MLB Power Poll

We're in the dog days of summer and the main focus in the world of sports is on baseball. After a huge turnover in the last edition of the MLB Power Poll, week three is much more stable. At the top, it's the same first five lineup. As we roll down the list though, we see some newcomers join the party. Injuries also play a major part this week. Let's see where the shakeups affect the latest Top 10.

Top 10

1.) Boston Red Sox [1] (43-28)- The heat hasn't cooled in Boston. Fresh off a Stanley Cup Championship for the Bruins, the Red Sox have given the "nation" more to cheer for. After taking 2 of 3 from the 4th ranked Brewers, the BoSox have now won five straight series dating all the way back to May. One dark mark is young flamethrower Clay Buchholtz landing on the DL with a back strain.
2.) Philadelphia Phillies [2] (45-28)- Smoothing sailing for the Phillies this month. It's almost become expected for the Phils to go streaking and sure enough Philadelphia has won eight of 10. What makes their consistent winning even more impressive is that they haven't even really started to hit. Philly's ranked 20th in the league in batting average (.247).

Future's So Bright...

Rory McIlroy didn't need shades to show the world that he has the potential to be the next superstar of the PGA.  Rory roared out to a huge early lead in the second major of the year and never looked back. When all was said and done on Sunday at The Congressional Golf Course in our nation's capital, McIlroy had turned in the best score ever posted at the US Open. A brilliant -16 performance gave McIlroy the first major championship of his young career. It also helped erase some of the ugly memories of the 22-year-old's meltdown at the Masters earlier this year.

No Doubting Thomas in Cup Clincher

There's no way the NHL's championship round could live up to the hype of the NBA's title, but it didn't have to. The Stanley Cup Finals were excellent in their own right. In the end, the Boston Bruins went the distance to top the Vancouver Canucks on the road in game 7 to capture their first championship since 1972. The hero of the series, and for the entire playoffs for that matter, was Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas. More so than in any other sport, a hot goalie can almost singlehandedly carry his team to a title, and that's exactly what Thomas did en route to the Conn Smythe trophy.

MLB Power Poll

Welcome to week two of the MLB Power Poll. We've got some major shakeups throughout the top 10 with the emergence of some red hot teams. The previous week's rankings are in brackets followed by the team's ranking in parentheses.

Top 10
1.) Boston Red Sox [6] (39-26)- Is this the same team that started the season with six straight losses and went 2-10 out of the gate. The Sawx can't be stopped now. A season long nine game win streak has them atop the AL East and just a 1/2 game behind the Phils for the best record in the bigs. Adrian Gonzalez has hit an RBI nine games in a row.

Mavs Become Made Men

NBA fans certainly got a treat in this year's finals. The Dallas Mavericks capped off an incredible playoff run by beating the Miami Heat 105-95 in game six to win their first ever championship 4-2. This was definitely one of the more memorable NBA Titles in my lifetime. It's easy to see why this showdown riveted basketball fans for the past two weeks.

Triple Crown Not Fit For Any Kings

It hasn't happened since I was born. It's now been 32 years since the last Triple Crown winner in horse racing. Not since Affirmed accomplished the feat in 1978 has a horse triumphed in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes in the same year. The streak continued for another year and this time it wasn't even close. All three races had different winners. 24-1 Long shot Ruler on Ice captured today's Belmont, Shackleford won the Preakness at Pimlico, and Animal Kingdom took the Kentucky Derby. So, after more than three decades with no horse racing domination, what's the deal? Maybe the better question is, 'why is it so hard   to win the Triple Crown?'

Big Game in Big D

What a game. What a championship round. It's been a very entertaining see-saw of a series in the NBA finals so far, capped off by a brilliant showing in a pivotal Game 5 contest in Dallas. The Mavericks won a thriller 112-103 to take a crucial 3-2 advantage in the series. If you were to tell me last week that the Mavs would be a win away from taking home the title, I would have called you crazy. Looks like I was the crazy one.

Sen-sational

Never before had the Binghamton Senators won a championship of any kind...that is until tonight. The B-Sens beat the Houston Aeros on the road in game 6 of the American Hockey League Finals to capture their first ever title.  The Sens' story is an incredible one. I covered this team for three seasons from 2007-10 while working at the Fox affiliate in Binghamton, New York. I was able to follow the team like no one else while producing and hosting a 30-minute weekly show called appropriately enough "B-Sens Weekly." With some extra free time last week, I even got to serve as a Media Relations assistant during the Sens' homestand in the finals. Never in the depths of my wildest imagination did I think that this moment would come for a team that had to overcome so many hurdles. There's definitely no squad more deserving.

MLB Power Poll

Here's a new weekly feature that I'm going to try out every week. With the summer heating up, it's finally time to weed out the best and the worst in the MLB. My goal is to rank the current Top 10 teams in baseball with a short description as well as list the Bottom 5 each and every Monday. Let's play ball.




Top 10
1.) NY Yankees (33-24)- Top to bottom, this is the best team in baseball right now. The Yanks have only a one game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East standings heading into a big rivalry series with the BoSox. They'll need to bring their "A" game to keep that lead.  Teammates Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson ranks 2nd and 3rd in HR. Props to the pinstripes pitchers for holding opponents to three runs or less over their last seven games.

A French Final To Remember

French Open Men's Singles Finals: (1) Rafael Nadal vs. (3) Roger Federer
Agassi-Sampras. McEnroe-Borg. Men's tennis has had some incredible rivalries over the years, but almost none stack up to that of the current contestation between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The two best players of the last 10 years (and two of the best of all-time) will add yet another chapter to their storied rivalry when they meet up at the French Open Finals in Roland Garros tomorrow. If you're a tennis fan like I am, this is the Championship you'd been hoping for.  And if it's anything like their past match ups, this could be yet another thriller.