Bleacher Report - Articles by Jonathon Hilton

Potential WWE Feuds: 2010 Edition

Jonathon Hilton — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:28:34 -0400

Heading into the Breaking Point PPV in a week or so, I've decided on a couple of things. One: Randy Orton vs John Cena will somehow headline every PPV event from here till Armaggedon ( unfortunately it's inevitable). Two: CM Punk will beat out Chris Jericho for best Heel for 2009 (he had some pretty harsh things to say about Jeff Hardy that bordered on personal attacks). Finally, 2009 will be remembered for one match and one feud above all others; Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels. Which brings me to my point about 2009. The diehard fan is in agony now. I'm not talking about the 12 year old girl who goes to cheer for John Cena because according to her he's "cool" or something along that line. What the WWE has carelessly done for the better part of two years is now is recycle old feuds and the same top stars because to be honest the competition against WWE has been stale and really not there. However, with 2010 coming quickly and most of the fans rallying for something new, I have decided to come up with 5 potential fresh/moneymaking feuds that would generate interest ( in my opinion) to the casual WWE fan and hopefully begin to bring back the turned away, bored WWE fans of the past.

Begin Slideshow

St. Louis Cardinals Still in NL Central Race Despite Recent Trades

Jonathon Hilton — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:44:37 -0400

Back at the beginning of spring training I wrote an article about how the Cardinals should shut down Albert Pujols due to all his injuries piling up and the team seemingly going nowhere.

Another dull offseason had witnessed the Cards trading one troubled third basemen (Scott Rolen) for another (Troy Glaus) and the not-so-surprising leaving of longtime GM Walt Jocketty, who had failed to capitalize on the Cardinals 2006 success with any moves that could keep them in contention.

Bummed and almost giving up on the season, I, along with many other Redbird fans, had a season of injuries to stars, no-name pitchers, and more Triple A kids being called up to look forward to.

Halfway through the season however, I'm here to tell you how wrong I was.

The Cardinals 2008 season could go down as the most surprising and encouraging story of the year (if the Rays fall out of contention in the AL East).

The Cards, as of today are 51-40, 3.5 games behind the Cubs for the NL Central lead and a game up on the Brewers.

The explosive play of Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel have provided the Cards with a ton of new offensive power, and the starting rotation, still riddled with pitchers yet to prove their durability (Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, Joel Piniero) have held together nicely going into the midsummer classic.

The defense has been excellent at times, with stars like Adam Kennedy and Glaus making up their lack of offense with consistent double plays and infield leadership.

Even Pujols, though still recovering from injuries, looks like a kid having fun again, which was evident when he led the charge out of the dugout last Saturday to mob Rick Ankiel after he hit the game winning single in the ninth to beat the Cubs, 5-4.

But over the past week, the MLB tradeline has heated up with huge trades involving teams either leading or contending for the lead in the NL Central.

First it was the Brewers, a team many experts forgot about at the start of the year, landing last year's AL Cy Young Winner CC Sabathia for a couple of minor leaguers including, Matt Laporta.

Landing Sabathia had the so called "experts" on ESPN predicting the Brewers to come back and win the NL Central by a landslide. Not to be outdone, the Cubs announced on Tuesday that they landed starters Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland for no one you've ever heard of.

With the Cubs and Brewers dueling for leadership in the division, many have overlooked the Cards as a threat, but the following reasons are why I think the Cards still have a shot to win this race

1. Starting Pitching—Yes, it's been rusty at times, but with the return of Mark Mulder tonight and hopefully Chris Carpenter within a few months, the Cards can still make magic under pitching coach Dave Duncan, who has been known to make winners out of losers (aka Jeff Weaver 2006)

2. Tony LaRussa—My vote for NL manager of the year, LaRussa has actively managed arguably the best season of his tenure in St. Louis. The young players trust him, the veterans respect him, and the cool yet active way he manages has developed great team chemistry within the clubhouse. Everyone knows their duties on the field, and that is what makes team baseball, I say again "team" baseball, click.

