Ole!
(Super Duper Bank Holiday Weekend Edition)



It might not be considered sport but certainly is more physically taxing than other so-called sports like golf and bowling.

A Pamplona-style running of the bulls in a Spanish town outside the capital Sunday left 63 people injured, two of them seriously, officials said.

The pair were taken from the town of San Sebastian de los Reyes to hospitals in Madrid to undergo urgent surgery, said Angel Pesquera, spokesman for the town's emergency unit. The others were treated for cuts and bruises, he said.

During the crowded run, people were momentarily trapped in a pileup at the bullring's entrance where the run ends. Some of the bulls then trampled over the mound of people to get into the ring, causing the large number of injuries.


Let's Run For Our Lives!

*****

Baseball Races

Yanks Lead AL Wildcard Chase

Jason Giambi broke out of a 4-for-38 slump with a pair of home runs and drove in seven runs Sunday, leading the New York Yankees to a 10-3 victory over the AAA-like KC Royals.


Just Say No

Giambi belted a three-run home run in the third inning yesterday, giving him 1,000 runs batted in for his career. In the fifth inning, he crushed a two-run homer, his 1,500th career hit.

The Yankees (73-56) improved to a season-high 17 games above .500. They moved into the wild-card lead, by a half-game over Los Angeles, when the Angels fell behind Oakland in the American League West yesterday. The Yankees still trail the Red Sox by a game and a half in the East after Boston beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-3.

After a four game series at Seattle, the Yankees will travel to Oakland for three and then play nemesis' Tampa Bay and Boston over the next nine games thereafter so the Yankees run won't be easy.

***

Meanwhile, in Boston, Jesus was sliding into catches:



David Wells pitched seven innings, saving Sox fans from their miserable bullpen for most of the day. In the 14 games that preceded this one, Matt Clement was the only Boston starter to go seven innings in a game, doing so twice. Wells might begin his six game suspension this week after he hears about his appeal on today.

Mike Remlinger was given his walking papers and the Red Sox called up lefty Abe Alvarez from Triple-A Pawtucket. Remlinger had a 14.85 ERA and no record in eight relief appearances since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs for minor league pitcher Olivo Astacio.

Looking ahead, closer Keith Foulke made his second rehab appearance at Class A Lowell on Sunday night, allowing one run in his only inning of work.

A's

In 2001, Jermaine Dye joined the A's in midseason and his superb play was a major factor in the team making the playoffs. Of course, back then, the A's offence was already pretty good and Dye just added to the mix.

This season, Jay Payton came over from Boston at the break and has been the entire A's offence many days - he is 11 for his past 26 and his 11 homers since the All-Star break are fourth most in the league.

But the starting pitching of course, has kept the A's in all those games to begin with. Of their five starters, Haren, Zito, Blanton, Harden and Saarloos, over the last 30 days, have started 26 games, are 13-6 and have allowed only 48 runs over 174 1/3 innings, a collective 2.48 ERA.

Their bullpen is none too shabby either: closer Huston Street has is 8 for 8 in save opportunities over the last 30 days with an 0.73 ERA.

Kind of hard to lose games when you're getting pitching like that and for all those who happily chirped about the end of the Billyball Era, might have to rethink their premature eulogies. The A's are not going down easy and the worst of the rebuilding appears over already.

***

Meanwhile the Several City Angels were unceremoniously tossed from the lead of the AL West when they were swept by the league's most notorious giant killers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

They went 9-4 against the Yankees, Rangers, Indians and Angels, all but the Rangers, significant playoff contenders.

Since the All-Star break, Tampa Bay is 26-15, tied with the Cardinals for second-best in the majors. Since the break, the Rays are 16-6 at Tropicana Field. Since the break, they have gone from 11th in team batting average in the majors to third (.277 after Saturday's 14-hit attack).

***

Indians

The Indians have won nine of 11 and are a major league best 19-7 since July 31. Jake Westbrook finally reached .500 after pitching the Indians to a 4-1 victory over the Blue Jays, and his performance gave the Tribe a series win in its three games at the Rogers Centre.

They remain a game behind the Yankees for the AL Wildcard.

