There are so many things that have been happening that I feel compelled to comment on prior stuff just because they happened. First of all, the gurus of baseball had tests done to see if the ball was juiced. And they found that everything was within the limits of manufacturing tolerances. Did anyone expect anything different? Those balls could have bounced higher than an illegal golf ball and the test results would have been the same. If not, all these records in the past couple of years would get asterisks. Why are baseball scores now equal to football scores in many cases and threatening to approach WNBA scores???

1. Too many pitchers that would be marginal players in AAA ball probably because there are too many teams.

2. Lively ball.

3. Bandbox parks with low fences and short porches.

4. Hitters that are using real bodybuilding techniques unlike many players of the past whose bicep curl exercises usually involved a bourbon and water in the hand.

OJ calls a news conference to announce that he has found the real killers. Then he announces that the real killers are - - - - John and Patsy Ramsey.

Last of the "old news" items is the recently announced trio of folks in the booth for MNF starting this Fall. I really liked Dan Fouts when I heard him on TV so I have only good things to say about that selection. Dennis Miller will either be one of the most brilliant personnel selections in the history of the Free World or he will be used up and tiresome by the fourth week. Only time will tell. Miller is about as sharp a wit as there is in the comedy business today; Robin Williams is sort of like Miller on crack cocaine. Now if he can merge his wit into the broadcast without turning it into a comedy special starring Dennis Miller, this could work out just fine. And remember that he does not have to be super-good to stand up to all of his predecessors on MNF. Remember Fred "The Hammer" Williamson?

We have in this country a War on Drugs and a White House Office headed up by a retired Army General to wage this war. In a swift counter-strike against the evils of illicit chemicals that go into one's body, General McCaffrey hinted that maybe soon androstenedione will be classified as a drug and taken off the market at every GNC store in the country. This is the drug that Mark McGwire took/takes and we've known about that for at least 3 years now and these war fighters are still figuring out what to do. Good thing these guys were not in charge of the army during the Revolutionary War or we would not be having baseball and football discussions now; we'd be glued to the telly watching Wimbledon and eating strawberries and clotted cream. Or is that cream with clotted berries? English food is so difficult to remember - and to eat!

Speaking of Wimbledon, I want to be sure you know that despite the near fatal blow delivered by the three Spanish players who are boycotting the tournament, the English have kept a stiff upper lip and have decided to hold the matches anyway. This is the spirit that won the Battle of Britain; there will always be an England.

NBA draft is coming up and everybody is looking for the "sleeper". Three that get mentioned a lot as "the sleeper" are Mark Karcher (Temple), Johnny Hemsley (Miami) and Pete Mickeal (Cincy). Karcher is potentially a good player but he is not going to be a muscle player like he was in college and he needs to shed fat and add muscle and hopefully some speed in the process to be a good small forward. Hemsley too is a bit slow but he can do one thing that many players seem unable to do anymore and that is he can stick a 15 - 18 foot jump shot with regularity. Mickeal is an offensive liability but will play tough defense against the opposing small forward or shooting guard. But defense is not enough here; he will have to learn to shoot at least a little bit to make it in the NBA. My two favorite players at the top of the draft are Stromile Swift (LSU) and Markus Fizer (Iowa State). And do not be too shocked to find Joel Pryzbilla (Minnesota) drafted very high (top seven).

The Orioles stink in spades. They have 17 blown saves and it is still June. With a payroll of more than $80M, the only team in all of baseball with a worse record is in Houston where a team built for the cavernous Astrodome is not faring very well in Enron Field - which will soon be renamed "Ten Run Field". What are the Orioles' shortcomings? They are old; they are slow; their defense is mediocre even though fielding percentage is acceptable because they just don't get close enough to lots of balls to make an error; the bullpen is a joke and the starting pitching has been in and out - mostly out. But they have a nucleus to build around in Albert Belle. His charisma alone will attract lots of good free agents to come to Baltimore and when you marry that to the stability and family atmosphere created by Peter Asbestos - er Angelos - they can't be more than a season away from the World Series.

Reading the agate type in a newspaper shows me that there is to much access to information now. Here are two items that are not made up:

Univ of Missouri-Kansas City named Terry Drake as Director of Tickets and Events Operations.

Bryn Mawr named Amy Campbell assistant athletic trainer.

The sale of Fusaichi Pegasus for $60M is a positive sign for horseracing in that it shows that there is some money willing to go into the sport. It is a bad thing however since it takes him out of racing and the sport desperately needs a "star attraction".

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...