Still, I always thought it would be weird to have a Civil War movie WITHOUT the webhead. For those of you who don't know, Civil War is an arc in the the comics where the Superhero Registration Act is passed and as such, heroes are forced to sign up with the government or rebel against them. There's a pretty big split among the heroes, and the guy caught in the middle is none other than New York's own Peter Parker. So when the subtitle for the next Captain America movie was "Civil War," I was nervous about how they'd play it off (then again, they're having Ultron in the next Avengers movie before Ant-Man [Hank Pym, the first Ant-Man, is the creator of Ultron in the comics], so it wasn't unprecedented). 

I think there are two things to watch for here: 1) How will the public (i.e the non diehard Marvel fans) feel about their third Spider-Man in the past 13 years? Is there such a thing as TOO much Spider-Man? 2) Are we even sure it'll be Peter? Or could they bring in Miles Morales, the half-Hispanic, half-Black version of Spider-Man found in the Ultimate comics? And does this mean we can get CHILDISH GAMBINO AS SPIDER-MAN?

Radu: I, more than almost anyone else I know, want Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino, to play Miles Morales. The problem with that is that by the time either of these movies come out, he is already in his mid 30s, and introducing a new Spider-Man that old is a HUGE risk. The other problem with that is that Peter Parker himself, not necessarily Spider-Man, plays a big role in Civil War. The reason why Spider-Man carries so much weight in Civil War is because of who Peter Parker is. The issue now is how do they get past this problem, especially if we have a completely new actor playing him. That being said, what if they bring back Tobey Maguire, who everyone will recognize, and then the new solo Spider-Man movie is Spider-Man 4.

Chough: True... and Childish Gambino did have that one voice cameo in the Ultimate Spider-Man show, so I guess that will have to do. To be fair, there are probably loads of talented, young actors who could step into Miles Morales, and if Marvel decides to go that route (which they probably will, seeing as the MCU leans more towards the Ultimate Universe anyway), then I'll be excited to see who can step up in that role. And while Peter Parker as Spider-Man was very important in the Civil War comics, the thing is the whole emotional tug of Civil War existed because these were characters who had existed for decades, who the readers knew like the back of their hands. On the other hand, it'll be Spider-Man's first appearance in the MCU, so there's not as much of a pull there. He doesn't have that history with the likes of Captain America and Tony Stark. As far as Tobey goes, I'll only allow that if they redo that scene from Spider-Man 3 (you know which one I'm talking about) but with even BETTER music and more awkward dancing.

Radu: I do think that Tobey is the solution to having history like Captain America and Tony Stark. The Spider-Man movies, along with the X-Men movies, back in the 2000's created this movie superhero genre. Would introducing Tobey as Spider-Man again really be that 'new' for the MCU?

Chough: All joking aside, I think we need some new blood as Peter, and Spider-Man in general. Hollywood is definitely NOT lacking in tall-ish, nerdy/awkward looking white guys who could pull off the charming, snarky humor of "puny Parker." Let's get some new blood in here, get another Peter Parker, see how he does in Civil War, and then bring in Miles Morales. Overall, I think Marvel and Sony paid off big time thanks to this move: we're talking about the first trilogy of Spider-Man movies (made by Sony), we're talking about what happened in the Marvel Comics, and our interest has gone up (AGAIN) about the next line of Marvel films. 

So then, what does this mean for the other actors in the MCU? We've heard about how Chris Evans wants to retire from acting once his contract as Captain America ends (which should be after the fourth Avengers movie), and Tony Stark seems to be contract disputes with Disney every other year. Will ushering in a younger Spider-Man allow Marvel to move on from the old guard and potentially have a new face of their cinematic universe?

Radu: Speaking of the rest of the MCU, Geek.com spoke to Hugh Jackman, otherwise known as Wolverine, today about the Spider-Man news, and oh did he speak the words I wanted to hear. It is no secret that Hugh Jackman wants to be apart of the MCU, and with this new Spider-Man deal, I can't see why not. An endless amount of possibilities have opened up with this partnership, so it isn't out of the realm of possibility to see Wolverine team up with the Avengers at some point. 

With regards to Chris Evens and Robert Downey Jr., there really anything new to say. Will Chris Evans actually leave? I doubt even he is one hundred percent certain that he will retire from acting, and if he does there is always room for him to return. Robert Downey Jr. has stated multiple times that he wants to stay in the MCU, Marvel may just not be able to afford him. Chris Hemsworth is another big maybe because even though his contract is on its last leg as well, he has said himself that he owes everything to Marvel for getting his career off the ground so he might want to stay as well. Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlet Johansson, and Jeremy Renner haven't exactly said they want to leave either. So how much of the old guard really is going to leave?

