Sampler Platter

Well at this point I'm just trying to warm up the old pen for working on my dissertation so I figured a few odd ball points, counter-points, and counter counter points were in order

Baseball: Call me skeptical (heck, call me a cab) but no trade so far can I truly say has definitively pushed any team into the driver seat for the playoff run. I might even go so far as to say I'm not even sure how many trades had a discernably positive affect. The Indians are selling off players like its a sale at Costco but is Saint Louis that much better with Belliard? Maybe? Kinda? Our resident New Yorker I'm guessing will probably say that if the Yanks make it the playoffs I doubt Abreu definitively is the reason (a 30 homer guy anymore he is not). Perhaps if Tejada is actually traded or the D-Train gets shipped somewhere but otherwise the race of the playoffs before the trade deadline looks alike like it did before.

Football: I'm keeping my fingers crossed this training camp that nobody gets seriously injured. And by serious I mean die. For those that follow the Roosevelt E. Roosevelt school of weather telling (You got a window, open it) its hot out there. Damn Hot. Any football practice is supposed to brutal. After a full day of stamina building practice one is supposed to weep like Hitman when we misplaces his favorite doll (or me after the Hitman discovers that I stole his doll). However as previous years have taught us, football practice in high heat and humidity can be deadly. I hope teams at all levels of football have learned from previous mistakes and keep a close eye on players to avoid any serious tragedy. The summer heat wave(s) has caused enough death, lets hope that it doesn't cause anymore.

Steriods: Does anyone wonder that until robots or at least mutants replace homo sapiens that there will be a steady stream of champions after the fact testing positive for performance enhancing drugs? Justin Gatlin, world record holder in the 100m, is the latest story to pop up.

Comedy: As someone that consumes news on both the Middle East and the Cleveland Browns , a little laughter is needed as a pick me up. Here's an old clip of a Stephen Colbert roasting Chevy Chase. FYI...this month Comedy Central is roasting arguably the greatest captain in the history of Earth....William Shatner.