Here's a quick look at some of the teams on the three wild card contenders' schedules:

Indians
5 vs. Tampa Bay
7 vs. Kansas City
6 vs. Twins
6 vs. White Sox
3 vs. Oakland

Yankees
6 vs. Tampa Bay
8 vs. Orioles
4 vs. Mariners
3 vs. Royals
3 vs. Athletics
3 vs. Red Sox

Oakland
3 vs. Yankees
3 vs. Red Sox
7 vs. Angels

Angels
7 vs. A's
6 vs. Mariners
3 vs. Red Sox
3 vs. White Sox
***


After breaking the MLB record for hits last season, Ichiro entered last night's contest hitting .299 — the first time since July 1 that his average had sunk below .300.

***

NL


Marlins Go Boom (Derrek Lee is congratulated with coach Chris Speier on one of his two homers as Cubs rout Marlins, 14-3).

Are we to take them seriously? What do you think of when you perform a google search using key words: Brad Penny, batboy and milk? Something eerily creepy? Kinky? Just a little fun?

Penny offered the batboy $500 if he could drink a gallon of milk in less than an hour before Sunday's game without throwing up. Penny told the paper the boy drank the milk and didn't throw up, but didn't finish the gallon in the allotted time frame to win the dare.

The batboy was suspended for six games. (for violation of the MLB anti-milk policy?)

The Fort Myers Miracle invited the bat boy to come across Alligator Alley and serve as honorary bat boy for Monday’s game against the Tampa Yankees.

"Similar to a rehab stint, we want to help this kid stay on top of his game," Miracle GM Steve Gliner said. "Instead of crying over spilt milk, we decided to offer him the honorary post."

***

No Comment:



***

In 26 starts, Roger Clemens leads baseball in earned-run average (1.56) and opponents' average (.187). His road ERA, in 12 starts, is 0.56. His overall ERA has been less than 2.00 every month and the eight earned runs he has allowed in August are the most in any month. Considering the Astros have been shut out in seven of his starts, his record, 11-6, is astounding.

Then again, the Angry Astros were shut out Sunday yet again in a Clemens start:



Clemens allowed only two weak singles in six scoreless innings but was denied a victory when the Los Angeles Dodgers scored once in the eighth inning to beat the Astros 1-0 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

The shutout was the Astros' league-leading 16th of the season and second on their six-game West Coast road trip that ended 2-4. The Astros have been shut out in three of Clemens' past four starts and eight times this season, including five by a 1-0 score.

***

Meanwhile, the Stinkin' Braves won again, defeating the Brewers by a 5-2 margin behind Tim Hudson's seven hitter and Andruw Jones' 41st and 42nd homers.

(Interesting aside to Braves rookie Jeff FrancoeurThere is one striking similarity in Braves history to the astonishing surge of Jeff Francoeur. In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves called up a South Carolina farmhand named Bob Hazle when Bill Bruton broke a leg, and Hazle broke in such blazing style he was nicknamed “Hurricane.” (There had been an Atlantic storm that year named “Hurricane Hazel.”) Down the stretch to the pennant, Hazle hit .403, seven home runs, drove in 27 runs in 41 games and was a sensation. That was it. The following season he was soon gone, traded to Detroit and out of the big leagues. He settled in Newberry, became a liquor salesman and died in 1992 at age 61.

***

The Mets lost another to the Giants, their second consecutive loss after five consecutive road wins. Full report over at Archie Bunker's Army.

***

Reds are out this year but can hope for the future: Adam Dunn, Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns, Wily Mo Peña and Edwin Encarnacion are all 25 or younger. Four of those five start every day for the Reds. They also have three pitchers under 25 on the roster. Matt Belisle, Todd Coffey and Ryan Wagner all have had runs of success.

The Reds' starting pitchers were 12-4 with a 2.86 ERA in their last 19 starts entering Saturday night.

If they can unload Junior Griffey before Tuesday's deadline, they might get to add a few more young hopefuls.

Griffey's stock keeps going up - he went into Saturday's game hitting .451 with seven home runs and 11 RBI in his last 12 games. After sitting in either fifth or sixth place in the National League Central for 115 consecutive days, they have moved themselves into a tie for fourth with the Cubs this weekend and their four straight wins and six wins in seven games has placed them just six games below the .500 mark.

