A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS...AND A RANT

***WE'RE CLOSE TO THE END OF BASKETBALL***
The collegiate end, anyway. Obligatory congratulations to Duke University for Coach K's 4th NCAA Championship, even though I still don't see how Duke did it. Oh well, that's why they play the games, I guess.
The women close out tonight in a game that probably won't be anywhere near as close as Duke-Butler, if Connecticut plays to form.
The NBA, or as I call it: The We-Don't-Have-To-Dribble-But-We-Can-Do-Chin ups-On-The-Rim League is getting close to it's tournament. I'll report the final champion as soon as it's ends, which should be right around the 4th of July.

***AROUND THE LEAGUE***
Everything went as expected:
Damon got two hits, Matsui hit a homer, the Cubs got crushed, Halladay was unhittable, and President Obama threw out the first pitch and was way off the mark, as usual.
There is a rumor that Matsusaka may rehab in a game in Rochester. Wait till he tries one of Nick Tahou's famous Garbage Plates. That should send him back to Boston with tears in his eyes and cramps in his stomach. The Yanks are back in Boston for a 2nd shot at the Sox tonight.

***SKIP THIS IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE MOOD FOR A RANT***
Bud Selig's famous Recommendation Committee should be presenting their "suggestions" soon. The committee was supposed to be staffed by a wide range of baseball people and 'influential thinkers,' if you believe the hype. Let's start with who WASN'T on the 14-member panel: the were no statisticians, no women, no current players, and no umpires. Oh, and no MLBPA union officials. Yes, let's let those 'influential thinkers' like Joe Torre, John Schuerholz and George Will, correct all of baseball's problems. Even if they come up with some GOOD ideas, and it's possible, do you think Baseball's ruling class will listen? Hardly.

Consider this: when baseball wanted to increase the playoff system, they came up with the Wild Card. Okay, but the National League had sixteen teams, they wanted a four-team playoff so why not a Four Division League? Nope, a three division league with a wild card. When asked why, a reporter was told, "They must have thought this was better." Good Answer.

One final, and most important point. ANY changes will directly impact the players and the umpires and will most likely have to be implemented by them. Without any representation on the panel, changes will in effect be IMPOSED on them. What chance would the changes have of being effective or even taking place? Little or none, obviously. Just another case of mental masturbation.

***WELCOME BACK, VOD***
All the rest, relaxation and good times, did not douse the flame of passion in our good friend to the south. I predict the self-imposed ban on sports commentary will not last simply because of this passion and Vod will soon be publishing his infamous brand of intellect, much to Picasner's consternation. I promise to goad him into action at our next lunch. After all, he was the driving force behind the inception of the Chad Picasner at Large blog.

CP-