eSports columnist Conor McCreery is back with his off-kilter take on what's going on in the world of sports. He's heavy on Major League Baseball this time around, with a look at why two potential A.L. contenders are playing not below, but right where they should be. He also takes on the NBA. The NBA? In summer? But can you blame him? With Mark Madsen and Andray Blatche in the news in the same week?

So, let's get started…

ONE: Last week two West Virginia Mounteneers student athletes gave the institution a black-eye by being nailed for stealing computers.

Huh? I didn't know Marcus Williams was taking summer classes there.

TWO: And speaking of troubled NBA players… I like the fact that the multi-year deal between the Washington Wizards and Andray Blatche was only "delayed" by his arrest for soliciting sex. It would be a shame if something silly like trying to pick up a hooker stopped a young man described by his GM as "a good kid" from getting millions and millions of dollars. Of course, really, to be fair, trying to pay for sex shouldn't cost Blatche a multi-year deal. The fact that he's done almost nothing in his two years in the NBA but run aimlessly should probably have done that… but, you know. Well, so too are the guys who compete in the long jump, and come to think of it, they probably have a similar Basketball IQ as Blatche.

TWO AND A HALF: As much as I like to be sarcastic here. I'm going to spare a moment for Eddie Griffen. A young kid who did everything wrong with all the chances he got.

But the key is – he was a young kid. Even six years into his career in the NBA Griffen was still just 25. One year of college, and then he was tossed deep, way too deep, into the world of the pros. Some kids can handle it, some kids muddle through, and some kids flame out brilliantly. Griffen was the most shocking example of the last case.

When people complain about high-school kids not being allowed to play in the NBA, Griffen's name needs to come up as the cautionary tale. I would have been the first one snapping on the TV to watch Griffen dazzle in the pros as he did in the ACC, but now, now I think "what a waste." And not of a basketball talent, but of a person. Whatever demons Griffen had been battling he surely could have amounted to more than the ongoing punch-line he had become.

Some will say not to read too much into one story of a player gone off the tracks, and sure a lot of young players will handle the transition beautifully, but when someone comes along as obviously troubled as Griffen, remember this was a kid who barely graduated high-school because of anger issues, we all need to take a deep breath and every GM needs to check their heart as well as their head, and tell the kid's agent to keep him in school one more year.

For as many years as it takes.

ONE: While the success of the Toronto Blue Jays' pitching (second in the AL in runs against) was something nobody saw coming, the team's "shocking" failure to hit, which has left them, yet again on the outside looking in, shouldn't have come as such a surprise. Especially to a Moneyball disciple like GM J.P. Riccardi.

The Jays' brain trust HAD to be counting on Vernon Wells to take some sort of step backwards. Here are his batting averages since breaking into the majors back in 1999. .261, .000 (in two games), .313, .275, .317, .272, .269, .303, and currently .264.

But even if the Jays DIDN'T see this completely in-character regression coming, they should have known that even Vernon Wells "the good" doesn't hit right-handed pitching very well. In fact, in the three years before this one, Wells had managed to hit only .268 off righties. Combine that with a .320 OBP and a .462 SLG and you have the very picture of an average offensive player.

But, Wells isn't the only featured member of the Jays offense to historically struggle against right-handers. Here's Troy Glaus' three year breakdown –  .251/.346/.511. For the record those on-base and slugging numbers are both 50-points shy of what he does to lefties.

What about lead-off man Reed Johnson? .277/.333/.415 (also well shy of his lefty-tonging ways).

Starting catcher Greg Zaun? .253/.356/.396. So he gets on alright, but he's slow and can't hit for power.

Emerging wunderkind Aaron Hill? .279/.335/.377 – these numbers are soft even for a middle infielder.

The point is, aside from Lyle Overbay, the Jays didn't have a proven bat that could get to right-handed hurlers. Last year Wells and Johnson overachieved, while guys like Alex Rios and Hill showed flashes vs. righties, but both have regressed slightly this year.

So when Riccardi decided to add Frank Thomas to the Jays line-up, the only major offensive upgrade he undertook, it was a curious decision. Thomas, as a right-hander, also has historically been much better vs. southpaws. In 2007 "The Big Hurt" has played true to form, hitting almost 100 points lower against right-handed hitters, and when he does get a hit, it ain't going far. His slugging average is barely above .400 – more than 200 points below his numbers against lefties.

So when Overbay got hurt, and left-handed hitting Adam Lind struggled to adjust to major-league pitching the Jays fate was sealed.

So put away those foolish dreams of a late-season surge from Toronto. Despite Matt Stairs heroics against righties this year (.291/.356/.570), the Jays simply aren't good enough with the bats. At least against the type of pitchers they would face the most.

And that's something Toronto management should have known.

TWO: Maybe we should have seen the Detroit Tiger collapse coming as well. Except while the Jays had obvious problems with their hitting, if anyone had cared to really look, the Tigers were obviously not as good on the mound as they seemed.

