Wait a minute...the raw materials came from China? Has anyone checked to see if they contain lead paint or antifreeze?

Faulty assumptions by the overwhelming majority of fans and media in any sport, is that a division with everyone around or below .500 stinks.........There's no thought at all. Just show me the records. It's so Americano.

I wish we'd see more articles about curling. Now that's an exciting sport! Oh, and the wildebeest races or whatever, that sounds good too. And I can't believe that he hasn't covered tiddleywinks yet. Good times! But... nothing about golf? The drama of Tiger? The antics of Wie? Nothing?

A few years ago I was a passionate Orioles fan. But bad moves by ownership, strikes, the stupid, XFL-esque decision to introduce "wild-cards," the bloated personalities (mentally, financially and with steroids) all conspired to lose me.

And it's not my loss. I can follow European soccer, which just kicked off. The MLS season is a good one and it's heading into the playoffs with DC United kicking but. The Womens World Cup is going on now, and it's a good one; the US and Brazil are playing in the semis on Thursday. And the Packers, bless their hearts, are 3-0 and Brett Favre is setting all the all-time NFL records for quarterback. Baseball?

Faulty assumptions by the overwhelming majority of fans and media in any sport, is that a division with everyone around or below .500 stinks

I'm sure there's a case to be made that a given division in a given year has a number of good teams that beat each other up, leaving everyone with a mediocre record. But I don't think that applies to the NL Central this year -- they really do stink. Every single team in the division has a losing record vs the NL East. Every single team has a losing record vs the NL West. In fact, the Florida Marlins are the only NL (non-Central) team with a losing record vs the NL Central.

You could theoretically have one of the BCS conferences in football have everyone finish 4-7, 5-6, 6-5, or 7-4....All 3-5, 4-4, or 5-3 in conference. That conference would be the relentless butt of jokes with no one ranked or eligible in any serious discussion.

The balance would be acknowledged but only in the sense that it must be a balance of shit. It couldn't possibly mean it is the best conference, though it may be. It could be best from top to bottom.

Well, last year the Cardinals were 83-78. But under .500 against the Central, including losing 10 of 14 versus the Central in the last 3 weeks, having an 8 game lead go to 1. Then they won it all. What did that mean about the Central?

So, I guess my demand for an NHL preview column is pretty much a waste of time, huh?

Just out of curiosity, do you have a position on what should be done about PED use among athletes? In general I am in favor of legalizing most drugs, but in the case of athletes, I don't think that would be the best route. Too many athletes would be essentially forced to damage their health in order to stay in the league if PEDs were legal. So why I think the effort is mostly a waste of time, I think the only alternative I can think of would be worse in this specific case.

I don't consider it terribly compelling to dissect the antics of mediocre teams as they stumble their way to a decision

But I will predict the outcome of every single NFL matchup all year long. September to January, every game. All teams. Be they piss poor, bad, mediocre, decent, or even good.

I think the 2006 Cardinals are the poster boys for that Bobby Cox quote "The playoffs are a crapshoot". Beyond that, I don't think the Cardinals late slide meant much of anything, other than that they slumped late but got hot at the right time. Teams go through ups and downs all the time. I also don't think it meant much about the other teams in the division.

That we are stretching the minds of the American sportsfan and media to the breaking point here.

That thought process is as follows--A team with a good record and a big name or tradition must be a VERY good team. Anything else is questionable or stinks.

One iota beyond that is the breaking point.

Best record in the N.L. since June 2nd. And they're hitting homers now.

And Pro football would be a lot more interesting if broadcasters weren't fellating quarterbacks for their ability to call audibles in a league where they have radios in their helmets and live video of the other team's sidelines.

Pro football is being run by EA Sports.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing to write about. You could write about the uncompellingness, or you could write about MVP candidates, or you could write about Milton Bradley, or just about anything.

When I made that comment last week about you being so bitter about the wild card that you can't enjoy a good race, I was only responding to your comment in the letters thread that suggested there's nothing exciting going on in baseball right now. I wasn't complaining that you haven't been writing about baseball in the column. In fact, you can count me with those who think that you should write about whatever interests you, and when people complain that you should be writing about some other sport, ignore them.

I just wanted to point out that although the wildcard may be a net loss for the excitement of September playoff races, it still provides for some good fun. Right now, for instance: Athough the wildcard has taken all the steam out of AL East race, what's been going on in the NL the past couple of weeks has been pretty exciting, and in fact the wildcard has made it even more exciting because without it there wouldn't be much to watch for in this last week of the season unless one of the division leaders takes a nosedive. But with it, that race between the Phillies, Padres and Rockies for the wildcard is going to a thriller. You may not be excited by this, and that's cool, but that's not baseball's problem.