***

Here's a funny thought: someone thinks the Giants should trade Barry Bonds.

Who would want those damaged goods? The Yankees? The Mets? The Red Sox?

No, no and no.

The Giants are stuck with the steroid-stigmata for at least another season.

***

Salaries:

Who says money doesn't buy victories? The top six highest paying teams are all in the running for the playoffs although the Giants, Cubs and Mariners all overpaid terribly, have thrown in the hat already. The Stinkin' Braves, ranked 10th, are using minor league payrolls to fund their playoff run.

Team Payroll Average
1. New York Yankees $205,938,439 $7,920,709
2. Boston 121,311,945 4,332,569
3. New York Mets 104,770,139 3,880,376
4. Philadelphia 95,337,908 3,666,843
5. ANGELS 95,017,822 3,276,477
6. St. Louis 93,319,842 3,589,225
7. San Francisco 89,487,426 3,441,824
8. Chicago Cubs 87,210,933 3,114,676
9. Seattle 85,883,333 2,683,854
10. Atlanta 85,148,582 3,405,943
11. DODGERS 81,029,500 2,700,983
12. Houston 76,779,022 2,953,039
13. Chicago White Sox 75,228,000 2,786,222
14. Baltimore 74,570,539 2,663,234
15. Detroit 68,998,183 2,464,221
16. Arizona 63,015,834 2,333,920
17. San Diego 62,888,192 2,246,007
18. Florida 60,375,961 2,236,147
19. Cincinnati 59,658,275 1,988,609
20. Minnesota 56,615,000 2,096,852
21. Oakland 55,869,262 2,148,818
22. Texas 55,307,258 1,843,575
23. Washington 48,581,500 1,619,383
24. Colorado 47,789,000 1,647,897
25. Toronto 45,366,500 1,744,865
26. Cleveland 41,830,400 1,442,428
27. Milwaukee 40,234,833 1,609,393
28. Pittsburgh 38,133,000 1,361,893
29. Kansas City 36,881,000 1,365,963
30. Tampa Bay 29,893,567 1,067,627


*****

American Football

This weekend marked the return of Reefer Ricky Williams to the Dolphins running game.


Reefer Ricky Scores A TD

In the end, the Dolphins had a 17-14 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dolphins Stadium, Miami's first victory under Nick Saban, who lost his first three preseason games. They took the opening drive and went 80 yards, scoring on a 4-yard run by Ricky Williams.

Williams was instrumental in the drive, carrying five times for 31 yards. Miami's maligned offensive line even opened up big holes, and the Dolphins finished with 110 yards rushing on 26 attempts for an average of 4.2 yards a carry.

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: "You wouldn't know it by the 0-3 exhibition record, but the Dolphins have a league-high 23 assistant coaches. It breaks down to six offense, six defense, three special teams, and eight designated scapegoats."

***

Not even his daring name could keep him on the roster: Linebacker Hannibal Navies was one of 11 players released by the Packers and he doesn't look happy.



Perhaps some sour grapes for the Packers, who were humiliated by the defending champion New England Patriots, 27-3.

Quarterback Brett Favre had a bad night after playing well in the first two exhibition games. He threw two interceptions and had a third called back because of a New England penalty elsewhere on the play.

***


Kurt Warner looks to be in mid-season stumbling and fumbling form in a preseason game against the Raiders this weekend. Cardinals won the game anyway, 17-16 for the Raiders' third straight loss of preseason and their first-team defense had three sacks, three fumbles and two points.

Meanwhile, any surprise that Randy Moss smokes pot? Just the "every blue moon" bit, that is. Quite an offence the All-Reefer Team would have with Randy Moss and Ricky Williams headlining.


"I have used, you know, marijuana ... since I've been in the league," Moss said in an interview for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" scheduled to air Tuesday night. "But as far as abusing it and, you know, letting it take control over me, I don't do that, no." No, not that.

Just keep him away from the Doritos.

***



Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens already weren't speaking to each other. No surprise they aren't exchanging congratulations, either.

