Some random thoughts across the sports land:

BASEBALL

As promised (for all 3 of you who read this regularly), I shall speak (briefly) in regard to our trip to Milwaukee to take in the Twins interleague matchup with the Brew Crew a few weeks back.

First of all, I love Miller Park. What a nice place to see a baseball game. Mind you, I have not been to the more hallowed grounds in MLB - pilgrimages to Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee Stadium, are on my short list of things I want to do before I die. I have been to exactly 3 stadiums for major league ballgames; two of which were outdated domes (Toronto and Minneapolis) and now Miller Park. Needless to say, Miller Park wins the beauty contest hands down, like if you were comparing Sam Cassell with, say, Jennifer Connelly.

Is there a bad seat in that place? Please, Milwaukee fans, help me out. I looked around and I couldn't see a seat where I would say, "Man, I really wouldn't want to be sitting there." It was great to see birds flying around above the stadium, see the SUN through the OPEN ROOF, see the outside world beyond the fence. Well. The view in there is nice. Spectacular? No, but very nice, and a welcome change from all the cement and Teflon nonsense in the Metrodome. It was so nice to be outside breathing fresh air while watching a baseball game, it softened the blow of watching the only loss the Twins had in that series.

However, the duo of douchebags sitting in the row in front of us could have ruined the day, were they not so bizarrely innocently stupid. These two doofuses were part of a much larger party, clearly a rare family outing of some sort, judging from the way they spoiled their children rotten. One kid, I swear, was two-fisting an ice cream cone and a lemonade slushee when he was asked if there were ANYTHING ELSE HE WANTED.

Perhaps some towels and a tranquilizer? Thanks.

 In particular, one douchebag seemed to have a rather high opinion of himself, as evidenced by his need to wear a button-up shirt wide open with nothing underneath, exposing his less than impressive chest and..."abs".

This gentleman made various idiotic cracks throughout the game, but the two cherries on top were thus:

1.      1. As a handicapped relative accidentally lost control of her crutch, which went over the railing above us and landed on a chair close to him, he turns back and says, "Hey, careful there, we don't want to be crippled, too!"

2.       As I was gone to procure more beer for the Wife and I, he asks, to no one in particular, "What the fuck is a Mariner?" To which, my wife proceeds to explain that it is, essentially, a sailor. To which he replies, "Then why doesn't their symbol have anything to do with the sea?"

Yes, because nobody uses a compass on the ocean.

I weep for the future.

We actually had a damn fine time in Milwaukee, and will make the pilgrimage again in the future, maybe even next year, schedule permitting. There was a fantastic bar in the downtown area I hope survives its first year of operation.  They had a pair of superb brews from the Lakefront Brewery exclusive to their joint. Really excellent stuff. If I happen to remember what the name of it was, I'll include it in a future post.

FREE JOE NATHAN!!!
Last night's loss to the Red Sox was rather frustrating. Just as I think perhaps the Twins will tie this series and make everyone forget the pain of losing a 1-0 game to open the series, the bullpen (Matt Guerrier) implodes. Again. Good thing we didn't use Joe Nathan, eh? He'll certainly be good and rested for the next save opportunity Gardy reserves him for that doesn't come....

Perhaps, much like the Free Jason Kubel campaign Twins fans got behind in the last couple of years, a new campaign should start to Free Joe Nathan...

BASKETBALL

Glad to see the Mario Chalmers trade went to good use. All that financial flexibility the Timberwolves got in return for trading their gift PG to the Miami Heat went to Philly in order to acquire Rodney Stuckey, Calvin Booth and a future first rounder. That first round pick isn't all that shiny once you realize that the pick actually comes from Utah and is believed to be top-15 protected in 2009.

So, to recap: the Wolves trade away the point guard who hit the game winning shot in the national championship game just a few months back to the Miami Heat for, basically, cash. This same point guard then proceeds to show a fair amount of savvy in owning Bulls #1 draft pick Derrick Rose in his debut in the summer league down in Orlando. 

