Detroit Likes Their Wings Home-Cooked

Detroit Red Wing fans at Joe Louis Arena haven't seen their team lose in over three months. Tonight, the Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1. The win was their NHL single-season record 21st straight win at home. Their last home loss came on November 3. The Red Wings' next two games are at home as well. They play Friday against Nashville and Sunday against San Jose. Those games give the Red Wings a shot at breaking another NHL record. The 1929-1930 Boston Bruins won an overall record 22 straight home games over a two season span.

Detroit is more concerned about winning than about the streaks. The Red Wings have a NHL-best 39 wins and 80 points. However, the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers only trail by one point, despite having played three less games. Additionally, the Central Division isn't a cake walk to navigate through. St. Louis, Nashville, and Chicago all are talented teams. Finally, the defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks should be coming after the top spot hard the rest of the way.

Well it will be interesting to see if Detroit can break the overall record. It will also be interesting to see how their home dominance affects them come playoff time. The Red Wings are going to need to continue to play well to stay atop the standings. The Red Wings seem to like their home cooking. After all, they haven't lost in three months at home.

Cuban Cespedes Finds Unlikely Home in Oakland

Yoenis Cespedes is a 26 year old Cuban outfielder, who had caught the eye of many MLB scouts. Cespedes defected to the Dominican Republic. He will be receiving his unblocking license and worker's visa in order to play in the United States. Many teams were intrigued by his talent, the amount of money he was seeking pushed many clubs out of contention for signing him. Two teams offered him a $36 million deal. The Miami Marlins offered it over six years, while the Oakland Athletics made it a four-year contract. Cespedes clearly desired money over playing for a playoff contender when he chose the Athletics.

The move was a bit strange for Oakland for two reasons. First, the only significant investment they had made so far this offseason was to resign veteran center fielder Coco Crisp. Center field is also Cespedes' primary position. One of them could change positions, but neither is worth the money that was spent on them to be a corner outfielder. Second, the Athletics are not usually big spenders on the free agent market. General Manager Billy Beane is much more comfortable normally swinging trades here and there. While he could put Crisp on the block now or Cespedes on it a few years down the road, it remains uncertain what his plan of action is.

The last question that needs to be addressed is whether or not he is worth the money. Some clubs clearly did not think so. Some Cuban players have taken a long time to develop. Examples of this are Kendrys Morales and Jose Contreras. Some Cubans have developed nicely, such as infielder Alexei Ramirez, innings-eater Livan Hernandez, and former postseason hero Orlando Hernandez. The most recent Cuban desire prior to Cespedes was electrifying pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Chapman has done little so far for the Reds. How good will Cespedes be? It is almost impossible to say. As you can see, Cuban players have had a wide variance of success in the majors. Cespedes demanded money, and he got it in Oakland. Now, it is time to see if Beane's investment is a worthwhile one for the clever GM.

Lefty and Tiger Head to Head Once Again

The final round at Pebble Beach saw two familiar faces paired once again. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have won a combined 111 PGA Tour events and 18 major championships. On Sunday, they were grouped again for the 30th time. Many viewers hoped for another thrilling finish. They got a thrilling performance, but that does not mean the final scores were close.

In fact, Mickelson pretty much wasted Woods on Sunday. He beat Tiger by 11 strokes with an 8-under 64. Lefty entered the day six strokes off the lead, but ended up winning by three. He had the lowest score of the day by three shots. In his dominating round, Mickelson made two beautiful long putts to save par and didn't have a single bogey. The victory gave Lefty his 40th career PGA Tour title, putting him in ninth-place all time.

Jim "Bones" Mackay has been Mickelson's caddie since his professional debut in 1992 (actually also at Pebble Beach). Following Lefty's incredible final round, Mackay stated, "Phil's a big-stage kind of a guy. I think it's fair to say that he enjoys what you saw out there today. He loves playing with Tiger. He loves having the chance to win tournaments. I think he gets fired up to have everybody watching."

Many viewers were indeed watching, which was good for a sport that has suffered in popularity since Woods' scandal. It was great to see these two old rivals at it once again. It was awesome to see Mickelson play so well once again. It was nice to see the sport matter once again for a day. For one Sunday, two old boys shared the spotlight once again. How many more times will this happen again? It is impossible to know for sure. What is for sure is that this day belonged to Phil Mickelson.