Kurt Mensching, Detroit Tigers blogger extraordinaire at Bless You Boys, is now also a featured columnist covering the Tigers for The Detroit News. You can read his debut column about why the Tigers should continue playing Ryan Raburn at the Detroit News website (if you live in the Motor City area you can also pick up a print copy at your local newsstand). Here's an excerpt:

When Leyland insists he has to get Raburn started, he's not kidding. Raburn's the only second baseman in the organization with a track record of hitting. When he's hot, he can be a difference maker.

After the All-Star Break in 2011, Raburn hit .341, got on base nearly 40 percent of the time and slugged .574. Only Miguel Cabrera was more effective for the Tigers in the second half. In 2010, Raburn batted .315 with .900 OPS, 13 home runs and 46 RBIs after the break.

You don't just ditch that because of a slow start — especially when the player is known for how poorly he bats early in the season.

Part of Raburn's problem this season is luck. For some, that's a four-letter word. In baseball, it's just a fact of life. Hitters don't have pinpoint accuracy when the ball leaves their bat. Some are pull hitters. Some can use the whole field. But none of them are routinely slamming the cowhide into "Hit it here!" signs.

Big congratulations to Kurt on going mainstream!

The first round of the NHL playoffs was extremely interesting in that it basically seemed to prove that playoff experience didn't necessarily dictate playoff success. That was the conclusion drawn by our Florida Panthers site Litter Box Cats and it was the basis of a post on the New York Times hockey blog. Nice work by Chris S. Roberts in doing his homework and pulling these stats to the forefront. We'll see if it holds up in the second round.

This weekend the first of cycling's three grand tours gets started. The Giro d'Italia gets underway Saturday and American team Garmin Barracuda heads to the race hoping to secure a podium spot for Canadian Ryder Hesjedal. In advance of this, Podium Cafe, our outstanding cycling site, interviews Ryder's teammate Peter Stetina who will be one of the main riders protecting Hesjedal throughout the 21 stages across Italy. It's a really great interview that gives you n idea what it's like to ride in support of another rider in a grand tour.

Bloody Elbow's Brent Brookhouse tells the story of how he has gone from critic of the Michigan State Athletic Commission to being invited to advise the Governor's office on appointments.

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Being a Michigan resident, it has bothered me deeply that our state combat commission has been well behind the times for years. Michigan was one of the last states to legalize professional MMA and, be it through ignorance, budgetary issues or a lack of true interest on the commission's part, that regulation hasn't exactly been seen as particularly respectable.

For what it's worth, things haven't been much better on the boxing side. The state famous for Stanley Ketchel, Joe Louis, Tommy Hearns, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and many others has been lacking major fights for years and years.

In 2011 the owners of the Pontiac Silverdome managed to put together a $600,000 site fee to lure a fight between Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley in what was a deeply meaningful boxing match that aired on HBO. Despite an announced attendance of over 6,000, there were rumors that the actual paid attendance numbered in the hundreds. It was a black eye for the state. Things didn't get much better when the UFC gave promoting in Michigan a try, only to have a fight end early when the timekeeper failed to do his job. The fight would have ended by submission had he allowed the round to run it's full course, instead it became desperately boring over the final two rounds and a fighter was fired by the promotion as a consequence of the lack of action. To make matters worse, a fighter failed his drug test on the card, something that the commission never made public until I became aware and filed a freedom of information act to get the documents and make the situation public.

From safety concerns to ineptitude, I've been writing about Michigan's failures as a commission for years. When it wasn't a riot taking place in a poorly overseen event it was Michigan failing to turn in results and suspension data, as well as ignoring suspensions from other state athletic commissions, culminating in the Association of Boxing Commissions sending a letter to their members informing them to no longer recognize fights in the state or license fighters with a Michigan address.

Earlier this week, I was given a call by the office of the Governor and spoke to the men who are in charge of filling several openings on the commission as eight different members will have their terms expire in roughly six weeks. Because of the attention I have paid to the status of boxing and MMA in the state, and the lengths to which I've gone to express that things need to change in Michigan, I have been asked to take part in reviewing and recommending members for appointment. It's a great honor and something that only is happening because of my convictions about making things better in my state and using the platform given to exposeissues. Now, it's my turn to play a role in not just talking about what is wrong, but hopefully being able to take steps in making sure that things are done right going forward.

We've assembled a fantastic team of writers to finally bring Ohio State Buckeye fans the best possible site it can have. Please welcome Land-Grant Holy Land to the SB Nation family. It will be led by Luke Zimmermann and will see contributions from many other great Buckeye writers. Please stop by and say hello!

SB Nation has entered the Championship. Through It All Together - formerly the Leeds Offside, covering the once and future (they hope) giants Leeds United, marks SB Nation soccer's first foray into the second tier of English football. The Premier League it isn't, but the nPower Championship is packed full of big teams and interesting matches, so join Thomas Hill has he chronicles Leeds' journey back to the top flight, however long it happens to take!

Sometime Wednesday morning over in the land of the rising sun, the Oakland A's will take on the Seattle Mariners in a game that actually counts in the standings. And to celebrate that, Athletics Nation has an interview with A's GM and Moneyball inspiration Billy Beane. Here is part one and here is part two. I especially enjoyed the conversation about the Academy Awards. Go ahead and call me shallow.

Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation also is appearing on some radio stations talking about numbers and the outlook for the 2012 season. He did a lengthy Fox radio interview with none other than Pat O'Brien. Listen to that here...and PLAY BALL!!!

SB Nation Soccer is growing like wildfire as another new blog enters the fray. Last time out we got a taste of the Bundesliga as Bavarian Football Works went live, but we're back in Italy with AC Milan now. AC Milan Offside joins Chiesa di Totti and Black And White And Read All Over, SB Nation's AS Roma and Juventus blogs, in providing some of the best coverage of the Serie A on the internet.

Follow Gianfranco and company as Milan look to retain the Scudetto this season!