Bubble Burst?

For weeks and even months now people have been waiting and waiting, patiently, for the Tampa Bay Rays to come back down to earth. They have just been playing too well to be the same team that you could pencil in annually for about 100 loses.

"They will cool down after the all-star break."

"They will fall behind the Red Sox when Ortiz comes back."

"They won't stand a chance once the big guns restock at the trade deadline."

Well, here we are, mid August. Don't look now but those same Rays have a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. They have rode excellent pitching and youthful pop at the plate all the way to one of the best records in all of baseball to this point.

The one thing the Rays have not faced, however, is adversity. Sure, a guy may miss a couple games here or there with some minor stuff, but they have not had that major injury to really set them back. That is until now.

The Ray placed two time all-star left fielder Carl Crawford and rookie of the year favorite Evan Longoria on the DL Monday. For the first time this season the Rays will have two gaping holes in their line-up for a minimum of 15 days, in the case of Crawford likely many more.

It will be interesting to see just how they handle this setback. All year they have gotten little contributions from their "role players" but never before have they been put in the position where they were going to be relied upon to help carry the offense. Guys like Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, and Rocco Baldelli are going to have some big shoes to fill if the Rays are going to hold their ground on top of the AL East.

Can they do it? I have been one of the many counting them out all year but for some reason they just refuse to lay down. This the real test. It is time for the Rays to stand up and show the world whether they are going to be a true contender or just a team that put together one hell of a start to a season but couldn't finish.

Its A Dunn Deal

The Arizona Diamondback today acquired slugging outfielder Adam Dunn from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four minor leaguers. Dunn, who had to go through waivers before being traded, was batting .233 with 32 homeruns at the time of the trade.

This is a good move for the Dbacks as they need to add some pop to the heart of their lineup if they are to keep up with the likes of the LA Dodgers, who are now rolling on the hot bat of newly acquired Manny Ramirez.

Phelps Two for Two!

The foursome of Michael Phelps, Garret Webber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak brought home the gold medal for the USA in the 4x100. It will go down as one of the most exciting swimming relays in Olympic history, as an arrogant French team (who had bashed the USA prior to the games) saw their lead diminish in front of their eyes on the final length of the pool. Jason Lezak brought up the rear for team USA and not only caught up with the French but gave the Americans the 8/100ths of a second victory.

This means that Michael Phelps is well on his way to beating American Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Many regarded the first two events that Phelps would compete in as his most difficult challenges to breaking Spitz's record, and with these now under his belt it should be clear sailing the rest of the way. It is the Olympics, however, and surprises are almost guaranteed to happen, so stay tuned to see if Phelps will be victorious.

Thats Two For Harrington

Once again it was a Harrinton-Garcia showdown in the final round of a major and once again it was Harrington who came out on top.

Padraig Harrington fired a four under 66 in the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday to win his second major in a row. Paired with fan favorite Sergio Garcia, Harrington marched from two strokes back going into the day to claim his third career major.

Just like the final round of the British Open in 2007 it came down to Garcia and Harrington for the championship. Garcia, who shot a two under 68, had a two stroke lead at one point on the back nine only to see it slip away at the hands of his putter yet again.

Garcia is considered by many to be the best players in the world not to have won a major championship. He, much like Greg Norman, is becoming more well known for his collapses than his victories.

As for Harrington, the win, his second major victory in a row (2008 British Open was the other) makes him the front runner now for PGA player of the year, an award annually given to Tiger Woods. With Woods injured and out for the better portion of the year due to knee surgery it has left the door open for the likes of Harrington to seal the spotlight and make a name for himself.

USA Routs China

The "Redeem Team" as they call themselves, otherwise known as USA Basketball, made a huge statement today as they defeated host China 101-70. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade led the way way offensively with eighteen and nineteen points respectively.

In with all the hype and expected record viewers it was never really that close. China came out with a lot of emotion and adrenaline feeding off the home fans, but USA weathered the first quarter storm then stepped on the gas in the second half to blow open the game. All but two players on the USA roster (Kidd, Prince) had points.

Yao Ming led the way for China with thirteen points in a losing effort.

Hopefully this win is a sign of things to come for Team USA. Lebron James, who guaranteed gold coming into the Olympics, held up his end of the bargain in game one making big plays on both ends of the floor. If Lebron and company can bring it every game as they did tonight there is no reason why this team should not head back to the States with gold.

Phelps Sets Olympic Record

It took Michael Phelps a mere one race to set his first new Olympic record at this year's 2008 Olympics in Beijing. With a time of 4:07.82 Phelps set a new Olympic record in the 400-meter individual medley. The race was just the preliminaries for Sunday's final.

This is the first of many records expected to fall to Phelps at these Olympics. There is no question as to if Phelps will win a gold medal at this year's Olympics. The question is how many? He is competing in eight events. I'll set the over-under for golds at 7.

Fins Sign Pennington

Former Jet's quarterback Chad Pennington has come to terms with the Miami Dolphins on a two year 11 millions dollar deal. Pennington was cut by the Jets on Friday following the addition of Brett Favre. The Dolphins, coming off a all time franchise worst 1-15 season last year, can use all the help they can get. Pennington will now join a four man competition with Josh McCown, John Beck, and rookie Chad Henne for the starting job in Miami.

This move comes as no big surprise to those who know Bill Parcells as he has always had a liking for Pennington. He was a member of the Jet's front office when they drafted Pennington in the first round of the 2000 draft.

In an interesting twist, the Dolphins and Jets play each other in both team's first post season game this season. We will have to see how Pennington fares against his former team.

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Westbrook, An Eagle For Life

52 pages is what it took to get the deal done, but Brian Westbrook is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for what he says will be the remainder of his career. The new contract inks Westbrook with the Eagles through the 2013 season. The important piece of the contract, by NFL standards, is the $13 million in guaranteed money that Westbrook will receive over the next two years.

This is a good move for the Eagles, inking a player who is considered by most to be one of the top running backs in the game. The 29 year old Westbrook led the NFL with 2104 all purpose yards from scrimmage last season.

Giles Says "No" To Boston

The 48 hour window for the the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres to complete a trade for Brian Giles has past with Giles remaining a Padre. Giles had a limited no trade clause in his contract with the Red Sox being one of the teams he had to give his consent to going to. While no side will say publicly that Giles nixed a potential deal to Boston, speculation around the league is that that was just what happened.

It was a surprise to me from the start that the Red Sox even claimed Giles off waivers. With Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, JD Drew, and Coco Crisp already on the roster there was no room for another outfielder. I have a feeling that this move was done more to block other teams than to add a player. Rumor has it that the Rays had interest in Giles.