Time for an assorted posting of little things...

Sure, Carlos Delgado has been great in the second half but the calls for him to win the MVP are pure lunacy (okay, maybe lunacy's a little strong). Delgado's return to form is a huge boon for the Mets, and has certainly been a factor in their strong second half performance, but unfortunately for Delgado, the first half counts in MVP consideration, and he's probably the fourth best candidate on his own team. Albert Pujols has got to win. Now of course he may not because MVP voters are idiots, but it's hard not to give the award to someone who is leading the league in on base percentage and slugging, with almost .1 higher combined OPS than anyone else in the league all while playing the best first base in the league.

The Giants should be repremanded somehow for allowing their young ace Tim Lincecum to pitch 138 (I wish I could capitalize numbers somehow, but in lieu of that I'll have to bold them I suppose) pitches in a 7-0 complete game shutout against the Padres. Now, fact one is that every single Giants game at this point in the season is completely and totally meaningless. I quickly looked up the pitch count for a handful of the better pitchers on contending teams and couldn't find any count over than 130. Carlos Zambrano had 130 once and CC Sabathia, who has been used recklessly, likely in part because the Brewers only have him until the end of the season threw 130 once. In Lincecum's four last starts, he threw 138, 127, 92, and 132 pitches. He's already thrown 60 more innings than he did last year. GIANTS GAMES DO NO MATTER ANYMORE. Forgetting the idea that there was a 7 run lead by the time he took the mound in the bottom of the ninth. You know, maybe the ghost of Dusty Baker still lingers. Baseball should have like a pitcher's services division who takes away custody of pitchers from organizations which can't be entrusted with them. I don't care how solid his mechanics are and how confident they are he can pitch without injury. The GAME IS MEANINGLESS! There is no point in even taking the smallest chance. I think Lincecum should win the Cy Young as much as anyone - but is it really worth a full out drive at the award for adding a significant chance for injury or arm soreness in his promising young career which could be preserved for a time when the Giants actually matter. And by the way, how is Brian Sabaen not fired yet?

Poor Syracuse football. Once a mighty program - sure, not as big as the USCs and Oklahomas and Notre Dames, but just a tier below - a national title winner years and years ago, but an undefeated team in 1987, and a competitor in BCS bowl games as recently as the late 90s with Donovan McNabb. Forget BCS games, a competitor in bowl games of any sort. Over the last three years under for Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, 'Cuse has gone 1-10, 4-8 and 2-10 with an 0-3 start this year. The program has become a total joke, and it's still unclear why exactly Robinson was brought back for a fourth year. It's time for him to go - it would not be hard to find a promising assistant or mid-major head coach to take on and rehabilitate the program for a few years. I don't think asking for a .500 record is too much.

I have a survivor league for the NFL (in case one is unfamiliar with the concept each week each person picks one team to win - if that team loses, they're out for the year, and each team can only be picked once by each person - so last year you couldn't have just picked the pats every week). Last week, only one other person and I took the obvious pick of the Patriots, and a few people got burned - picking normally reliable Indianapolis and San Diego led to early defeat. This week there are no certainties, and certainly I'm glad I used New England before Tom Brady was out for the year (not that he played all that long in the Chiefs game anyway). I narrowed by choices down the Pittsburgh (against the Browns) or the Giants (against the Rams) and finally settled on the Giants, thinking that the Browns might "get up for the game" (shouldn't every team get up for every game with a week to prepare for it) against a hated divisional opponent, and that the Browns probably aren't quite as bad as they were last week, while the Rams might be. It's risky, though, but without a Tom Brady led Patriots, what pick isn't.