Here's what I have to say

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Here's what I have to say about 10 topics in the world of sports.

1. I'm buying the Celtics. The only question is: Where do I sign?

Boston looked uninterested in the regular season and they didn't play great vs. Miami in the first round of the playoffs, but they are a legit squad right now. Yes, they are playing their best basketball at the right time of the season. The C's swatted away LeBron James and the Cavs, and now they're up 2-0 vs. the Magic in the best-of-7 series. Just bring on the Lakers. L.A. wants Boston, and Boston wants L.A. Brings back the good old days in the 1980s.

2. The Tampa Bay Rays are for real. I've admitted it finally. I'm still not sold on closer Rafael Soriano, who gets an arm injury every season, but this team can hit, play defense and they get great starting pitching just about every night. Have you seen them play? They are fun to watch. Good luck Yankees and Red Sox trying to catch that ballclub. Better start thinking Wild Card.

3. The Red Sox are not dead. Just when you write them off -- add David Ortiz in that mix, too -- they come to life and give you reason to believe.

4. The World Cup is right around the corner. Are you excited?

5. Is bass fishing a sport? Very debatable. In a tournament, yes, during a recreational activity, no way.

6. Cyclist Floyd Landis needs to keep his mouth shut. The fraud admitted to doping, and now he's trying to bring the entire cycling world down with him. Hope you can finally get a good night's sleep since you finally got that lie off your chest. You are not believable, I don't care what you say now. Is your name really Floyd?

7. Are you over the Bruins' major collapse? Start thinking franchise player with the No. 2 overall pick. Good times ahead in Beantown with the Bruins.

8. Man, I really can't wait for the NFL season to start. I also can't wait for Fantasy Football. Isn't the fantasy draft the best time of the year. It's a close second behind Christmas.

9. Boy, Kevin Garnett looks pretty darn healthy now. Do you think that has anything to do with the Celtics' recent success? You better believe it.

10. I'll make it easy on the Arizona Cardinals on who to give the starting quarterback job to. Matt Leinart. He's sat and watched Kurt Warner work his magic, now it's time to see if the lefty sinks or swims calling the signals. Derek Anderson is not the answer. Why do you think he's no longer in Cleveland? Exactly.

Fantasy Baseball Friday: May 21st

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Well, I really blew it last week by not posting my weekly column. I apologize. I will offer no excuses. Now onto the article. We are almost two months into the season, and this is where you start to find out who's for real, and who's not.

Top 10 Hitters of the Week:

1. Jose Bautista (Blue Jays) - It's very hard for me to believe, but Bautista might just be a good pick up this season. He'll never hit for average, but his power numbers and run production have been consistent so far this season. Just be careful if you're in a league with strikeouts. He has a k rate of nearly 25%.

2. Dan Uggla (Marlins) - Weren't we just speaking about a hitter who k's a ton. Forget about that right now. While I'm skeptical about him keeping his average around .290 (30 points higher than his career average) he's on pace for a 30/100/100 season. That's nothing to scoff at especially at the 2nd base position.

3. Alex Rodriguez (Yankees) - What can you say about Arod that hasn't already been said.

4. Shane Victorino (Phillies) - If you know me, then you know I can't stand the Flyin' Hawaiian, but it looks like he starting to turn his season around. He's on pace to easily surpass his career high of 14 homers and 62 RBI.

5. David Ortiz (Red Sox) - Maybe I was wrong? I'm not sure, maybe he's back on his super shakes, but the one thing I know is you need to ride Big Papi for everything he has now. If you have him, I'd try and sell him high.

6. Kevin Youkillis (Red Sox) - I may not like him personally, but I respect the heck out of him as a ball player. He's about as complete a hitter out there as you'll find and is on pace for his first 30/100 season.

7. Luke Scott (Orioles) - As long as he's facing right handed pitchers, he'll rake for power and drive in runs. The Orioles are very good with his playing time and understand what he can and cant' do. He's a good guy for an extra outfielder or the utility position.

8. Nelson Cruz (Rangers) - I'm not sure people realize how productive this guy is. If he can stay healthy, he'll be a top 10 outfielder in fantasy production.

9. Justin Upton (Diamondbacks) - I'm a big fan of J-Up. It's nice to see him raise his average 30 points the past two weeks as he's been hot. It now looks like he's righted the ship after a bad start.

10. Corey Hart (Brewers) - If you need a good 4th OF, then Hart's your guy. He'll never light the world on fire for an entire season, but is a solid bench guy.

Top 10 Pitchers of the Week:

1. Joe Saunders (Angels) - He's put up two great starts after staring the season 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA. This is a good time to buy low on him if you know his current owner is frustrated.