The feuding stars hooked up for a 64-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the Philadelphia Eagles' exhibition win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night.

Playing together for the first time since their public spat began in April, McNabb and Owens picked up where they left off last year. In just one half, Owens caught five passes for 131 yards, and McNabb threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns.

***

The Denver Broncos, stung in consecutive postseason matches by the Indy Colts and Peyton Manning, beat their nemesis' in a preseason warm-up 37-24.



***

College Football

USC running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White, both draft-eligible juniors, will carry the ball and a combined $5 million of insurance coverage as the top-ranked Trojans pursue a third consecutive national title. Quarterback Matt Leinart is insured, but his father, Bob, has declined to comment on the amount of the coverage or the structure of the policy.

*****

Chelsea Return To The Top of the Tables

Keeping with the tradition that has not seen them win at home against Chelsea, Tottenham in 12 years, the Spurs were put down yet again at home, 2-0 and lost their position at the top of the tables.

Of course, they were down a man for most of the match and played valiently but to no avail.


Mido sent off for an errant elbow and gave Chelsea a man advantage for most of the match.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
"It was a very important victory and a solid performance. People may say it is easier against 10 men than against 11 men but the game was difficult. They were better than us for a period and put pressure on us, but we were still comfortable. We scored one goal on the counter-attack and could have scored two more through Hernan Crespo."

Highlight match for Sunday - Newcastle hosting Manchester United after Newcastle have signed Deportivo La Coruna striker Albert Luque for £9.5m after he passed a medical on Friday, finally getting a sorely-needed man up front to pair with Shearer.

Lowlight: Newcastle losing predictably against Man U and also losing Kieron Dyer.

*****

Ashes

England held for a day but Australia are 222-4, still 37 runs in arrears with Sunday's test match still to play.

England are favourites to wrap up the match and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

There is still the danger, though, that Australia could rustle up enough runs from their lower order to set England a small, but highly pressurised target in their second innings.


Strauss taking a stunning catch as Andrew Flintoff again accounts for the Aussie wicket-keeper

Final Notes

The Superdome will not hold New Orleans Saints practices and will instead house 100,000 refugees:



Good Luck To New Orleans, laissez les bon temps roulez!

White Sox Hit The Wall

One of the biggest surprises of the 2005 season the Chicago White Sox, once 34 games over .500, have of late demonstrated their more mortal side. Seven ugly losses in a row to the Red Sox, Twins and Yankees and 8 runs in their last five games, having scored just twice in their last 36 innings. Today doesn't promise anything better as they face Yankee alleged ace Randy Johnson.

Yesterday was another humiliating step in the ladder down, a 5-0 loss, their 15th loss in their last 21 home games, shut out by nowhere man Shawn Chacon.


A-Rod Revenge For El Duque's Throw Behind His Head

Will the White Sox right themselves?

They need a combination of 33 wins and Indian loses to clinch.

"I hope they show up and give me better at-bats and give me better execution," Manager Jose Guillen said in disgust following the game. "When you get there, you're going to put my hitting coach on the spot, Kenny Williams on the spot, put me on the spot and I'm not going to take that. It's not my fault, it's not Kenny's fault, it's not Greg Walker's fault. We just stink at the plate."

*****

The other Sox, from Boston, are also on a mild skid of sorts having lost four of six on their road trip allowing the Yankees to sneak back to within three games of the AL East lead after their 4-2 loss to the Angels.

Angels starter Ervin Santana dazzled the Red Sox, holding them to just five hits and two eighth-inning runs. Spotting a fastball authoritatively at speeds up to 97 mph, Santana was able to hold the Red Sox at bay for most of his 7 2/3 innings.

A sign of panic or a return to reality, the Red Sox announced that Curt Schilling will be returning to the starting rotation after his stint in the bullpen and they will be counting on Keith Foulke again to close the games.

Schilling has made three starts and 20 relief appearances for the Red Sox this season. A three-time 20-game winner, he has a 5-5 record with a 6.37 ERA and nine saves in 11 chances.