Plus, we also have all of the new blood coming in. Ant-Man, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, the Inhumans. I highly doubt that any of these actors and actresses are signing only one movie deals. Add Guardians of the Galaxy in the mix and Marvel has already this giant lineup to take from as they move out of Phase 3. This isn't even including Spider-Man, who we know for sure is now joining the MCU, or the possibilities of the X-Men or even the Fantastic Four joining in with a partnership with FOX.

The possibilities seem endless here.

Chough: Brilliant interview, and I can only get so e...xcited about possibly bringing on Wolverine with the MCU. I mean, he IS an Avenger and holy crap, I cannot even imagine. Can you imagine? IT WOULD BE SO GREAT. WHY ISN'T IT A THING? Basically, Marvel is taking over the universe slowly but surely. It's a talk for another time, but it'll be interesting to see how this deal affects the chance that the DC universe TV shows collaborate in bringing together and crossing over characters.

Radu: Marvel is dominating the mind share of the public right now, and it is up to DC to bring up their A game to counter that. Now between us, you are the Marvel guy and I'm the DC guy, so we both know I love the DC stuff more. However, we know Marvel puts out consistent amazing content. DC doesn't. I trust that Avengers 2, Ant-Man, and all these other movies are going to be amazing, while a part of me is super worried about Batman vs Superman and that whole lineup, just because of their track record. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

First of all, let me give some credit where credit is due. Thank you to Emily Yoshida of Grantland for writing up this excellent piece explaining Sailor Moon. Without it, it would have been much harder to convince fellow TFP Editor Brian Coyle that this article was a good idea, but so it goes. 

Funnily enough, I had talked with Brian about the format of this piece around a month ago, as I was convinced that the world needed to have more appreciation for this wonderful anime from the late 90s-early 2000s. So when the news broke that the series would be getting a second life online, I had all the more ammo necessary.

Because honestly, Cardcaptor Sakura (or, as some of you who only experienced the dubbed version might remember it, Cardcaptors) is a defining series, both as a manga and as an anime. While Sailor Moon undoubtedly redefined and revolutionized the mahou shojo genre (otherwise known as Magical Girl), Cardcaptor Sakura, or CCS, came incredibly close to perfecting the equation, if not outright achieving it.

For those of you who need a little background, CCS follows a girl named Sakura Kinomoto, a ten year old fourth grader who is rather athletic, loves music, hates math, and is a pretty decent cook. She lives with her father and her older brother, Toya. Toya teases her incessantly, often referring to her as a kaiju, or monster. Her best friend is Tomoyo Daidouji (aka the best character in the show), she attends Tomoeda Elementary, and she has a huge crush on her brother’s best friend, Yukito Tsukishiro. Oh, and she’s terrified of ghosts. In many ways, she’s your average, elementary school girl.

As the genre implies, Sakura has magical powers, and they are unlocked with full force when she happens to open a book that contains these special cards called Clow Cards. Created by a sorcerer named Clow Reed, these cards contain spirits that embody certain traits (e.g. The Shield, the Sword, the Bubble, the Illusion, etc.) but left to their own devices, they can do some serious damage upon the world. To capture them, she must use her wit and previous Clow Cards, whose attributes she can utilize after she captures them. Together with the Keroberos, who serves as the Guardian of the Seal, Sakura must do her best to collect all the Clow Cards, whose numbers range from 19 in the manga to 53 in anime, before a great catastrophe befalls the world.

For the record, Keroberos is unable to turn into his true form until Sakura captures Firey and Earthy, so until then he travels around like a plush toy. 

With just that description, it sounds like this should be regarded more as a shounen (typical boy manga/anime series, with an emphasis on fighting and action) rather than a shoujo (typical girl manga/anime series, with an emphasis on drama and emotions), and in fact, that’s exactly what those in charge of the dubbed version of CCS would have you believe. This was made all the more prevalent with the fact that Syaoran Li, a boy from Hong Kong who also wishes to collect all the cards, was more prominently featured as the main character in all the teaser material for Cardcaptors rather than Sakura herself.

Yet CCS is unabashedly a shojo, and when you watch the first few minutes of the original, Japanese version, it’s readily apparent that this was the very intention of the creators: CLAMP. CLAMP is a group of artists who are responsible for a great many number of original content from CCS, Magic Knight Rayearth, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. They also help produce character designs for other anime at times, most famously Code Geass. It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare them to Pixar pre-Disney (and much like there exists the Pixar Theory where all the films take place in the same universe, CLAMP often ties in characters from their previous works in other series, but more on that later). 

While CCS features a lot of action scenes and transition transformations and battle cries, it is ultimately a story about love, fate, and finding who the number one person in your life is. The overall direction with CLAMP has always been about pointing towards those very themes, and it’s at the forefront in Cardcaptor Sakura. So while Sakura has to deal with all these cards that pop up, she also has to sort out her own emotions and feelings, which, as anyone who’s ever been ten can remember, can be overwhelming at times.

So, you might be asking yourself, what really makes Cardcaptor Sakura so different and so good? Good question!