2. Ricky Romero (Blue Jays) - I think it's safe to say he's a legitimate starter now. The former 6th overall pick is dealing again after struggling for a few starts.

3. Anibel Sanchez (Marlins) - Is he finally healthy again? It looks like it. He's owned in only 5% of Yahoo leagues so he's available.

4. Ubaldo Jiminez (Rockies) - The beast keeps rolling, and I don't see him slowing down for a while.

5. Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) - Finally the kid goes 7+ in 3 straight starts. This just might be the start of something magical, but I'm pretty biased. His long term potential is scary good.

6. Jonathon Broxton (Dodgers) - It was only a matter of time before he started accumulating saves as he's had 4 this week and 7 straight.

7. Edwin Jackson (Diamondbacks) - One good start does not turn around a bad year. Keep an eye on him

8. Jon Lester (Red Sox) - I may not be a Sox fan, but I'm a big fan of Lester. He's won 4 in a row and is back on track. There is a reason why he's one of the best left handed starters in the bigs.

9. Jeremie Guthrie (Orioles) - He has a 3.86 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP, and a 3 to 1 K to BB rate. Pretty decent numbers. Too bad he's on 2-4. I still think he's worth a pick up though.

10. Clay Buchholz (Red Sox) - It's hard to think he's been the most consistent Bo Sox starter thus far, but that's the truth. He also leads the staff with a 3.26 ERA.

Cut em' or Claim em':

1. Ian Kennedy (Diamondbacks) - He's no Phil Hughes, but has been pretty darn good for the D-Backs so far. I say Claim him.

2. Randy Wolf (Brewers) - Cut him, cut him, cut him. He's made the Brewers look foolish so far this year.

3. Gordon Beckham (White Sox) - My gut says hold onto him, but he's been so god awful that he can no longer take a spot on my bench. Cut em'!

4. John Ely (Dodgers) - Maybe I'm just being a Dodgers fan here, but so far I'm impressed. So impressed that I say Claim em'. In 25.2 innings pitched he has 25 K's and only 3 walks. That is nice!

5. Jonny Gomes (Reds) - He's getting at bats in Cincy, and has done the absolute most with them. If you absolutely need an outfielder or utility guy, then claim him. I just don't buy the start he's had. He has to come back to reality.

6. Rod Barajas (Mets) - Catching is so thin that you need to claim him if you can. I'm not sure it will last, but the guy has an .893 OPS and 10 home runs, and is currently the #1 fantasy catcher according to Yahoo.

7. James Loney (Dodgers) - If only he could hit for power. What helps is his average, and the fact that he's stolen 6 bases already at the 1st base position. I'd claim him and use him as a solid bench player and occasional starter

8. Carlos Quentin (White Sox) - Cut him! I think his amazing 2008 is a fluke. Of course he can still hit a home run, but overall he's just not that good.

Well people, until next week

The top shelf and the bottom of the barrel

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The top shelf
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays still remain the team with the best record in the majors and therefore remain at the top of the list. Probably most impressive is the fact that Tampa Bay has four starters with an ERA of 3.00 or lower. No other team in the majors can say that.

New York Yankees
It wasn't a very good start to the week for the Yankees last week as they lost three of four to the Tigers, including two shutouts. They rebounded, however, taking two of three from Minnesota. Andy Pettitte remains terrific with a 5-0 record and 1.79 ERA. In fact, the Yankees are 7-0 in his starts this year.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies hold the best record in the National League and have gone 11-3 in the month of May thus far. What will be interesting to watch is how they respond to losing both of their top options in the bullpen in Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson. Jose Contreras is now the closer by default.

Minnesota Twins
The Twins have been a pretty ho-hum team over the past week, but Justin Morneau has been doing his best to keep things interesting for Minnesota. Morneau leads the league in hitting at .362 and his 1.142 OPS is also tops in the league.

Toronto Blue Jays
They are in third place in the AL East and if the season ended today would not be a playoff team, but I can think of two or three divisions that this team could be dominating. The Jays lead the league in homers and headed into Monday with a four-game winning streak. Ricky Romero is having a terrific second season after a solid rookie campaign. Opponents are batting a paltry .210 against him.

The bottom of the barrel

Milwaukee Brewers
As if a six-game losing streak isn't bad enough, the Brew Crew just lost one of its starters in a very startling manner. Doug Davis was placed on the DL on the 16th after being diagnosed with Pericarditis, which is an inflamation of the heart's tissue lining. On the plus side, Casey McGee, who has an awesome baseball name, by the way, has built upon his rookie year with an even better sophomore season.

