The Reds snapped their five game losing streak on Thursday with a 9-2 win. One of the key cogs in their attack was first baseman Joey Votto. The youngster had a huge series in Chicago as he was 5-for-11 with two homers and seven RBI.

Votto has hit safely in five of his last six games and appears to be slowly pulling away in the starting role. He entered the season in a platoon situation with Scott Hatteberg, but after a slow sping Votto is heating up and has now raised his average to .351 on the season. Thus far he has played in 14 of the 16 games with 37 at bats. Expect him to keep getting at bats if he continues to live up to his potential. Hatteberg has mustered just four hits in 23 at bats giving him .174 average.

Votto was feeling pretty satisfied with his effort after Thursday's game, but was more excited about the key double to open up the game than his homerun.

"It was left-hander vs. left-hander and a situation where I really wanted to come through. I would have been very disappointed had I not. I'm glad I did that for the team and that was a big situation," Votto told reporters after the game.

The home run was nice, but Votto added, "The double was 100 percent more important."

MORE REDS NOTES
--Trouble Brewing: It's a good thing the Reds' bats got going before leaving Chicago as they are set to face a red-hot Ben Sheets when Milwaukee comes to Great American Ballpark on Friday night. Sheets (2-0, 1.17 ERA) did not allow a run in his first two starts of the season, and his third was strong as well. Squaring off against Johan Santana, he gave up two runs in the first inning before bouncing back to retire 18 straight batters and throw 7 2-3 innings in the 5-3 win over the New York Mets. Sheets is 7-4 with a 3.07 ERA in 15 career starts against the Reds (7-9), but went just 1-1 with a gaudy 10.00 ERA in two starts against them last season.

--Josh Who?: Edinson Volquez (2-0) pitched another good outing on Thursday despite struggling through some control issues. allowed one earned run, four hits and four walks and struck out seven over just five innings in a 112-pitch effort. In three starts now, he's allowed only 12 hits and has an ERA of 1.17 and has 16 strikeouts in 15 innings. The 24-year old right hander is showing why he was such a highly regarded prospect.

--Griffey edging closer to 600: Ken Griffey Jr. hit another homr run today, the 596th of his career. With the Reds coming back to Cincinnati for a seven-game homestand there is a chance Junior could reach the miestone at Great American Ballpark. However, the Cincinnati native doesn't think it matters. "Why is that such a big deal? I hit 100 in Seattle, 200 in Boston, 300 in Cleveland, 400 in Colorado and 500 in St. Louis. So what are the odds that I hit 600 in Cincinnati?" Griffey said.

--Moves on the way: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote on his blog that you can expect to see some changes on the horizon as the Reds as the first month comes to an end. "Josh Fogg will be out of the rotation. I don't know if he'll be off the team, but who starts is Baker's call. He's not big on Fogg. I'm told, in fact, that he didn't know the Reds were signing Foog until after the fact. Also, Jerry Hairston Jr. or Jolbert Cabrera will be up here shortly. It's believed Hairston has an out in his contract after a month. He's hittting .429 with two home runs and 10 RBI with a .467 on-base and .785 slugging."

--Piazza talk: Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball wrote that Reds manager Dusty Baker expected his team to sign free agent catcher Mike Piazza.  Whether or not Piazza is the target, the Reds are looking for catching help and/or a right-handed bench bat. Read more from our friends at MLBTradeRumors.com.

--Wire to Wire: Don't miss me and Greg Shoemaker for our weekly Reds' podcast. This week we welcome in minor league guru Pete Muhlenkamp for a Reds' minor league update. LISTEN NOW or catch us on I-TUNES

Ravens' QB Steve McNair has opted to retire after 13 seasons in the NFL.

"Mentally I could go out and play but my body couldn't do it any more, not to the level to go out and help my teammates win a football game," McNair said during a news conference at the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills, Md. "It was a hard decision. But I think it's the right decision."

McNair led the Ravens to a 13-3 record in his first season with the team in 2006. But he played in only six games last season because of shoulder, back and groin injuries.

McNair, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was the league's co-most valuable player in 2003 with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. He led the Titans to a Super Bowl appearance at the conclusion of the 1999 season.