First off, the art is just flat out bonkers considering its time period. With all the digital rendering and computer-generated graphics that pop up everywhere in today’s landscape of anime, it is easy to forget that at one point, all these cartoons were hand-drawn. And while Sailor Moon and the like might have done themselves a few favors by using the same battle scenes over and over again (here’s looking at you, Dragonball Z), the animators for Cardcaptor Sakura made a point of changing her outfit for every single card-capturing or significant event. This means that every time Sakura activates her magic wand or seals a Clow Card, it’s a different animation sequence. 

To wit, someone actually giffed a few of her finishing poses together.

That takes some serious dedication, and the efforts of the artists were not lost on the fans. 

And the background art… it’s just beautiful. If you’ve ever seen a Miyazaki film, you know how he loves to focus in on little details, things that don’t have anything to do with the current action but give weight to each scene. CCS specializes in those moments. 

And yes, the fight scenes are pretty cool, the plot is always driving, and while the first 20 episodes can feel like a bit of a drag, once it gets going, you cannot get off the train.

There are some pretty hilarious bits to it, too. Seeing as it was initially aimed at a younger crowd, there are some wildly funny moments, including genderbent renditions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, a kid who always makes up far-fetched lies (though Sakura and Syaoran seem all too gullible and often believe them), and some self-referential humor.

The show also completely tugs at your heartstrings. The story is so intricately written and so powerfully moving at times, you start to remember how it feels like to be a kid and when things just don’t go right for you, what it feels like to get rejected from the person you’ve been crushing on for so long.

There’s one particular standout moment in Episode 22 where Sakura, in the midst of capturing The Sleep card accidentally crashes her father’s computer, who has been working day and night to complete a project. This is after she continually makes him meals, gets him tea and snacks, and just wants to do anything she can to make his life easier. As you can imagine, destroying a laptop doesn’t exactly help. 

And there are the many love stories, of unrequited love, of failed love, of love lost, of love that’s not approved by those around you. CCS manages to take these storylines and make them heartwarming but reminds you of how cruel life can be sometimes, how unfair it can be to those who simply wanted to do good.

The most important aspect of Cardcaptor Sakura, though, is the characterization of all the major (and even minor) players of the show. You begin to genuinely care about the characters, as odd as that might sound about animated characters whose run ended over a decade ago. While it might be easy to dismiss Sakura’s feelings for Yukito, fully seven years her elder, as childish, it doesn’t seem that way for her. To her, it’s the realest emotion she’s ever felt. Friendship plays a big part in establishing character narratives, and Tomoyo’s friendship with Sakura might quite possible be the most supportive in all anime. Tomoyo’s happiness comes from making sure Sakura is happy, and her lightning quick mind and good people skills helps her serve as the ultimate wing-woman. Syaoran also grows into himself from his friendship with Sakura; initially a bitter rival of hers, he comes to appreciate her thoughtfulness and her candid heart (and lands himself and Sakura as my OTP through time and space, quite literally). Sakura herself is by no means perfect, either. Her heart is certainly in the right place, but she has a short temper at times and doesn’t always manage to capture the card as well as she could have, if at all.

Yet it is these moments of failure and redemption that have allowed Cardcaptor Sakura to survive through the years, to the point where Crunchyroll’s decision to stream the anime has caused quite a stir on the interwebs. 

Now, for some questions you guys might have…

Hey, I think I remember watching Cardcaptors! Is the Japanese version pretty much the same?

Oh, please, for the love of Clow Reed, do NOT bring that up. While I don’t think the English dub is the exact spawn of the devil, seeing as it did introduce many to Cardcaptor Sakura, what it did to the original should be classified as straight up murder. Cardcaptors took Cardcaptor Sakura and turned the 70 episodes into 39, began with the episode where Syaoran appears (which isn’t until episode 8 of the Japanese), and did two huge things that really piss me off to this day:

1. They Americanized the names so poorly, most notably changing:

Sakura Kinomoto to Sakura Avalon (with an emphasis on the “u” in the American version)

Tomoyo Daidouji to Madison Taylor 

Yukito Tsukishiro to Julian Star

2.  THEY TOOK OUT ALL THE LOVE STORIES. Fearing that boys would hate anything romantic, they took out any semblance of attraction one character might have for another character. This included such notable and important arcs like:

Sakura’s feelings towards Yukito and others

Syaoran’s initial crush for Yukito

Syaoran’s growing feelings towards Sakura

Tomoyo Daidouji’s pretty-sure-more-than-just-friends love for Sakura

Yukito and Toya’s definitely-pretty-gay love for each other

The fact that Sakura’s mom was 16 when she married Sakura’s dad (who was 25)

Rika (a classmate of Sakura)’s schoolgirl crush (and in the manga, engagement) to their third grade teacher, Mr. Terada, who’s in his mid-30s.

Wait, wait, back up, you mean there were WHAT kind of romances?

