Random Stuff

The National League playoff participants are still undecided and there's only one day left. I don't know if this means that the NL is so bad that everyone is a contender or what, but that's my take on it. Now, that doesn't mean one of them won't eventually win the World series, but they all seem pretty mediocre right now. The Phillies and the Mets are tied and if they both win or both lose tomorrow then there will be a one game playoff. I hope it plays out this way!

Mark Ecko, the dude who bought Barry's 756 home run ball ran a poll and let "fans" decide what should happen to the ball. There were 3 choices: Send the ball to the Hall unblemished, brand it with an asterisk, or launch it into space. (rolling my eyes at that one) Anyway, the "fans" decided to brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to the Hall. That doesn't shock me at all. However I am shocked that the HOF is going to accept this ball and likely display it. They say them accepting it doesn't mean they endorse the viewpoint that Bonds used steroids, they're just happy to get it. Oh really? How can you display this ball and in the same breath say you don't believe Bonds used steroids. That doesn't even make sense. I'm floored that they would do this, I really am.

So I don't watch women's soccer and I'm not even going to pretend like I do, but there is one very interesting story surrounding the sport. The coach of the Women's U.S. soccer team decided to bench the goalie who hadn't surrendered a goal in about 300 minutes of play during the World Cup in favor of a goalie who hadn't played. Apparently this Briana Scurry is a legend, but still. The chic he benched named Hope Solo was pissed! Of course she was weary before the game, then when they lost 4-0 she was even more pissed. Someone put a camera in front of her and she let it be known how unhappy she was. She basically said that she could have made all the saves Scurry missed and this is not the past so it doesn't matter what Scurry has done in her career. She's at least half right. Whether or not she could have made the saves that Scurry missed is debatable, but she's right about this being the present and not the past. The coach was wrong for benching her no matter what you think about how she handled the situation. I'm not just saying that as an after the fact statement. She hadn't given up a goal and that should have counted for something. Her teammates decided to kick her off the team for the game against Norway because she'd be a distraction. They are all convinced the way she handled it was not in the best interest of the team. That's fine, but I wonder how they felt when the coach decided to bench her before the semis. Surely they couldn't have thought that was a good move, but I wonder if they had the nerve to tell him that.
Anyway, the Yankees will play the Indians in the first round. They have some good young pitchers, but I think this is the best matchup for us. Historically we haven't faired well against the Angels so I'm not sad about putting them off for at least one round. Hopefully our experience will lead us to a victory.
Notre Dame sucks. They might not win a game this season.
Top 20 teams have been dropping like flies today. This is why they need a playoff. The rankings don't mean a damn thing.