Interleague play.

Just the mere mention of the words is enough to make a baseball purist feel a little vomit in his throat. It is an ugly, dirty word that represents the evil of Bud Selig. And as interleague play began it's 10th season today, let's take a look at some of the sizzling matchups that are sure to keep sports fans buzzing into the weekend.

Toronto vs. Colorado

Ah, yes, the battle of--umm--I don't know? Most of the teams playing this weekend are "natural" rivals. MLB defines your natural rival as the team that plays in the same county, city or state. So I'm not sure what to make of tonight's game between Toronto and Colorado. Somebody drop me a line on why this game is happening this weekend.

Minnesota vs. Milwaukee

Now we're talking. Francisco Liriano is making his debut tonight in this matchup between the two teams from the upper Midwest. It should be a dandy. Remember that time you said "I can't wait to see the Brewers and Twins!"? Yeah, I don't remember saying it either, but it's going to happen.

Baltimore vs. Washington

Now THIS is a matchup for the ages. Two teams that play in close proximity to each other squaring off to decide who is a better fit for the region. While this might not mean much to me, or anyone else for that matter, you can bet your last dollar that Peter Angelos cares. This is his World Series, especially since the O's are still suffering from the Curse of Jeffrey Maier.

Kansas City vs. St. Louis

Now you're probably wondering why a Cardinal fan is listing his team as one of the weekend's worst matchups. For starters, it's Kansas City. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the Royals even though they snaked the '85 Series like thieves in the night, but nobody deserves this kind of punishment, except maybe the Yankees. For all intents and purposes, the Cardinals should blast the Royals 11-1 in every game, but Kansas City usually gets up for these games since they realize their palace is being raided by western Missouri Cardinal fans. These games usually get sloppy and are criminally bad.

Tampa Bay vs. Florida

Oh my, a series that has the potential to set record attendance numbers. This series should not even happen. I don't care if they are in-state "rivals." Even the 14 Marlin fans and nine Ray fans don't want to see this. If Kansas City is baseball purgatory, then Tampa and Miami are baseball hell.

Series' To Watch For Laughs

Here are the series' you should watch if you want a good laugh.

Chicago vs. Chicago

The downtrodded, beat up Cubbies travel to The Cell to take on the defending World champions. If you want to watch a massacre, you watch this one. As I write this, the Sox are winning 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth with Old Man Maddux showing that his great start was a fluke. The Cubs do have the potential to take one game, because Zambrano throws on Sunday.

New York vs. New York

Here's another laugher. New York's pitching combo of Randy Johnson and Aaron Small is so atrocious that the Mets should crush the Yankees so bad it hurts. Mike Mussina throws on Saturday, giving the Yanks a glimmer of a hope, but it should be a joy to see Pedro and Glavine keep this weakened Yankee lineup down.

Jerry Seinfeld once theorized that we no longer cheer for the athlete, but the name on the jersey. I don't like Seinfeld much, but has there ever been a more truthier (thanks, Colbert!) statement? Of course Seinfeld said this before it became hip to boo players mercilessly. Here are some examples of guys that really make Seinfeld's words shine.

Terrell Owens

Yeah, this was an easy pick.

There has never been a more revered, despised and eventually villanized athlete than Terrell Owens. He is arrogant, self-serving and worst of all, talented. Owens makes you want to slug him in the face for being such a showboat. He was adored by fans in San Francisco before and after he underwent a transformation from a quiet, game-changing receiver to a loud-mouth, scream-in-your-face, game-changing receiver. Then he wanted out of San Francisco and once he find out he was dealt to Baltimore, he threw a temper tantrum that only a two-year-old could match. He was moved to Philly, was injured in a late-season game against Dallas, rendering him out for the season, made a promise to show up in the Super Bowl, and in a game that should have solidified his status as a legend forever, Owens was a factor in the Eagles 24-21 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. About eight months later, Owens began the season-long journey that would get him kicked out of Philly. He badmouthed Donovan McNabb in what could only be described as the worst backstabbing since Hulk Hogan 10 years ago. Owens is now in Dallas where he once made an unkind reference to Michael Irvin on the star. He was cheered in San Francisco and Philly. They ate his act up and put away their moral objectivity because he was doing it for their team. If Owens successfully wrecks Dallas (he's already started), they'll soon regret ever cheering for him.

Barry Bonds

Oh yes, another easy pick. Take everything about Owens and multiply it by five, then you have Bonds. He is liked by no one--except Giants fans, who find him to be the greatest thing since two pieces of sliced bread. Everyone else hates him, and he hates everyone else. It is a mutual feeling, and perhaps one of the most interesting relationships to ever exist between a star athlete and a player. Bonds wants you to hate him. He derives inspiration in the whole world (except for San Francisco) being against him. But what if Bonds moved to the American League as a designated hitter? Would Giant fans still stand in awe of his home runs? We can't answer that, because it's never happened, but it's my best guess that they would feel slighted and betrayed. One thing is for sure, he would become an icon in whatever city he lands up in.

