Less than 4 hours from the strike date and I believe that a work stoppage will be avoided. Both sides have too much at stake this time. Another World Series cancellation will hurt some already suffering markets. My take on things is that baseball should establish a minimum salary cap. If you aren't going to spend some money to compete, then don't buy a team. Why should other owners give money to guys just out to make a profit...*cough cough Jeff Loria, Carl Pohlad...cough cough*. If baseball strikes, well at least it is football season.

Right now my Orange are looking pretty bad against BYU. Hope this doesn't serve as a preview of what the season will be like.

Sue Bird update- favorite food- french fries...not dating the Backstreet Boy....if I see that she loves chocolate donuts, I might have to move to Seattle....just kidding.

Yeah we're runnin a little bit hot tonight ...(bonus credit if you know where that comes from). Little League baseball fever has swept K-Wall's place. What a game last night as TX and KY engaged in quite a battle. Felt bad for the pitcher who lost the game, but those kids played with great heart. I will not forget the kid who's eye black had been smudged from what looked like tears. Now tonight Mass and Harlem are playing another great game.

These kids are really showing the big league guys how the game is bigger than the individuals. I don't think there will be a strike this year..too much to lose on both sides. Hopefully they will come to an agreement and that sit down after the season ends. Baseball does need some work and I am not sure it can be solved by luxury taxes and revenue sharing. Why penalize the Yankees, Braves, Red Sox and reward the Marlins, Royals-who do nothing to try and improve their team? The NBA seems to do things best as the NFL makes it very difficult for teams to keep their players-so I don't think a salary cap should be implemented.

The Sports Guy ran a funny story about football video games last week. I have been playing since the Atari and I have to say that Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders and Christian Okoye were by far the best running backs in video game history. Too many games at Club Sass were decided by the dreaded toss right to Sanders.

AL MVP update: 1) A-Rod 2) Tejada 3) Soriano 4) Pedro

LL World Series update- kid from Hawaii's favorite player is David Eckstein...more kids should have Eckstein or Trot Nixon as their favorite players. These are guys that play all out, all the time and if they make an error, they don't shy away from the criticism. Guys that just leave their hats and helmets dirty to make you think they play hard- no these guys are true "gamers".

Well, since my man in Texas,Deangelis, felt a little left out- this is for him.....because you have to look out for the guys who keep the same haircut since 1987. Anyways, he's a big Steelers fan and so the other day I was reading how Kordell is going on and on about how once the Steelers let him throw the ball- they started to win. Hello???? Please Slash, if it wasn't for Bettis running the ball Pittsburgh would be nowhere. Where was that great passing game against the Pats? That arm looked good on those 3 INT's you throw Slash. Just wait until Week 5 when you will be holding the clipboard behind XFL superstar Tommy Maddox. I mean a guy has a few decent games and then suddenly he thinks he's the next John Elway when he's really the next Richard Todd.

While I'm on the NFL kick, here's some early predictions in Larrry King random thought style.....Redskins won't make the playoffs(just go watch the Fiesta Bowl tapes to see how to beat the Fun n Gun offense).... Ricky Williams will lead the Dolphins to the AFC East Title...Marvin Harrison and Qadry Ismail will each catch more than 10 td's....Bills make the playoffs, Patriots do not...Super Bowl Titans-Eagles....and with that I bid you my adoring fans adieu.

Been a long time since I rock n rolled on this page( there's my tribute to Phoenix- Sasseville and Morrissette). What have we missed....Little Leaguers showboating, Soriano goes 30-30, A-Rod and Sammy keep deliverin the goods for crappy, crappy teams, Bonds breaks bat- hits homer...Wall yawns since he saw Big Mo do it 12 years ago at McCoy. Work has been kicking my butt up and down the street this week (I am typing this from work right now 9:15am on a Sunday!!!!), so I am a bit out of it.

My highlight of the week was watching Greg Maddux interact with a couple of young fans while standing in the on-deck circle. (You might say "Big Deal", but I say "Yeah it is because I said so" and then you are like "You're suck a dork"and I'm like "Don't make me smack you") Whoa..lack of sleep is getting to me...anyway what made it cool was that Maddux had just given up 3 runs, so you know he was pretty miffed (keepin it PG for the kids) but he shook hands with the little guy and got a ball for the kid's sister and I thought that was pretty cool.

Hope to get out and hit the links this week as I continue to work on my "Quest for the Senior Tour"...a little over 20 years to go before hopefully you will see me playing a round with a 350-lb Phil Mickelson and a bald Brad Faxon.