They then take this financial flexibility and turn it into yet another swingman, yet another backup center, and a future first rounder that might be in the high twenties. Meanwhile, the Wolves have helped yet another Eastern Conference team become a contender. The 76ers now look poised to challenge Detroit, Cleveland and Boston for the top spots in the East.

And I guarantee you when the Wolves make that selection some mid-summer day in the near future, they will not get a point guard as good as Mario Chalmers.

I realize a lot of people actually like this deal, but I am not one of them, especially when I look back at the reasons for the trade in the first place.

Yes, this trade exception actually comes from the deal the Wolves made with the Heat last year to rid themselves of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. But The Wolves used this exception not to address their currently most glaring weakness (backup PG) and instead use it to acquire more of the same parts they already have a glut of.

This is likely a a move made to set up other moves to address this weakness, as Jerry Zgoda points out in the StarTribune. But I keep thinking, "You know what? All this extra movement would not have been necessary had they kept Chalmers in the first place." Plus, stockpiling draft picks would not be such a priority had the Wolves not given up a pick to acquire (the now departed) Marko Jaric from the Clippers a couple seasons ago. I get that the Wolves seem to be trying to address their past mistakes, but that doesn't mean we should excuse them. It really means we have to keep an even closer eye on the proceedings as these moves continue to be made, if only to gauge whether or not it might be worth following this team over the next couple of years as McHale continues the rebuilding process.

Oh, and what must it be like to be Baron Davis? Assuming he cares about wins and losses after agreeing to a deal that makes him worth as much as the GNP of several small countries, it can't be a good sign to Mr. Davis that just days after he agrees to said deal, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette are headed elsewhere. Might be a long, lonely but very rich few years in L.A....

FOOTBALL

When his career's finally over, be it 2008 or 2028, can we make the inevitable movie of the Brett Favre Story the next installment of the Friday the 13th series? Seriously. The guy just won't go away.

I bet Ted Thompson's not getting text messages just from Favre. I would bet Aaron Rodgers' agent's been blowing up Thompson's cell in the last 24 hours, as well. If he hasn't, it's time for Rodgers to get a new agent.

That's all for now. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a Twins WIN to talk about. Perhaps Joe Nathan will actually pitch? We shall see...

I realize I have not discussed the Twins much in this space lately. I also realize that in the time between my last post and this one, this team has caught serious fire (Winning 18 of 21 games) and now sit within spitting distance of the lead in the division mere days away from the All-Star Break.

This is not to say I have not been paying attention. I have actually made it to a few games, even one quite memorable trip to Milwaukee to take in the Twins interleague border-battle with the Brew Crew (more on that in a moment). I have watched a good portion of their home stand, in fact. I spent one night in a skybox cheering on the Twins as they mounted a huge inning to beat the Diamondbacks at home, then spent a few nights in my recliner, watching portions of their sweep over the Padres (I never finished any of those games, since the late start forced the late innings to cruise past my bed time. Yes, I am getting old). And I took in most of the Detroit series and caught 2 of the 3 games this weekend vs. the Indians.

But I decided against posting about the team during all that time for a couple of reasons:

1. This was on the heels of a sweep the Twins suffered at the hands of the White Sox at the beginning of June; a sweep I felt would either rally the team or leave them despondent. When they lost the ensuing series against an already struggling Cleveland team, I'd feared the worst and started protecting myself against disappointment and meltdown.

2. It seemed like this team was getting fat off of weaker NL teams. I felt even more certain of this fact after the Twins dropped the first game of the series with Detroit by a score of 4-5 - it was like that first series at Detroit all over again. Twins take the lead, hand it over to their vaunted bullpen, Twins mismanage said bullpen and take the loss.

Yet, the Twins continued to confound my expectations of a let-down. Even as Justin Morneau's bat has cooled off slightly, they keep winning games. The bottom of the order has shown life, and Denard Span has managed to fill in nicely for the injured Michael Cuddyer, creating a ridiculously fast 9-1-2 lineup turnaround that seems to be giving opposing batters fits (just ask Cliff Lee*).