Mark McGwire

Fans swear that if McGwire came into their home, he would be booed with the same verocity that Barry Bonds receives. They are probably right. But in St. Louis, McGwire is still king. Despite a horribly embarrassing showing at Capitol Hill on Mar. 17, 2005, McGwire was still loudly cheered when he showed up at one of the final Busch Stadium II games last season to continue the countdown. It was quite the sight to see. Bulbs were flashing just like that night Mac tarnished the record books. Cardinal fans didn't seem to mind much about his appearance. McGwire played for their team, and by gawd he was still a hero.

Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield

Two of the BALCO Boys wound up playing for the New York Yankees. What was the reaction after Giambi sort-of admitted to using steroids? A standing ovation of course. As long as Giambi could still club 35 home runs, his involvement with BALCO meant squat to Yankee fans, just like it meant squat to Giant fans. Sheffield wasn't under the giant microscope that Giambi was, because Sheff still produced. Giambi stopped producing to the point that he was nearly demoted to Triple A. Fans began to get frustrated with Giambi. They stood by his side and rooted him on after he came out about using 'roids, so where was the production? It eventually came, and Giambi fell back into the good graces of Yankee fans.

The Smaller Scale

These are instances that I have witnessed on a smaller scale. Take June 2005 for example. Edgar Renteria, now the Boston shortstop was visiting the Cardinals for a three-game series at Busch. Many people think the reaction was split, but it was heavily in favor of the jeers. Renteria was cast as a turncoat that abandoned St. Louis for a paltry million, and after he took Ray King deep in the eighth inning of the third game, Renteria received his loudest boos. Of course Renteria wound up being his own undoing after an awful season, but for three nights the Cardinal fans got their revenge.

Also in 2005, Derrek Lee and Albert Pujols put on an outstanding display of class and sportsmanship between two first baseman playing for rival clubs. Lee is one of the finest fielding first baseman in baseball, and he became the top hitter last season. Pujols is one of the top hitters in baseball, and the admiration each player had for the other was great to see.

Fans didn't see it that way though. When Lee stepped into Busch, was booed. When Pujols stepped into Wrigley, he was booed. I had a Cub fan tell me after a Cardinals-Cubs game in St. Louis that Cardinal fans were "classless" for booing Lee. Of course he had nothing to say about Cub fans booing Pujols. It all goes back to the theory of the jersey.

My dad once told me that the only time he bought a hat that wasn't a Cardinals hat, was in 1983 when the Cards shipped Keith Hernandez to New York. Ask yourself this, if you are a Giants fan, will you be buying the hat of the next team he plays for? How many Red Sox fans bought a Johnny Damon Yankees jersey? I'm going to venture not many.

Take a bow, Mr. Seinfeld. You are wise beyond your years.

Feel free to add any additions to the list. MVPujols appreciates you reading his blog.

I admit it, I enjoy taking a look at losers.

I'm not above making a blog entry poking fun at Stephon Marbury, J.D. Drew, Barry Bonds or Isaiah Thomas. Those guys are perennial losers in the world of sports and they don't do anything to endear themselves to the public.

But for this entry, I decided to go above and beyond making fun of Starbury, B*ndsy and the porcelain J.D. Drew. Right now, it's just too easy, too predictable and that isn't my style.

     LOSER                         LOSER                        LOSER                       BIG LOSER   

For this one, I picked a guy who has made a career out of being one giant dunderhead of a human being. He juiced up and cheated his way through baseball and thankfully, he's vanished out of the public eye. In fact, you probably haven't heard his name in over a year and you probably thought you never would.

That's what we get for thinking.

Jose Canseco, or better known as, The Rat, The Cheater or any variation that you find
suitable, is back to mashing home runs. The man that claims he was "blackballed" from the sport is making a mockery of it on the junior college diamond, playing the L.A. Men's Senior Baseball League. According to the story, he takes two pitches and crushes the third for a home run. Nice job, Jose. Maybe your team will win the whole darn thing and you will find a suitable replacement for the World Series ring you sold.

Are we supposed to be impressed by this? No, of course not. We are supposed to laugh, and laugh I did. I'm still giggling about The Rat coming 38 home runs short of 500. I'm still laughing about a ball bouncing off of his head and over the wall. But nothing makes me laugh harder than seeing The Rat have to find refuge in the Senior Baseball League to get his 500. Now all we need is for B*ndsy to defect to the Oak Lawn Park Softball League to get 714 and justice will be served.

I like the quote from his coach, Gary Zelman "It's like cheating." Good catch, coach. That's something Jose does very well.

The Rat may have done some good by bringing the steroid issue to
the forefront, but the way he did it; out of spite and for money,
means that his tenure in the new league is a proper uppance.
And what magnficent fall from grace. This is stuff you can only
hope to see on "True Hollywood Stories" or "Behind the Music."
 Luckily VH1 was smartest to give us something to laugh at
hysterically for 12 weeks

I hope the next time we read a story about Canseco, it'll be about how he's being blackballed from the Senior Baseball League, or that his action flick with Oliver Stone fails to outdo "Glitter" at the box office, or that his dog bit him in the same spot he injected the juice.

