Newly signed Blue Jays reliever Casey Janssen is an interesting study on the mound.

The California native’s blonde locks, perma-tan and perpetual five o’clock shadow scream laid-back surfer dude, but his manic mannerisms contradict that perception.

So even when he was enjoying his finest big league campaign in 2011, most Jays fans never felt entirely comfortable with him on the hill.

Sure, the fidgety right-hander, who just inked a two-year, $5.9-million deal, struck out more batters per nine innings, allowed fewer home runs and posted a nifty 2.26 ERA in 2011, but it still seemed like the 6-foot-3 reliever was coughing up hits at the most inopportune times.

Though he limited hitters to a .228 batting average in 2011, the opposition hit .346 against him with two outs and runners in scoring position. And with runners on second and third base or with the bases loaded, batters were five for nine against him. So while Janssen improved in 2011, he needs to pitch better with runners in scoring position.

Janssen's $5.9-million contract is also a little confounding. Prior to finalizing this two-year deal, the Jays had offered the right-handed reliever a one-year, $1.8-million pact. So does $5.9 million over two years (also a $4-million team option for 2014) mean that the club believes Janssen is worth $4.1 million in 2013? It seems like the Jays overpaid for a reliever who looks to be their fourth or fifth option out of the pen.

Used primarily in the eighth inning last season, Janssen – in a revamped bullpen that will boast Sergio Santos, Darren Oliver, Francisco Cordero and Jason Frasor – will likely be used in the sixth or seventh inning. Deploying Janssen in the seventh inning makes sense; he held hitters to a .173 batting average in that frame in 2011.

And it should be noted that Janssen was more effective against left-handed hitters in 2011 (.216 batting average against him) than right-handed batters (.242). His dexterity against left-handed hitters should influence the Jays’ decisions on whom they bring north in April. Oliver is the only southpaw reliever that’s guaranteed a job, so with Janssen posing as their second lefty, the Jays could keep promising young right-hander Joel Carreno rather than less effective left-hander Luis Perez.

Overall, the decision to sign Janssen should turn out to be a good one for the Jays, even if they overpaid for his services. The fidgety hurler improved in 2011 and his effectiveness against left-handed hitters makes him a solid seventh-inning option. But the California native still has to pitch better with runners in scoring position before Jays fans will stop fidgeting in their seats when he’s on the mound.

The NHL rumour-of-the-day has the Columbus Blue Jackets entertaining trade offers for their captain and franchise winger, Rick Nash. If a trade does come down prior to the Feb. 27 deadline, then it will have huge implications for your fantasy pool. The 27-year-old Nash is a premiere talent stuck in a very bad situation. The Jackets are a virtual certainty to finish last overall this season, and there is chatter that the franchise is about to embark on a re-build. Excuse me, but hasn't this team been in a constant re-build since entering the league in 2000?

The usual suspects figure to kick the tires on Nash. That list of teams includes Boston, Pittsburgh, the Rangers, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington, Vancouver and Los Angeles. Central Division rivals Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis may also be interested, but Columbus GM Scott Howson may be reluctant to deal Nash within the division. At any event, Nash has a no-movement clause in his contract, so he is the one calling the shots here. And as loyal as he is to the franchise, it's hard to imagine he's keen to stick around much longer, considering the Jackets appears far from being contenders.

Nash has 18 goals and 39 points in 56 games this season. The past few years he's failed to live up to the lofty expectations he set early in his career. He scored 41 goals as a sophomore and 40 in 2008-09. He had 32 and 33 goals the past two seasons, but keep in mind he accomplished that without the benefit of a quality playmaking centre. Nash is a power forward who needs someone to get him the puck; from there he's more than capable of putting it in the net on a regular basis.

If Nash lands with a good team - and chances are he will - you can expect him to be a perennial 40-goal scorer. He should experience an immediate spike in his production. This is something poolies need to keep in mind, particularly if a fantasy rival owns Nash. Now is the time to be pro-active and look to improve your team. In a few short weeks, there's a pretty good chance someone else's team will be much better.

The biggest story in the NBA comes to Toronto on February 14th, and as you have probably heard by now, New York's Jeremy Lin had something of a breakout last week. It's one of the stories you really had to dig for because I think it really flew under the radar. 

