The Memorial Cup is the ultimate prize in Major Junior Hockey and one of the most difficult to win once, let alone repeat. As the players are only able to be part of a Junior Club from 16-20 years of age, time is short for them to have a chance at the cup. Sixty teams comprise the Canadian Hockey League  and of that, only 7 are based in the US (5 in the Western Hockey League [WHL]) and 2 in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).The Memorial Cup is held in a "host city" each year, which rotates between the three leagues. Saskatoon is the host city this season.

There are four teams who will compete in the tournament and here is a breakdown on them and how they got there.

Wednesday marked a month since bombs struck the Boston Marathon and despite the terror, it seems as though slowly but surely the city and the nation have started to heal. Through prayer, support, or runs in memoriam, the path to recovery has taken shape. And here in Oregon, home of Track Town USA and a population of outdoors enthusiasts, the run feels stronger than ever.

Three weeks ago, I wrote a piece encouraging the “run for Boston” and I was sure to follow my own advice. Last Saturday, after a quick three weeks of training, I ran in my first race. I headed home for Lake Oswego’s annual Lake Run to finish a 10k.

I have to admit that prior to the race, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a runner. My occasional weekly jogs consisted of completing two miles as quickly as I could. Learning how to pace myself and run for over 50 minutes was a foreign process. There were plenty of times during my hurried training that I thought I would be going home to humiliate myself. The runs fit in between class periods and work consisted of walking, erratic paces, and plenty of frustration.

I was hoping it would come to this.

Early this baseball season, people were talking about how good both Oregon State and Oregon would be in 2013.

While looking at the hot starts for both the Ducks and Beavers, fans would cast one eye on the schedule and see the series between the teams May 17-19 at PK Park. The question that usually went unspoken was ... would a Pac-12 Championship be on the line? Could both teams make the World Series?

Until now, those thoughts were followed by a lot of eye blinking and cobweb-clearing head shakes.

The question can be asked now.

The answer is “yes” to both questions.

Pulsating music, thousands of spectators, and approximately 10,000 runners.

To some, the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon scheduled to take place on Sunday sounds like a runner’s dream. To others, it’s an overwhelming scene they would rather avoid.

For those runners sitting out the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll this weekend and longing for a more intimate event, they are in luck. The four races below offer a less frenzied atmosphere, and often carry a smaller price tag too. But plan ahead and sign up early — while it might not seem like it this weekend, other runners realize the beauty of the small races and the limited spots will go fast.

With three of the last five games on the road, the Portland Timbers face another daunting task: three straight road games.  While there have been some moments in the last few road games  in which players and fans felt like there was more to be desired, the Timbers have demonstrated not only a commitment towards winning but one of class as well.  Take for instance the San Jose game with Steve Lenhart recklessly slide tackling every player in sight, or when Alan Gordon "inadvertently" elbowed Silvestre in the face, or maybe more recently when Mario De Luna pushed the innocuous ball boy for no apparent reason (I'll touch on this in my next article); the Timbers have kept their composure and have come away with a bevy of hard fought points on the road.  Recent history would suggest that the Timbers squad would perform morbidly on the road, seeing that they have only won a few sporadic games over the course of two seasons. But this squad is different; this squad is calm, collective and has a moral fortitude that makes me proud to sport my Timbers green.  Ultimately, they play inspired football and I love it.

In April, I wrote an article that outlined a couple recipes for success for Timbers games on the road. Let us reevaluate/breakdown these components in application to these last three road games. 

On this episode, hosts Brad Stein and Billy the Coach interview Portland Boltz LB Donnie Vercher, who tells us about head coach Aaron Fentress's blow up during last weekend’s scrimmage & Saturday's home opener vs. Boise. Also, C/DT of the SeaTac Cobras, Sean Samuelu, talks about his expectations for his team.

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It comes down to this. Civil War Series, baseball style.

