It’s hot and sunny here (a rare occurrence this summer) and I am off to an outdoor music festival in just a few minutes, so I’ll apologize in advance if my concentration has been more focused at other times. I like you all, and I appreciate that you read what I write, but you don’t hold a candle to beer, music and sunshine and I’m not going to apologize for that. Before I go, though, I thought that I would share a few of the things that are bouncing through my sporting mind today:
1. Brett Favre as a Jet makes me happy. The green New Yorkers have reportedly been given permission to talk to Favre. He’d be a good fit. I don’t love their receiving situation at all, and I am desperate for the AFC East to be more competitive than it currently appears that it will be. Let’s get it done soon so we can quit talking about this endless story.
2. There is an outstanding day of horse racing from Saratoga tomorrow. I will be writing more about this tomorrow morning, but there are four very interesting races in a row from the world’s greatest race track, and it appears as if ABC is going to show us all four of them starting at 4:00 p.m. EST. Brilliant.
3. Big Papi returns to action tonight. With the trade deadline just around the corner, this is a more significant addition than Boston could make through any transaction. If Ortiz is even halfway healthy then this gives Boston a much needed boost to try to take advantage of a Tampa Bay team that is looking more mortal and is suddenly truly awful at hitting with men in scoring position.
4. Jeff Samardzija was called up by the Cubs. How smart does the former Notre Dame receiver look now? He got a massive signing bonus, he’s a pro now, and he didn’t have to live through the disgrace that is the recent Charlie Weis era
5. AFL loses commissioner. David Baker, the commissioner of the Arena Football League, resigned suddenly today after 12 years on the job. The move came two days before the ArenaBowl. I only have one real response to this – the AFL stillexists? Talk about a league that has failed to impact the public consciousness to any real extent.
