JUST A FEW THOUGHTS

Yeah, I'm still around. It's been so long since I last posted, that I had to sign in again. I couldn't even remember my password.

***JOE TORRE IS BACK IN THE NEWS***
"Clueless" Bud Selig has named him Vice-President of Baseball Operations. If the job involves anything besides sitting at his desk with his arms folded and a dead-man stare, Joe is going to need help. He did say he was going to use "his staff" as much as possible, which probably means a full time job for Scott Proctor. I hear Scott again has the full use of his arm after Torre tried to wear it out with two different teams.

***BEING #1 IS NOT A GOOD IDEA***
Being ranked in the top 10 in college basketball has put a bulls eye on the backs of those teams. Kansas, Texas, Ohio St., Pittsburgh and now Duke, have all taken it on the chin while holding the first spot in the rankings. Famed bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, is said to be resting comfortably in his home wearing a coat with the sleeves that tie in the back. It is interesting that all the number one teams lost on the road. And you're not allowed to play at home in the NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse has a chance to be one of the top four teams in the Big East and draw a double-bye in the Conf. Tournament, but they need Louisville to lose two more games (Pittsburgh today and then @ W. Virginia), which could happen.
I watched the Duke-Va Tech game last night, and after the Hokies won, there was another court-storming. We've seen these before, but by the time the Va. Tech fans were done, the court was literally covered from corner-to-corner and basket-to-basket. That's one of the reasons that I think college basketball is one of the most exciting sports around.

***IT'S GOT TO HELP***
There was an article in the Roch paper today about a basketball ref who is deaf. He doesn't have to listen to the crowd (or the coaches) calling him names, however, we probably miss a couple of technical fouls during the course of the game. I don't think the deafness is any problem, especially when you consider that there seem to be a number of refs out there who are blind.

***THE YANKS ARE COMING, THE YANKS ARE COMING***
Actually, it's too early to say anything but "Nice statue of George out there, boys." Between that and the billboard-sized plaque in Yankee Stadium, George may be out of mind, but he'll never be out of sight.

***CHANGES? IN BASEBALL? NO WAY***
Supposedly, Selig's crack committee on the state of baseball is talking about changing the alignments of the divisions. One suggestion is four 7-team divisions with Oakland and Tampa being "absorbed". This would combine the current American and National leagues and eliminate the designated hitter. I don't see either of those two things happening.

***BRAD DICKSON STARTS A NEW COLUMN***
It's called "Breaking Brad," and it's published daily instead of weekly. I love it; you can't get too much of his humor.
In a 24-hour period, the Nebraska state patrol confiscated 641 pounds of marijuana along Interstate 80. Officials knew something was up when during the prior 24-hour period food orders at restaurants along I-80 were up 6,000 percent.
A 78-year-old Wyoming man was arrested for skiing uphill. Prosecutors are recommending probation and that he be ordered to stay away from caffeinated coffee.

I'm outta here.
CP-