Kenny Rogers had posted two back-to-back years of ERA's under 4.00, but those were two of the three he managed in the last decade. You had to think he was likely to slide back to where he had been – even if he hadn't been hurt. And while I like Nate Robertson – he's a warrior – he's also not a particularly good pitcher. If you look at his career numbers last year was the only one where he gave up less hits than innings pitched, or had an ERA under 4.00.

Justin Verlander is a stud, and he's basically mirroring his stats of last year. Given that a lot of young players slide a bit in their second year this is a bit surprising, than again Verlander is a special pitcher so perhaps he is only performing to expectations.

However the other young pitcher the Tigers P.R. staff would have you consider a phenom – Jeremy Bonderman – is scuffling a little bit. For those who keep a close eye on Bonderman this really shouldn't come as any sort of surprise. Looking through the right-hander's five-year career one will see that Bonderman has only given up fewer hits than innings pitched ONCE. And that wasn't even last year. For his career Bonderman is 37 over – not exactly heady stuff, especially when you consider that Bonderman's career hits- to-innings-pitched ratio is almost exactly the same as Brett Tomko a man whose career is synonymous with "well, he won't kill you."

As for Bonderman's well publicized first inning battles – opponents are hitting .388 off him and have scored 37 times in his 25 starts – this also shouldn't seem odd. His single biggest problem has always been his tendency to pitch inefficiently, especially early. It's one of the reasons he often runs up high pitch counts, and those high counts means when Bonderman take the hill the Tigers often have to dip into their bullpen earlier than one would expect for an "ace." In fact Bonderman hasn't chucked a complete game since September 4th of 2005 – a full half-century's worth of starts.

Add to that the injury to stud prospect Andrew Miller – causing the merry-go-round known as the Tigers' 5th spot – and you have a recipe for lots of pen work.

And since everyone knew by late June that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney were going to play MUCH smaller roles in 2007 than they did in 2006 and the table was set for disaster. Another problem in the bullpen was that quietly, and without fanfare Jim Leyland lost one of his most reliable arms in Jamie Walker.

Last year Walker made 56 appearances – posting an ERA of 2.81. This year, for Baltimore, Walker has toed the rubber 67 times with an ERA of an even 3.00 – think those 48 innings he's tossed so far wouldn't have saved the Tigers a game or three? A team whose bullpen has the 5th worst ERA in baseball?

Really, we should be surprised that the Tigers have come so far with an almost No. 1 in Verlander, a No. 3/4 type guy in Bonderman a so-so No. 5 in Robertson and no real bullpen to speak of.

The scary thing is, if the Tigers can regroup now that Rodney and Zumaya are back, and if just one of the cadre of the baby-tabby hurlers can make a mark (or if Miller or recently dinged-up Jair Jurrjens can make it back) Detroit could still make the playoffs and the World Series on the strength of an absolutely dynamic offense. Sure they won't score 16 runs EVERY game they are sans Gary Sheffield, but this team can still hurt you each and every night.

TWO AND A HALF: The Syracuse Sky-Chiefs committed an International League record 10 errors earlier this week…

And that was without Russ Adams.

ONE: Why are the Miami Heat still considered a potential finalist out in the East? This is not that good a team. Shaquille O'Neal is no longer Shaq, people. He's still better than most at centre, and he'll probably absolutely dominate opponents 20 or so times this year, but he can be KILLED by anybody who make him defend the pick and roll. Plus, Shaq just doesn't care that much anymore. He won his title without Kobe. If his contract had expanded at the end of last year I bet he would have retired.

Dwayne Wade is brilliant, true. But his hell-bent for leather style is increasingly taking a toll on his health. It's hard to believe he can play more than 60 games at 100%.

Udonis Haslem is also a plus player, and maybe the most under-rated guy in the NBA now, but he can only do so much. Ditto for Alonzo Mourning, except neither of them can score that much – and well there's still that little kidney issue floating around 'Zo.

Jason Williams? Thirty great games and 30 stinkers means he's an average NBA point-guard at best. And the less said about Smush Parker the better – another one of those guys who does something special each game, which somehow barely masks the four dumb things he does.

Antoine Walker? Now officially into the "liability unless he goes for 30" stage of his career. As a bonus he also blocks two younger players who might MIGHT be more useful in Wayne Simian and Jason Smith.

Penny Hardaway? The list of players who have come back to be efficient after missing two years due to major knee issues, while also having to play with the man they stabbed in the back is pretty short.

Michael Doleac does nothing for me, and if you're still waiting for the Dorell Wright train to come in, well, I hope you brought some Sudoko to keep you busy.

But somehow, because people can say "Shaq and Wade," all these holes get papered over. Miami is not better than Detroit, Chicago, New Jersey, Cleveland, Toronto and a healthy Washington or Boston – no way. And I don't think the Heat will be healthy, which means they probably aren't better than Orlando or New York, and might not be stronger than Indiana or even a reasonably healthy Milwaukee.

TWO: The Minnesota Timberwolves forward Mark Madsen is going to miss at least three months for an injury he suffered during a boating excursion. This leaves Minnesota desperately thin in the "guy needed to jump off the bench to high-five teammates during timeouts" position.

TWO AND A HALF: I bet Paul Shirley's agent is suddenly a lot nearer to the phone.