This weekend the Oregon State Beavers (41-8 overall, 20-4 league) travel to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks (42-11, 19-5 respectively). With only a one game edge in the loss column, the Beavers need to keep their twelve game winning streak going to win the conference title. And a possible national seed for the NCAA Tournament. More on that later.

Fortunately, the Beavs took care of business last weekend down in Palo Alto, sweeping the Stanford Cardinal in a three game set. Furthermore, OSU improved to 21-5 on the road this year. If they ever needed the good fortunes of playing away from home, it will be this weekend. In the last two seasons, the home team has swept their opponent in the Civil War three game series.

I have seen questions lately from fans asking if the Portland Trail Blazers should trade all-star forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Well, I’m here to tell you that they shouldn’t.

Aldridge is a current all-star that has spent his whole career here. This is a guy who wants to be here. He has built a name for himself … here!

The Blazers have also found him a perfect sidekick. Not one that hinders his game, but one that boosts his game. Damian Lillard and LA complement each other’s game so well. With pick-and-rolls and working an inside-outside game, these two make for a great combination. Why throw that away? If anything, you trade the pieces around them and build around these two guys.

I’m in love with yoga. I’ll admit it, I’m biased. I adore standing on my head. I have a complete crush on backbends. I tend to stand in tree pose and at any given moment, you can find me sitting in the lotus position or attempting bakasana. Adho mukha svanasana? Don’t mind if I do. Vrschikasana has been my own personal challenge pose since January. Confused yet? Oh, well you must be new to yoga. Welcome!

The physical and mental benefits of yoga are numerous and can be life-changing. I’m not going to try to convince you of those, however; not yet, at least. The first step to believing is trying it yourself. If you’re one of the many who claim to “not be able to do yoga” but find yourself in a yoga class, the following five tips may help your yoga experience to be a little less stress and a touch more Zen.

In 1974, Burton Cummings from Guess Who sang a song titled, “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon”. The song was about small prairie communities and their blue collar workers. The similarities of that song and the Portland Winterhawks this season are striking. Many of the Portland Winterhawks players hail from such small communities that most people couldn't find on a map and all are players who work in the trenches and rarely look to accolades for themselves personally.

It's all about the team and what a team this has become. Fresh off a 6-game performance that took the Ed Chynoweth WHL trophy over the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Hawks now set their sights on the ultimate Junior Hockey prize, the Memorial Cup. 

The on ice presentation of the cup to the Winterhawks was short, as Troy Rutkowski literally ripped the trophy from the hands of WHL Commissioner Ron Robison to present to the team, thus limiting Robison's on air appearance to mere seconds.

For eight teams in the NBA, this time of May is a celebration of excellence. Teams, even those on the cusp of elimination like the Warriors and Knicks, are receiving high praise for competing for spots in their respective Conference Finals. For an excellent team like the San Antonio Spurs, the month of May is nothing special. Spurs fans expect to make it to the second round, and the team always delivers.

For the Portland Trail Blazers, the month of May is officially vacation season. It's been thirteen years since the Blazers have emerged victorious from the first round of the playoffs. These long years have been bittersweet for the team's fans. The month of May sure has been tough for me.

The Portland Trail Blazers tripped, crawled, and skidded their way to a 33-46 record to close out the 2012-13 campaign, losing twice as many games as they won since the all-star break. While wholesale changes may or may not be necessary, the Blazers' efforts and lack of success this season absolutely raised some eyebrows around the league, and assuredly in the Rose City, where fans are still tormented and teased by the memory of the 1977 team, a team anyone under the age of 36 was not around to see.

For a franchise that holds the league record (since the merger) for most consecutive playoff appearances (21), we asked our staff at OregonSportsNews to look at the Blazers and assess what changes, if any, need to be made if the team is going to return to its days of glory and make a big splash next season.

1. The Blazers went just 8-18 after the all-star break. Injuries and all other things considered, how confident are you in their current roster? Do changes need to be made?