Though Major Leaguers themselves may welcome the baseball offseason – its luxuries, freedoms and vacations, for example – fans of the game are left out in the cold in more ways than one. Aside from the winter homes and relaxation, though, what does the time of year have in store for the men who play the game? What about the masses avidly working their way up the minor league ranks?

The name Griffin Reinhart is a hard one to forget, especially when it marks an NHL pedigree the spans generations. TheGP Hockey kicks off its 2012 NHL Entry Draft coverage with a thorough account of one of the best defensemen on the market this season. Will Griffin follow in the footsteps of father Paul Reinhart?

Virtually every single aspect of the world has changed since the 1960s, but throughout Vietnam, Watergate, the Iranian revolution, the fall of the Soviet Union, the first and second Gulf Wars, and the death of Osama bin Laden, there has been one immutable constant in sports: Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Oakland Raiders appeared to have finally found at least modest success when Jason Campbell broke his collarbone earlier this month. Rather than resign to a disappointing fate or struggle with their backup quarterbacks on the roster, the franchise went out and acquired former Cincinnati Bengal Carson Palmer to pick up where Campbell left off. Will the questionable move pay off in the end for an organization desperate to “win now”?

The Oklahoma State Cowboys haven’t always been top-level contenders in college football, but there’s no denying their emergence as a BCS threat in recent years. Much of OSU’s new-found success can be credited to the generous contributions of megabooster T. Boone Pickens. TheGP Football explores Pickens’ role with the program and how such relationships may impact the NCAA.

The Buffalo Bills have been here before; as recently as 2008 they managed to start an NFL campaign with a 4-1 record, backed by the solid play of overachieving running backs and a quarterback who wasn’t exactly internationally known. We all know how that ended. This time around, with Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the charge, can we expect something different?

Lonnie Chisenhall is no stranger to pressure. As a first-round pick he really has no other choice. Since debuting with the Cleveland Indians in June, however, he’s shown that living up to hype and expectations isn’t going to be such a big deal. TheGP Baseball caught up with the first-year stud who joined a struggling team in the middle of a heated division race.

With so much attention given to sophomore slumps in the NHL, it’s easy to forget that player development doesn’t stop when a player hits his third year in the league. Do any notable players coming off successful second-year campaigns look susceptible to a step back in 2011-12? TheGP Hockey considers “the third-year jinx.”

The quarterback situation with the Denver Broncos this season has been discussed ad nauseum, and it will continue to dominate the headlines for as long as there remains a debate over who should fill the starter’s role. The most recent shift – away from Kyle Orton and towards Tim Tebow – has one of football’s most anticipated projects at the center of it.

For eight long years Steve Bartman’s silence has echoed throughout Major League Baseball. His infamous decision to reach for a contested foul ball in the eighth inning of a critical Game 6 is all that remains. After all this time, what – if anything – can bring the man out from wherever he’s been hiding since Oct. 13, 2003?