Seattle Mariners
No team in the American League scores fewer runs, gets on base less frequently and hits fewer home runs than the Mariners. Their pitching staff has been able to keep them in some games, but last time I checked, the team that scores more runs wins most games.

Arizona Diamondbacks
You'd be hard-pressed to find a bullpen quite this bad. There are a lot of ERA's with sixes, sevens and even eights and nines in front of the decimal point. A win over Atlanta snapped a seven-game losing streak, but a 13-1 loss the following night got things back on the wrong track for the D-backs.

Kansas City Royals
Zach Greinke finally won a game and then manager Trey Hillman promptly lost his job. In the 15 games the Royals have played this month, they have scored no more than two runs in seven of them - all of those games were losses.

Houston Astros
The Astros are in dead last in the weakest division in baseball. Things seemed to be turning around, especially after the Stros swept the Cardinals, knocking them out of the top spot in the division and out of the top shelf. But it all went back to business as usual against San Francisco as they lost three straight. Roy Oswalt took one of those losses and dropped to 2-5 on the season, despite a 2.52 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 55 innings.

I really, really, really, REALLY hate to say I told you so

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

This is one of those times when I really hate being right.

Game 7 was a microcosm of the entire series, right down to the too many men on the ice penalty that ultimately cost them the game.

Boston played outstanding hockey through most of the first period, executing on power plays and throwing pucks on net while controlling the majority of the play. Then, just like in the series, everything fell apart.

They stopped forechecking. They stopped pressuring Michael Leighton. Tuukka Rask allowed a soft goal and the momentum swung. Then, with the game in the balance, a penalty that can only come from lack of concentration. At a time when a team should be most focused, 3-3 in the third period of a game 7, the Bruins lost theirs and ultimately it cost them.

I wish I could say I was surprised the Bruins lost in such a fashion, but given the character of this team all season, I'm really not. It was a team that at the end of the day could never figure out how to win. Injuries played a role, sure, but the Bruins were not the only team dealing with them.

Now Bruins fans must look to the future, which looks bright with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, but also has some question marks, such as the futures of Mark Recchi, Miro Satan and Tim Thomas.

Does Recchi retire? Did the Bruins see enough from Satan when he shared a line with David Krejci to bring him back in that capacity next season? Will Thomas waive his no-trade clause and free up some cap space to go after a quality scorer?

These are just a few things the Bruins fans will get to mull through their now extended offseason as they try to shake of the sting of forever being associated with the New York Yankees.

Bruins better not choke

By Chad Garner
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Those darn Boston Bruins better not choke.
Is there really any excuse in the world to justify why they squandered a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers, if they lose Game 7 tonight?
No way.
You don't lose four straight games and get a free pass. Especially not in Boston.
Boston fans are already drawing comparisions to this potential choke job to the Yankees vs. the Red Sox in the playoffs years ago.
I'm not going there, however.
But it's rather mind-boggling to me why they haven't closed out the series yet.
Well, when you have your foot on someone's throat, you better step on it even more to deliver the TKO. If not, well, you see what happens.
I know the injuries have piled up on the Bruins, in particular David Krejci's season-ender is a complete killer.
But this is a T-E-A-M, and no one man should hold the key to winning and losing.
So, it's time for the Bruins to man up, play as one, put on a show for the Boston fans, and finally put the Flyers out to pasture.
If not, there's going to be some major problems in Boston tonight.

Are the Bruins skating into a perfect storm?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Hey, I'm not saying it's definitely going to happen, but I think we all need to start bracing for the possibility that the Bruins could become part of history.

Only three teams in the three major sports that have seven-game playoff series have ever come back from a three-game deficit. The Flyers could very well become the fourth. I made the statement that Game 5 was a must-win for the Bruins. Some scoffed. Some said that it wasn't possible because the teams that had completed the comeback were "special" teams and the Flyers were not.

I will agree that the Maple Leafs in 1942 were special. They were the second-best team in the league in the regular season and had already beaten the top team in the first round of the playoffs. But what made those other teams special? It wasn't that they were the most talented teams. What made them special was the fact that they were written off as done for and then came back to win. It was the fact that they refused to say die.

Nobody thought the Red Sox - a wild card team - would beat the Yankees - a team that won 101 games in 2004. And certainly no one thought the Islanders - a team that was just a few seasons old - would beat a Pittsburgh Penguins from the powerful Norris division.

Throw on top of that the fact that the Flyers have already proven that they are a plucky team that can come back. Remember that this was a team that was on the outside looking in at the playoff picture after a huge swoon and took win-or-go-home game against the New York Rangers to beat them out by one point for a playoff berth.