The Bloody Sock Commeth

*****

If it's Kansas City, armpit of Major League Baseball, it must be a city excited about ending a 19-game losing streak, the longest in baseball in 17 years:

You Know You're In KC When...

One Victory Feels Like A World Championship

Hell, maybe their just happy they aren't on the KC Chiefs. If you're keeping score at home, the Chiefs have had more embarassing run-ins in the last week than the Royals had wins.

The most recent outrage was backup QB Todd Collins Melee with starting QB Trent Green.

The police report said Collins became threatening and uncooperative after police arrived and calmed down only after he was threatened with a Taser.

The police report said Collins and Green "were causing a problem inside the establishment ... and Collins had climbed up onto a speaker's box near the stage and refused to get down."

The report said when John Bonse, a restaurant security officer, tried to remove Collins from the speaker's box, Collins struck Bonse "in the head area, at which point Bonse and other Freight House security staff took Collins to the ground."

This came ont he heels of their KICKER for crissakes, Lawrence Tynes was charged with breaking a bouncer's nose in a bar fight in River Falls and defensive tackle Junior Siavii and safety Greg Wesley were arrested after allegedly getting into a drunken confrontation with police in a Minneapolis hotel.

That's one rowdy training camp.

*****

With Terrell Owen nursing a "groin injury" and missing the exhibition game against the Ravens, Donovan McNabb was free to be his non-huddle-puking Super Bowl self with 6 for 9 passing and 107 yards:


No T.O., No Cry

*****

49ers guard Thomas Herrion collapsed in the locker room Saturday night after the team's 26-21 exhibition loss to the Denver Broncos and was rushed to a hospital, where he died, a team official said.

*****

With wars raging in Afghanistan and Iraq, American President George Bush found time to stage a Tour de Ranch with Lance Armstrong.

The pair rode for two hours on their 17-mile trip around the ranch, pausing midway to admire a waterfall.

Wonder how many American soldiers died in that span.


How far would Bush get riding his little bicycle through the streets of Baghdad?

*****

Man U takes another victory, 1-0 to continue their unbeathen 2005 season.



Meanwhile Tottenham Spurs are atop the tables with their own 2-0 victory over Middlesborough.

But no one should hold their breath because today's match between Chelsea v. Arsenal is the early match of the season.

Rush To The Iggles Rescue?

Curiouser and curiouser: Hard to believe but the very man who resigned from ESPN over his moronic comments two years ago that Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was overrated because he was black and and the media wanted to see a black QB succeed, now wants to bring McNabb back together with Terrell Owens, another man whose mouth, like Limbaugh's, cannot be stilled.



"This rift cannot be allowed to continue, ladies and gentlemen. It just can't, and I would like to offer this program as a means of getting these two Americans and star players back together," Rush Limbaugh The Happy Healer said of the Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens rift on his radio show last Friday. "They may not want to talk to each other face-to-face, but perhaps they would join me on this program and speak to each other telephonically via this program and settle this."



Must be time for Rush to be drug-tested. His painkillers must be going to his head.

*****

Sox Beat Sox Again

Well, if there's any hype going into a possible ALCS between the Red Sox and White Sox perhaps the balloon has already been popped with Sox beating the Sox again yesterday, this time by a 7-4 margin as they ripped another White Sox ace, Jon Garland, and prevented him from winning his 17th game of the season.

Garland allowed five runs, nine hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings, striking out four in his second-shortest outing of the year. Boston beat 13-game winner Mark Buehrle on Friday night. Ironically, it's up to former Yankee El Duque today to save some White Sox face.

The Red Sox have won 14 of their last 16 games and 18 of their last 23 and maintain a five-game lead over the second-place Yankees in the A.L. East. They’ve also won 13 straight at home.

Compare and Contrast


Wakefield Knuckled His Way to his 4th straight victory

Meanwhile, a 9-foot-tall, four-ton African elephant named Laura threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a West Michigan Whitecaps game Friday:



*****

We at Sports Amnesia say let the Red Sox have their hot streak now. Let them win the AL East and then, let the Yankees do the last minute surprising in the ALCS since clearly, the White Sox won't be up to the task.

