Columbus Blue Jackets Case Study

Training camp has begun and fans are gearing up for another exciting season. They are hoping for a repeat of last year’s performance. People are already speculating that the Toronto Blue Jays are contenders to win the World Series even with the changes that have been made in the club. Is it too early to think about the playoffs and the World Series? Will the team be able to overcome the changes that have been made? I guess only time will tell as the season progresses, but it should be interesting to watch the team develop with the new management and

The title says it all. The University of Michigan Football Team has been transformed into a monster from the start of the Harbaugh Era. Before Jim Harbaugh took over as head coach Michigan suffered a devastating 5-7 season and missed a bowl game under Brady Hoke. The team is now on the up rise. Even though the statement may offend some, it is true. There are those critics that firmly disagree because of the big plays the defense sometimes allows, an inexperienced quarterback and weak schedule. Despite their few flaws, Michigan has a championship caliber team capable of monumental wins because of their; prodigious coaching staff, unmatched defensive line, a developing quarterback, improved offense, and the man himself, Jabrill Peppers.

As of this writing, the Orioles find themselves 6.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot, with no other team currently in front of them. However, nearly the rest of the American League is in a similar situation, with only a total of four teams being more than 5 games behind the Twins. Even though the standings could look very different by the time the trade deadline arrives, the Orioles have recently stated (again) that they will be buying at the deadline.

Before last night's struggle in Detroit, the Texas Rangers had won 7 of 8 games since finishing off a series in Minnesota against the fellow Wild Card Contending Twins with a victory. That stretch of games, including a sweep of the also relevant Tampa Bay Rays, has catapulted the Rangers back into not only the American League Wild Card race, but the club now finds itself within actual reach of the A.L. West Division title.

Although the Southern Oregon weather hasn’t particularly indicated the start of spring, the season of new beginnings has commenced and brought along with it a fresh new Pirate baseball team thirsty for success. With a varied degree of experience at their repertoire, the Phoenix Pirates look to revitalize a program that has missed the playoffs by one single spot in the past two consecutive years. After completing their preseason with a record over .500, the team transitioned into the league contests and was quickly confronted with some struggles. Through their first six games, the boys were only able to pick up two victories (both against Klamath Union in a double header). They managed to compete with two of the toughest teams in the state when battling against Hidden Valley and Henley, but ultimately dropped all three of the contests featuring those ball clubs. Despite a rocky start, the Pirates seemed poised to make a run for the playoffs coming off a competitive double header in Henley that certainly boosted their confidence for the ensuing games.

Therefore, it didn’t matter if the Jackets won or loss on Friday, the spirit of the fan’s were too high to bring them down, out of their lively stupor.

The Pirates broke a long playoff curse a few years ago, and were one of the best teams for a couple of years, but have since regressed and are now mediocre. They have an incredibly young rotation, anchored by Gerrit Cole, and followed up by, Jameson Taillon, Chad Kuhl, and Tyler Glasnow. All of them are all under 30, as is Drew Hutchison, their sixth option. Ivan Nova is their veteran, and he pitched very well after coming over at the Trade Deadline last year. After dealing away star closer Mark Melancon at the deadline, Tony Watson took over and has been extremely reliable. Their lineup is solid, led by Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gregory Polanco, but McCutchen is on the downside of his career and both

There are many teams in the NHL, but there is only one team that is truly the best: the New York Rangers. The New York Rangers have consistently great records, very classy uniforms, a great location, and have won many championships. The New York Rangers over the 90 years they have existed, have had consistently great records that will not let their fans down. This season the Rangers are 39-19-2, and third in the Metropolitan. The Rangers have kept the same basic uniform design that they started with in the 1920s, and to this day it looks almost the same. Most NHL teams have changed their uniforms many times over, while only a select few have stuck to their original uniforms. The Rangers have the best location of all the NHL teams, located at

To put this year's record in perspective, the Buccaneers are on the verge of surpassing their win total from last

“And the Rays are in the postseason. David Price goes the distance. A complete game for Price and Tampa Bay is back in the post season.” Those were the words of Brian Anderson, the play-by-play announcer when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the American League Wild Card tiebreaker game, beating the Texas Rangers 5-2. It was also the last time the Rays have been in the playoffs. In 2014 and 2015, they finished second to last in the AL East. Fans get tired of watching their teams lose. We can’t control the outcome of the game, but we can control the experience that they have while at the ballpark.

The Nashville Predators have been going through a seemingly endless process since entering the NHL in 1998. It did not take the Predators long to establish a successful and competitive nature among the franchise. Their first five seasons they struggled becoming a team and missed the playoffs, however, they have come together and made the playoffs every year since. The Predator’s on-ice performance was consistently among the top three teams in the league, but still faced many challenges.

Look where they are now. Two teams full of young stars who are set for many years to come. The Toronto Blue Jays should start rebuilding this off season because of their age, expensive contracts, and valuable trade pieces currently on their roster. Age is more than just a number in sports, but especially in the game of baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays have the fifth oldest team with an average age at 28.9.

2-1 start and have looked good in their games. Recently they defeated Martin Jones and his San Jose Sharks by a score of 7-4. The King Lundqvist was not in net for that game but is expected to be in net tonight. As we all know when the Wings and Rangers meet up, lately the games are all defense and goaltending as the offense on both sides seem to cool off. The Rangers are looking to finally get back to the Stanley Cup Finals so they can finally win it for Lundqvist. This team weakness so far this year is the lack of defense coming from their defensive players as they have had their defensive lapses just as the wings have their 2nd period mind lapses. Look for this one to be another tight played

Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery should form the right side of our infield in 2018, but are they definitely going to be better than Tommy Joseph and Cesar Hernandez? Only time can tell. We don't have any Mike Trouts or Kris Bryants in our system, kids we know who will be major league talents. JP Crawford couldn't hit till July, Mickey Moniak has struggled, and our best minor league pitcher is 19. We have a lack of spectacular relievers in the minors, as nearly all our top pitching talent is starters. Some of them won't be busts, but some will, and it will be a large problem. Of the prospects we have brought up in the past year, only Nick Williams seems to have worked out. Hoskins, Kingery, Crawford, Moniak, Haseley, Jorge Alfaro, and countless others are supposed to be our future, but are we really sure they can all be solid and put up numbers worthy of the major leagues? Only time can tell, but a dearth of surefire talents may hurt our

The Revs are currently sitting tied at fourth and fifth place with Toronto FC in the tight Eastern Conference, just three points ahead of closest pursuers Montreal Impact and Orlando City SC, who both have 28 points and are fighting for the last playoff spot.