Hey West Virginia...just a little bit scared of Marshall aren't ya? How can a Big East school turn down a 3 for 1 deal with a MAC school? I might make a call to Mike Tranghese- let's dump WVU for Marshall, we don't need anymore wussy schools in the Big East. The Thundering Herd rule that state and the Mountain-fears know it.

Earlier tonight, Gordie Lockbaum Jr homered to lead his Little League team to the New England Regional Title and a spot in the LL World Series in Williamsport. Big deal many of you say, but here's where I drop some knowledge you on Gordie, Sr. He was the college football player who played both ways for an entire season for Holy Cross and ended up in the top 5 in the Heisman voting. The last player from Division 1-AA to finish that high. It is usually the other way around when LL hero becomes a star pro, like Chris Drury. But, like father like son Gordie comes through in the clutch and the people of Worcester Mass bask in the afterglow.

Congrats to Barry on reaching the 600 homer mark. For all of those wondering, he won't stay around to challenge Hammerin' Hank, but there are a couple of guys who might. My picks right now are 1) A-Rod, 2) Vlad and 3) Sosa. Those guys could play long enough and have good ballparks (except Vlad) to hit in. (For Vlad, if Les Expos move somewhere they will build a park that he can take advantage of). The one edge that these guys have is that they swing the bat- can't hit homers if you walk....and remember boys and girls what Maddux and Glavine told us "Chicks Dig the Longball".

It's almost college football time again and I say that Miami is the preseason favorite. However, I think that the Canes will not go through the season undefeated. This will be the year for Chris Simms to prove to the world that he can lead Texas to a title. My preseason pick for the Heisman is going to be Rex Grossman. I think the Gators will throw enough for him to rack up some great numbers. My longshot picks are Jason Gesser from Wash St and Byron Leftwich from Marshall. Big East picks: 1) Miami 2) Syracuse 3) Va Tech 4) Pitt 5) BC 6) WVU 7) Rutgers 8) Temple.

Van Horn and Big Mac back to Philly. Does Larry Brown remember all of the guys he's coached or drafted? Anyways, Mutombo did not look good against the Celtics and that earned him a ticket up the Jersey Turnpike. Does this make the Nets better?Sixers better? This is going to be a wait and see. Mutombo does not fit in with a fast break team, but his shot blocking will allow the Nets to play aggressive on D. Van Horn gives Philly a decent outside shooter, but he needs to play with more confidence. He has been shell-shocked since Marbury came to Jersey.

Gotta talk about Bud Selig tonight as he just can't keep his big mouth shut. Now why would you come out and bash the Twins as they are having a great season. Who cares if it's an aberration, that's what makes sports so great. People like the underdog and that has been the case since "Dynamic" David and his trusty slingshot. I am pulling hard now for the Twins to make the Series so the fans in the Metrodome get their chance to give it to Bud.

I wanted to talk a little bit about my latest "sports crushes". Now as a sports nut, I have had plenty of crushes on women athletes (for a variety of reasons too). A few years ago, it was all about Monica Seles due to her comeback and professed love of french fries (mmmmm fries). Now I am not saying that Monica has lost any status, but lately my attention has been drawn to two new ones. The first is WNBA, and former UCONN, player Sue Bird. Yes, Sue is attractive and a fine point guard, but she makes my list for two things:1) singing a line from "Big Poppa" during a commercial and 2) telling Dan Patrick that she wants to get a monkey for a pet. (As my friend, and #1 column fan Justin will tell you, we talked about the same thing a few years back ). The only knock on Sue is that she is reportedly dating Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys...Sue...whassup wit dat?

Now the second newcomer to my list is golfer Mi Hyun Kim. I watched the final two holes of the LPGA tourney yesterday and watched as Kim came back from a shot in the water on the 17th hole. On her next shot, she stepped forward and yelled "Go" at the ball. That coupled with the fact that her driver seems to be bigger than her, yet she plays with a fire and competitiveness that goes against someone with Disney character club covers.....gotta love it.

OK..back after a bit of a layoff. Someone from the Red Sox must be reading this page since they went out and added Floyd. A big addition...enough to take the AL..we'll see, but it is a step in the right direction. It is going to be tough to be a manager in the Sox system as they keep trading any sort of prospect they have. I guess the Mets think that they are still in the race with their moves. Hey I have to give them credit for getting rid of Jay Payton..now they only need to find someone to take Ordonez after this season and they will be all set.

My fantasy team is scraping along right now. I am thinking about making some moves, but I will stick with Glaus for a little bit more. Pitching has been brutal lately- what happened to Mussina last night? That was r-u-double-f ...ruff.

My softball season ended on Tuesday with our playoff loss. We got smoked, but it was a good time and I will be back next summer. Time to play more golf and do more running.