With the NFL taking a week off from competitive football for the first time since the beginning of September, the focus of this week’s column shifts back to some of the top stories in the world of professional sports. This ranges from the MLB announcing the 2018 Hall of Fame class to some of the biggest snubs for the 2018 NBA All Star Game. Plenty of players have voiced their complaints over missing the game, but how many of them are warranted?

Across the pond, the month of January means a frenzy of moves in Europe’s top soccer leagues. Despite there still being about a week left in the transfer window, plenty of moves have already been made and there appears to be more on the way. Which moves will have the most significant impact on Europe’s top title races? Lastly is the NHL, where there’s one team that’s looking to accomplish the impossible. All of this will be broken down in this week’s edition of “From the Bleachers”.

NBA

On Tuesday, the NBA’s All Star rosters were revealed and, as there always are, plenty of people were left unhappy. There’s the fans of the game who think (based off the stats) that the wrong players got in, then there’s the crowd that just wanted their favorite team’s star player to make the squad. The more unexpected group of people who’ve made their complaints be heard via social media are the players, such as Pistons center Andre Drummond and Clippers shooting guard Lou Williams. The following are cases for both Drummond and Williams, as well as a couple others, on why they should’ve made the 2018 All Star Game.

Lou Williams is off to the best start of his career in his first season with the Los Angeles Clippers. His 23.3 PPG are the 16th most in the NBA and a 5.1 APG average balances out what’s been a resurgent season for the Clippers guard. While it’s been a strong season for Williams, has it been All Star worthy? The answer to this is yes, as the 31 year old guard has not only outperformed most at his position this season but has also tallied better numbers than the guy who got in instead of him: Klay Thompson. Williams is averaging more PPG (23.3 to Klay’s 20.4), twice as many assists (5.1 to 2.5), and more steals (1.0 to 0.7). As was indicated in his tweet, Williams’ “Lol” reaction to being snubbed from the All Star Game is warranted.

Andre Drummond wondered on Twitter whether or not he’d have to start doing backflips every time he scored in order to make the All Star team. Backflips may help create more attention around his name, but he shouldn’t have to worry about completing such a task with the numbers he’s put up this season. No player in the NBA is averaging more rebounds per game than Drummond (15.0) and also ranks in the top ten at his position in PPG (14.3). Now compare his numbers to Celtics center Al Horford’s, who made the Eastern Conference roster over the Pistons star center. Drummond is averaging more PPG, RPG, SPG, BPG, and has a stronger FG% than Horford. Statistically, Andre Drummond is well ahead of Al Horford and in terms of making the All Star rosters, that’s all that should matter.

The largest debate among who should and shouldn’t be an All Star is in the Western Conference between guards Chris Paul and Damian Lillard. Lillard made the roster over the veteran Paul, but should it have been the other way around? In terms of scoring, Portland’s point guard has a sizable advantage averaging 25.2 PPG as compared to Paul’s 19.1. After this, however, the stats start to favor the Rockets star guard. Paul has been more effective on defense with higher steal and block averages while also being more well-rounded on offense with more RPG and APG. Damian Lillard has had a strong start to his sixth season, but overall Chris Paul has a better case for the Western Conference roster.

The last of the snubs that will be discussed is Thunder forward Paul George. When George was traded to Oklahoma City during the offseason, some thought his numbers would take a bit of a hit as he was no longer the main man on his team. This simply hasn’t been the case, as George has totaled strong numbers all across the board with 20.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and a career high 2.1 SPG. These weren’t enough to make the All Star Game, however, but they should’ve been. Draymond Green, who was named to the Western Conference roster over George, is averaging less PPG (20.9 to 11.3) and SPG (2.1 to 1.3) with George also having more estimated win shares (4.9 to 4.3) than Green. The Warriors forward is one of the best defenders in the game, but that shouldn’t have been enough to get him in over George on the roster.

Soccer

There’s just about a week left in the month of January, which means time is running out for some of Europe’s top teams to make season-changing moves. It’s been a rather chaotic transfer window with some of the world’s top talents switching clubs over the last month. The most notable of the transfers are Chilean international Alexis Sanchez moving to Manchester United in a straight swap with Arsenal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as well as the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho heading to FC Barcelona in a $175 million deal. Both transfers will have significant impacts on all of the team’s involved, but which one will make the biggest difference? Each transfer will be broken to find the answer to the pressing question.

Kicking off with the Sanchez-Manchester United deal, the Chilean winger has been rumored to leave Arsenal almost every transfer window since he joined the Gunners. Alexis was one of the hottest names on the market, and rightfully so. In 122 Premier League appearances with Arsenal, Sanchez netted 60 goals and 25 assists while also being named to the PFA Team of the Year.