If you’re surprised by any of these, welcome to the world of anime! Yeah, I get that these feel a little off, especially as you go toward the end of that list, so I understand why the English dub got rid of some of them. Tomoyo is actually Sakura’s second cousin (their mothers were cousins, and also very close), and while it’s never explicitly stated in the anime that Tomoyo has romantic feelings for Sakura, it’s readily apparent in key moments, but she has never let Sakura know as she is completely content with just being her best friend (Sakura, for her part, would not be able to tell a romantic moment if it hit her on the head). Toya and Yukito are also best friends, and they get real close in the third season. (Sidenote: Yukito is a REALLY weird character for a children’s show). And I guess I understand why they took out Rika’s involvement with her teacher, because… yeah. 

BUT HOW DO YOU GET RID OF SYAORAN AND SAKURA? Their love story is an epic one that transcends time and space.

That’s the second time you’ve used that prhase regarding Syaoran and Sakura. Can you explain?

Surely! So while Cardcaptor Sakura might very well be CLAMP’s biggest hit, their second biggest hit is arguably Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. It takes place in a different universe, but features many of the same characters, particularly Syaoran and Sakura. They are different characters than their counterparts in CCS, but their love for each other is THE driving force behind the series and allows them to bend the rules of spacetime. It’s pretty awesome.

I kind of feel uncomfortable with watching a show about a ten year old girl. Doesn’t anime feature a lot of fanservice?

Not in CCS! There are people who will fetishize anything on the Internet, but again, this was a kid’s show. Don’t feel bad about watching it! It’s pure of heart and really great, a welcome step back from much of the unrealistic drivel that gets produced these days.

Also, Sakura’s outfits (made by Tomoyo) are pretty freakin’ cute.

What does this announcement even mean?

Well, anime loves nothing more than rebooting franchise from decades past. Look no further than Sailor Moon Crystal, Rebuild of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherood, and many, MANY more. There’s been talk lately that Cardcaptor Sakura could be in for her own reboot or possibly a sequel; just last year, the producer of the anime came out and said that he would love to work on something CCS again, opening up the possibility of a remake. With the Crunchyroll news, the premium Blu Ray edition hitting the North American market last week, and the 15 year anniversary edition of the first movie coming out later this month, it all but seems that they’re testing the waters to see what the market is. For what my opinion is worth, which is very little, I would love a remake or even a sequel to see what happens after the second movie. After all, it’s been so long since we’ve had anything canon from CLAMP or the anime.

CCS is one of those shows where you go, “I’m glad I got to grow up watching this.” At the end of the day, while Sakura has magical powers, her most powerful spell is when she says: “I will definitely be all right.” Essentially, I just want more Cardcaptor Sakura because when it comes to anime, CCS is my number one.

There is a slight catch to this: per CBA rules, teams are not allowed to trade first-round draft picks within 30 days of signing.  Both teams must wait until after August 23 to officially make the trade, but with all media outlets reporting that this trade has been agreed upon, it's just a formality at this point. Love is joining LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in northeast Ohio to form the league's new "Big 3", which looks to be an offensive juggernaut. 

Irving, entering his third season now, is arguably one of the most offensively-polished point guards in the league today, and will benefit immensely by gaining Love as a teammate. Pick-and-pops with Kevin Love will be ridiculously devastating to teams.  

How do opposing players defend that?  They can't.  

All they can do is pray Love/Irving misses from deep. Irving also does not need to completely shoulder the offensive load for Cleveland, which Love also benefits from.  

Kevin Love and LeBron James will team up this year to form what looks to be an offensive juggernaut in the Eastern Conference. (Business Insider)

Then when you take into account that the best player in the world, LeBron James, is added to the mix, the offensive possibilities are endless.  Kevin Love outlet passes to James and Irving immediately after a missed shot from the other team? Pick-and-pop with Irving/James and Love?  Backdoor cuts from LeBron or Kyrie, with Love passing from the top of the key?  Kevin Love post-ups, then after getting hit with the double-team, kicking it out to Kyrie or James behind the arc?  

ENDLESS. POSSIBILITIES.

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. YOU CAN FLY. THE CAVS WILL FLY. (Key & Peele)

There is one flaw in this trade however, and that is defense. Trading away Andrew Wiggins took away the Cavs' best perimeter defender, which will cause LeBron to guard the other team's best wing player, effectively taking away energy he could have saved for offense. To add to the lack of perimeter defense, Cleveland lacks a rim-protector that can defend the paint. Love has shown that he is a subpar-defender, and to pair that with Irving and his defensive shortcomings spells a bit of trouble. LeBron can only be in so many places at once, and as we saw in this past season's Finals, defense is still the key to win rings.  

