The Morning Wood - 07/12/06

Stud: The American League
Let's just say the Senior Circuit is looking a little long in the old dentures. The AL once again beat the NL in "the game that matters". Note to Bug Selig: if the AL continues their 10 year unbeaten streak (so happy you decided to end the game in a tie, other wise I would be able to say "winning streak"), the game will once again not matter. You might as well just hand the AL homefield in the World Series every year. Much love to Michael Young for the game winning triple and Ozzie Guillen for not calling Tim McCarver any sort of offensive slur when he was interviewing you mid game on Fox. Lord knows I would have. AL ---- NL

Dud: Carmelo Anthony
Dawg, check your posse. Now no one cares if you smoke the herb or drink on purple stuff or even smuggle some ish in through customs. You're no birdman, they won't toss you out of the league. But you've got to stop your crew from tossing greenery in your backpack, in your car, in your girl...I'm just saying, don't go all these guys on us just yet.

Talk Around the Cooler:

Here comes the second half of the baseball season, the home stretch if you will. It's going to be an exciting year, stop being a prude. Other than the NL Least, the division races are going to be toight, very toight. I see the Red Sox, White Sox, and A's winning the divisions in the east with the Tigers grabbing the wild card. In the NL, we have the Mets, Cards, and Dodgers, with the Padres backing in to the playoffs as the wild card. Don't rule out the Astros, Baseball Jesus pitches for them. We'll hold off on the playoff predictions for now. Why? 'Cause I said so!

The guy that caught Barry Bonds' 715th HR ball is going to auction it off.
This ball will probably not be worth too much once Bonds throws the home pinstripes on. Great for the collector who loves 2nd place items. Would be perfect in a collection with a draft of an Al Gore inauguration address, a Russian Cold War Scorecard, and Matt Hasselback's jock.

Quick Hits...
Lebron signs an unusual 3 year contract, Dwyane Wade is likely to follow. Still no news about Darko's plans. JJ Redick's back will cause him to miss tryouts for team USA, a team that he had no chance of making unless they enacted the "preppy college white boy clause" that got Christian Laettner on the dream team. The NBA Salary cap is set at $53.135 million for next year. With the $3.6 million increase, the Knicks are now within $80 million of the cap. Mike James signed with the TWolves for an amount that Latrell Spreewell probably couldn't feed his kids on.