*I am going to rip off Joe Posanski a moment and do the asterisk thing here. All apologies to the best sports blogger in the world, but this is a parenthetical inside a parenthetical and I see no other way of dealing with it: Listen, Cliff. You weren't working a no-hitter when Gomez bunted. It's the first inning. He's told to bunt, that's what he does. You know what that looked like? That looked like someone hanging by a thread getting pissed because he can see the thread slowly starting to unravel. Given the fact that this sweep seemed to signal the end of your team's season, I guess I can understand. Go start the All-Star game now and go down in history as the worst pitcher ever to do so...and get over it.

The fact is, Twins fans, this is a good run and you'd better enjoy it while it lasts. This is like the best dream you've ever had, where you score the winning touchdown in the state championship game by outrunning everyone on the field in a Steve Young-like scamper then dunk the ball to end the NBA finals and run out of the stadium and hop into your Porsche to make your flight to Morocco where you spend a weekend with your favorite woman in a hotel where they fan you on a chaise lounge 24-7.

Or is that just me?

This season has been a dream within a dream. The team is doing well, while everyone else seems to be falling to the wayside. Unfortunately, all available statistics seem to point to this team waaay overachieving, particularly when you compare their overall batting average with their batting average with runners in scoring position. This has been extensively covered everywhere else. I will not reiterate the stats here.

What I will say, however, is that I am continuing my wait-and-see approach when it comes to my expectations for this team going forward. I said a while back that this is a .500 ballclub, and I still feel that's ultimately the case. This is not to say that this will be their final record for the year, however.

I still feel that this team got fat off of a weak interleague schedule. Moreover, it seems the Twins have gotten fat off the longest home stand of the season at the same time, a roll that allowed them to overcome that loss in the first game of the Detroit series, and one that allowed them to steamroll a pathetic Indians team and by all accounts permanently leave them in the proverbial rear view mirror. Whether the Twins do the same to the Boston Red Sox will remain to be seen - and this is my point. The Twins schedule now gets a little tougher, with a three game set at Fenway before 4 games in Detroit heading into the All-Star break. Boston is one of the top teams in the league right now, while Detroit had found a resurgence of their own before losing the series in the Metrodome against the Twins. Beating them on the road might prove to be a much more difficult task, especially if the Sox take some wind out of the Twins' sails.

This run may very well dictate what the Twins do as the trade deadline approaches. Those of us who are used to watching this team operate know that the chances of this team being a "buyer" come the deadline are pretty remote, but this team more than likely won't do poorly enough to be a "seller" at the deadline, either.

It's hard to know where the Twins would look to upgrade, in any case. The outfield is already at capacity (especially once Cuddyer returns from the DL) and the emergence of Alexi Casilla seems to have taken care of any uncertainty at second base. Brian Buscher is hitting pretty well at third and has thus far managed to hold off the glut of part-time players this team is hanging onto who are overmatched when asked to perform on a daily basis (Mike Lamb, Nick Punto, Brendan Harris).

Yes, the drumbeat continues. I would love to see someone really take the reins at that position, which I am not as yet convinced anyone has done quite yet. Buscher is a solid ballplayer, but not a long-term solution for a team with playoff aspirations, particularly when you consider that he's only starting to perform at the major league level at the age of 27, an age when most major leaguers should have a couple years of service under their belt. This is not a long-term solution.

I hate to admit this, but if Nick Punto continues to play at his current pace, he's a good guy to keep as a defensive sub or a very part time member of the lineup. Beyond that, anyone else should be up for grabs.

Now, if you try packaging Lamb or Buscher with prospects to get a third baseman from somewhere, maybe you can get someone in return who can cement that position and add some more pop to the lineup. Perhaps go the route the Brewers took in acquiring C.C. Sabathia - use prospects in return for a proven, high-impact player headed into his walk year. Roll the dice for once.

