Friday Quick Hitters

This has been a relatively slow week in the sports world, but a busy week for me personally. So my contribution here has been lacking and I apologize to my thousands of fans all over the world who expect more from me. I will try to do better, I promise. That being said, I will devote today’s blog to a few short ramblings on some recent happenings. Enjoy…

Atlanta Braves
So the Braves take two out of three from the Mets in New York last weekend and then lose two out of three in Miami to the Marlins. It’s very frustrating. Even more frustrating is this: Tim Hudson pitched eight innings of nearly un-hittable ball Wednesday night and they still manage to lose. Hudson’s ERA going into the ninth inning that night was 0.51. Yes, 0.51. But three of the four runs that eventually scored in that inning belonged to him, so it ballooned to 1.22. Still, that’s not bad. I figured that at some point, Wickman was going to blow a save (he had only blown one other opportunity since become a Brave last year) and I guess Wednesday night was it. So let’s look on the bright side and hope he got it out of his system and he’s as good as gold for the next several months. I’m not worried about Hudson either. He just got tired (you could tell early on in the ninth that he was getting tired as his pitches were mostly up in the strike zone) and Bobby Cox should have pulled him after the first batter singled. But he didn’t and Atlanta lost their first series of the year. I’m not blaming Cox or Wickman or Hudson or anyone else for that matter. This is baseball and, because it is what it is (as in, a 162-game schedule), you get another shot to make things better rather quickly. Atlanta gets their shot tonight, tomorrow and Sunday in Colorado against the underrated Rockies. Sweeping these guys would make up for all of it.

NFL Draft
I’m already tired of the 2007 NFL Draft and it hasn’t even started. If you read my blog regularly (if you don’t, shame on you!) you know how I feel about the 24-hour news/sports cycle we have to endure. ESPN has only succeeded in firmly cementing my feelings regarding their incessant ramblings about stuff that is completely irrelevant. Speaking of irrelevance, they actually interviewed a guy yesterday that has a chance of being this year's “Mr. Irrelevant” (aka, the last guy picked in the Draft). Are they hard-up for news or what?
If you know me, you know I love football, I love the NFL. But this draft coverage is ridiculous. And it’s been like this for almost two months now. Sure, I want to know who the 49ers are thinking about drafting. But I don’t need a daily three-hour diatribe on who they might also draft in the sixth round. It’s very tiresome.
But it makes my wife happy because I’m finally learning that there are channels other than ESPN.

A-Rod
Alex Rodriguez in on a roll unlike any we have seen in a long time. I am by no means a Yankee fan, or even a big follower of Rodriguez, but I have to be impressed with what he’s accomplished so far this season. And it’s legitimate. While A-Rod pounds out legitimate homer after legitimate homer on the East Coast, Barry Bonds and his campaign of illegitimacy chase history on the West Coast.
Mr. Potato Head is going to break Aaron’s record, probably before the All-Star Break. It’s very very sad. But let’s all take solace in the fact that – if the early part of this season is any guide – Alex Rodriguez just might be the guy who will eventually break Bonds’ record. And he will do so legitimately, giving us all something to celebrate.

Also, the first of the Democratic Presidential Debates was held last night, right here in South Carolina, a full year and a half before Election Day. With that in mind, if any of us - myself included - think that coverage of things like the NFL Draft is redundant, we ain’t seen nothing yet. This 2008 Presidential race is going to be utterly ridiculous.