King,

You missed the biggest trade yesterday. Kevin Garnett for half the Celtics team!

I don't blame you for not mentioning that, though. I doubt anyone outside of diehard Celtics fans know who half those guys are that the Timberwolves got in return.

That trade is likely to be more important than any of the trades that were made in baseball in the last week. The Celtics should make it far in the playoffs the next couple of years at least. Unless Ainge really ate McHale's lunch (which I wouldn't bet against consider recent history), the 'wolves should be back in the playoffs in a couple of years.

It would be an interesting case to run against your theory though King, since it is a trade of a superstar for a bunch role players.

While I think jrb_22 got at junior413's point, I think an even better example would have been if we had eight fingers. (9 fingers doesn't seem too likely unless we had three hands. And if we had three hands, baseball would probably be a very different game.) 512 (base 10) homeruns would become an astounding 1000 (base 8). People would really go crazy for a number like that.

crumley You missed the biggest trade yesterday. Kevin Garnett for half the Celtics team!

king Mentioned it Monday, and I'll talk about it some more at some point, but you can't make me really care about the NBA in August. It's hard enough from October to March.

Was the rumor out already on Monday? Somehow I missed it in your column and elsewhere till Tuesday.

Anyway, I hear you on the NBA in August, I have the same problem. Of course, most years I have the same problem with baseball in August.

I am sure you were jonesing to do a pure baseball column after the long layoff.

I agree that talk of SNL's death is a joke. My only addition is that people have been talking about the show's death on and off for at least 30 years - since Chevy Chase left in 1976. Then again when Belushi and Ackroyd left in 1979, etc, etc.

LexMike,

I am not sure how much you know about Tommy Thompson, but it is not at all surprising to me that he dropped out at this point. Though he has an decent resume, he is really something of an empty shell. He is a bit like GWB in that regard. he never should have been Secretary of Health and Human Services. Ag would have been fine. Interior would have probably worked, but he was a mess at HHS.

I lived through much of his rein in Wisconsin and I am glad he has stopped going around the country embarrassing himself and the state. While it is a bit sad to lose one of the more moderate GOP candidates, it is still good that he is done. The fact that he is a moderate in this bunch is the frightening part.

Your link for number 20 points to the wrong Thompson. It might amuse Hunter to be confused with Fred or Tommy.

I agree completely. Being able to block things out and watch a game with your kid is crucial.

Some people have a harder time doing it, though. They have to try harder to convince themselves that what they are watching is noble and pure. They are the sort who will go to a minor league game or a division III football game or a high school basketball game and rave to you about what you are missing. About the nobility of the pure players playing the game the way that it should be played.

They are right, of course, that those are good games. Then if they really follow a team and pay attention they will start to see things three dimensionally. They will notice places where the pure players on their team take cheapshot. Or they will find out that the coach is a divorced jerk. Or the star player doesn't go to class.

Real people are involved in sports. They are flawed, but it doesn't have to always be about that.

Sometimes you are just there to watch a game with your kid.

I agree that the stories about worrying about how players will react to the weather are boring, but they do go both ways. A little playing around on google will find you plenty of stories about players who aren't used to the heat. (Here are a couple: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7130798 and http://www.atlantafalcons.com/News/Articles/2005/07/Coast_to_Coast_Jordan_Becks_Rookie_Training_Camp_Diary.aspx).

Of course this is really less of an issue in the NFL in these days of sideline air conditioning and heating units.

This story type is worn thin. The players are professionals. They will practice a bit in the weather, take appropriate steps, and deal with it.

I am sick of hearing about how adapted Brett Favre is to the cold despite being from Mississippi, just like I was sick of hearing about how Pennsylvania boy Marino was good in the heat of Miami.

It is nice to see that PRISM has fixed the copyright problems on their homepage. There original homepage had a bunch of unpaid and uncredited images from Getty images on it (watermarks and all). http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/27/2228203

Nice mistake for a trade group focusing on copyrights.

Now the watermarks are gone and they have credited the images. Way to go guys!