Looks like a change will need to be made on Andrew Wiggins' rookie card...(Sportal)

This trade just makes the Eastern Conference that much more intriguing, as now Cleveland has cemented itself as a favorite to win the East. But the interesting thing here is that there is no clear-cut favorite like there was with Miami for the past four seasons.  Now teams like Washington, Chicago, Toronto, and Cleveland join the mix in what is hopefully becoming a much more competitive conference to rival that of the West.  

So, can basketball season start already?

Two years ago, Tulane safety Devon Walker was paralyzed from a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game against Tulsa, leaving him with a fractured vertebrae. But that didn't stop him from continuing his studies at the university a year ago, and he graduated this past spring with a degree in cell and molecular biology. On his graduation day, Walker got a big surprise from the New Orleans Saints when he visited their training camp, as the team ceremonially signed him as a nice gesture.

You'd think that would be where the story ended.

Well, it gets better. Walker was listed in the team's media guide for the season.

Just noticed they got my man Devon Walker in the @Saints media guide! pic.twitter.com/52iyfsLUS2

— Ryan Griffin (@Griffin_11) August 6, 2014

New Orleans takes on the St. Louis Rams tomorrow night in their first preseason game. 

Hollywood rarely likes taking a risk. They like movies they can bank on, audiences they understand, and premises that make sense. 

So I can hardly imagine what the pitch was like in order to greenlight a movie featuring a talking raccoon, a tree who only speaks three words, a green lady, a tattooed maniac with no sense of figurative speech, and Andy Dwyer from Parks and Rec. Not to mention a bald and blue (and beautiful) Karen Gillan and a freaky, power-hungry Lee Pace. And to top it all off, the soundtrack is going to feature "Hooked on a Feeling," "The Pina Colada Song," and "Moonage Daydream"? All this for an audience that's mainly geared towards the younger generations? 

Hollywood loves movies like Captain America starring Chris Evans and Iron Man featuring Robert Downey, Jr. They don't like movies pushing the boundaries.

But Marvel has always been about pushing boundaries. When the mainstream media wanted to take something one way, Marvel loved to take it in another direction. There might be an incredible lack of PoC (people of color) characters on TV and in movies in leading roles, but crack open a Marvel comic and you'll see them everywhere. Spider-Man is a Black-Hispanic teenager, Thor's about to become a woman, Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel, the X-Men comics have always been a metaphor for diversity, and the list goes on and on. You see the same old humor on most sitcoms and comedies, but Deadpool's adventures will having you chuckling with his crazy, bizarre sense of humor. Not to mention this is the first Marvel film to be written by a woman (which is kinda ridiculous when you think about the fact that a teenage girl is credited with inventing science-fiction, but I digress).

So it's no wonder that Marvel's risk in plunging into the unknown with Guardians of the Galaxy paid off big-time. And right from the first trailer, we knew what we were getting into. 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY grabs your attention from the first time the title shows up, and it's one of the funniest scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Pratt absolutely kills it as Peter Quill (who was, funnily enough, named that because first name and last name are both euphemisms for male genitalia) aka Star-Lord.

But it doesn't stop there. See, while the Avengers might have the feeling of something like an All-Star game, where you get the best players all onto the court at the same time and let them do their thing, the Guardians of the Galaxy seem like an actual team, like the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers who had just one member play in the All-Star Game and only Bill Walton made an All-NBA team (second team). Yet just like those five got together and somehow won the NBA Finals, the five members of the Guardians made a baby (to the tune of a cool $94 million at the box office, the best ever for an August opening weekend). 

Zoe Saldana is absolutely killer as Gamorra in this film, and while it's not her first venture into space (having played Uhura in the Star Trek reboots), it's definitely the one that lets her talents play out the most. Reserved to mostly just sitting around and being the object of affection in the Star Trek films,  Saldana kicks some serious butt and takes charge (to wit, Grantland accurately referred to her as a "much meaner, much more mentally coherent version of River from Firefly"). Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper brings his Oscar-nominated talents to the voice of Rocket Raccoon, a lovable creature with a mile-a-minute mouth and a heart that's only just barely bigger than his gun. Vin Diesel gives the acting performance of his career as a CGI tree in Groot, who can only say the word "I", "am," and "Groot," exclusively in that order, yet roots himself into the hearts of audiences. And Dave Bautista (yeah, this guy) shines as Drax the Destroyer, delivering some of the best lines of the film.

What Guardians does best, though, is recognize the usual tropes of superhero movies and turn them on their head. It will keep your head on a swivel, and laughs erupt from your mouth right as a tear falls from your eye. 

Most of all, though, this movie just looks beautiful as a movie unto its own. The cinematography is great, the framing is fantastic, and the color... my goodness, the colors. They really took everything they could from outer space and made it into a fantastic movie. 

And of course, you have to think about the bigger picture in place. While this film has little to do with Earth, you know that Marvel will be bringing these a-holes back for one of their Avengers tie-ins; we already know they're getting a sequel. 

I, for one, will be in line for the premiere when these five show up on the screen again. In fact, I might just go see this in theatres one more time.

