The latest bytes

Well, let's see. Justin Verlander, ace pitcher of the Detroit Tigers, just got shelled by the Kansas City Royals. Who do those guys think they are? The National League All-Stars that did the same thing? This is not a big deal. It's the big leagues. Even the best are going to get rock and rolled once in a while.

Tennis' Williams sisters are steam-rolling their not-so-good opponents in the early rounds of the U.S. Open. Yawn. Venus will likely bow out somewhere around the quarter-finals and Serena will play for the championship against some tall blond Russian girl. The only thing in question is which one of them will register higher on the shriek-o-meter every time they hit the tennis ball. Damn, that's annoying, not to mention the epitome of unladylike.

Once again, Tiger Woods played 2 days of good golf to be in contention at a PGA tournament, then his scores inflated like an air bag in a head-on collision over the weekend. This is starting to become a rather nasty habit for dear Eldrick.

To my knowledge, no Detroit Lions have been arrested in the past week or so. They still have ZERO running game, and the defensive secondary raises more questions than your average Jeopardy! panel, but hey, if they can continue to shut down the rap sheets -- it's a start.

Reigning NASCAR champion Tony Stewart blew up and threw his helmet at a competitor's car. To which I say -- it's about time. Those boys have been on their best behavior WAY too long, to the point of becoming boring. Nothing like some "bad blood" heading into the "chase" to spice it up. The attendance at race tracks and TV ratings have been going down steadily. If they really wanted to jump start it -- instead of Danica Patrick stomping her feet in a little hissy fit after yet another of her race cars was wrecked, have her pull what former US soccer star Brandi Chastain once did. Unzip the race suit, and rip off her shirt on national TV. The media would go berserk for weeks. BAM. Instant ratings. It might be for all the wrong reasons, but nothing ambulance chasing lawyers and typical politicians don't do on a regular basis. It's the American way, and who doesn't like a couple of raspberries on a piece of white toast?

No recent tweets from the likes of Kobe Bryant or Lebron James making the news. Thank you Lord for small favors.

Nothing new on the NHL - Players Association negotiations. This does not bode well for hockey fans. Commissioner Gary Bettman will probably never lead the NHL back into the mainstream of sports it once enjoyed. Why not try something different? Appoint former NBA great Charles Barkley as Commissioner. Sure, he never played the game either, but how much fun would it be with, excuse the pun, Charles in charge? Ya gotta love him.

With 30-some games remaining in the major league baseball season, a lot of teams are still in the hunt for playoff spots. It will likely go down to the last week, possibly even the last game of the regular season, to determine who moves on and who goes home. Many scribes and talking heads wrote or told us a loss in April or May didn't matter. It's early and a long season, they say every year. Yet if it comes down to the last game and their team needs to win -- well -- yours truly has always been of the opinion that the first game of the year counts just as much as the last. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. After 162 games, we'll find out who's who, and it's all about wins and losses -- over the ENTIRE season. Remember that next spring when you hear the same thing, from the same people, and let them know about it.

On a more positive note, it won't be long until apple cider becomes available. I love Michigan apple cider. The problem with that is if one drinks too much of it, their digestive tract tends to become quite loose.

It's sort of like paying 6 or 8 bucks for a draft beer worth maybe a quarter while watching what the Detroit Pistons are going to have to offer in the near future at the Palace in Auburn Hills. Either way, one eventually doesn't feel so hot, things get a little stinky, and it will involve a lot of toilet paper.