Who am I kidding? There's as much chance of this happening as there is of Lynne Spears winning a mother of the year award. More than likely, the team we have heading into the All-Star break is the team we'll have to finish out the year. Thus, we in Twins territory better hope "clutch" hitting continues to be contagious, and these guys don't wake up from the dream that has been the first half of the 2008 season.

Did you ever have that on again, off again relationship you just couldn't shake? I know I did. My high school sweetheart and I broke up and got back together something like 8 times over the course of almost 3 years before she finally said what might have been some of the most important words in both of our lives:

This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

Looking back I know I was being an ass, breaking up because I "needed space" and then crawling back when I got lonely. Every once in a while, she would need her space too and we'd take a break and then she'd call and talk to me "just to catch up" and in a few days we were back together and everything would be fine again. For a few months, anyway.

I think it was the beginning of the end of my own innocence when she decided she'd had enough and needed to move on for good. I remember talking to her that night and hearing the determination in her voice, and it made everything crystal clear. I never called again. I knew she was taking control of her life and growing up without me, and that I needed to do the same.

It's time Green Bay makes that call. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

This is hard for Packer fans to accept, for Brett Favre is the only quarterback many of them know, and those who have known other Packer QB's are probably not old enough to recall with true clarity the greatness of the Lombardi era with Bart Starr under center. In fact, Brett Favre is probably the only QB most of the personnel in the front office have known. Like that first boyfriend or girlfriend, your first franchise QB is a hard thing to let go.

But Brett Favre needs to go away, and the Packers need to make sure he does. I am glad he's responded to the reports of his return and said there's nothing to it. But you know what he really needs to do? Sign and turn in his retirement papers and make it official. To the best of my knowledge and my Google skills, I don't believe he's done that yet, and this is damn near 6 months since he had that teary press conference where he told the world he was finished. Green Bay ought to demand that he make it official.

The fact is this yearly drama - will he or won't he - is getting more tired than Pam Anderson's numerous marriages. I liked Brett Favre as a player. His love for the game, his "gunslinger" style, his willingness to play through injuries and show up every day to do his job through all kinds of adversity is something to be admired in all walks of life. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you act when you're a professional ANYTHING.

On the other hand, his willingness to get into other people's business and hold the franchise hostage year in and year out as he mulls whether or not to continue being the consummate professional tarnishes that very image. And with each year this saga continues, the more dents you find on that trophy.

Professional sports are an all or nothing proposition. You have to take the whole thing, lock, stock and barrel, in order to be a part of it. To start allowing players to take training camps off or not actually travel with the team when they're not in use undermines the very thing that should make sports inspiring - the concept of team.

I am an actor. Now, I only do live theatre, so I can only speak from that experience. Say I were to be cast in a show, play that role for a while, decide I am done playing it then leave long enough for them to find a replacement for me, that would be it for me and that show. The show has moved on. They sure as hell wouldn't bring me back.

Brett finally decided to let the show move on, and that's exactly what the Packers did. Aaron Rodgers has spent an entire offseason being the man. The team has spent an entire offseason with Rodgers as the man. The coaching staff has put in the time and effort to change their game plan to live life without Brett Favre and you know what? They'll be fine. The Green Bay Packers were a great franchise before Favre took his first snap and it will be long after he's gone.

In particular, Aaron Rodgers doesn't deserve this. Recent comments aside, Rodgers has done nothing but conduct himself appropriately while waiting in the wings. It's not his fault the Packers drafted him, and it's certainly not his fault he's in the middle of this whole mess. Think about this - if this continues, Rodgers could be a first round (albeit late) QB selection who spends the bulk of his prime as a backup through no fault of his own whatsoever. If you think for a minute that Rodgers would be the starter if he "won the competition" between himself and Favre, you're out of your mind. So long as Favre is lacing them up, the Packers coaching staff is starting him. No way do they take the kind of PR hit that would come along with benching the football icon that is Brett Favre.

