General Sports

By: Scott Edwards Twitter: @scottedwards18 Beginning this past off season there have been discussions throughout the baseball community about Manny Machado and where superstar shortstop's next destination will be. Machado, 25, has yet to even hit the prime years of his career and will enter free agency at season’s end. If the Orioles want to begin the rebuilding process immediately, then dealing Machado is the perfect place to start. Knowing Machado has a preferred destination of the Bronx, it will become a bit more difficult for the Orioles to find a suitable match willing to give a large haul in return. Like Kawhi Leonard's situation in the NBA, Machado is a case of knowing where he wants to be, but could help a team looking to get over that hump this season. As Machado continues to have his best offensive season through this point, with a stat line of .303/19 HR/ 55 RBI, I discuss the teams that may bite and feel he can be enough to make the playoff push. L

Despite the best of intentions, the Chicago Cubs have gotten more than they bargained for with signing right handed pitcher Yu Darvish over the offseason. After coughing up $126 million over 6 years, Darvish has been on the disabled list twice this year, has only had 4 starts, and hasn’t pitched since late May after experiencing significant inflammation in his triceps. The expectation was that Yu, after pitching 5 innings in Single A on Monday, would finally return to the Cubs this weekend, right? Wrong. While throwing a bullpen session this Thursday at Dodger Stadium, the 31 year old hurler experienced pain in his triceps. The Cubs are sending him back to team doctors to see if their pain could be more significant than inflammation. This setback, combined with star third baseman Kris Bryant landing on the 10 day DL with shoulder inflammation, continues a streak of bad luck to befall the reigning NL Central Champs. Ironically, this occurs while the Cubs are in LA facing Darvish&

By Zane Robidoux Twitter: @zrobidoeee As June comes to a close and July rolls around, so does the halfway point of the MLB season. Even though the All-Star game isn’t for a few more weeks, the true midpoint of the season rests right on game number 81, which is only about a week away. With that midway point fast approaching, let’s take a look at some of the most surprising stories of the 2018 season thus far. The resurgence of Matt Kemp  Matt Kemp’s story is a strange one. I mean, he’s never really been a terrible hitter by any statistical measure, but for some reason when one thinks of Matt Kemp, nothing special comes to mind. He had his best season with the Dodgers in 2011 posting a .324/39 HR/126 RBI slash line, and since then has been a consistent productive hitter when playing a fullseason. He was traded to the Padres in 2015, and since has seemed to have lost his luster. After bouncing around in Atlanta and San Diego for a few productive years, he mad

(via mmafighting.com) By Fabrizio Salerno Twitter:  @fabriziosa1erno The UFC, being the multi-billion-dollar company that it is, needs no lesson on driving-in sales. With almost every pay-per-view promotion that UFC President Dana White conjures up, the public is intrigued to watch the end result. By elevating well-known athletes like Ronda Rousey, Nate Diaz, Chris Weidman, and, of course, Conor McGregor, the UFC has been a force to be reckoned with in the fighting world. While the success of the brand cannot be pinpointed to one individual, UFC certainly carried the wave of energy McGregor brought with him when was booked to fight. But by being out of fighting for a little over a year, does McGregor still have the spirit to get back and compete in the octagon. Conor is the main guy for UFC and any belt he wants he would go for. Whether he has to gain or lose weight, he takes on the challenge and gives the paying customers what they want. Take the "mega-

By: Fabrizio Salerno Twitter:@fabriziosa1erno After making the blockbuster trade of the offseason the New York Yankees got the 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. This increased the Yankees chances to make the World Series after falling short the previous season. Yankee fan s have been patiently waiting for Stanton to have his “Yankee” moment. Stanton seems to be under performing and is starting to realize standards are different for Yankee superstars. He is currently on pace to hit over 40 homers and surpass 100 RBIs which is still normal superstar standard. Some Yankee fans still aren’t comfortable with him in the lineup because he hasn’t had a “Yankee” moment. Last night the Yankees were tied going into the bottom of the ninth.  Stanton steps up to the plate with two outs and two strikes.Then boom, he takes one to deep left center field and that marks his first walk off home run in the pinstripes. This could be the moment Stanton and Yankee fans have been waiting for

By Scott Edwards Twitter: @scottedwards18 As we approach the half way point of the MLB season, the AL MVP race begins to heat up with most of the dominant hitters in the MLB coming from the American League this season. From the impressive, historic start to the season by Mookie Betts, to the continued greatness of Mike Trout, this AL MVP race is truly the award race to follow this season. And so, as we are at the half way point, I felt it would be a good time to give an overview of who is leading and who has a chance to take it home by season’s end. Simply put, when all is said and done, Mike Trout could go down as the best baseball player to ever step on a field. At the young age of 26 years old, Trout is already a two-time MVP and six time all-star. And if we are being truly honest, he easily could have had another three MVP’s if it wasn't for three second place finishes. Yet miraculously, this year may somehow be Trout’s best campaign to date. The Angels’ star ou

By Zane Robidoux Twitter: @zrobidoeee One of the MLB's biggest question marks for the future is how it is going to draw interest from younger audiences. A study by Magna Global in 2016 showed that the average age of an MLB fan is 57, and of that same fan base, only 7% of them were under the age of 18. In other words, it’s time to draw in some younger fans. An easy and simple way to do this would be to utilize the amount of star power generated throughout All-Star weekend. Even though all the big names of the sport are in attendance, the only time you get to see the majority of the players in action is the actual All-Star game, and even then, that may only be for an inning or two. Exposure of these players to a younger audience is what’s going to draw a younger crowd in, so the league should look for a way to better incorporate them into more activities throughout the weekend, rather than just the game. Yes, we do have the Home Run Derby, which is a great way to get a

Baseball is a dying sport and something needs to be done for the sake of baseball. This is a call to the MLB to take some notes from the NBA and NFL. Let’s go back to Philadelphia 2008, one of the premier sports cities in America. Where an average of 42,254 people are attending a contending Phillies team full of exciting players including Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and more. Today, Phillies for the first time since 2010 are a contender and are a team that is threatening to go far in the playoffs. Half of Philly can’t even name 5 players on the team and the average attendance 24,713. Milennials are impatient they don’t have the pateince to sit down for a three and a half hour baseball game to drag on. Sports like the NBA and NFL are  fully aware of this and that’s why they have taken steps to speed up their respective games. You watch football now and huddles are non-existent, this speeds up the game incredibly as there is less intermission and more a