He’s one of the top talents in all of soccer, and will be a World Class addition to an already stout United attack. Sanchez will likely be slotted into the Red Devils’ starting 11 at an outside midfield position on either the right or left with either Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford on the opposite side. With Alexis entering the squad, the possibilities are endless for United manager Jose Mourinho up front and with such an elite talent joining an already strong selection of attackers, not only does United boast one of England’s top attacks but also the world’s and could lead to more success for the Red Devils in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Another club looking for more success in the Champions League than in previous years is FC Barcelona, and they may just have found the key to this success in Philippe Coutinho. In the group stages of Europe’s top tournament, Coutinho scored five goals in as many games while also tallying two assists. He had scored 41 goals in 152 appearances with Liverpool and reached his highest total for one season last year with 13 goals in the Premier League.

Now the Brazilian joins the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Barcelona, who’ve already formed a sizable lead in La Liga and have emerged as one of the favorites to take home the UCL title. With Coutinho (as well as Ousmane Dembele who is currently sidelined with a thigh injury) sliding into a position behind Messi and Suarez, Barcelona now has the world’s deadliest offense with four World Class players forming the attack. Sanchez may (and likely will) have a large impact on United’s title hopes in England, but Coutinho puts Barcelona not just on another level in Spain but all of Europe, which is what puts his move above Alexis’ in terms of importance.

MLB

The MLB’s Hall of Fame class of 2018 was announced on Tuesday night with some of the game’s most memorable names being awarded the sport’s highest honor. The four who were honored are Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman. Jones hit for a .303 batting average, made the All Star team eight times, and won the 1999 NL MVP in a career that was spent entirely with the Atlanta Braves. While Jones stayed on one team for his entire career, Jim Thome was the opposite as he played for six different teams in his 22 year career. Thome currently ranks eighth all time in home runs with 612 and homered every 13.76 at-bats, the fifth lowest rate in MLB history.

Next is Vladimir Guerrero, who spent his first 13 seasons with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) and the Los Angeles Angels, and played his final two seasons with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. Guerrero won the MVP in 2004 and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting six times. He is also one of thirteen players to ever have multiple seasons with at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The lone pitcher in this year’s class is closer Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman is the sixth reliever to get into the Hall of Fame, having a 2.87 career ERA and 601 saves, the second most all time.

The biggest debate over the 2018 class isn’t over the four who made it, but those who didn’t. The most controversial player to be left out of the class is Barry Bonds. Bonds is first all time in home runs (762), has the fifth highest SLG% (.606), the fourth best OPS (1.0512), and the second best WAR (162.4) among position players. He has also won seven MVPs, winning the award for four consecutive years between 2001-04.

With numbers and records such as these, Bonds should be a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame..right? Wrong. The Hall of Fame is meant for players who achieved greatness by playing the game on another level while also playing it the right way. What it’s not meant for are players like Bonds who had to use performance-enhancing drugs to reach this level. His numbers may be near or on top of most baseball statistics, but they still aren’t enough to overcome the one thing keeping him out of the Hall of Fame: his need to go beyond the rules of the game to produce these numbers.

NHL

When the NHL expansion draft took place last summer, the Las Vegas Golden Knights had hoped to assemble a roster that could just be competitive in the team’s first season in the league. This is a shared goal among most expansion teams. Bring together a group of players to keep the fans interested and build through free agency and the draft in the next couple of years to try and create a team that could consistently make the playoffs.

The Golden Knights had other plans. Entering the All Star break, Las Vegas sits on top of the entire Western Conference with 68 points and are one behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most in the entire NHL. The Golden Knights have been strong on both ends of the ice all season, scoring the third most (163) and allowed the fifth fewest (126) goals in the league.

No one in the hockey universe saw this coming, and many are still questioning how long Vegas can keep it up. It’s a valid question as it’s unfathomable to see an expansion team perform at such a high level in their first season in the league. However, the Golden Knights have shown no signs of slowing down as they’ve won six of their last ten games (as of 1/25) and have a .600 win percentage in the month of January.

An expansion team has never won the Stanley Cup. The fastest team to ever win an NHL championship after joining the league was the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1973-74 season, having to take seven years to take home the trophy. The Golden Knights have no intentions of waiting seven years, and are looking to become the first team to ever win the Cup in their first year. While it may still seem unlikely, if Las Vegas can stay near the top of the conference and clinch home ice for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Golden Knights could make history in 2018.