Look at his stats from two seasons ago, when Favre logged a 1-1 touchdown to interception ratio, or the season before that when Favre threw nine more touchdowns than interceptions. Favre still played and started all 16 games in both seasons. Yes, in the same article, I can venerate Favre for being the consummate pro, ready to play every day. But I can also point out that it's pretty damn easy to do so when nobody's trying to tell you no.

It's time for that. Green Bay needs to tell Brett no. They need to make a statement of their own and say, once and for all, that they have moved on and are ready to start a new era at Lambeau Field. If he decides he wants to return and the Pack brings him back, Rodgers should demand a trade next offseason. It's time Rodgers gets a chance to prove himself as a player, and I am sure there are several teams that would be willing to give him this chance.

If Green Bay allows this to happen, it damns the franchise to mediocrity for years to come as they draft and groom yet another heir to the throne of Brett Favre while throwing away the time they spent annointing Aaron Rodgers as that heir in the first place.

Please, Green Bay, stop stunting your own growth. Let that boyfriend go and move on to something new and different. Tell Brett that it's stopping now and you're moving on without him. You'll be glad you did.

This should have been a better post.

After the draft last Thursday, I was all ready to mock the 'Wolves for drafting yet another combo guard they don't know what to do with. I was ready to bash them for continuing to force Al Jefferson to play out of position and get killed by opposing centers who are bigger and stronger than him, wasting the energy of the team's sole transcendent (albeit flawed) talent. I went to bed comfortable in the knowledge that the Wolves would continue on their rudderless path, and that I could skewer them accordingly.

I even had a funny anecdote from elementary I was going to employ to show just how ridiculous a pick it was.

Note that it is now Monday, a full 5 days later, and I am just now getting to this post. This is how much the Mayo/Love/Miller trade threw me for a loop.

Let's think back about the litany of things this team needed in order to improve upon their 2007-2008 campaign and make strides toward future respectability:

1. Find someone to compliment Big Al down low.

2. Sort out the guard rotation

3. Improve overall shooting, especially from outside - make teams pay for doubling down low.

4. Improve overall team defense

5. Please, God, get rid of dead weight ('Toine, for example)

Let's look at the frontcourt now. Love's shooting, rebounding, and passing are immediate pluses. Collins' defense should be a plus. Add Ryan Gomes or Craig Smith in there and you have an interesting bunch manning the 4/5 spots. Sure, they're undersized, but the skill set seems to fit better into a cohesive unit. If they remain healthy, the frontcourt looks better heading into the 08-09 campaign than they were a year ago.

(BTW -you can count on Cardinal and Mad Dog chilling on the end of the bench in street clothes, making up the Token White Guy contingent on the bench that every NBA team must have. Kevin Love doesn't count because he'll actually see some burn, as will Mike Miller.)

The addition of Miller and Love drastically improves this team's shooting, as both are proficient from mid-range and beyond. This also puts less pressure on Corey Brewer and his broke ass jumper and offers Ryan Gomes an opportunity to continue developing as a key reserve who can contribute at both the 3 and 4. Matchups and flexibility are paramount in the league, and the Wolves suddenly have a lot of guys they can mix and match to find good combinations.

The backcourt, however, remains a quandary. One hopes Randy Foye will stay healthy and emerge as the leader of this team, the coach on the floor, the man worthy of being traded for Brandon Roy. One hopes Rashad McCants settles into a role coming off the bench as an instant offense kind of guy and that Corey Brewer can at least show a little development with his shot and his decision making.

Had this team kept Mario Chalmers instead of trading him for nothing, I would feel a whole lot better about this team's chances to make real strides in the backcourt. They are almost forced into keeping Telfair now, and I think anyone would agree that Chalmers would be a much better backup to Foye than Telfair. If nothing else, starting anew with someone who has college experience would be better than continuing to fight Telfair's bad habits that developed as he began his rudderless career in Boston.

