New Leader In NL East

For the first time since mid April the New York Mets are alone a top that NL East. Led by seven strong innings from starter Oliver Perez and a clutch two-run double in the 8th inning from Carlos Delgado the Mets pulled out the 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. This could be trouble for the Phillies who have coasted most of the way thus far. The Mets, winners of seven out of their last ten games are starting to catch fire at the right time.

With the trade deadline quickly approaching it will be interesting to see what these two teams will do to better themselves for the home stretch. The Phillies earlier this week acquired Joe Blanton from the A's but the price was steep as they had to part ways with the #2 and #4 prospects in their farm system according to the Baseball America rankings. There were rumors earlier in the week about a possible trade between the Phillies and Rockies that would have sent Brian Fuentes and Matt Holiday to Philly for a package of promising young players that would have included rising star Shane Victorino. Those talks however have since quited down.

The Mets certainly have a reputation for not being afraid to pay the price to go out and get what they need to win. With GM Omar Minaya at the helm, they are sure to explore all possibilities to adding what ever missing link they see fit. Given the recent strong performances from their starting rotation, their only real need may be another arm in the bullpen and perhaps a little more depth off the bench. That is assuming that the Pedro Martinez injury is not anything serious. Other than that have no glaring weakness at this time.

It will be interesting to see what the coming weeks bring us. This is sure to be a fun race to watch.

WNBA Reacts to Catfight

For those of you who may not have heard, the WNBA got a little publicity boost Tuesday night when a fight broke out on the court following a hard foul during a Detroit Shock-Los Angeles Sparks game. During the brawl that ensued an assistant coach pushed one of the faces of the league to the ground, another player had to be carted off in a wheelchair after falling while trying to restore peace, and several other ladies passionately pushed each other around.

This may have been the first time in league history that the WNBA was featured during the first 15 minutes of Sportscenter. A league that is often described by the average sports fan as boring, dull, and even robotic finally showed some emotion. On Wednesday one of the top searches for sports news on several of the top sports site in the world was "WNBA Fight."

So how, you might ask, did the league respond to this media blessing? WNBA president Donna Orender released the following statement: "The WNBA and its players represent all that is good about sports: passion, hard work and sacrifice. On a nightly basis our players display extraordinary skill, athleticism and competitive fire. The events Tuesday, however, were inexcusable and in no way indicative of what the league stands for. We hold our players to a very high standard and these suspensions should serve notice that the behavior exhibited at the end of Tuesday's game will not be tolerated."

I will now give all of you a moment to stop laughing before we continue on...

For a league that loses millions of dollars yearly, has no major television deals, struggles on a nightly basis to even half fill their arenas, and gets zero respect on the national sports level to come out and say that drawing attention to the league and playing with a little passion is "inexcusable" is absolutely absurd. Emotion is part of sports. It is what makes sports so fun to watch and play. It is why professional sports in this country is a muti-billion dollar a year industry: it entertains, it draws people in, it makes people devote their lives to celebrating it. But apparently the WNBA does not want that.

Instead of suspending 10 players today the WNBA should have sent out a memo to the rest of the league telling them that this is how the game should be played. I am not saying that the WNBA should be turned into a pay-per-view fight night. But please, play with a little passion. Show the world why your sport should be watched and taken seriously.

There is a reason why the NFL is the most watched sport in this country. And there is also a reason why the WNBA is currently one of the least.

King James Foresees Gold.

Joe Namath did it. Muhammad Ali did it. Now its Lebron's turn.

What, you may ask, might these three have in common besides all being tremendous athletes? Well the first two made guarantees that their team would win on the big stage; Namath in the Superbowl, Ali did it for the World Heavy-weight Championship. This time its Lebron James at the Olympics.

The Associated Press is reporting that in a Time Magazine issue that hits newsstands on Friday, when asked if his team would win gold his response was "absolutely!"

Lebron will be chasing something that USA basketball has failed to do at the Olympics Since 2000. He will be doing so against teams like Argentina, Greece, Lithuania, and Spain, all teams who are possibly better than they have ever been in the past...they have all been very good in the past. The NBA has changed. It is no longer the NBA of the 1980's or 90's when every good player, and I mean everyone, was from the United States. Now, like many other sports (baseball and hockey come to mind), many of the best players in the game are not from the United States. You have players like Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and even Tim Duncan, all outstanding players and perennial all-stars, who are all born on foreign soil.

Team USA will have their hands full at this year's Olympic games. On paper you would have to say they are the favorites to win it all, but not by as wide a margin as Lebron and company may think. We are going to need to see the Lebron James from game 7 the this year's Eastern Conference Finals in every game for team USA to win gold. I'm not talking about the numbers. He will not get the touches to score 40+ points in a game, not with Kobe Bryant on the same team. What I am talking about is the drive, the Jordan-esk glare in his eye that tells you he wants it. That glare does not come out every game. It will need to for him to "absolutely" make good on his declaration.

