Moving To Moscow

"Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" is a famous Winston Churchill quote that I find still applies today. The Kontinental Hockey League(KHL) is one of the largest growing professional leagues in the world. With players now opting to return to Russia due to a sudden increase in payroll, The National Hockey League(NHL) finds itself in the risk of losing its most competitive players.

The Russians are the most skilled and dynamic players the NHL has ever been able to host and broadcast to the masses. This is not anti Canadian, the Canadians just play the game with more physicality and use teamwork to their advantage. The most recent player to leave was Atlanta Thrashers forward Maxim Afinogenov, who recently signed with SKA St. Petersburg. Afinogenov was not alone as former NHL players Evgeni Nabokov and Denis Grebeshkov also signed with SKA St. Petersburg.

The next probable departure is that of Ilya Kovalchuk who has been offered numerous contracts to play in the NHL and the KHL. Kovalchuk who recently had the NHL reject his contract with the New Jersey Devils that would have had him earning a hundred million over the next seventeen years. The Russians immediately jumped on the opportunity when KHL president Alexander Medvedev  promised to match the NHL's offer if Kovalchuk agreed to sign with SKA this season. As of right now Kovalchuk has yet to make a decision and is awaiting further offers.

How Russian hockey grew so much as to be able to match the NHL's payroll is still a mystery, but the players are feeling they might as well staying in their home country if they are getting the same money. The NHL is going to be losing attention soon if the KHL is able to keep up and match their output, this bodes poorly for North American hockey. Eventually North Americans will not be able to see the Ovechkin's or the Malkin's if the future stars stay in Russia.

On the other hand this could be good for the NHL as it opens up a whole new attempt to get a global audience. A new series could eventually become a reality, NHL all-stars would take on the KHL all-stars in an annual game that could potentially draw a global audience. This stands to generate a great deal of revenue for both leagues while at the same time generating a larger audience.

Still the future could end up bringing televised KHL games to North America, this is a huge risk for the NHL but seems to be inevitable.

Depth In The Dugout

Why would the Jays keep sitting one of their best players? I have always followed the Jays even through their tougher years, but I believe this is their best team in a long time. Fred Lewis is easily one of the best players they have, he is hitting .268 and has thirty doubles this season. Lewis was picked up by the Jays in an off season trade with the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later.

Lewis who was an instant success in Toronto became the regular left fielder for the blue birds going into a season with great expectations. As the season continued the Jays began to fall in the tough American League East but still remain a reputable ball club. Lewis filled a spot that General Manager Alex Anthopoulos originally had planned for up and coming rookie Travis Snider. When Snider became unavailable due to a wrist injury, Lewis was brought in and eventually took the role of lead off man.

In the past month Snider made his recovery and rejoined the ball club after a quick stint in AAA with Las Vegas. Now that Snider is back their are four outfielders for three positions, Snider does have one of the batter bats on the Jays roster but lacks a defensive presence that ends up costing the team. Last night in Oakland was a prime example of Snider's inability to be a prime defender for the Jays. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh Rajai Davis hits a line drive to Snider who is unable to handle it. The ball bounced away with Snider unable to locate it while Mark Ellis rounds the bases to score from first.

Lewis is consistent both offensively and defensively while delivering clutch performances when called upon. He adds great depth to roster with a desire to win and contribute to the teams performance. If you ask me Lewis should be the only left fielder in Toronto. My solution would be to move Snider to right field, send Jose Bautista into third and trade third baseman Edwin Encarnacion.

No Hitter, No Brainer

I awoke this morning to find that the great game of baseball had delivered a shocking disappointment out of the American League. There was yet another pitcher attempting to make history this season by throwing a no-hitter only to see it fall short.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey was on the mound to face the visiting Oakland Athletics at Target Field for the final game of the three game set. Although Slowey got off to a rough start walking two batters in the first three innings, he managed to pull through in order to deliver another solid start for the Twins. Slowey had kept his bid for the no-hitter alive through seven innings when he got Rajai Davis to ground into the inning ending double play. Fans at Target Field were buzzing with anticipation for the first no-hitter at the newly built stadium. Upon arrival to the dugout Slowey receives the congratulatory handshake from manager Ron Gardenhire, at which point he is told that his night has come to an end. The stunned Slowey did not complain or argue but rather accepted his manager's decision with a sense of professionalism.

The Twins faithful went from giving a standing ovation to a resounding boo when Slowey did not return to the hill for the eighth inning. This put reliever Jon Rauch in a rather awkward position entering the game with his home fans so adamant in their boos. Fans briefly turned in his favor when he struck out the first batter he faced. Fans quickly went back to their booing when Oakland's Cliff Pennington doubled to the wall in right-center field. The no-hitter was not meant to be, but still leaves fans with a bad taste in their mouth.

Now personally I feel that this is a travesty, I mean the man is working very hard and has achieved something phenomenal but yet the manager will just tear it away from him? I fully understand that he is the Twins ace and he just recovered from tendinitis in his elbow but still he had a chance at history. The reason given for taking Slowey out of the game was said to be his pitch count. I mean sure one hundred and six pitches is getting up there but not once did he complain about pain in his elbow and he never requested to be taken out of the game. In contrast to the recent no-hitter by Diamondbacks starter Edwin Jackson, he threw one hundred and forty-nine pitches in nine innings.

I'm all for protecting the top players, but if a pitcher is going to make history I say let him pitch!