Look, Lin's week was good. Actually, it was historically good as no player has scored more in their first four starts since the NBA/ABA merger. It's become a cottage industry of sorts for people to uncover and describe all the ways in which Lin's impact defies all reason, as if just because it hasn't happened quite like this before means it doesn't make sense that it has happened now. Assuming that he is, in fact, an NBA caliber player, his eruption is not THAT out of the ordinary. His usage rate was sky high because Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire were out, he was playing in a system that is notoriously point guard friendly and he faced a lot of suspect defense during his four-game outburst (when he ran into a decent defense in his fifth game he slowed considerably). That shouldn't take anything away from Lin's spectacular play - lots of players have had similar opportunities and not even come close to Lin's production -  but you shouldn't expect this kind of play to continue once the Calvary comes back to eat into his time with the ball in his hands.  

Lin's recent exploits have seen him vault into eighth in the NBA in usage rate (which measures the percentage of a team's offensive possessions that a player uses when he's on the floor). That kind of time with the ball has helped allow him to probe the defense and find looks for himself and his teammates. His injured teammate Anthony, though, is fourth in the NBA in usage, and being the classic ball-stopper that he is you can expect his tendencies to wreck havoc with Lin's rhythm and production when he returns from his strained groin. People keep acting as though Lin’s exploits are going to convince Carmelo to completely reinvent the way he plays basketball when he returns, a totally absurd notion that Andre Miller and George Karl will attest to. Simply put, Carmelo does not share well with others; he ranks 155th in the NBA in assist rate, for pete’s sake. He is an isolation-heavy player and it'd be hard to Mike D'Antoni to get him to change his ways for a five-game hype machine. 

Let's also not forget Amar'e, 27th in the league in usage, and someone who needs an involvement in the offense to keep him mildly motivated on defense and rebounding. There were endless stories earlier in the season about how hard it was to spread the ball between he and Melo, so add Lin to the mix and you've got a whole new wrinkle to try and iron out before everyone comes back healthy. 

Remember this, too: Lin is not a traditional, pass-first point guard. It's not as though he'll ease their return to the lineup by setting the table Steve Nash style. He's been passing well this week, averaging 8 apg, but his skill-set is not geared towards playmaking for others. His game is based probing the defense with the ball in his hands and looking to make a play, sometimes that'll be a pass and more often it will be a shot. The ball movement has been crisp and active without Carmelo and Amar'e, give Lin that, but you cannot expect that to continue when both return to the lineup. Is Lin an upgrade at the point over Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas? Without a doubt, but that doesn't mean much until we see how he meshes with New York's more relevant players dictating his play. 

What also remains to be seen is how his shot is affected by him not having the ball in his hands nearly as much. He's shooting nearly 50% on the season now, but he clearly gets his rhythm from pounding the ball and looking for his spots. He's had near total control over the offense recently, with nearly unlimited opportunities to look for his shot when he wanted it. Even if Melo and Amar'e weren't coming back, that percentage is bound to drop. He's shooting a lot of jumpers and doesn't have the ball skills nor the athleticism to consistently get to the rim once defenses learn to key in on him (just look at what Ricky Rubio did to him in the second half of Saturday's contest against the Timberwolves). With the big boys waiting in the wings Lin's looks are going to be completely different and the odds of him maintaining his shooting clip under totally different circumstances is beyond slim. He's been good enough to show that he's got one way to finding his offense in the NBA, but there is no way that he's got a counter-punch to that attack, that would just be an insane level of player for every NBA scout to have missed. There is simply no way that you start taking the ball out of his hands and see the same level of production that he offered last week, it just won't happen. 

In fairness, of course, it doesn't have to happen. No one expects Lin to be a 20 ppg and 8 apg player for the rest of the season. The question is where does his game normalize? How much of what he's done can be maintain when the Knicks are at full strength? If he can just keep the offense from stagnating like it was earlier in the season, regardless of his individual stats, then you could say that he'd have had a tremendous season. It will be a thorough test of D'Antoni's coaching prowess to keep Lin productive after the team takes the ball out of his hands to satisfy the outsized egos of the team's best players. If he can get his team to strike that balance then they'll at least be remarkably more watchable than they were to start the season. If Lin cascades back down to earth (which, quite frankly, should surprise no one if it happens) then the Knicks are really no worse off than they were a week ago before all of this fanfare began. 

