Sincere Sports

  Shane Wright (Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press)      A passion of mine that I haven't quite mentioned yet are mock drafts. Though I am far from a scout, when you watch as much hockey as I do, you can start to notice some plays beneath the surface. After the recent NHL draft lottery confirmed that the Montreal Canadiens would be selecting first overall, I felt that now was a good time to make my first NHL mock draft of the season.      In this article, I'm only going to be looking at every pick in the first round.. Using scouting reports from Dobber Hockey, Sam Cosentino of Sportnset and the Athletic, I will try to find a perfect fit for every team that kept a pick in Round 1 of the amateur draft.       I've watched highlights and game footage and pored over dozens of different scouting reports for this task. It'll be difficult to nail down many of these picks,      This is a significant project as it takes a lot of ef...

  Rafael Nadal (Kirsty Wigglesworth, Associated Press)     Arguably the biggest and most important tennis tournament has crept on us. Out of nowhere, Wimbledon is here.     The Championships in London are regarded as the most prestigious tourney of tennis anywhere in the world. To win at Wimbledon means more than a victory anywhere else.     So, to mirror my article predicting the Australian Open, I decided to do the same for the next Grand Slam. If you read my Australian Open preview, you may recall that I absolutely nailed it, picking the correct winner (Rafael Nadal), the runner-up (Daniil Medvedev) and one of the remaining semifinalists (Matteo Berrettini). I'd like to note that my prediction performance was undoubtedly a fluke. I am not a tennis genius by any means. I'm still searching for answers as to why that was arguably my best series of predictions since the creation of this blog in January.     But I definitely watch the sport. I ...

  Carey Price (TheAthletic.com) *This Sincere Sports article is part of the NBE3U1 #Wokesettler podcast assignment*     The purpose of sports has been constantly debated. Some people say that it's nothing more than a game. Others take it far more seriously and consider sports to be a way of life. Toronto Maple Leafs fans think the point of sports is to be sad in a collective group. There is no real right answer to this question.      But after some pondering, I have discovered the purpose of sports, from my perspective. I think that sports exist to build team spirit and to inspire a confident nature in its athletes. In that sense, sports are far more than just a game. They aren't exactly a way of life either. Rather, sports are a series of lessons, used to help people find their identity. You could even compare it to school. If the point of school is to help young children discover who they are as students, the point of sports is to help young children disc...

  Max Verstappen extended his championship lead (F1.com)     Dutch driver Max Verstappen reigned after the conclusion of an eventful Canadian Grand Prix. F1's return to Montreal gave us one of the best qualifying sessions in recent memory, as drivers like Fernando Alonso and Mick Schumacher excelled in the wet conditions.      The race itself had some high-profile retirements and it threw another curveball into this year's championship battle. Charles Leclerc, expecting a major loss in the championship due to his engine penalty, had to watch Verstappen pick up 25 points with the victory. Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez suffered an unfortunate gearbox failure that prevented him from challenging for points.      Another F1 race means another edition of the Sincere Sports power rankings. Does Verstappen's win in Montreal give him the top spot or did a midfield driver outshine him? Find out below.      As usual, I added all the...

    Max Verstappen led a Red Bull 1-2 (F1.com)     The Red Bull pairing of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen ran the streets of Baku with a fairly comfortable double podium. Retirements from the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz  gave Christian Horner's team a significant advantage in the championship.      In a weekend that showcased the ceiling of Red Bull Power Trains (as well as the floor of the Ferrari engines), it's no surprise to see a lot of formerly Honda-powered cars in the top 10 of the power rankings.       As usual, I added all the drivers' scores together to find the top 10 drivers for this particular race and on a season-long basis.     If you've forgotten, we take machinery entirely out of the equation and simply judge the drivers based on how well they did with the equipment they possessed.     Let's begin!

  Cale Makar and Steven Stamkos (Ron Henoy, USA Today)     Here we are. The Stanley Cup Finals. It's what all the NHL fans have been waiting for nearly 12 months. While I was really looking forward to a matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers for the Cup, even I can admit that my excitement level is reaching peak levels at the mere prospect of a duel between two absolute titans of the game.      For the last 3 years, we've been predicting a Tampa Bay v Colorado Finals matchup. It's finally arrived. The star power on display here could very well make this the most entertaining series that we've seen in at least a decade.     On one side, we have the blossoming dynasty: the Tampa Bay Lightning. 4 more wins and Jon Cooper's squad will go into the history books as one of the most notable teams in NHL history. But their opponents are no slouches either. Perhaps the only team worthy of being favoured in a series against this dynamic...

  Youri Tielemans (Malcolm Couzens, Getty Images)     The summer transfer window is finally here. My very first article on Sincere Sports was a preview of the January transfer window and though many of the clubs didn't listen to my advice, I'm eager to try out a similar article for January.      After a few days of scouting perfect fits, I've put together a list of one player that each of the Premier League clubs should target.      I've gone solely for realistic signings, so only players that are on the market will be on this list. Don't worry, I'm not going to suggest Lionel Messi to Bournemouth.      With that out of the way, let's get started.

  Draymond Green and Marcus Smart (John Tlumacki, Getty Images)     The NBA finals are here at last. The Golden State Warriors dispatched the Dallas Mavericks with ease, whereas the Boston Celtics battled hard to get past the Miami Heat. It all amounts to one exciting matchup.     We only have one series to discuss in this article, so I'll be able to go a bit more in-depth and tackle more subjects.      This series is about as 50-50 as it gets. Most of the general public seems to think that the Warriors have this won already, while the analytics community seems to favour the Celtics. As always, it's probably right in the middle.     Of all the teams that the Warriors have faced so far, the Celtics are by far the most skilled. One could argue that this matchup is actually a bit of a disaster for Golden State, as the Celtics seem built to beat these Warriors.      The Celtics have an excellent wing player who can take advant...

  Sergio Perez won his second race with Red Bull (F1.com)     Amidst conversation about removing the Monaco Grand Prix from the F1 calendar, the race in Monte Carlo actually delivered a fairly interesting watch. The wet-dry race saw Sergio Perez win the third race of his career, a record for a Mexican driver. Charles Leclerc's Monaco curse came to an end (kind of...) and Carlos Sainz again missed out on a race victory for the umpteenth time.     There was drama all the way down the grid. Despite that, the overtakes were still few and far between, so most of the entertainment stemmed from watching Checo's podium celebrations.      Yet another Formula 1 Grand Prix means yet another edition of the Sincere Sports Power Rankings. Checo took home the 25 points, but was he the top performer of the weekend in the Monaco rain?      As usual, I added all the drivers' scores together to find the top 10 drivers for this particular race and on a...

  Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid (Andy Devlin, Getty Images)     Wait, what is happening right now? Is the NHL actually fun?      The last few playoffs have been ruined by dumb refereeing calls, poor marketing, and crucial injuries to star players. It made the final few weeks of the season somewhat boring.      That couldn't be further from the truth in 2022. The NHL is marketing its' star talent. Other than a controversial Blake Coleman kicking motion call, the refereeing has been adequate. All is good in the hockey world.     I've always said that hockey is the best sport when it's working and right now, it's going better than it has in years.      This is why I'm so excited for the Conference Finals. Sometimes with this dumb league, it's optimistic to expect that this perfection will continue. But I'm ecstatic nevertheless. Maybe I'm teeing myself up for disappointment. Or maybe hockey is actually fun aga...