The Morning Wood - 07/11/2006

Stud: Ryan Howard
The reigning Rookie of the Year took the Home Run Derby crown last night in a very impressive performance. The HRD is always a good time, w/crazy hispanics running around doing crazy things while holding their cute kids. It's like a cross between a daycare center and some Telemundo gameshow, and everyone loves it. This is the second year in a row that a Phillie has won, meaning the city of brotherly love has some top-notch HGH. Seeing the view from ESPN's booth in center field reminded me of two things: 1. How freaking far these dudes crush the ball, and 2. How much I wish one would strike this guy in the dome.

Dud: Hit it Here
On his winning swing, Ryan Howard knocked the "Hit it Here" sign in deep right-center. Normally, this would give some fan a hefty monetary sum, say $1 million. Now, some asshole company has chosen to give 500 free roundtrip flights to the "lucky" winner. Who has a job where, over 35 years of employment, they would be able to take 500 vacations? And even if they could, who would be able to afford travelling that much? Useless. For some reason this enraged me last night. You too? No? Shut it.

Talk Around the Cooler:
I had a feeling that Lebron's talk of a 3-year extension w/a player option for the 4th would create a shitstorm of activity with the other signees, and it apparently has. James, Wade, Melo and Bosh have so much bargaining power that they'll be able to command basically whatever they want, so I wouldn't be surprised if at least three of them go this route. I can see Wade sticking to the max deal b/c he's in the best situation, but the other three aren't sure if their organizations will be commited to winning (Bosh, especially, after the Raptors recently traded away their future). Not sure if this is good for the game, but I can't argue w/them.

Quick Hits...
Honestly, who gives a shit? Barbaro, the next time you are a part of my life, you better be in adhesive form.

Why's the diamond got to be black? Amazing that Bode can take time away from his rustic mountain gym to do some charity work.

I hate the Italians. Looks like he might have called the Algerian-born Zizou a "terrorist." Some real gems from Materazzi: "I am not a cultured person and I don't even know what an Islamist terrorist is." Right. "For me, the mother is sacred, you know that." He did not respond to rumors that the comment that set Zidane off was, "The jerkstore called: they're running out of you."