But diamond fans tend to wax romantic about their game, and its leisurely pace has been known to inspire a trivia contest or two. One favourite pastime amongst seamheads is to dream up all-theme teams. For example, an “All-Fruit” squad would include Darryl Strawberry, Bob Lemon and The Georgia Peach (Ty Cobb himself).

So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here are the top five Valentines to play in the big leagues:

5. Joe Valentine

Selected by the White Sox in the 26^th round of the 1999 draft, this 6-foot-2 right-hander pitched professionally for 12 seasons. Though he hurled in just 42 big league contests – all with the Reds between 2003 and 2005 – the journeyman reliever also enjoyed stints in the A’s, Astros, Brewers and Phillies organizations. He also toed the rubber in Japan, in the independent Atlantic League and in Mexico. Valentine might be best known, however, for the poignant 2005 Newsday article in which he discussed being raised by two gay women.

4. Corky Valentine

This 6-foot-1 right-hander won 14 games for the Reds in 1954 and 1955, before returning to the minors in 1956 where he would help propel the Southern Association’s Atlanta Crackers to league crowns the next two seasons. During his pitching career, he doubled as a policeman in the off-season and walked the beat full-time after he hung up his spikes. Valentine used to joke to his colleagues that Russia wasn’t the first country to launch something into space, some of the home run balls he surrendered were in orbit long before the Soviets were concocting the Sputnik. 

3. Fred Valentine

An All-American quarterback out of Tennessee State University, Valentine opted to sign with the Orioles in 1956. The switch-hitting outfielder played seven big league seasons with the Orioles and the Washington Senators between 1959 and 1968. His best season came with the Senators in 1966, when he slugged 16 homers and swiped 22 bases. He’s currently the vice-president and secretary of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

2. Ellis Valentine

This five-tool talent, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, was part of the Expos’ vaunted late-’70s outfield that also included Andre Dawson and Warren Cromartie. Valentine enjoyed three consecutive 20-home run campaigns from 1977 to 1979 and recorded a whopping 24 outfield assists in 1978. Unfortunately, his career was derailed by drug and alcohol abuse and he was dealt to the Mets for Jeff Reardon on May 29, 1981. After short stints with the Mets, Angels and Rangers, Valentine was out of baseball by age 31. Following his big league career, the troubled outfielder cleaned up his act and now works as a drug/alcohol counsellor in Lancaster, Calif. 

1.      Bobby Valentine

Best-known for his managerial career, Valentine was a first-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 1968. As a player, he never lived up to his promise and would serve in utility roles for the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mets and Mariners before retiring in 1979. Thirty-two games into the 1985 season, he was named manager of the Texas Rangers and would continue in that capacity until he was fired midway through the 1992 campaign. The loquacious skipper’s next big league gig came with the Mets from 1996 to 2002. In 2000, he guided the Mets to a World Series berth against the Yankees. Valentine would later manage the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League from 2004 to 2009 before working as an analyst on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball in 2011. He was hired as the Red Sox new field manager in November.  

One golfer entered the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro National Pro-Am floundering, raising questions about whether his best was in the rear view. The other set foot on the first tee heavy with expectations about whether the tournament would cement his comeback and eliminate the notion that he’d never again reach the lofty heights he once scaled with ease. 

Instead of the outcome many expected, Sunday at Pebble Beach saw Phil Mickelson, whose last win came 10 months ago, card a staggering 8-under 64 to better Charlie Wi by two shots. It was Mickelson’s 40^th PGA Tour win, and certainly one of his most decisive. 

Tiger Woods’ name, on the other hand, wasn’t found near the top of the leaderboard. 

Playing alongside Mickelson in the final round, Woods entered in a tie for third. By the time it was over his name wasn’t where most expected it to be, with his 3-over 75 plunging him into a tie for 15^th. The resurrection of Woods will have to wait for another week. 

“I just feel very inspired when I play with him,” Mickelson said after his round. “I love playing with him, and he brings out some of my best golf.”

It wasn’t always that way. Mickelson admits he “got spanked pretty good,” in the first decade of Woods’ tenure on tour.