He retires as one of the most versatile quarterbacks in NFL history. He's just one of three quarterbacks to amass over 30,000 yards passing and more than 3,000 yards rushing.

Quarterback / Passing yards /Rushing yards
Fran Tarkenton 47,003 / 3,674
Steve Young 33,124 / 4,239
Steve McNair 31,304 / 3,590

McNair probably should called it quits last year, but coming off a 13-3 season in '06 it was a bit harder to justify.

His departure leaves the Ravens with Kyle Boller and Troy Smith as the primary quarterbacks on their roster, but expect new head coach John Harbaugh to go after a quarterback early in this month's draft.  Many mock drafts have the Ravens landing Boston College's Matt Ryan at #8, but even if that does not happen Baltimore will likely be one of the first teams to nab a signal caller.

This weekend we will finally bear witness to one of the most anticipate rematches in UFC history. Saturday night Matt Serra will defend his Welterweight Title against Georges St-Pierre, a title that Serra actually won from GSP last year. Not only is this a highly intriguing fight, it will also mark the first time the UFC takes their event north of the border to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Oddly enough, that just so happens to be GSP's hometown. So to say he will have be the crowd favorite would be a huge understatement.

Serra will come into this fight after having to back out of his last fight against Matt Hughes due to suffering a back injury during his training. It was that injury that shot GSP back into the title picture as he stepped in to take on Hughes for the rights at an interim Welterweight Title. GSP dominated his fight against Hughes, earning his rematch with Serra. It will be just over a year since these two guys last met when Serra "shocked the world" in an upset win over GSP. That win put Serra on the MMA/UFC map. While the loss was devastating for GSP, it was also an awakening for him. Since then he has changed his training regiment and has become one of, if not the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Serra hasn't been in a fight since his win over GSP. On the other hand, GSP has fought and beat two great fighters in Josh Koscheck and future hall of famer, Hughes. Serra is coming into this fight as the champion. Oddly enough though, he's also coming in as the underdog.

In addition to the Serra/GSP battle this weekend, Cincinnati native, Rich Franklin will step back into the Octagon to take on Travis Lutter. Franklin hasn't had a fight since his loss to Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title back in October. Since then he's been out of the Octagon since after having knee surgery. Like Franklin, Lutter's last fight was against Silva when he lost to him over a year ago in February of 2007.

PREDICTING THE PPV

Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra (for the Welterweight Title)
This is the main event on the evening, obviously. The background leading up to this fight has already been covered. How will it turn out? In my opinion, I think this is going to be a tough fight for Serra. GSP is a totally different guy from the one he saw over a year ago. Serra isn't going to surprise GSP this time around which leads me to think that we're going to see a new Welterweight Champion at the end of the PPV.
Prediction: GSP by submission in the 2nd round.

Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter
This should be a fun fight to watch. Lutter has lost three of his last four fights, so he has a lot to prove here if he wants to get his name on the list of fighters going for Silva's Middleweight Title. Franklin has lost two of his last four contest, both losses coming at the hands of Silva in title fights. The question that will be answered here is whether or not Lutter will be able to hang with the big boys of the middleweight division. If he can beat one of the best fighters in the division in Franklin, he could make a name for himself and catapult himself to an eventual title shot. While there is a chance that might happen, odds are Franklin will bounce back from his loss to Silva with an impressive win here. This could either turn out to be a good fight or one dominated by Franklin.
Prediction: Franklin by TKO in the 2nd round.

Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
Another middleweight fight on the card will showcase two guys trying to become relevant in the title picture. Quarry's last two fights ended via knockout. One of those was a loss to Rich Franklin back in November of 2005. The other was a win over Pete Sell in September of 2007. Starnes is coming off a loss to Alan Belcher back in October. Quarry has knockout power and Starnes has been TKO'ed in two of his last four fights. This one is tough to call. Quarry will probably try to keep the fight standing and go for the knockout blow. On the flip side, Starnes might try to take the fight to the mat and look for the submission.
Prediction: Starnes by Submission in the 3rd round.

Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
Up until his last fight, Bisping was undefeated in the UFC. His only loss came at the hands of Rashad Evans back in November. Before that fight Bisping had a controversial win over Matt Hamill. McCarthy is a relative unknown in the UFC. He hasn't fought in the UFC since November of 2006 when he defeated Gideon Ray. I honestly can't imagine an upset happening here. Bisping is going to be too strong for McCarthy and if he's able to keep the fight standing, McCarthy will be in trouble. Even if the fight goes to the mat, it probably won't stay there long.
Prediction: Bisping by TKO in the 1st round.

Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
The most recent "The Ultimate Fighter" winner will step back into the Octagon for the first time since claiming that title. Danzig beat Tommy Spear in December of last year by submission in the first round to become the fifth TUF title. His matchup with Bocek this weekend should be a pretty good one to most likely kick off the PPV event. Bocek, like Danzig, comes into this fight having won his previous contest. Back in December Bocek beat Doug Evans by unanimous decision. Both of these guys are good at the ground game, so there's a good chance this one will end by submission. If one can't make the other tap, don't be surprised if it goes the distance and put into the judges hands.
Prediction: Danzig by Submission in the 2nd round.

OTHER QUICK PICKS

-Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen: MacDonald by Submission in the 2nd round.
-Alan Belcher vs. Jason Day: Belcher by Submission in the 1st round.
-Rich Clementi vs. Sam Stout: Stout by decision in the 3rd round.

Overall Prediction Results: 52-33

I thought this story was pretty funny and now in addition to my chuckle some good came out of it too...

from Martin Finucane, Boston Globe
It was meant to be a curse on the New York Yankees, but it may turn out to be a blessing for people with cancer.

The Red Sox jersey that caused a big splash in the media when a construction worker revealed he had placed it in the concrete under the new Yankee Stadium was unveiled for the first time today in Boston at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The Yankees donated the tattered David Ortiz jersey to the Jimmy Fund, which raises funds for cancer care and research at Dana-Farber.

The fund is auctioning the jersey on eBay, where bidding started at $500. By late afternoon, a bid of $30,101 was shown on the auction website.

COMPLETE STORY

I don't see how these guys with the NFL Network got that Carson Palmer was siding with the Bengals in the Chad Johnson situation out of what he said to the media in this video. But for argument's sake, let's just say he does side with the organization. In this case not only would he be deciding with the people that were doing the right thing, but he'd be backing up the people that pay him! Again, I don't see where these guys got that Palmer is siding with the Bengals, even Chad didn't say he was. He just said he wished Palmer would stay out of his business. Kinda hard for him, or anyone else for that matter, to do that when you make what you want and how you're feeling EVERYONE'S business.

TJ SAYS TRADE WOULD BE BEST
Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said Thursday it would be best if the Cincinnati Bengals and disgruntled receiver Chad Johnson parted ways.

"If he's not traded, it's going to be a problem," Houshmandzadeh told ESPN's Bob Holtzman.

"I think eventually he'll show up, but then you have to worry about how much of a distraction he'll be," Houshmandzadeh said.

I was perusing an alleged Worldwide Leader in Sports' fantasy articles and saw a column where readers were asking one of their experts for some advice about what to do with slumping players, this one was specifically about Ryan Howard.

The advice given by the expert was to ride out Howard's slump. He said, you drafted him for a reason, so you have to play him. Okay, that's partially right. First, why aren't people coming here to GSI for their fantasy advice. I'm confident that they'd get better advice here, than at the other place. For example, here's the proper response to what to do with a slumping stud.

Don't be afraid to move Howard to your bench for now. If you have another option, even if it's a flash-in-the-pan waiver wire find like maybe Casey Kotchman. Kotchman's .345 clip is currently better than Howard's .189. So, ride the pine big man and welcome Kotchman in with open arms. I definitely do not agree with the premise that just because you invested an early pick in someone that you have to play them. Are you going to keep throwing CC Sabbathia out there in your fantasy lineup right now? 

Until these slumping studs find their way (and make no mistake, barring a hidden injury, they will find their way) to the numbers you expect from them, don't be afraid to bench them. Now, don't pull a "Fessler" and drop them altogether to the waiver wire. That's not good practice. And don't try to put them up on the trading block, because you won't get value for them while they're slumping. Just be patient, but be patient with them, while they're on your bench.