I love the NHL. I grew up a Penguins fan and was the perfect age for the Mario Lemieux hey day years.

I still think it is a better sport to watch and to attend than the NBA.

We talk in the office a lot about Ohio State basketball and Thad Matta.

He has done a great job geting high-profile recruits to come to Columbus. And the teams have performed well, although falling short of winning national titles.

Makes perfect sense for the Indians to secure Carlos Santana for the next five years. Just like the deal for Asdrubal Cabrera.

The real question is: Are these guys cornerstones to a franchise? I am still not sold on either in that capacity. Good ballplayers, the kind you need to be successful, but I still don't see a player who scares the other team or who sells tickets.

Quick thoughts:

* Great finish by Bubba Watson to win the Masters on Sunday. The shot he made to set up the win will be seen on replay for years to come. He has always been a good interview at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, too. Also very cool that he won an auction earlier this year for the General Lee, the iconic car from the 1980s show, The Dukes of Hazzard. 

With the Indians opener being a sore subject to many, I look to the NFL for fodder today.

League commissioner Roger Goodell is being lauded for the NFL's push the past 2 or 3 seasons to curb violence. TV announcers and Internet critics are calling for Gregg Williams career to be over for his role over bountygate.

Baseball's Opening Day is the only sports day that is in the Beacon Journal stylebook. It requires that we capitalize it. Not football or basketball or any other sports day. Although I am sure there are some readers who think we should capitalize the First Day of Hunting Season.

There was a time in baseball when Opening Day mattered. Kids would skip school (I remember going to Three Rivers Stadium to watch the Pirates receive their World Series rings in 1980), the first game would always be played in Cincinnati, and some cities even had parades.

Marla Ridenour points out in her column today that Ohio just raised the bar for MAC basketball with the money they are paying to bring Jim Christian back to the league, luring him from a Big 12 school.

One reason Ohio can do this, though, is its average attendance is the best in the league and has been for six of the past seven seasons. This year the Bobcats averaged 6,177 fans, nearly 2,500 more than Toledo, which was second in the league. Ohio drew a crowd of 13,011 for a game against Miami.

The Dodgers are sold for $2 billion. The Reds give Joey Votto what basically can be termed a 12-year contract for more than $225 million. Matt Cain gets the highest contract for a right-hander in baseball history. Jay Bruce and Andrew McCutchen received five-year contracts in the $10 million per season range.

Add up all of these things, and it doesn't bode well for the self-preceived small market teams. I say self-preceived because a team like the Cardinals is in a smaller market than the Indians, and they never are called a small market franchise.

We have converted all of our sports blogs -- we will include the beer blog; sports and beer go together you know -- to our new platform.

The most noticeable change for you is the ability to see the posts show up around Ohio.com from breaking news to the sports home page to your teams to our writers pages.