Comic books, at their core, are supposed to be fun. That's the spirit of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and when you walk out, you'll want to be walking right back in. 

The Final Point: Guardians gets a 9 out of 10, it's a must-see.

Hootie And The Bowefish

Dwayne Bowe is an important piece for Kansas City if they want to improve their passing game. He figures to be a pretty decent option fantasy football, and his last name fits in nicely with the rock band.

Call Me Brady

A few years ago, no one could go anywhere without hearing Call Me Maybe. Those who choose this name are hoping that the song, and quarterback Tom Brady, can make a comeback in 2014.

Turn Down For Watt

One of the most played songs in the last year has inspired a perfect option for someone looking for fantasy football team names. Even though JJ Watt is not someone a person can individually draft in fantasy football, he still brings a lot of value as part of Houston's defense.

Arian My Wayward Son

Arian Foster will enter the 2014 season healthy, but with no Ben Tate to back him up, Houston has to be a little bit worried. They are surely hoping for a better year compared to how 2013 went for them.

Won’t Get Foles Again

Last season, Nick Foles was able to have a breakout campaign in fantasy football. The hardest part after putting up strong numbers one season is to go ahead and do it again. Will he be able to fool defenses and lead Philadelphia in 2014?

Boston Red Sox get: Yoenis Cespedes, OF

Oakland Athletics get: Jon Lester, CP; Jonny Gomes, OF

Okay, this was the first of many insane trades.  There were as many as nine teams in the hunt for Lester, with my Dodgers and David Chough's Pirates in the mix as well.  With the A's recently trading a handful of their top prospects for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, the Red Sox were looking for a similar return on Lester, who was Boston's lone All-Star this season.  With the dire need to retool their outfield, the Sox got a hold of Cespedes, who has racked up 17 home runs - 3 more than the entire Red Sox outfield combined - and 67 runs batted in.  

Meanwhile, Brad Pitt Billy Beane made a puzzling move as he upgraded what was an already-stacked starting rotation with a revived Scott Kazmir, Samardzija, and promising Sonny Gray.  Beane traded away his cleanup hitter from the best offense in the major leagues, and upgraded a starting pitching staff that ranks second in the majors in earned-run average.  A bit puzzling, but when you look at Lester's postseason excellence - a near-spotless 0.42 ERA - you can see that Oakland is going all-in.

Boston Red Sox get: Allen Craig, OF/1B; Joe Kelly, SP

St. Louis Cardinals get: John Lackey, SP

Another huge move made by Boston, and this time they shipped off their fourth starting pitcher, after moving the likes of Lester, Jake Peavy, and Felix Doubront earlier. The Cards traded for former-All Star Justin Masterson from the Cleveland Indians, and further bolstered their starting rotation with the 35-year old Lackey, who has been respectable with a 11-7 record and a 3.60 ERA. The Cardinals have made it no secret that they wanted to strengthen their rotation, especially with injuries to Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha, and have done just that. Boston receives another outfielder to solidify their middle of the order, which now consists of David Ortiz, Mike Napoli, Yoenis Cespedes, and now Craig.

Craig, while being one of the best hitters for St. Louis in the past few seasons, has seen a gigantic drop in production, hitting only seven home runs and batting a measly .237. Joe Kelly on the other hand, has shown flashes of promise, has for the most part, been underwhelming for the Redbirds, posting an ERA above 4.00 in the past couple of seasons.

Tampa Bay Rays get: Drew Smyly, SP; Nick Franklin, INF

Seattle Mariners get: Austin Jackson, OF

Detroit Tigers get: David Price, SP

Now THIS...THIS is a mother-effing BLOCKBUSTER TRADE!  Ever since the approach of the All-Star break, there were rumors swirling around Tampa Bay's ace, David Price, and his supposedly "inevitable" departure from the Rays via trade.  The Rays were the ones who drafted Price, and brought him up to the major leagues, and have seen him develop into a perennial All-Star talent with a Cy Young under his belt. Leading up to the trade deadline, the teams who were in the mix for Price were the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the latter automatically being a frontrunner due to their endless supply of money (thanks, Guggenheim!).  

But the Rays reportedly wanted two of the three top Dodger prospects in outfielder Joc Pederson, shortstop Corey Seager, and 17-year old wunderkind pitcher Julio Urias.  The asking price (pun intended. heh) was just too high for the Dodgers as Detroit seemed more than willing to depart with their top pitching prospect, southpaw Drew Smyly.

This puts Detroit as the automatic favorites to win the American League pennant just due to the immense strength of their rotation.  Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, and now David Price?  IS THIS EVEN FAIR?  

The Tigers are now in possession of the past three AL Cy Young award winners (Price in 2011, Verlander in 2012, and Scherzer in 2013).  Yeah.  That just happened.  