*****

In the battle for the AL West and the AL Wildcard, the A's, Angels and Yankees all won while the Indians lost their second straight to

Red Sox reject Jay Payton hit three-run homer during a four-run sixth inning as they posted their 26th win in 32 games, a 5-2 triumph over the Minnesota Twins. Since coming over from the Sox, Payton has provided a boost to Oakland's offense, going 26-for-95 (.274) with seven home runs and 20 RBI in 23 games.

The Angels, keeping pace with the A's, or at least trying to, blasted the Mariners, 9-1 and were led again by Bartolo Colon, who improved to 27-10 since the 2004 All-Star break.

The Yankees survived a rare failure by closer Mariano Rivera and eventually defeated the Texas Rangers behind Bernie Williams' dramatic homerun.

*****

The NL's Wildcard chase continued to progress with the Phillies knocking out Padres closer Trevor Hoffman with the game tied in the 9th to go on to a 5-2 victory and move within 1 1/2 games of the Houston Astros for the wildcard lead after the Astros were outdueled again with Clemens on the mound, losing 1-0 to the Pirates.

The Padres fell back to .500 in the NL West no one seems to want to win, still three games ahead of the Diamondbacks.

The Nats, Marlins and Mets all won their games, all moving a game closer to the Astros.

*****



Lightning strikes during the Giants-Browns exhibition last night.

Battle of the Sox



Papi's stick, hitting just .209 since the All Star break woke up with a bang last night, 2 homers, 6 RBIs in the Sox on Sox series which might be the ALCS preview which may then of course be the Sox and Sox on Fox series, or some bit of similar rubbish.

The RED sox won the first game against the WHITE sox ace, Mark Buehrle, by a 9-8 margin. It does not bode well when your ace, Buehrle, has allowed the Red Sox 22 hits and nine earned runs over 13-plus innings this year. Still, it was the WHITE sox game to lose. They squandered a four-run lead.

But we'll go easy on the White Sox for a day. After all, they just finished taking two of three from the Yankees in the Bronx and frankly, having to meet the Red Sox in Fenway the next night is a bit much for any team to bite off.

Jon Garland, RHP (16-5, 3.29) faces Tim Wakefield, RHP (11-9, 4.13) on Saturday. Wakefield is out to extend his personal winning streak to four games. He has won his last three starts, going at least seven innings in each contest. His last loss was to the White Sox on July 22, when he allowed seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

On Sunday, El Duque, RHP (8-5, 4.67) goes against Matt Clement, RHP (11-3, 4.53). The Red Sox have won Clement's last four starts.

And just to make matters even more interesting, after they finally get home from Boston the White Sox will then face their biggest rivals, the Twins, at home. Brutal schedule makers, brutal.

*****

The Twins may be a little too far back from the pack (7 games) to consider a serious challenge for the AL Wildcard but that doesn't mean they won't have an effect on the outcome. Last night, ace Johan Santana hosed down and cooled off the A's:



*****

For the moment anyway, it appears the Red and White Sox have sealed post season spots with the White Sox likely holding home court all postseason so long as they stay alive. The A's and Angels are still battling it out over the AL West and the loser, if the postseason started today, would be the wild card as well. Something still telling me the Yankees will not miss out on the final spot though, even if they are still tied with the Miraculous Indians of Cleveland.

If my feet were held over hot coals and I had to predict, I'd say the FIRST ROUND OF THE AL PLAYOFFS WILL START LIKE THIS:

Yankees at Chicago White Sox
Angels at Boston Red Sox

*****

Baseball is still reverberating with the aftershocks of The Crash Heard 'Round The World:



Cameron, 32, who sustained fractures of both cheekbones in Thursday's collision with Beltran, could be lost for the season. He was being transferred from San Diego's Mercy Hospital to Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif., on Friday and was scheduled to undergo surgery Friday night. He also has been diagnosed with a broken nose and a slight concussion, though a CT scan did not show extensive damage to his brain.

Beltran, 28, was released from Scripps Clinic on Friday after being held overnight. A CT scan indicated that he had suffered a minimally displaced facial fracture that the Mets said "most likely will not require surgery."

*****

That triple loss (the two outfielders and the game) pretty much sealed it for the Mets season.

