Here is an update on the Redskins/Ravens scrimmage tomorrow night. The cost of admission to the event - including the concert in which Las Vegas has set even money odds that no one in the band actually dies in mid song - will be $25. They are not opening the upper deck in FedEx field so the capacity is 45,000 and it is a sell-out. Add $11 to park your car and the normal cost of concessions (they added more ATM machines at Fed Ex Field last year so that should give you some inclination about this issue) and a family of four can go and take this in for about $175 - 200. The football part of the event will consist of each team executing 3 twelve-play drives. You know what will be even more exciting than all that? There are no reserved seats; this is gang seating. So when the gates open, you could well have a bunch of geezers charging for the top seats near the 50 yard line and wind up with a few fights and broken bones … sorry, my Philadelphia upbringing just peeked through.

Speaking of the Ravens, their defensive tackle Tony Siragusa is a hold out. He wants more money; the Ravens say he has a contract and that he needs to get his ample body into camp so that he can get into playing shape. For Tony, that usually means that he can walk by the table holding the Gatorade cups without dragging more than three of them into an orbit around him. Tony's agent says, "No way!" Well the Ravens have raised the bar here a bit and have arranged for Gilbert Brown to visit and to have a physical. Given Gilbert's rumored weight at the moment of 400+ pounds, that indicates several things to me:

1. The Ravens are hiring extra physicians so that this physical exam can be completed in less than three days.
2. The Ravens must be scheming out a new defensive philosophy that demands a very fat guy on the field at all times.
3. Gilbert must have consumed every chicken in whatever area he is in now and needs a new place to graze.

There is a teeny-tiny article in the Washington Post today and the topic wasn't mentioned on ESPN last nite - when I was watching anyway. And this could be big positive news for football fans. The NFL is changing its policy on what games can be telecast in which cities. Currently, if a team is playing at home, the network that carries that team's game cannot show a second game in that city even if that network "has the doubleheader game" for that weekend. The idea used to be that showing that game could get some people to be no-shows or that some fans might try to rush home to see another "late game". Well that is going to change on a trial basis this year and that means that if you live in a city with a team, you will get to see more games. That is good; write to your station managers and to the NFL offices to say that you like it. More positive feedback could make this permanent.

In baseball news, the Phillies traded Curt Schilling for four players. The NY Post calls them "four stiffs". Travis Lee was a top prospect and as I recall commanded something like a $10M signing bonus, but he has not done anything to earn that number. Omar Daal has not pitched well this season; his record is 2-10; so the Phillies immediately signed him to a one year extension on his existing contract. Vicente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa are also pitchers - and the Phillies needed pitching help badly even when Ashby and Schilling were there - but only time will tell if they are major league pitchers or if they are batting practice pitchers.

Travis Lee is a firstbaseman/outfielder; the Phillies already have a young player, Pat Burrell, who does the same thing. I think this means that neither one can play the field worth a lick and both can only play "batter". I wonder if they will play rock/scissors/paper to see who gets 1B and who gets the outfield? And this trade means to me that Rico Brogna is on his way to a contending team (Red Sox? Cardinals?) and Ron Gant will be moseying along too (Cleveland? Yankees?)

Meanwhile, the D-Backs have made themselves post-season rich because in the playoffs/World Series most teams contract to a three man rotation. Arizona now has Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and Todd Stottlemeyer; that ain't bad.

What happened to the Colorado Rockies? They are 4-18 in their last 22 games and once led the NL West comfortably. Now they are in fourth place, two games under .500 and headed south. Their lineup has their first six hitters with the worst batting average of the lot being .280. But you do have to get the other team out and that seems to be a mysterious undertaking for the Rockies these days.

Mike Mussina has stuck it to Peter Angelos. He said he will not waive his no-trade clause and the reason is that he has wanted to negotiate a contract extension and there evidently have been no discussions for 5 months. Look for Mussina to leave at the end of this season and leave the O's with nothing. Could not happen to a nicer owner. Only thing better is that Peter Asbestos gets to live with Albert Belle for three more years and you know that Albert is a real drawing card to get other quality free agents to come to Baltimore. Belle has stunk out the joint for the last month; but not to worry, September is coming soon and that is when Albert goes wild after the games turn meaningless. If you have Belle on your fantasy team, stick him in the line-up starting on Labor Day weekend.

Darryl Strawberry has left his rehab treatment venue about a month earlier than the therapists would have preferred and has asked to be re-instated in baseball. Strawberry said that he needs the money to support his family.

Memo to Darryl: Sorry to hear that you lost all the money you made in bad investments. You must not have gotten out of the "dot-coms" in time when the NASDQ tanked. But since you are in a financial bind, I do have one tiny suggestion for you regarding a way you can cut down on your personal/entertainment expenses…

Rumors from Philadelphia point to a 3 team trade in the works that involve big names and "sign and trade" provisions. Obviously the Sixers are in the middle of the rumor or it would not be a such a hot deal in Philly. Here it is:

Sixers send Allen Iverson and Matt Geiger to Detroit. Detroit sends Jerome Williams to Philly and Philly gets Eddie Jones too in a "sign and trade".

Lakers send Glen Rice to Philly and get Tony Kukoc.

The Pistons used to be led by Grant Hill who is Mr. Clean. Now they get Allen Iverson who is Mr. Pain-in-the-Ass. A commentator said that the Pistons can tell their fans that we tried it with Ozzie Nelson leading the team now we are going to try it with Ozzy Osbourne leading it. Iverson is an immense physical talent with the maturity and leadership skills of a spoiled 13 year old brat. If his brain ever catches up to his talent, he could lead a team to a championship but why endure the self-inflicted wounds associated with being around him while he grows up. He is Damon Stoudamire with even more toxic attitude problems.

The Sixers get three NBA quality players but Glen Rice is not likely to be a Larry Brown fave for very long. And if the trading of Geiger means that Nazi Mohammed has to play a lot, then this is a bad deal because there is a nasty little secret here: he can't play.

In another rumored NBA swap, Brian Grant may be going from Portland to Cleveland in exchange for Shawn Kemp. Grant is a hustler and a hard worker with decent - but that is all - physical skills. Kemp is well on his journey down the Kevin Duckworth path toward eating himself out of the league. You could use this guy's warm up suit as a grain silo.

Meanwhile, Maurice Taylor's sentence on the LA Clippers is up and he is outta town. He will sign with Orlando and play with Grant Hill and Tracy McGready. Surely Orlando would have preferred to land Tim Duncan, but Taylor is a real player.

Those of you who do not live in the Washington area can be thankful every Thursday since that means you do not have to suffer through the Washington Post's Golf Page. For the second week in a row, Coleman McCarthy has a column there and it is dreadful. It is all about taking notes on putts you miss and then using the notes as part of the process of figuring out what you are doing wrong. Whoa, slow down there Coleman; I need to ponder the depths of that thought process. But here is a quotation from that column that shows me he has no idea what he is talking about:

"I'd rather run a putt three feet past the cup than leave it three inches short … nine times out of ten, a put left short will not go in."

Memo to Coleman: Ten times out of ten, a putt that is three feet past the cup will not/did not go in. And the object of the damned game is to put the putt in the hole. You do not get "style points" for where and how you miss the putt.