Heard a lot of NL Cy Young talk as of late and I'm not sure what some people are thinking as far as their choices. Don't get me wrong, I believe this is one of the tightest years in recent memory, but I also believe when you analyze the numbers of each candidate you'll find a clear-cut winner.

We can probably all agree that the three pitchers in the race are Johan Santana, Tim Lincecum and Brandon Webb. That part is fairly easy with CC Sabathia and Ryan Dempster also receiving some votes.

Those making a case for Santana immediately point to the Mets ineffective bullpen as the reason for him posting 15 wins (15-7) instead of 20-plus and I wholeheartedly agree that New York's inability to close out games this year cost him several victories. While his league-best 2.64 ERA and 197 strikeouts are impressive, he did have the sixth-best run-producing offense on his side which somewhat cancels out the bullpen issues theory. Consider the Mets scored 787 runs this year while the Diamondbacks scored 734 (20th) and the inemic Giants offense managed just 629 (29th) runs or less than four on average per contest.

Webb was easily the best pitcher in all of baseball throughout the first three months of the season but his second half was nothing to get too excited about as my Fantasy team can attest to. His 22-7 mark is tied with Cleveland's Cliff Lee for Major League honors and his 3.24 ERA is ninth best in the NL but back-to-back subpar outings in late August coupled with his overall dip in the second half ended his hope of winning the award for the second straight season.

Not exactly sure what criteria will be used for each person voting for the award on Sunday but you'll notice there's no mention of team records listed in mine (at least not until later). The reason for that is simple, no pitcher, not even Young himself, could turn the 2008 Giants into contenders, not even Lincecum, although he did all he could every fifth day.

The hard-throwing 24-year-old gets my fictional vote because of the fact he almost single-handedly kept what amounts to a glorified Double-A squad from losing the 100 games like many predicted they would. His 15-7 record is all the more impressive when considering the little run support he got and his 2.66 ERA was just slightly higher than Santana's. Factor in Lincecum led all of MLB with a whopping 252 Ks (best in Giants history) which was 46 more than second-place finisher Cincy rookie Edison Volquez, he also added eight double-digit strikeout performances and an impressive 1.18 WHIP to boot. Also consider that Lincecum allowed three or fewer earned runs in 24 of his 33 starts thus far, including 14 straight to open the season, never missed a start and logged 220 innings overall, and it's really an open and shut case that Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher this year.

And if you still can't wrap your arms around my choice, just remember he played for the Giants, the 70-88 San Francisco Giants.

Disagree with my pick, let me know where I went wrong. You've got until Sunday to change my mind, then I have to turn in my imaginary ballot.

While I might be a little late in getting these predictions out to you, I plan on making up for my tardiness with some good old fashioned accuracy. There will be no Swami-like (aka Chris Berman) "Seattle Seahawks will win the Super Bowl" picks and because of me being late, there will be no fashionable New England Patriots picks either.

So let's end the suspense and breakdown the NFL Playoffs right here and now before the season is half over and nobody gives me any credit when my predictions become reality.

Dallas' pass defense looks a little vulnerable right now and the loss of Roy Williams surely isn't going to help a team that doesn't tackle well already but this team possesses enough offensive firepower to make up for of its defensive issues. Cowboys win the East and earn the No. 1 seed in the postseason.

Because they're playing in the NFC North and because they are loaded with young talent on both sides of the ball, Green Bay runs away with the division and rides the arm of Rodgers and the legs a RB stable of Grant, Jackson and Lumpkin (remember that name) and earns the No. 2 seed.

The playoff format is set up to reward the division winners so despite the fact that Philly and the Giants finish with better records than New Orleans, the Saints earns the No. 3 seed by virtue of winning the South and Arizona earns the No. 4 seed after winning the West.

Tom Brady's injury affects the AFC but not as much as many would lead you to believe. Despite the loss of their HOF QB, the Patriots still have enough to hold off a late charge by the surprising Bills to win the East.

Pittsburgh has the best team on both sides of the ball and rides its well-balanced offense into a No. 1 seed.

With Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall becoming more in sync with each passing day, the Broncos have just enough on defense to steal the West from teh disappointing Chargers. Denver earns the No 2 seed and the Patriots settle for No. 3 while San Diego players get to hit the links in January instead of waiting until February like many predicted.

A banged up Indy squad somehow manages to win the South and snag the No. 4 seed with Buffalo and Jacksonville rounding out the group at Nos 5 and 6, respectively.

Playoffs
NFC
N.Y. Giants over Arizona 
New Orleans over Philly
AFC
New England over Jacksonville
Buffalo over Indianapolis
NFC
Green Bay over N.Y. Giants
Dallas over New Orleans
AFC
Pittsburgh over Buffalo
Denver over New England
NFC
Dallas
AFC
Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XLIII
Dallas Cowboys 34, Pittsburgh 24

Let's check back on this blog post when the playoffs get started and see how close I came. Then again, maybe we shouldn't. Let me know what you think of my fearless (or shopuld I say clueless) predictions and then let's see how you think things will shake out in the NFL this year.

I was just reading about Upper Deck recently sweetening the pot for those trying to put together the ginormous Yankee Stadium Legacy series, a 6,661-card insert set that details ever home game played at the historic ballpark in the Bronx dating back to 1923. My first reaction, good call, sweetening was needed for this daunting task.