The National League Playoffs will probably look thusly:

San Diego @ St Louis Cardinals
Houston @ Atlanta Braves

With any luck, there'll be a rematch of last season's NLCS and the Astros with Petitte and Clemens accomplishing what they'd hoped but what nobody expected (a World Series appearance together for the Astros).

*****

Shhhhh

Donovan McNabb told Terrell Owens to "keep my name out of your mouth."

It's been quite a training camp saga with Owends whingeing and demanding a new contract, the Eagles giving him a week off in the futile hope he would shut up or at least tone down.

Owens again blasted McNabb on two separate interviews with ESPN on Thursday, calling the quarterback a "hypocrite" and saying the two of them could not be successful together. Owens also said he had no desire to speak with McNabb.

Philly is in for a long season at this rate. The superstar receiver and the team leader hating each other before the opening kickoff. Owens, of course, is untradeable, unbelievable as it is an even BIGGER headache than Randy Moss.

Who has the Bigger Mouth:



Owens or



Randy Moss

*****

The NFL is back in more than Philly.

Another offseason has apparently changed nothing for the two-time defending World Champ Patriots. Rookie quarterback Matt Cassel led four scoring drives as the defending champion New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-13 Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

Cassel never started a college game while backing up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern California and now he is battling 42-year-old Doug Flutie for New England's No. 3 quarterback spot behind Tom Brady and Rohan Davey.

The Jets defeated the Lions 10-3 without Chad Pennington.

There were other preseason matches but frankly, it's hard to work up some saliva for it. It's still too early for the games to mean anything in and frankly, the preseason football is getting squeezed out by Sports Amnesia's new Cricket coverage.

Well, not cricket in general, it's The Ashes.



And England are beating Australia who are on 210 for seven whilst England still hold a massive upper hand and prepare to enforce a follow-on. If you're like Sports Amnesia and still learning the nuances of cricket and wonder what the fuck a follow-on is, well, look no further. The follow-on minimum lead requirement in first-class cricket is:

5 or more days - 200 runs
3 or 4 days - 150 runs
2 days - 100 runs
1 day - 75 runs

So if England capture the final three Australian wickets for less than 35 runs, well, kiddies, we've got a follow-on. Not bloody likely though.

The Basics of Cricket for those of us who need all the help we can get.

And just for kicks, a Michaelangelo-like design on the proper release for spinners:



*****

And going back to the preseason football, how much time is left over for it when the FA Premiership kicks off today.

A big kickoff.

Not that Newcastle have a prayer tomorrow against Arsenal.

Chelsea are the reigning favourites and so long as it isn't Man U or Arsenal, I'll be happy. My darkhorse candidate for capturing a Top Four spot are the Spurs. Dutch manager, Dutch midfielder, top English striker, top English keeper. Shouldn't go wrong.

They open against Portsmouth today. Shouldn't be a difficult proposition.

Sports Amnesia Predictions:

1. Chelsea
2. Arsenal
3. Manchester United
4. Tottenham

*****

Letterman

CBS funnyman David Letterman watched that plummeting fan land on the backstop screen at Yankee Stadium and offered his Top Ten Things Going Through This Guy's Mind At This Moment. They included:

-- “Thought the third base coach was giving me the 'jump' sign.”

-- “Will I get to watch the end of the game in my jail cell?”

-- “Figured I'd beat the traffic.”

-- “If I had a girlfriend, she'd be impressed.”

-- “I'm sure Steinbrenner won't mind.”

-- “If Marv Albert uses this, I hope he adds a comical ‘bong!’”

-- “Giambi said that stuff he gave me would make me fly.”

-- “I wonder if the newspaper will refer to me as a ‘moron’ or an ‘idiot’?”

-- “If a drunken stooge can't disgrace himself at sporting events, then the terrorists have won.”

Reason Number Ten Trillion I'm Glad I'm Not In America

Politically Correct Rubbish



Starting in February, any school with a nickname or logo considered racially or ethnically "hostile" or "abusive" by the NCAA would be prohibited from using them in postseason events. Mascots will not be allowed to perform at tournament games, and band members and cheerleaders will also be barred from using American Indians on their uniforms beginning in 2008.