Urlacher, Bears Kiss and Make Up

After a month long struggle between player and management both the Chicago Bears and Brian Urlacher got what they wanted on Tuesday when Urlacher agreed to a contract extension through the 2012 season. The extension is reportedly worth $18million and includes a $6million dollar signing bonus.

Urlacher, considered by many to be one of the top linebackers in the NFL, played the majority of last season with a back injury. The six time Pro-Bowler expressed his discontent with his existing contract following the season. Urlacher felt that given his commitment to the team and everything he had done for the organization he should receive the proper compensation.

This is a very important move for the Bears. The last thing you want is for your top player and leader both on and off the field to be unhappy. I think we all knew it was just a matter of time before this was resolved. Now the Bears can focus their attention on other important matters such as finding something that even resembles an offense.

Shockey On the Move

The New York Giants have traded TE Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for the Saints 2nd and 5th round picks in the 2009 draft. Shockey became expendable following the late season emergence of Kevin Boss.

This move comes as a surprise to no one. Shockey made it very clear that he was unhappy as the new #2 in New York. New Orleans is a good fit for Shockey where he will now be one of Drew Brees' top targets. The Saints are looking to rebound from a a very disappointing 7-9 season. The Giants meanwhile lose very little in this trade. A second and fifth is a very good return for a guy who was going to be a backup.

Ronaldo to Stay In Manchester

It has been reported that injured Manchester United Winger, Cristiano Ronaldo will play for the Red Devils next season. Despite an injured right ankle that will keep him out until October, Ronaldo will remain with Machester of the English Premier League next season.

With 4 years remaining on his current contract, Real Madrid has expressed intrest in aquireing the 23-year-old. Ronaldo has yet to comment about the situation...perhaps astronomical amounts of money could pursue Machester to let him return closer to home.

Harrington Goes Back-to-Back

Last night while sitting at this computer I was anticipating writing a piece today about a triumphant return to the winner's circle for a 50+ year old golfer. What a story it would be for a man who has not won a PGA event since 1996, a man who has not even participated in a major in three years, to win The Open Championship, one of golf's toughest tests. It would have been a great story. Padraig Harrington however had other ideas.

Harrington fired a one under 69 including two birdies and an eagle on the back nine en route to a four stroke victory over Englishmen Luke Donald. Harrington was brilliant throughout, paring the first six holes while the rest of the field was falling victim to the 35+mph winds. He then came back to the rest of the pack at the midway point of the round before really turning it on for the back nine and cruising to victory.

The victory for Harrington, his second consecutive Open Championship title, is even more impressive given that a day before the tournament he was not even sure if he would be able to play this week. He suffered a wrist injury during a practice round prior to the event. In a week that lacked the biggest name in all of sports, it was a Tiger-esk victory, overcoming a serious injury to win, that me be the most overlooked story of the weekend.

The story that would have been, Greg Norman, bogeyed four of the first six holes and never really could seem to find that comfort level that he thrived in the previous three days. He finished at +9, good for third place, some six shots behind Harrington. Norman, who has been known more for his chokes than his successes over the course of his career, once again came up short handed in the final round.

It is tough to see a guy like Norman, someone who you can't help but root for, struggle and fail to pull off what seemed imminent. I hope for his sake that this is not the last we see of Greg Norman on a leaderboard. He deserves to go out on top. But at the age of 56 one can only wonder how many many oppertunities he will have.

Update

Richie Sexon still sucks.

MLB Trade Update

Updating a previous report...

Talks between the Brewers and A's in the deal that would have sent Huston Street to Milwaukee feel apart before an agreement could be officially reached.

The Brewers did make a move today however as they acquired second basemen Ray Durham from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for two minor leaguers. The addition of Durham gives Milwaukee more middle infield depth and provides for some good offensive punch off the bench. This is a solid move for the Brewers given Rickie Weeks' inconsistency this season.

Jason Taylor To Redskins

Jason Taylor, now better known for his appearance on "Dancing With The Stars" then his play on a football field, has been traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Washington Redskins their 2009 2nd round pick and a 2010 6th rounder. John Clayton reports that Taylor will not re-negotiate the remaining two years of his contract, where he will earn 8 million dollars. He racked up 11 sacks during the 2007 season along with 55 tackles.

Taylor's trade requests have been well known, asking to be traded to a playoff contender before the NFL Draft. There were also rumors that he and new executive vice president of football operations Bill Parcells didn't see eye-to-eye after Taylor missed all of the Dolphins off-season workouts while on "Dancing".

Does Jason Taylor make the Redskins a top team in the NFC? Does it even make them a top two team in there conference? Can an aging D-Linemen make that much of a difference?