Delaying the inevitable

As a free man, shouldn't Michael Vick be treated fairly? I'm not sure why the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has yet to be reinstated, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is taking his sweet time on a decision.

Goodell knows Vick will eventually be reinstated and he surely knows a firestorm will occur when that happens. He can't keep Vick out forever, even if he'd like to.

Goodell needs to bite the bullet and let Vick have a chance to regain his life by reinstating him as soon as possible. No matter when the reinstatement occurs, the media is going to blitz the issue until Vick's career expires.

I don't condone dogfighting, but I'm all for second chances.

What division holds the No. 2 rank?

It's pretty clear to me that the best division in football belongs to the NFC East. With Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and Washington all .500 or better clubs, the BEast all but controls the NFC.

Is it the AFC East (New England, Miami, New York and Buffalo), the AFC South (Indianapolis, Houston, Tennessee and Jacksonville) or the NFC South (New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay)?

I think you have to hand it to the AFC East. With Tom Brady returning, the Patriots are my Super Bowl reps for the AFC. Buffolo and New York improved considerably, while Miami is just an all-around tough team.

I like the NFC South, as well, but I think Carolina didn't do much to improve its conference hold and Tampa Bay dismantled its entire roster.

A season of Holliday's (Halladay's)

The St. Louis Cardinals vastly improved themselves over the week when it acquired Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Holliday. The 29-year-old is a lifetime .317 hitter and has postseason experience after helping the Colorado Rockies reach the World Series in 2007.

As I look up and down the Cardinals roster, I realize it's difficult to not believe this is the team to beat as October crawls toward us. With two nasty starting pitchers in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, a monster in Albert Pujols surrounded by a deep lineup are my favorites to win the National League pennant.

At the start of the season, I believed the New York Mets were going to overcome its yearly September blowup. I didn't expect them to have nearly half of their opening day lineup to be traded or spend significant time on the DL. Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield have missed a combined 195 games this season. Pitchers John Maine and J.J. Putz have missed considerable time, as well.

The NL owns a handful of serious World Series contenders in St. Louis, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. All three clubs are loaded with offense, but the Cards have the edge with their elite starting pitching.

—If there was one thing the Phillies need before their turn comes to defend their World Series title, it's another starting pitcher. Lucky for Philadelphia, there's a really, really good pitcher named Roy Halladay who wouldn't mind trading in his Canadian passport for a shot at the postseason. The Toronto Bluejays own the rights to Halladay and gave the Phillies a wishlist that they would like to receive in return.

I'm still stunned that Philadelphia turned down a run at Halladay. By not handing over a couple prospects for a more secure shot at a repeat World Series, the Phillies management might be looking for a Double-A Minor League championship, too.

The dunk that nobody cares about

Thanks to the kind folks at ebaumnation.com, the world was finally introduced to the dunk that could change the way we look at basketball forever.

Only kidding.

On July 22, ebaumnation.com released the famously mysterious tape of LeBron James being posterized by a teenager. As we've all heard from every sports outlet in the world, Nike—who sponsored James' basketball camp—did its best impersonation of the Gestapo and seized the tapes before anybody released it to the mass media.

Not sure how ebaumnation got their hands on it, but it sure made this the most over-hyped story since Susan Boyle (God forbid a person is both hideous AND talented).

I'm sorry for not buying into James being dunked on because I highly doubt James was playing at the same level of an NBA game. I can't imagine LBJ walking on a court with lowly college players wanting to impress them all immensely.

My congratulations goes out to Jordan Crawford. No doubt Crawford has been praying every night before bed that this video some way surfaces.

The prize of the summer

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay is reportedly on the trading block. He's already been linked to teams like St. Louis and Philadelphia. The question is whether or not those teams have the prospects in order to acquire the former Cy Young award winner.

Halladay is the type of dominant force that would easily improve a contender and he seems to be enjoying the thought of heading to a team in the race.

The situation reminds me of the Randy Johnson/C.C. Sabathia effect. When Johnson was traded to the Houston Astros in 1998, the monster left-hander dealt bullets over the final two months and propelled the Astros to a playoff berth. Sabathia aided the Milwaukee Brewers in its run to clinch its first postseason birth since 1982.

Which team will trade its future for the present? We'll see in a few short weeks as the July 31 MLB trading deadline inches closer.

—I checked out a handful of movies over the past week. Tonight I'm giving "Moon" an hour and a half in Yellow Springs. I'm going in with high hopes.

Public Enemies — C+

Night at the Museum II — B

Transformers II — C-

Bruno — B+

Texas two-step

The 2009 Major League Baseball season recently hit the 81-game midway point. For the first time since 2004, 18 teams were at or above .500 on July 9. But, October births aren't earned in the early stages of summer. The grueling months of July, August and September separate the teams on the fence and the clubs destined for the playoffs.

Like it or not, we're here

Texas Rangers (47-36, one game lead in AL West) — The rangers have been near the top of their division for all of 2009.

I'll admit it; I sometimes say things that I don't mean. I specifically make bold predictions only to be different. Here's what I wrote in my American League preview for Sinclair Community College's newspaper The Clarion in April:

"Potential suspects to steal playoff berths for the postseason regulars include the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles.

I am completely sold on all three teams, but there is something to the Rangers. Though they lack pitching, Texas' offense is absolutely frightening. Led by Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler (above) and Michael Young, the Rangers should easily exceed the 5.2 runs per game average they boasted last season and win a tough AL West."

I hadn't bought into what I had written at the time, but I went with it because it was a different approach. I got tired of seeing the experts selecting the Anaheim Angels to take down the West.