Add to that the fact the Flyers got Simon Gagne back and therefore now have the most talented player on the ice. Meanwhile, the Bruins have lost two guys from their top two lines, including their overall most talented forward and their top scorer from the regular season.

The Bruins are back in a familiar situation. People spent all season saying how good this team could be if all its difference makers were healthy. They were, for all of a few moments and yes, the Bruins looked good. But now the injury bug has bitten again and the Bruins are back where they were all season - looking inept in the offensive zone and scrambling to figure out how to keep the puck out of their own.

Sometimes it's not just about being a talented team. Sometimes it's about the circumstances and this could become a perfect storm for the Flyers.

I'm not saying it's a lock, but watch out, Bruins fans. It's not as far-fetched as you might think.

The top shelf and the bottom of the barrel

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

This will hopefully be the first in a weekly series where I break down the best and worst five teams in the MLB. Hopefully we'll stir up some conversation because my picks won't always be the popular ones. So let's get down to it.

Top shelf
Tampa Bay Rays
Sure, Dallas Braden just made history against them, but that's exactly what makes Braden's accomplishment that much more impressive. No one has even thrown a no-hitter against a team with a better winning percentage than the Rays have, let alone a perfect game. Only one team in baseball is in the top 3 in both pitching and runs and that's Tampa Bay.

New York Yankees
Much like Tampa Bay, the Yankees have been dominant against the toughest division in baseball at 11-2. They won five in a row, including two games in which they blasted the Red Sox at Fenway Park before losing the last game of the three-game series last night. Robinson Cano is having the kind of season people have been waiting for since he came up to the bigs and that could result in an MVP award at season's end.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies had a rough end of April, losing five of its last seven games against teams that frankly they shouldn't have lost to, but have righted the ship early in May. Roy Halladay has been an absolute animal, winning six of his seven starts. He's gone the distance in three of those starts and twice he finished those complete games with a shutout.

Minnesota Twins
I seriously thought about putting St. Louis ahead of Minnesota because of the fact that 14 of the Twins' 21 wins have come against a weak AL Central. But the fact that Minnesota has played as well outside their new friendly confines as they have at Target Field made me reconsider. The Twins have been getting consistent efforts from their starting pitchers, from one to five with Francisco Liriano regaining the ace-like form he lost a year ago. And while Ron Gardenhire blew smoke at the beginning of the season about a bullpen by committee, Jon Rauch has filled the void Joe Nathan left behind.

St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis was cruising until it ran into a buzz saw called the Philadelphia Phillies last week. After winning the first game, 6-3, St. Louis was held to three runs over the next three games, all of which were losses. Granted, two of those losses came against Cole Hammels and Roy Halladay. Still, the Cardinals need to find more consistent offense to back what has to be considered one of the strongest rotations in baseball. Jaime Garcia has proved to be a nice addition to a rotation that already includes Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. With a 1.18 ERA and .195 batting average against, Garcia has been far better than his 3-2 record would indicate. In his two losses, he has given up one run and struck out 12 in 13 innings, but only received one run's worth of support from his offense.

Bottom of the Barrel (The absolute worst is, of course, at the bottom)

Pittsburgh Pirates
They're dead last in the league in pitching and haven't done enough with the bat to make up for their shortcomings. Garrett Jones is the only Pirate on pace to drive in more than 100 RBI this season and that's not likely to keep with him sporting a .230 average and .396 slugging percentage.

Seattle Mariners
Seattle finally won its first game of the month of May on Sunday, snapping an eight-game losing streak. Seattle is batting a paltry .229 as a team on the season and is tied for second to last in all of baseball in runs scored.

Cleveland Indians
Only one team has scored fewer runs than the Indians this season. As mentioned above, they are second to last in that category, but fall below Seattle in the rankings because the Indians' pitching has an ERA nearly a run worse.

Kansas City Royals
You need look no further than Greinke to find an example of how bad the Royals are. Greinke is ninth in the league in ERA at 2.51 after six starts, but currently sits at 0-4 on the season.

Baltimore Orioles
While they have the worst record in baseball, there are enough reasons not to put the O's dead last. Baltimore won just five games in the month of April, but have already won four this month and have won two of their last three series against some decent teams in Boston (whom the O's swept) and Minnesota.

Houston Astros
Houston lost 11 of its last 13 games and hasn't won consecutive games since it swept a three-game series against Pittsburgh on April 23-25. Lance Berkman has offered to waive his no-trade clause in an attempt to get out of dodge. There is not one thing going right for this team. The guys the Astros were hoping to lean on, namely Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and Berkman, have hit for a combined .213 with seven homers and 26 RBI in 286 at-bats. If things don't perk up soon, some people may be finding their way towards the door.