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    • Tampa Bay Lightning

    The United States of hockey

    Is hockey becoming America’s game?

    More kids, more rinks, and now, more popular than basketball

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    Small balls: home runs, redemption, and Brett Favre’s tears

    La première étoile: As baseball reaches the All Star break, the story of the season is, without a doubt, Josh Hamilton. The Dallas Morning News does a nice job of telling the tale of Hamilton’s battle against drug and alcohol addiction, to claw his way back into the major leagues. Batting over .300, with 21 homers and 95 RBIs, just two years after he was completely out of the game. We at Balls don’t often get teary over tales of redemption and the power of the human spirit, but, you know…sniff…we’re not made of stone either.

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    But will he regrow the mullet?

    Barry Melrose is back, ladies and gents—after 13 years. Tampa Bay have hired him to coach. I have a soft spot for this guy, as wooly-brained as he was when he coached Gretz et al in Los Angeles. I fashioned my hair after his.