(USA TODAY)

(NHL.com)

1. Dallas Stars

The Stars traded for Jason Spezza and followed up with signing Spezza’s line mate Ales Hemsky to immediately catapult the Stars into contenders in this crazy division. Did I mention they did all this for basically nothing? Stars GM Jim Nill is serious about making this team a contender and it looks like he may get his wish sooner rather than later. This year the Stars almost beat the Ducks to advance past the first round with Tyler Seguin leading the way. Imagine what a Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza duo could do.

2. St. Louis Blues

Sure the Blues let Ryan Miller walk, and sure, Vladimir Sobotka decided to drop the NHL and go play with his pals over in the KHL. The good news, Brian Elliot is just as good as Ryan Miller, the Sobotka loss is ‘meh’ at best, and oh yea, the Blues signed Paul Stastny to an amazing four year $28 million contract.

The Blues also made a whopping five picks in the first 100 of the NHL Draft. They grabbed with the 21st pick OHL playoff MVP Robby Fabbri, as well as taking guys like Ivan Barbashev and Jaedon Descheneau, who could be sleeper picks in this draft. The Blues couldn’t stand up to a team like the Blackhawks this year, but that will certainly change with the moves this team has made this summer.              

3. Minnesota Wild

Thomas Vanek was a lock to join the Wild, but good for them on taking advantage of that situation. Knowing Vanek wanted to come to the Wild gave them a chance to actually acquire him for a reasonable contract. A three year $19.5 million contract is exactly what Vanek deserves, making both sides happy. The Wild struggled for goals last season, finishing 24th in the league, but they managed to defeat the Avalanche in 7 games to make it to the second round where the Blackhawks thoroughly dismantled them. The addition of Vanek will go long ways with this team, and if their goaltending issues are solved with the long term injuries to Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom, this team can be extremely deadly.

If Harding and Backstrom don’t recover soon, do the Wild become a likely place for Martin Brodeur to land? Either way, watch out for the Wild.

4. Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are pretty much the same team except the addition of Brad Richards, who was bought out by the Rangers in late June. Besides the Richards signing, the Blackhawks due to the salary cap didn’t make any other big moves. The team stayed relatively quiet and focused on the resigning of franchise superstars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews who both pulled matching eight year $84 million dollar deals, which is apparently the new standard for all-star players with the raising cap space. The Blackhawks are still the deadly team they have been since their first Cup with in 2010 and that’s not changing anytime soon. The only question is: who decided that Patrick Kane was worth as much as Jonathan Toews, who is easily one of the top 3 players in the world.

5. Nashville Predators

Even with one of the best goaltenders in the league and an amazing defenseman like Shae Weber the Predators have struggled. This summer seems to be the turning around point with Peter Laviolette signing on as the new head coach. On top of getting a new fresh face behind the bench, the Predators easily stole James Neal from the Penguins for basically nothing as well as not overpaying for Anton Volchenkov and Olli Jokinen. This is a great start for a team that struggled to win games last season. However Mike Fisher, a key center on the team ruptured his Achilles and will be out for a good part of the season. Losing a top 6 center for that long is tough, but signings of Derek Roy and Mike Ribeiro should keep them afloat until Fisher gets back.

6. Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche clearly decided that a lack of experience in the playoffs was the reason why they fell in seven games to the Wild last season, resulting in the overpaying of Jarome Iginla (three years $16 million) and exchanging P.A. Parenteau for Daniel Briere. Now these aren’t horrible acquisitions, but they were forced to give up Paul Stastny, who is easily worth both of these players, to get more veteran talent on the roster. On the bright side, today the Avalanche managed to avoid arbitration by signing Ryan O’Reilly to a two year $12 million contract. Time will tell with this team, no one expected Patrick Roy to turn this team into a Central Division champ last season, so trying to guess what will happen this season seems pretty foolish. Maybe this insertion of veteran talent is exactly what they need.

7. Winnipeg Jets

I feel bad for Jets fans because before realignment the Jets actually had a chance to make the playoffs. Now they are pretty much just guaranteed last place for the time being in this crazy division. And it seems like the Jets are content with that. They may even be content with getting worse considering how they are treating Evander Kane. The Jets only added Mathieu Perreault. That’s it. If the Jets run Kane out of their town, and continue to do nothing to get better, this team is destined to stay at the bottom of this division for the foreseeable future. 

Writing about the Eastern Conference of the NHL is probably the most depressing thing I will do this offseason. At least the Metropolitan Division teams tried to get better, which some of them actually did, unlike this incredibly bad Atlantic Division, where only one team actually got better this offseason. Since the 04-05 lockout, only three teams from the East have won the Stanley Cup, compared to the six teams from the West. The majority of the Eastern Conference clearly has no idea how to build a team, and it really shows in the Atlantic Division this summer.  