The new proposition offered by UD will give the first five collectors to complete the set, (did I mention it was 6,661 cards?) a "Yankee Dream Day" at the new stadium along with a meet-and-greet with Yankee shortstop and UD spokesman Derek Jeter. With a set this big, not to mention the money it would take to complete it, in my opinion, winners should instantly earn a starting spot in the Yankees lineup, which would make the reward equal to the challenge. Although with the way the Yankees have folded down the stretch that might be more of a punishment than a reward, at least collectors would receive a prize worthy of their efforts.

Tackling a set like this is a huge undertaking for anybody and I'm guessing a lack of collector interest prompted the updated prize package or maybe it was just a case of the people at UD realizing they were asking a lot of their customers in the first place. Either way, good call on the late additions, I can't imagine this promotional effort was going to get too far off the ground without them.

There has been much discussion about fraud and more specifically shill bidding among auction houses in recent days and it reminded me of MLB and its 180-degree turnaround regarding steroids in recent years.

So what do the two have in common you say? Well, as I see it, MLB elected to look the other way for a decade or so while steroids became more and more prevalent and home runs became more and more a staple of the game. In turn, the league was able to regain the fanbase it lost from the two labor disputes that nearly ruined the game. While the fans and home runs came back in bunches, the game returned to prominence and despite the noticeable changes in many of the player's phyisiques, Bud and the rest of baseball elected to look the other way and play dumb when any steroid chatter was initiated. The struggling game needed a shot in the arm, or in this case, a shot in the butt, and steroids were a quick solution to the problem.

Hit the rewind button and examine the hobby landscape a decade or so ago and you'll see similar problems persisted. After enjoying huge success in the mid-to-late 80s, the hobby seemed destined for another downward spiral. The card market had been oversaturated to such a degree that values were plummeting quicker than the stock market in 1929 and something needed to be done. With the enormous success of eBay, came the auction house boom of last decade, where another one seemed to sprout up on a daily basis. Collectors found out that more money could be had by consigning their items to established auction companies and the hobby was up off the canvas.

While all this business was being done, it was inevitable that some unscroupulous people would emerge from the masses and try to take advantage of the surging marketplace and sure enough, that's what happened. Whether it was auction company workers posing as legitimate bidders, bogus grades being issued by authentication companies or the doctoring of the memorabilia itself, insiders were getting creative in attempts to drive up the final prices of the items being "won" at the various auctions.

Much like in baseball where insiders knew about steroids but elected to look away and bit their toungues for the "betterment of the game," those in the hobby did likewise when claims of shadiness were being whispered throughout the collectibles industry. People were collecting again, money was changing hands quicker than ever on some of the elite items the hobby had to offer and many people quickly adopted the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude in regards to the fraud and deception that was going on behind the scenes.

When recent news outlets published reports of subpeonas being handed out and investigations into some of today's top auction house outlets became known, few were surprised at the allegations. When asked whether or not they believed auction houses were capable of collusion, deception and out and out fraud, many hobby insiders matter-of-factly shrugged off these practices as commonplace and stated it was only a matter of time before these types of longtime practices become common knowledge.

So, when MLB needed a boost and turned a blind eye on the rampant steroid use in the game because the crowds were filing through the turnstyles at record numbers and sometimes the dollars outweighed the sense, few cared. In much the same way, the hobby needed a boost and the fraudulent tactics being used by the auction houses were looked at with a blind eye, few cared. Business was booming again and whatever it took to make that a reality seemed to be a necessary evil most were willing to live with.

So, when the steroid issue was brought to the attention of the general public with the Mitchell Report findings, some acted if this was new news and others acted shocked and appalled. Many did likewise when the allegations were made public regarding the practices of some of the most-trusted names in the auction business but many more were well aware of these practices.

It just goes to show you that you can only look the other way and bury your head in the sand for so long before these type of practices come back to haunt you. Whether the skeletons in your closet are shooting needles or shilling bids, everyone needs to be held accountable.
  

With the new NFL season just days away, many begin to turn their focus from the pennant races to the start of the NFL campaign where every team is still hopeful of making the postseason and nobody has been mathematically  eliminated yet. Except for the Chiefs that is, they're officially done.
While they're are a ton of rookies entering the league with high expectations and high price tags on their memorabilia, I started to think about which players would be the guys who go from a blip on the radar screen into tomorrow's superstars.
I just got back from hosting one of our company's high-stakes Fantasy FB drafts in Orlando and if the guys who are spending the big bucks to play have any idea, there should be several guys to target for your collections before they transform into superstars and their values skyrocket into another tax bracket.
Some of the young players expected to emerge this year (in no particular order) were: Steve Slaton; Rashard Mendenhall, Josh Morgan; Mike Hart; Tim Hightower, Darren Sprowles and Ryan Torain.
While there are no sure things if life, Fantasy FB and especially collecting, but these guys spend a lot of time and money preparing for their drafts and these guys are definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Everyone knows about Darren McFadden, James Stewart and even Mendenhall, but who are some of the other guys you'll be targeting for your teams and your collections this year. LMK, I'd like to hear your thoughts.