[Sometimes its better to devote an entire post to a subject. Other times a line or two is all it takes. In those cases, its time for the cross legged mutant]

-With All-Star snubs like Chris Young and John Maine, it might be time to start considering ditching the “representation” rule. Let’s face it: Brian Fuentes, Gil Meche and Freddy Sanchez are NOT All-Stars. Maybe the All-Star game would mean something again if the player in it were legitimate All-Stars? Something to chew on.

-The NL roster is packed full of closers - and of course Brian Fuentes - and is probably better suited for a game where you expect pitchers to throw an inning max. If they keep up this whole thing where the All-Star game decides home field advantage I hope that managers start picking guys to help win a ballgame instead of who has better fan appeal.

-The Colorado Rockies finished a sweep of the Mets with a 17-7 win. The Rox can claim some serious ownage over the city of New York; that makes it a two-fer with a sweep of both the Yankees and the Mets. The Rockies will be an interesting team to keep an eye on in the second half.

-Congrats to the Golden State Warriors President Robert Rowell who has the right mentality. With so many teams shying away from big trades because of luxury tax issues, Rowell says he has no problem paying up if he thinks it helps the Warriors changes. Bravo.

-Free Darko; the Orlando Magic look like they will not re-sign Darko Milicic… especially after anteing up on Rashard Lewis.

-The San Jose Sharks lost one of their top defenders - Scott Hannan - without a fight to free agency, but they made damn sure to get an offer to television analyst Drew Remenda, who was with the team in 2005-06. Why bother, no one is watching the NHL anyway.

-Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times is either jumping the gun, or incredibly late in his statement that Clay Bennett has “duped” the city of Seattle. Sometimes I hate sportswriters; they always seem to be a bit to melodramatic. And this is the same guy who ripped “bloggers” - turned out to be message boards and Steve had no idea what a blogger really was - for getting down on the Mariners too soon in the pre-season. I really need to stop reading his garbage.

-The 2014 Olympic Winter Games are going to be in Russia, on the Black Sea. “It is great. I’ve never been so happy in my life,” said Marina Matveyeva, 23, who works in a bank. “It means that Russia has reached the level of Europe, and we can be proud of our country.” That just seems like such a sad indictment of one’s own country if you ask me.