I must continue to remind myself that rebuilding takes time and cannot be done all at once. It's all about baby steps. Between the KG trade last year and this trade, this team seems to be showing some semblance of a plan, a direction going forward.

Perhaps McHale sees the light at the end of the tunnel and has finally come to terms with the fact that his legacy (yes, both his legacy as a F.O. guy and as a basketball player) has been tainted by his ineptitude as an executive and he's come to understand that even if his Boss will not hold him accountable, the fans will. This means a lot to a player (see: Roger Clemens), but he also knows he's in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation of his own making. People who fell in love with the idea of Mayo will be (are) pissed. People who didn't will still be pissed because nobody believes Kevin McHale knows what he's doing. Bringing Mayo in would have made a lot of people happy - the kind of people who are willing to crown a guy the next Jordan before he's even stepped on an NBA court.

Depending on who you read and listened to, Mayo was either the next great savior, the best player available at #3 in a weak draft, an overhyped "phenom" with character issues and no particular position to play him, or the next Isiah (J.R.) Rider. Depending on where you read and who you listened to, Kevin Love was somewhere between the next Bill Walton, Kevin McHale or maybe even Mark Madsen.

Even if he's another Nick Collison, I am happy. Because this team doesn't need another tweener guard. It doesn't need a "QB controversy" that Randy Wittman will inevitably botch, both in terms of how he deals with the players and how he handles the media scrutiny. What it needs are good players who want to win, and an atmosphere that will not rub off negatively on a crew of young, inexperienced, impressionable ballplayers. OJ Mayo's reaction to getting drafted by Minnesota tells me all I need to know about whether Minnesota should have kept him. The same franchise that jettisoned Mark Blount and Ricky Davis at least in part because their negative attitudes could not be allowed to taint the younger guys simply cannot hang onto someone with that kind of attitude about playing in Minnesota before he even gets off the plane at MSP International for the first time.

With Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins, at least, you have guys who are either thrilled to be in the league ANYWHERE, or guys who are thrilled to no longer be in Memphis. Love and Miller have both gone on record to say they are happy to be coming here, and I believe them.

This team still has a lot of work to do. They'll struggle to stop people at every position, unless this team somehow creates a defensive strategy that essentially turns Salisbury Steak into Kobe (Beef, not Bryant). This side of Tom Thibodeau or adding a Van Gundy to the bench, I am not sure the Wolves will be able to make such strategical changes. This is by no means a finished product. Then again, nothing is. But, it at least feels like something heading in a direction that might actually be close to the right direction.

So long as Kevin McHale, Rob Babcock and Fred Hoiberg continue making moves that make sense in terms of putting together a cohesive unit with parts that fit while continuing to monitor things like roster chemistry, heart and desire and financial flexibility, this could be a team ready to make a splash in the league in 2010, right about the same time EVERYONE ELSE will.

Perhaps, however, this brain trust will finally have made Minnesota a place people want to play. Making moves that point toward the creation of a team and the implementing of a plan certainly will go a long way toward making that a reality. So far, it looks better than it did last Thursday, at least for this quasi-Wolves fan.

I wish there were something to be done about the culture in sports that makes the coach the scapegoat every single time a team does poorly. I realize I say this in the very blog where I rail on about certain decisions Ron Gardenhire makes in regard to the Minnesota Twins. However, I also see the good things he does and would question whether we were to find anyone a hell of a lot better with any kind of experience these days.

Plus, unless ownership and management get abducted by aliens who have read anything about baseball statistics, the way baseball is taught under the Twins banner won't be changing any time soon. That said, I am not sure there's any manager who would be better at getting an organization like this one to consistent levels of mediocrity.

The New York Mets are a mess. Not a Seattle Mariners-level mess, but a mess in their own right. It will not take as much for the Mets to right the ship and get back to contention. It will take Seattle 3-4 years to do so. At best. 