“Let's not forget the big picture here, I've been beat up,” the left-hander explained. “But the last five years, I've been able to get some of my best golf out when we play together.”

Indeed. In his first 10 years playing against Woods, Mickelson’s record head-to-head was a woeful 5 wins, 10 losses and 3 ties. Since then he’s 8-3-1. In the past, especially at Pebble Beach, golfers crumbled at the sight of Woods. This week Woods fell apart while Mickelson stepped up and put on one of the most magnificent performances in recent memory. 

For Mickelson, the final round will surely quiet some critics who questioned whether he was on the decline following a lackluster second half of 2011 and a slow start to this year. After tying for second at the British Open last July in Sandwich, Mickelson didn’t record another Top 10 for the remainder of the year. Now 41, heading into Pebble Mickelson hadn’t finished inside of the Top 25 in his three starts this year and missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, his hometown event. 

It is easy to point to Woods’ personal issues as the reason he hasn’t won an official event in over two years. But Mickelson has certainly faced his own struggles. Two years ago he announced he was battling psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory disease that could easily end a golf career. That diagnosis followed the disclosure that both Mickelson’s wife and mother were battling breast cancer. It would have been easy for Mickelson to withdraw from golf. Instead he won the 2010 Masters in dominating fashion. 

Still, there’s a nagging suspicion that Mickelson has never fully reached his immense potential. He’s struggled to find fairways for much of his career and fought a balky putter on a regular basis. There’s a thought that if Mickelson could just rein in his driver, or just become slightly stronger with his flat stick, that he could have been a constant rival to Woods instead of regularly playing the role of the inconsistent, but talented runner up. 

This week Mickelson wasn’t playing second fiddle. He made bombs on the greens and was exacting with his irons. He put on a clinic on the final day, with Woods watching, looking increasingly miserable. 

Mickelson must have taken some satisfaction in dominating Woods on a course Tiger has owned. But with his typical smirk, Mickelson told reporters that he recognizes golf is a fleeting game. One week you can control almost every element, and the following it feels foreign. Woods played three rounds in the 60s, only to be derailed on Sunday. He’s close – and everyone can see it.

“I know that it's not easy to go through something like, that because I've been through it,” he says.  But it can change in one week.”

Mickelson knows that better than anyone. A week ago pundits were questioning his future in golf. This week they are lauding him as a potential winner at The Masters in two months. A day is all is takes, and Sunday was Mickelson’s day. Woods’ day will come – that much is clear. 

With Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp the man of the hour in England following his brush with tax evasion charges and a likely tap on the shoulder from the FA for the England boss job, this Newcastle game on the weekend was billed as an instant classic. The White Hart Lane crowd chanted 'Arry's name in all sorts of creative ways, a nod to his success with the club that now has them in third place.

Newcastle can blame a missing Tiote or any other element at-hand, but this 5-0 loss was murder. Straight knife to a gunfight business… Back liner Assou-Ekotto blasted in a tricky-angled sitter to start the action. New Spur Louis Saha nailed two for his new club (one of which was world class) and felt like a bit of sting that has been missing for Spurs in front of goal. Niko Kranjcar made good on a previous flub. When Emmanuel Adebayor slapped in his goal, the game's fifth, it topped off a night where he assisted every single point up to the one he scored. Haters beware. Spurs' midfield and front line were clicking in non-stop way we haven't seen all season and it almost looked like Barcelona playing a junior high girls' squad out there. Think: one team with, say, three world-class players and another with close to 11. In the end, the shots on goal were 18 to eight for Spurs and Newcastle United's stellar Demba Ba looked utterly neutralized for once.

If any of those Chelsea/Arsenal/Liverpool fans claiming that "Spurs' #3 spot on the table is a fluke" are listening, we suggest they watch this game in slow motion. And then shut up.

There are plenty of sports that seem to have emerged from the minds of 12-year-olds on a sugar binge -- sky-surfing, street luge, slamball, to name a few. But this takes things to a... wait for it.. electric new level.

The Ultimate Tazer Ball league is getting some press for its, um, inventive adaption of indoor soccer, football and self-defence gadgetry into a full-blown sport. It's full-contact with four players a side, using a comically giant soccer ball on a 200-foot by 85-foot soccer field. The tazerin' can only on the player holding the ball, and the shock has to be just a split second between the shoulders and the waist.

