7/20: Brett Favre and Matt Barnes

The tagline of this post made me laugh... are there 2 more different athletes than Brett Favre and Matt Barnes? Favre is the "golden boy" to annoying ends with media coverage and general anointing... Barnes is considered to be a bit on the crazy side... both are gritty competitors on the field/court by all accounts... but both go about it in different ways... just a thought since both are in the headlines... moving on...

• It's a slow summer sports day... so the biggest headline? 2 separate college football investigations... 1 in Chapel Hill concerning their stud D-lineman Marvin Austin and dealings with an agent... and 1 in Gainesville with former Florida OL Maurkice Pouncey (now a 1st-round pick of Pittsburgh) allegedly taking $100,000 from an agent between the SEC title game and the Sugar Bowl... do I care about this story? Na, not really... but when Marvin Austin is a consensus 1st rounder and UNC is getting BCS sleeper love... and when Florida could suddenly have Reggie Bush-like ramifications going forward... it's big
• We are in full "stalk Brett Favre" mode... what else is there to do in July? Here's an idea... tell us if you're playing... or go away... the fact that I know who Bus Cook is, is an issue... it just is... go away...
• Matt Barnes was going to Toronto... and then he wasn't... and now he might be... because the deal wouldn't fit under the cap (and Toronto used it's MLE on Linas Kleiza... who isn't as good as Matt Barnes, lol)... they have to do a sign-n-trade and it's looking less likely by the hour... paging Atlanta Spirit group... you claimed to be "not done after the Joe move" and "willing to go into the Tax"... go get Matt Barnes with the mid-level... brings a toughness you don't have, can guard 3's and make 3's... done and done... I mean, you already sured up the post with Jason Collins! Somebody sedate me...
• A hockey story? I have to hit this one... Ilya Kovalchuck signed a 17-year (yes, 17 years) deal for over $100 million with the Devils... I don't care about hockey... and you probably don't either... but that's a staggering number... 17 years? He'll be 44 at the end... and while the deal is really only significant for the first 11 years (it's about a half-million per after that)... Hockey has crazy contracts... that's all

Baseball...

• Pitching Line of the Day - (an ugly day for pitching) - Dice-K - 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6 K's... and this was by far the best line... like I said, ugly
• Batting Line of the Day - Miggy Cabrera - 3 for 6, 2 HR, 3 RBI... he's mashing... still
• The Braves took a home day off yesterday... and San Diego comes in for 3... they manage to miss Mat Latos in the series (not a bad thing), and garnered a split against the Brew Crew despite playing underwhelmingly... I'm taking it "one day at a time"... but a 5.5 game lead on NYM and 6 on Philly is nothing to sneeze at... excitement building

What to watch for...

• Braves/Padres - Jurrjens/Leblanc - 7:00 Peachtree TV
• White Sox/Mariners - Danks/Fister - 10:00 WGN - John Danks is worth the price of admission... just so you know

Until later..