GOOD
Jason Phillips
The call to the bullpen took on a whole new meaning for the former Toronto Blue Jays catcher last Sunday. Phillips, who now serves as the bullpen catcher for the Seattle Mariners, got hitched to fiancée Molly Ray in the place they first set eyes upon each other - the Safeco Field bullpen. While working a game against the Oakland A's last May, Phillips spotted Ray in the stands and threw her a baseball scribbled with his phone number. It just goes to show you can round the bases as many times as you like, but sealing the deal always comes back to the bullpen.
Landon Donovan
Kudos to the Los Angeles Galaxy forward for uniting a nation and showing the United States it can indeed get excited about a sporting event that takes less than two hours to complete from start to finish. While baseball, football and basketball games all stretch into three-hours-plus territory - heck, even U.S. tennis players struggle to finish a match in under 11 hours these days - Donovan gave his nation a reason to excited with a sporting achievement - reaching the second round of soccer's World Cup - that the rest of the planet can actually appreciate.
Henrik Sedin
The Vancouver Canucks may have come up empty-handed in the team trophy stakes once again this year, but one half of their star Swedish duo will certainly need more room on the mantle. Having already bested the "faces of the sport," as he put it, in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, Henrik Sedin repeated the trick for good measure on Wednesday at the NHL awards, beating out Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin once again for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. Even better, the award means twin brother Daniel "can't say he's the better player now."
BAD
Dustin Byfuglien
Chicago's playoff tour de force needs to make the most of his day with the Stanley Cup this summer - it could well be the last time he sees it for a while. Among the many byproducts of the Blackhawks triumph was increased salary cap problems, so the hulking defenceman-cum-winger was shipped to the Atlanta Thrashers in a move that saved Chicago more than $5-million (U.S.) in cap space. Still, with an 11-goal postseason on his résumé, there will likely be no shortage of suitors to swoop in and rescue him from hockey purgatory in a future deadline-day deal.
Steve Smith
When you're Michael Jordan, you get a "love of the game" clause inserted in your contract to play recreationally in the off-season. When you're Steve Smith, you simply try like heck not to get hurt. Playing flag football in the off-season doesn't really help in that regard, and so it was no surprise when the Pro Bowl receiver broke his arm in a game last Sunday, jeopardizing the Carolina Panthers hopes for the 2010 NFL season. For a team trying to break in a new quarterback, following the departure of long-time signal caller Jake Delhomme, the timing could certainly have been better.
Golden Tate
While NFL players are no strangers to endorsements, they are usually the first to take a cut of the pie. Not the Seattle Seahawks rookie wide receiver, who will just be happy to escape the long arm of the law after his early morning raid on a Top Pot Doughnut shop for a couple of "irresistible" maple bars. But smartly, rather than pressing charges, the owners simply turned it into their latest marketing campaign: "Irresistible … but please wait until we're open."
Paul Attfield