But the Mets have a nightmare on their hands right now, and it's a nightmare entirely of their own making.

This is not just about the insane collapse the Mets experienced at the end of last season. This is also about how the Mets, in particular GM Omar Minaya and the front office, did little to change the clubhouse dynamic in the off-season to improve the club. The move to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins may have given the Mets a bona-fide ace to hang their hat on, but the problem with putting all your eggs in one basket is that you've put them all into one player who makes an impact on the game once every 5 days. Other than a flaky Pedro Martinez, the Mets don't have any other pitchers of note. The thing about pitching is that it takes a full staff to make for a GOOD pitching staff. Unless the rest of the rotation can pitch at a competent level, the heroics of the "Ace" are for naught. Just ask Johan about his 2007 campaign here in Minnesota.

The fault really lies in the lack of production and injury issues that have plagued the everyday guys for the last season and a half. The fact that this organization did not see the writing on the wall that clearly stated, "Moises Alou and Carlos Delgado cannot be counted on any longer" and didn't clearly see that Luis Castillo is a middle infielder playing on a bum everything, is not on Willie Randolph's head. Well, it is, but that's because those very people who made the decisions (or the lack thereof) were the ones able to make those failings Randolph's fault.

Did Willie have some blame to accept? Sure. He makes questionable decisions at times. But all managers do. And it was not helpful when he played the race card when describing the motivations behind the criticism of his performance by the media.

By the way, do you think maybe this is actually why it took so long for the Mets to make Randolph their scapegoat? Do you think maybe they needed to lawyer up so they could be sure they wouldn't be embroiled in some kind of "They fired me because I am black" lawsuit in the middle of next season?

What also may have made this move take so long is not because they were "giving him a chance". They were waiting to see the shoe drop somewhere else. Think, for a moment, about all the terrible situations throughout the majors right now: Seattle, Cleveland and Colorado aren't anywhere near their expectations heading into this season. Nor is the other team in the city that never sleeps. The White Sox may be in the lead now, but they seem one losing streak away from Ozzie Guillen self-destructing one more time, and this might finally be the time he gets canned for his mouth (really, what's a guy gotta say to get fired these days?).

The Mets didn't want to make the first reaction to their lackluster performance this season. Unfortunately for Willie Randolph, that meant leaving him twisting in the wind for a couple more weeks than really should have been necessary.

What really makes this an historically awful move is the way they went about it - informing the public in a press release at 3:12a.m Eastern Time. This is maybe the most ridiculously cowardly "professional" move I have seen this side of Bobby Petrino's graceless exit from the Atlanta Falcons. In fact, this might be worse.

It's easy to name a scapegoat. We do it all the time. Presidents get blamed for everything from the changing of the seasons to bad economies to the country's general malaise. Sure, GWB is largely responsible for a lot of the problems we face as a country, but if we cannot also recognize our own culpability - from being the idiots who voted for the guy to being the idiots who signed off on mortgages we couldn't afford to being the idiots who don't spend enough time with our children to be sure they learn how to read before they get their diploma - then nothing will change.

This is just one of the many reasons you'll never find me running for President.

The fact is, if the Mets organization doesn't recognize that their woes will only change once they accept responsibility for their mistakes at the top levels, then they'll keep churning through managers, getting nowhere.

Frankly, this is why you won't ever hear me calling for Ron Gardenhire's job. The faults that lie in the Minnesota Twins are part of a larger issue as an organization. From the Pohlads on down, their approach to the game flies in the face of all available information. Yet, every once in a while, they find success. I think I might wish to take occasional overachieving over very expensive mediocrity. It's at least more compelling to watch. That doesn't mean I won't bitch about it.

But I also know that if the Twins ever fired Ron Gardenhire, they'd at least have the decency to look the public in the eye and say why. And they'd give Gardenhire the chance to walk away with some shred if dignity at the same time - that's what people with class do. They treat others with class and respect, even their scapegoats.

Would that the Mets would have treated their scapegoat this way.