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Thank you, Steve Yzerman, for you are the only GM to actually do something good in your division this summer. Yzerman continued to do extremely well at the draft, taking late pick defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, who is still a young hot-head, but man, does that kid have talent. The Lightning were one of the busiest teams on free agency day, signing Anton Stralman and trading for Jason Garrison to rebuild that sketchy blue line. They then signed Brian Boyle to a slightly too-expensive contract, but if his playoff caliber play continues, it may be worth it down the road. On top of that, the Lightning re-signed Ryan Callahan and signed Brandon Morrow to a cheap one year contract.

Yzerman was busy this summer, and it may have just turned the Tampa Bay Lightning into a serious Stanley Cup contender. 

2. Boston Bruins

The Bruins were bit by the salary cap bug this summer. The reigning President’s Trophy winner had to let go a still amazing Jarome Iginla, as well as fan favorite Shawn Thornton. Iginla will certainly be missed on a team that does struggle in the playoffs occasionally with scoring, while Thornton probably won’t be missed on the ice. Other than those two moves, the Bruins cap problems stopped them from doing anything else of significance. Luckily for them, the Atlantic Division sucks, so they still have a good chance at winning it even without any changes.

3. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs lost Brian Gionta and Thomas Vanek to free agency, but they did get an extremely underrated defenseman in Tom Gilbert as well as trading for a solid forward in P.A. Parenteau. The re-signing of Andrei Markov is also huge for the Habs defensive corps, which is slowly turning into one of the league’s best. Unfortunately for the Habs, the contract issues with their All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban may come back and bite them in the butt. Subban is arguably the team’s most important player besides Carey Price, and if his contract problems aren’t resolved soon, this could get ugly at arbitration.

4. Detroit Red Wings

Everyone the Red Wings went after this offseason denied them and went elsewhere. The problem is Mike Babcock. Babcock is easily the best coach in the league, but with his future uncertain past this season in Detroit, players just aren’t willing to take a gamble on a team that literally only stays afloat because Babcock is amazing. The Red Wings are still a great team, however, and if they manage to stay healthy, they can do dangerous things come this season. The problem now is that this is all short term. If Babcock leaves after next season, the Red Wings could be in some serious trouble.

5. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are rebuilding and everyone knows it. Everyone they sign knows that they will still probably be at the bottom of the East this coming season, but they are confident that this Buffalo management can rebuild a strong contending team. New GM Tim Murray knows it will take time, but the Sabres are in good hands with him behind the wheel. The Sabres drafted Sam Reinhart, traded for Josh Gorges and signed Matt Moulson and Brian Gionta. Sure they bought out Christian Ehrhoff, a questionable decision based on the return they were getting from the iffy contract, but this is a good start to a long rebuilding process. Sabres fans, and the players themselves, just have to be patient.

6. Ottawa Senators

The Senators are in a complete nose dive, which is weird considering how good of a team they had not even two years ago. The problem all stems from an owner and management team that refuses to spend money to win the Cup, which really is the only way because Stanley Cups aren’t just going to fall into your lap. First, they couldn’t prove to an aging Daniel Alfredsson last season that they were going to contend so he left for Detroit. Then, they couldn’t prove to Jason Spezza that they were willing to spend money to contend, so he was traded to Dallas where he might actually win a Cup. Now, they are stuck with a roster who really has no faith in management, another All-Star player whose contract runs out next summer, and will probably be traded at the trade deadline because management won’t be able to prove to Bobby Ryan that they are willing to contend anytime soon. But hey, they signed David Legwand to fill that humongous Jason Spezza hole!

7. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs ownership claimed big changes were on the way because they were finally going to make smart moves. Then, they didn’t fire Randy Carlyle who, while a good coach, clearly just doesn’t fit in Toronto. But they hired Brandon Shanahan as the team’s new president who claimed all these changes were coming! But then they didn’t. They signed Stephane Robidas and Mike Santorelli,  plus brought back from the KHL Leo Komarov and traded for Roman Polak. Cool, I guess? Long term, these moves mean nothing, however, so we will have to just wait and see if Shanahan’s promises come through.

8. Florida Panthers

I want to believe in Dave Tallon and the Panthers. I mean, he drafted Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for crying out loud. But, oh boy, was this free agency just a giant crapshoot for the Panthers. Sure, they spent over $60 million, and that really is a good thing because it at least shows that they are trying. However, when you spend 60 million dollars extremely poorly, that’s just depressing. The even more depressing part is that all 60 million dollars go to players who wouldn’t play in the top 6 of any other team. Dave Bolland received the stupidest contract of the summer. This third line center received a $27.5 million dollar contract over five years. THIS GUY ISN’T EVEN FIRST OR SECOND LINE MATERIAL! The Panthers didn’t stop there as they then continued to sign two old fourth line forwards in Shawn Thornton to ridiculous multi-year deals as well as Jussi Jokinen and Al Montoya to overpaid deals.

The only bright side is that the Panthers did get Willie Mitchell for a pretty good price, but that is overshadowed by how terrible all the other signings are. So much for the Panthers not being the worst team in the league this year.