September 2nd update

Third NHL player takes own life this off-season

• Wade Belak, who most recently played with the Nashville Predators was found dead in his apartment on Wednesday. Preliminary (Sportico stresses these are preliminary findings) show that Belek took his own life. If these shocking reports are true, the affable player, described by his teammates as happy-go-lucky, becomes the third player this offseason to take his life.
• In May, Derek Boogaard was found dead in his Minnesota home. Toxicology reports showed a high level of alcohol and painkillers in his system at the time of death. Earlier in August, Rick Rypien was found dead in his home. There was no official cause of death, but Rypien had a history of depression and some have speculated that he also took his own life.
• These three players are what are known in hockey as “enforcers,” big tough guys who make sure that their smaller teammates are not picked on by the other team, playing more physically and often getting into brawls on behalf of their team.
• While other sports have made strides to cut down on concussions (and more importantly their after effects) that have lead to brain damage and depression which raises the chances of suicidal tendencies, the NHL hasn't taken too many efforts. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, in response to these tragedies, the league will start looking into joining their pro sports brethren in trying to remedy this issue for the hockey community as a whole.


DBacks running away from defending champs in NL West

*Note: This is part 4 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• Now that we've completed our reviews of the American League divisions, it's time to move to the National League and where better to start than with the NL West, the home of the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants?
• The Giants made a big move at the trade deadline, dealing for Carlos Beltran but despite terrific starting pitching, the hitters haven't been up to par. The Giants are last in the MLB with only 460 runs scored as of September 1st. The Giants havent been able to recover from the injury of superstar catcher Buster Posey early in the season.
• The team taking charge is the Arizona Diamondbacks who have finished in last place in the division each of the past 2 years but have come back with a surprising resurgence this season behind the stellar play of Justin Upton and an extremely consistent top 4 in the pitching rotation.
• As for the other teams, the Padres lost their only real star (Adrian Gonzalez) in free agency to the Red Sox, the Rockies haven't had the same production in 2011 as they had in 2010 from their Gonzalez (Carlos). The last team, the Dodgers, despite not having to pay anyone with the Gonzalez surname have had too many distractions with the financial issues of their owner who now has a $1.2 Billion offer to buy the team, submitted by the LA Marathon founder Bill Burke, and numerous investors, including some from China.