3. Durability—It's not safe to say that CC Sabathia or Rich Harden will be able to hold up in early September when the race is at a boiling point. CC Sabathia last season put together impressive numbers during the regular season, but lost control in two starts against the Red Sox in the ALCS last year and was blasted for two losses.

Not to mention that outside of Ben Sheets, the Brewers don't really have three consistent pitchers to round out the rotation nor a bullpen that is known for keeping leads.

Up in Chicago, the news is less damaging, but there are still some holes in the Cubs that should be reason for concern. While their starting rotation is much better and durable, injuries to Alfonso Soriano and others have led many to speculate that the Cubs injuries may begin to pile up heading into September.

It's also safe to say that given Rich Harden's past injuries, he too may also spend some time on the DL.

My point is that don't declare a race over one day and say it's back on the next (I'm talking to you, ESPN).

This is baseball, and no one can predict the outcome of anything two months down the road, much less who is going to play in the World Series in October. Given the Cardinals success this season and their flux of new talent, it's safe to say this race is still wide open.

Why Not Shut Albert Pujols Down Now?

Jonathon Hilton — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:14:55 -0500

Tony LaRussa must be having that familiar feeling right about now. You know, that certain feeling you get when you know all the world is about to come down on you and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

It's the same feeling he got last season when Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter went down in the first game and never came back. The same feeling he got when Mark Mulder, their prize acquisition for Dan Haren (great trade), never lived up to the potential and is now the new Kerry Wood of the NL Central.

Yes that same feeling has come back again for another round. This time, with star slugger Albert Pujols.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know when a star player is hurting. Pujols' injuries go all the way back to last season, when he put up 32 HRs and just 103 RBI. Not bad for any ball player, but not great by Pujols' standards.

While he carried his streak of 30+ HRs and 100 RBI into a seventh season, any fan in Busch Stadium could tell he was hurting. The Cardinals were just one game out of first place last September, but Pujols' knee and shoulder were constantly giving him trouble. When the Cardinals found themselves out of playoff contention for the first time in years, the 78-84 Cards shut Pujols down and knew it was the end of NL Central domination.

And the beginning of Pujols' injuries.

So far this spring Pujols has been troubled by bone chips, arthritis, and a torn ligament in his elbow and shoulder. Cardinals' trainers (who do just a bang up job of fixing injuries) have advised Pujols not to do any kind of surgical procedure until a full repair can be done on the injured area.

Now, I am no doctor by any means, but just how long will it be before Pujols can't swing a bat or even throw a ball around the infield? The man is obviously in great pain, and the more he tries to play through this pain, the worse the injury is going to get (Curt Schilling, 2004 playoffs for example).

The Cardinals, meanwhile, spent another offseason acquiring no help for poor Pujols, losing fan favorites David Eckstein, So Taguchi, and Jim Edmonds to free agency, and trading Scott Rolen away (about time) for another problematic 3B Troy Glaus.

Right now, more than half of the Cards lineup consists of unproven Triple A kids such as Skip Schumaker and Rick Ankiel, and guys who can't hit the ball (Kennedy). LaRussa's style of using utility players and playing the small ball has worked in the past, but that was when a healthy Edmonds, Pujols, and Rolen were jacking home runs over the left field wall in 2004-2005.

Those days are long gone, and last year's offense and record proved that.

And don't even get me started on the pitching. Dave Duncan, I hope you have some magic left to make winners out of Joel Pineiro and Matt Clement, because they're going to need all the help they can get. While Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper showed improvement last year throughout the season, you cannot possibly make a serious run to the playoffs with Wainwright as your ace.

Here's hoping Carpenter and Mulder make it back this season.

My point is this: Why not shut Pujols down now and fix the elbow? Why risk a further and potentially career-ending injury to this man? He is the beating heart of your franchise, the one attraction that keeps fans coming back to the ballpark. He's the A-Rod of St. Louis, and while I know replacing him this season would be harmful and difficult to do, think long term, not short term.

This team is not threatening to win 100 games and go back to the World Series, so what's the point? Please, keep the beating heart of your franchise going for another era of St. Louis baseball, because trust me folks, he will be back.