Affected schools were quick to complain, and Florida State -- home of the Seminoles -- threatened legal action.

"That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole people as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting," Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said in a statement.

"I intend to pursue all legal avenues to ensure that this unacceptable decision is overturned, and that this university will forever be associated with the 'unconquered' spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida," he added.

It's amazing that the NCAA has no problem exploiting thousands of minority students who play sports for free whilst universities go on raking in billions in revenues from those sports yet take this absurdist stand on nicknames.

Perhaps next they can work on equally rewarding task of rewriting all the textbooks to remove all the offensive theories like Darwinism in favour of Creationism.

Palmeiro's Ban Too Short

LiarLiar
"Rafael Palmeiro is a friend. He testified in public and I believe him," George Bush said Monday. "He's the kind of person that's going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn't use steroids, and I believe him. Still do."

Coming from the nutter who told the world about weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist in Iraq to justify a trillion dollar excursion into chaos and anarchy in the cradle of civilisation, it isn't surprising that America's president fails to see the irony of Palmeiro wagging his finger at Congress insisting he never did steroids and then getting busted for doing just that.

What the revelation that Palmeiro uses steroids creates is credibility for Jose Canseco, who must be as happy as a pig in shit to be so vindicated.

It also almost confirms without a doubt, the suspicions about Bonds and really tosses the credibility of any homerun records set in the last 10 years in the bin.

A 10 day suspension for violating the sport's watered down steroid policy isn't enough for Palmeiro, he should be banned for a season. Not for getting caught for doing steroids but for being cheeky enough to lie about it and almost come off as being insulted that the suggestion ever arose in the first place.

500 homers and 3000 hits indeed.

Forget the astericks - just get a big, fat eraser.


Yesterday's hero for England, Mr Flintoff. Second Test, Edgbaston (day three, stumps)England 407 & 182 v Australia 308 & 175-8

It's taken almost two years but Sports Amnesia is finally beginning to add cricket to the series of sports to distract daily living. It isn't enough the baseball, the American football, the English football and the rugby. Cricket, believe it or not, once the rules are digested, is an exciting match to watch.

Baseball


you too can go pear-shaped once you go on the Joe Torre Flab and Paunch Diet

It's hard to imagine how quickly the Oakland A's have gone from a season they thought they'd all have to forget to fighting for the AL West title or leading the AL Wildcard chase.

After yesterday's victory over the hapless KC Royals, the A's are now 5-1 in August and 18-4 since the All Star break.

And they've finally caught the Angels for first place in the AL West.

Leading the charge over the last 30 days have been rookie Dan Johnson's 7 homers, 16 RBis and .386 batting average not to mention Jay Payton, after being traded by the Red Sox, hitting .306 with 5 homers and 16 RBIs, Eric Chavez's 22 RBIs and Nick Swisher's 21.

But the pitching: Barry Zito is 6-0 with a 2.51 ERA over his last 6 starts. Rick Harden is 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his last 5 starts. Rookie Huston Street has saved 9 of 10 opportunities in his last 13 games with 2 wins no losses and a 1.10 ERA.

Beane is Back. After being ridiculed for the A's slow start following the trades of two of his biggest starters, it is looking like he has them far ahead of schedule.

*****

Only five games separate the seven teams in the NL competing for the wildcard in what promises to be a battle to the end. As it stands now, Sports Amnesia is predicting a three way race in the end between the Astros, Cubs and Mets.

*****

The Angels, A's, Yankees, Twins and Indians are all close knit for the AL wildcard which will likely come out of the AL West. Sports Amnesia are picking the Minnesota Twins to win it in the end.

Football

Hard to go wrong with Marino and Young getting elected to the NFL Hall of Fame but I was trying to figure out who were the Top Five best quarterbacks, outside of the obvious in Joe Montana, seen by the members of Sports Amnesia:

1. John Elway
2. Steve Young
3. Dan Marino
4. Warren Moon
5. Ken Stabler

Very early NFL predictions:

SuperBowl - Minnesota Vikings v. Baltimore Ravens