And don't worry, I'll still be laughing.

It's been a loong day.

I knocked down two finals, turned in one that had three pages of calculations, covered a baseball game, a girls soccer game, watched bits of the Pistons-Cavaliers and in the process I've consumed two cans of Pepsi and 44 oz. of Dr. Pepper.

I'm wired.

So what better way to fight off this caffeine rush than to hammer out an entry. "But what?" I ask myself. The only hot topics are the playoffs, Barry Bonds and Barry Bonds. I've already made my obligatory rant against the four-letter network. What else is there?

I scoured the internet and found this.

You remember Nomar right? Studly shortstop that came up with Boston, was considered one of the top three shortstops in the game? I'm not a Red Sox fan, but I was/am a Nomar fan. His quirky mannerisms and nice guy persona connected with me.

Then, they traded him to the Cubs in July of 2004, and all of a sudden, I was not a Nomar fan anymore. His mannerisms were now annoying, his new name was Nosemar and that "Thanks, beautiful"? Barf...

Last year at Busch II, Nosemar tore something. It was routine--par for the course. I wasn't shocked, only saddened. How could a guy with Hall-of-Fame potential be more cursed than the sad and pathetic franchise that employs him? Even though he was a Cub, I felt bad for him. For a moment I stopped hating the guy and prayed that he would leave Chicago so that I could go back to rooting for him.

Well, he left Chicago after 2005 when they declined to re-sign him and after Los Angeles inked him to a mysterious deal where he would play first base, I willfully jumped back on the Nomar Bandwagon. Destination: LA.

The journey got off to a slow start. He was injured in Spring Training to no one's shock, not even my own. I didn't think it was possible for one person to be this unlucky, but Nomar was. He managed to make it back, and did it in a huge way.

That was just Nomar's second game back. The man is on a tear. He's batting .354 with a .416 on base percentage and he's slugging .684. Tonight was the 10th straight game he has hit in. He's playing at his '99-00 levels where he posted an OPS over 1.000. I don't expect Nomar to make it back to that level of 2000. He's 32 now and as he gets older, his health becomes a bigger question mark. When's the next rolled ankle, or ruptured spleen going to happen? Sooner than we think I'm sure.

It's awful to see one of the game's most talented players unable to achieve his highest potential because of injuries. He is a forgotten hero. How many people remember Nomar anymore? Admit it, when you hear or read Nomar's name, you immediately think that he's probably disabled. Unlike Just Disabled Drew, his Dodger teammate, Nomar cares, but Nomar has been sacked because of a fragile body, not because of a fragile heart. Garciaparra was a hero to me in my early teen years when I had no one to root for besides the Red Sox, and I hope and pray that he can go the distance.

But I'm not holding my breath.

I came home from school today, slathered some peanut butter and jelly on wheat, grabbed some Cheetos and a Pepsi and plopped down in front of my television ready to see what daytime TV would offer a lad looking to kill time.

My natural instinct is to flip it to the four-letter network. (Yes, THAT one.) It was, to my dismay, "NFL Live."

With a mouth full of sandwich, I checked my phone (Who uses calendars anyway?). Just as I suspected, it said May 15. My brain began to wonder. Was the NFL season starting early this season? Was the preseason a month around the corner? I thought the camps were in June or July, one of those hot months. A quick search online proved that everything was still the same. The season still starts in September, the preseason is in August, and the camps are being held during the summer.

"The rookie minicamps!" I exclaimed. That must be why I'm being subjected to the NFL in the middle of May. Another search online showed that those were over. I racked my brain trying to think of a logical solution, but nothing came to me. That's when it hit me out of nowhere:

There is no logical solution.

We all love the NFL. It provides great theater each and every week. The parity is out-of-this-world good, and you never know who could be the next '99 Rams. (Still miss ya!)

But it's time to cut back. I don't know if the NFL and "NFL Live" are working partners, and frankly, I don't care. But what I do care about is seeing this great sport become oversaturated. My interest has already begun waning. I'm paying less and less attention every year because it's being rammed down our throats during the offseason. I don't need 20 pre-draft analysis' every day for three weeks. I don't need 10 post-draft analysis' and I certainly don't need to be updated on the period between rookie camp and minicamp.

Ask yourself this, did you wake up this morning needing to know what Mark Schlereth or anybody else thinks about Reggie Bush getting the No. 5? And more importantly, is that debate even necessary when we're in the middle of the NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs and the early goings of the MLB season? The NFL gets more face time than any other sport during the regular season, why not shine a spotlight on the crazy foreigners taking slapshots to the head every night? Or how about cutting back on Part 45 of T.O. vs. Bill Parcells and give us a complete breakdown of the NBA Playoffs without guys that scream at the top of their lungs? Perhaps we could have a real baseball show that talks about players not named Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez or Randy Johnson.

All I ask is that I be able to wake up at the crack of noon, turn on the television and watch sports that are currently relevant. Tom Brady's chin dimple, T.O.'s whine and Reggie donning No. 5 can wait.