Sunday Smorgasbord 8-12

• Hank Aaron held the All-Time Home Run title for 33 years before Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* broke his record. If Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* holds the record for even half as long as Aaron did, he will not be able to "pass the torch" onto his successor as Aaron did on Tuesday night. You see, Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* is already 43 years old, he'll be 59 in 16 years and steroid users hardly live that long. So my final thought on Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* breaking Hank Aaron's record is that he won't get to enjoy it on this plane for very long.
• For some reason, the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning strikes me as having the potential for real disaster because of too many chiefs and not enough indians. Say what you want of Head Coach John Tortorella and GM Jay Feaster, (and I certainly have) but those two guys have won a Stanley Cup and now they're taking direction from new owner Doug MacLean who is still living off his 1996 run to the Cup Finals with the Florida Panthers. MacLean for some unknown reason is seen as great hockey mind in spite of his record in Florida (which is only two and a quarter seasons) and Columbus (forget making the playoffs, a franchise still looking to post a winning record in one season). MacLean has his work cut out for him with the Ning's ugly cap situation and even worse issues in goal. If he can sort that mess out without making a bigger mess in the process, then he'll deserve his kudos.
• After years on WMAL in Washington, D.C. the Maryland Terps moved to WJFK this offseason for their D.C. area radio outlet. Why? Well according to Maryland Athletic Director Debbie Yow, WMAL requested that Maryland pay WMAL $15,000 per event they carried and Yow balked at the idea. There are two ways to get your program on the radio, you either find a station willing to pay you for the rights to broadcast the game and the station then holds onto and sells the ads that run during your program to make their $$$$$ back. Or you can purchase your airtime (which is what a vast majority of NHL teams to) from a radio station and then you keep and sell the ads that run during your program to make your $$$$$ back that you spent on the airtime. With over 50 events, Maryland would have had to pay $750K+ to WMAL. For some reason, I don't understand why Maryland thinks that they couldn't have made much, much more than that by selling ads themselves.
• Ok everybody repeat after me, "the defense is always ahead of the offense in August." Got that ok? Let's all calm down after the Redskins defense lead the way in the 14-6 preseason win over Tennessee last night. First of all for the detractors who are quick to point out the absence of Titan's quarterback Vince Young, the Redskins defense couldn't stop anybody last year so the fact that they were able to hold a backup quarterback to just 3 points in the first half is improvement. Now if the Redskins need Chris Samuels this badly on offense, then they are in serious trouble. However, the offensive line has been a weakness for years even with Samuels and the preseason is where players like Stephon Heyer can get a chance to improve themselves. No the Redskins aren't on their way to Super Bowl XLII but with an improved defense, they will be better than last year's 5-11. All that being said, despite all of the bluff and bluster, a 1-0 start to the preseason means about as much as a 0-1 start to the preseason. These games don't count so come in off the ledge please. (I can only imagine if the Skins had lost last night...)
• With a thrilling double come from behind win today, the Nats were able to salvage a respectable road trip where they went 3-4. Jesus Flores has shown to be an absolute steal by Jim Bowden in the Rule 5 draft and John Lannan has not looked like an overwhelmed minor leaguer. The team still has miles to go but if they can continue to keep this never-say-die attitude when the talent rolls around, they'll be very tough to deal with and will compete in a tough NL East. But it is going to take some time to get there because the Nats are now 54-64, 11.5 games behind the New York Mets and 9.5 games back of San Diego for the NL Wild Card. The Nats elimination number from the NL East is down to 34 and 36 for the playoffs. The Nats are just one back behind the Marlins for fourth place in the NL East.
• Lost in all the hoopla over David Beckham is the domination of the L.A. Galaxy that D.C. United had in that game and the brewing resurgence of D.C. United. The win on Thursday night put United alone in second place, three points behind New England with a game in hand on the Revolution for first place in the MLS's Eastern Conference. With today's results, D.C. is now tied for second with the New York Red Bulls however, D.C. United has a game in hand on them and two games in hand over the New England Revolution who also beat the L.A. Galaxy at home 1-0. David Beckham did not play at all today and you have to wonder just how much attention will the MLS get down the stretch of the 2007 season with pro and college football starting up while David Beckham's team doesn't even get a whiff of the playoffs.
• Ok, this week the Nats are back in RFK after taking a day tomorrow to travel home before hosting the Philadelphia Phillies for a three game series starting Tuesday night. The New York Mets are in town over the weekend and I'll be first in line once again Saturday night to get my Abe Lincoln Bobblehead. D.C. United hits the road to face David Beckham on Wednesday night in the second SuperLiga Semifinal and then travels to Columbus to face the Crew on Saturday night. The Redskins are in Landover hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in another meaningless exhibition game on Saturday night that is certain to have everybody overreacting no matter what the outcome of the game is.
• Please send all questions, comments, criticisms, corrections, suggestions, and panic attacks to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.