6. If baseball had never been invented, would pine tar exist? As a wood preservative, you say? And to make medicinal soap to treat skin ailments, Im told. The soap you might use if you smear pine tar all over your neck?7. If the New York Islanders give their 2015 first-round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the payment for Thomas Vanek, who was later traded to Montreal, and if the Sabres wind up with Conor McDavid or Jack Eichel thanks to the Islanders, might the original Vanek trade from Buffalo to the Islanders have been the worst trade in modern NHL times?8. Jose Bautista tried unsuccessfully to steal third base when the Blue Jays were trailing the Red Sox 5-0. Why?9. I love it loud at rock shows and movie theatres. Why dont I love it loud at an NBA game? Because I might like to talk to the person next to me?10. Until somebody proves me wrong, Im pronouncing the controversial site of the 2022 soccer World Cup "Kotter", because thats how all of my trusted information sources tell me to pronounce "Qatar". I always get it right by remembering Gabe Kaplan and a young John Travolta.11. If Ichiro Suzuki is always referred to as "Ichiro", why do we call Yu Darvish "Darvish" and not "Yu"?12. Has Kyle Lowry ever heard of Bob Baun?13. Did you know that Justin Morneau is batting .351 for the Colorado Rockies? That stat came right out of thin air.14. Will the Columbus Blue Jackets ever understand how they held Sidney Crosby without a goal and why they lost to Pittsburgh?15. Could we agree that the best solution to the problem of baseball games that last too long is Mark Buehrle?16. If any of 29 NHL teams blew a 3-0 series lead, there would be major repercussions. The 30th team is San Jose. Dont you agree that "major repercussions" will fall short of sufficiently explaining the fallout if the Sharks lose to the Los Angeles Kings?17. Dont you love reading box scores? Last week, I saw that Brett Gardner of the Yankees went 0 for 3 and scored four runs.18. Because you cant watch all eight first-round Stanley Cup playoff series, theres always one that you havent seen and know little about, and so, can you tell me if anything interesting has happened between the Rangers and the Flyers?19. When Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce asked for more noise from the fans at the Barclays Center, they didnt mean booing, did they?20. With Ron Francis newly-installed as the Carolina Hurricanes general manager, and as long as Kirk Muller is the Hurricanes head coach, the highest-scoring player among current GMs and among head coaches are with the same team. Has this ever happened before? I guess not, but if you have time to do research that proves otherwise, be my guest, send me the information and I will Pass It On."Question" — Moody Blues Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . The Italian side scored twice in a four-minute span in the second half to defeat former stars from S. Wholesale Nike Air Max From China . Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/cheap-air-max-270/ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Latvia won a four-man World Cup bobsled race Sunday, while the U. Discount Nike Air Max Wholesale . The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics finished their recent trek at 3-1 on Monday in Salt Lake City when Rajon Rondo made a key jumper with 24.1 seconds remaining, as Boston held off the Utah Jazz, 107-102, at EnergySolutions Arena. Fake Nike Air Max Replica .J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them.The NCAA drops the puck today on their mens hockey tournament and there will be no shortage of Canadians on the ice as 16 teams try to make their first step to becoming National Champions. The tournament includes a total of 109 Canadian players. There are 35 players from Ontario, 35 from British Columbia, 18 from Alberta and seven each from Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Many of those players are trying to follow in the footsteps of several successful Canadian NHLers who went to college, including four members of the gold-medal-winning Sochi Olympic team: Jonathan Toews (North Dakota), Martin St. Louis (Vermont), Patrick Sharp (Vermont) and Chris Kunitz (Ferris State). "I think that if more Canadian families were exposed to what college can do — as parents for your kid socially, athletically and academically ... I think more people would be doing it," said University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery, a Montreal native who went to Maine and ended up playing 122 NHL games. Among the 945 players to see NHL action this season, 100 were Canadians who played at a U.S. college. Naturally, many went the more traditional road, through the QMJHL, OHL or WHL. But the NCAA is slowly becoming another acceptable way to get there. "Theres no wrong path," Phoenix Coyotes assistant general manager Brad Treliving said. "I think as a Canadian guy you grew up and youre around major junior hockey more, so ... youre closer to it than you are U.S. colleges, but, jeez, theres no wrong answer. Its an individual choice and theres benefits to both." Treliving said major junior hockey is the "quicker" path to the NHL because it has more of a pro-style schedule and grind. But others point to colleges 40-game season as a better chance for some players to develop. Theres more opportunity to lift weights and practice. "Theres the Sidney Crosbys and the Ovechkins and the Malkins of the world that could grow under a rock and are going to play in the NHL," Montgomery said. "Theres otther perfect examples — elite players like the Paul Kariyas of the world.dddddddddddd. Those are the ones everyone knows but its like, did he really need to go to college? Well, Paul Kariya needed to go to college because he was 155 pounds and in 18 months of college he was 175 pounds ready to play against 30-year-old men that are 225 pounds. "It teaches you how to be a man quick." Perhaps some notoriety can come from watching this NCAA tournament. Boston College defenceman Michael Matheson (Pointe-Claire, Que.) is a first-round pick and top prospect for the Florida Panthers, while Quinnipiac has Connor and Kellen Jones (Montrose, B.C.) and Matthew Peca(Petawawa, Ont.). Wisconsin goaltender Joel Rumpel (Swift Current, Sask.) has been one of the best in the country this season and could soon follow in the footsteps of other recent Canadian college players like Matt Read, Ben Scrivens and Cory Conacher who have signed NHL contracts. Hamilton brothers Greg and Matt Carey recently signed deals with the Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively, after playing at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. Greg Carey came away satisfied with his direction, which was only possible because playing tier-2 junior hockey opened him up to the world of U.S. colleges. "You have friends, older friends on your team who have the ability to go and to head down to the States and play and it looks like a lot of fun," Carey said in a phone interview. "And then you get to go on your visits and you get exposed to this world that you really dont see as a Canadian kid growing up. We see a lot of the major junior with the Dub and the O and the Q and the NHL is right there, front and centre, so we dont really get the NCAA." Looking at the tournament from an NHL draft perspective, the top eligible player in the tournament, according to Craig Buttons rankings, is Boston Colleges starting goalie Thatcher Demko. Demko posted a .921 save percentage and 2.13 goals against average in 21 starts this season. ' ' '