Although much of my sports attention is zeroed in on the NBA finals at the moment, I still try to keep up with what's going on in baseball. It's been a somewhat unusual year in MLB, but there are some things that are refreshingly unchanged. You can still expect to see sports fans (young and old) smiling through nine full innings of play, there are still plenty of great diving catches being made and old school hustling around the bases going on, and players and coaches are still littering dugouts with the shells of discarded sunflower seeds.

Good thing, too, since sunflower seeds are far more than just something to chomp on during tense moments in a game. Researchers from Northwestern University in Illinois found that these magnesium-rich seeds can help regulate blood sugar, thus reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome by as much as 31 percent.

Pumpkin seeds -- a sometimes alternative for sunflower seeds in some dugouts -- also offer similar protection against metabolic syndrome, as do flax and sesame seeds. Chewing tobacco, as you might expect, offers nothing in that regard, and instead offers the increased risk of mouth cancer. Stick to the seeds, kids.

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The rookies on the New York Yankees team have to set their alarm clocks a little earlier than the rest of the team. Why? They have an extra morning workout to get to. Their morning routine includes a mile run, ab work, mountain climbers (calisthenics), and working on fitness machines.

While the morning hour may be a bit unwelcome, players are seeing the perks of their extra efforts. Their endurance and strength is improved. So much so that other players, including some veterans, are voluntarily joining in the morning workouts.

You can take a tip from the Yankee's and add some early morning exercise to your "spring training." Set your alarm clock an hour or so earlier and go for a walk, follow a fitness DVD, hop on the treadmill, or visit your gym. It will help you feel more energetic throughout the day!

Unless you live under a rock, or if you're just not all that concerned with sports, you've undoubtedly heard about the already infamous Mitchell Report. This report is the result of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's investigation into steroid use in major league baseball. And let me tell you ... bobble-heads are already rolling.

Named in the investigation were a total of 89 big league stars, including Barry Bonds (no surprise there), Miguel Tejada and veteran ace Roger Clemens. Bonds had already come under fire for steroid use, but Tejada and Clemens had managed to stay under the radar until the release of this report. Sports writers around the country publicly lambasted these athletes, particularly Clemens, for their use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball is supposed to be a pure game; a ball, a wooden bat, and some good hand-eye coordination. It's the only sport that has its own theme song, and going to a ballpark to see a game has long been a family affair. Will this report be the ruination of the game? Or, perhaps the better question is: Will these players, and their use of illegal steroids, bring the sport to its knees? Or will the wrongdoings of these playrs be forgotten and forgiven by future generations, as was the case with the Black Sox scandal. I suppose time will only tell. But, inasmuch as the future of baseball is in question, the pure image it once maintained is certainly now a thing of the past.