade, but chances are they won’t be able to hit somebody that can contribute like Harden. That is especially true in a year where the draft is expected to be weak.

We’re less than a year removed from the Harden trade but it’s not too early to sit and wonder how different this season would have been. It’s never too early to ask, what if?

Take the Pro Bowl for example: The players don’t take the game seriously and their main goal is to avoid injury, thus outside of the local fans in Hawaii it’s a meaningless event. However, in NASCAR there are no points at stake, and a big paycheck on the line make it a better race, and one of the most exciting nights in all of sports.

The Set Up

What:  NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star Race

Where:  Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, NC

When: Saturday May 18^th, 2013 Green Flag at 7:30 PM ET

Broadcast: TV: Speed 7 PM ET Radio: Motor Racing Network-6:30 PM ET

No points and big payday make the All Star Race a can’t miss event

All Star Race 101

What is now the All Star Race began in 1985 as an advertising tool for then cup series sponsor RJ Reynolds and their  Winston brand.  he exhibition event featuring the race winners from 1984 was simply titled “The Winston” forcing ABC who was televising the event to use the Winston name on the broadcast were as other tobacco sponsored events had generic names on TV.

Qualifying for the All Star race is rather simple, win a race or be a champion. Drivers who win a race in current and preceding year (2012 Coke 600 to 2013 Southern 500) qualify for the All-Star Race as do drivers who are past cup and race champions. If a driver doesn’t meet automatic qualifying criteria they have one more shot to race their way in a last chance race the Sprint Showdown adds two drivers to the race. Finally the fans pick in the last driver in the race through a fan vote.

In addition to unique eligibility criteria the race also has a unique format

The first 80 laps of the race are four 20 lap segments which an optional pit stop between each. The last segment is a 10 lap dash for cash with a mandatory pit stop prior to the final run. In order to discourage sandbagging amongst segment winners who earn the right to enter pit road in the top for the last pit stop NASCAR has made two changes to this year’s format. The line up for the final pit stop is set by a drivers average finish in the 1^st 80 laps and if a driver can sweep all 5 segments they earn a $1 million dollar bonus, which added to the $1 million dollar winners share makes it possible to win $2 million dollars for 90 min of work. Over the years the name has changed (now officially the All-Star Race) but one thing remains the same every May NASCAR’s best battle for bragging rights and a big paycheck.

Drivers to watch in the Sprint All Star Race

Jimmie Johnson celebrates his win in last year’s All Star Race.

Jimmie Johnson-

They call Charlotte the House Jimmy built for a reason, he is a three-time Sprint All Star Race winner and has nine wins overall has Charlotte Motor Speedway.  In addition he has been phenomenal on intermediate  track this season a typical trait of an All-Star race winner. This year on 1.5 mile tracks Johnson has an average finish of 5^th.

Kyle Busch-

The All Star Race is the perfect event for Kyle Busch it’s a short, winner take all, no holds barred event which fits perfectly into Rowdy’s style the built-in restarts also favor Busch who is one of the best in the game on restarts. Much like Johnson, Busch has also been very strong on intermediate speedways and won at Texas the sister speedway of Charlotte.

Martin Truex-

Every year a driver transfers in from the Sprint Showdown and runs well in the main event.  This year with a weaker field in the showdown, the driver with the best shot at racing in and making noise is Truex.  The 56 team is the best in Sprint Cup to have not won a race and much like Busch and Johnson he’s been very good a mile and half tracks nearly winning at Texas in April.

Add

-  Brian McCann (C, Atl):  Since coming back from the DL a 11 days ago, McCann in just 8 games has 3 HRs, 10 RBI and is batting nearly .300

-  Mitch Moreland (1B, Tex): Very quietly Mitch has become a top 10 first baseman in terms of fantasy production. He is batting .296, with 9 HR, 21 RBI and 18 runs scored. He plays every night and has only had 2 games this entire month where he has failed to record a hit. He is now hitting 5^th in the Ranger lineup so I suspect that his production will increase even more. Pick up this strong hitting left-handed batter.

-   Justin Morneau (1B, Min):  In the past week Justin has had 3 games where he has gotten 2+ RBI’s and over the past 12 games he his batting .375, with 16 RBI. HE is heating up.

-   Marco Scutaro (2B. SFG): 12 game hitting streak, which has brought his batting average up to .318. He has now scored in every game dating back to May 9^th.

-  Jon Jay (OF, StL): After a horrible April, Jay is hitting 400 in May with 10 runs scored 2 HRs 12 RBI – all of which is more than half of his season total production.

Drop:

-  Daniel Murphy (2B NYM): This is a case of a player playing on a team that hurts his fantasy numbers. Murphy is hitting the ball well, (he has a hit in each of his last 5 games, including 3 multi hit games) but is not getting support from others on his team which leads him not to score many runs or drive in many runs. Additionally he is not a power hitter so he will not give you HR’s. Unless your batting average is really in the tubes, find a second baseman that can give you more overall production.

-  Jayson Worth (OF, Was): A lot of people have held on to Worth while he is on the DL, thinking that he would return soon. After missing a rehab start, it seems that he may be out longer than expected.

-  Nolan Arenado (3B, Col): Arenado started hot but his average has dropped significantly over the past few weeks, and while the last few games may suggest a change in trend there is not enough overall production to keep him on your roster right now.

-  Daniel Nova (OF, Bos): Nova has not recorded a hit since he played in Toronto on May 10^th (a week ago), and has only scored once this week. He has dropped to the 6^th place in the order and will most likely continue to fall if his performance does not bounce back

-  Kyle Lohse (SP, Mil): After not signing a contract until late March and missing most of spring training the lack of prep time with a team seems to be catching up to Lohse. He is 1-4 on the season but has not recorded a win since April 22^nd. In his last three starts he has gone 5.0, 6.1 and 5.2 innings and given up 11, 9, and 5 hits . His ERA is 3.50 and his strikeout numbers are way down. Time to let him go.

They talk about who, if anyone, can beat the Miami Heat and talk about how they see the rest of the playoffs coming out. They also talk a little baseball, touching on the slumping Angels and the surging Yankees.

And as always, the end of the show is spent talking about “What’s Happening at the Farm Club?”.

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