It's hard not to believe what Texas has done so far. With Hamilton only participating in 38 games, the rest of the Rangers offense made giant strides in productivity.

Outside of leading baseball in HRs, Texas is generally ranked in the middle of the American League pack in a number of offensive categories.

Surprisingly, the Rangers pitching has been the anchor to a winning record. Led by Kevin Millwood, Texas starters are nine games over .500. In 2008, Rangers starters were four games under the .500 mark.

With Hamilton coming back to full strength and Kinsler ready to bust out of a dark slump, I expect Texas to continue its winning ways and become the last to stand in the AL West.

In all seriousness

Major League Baseball announced its All-Star rosters today and I'm wondering why a handful of players were placed on the rosters. In order to represent every team in the Midsummer Classic, one player from each franchise gets the call to join in on the festivities.

How in the world did Colorado's Jason Marquis (above) get an invitation to the 80th All-Star game in St. Louis? As of Sunday, July 5, Marquis was ranked 26th in the National League in ERA (3.87). Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto (8-4, 2.69) and Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens (6-6, 2.73) both have much more prominent numbers than Marquis.

Baseball must stop acknowledging lowly winners and start embracing great arms. No more awarding pitchers who luck into great run support and solid bullpen play and then punishing the hard-luck losers.

Arizona's Dan Haren made the All-Star team, but only because he forced it. Haren, who won his eighth game on Sunday, had a 4-4 record on June 7 with 2.33 ERA as his WHIP was below 1.00. But the right-hander couldn't catch a break as his bullpen blew two large leads. Now, Haren owns an 8-4 record and continues to lead the NL in ERA and WHIP.

The point is just because a guy has 10 wins at the All-Star break doesn't mean he has been playing at an All-Star level through the first three months of the season.

—I can't believe Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton made the All-Star team. Hamilton has been on the DL twice this season, hitting .240 in 35 games. I know he isn't going to play because of his injured abdomen, but it's sad to see him receive more than 1 million votes from knowledgeable "baseball fans."

—Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson is a solid player. But I'm getting tired of him consistently being handed awards. In 2006, Hudson peaked with 15 HRs and 67 RBIs while playing good defense. He won two NL Gold Glove awards in 2006 (13 errors, .984) and 2007 (10 errors, .985). Kansas City's Mark Grudzielanek took home the 2006 AL Gold Glove with four errors and a .994 fielding percentage; Detroit's Placido Polanco grabbed the 2007 AL Gold Glove at second with ZERO errors and a .1000 fielding percentage.

So how did Hudson take home two Gold Gloves on a combined 23 errors and an above average fielding percentage? Somebody answer me!

—Did you check out the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick? It was an absolutely amazing match as Federer fought to punch his card in the history books and Roddick attempting to hold off Roger the Great for his first Wimbledon title.

Federer wrapped up his 15th Grand Slam title, passing Pete Sampras for first all-time.

Got to give it up for Roddick. He's been owned by Federer during his career and I believed Federer would roll through Roddick. He hung tough and helped put on a show for the ages.

Doing what must be done

What's going on in the NBA's free agency period is raising goosebumps down the arms of NBA fans everywhere. And it's not even 2010.

A year before the most hyped offseason in the history of the league, the 2009 offseason is turing into a serious boosting stage for a bunch of already talented teams.

I'm no Los Angeles Lakers fan, but I was a huge fan of Ron Artest (left) joining the NBA Champions.

It's extremely exciting to see teams play for the present and a title run. I loved what Artest said on ESPN's "Sportscenter" on July 2 about taking a pay cut to play for the Lakers.

"I'm playing to win," he said. "I'm not playing for the money no more."

Too many times are we seeing free-agents head off to shaky franchises for some extra dough. After Kevin Garnett set aside his ego to move to Boston, I think players started to realize that legacies are made when you win; not how much money you make.

With Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland, Vince Carter in Orlando and Artest in L.A., the NBA is going to experience a suspenseful season.

I can't remember the last time when five teams own a legitimate shot to take the title in the 2009-10 season. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, San Antonio and L.A. should all collide when next seasons playoffs roll around.

Steps taken in devastating loss

Sorry for the blog break; moving 15 minutes away was much more difficult than I once thought.

Tough to see the U.S. go down the way they did against Brazil in the FIFA Confederations Cup final.

When you're in the position that United States soccer is in, only good can come from a meltdown of such magnitude. 

Positives can be taken away. The U.S. certainly walked off with the confidence needed when playing teams as dominant as Brazil and Spain. They now know they have the talent to beat the best.

I've never been a fan of soccer until the Confederations Cup. Not sure if I'm hopping on the Major League Soccer wagon, but I'm certainly digging the international game.

—The news of Yao Ming's injured foot came up disappointing this week. Some reports are guessing Yao might be forced to retire because of a broken left foot. When you're 7-foot-5 and well-over 300 pounds, feet tend to be important.

After Tracy McGrady lost his 2009 season to injury, the Rockets seemed to figure their identity out. They took care of a young and talented Portland team and turned right around to push the eventual NBA Champion Lakers to seven games.

Houston realized its strength: defense, defense and defense. Losing Yao is going to be tough considering 6-foot-9 forward Luis Scola is the next tallest Rocket who earned a credible amount of playing time last season.

—Is any one else enjoying the North Side collapse? The Chicago Cubs roughed its way through the first three months of the year with a 37-38 record, as of July 2. Milton Bradley is angry (normal), Lou Pinella is one onion ring away from a stroke and leadoff man Alfonso Soriano is stomping his .296 on-base percentage into the ground.

With a payroll well over $130 million and facing a deep division, the Cubbies aren't looking like the supposed favorites to represent the National League in the World Series this year.

I love it.