Wednesday Rundown

Beware of light blogging for the next few days, as my comrades and I will be converging upon Ann Arbor for yet another year at the University of Michigan. It may get a little hectic, but we will do our best to keep you updated during out move-in time.

There are a lot of small story lines flying around the world of sports, here is a quick rundown of the stories that aren’t about Michael Vick (I just couldn’t have another Vick post, I was starting to feel like ESPN).

NASCAR: Yes, NASCAR. I went there. I am not a fan, but I was impressed at Dale Jr.’s call to fans and media to back off of his step-mother, Teresa Earnhardt. He told the public that they have no idea how difficult it is for her to run the business of DEI and that they should give her a break out of respect for his father. I don’t know his intentions behind this move, but I support it. Everyone is talking about the bitter negotiations in the split between Dale Jr. and his father’s racing company, but we all need to remember that in the end they are still family. I admire Dale for putting that in front of business. He certainly didn’t have to come to bat for his step mother, but he did the right thing as a son.

USA Basketball: I stayed up late last night to check out the US demolition of Puerto Rico 117-78. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal, except this is the same team that triggered the US collapse in the 2004 Athens games with a 20+ point beat down in the opening round. I was impressed with what I saw- not the 117 points, not the occasional showboating dunk by the Americans over an undersized Puerto Rico squad. It was the TEAM basketball, what won’t appear in a box score. There was ball distribution, there was hustle for rebounds, and there was a fight in this US team I haven’t seen in a while. One can’t put a point value on the addition of Jason Kidd to the squad, but his play has really enabled the scoring stars to get their points and prevent the opposition from keying in on one or two players. He won’t let them be selfish.

Brewers: Cardinals fans, Cubs fans, take solace in this prediction: the Brewers will not make the playoffs. When two of your 5 starters haven’t won since June, and you are pinning their hopes on 10-4 Ben Sheets, who is being yanked off the DL to try to resurrect this club who hasn’t been dominant since June. All of this as they send 10-4 Claudio Vargas to the DL. They have Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and a plethora of other hitters, but it is starting pitching that gets a team into the playoffs down the stretch, especially when the team is struggling to get back to form after falling to 3^rd in the division for the first time this season. This team has been struggling for months now, but no one noticed because of their wide lead they’d built up. Now they can look forward to watching the Cubs or Cardinals (my money is on the Cubs) on television in October.

Okay, so the last story isn’t so much a small story, but I had to mention it. For those of you moving in over the next few days, enjoy another wonderful year at Michigan!