The "league" has three teams of six players, the LA Nightlite, San Diego Spartans, Philly Killowatts and the Toronto Terror. The Canadian team has to play and practice in the States because stun guns are illegal up here. Which doesn't bode well for future Canadian expansion once this thing really takes off.

Co-founder Eric Prum told Canoe, “There’s some novelty and humour in it because it’s so different -- it’s Tasers, but it’s also a lot of strategy and physicality, like hockey. What we do know is we have a league we’re serious about.”

That makes somebody, then.

The league's first big showcase will be a tournament in Thailand in March.

Detroit received goals from Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datysuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen as they edged Philadelphia 4-3 before an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings, who haven't loss at home since Nov. 1, have a 23-2-1 home record this season. The only teams to defeat them in regulation this season are the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames.

During the streak, Detroit has won three games via the shootout and one in OT, but there have also been a few laughers, including a 7-1 victory over Winnipeg and an 8-2 triumph over Los Angeles.  In total, the epic streak has spanned 102 days and covered close to half the team's home schedule.

Overshadowed by the record-tying victory was the fact that captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 1,550th career game, setting a NHL record for most games played for one team in a career.

The Wings will attempt to set a new record Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, where The Joe will undoubtedly take on a playoff atmosphere.

The Nashville Predators pride themselves on being a franchise that does more with less – and they have the numbers to prove it.

Through Tuesday, the Predators had 69 points, good for a fifth-place tie with the St. Louis Blues in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Their cap hit this season is the third-lowest among all NHL teams at $49.8 million. This combination means the Predators are spending the fewest dollars to gain a point this season. It requires the cost-conscious Preds only $722,449 for every point in the standings.

The Predators will remain a cap floor team for the next few years at least. They do not generate enough revenue to justify being among the top spenders. In fact, it will be extremely challenging for them to move to the middle of the pack. This presents some unique challenges as the franchise attempts to remain competitive. Goalie Pekka Rinne’s cap hit will go from $3.4 million to $7 million next season when his new contract kicks in. Captain Shea Weber is already making $7 million this season and is a restricted free agent this summer. The Predators control his rights for next season, but after that he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent. And finally, blueliner Ryan Suter will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and has informed the club he will not negotiate a new contract until after the season.

GM David Poile must navigate some choppy waters when it comes to Nashville’s three best players. And how he manages this delicate situation will impact on the competitiveness of the franchise in the coming years. The Nashville Predators are getting good bang for their buck now, but it remains to be seen just how long they can keep it going.

Not surprisingly, the Columbus Blue Jackets are the worst team money can buy this season. They are spending a whopping $62.9 million dollars and have earned a mere 36 points. The Jackets are the NHL’s worst team by 11 points – and they’ve spent a fortune in the process.

Here’s how NHL teams rank in dollars spent per point this season, going from most economical to least. Salary cap figures are courtesy of www.capgeek.com.

1. Nashville Predators - $722,449

2. St. Louis Blues - $786,527

3. Detroit Red Wings - $812,662

4. Ottawa Senators - $842,116

5. Colorado Avalanche - $870,842

6. NY Rangers - $878,168

7. Boston Bruins - $885,378

8. Dallas Stars - $887,510

9. Chicago Blackhawks - $907,272

10. Vancouver Canucks - $907,571

11. Phoenix Coyotes - $923,711

12. Florida Panthers - $932,619

13. Winnipeg Jets - $936,715

14. New Jersey Devils - $938,725

15. San Jose Sharks – 953,780

16. Minnesota Wild - $968,836

17. NY Islanders - $969,349

18. Philadelphia Flyers - $981,992

19. Pittsburgh Penguins - $993,152

20. Toronto Maple Leafs - $1,016,888

21. Los Angeles Kings - $1,024,428

22. Carolina Hurricanes – $1,028,524

23. Washington Capitals - $1,109,265

24. Calgary Flames - $1,182,801

25. Tampa Bay Lightning - $1,221,801

26. Montreal Canadiens - $1,233,642

27. Anaheim Ducks - $1,242,780

28. Edmonton Oilers - $1,291,249

29. Buffalo Sabres - $1,312,993

30. Columbus Blue Jackets - $1,746,500