3 Strikes: Where Colt McCoy Channels His Inner Dirk Diggler

(Taking swings at funny/embarrassing/ridiculous items across the sports world)

Strike #1: ESPN loves it's Little League Baseball...maybe a little too much - Don't get me wrong, I love seeing baseball played in it's purest form by kids playing for love of the game, not money, fame or a chance to sport those fancy dreadlocks (right Jim Rice?). But at a certain point, enough is enough. It's the end of August and almost every division in both MLB is still up in the air, NCAA and NFL football are about to start and Brett Favre is back (that is still news right?). While all of this is going on, we're treated to 4 to 6 hours of little league a day on both ESPN and ESPN2. For one, the setup of the tournament is so confusing the BCS committee can't figure out how it works. And two, if want to watch sloppy baseball for hours on end, I'll move out west and put the Mariners and Padres games on separate TVs. Give me highlights of the games on Sportscenter and come get me when they're playing for the title in Williamsport.

Strike #2: Riding the Medical Mets Ambulance All the Way to the Bottom - If I would have told you before the start of the season that the Mets would be 16 1/2 games out of first place at the end of August, how many people would have demanded a immediate drug test? The injury bugs have swarmed on this team to the point they are calling Joba Chamberlain for tips on making them go away. This season is already a lost cause, but what's scary is this looks like the beginning of the end for this Mets squad. Watching Omar Minaya's willingness to basically give Billy Wagner to the Red Sox and put Carlos Delgado on the trading block, you get the feeling this off-season is going to look very similar to a Marlins post-World Series fire sale. Alot of big contracts and alot of unhappy players should have fans of the "Amazins" very worried for the future.

Strike #3: The "Magic Man" and Boxing's Incredible Disappearing Act - If you missed last Saturday's HBO broadcast of the Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz-Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi fight, you're not alone. This travesty of a match hasn't gotten as much play (outside of boxing circles) that it should have. Quick recap: Malignaggi takes the fight on short notice in Diaz's hometown of Houston, calls out the judges selected for the fight for being "Golden Boy's gophers", fights the fight of his career for 12 rounds by keeping Diaz off of him with superior technique en route to a 115-113 win on HBO's Harlod Lederman's (and my) scorecard. Problem is we didn't score the fight and the "Magic Man" called his shot. An extremely close fight was deemed a 115-113, 116-112, 118-110 (!!!!) unanimous decision for Diaz. For the unintiated, a 116-112 score means 8 rounds to 4 for Diaz and the ludicrous 118-110 score is 10 rounds to 2 for Diaz. And promoters and fighters wonder why people are migrating to MMA? This was disgusting and Paulie put the boxing world on blast in his post-fight interview. "Boxing is full of s--t, I used to love this sport" a fired up Malignaggi said while demanding that a rematch be held in New York City so he can get his fair shake. When a fighter can declare BY NAME the judge (or judges) who is going to screw him out of a fight, your sport has a serious problem. Controversy like this is nothing new to boxing, but if it continues, even the hardcores may abandon ship. The true test of boxing's vitality will be the Mayweather-Marquez bout in September, which is held the same night as UFC 103 in Dallas. Comparing the PPV buys for these events could be very telling as the future of boxing's drawing power against developing juggernaut that is MMA.

Foul Ball: Cue the Bad Keyboard Music at Longhorns Practice! - Just as I was deciding whether the Michael Vick dog jersey was a better or worse idea than Colt McCoy's unfortunate porno 'stache, comes news that he will be parting with his Dirk Diggler tribute on Tuesday. First good audible of the season by Heisman candidate, he was starting to get that Spencer Pratt skin-colored facial hair thing going.

Going Down Swinging (Ridiculous Item of the Day): Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley - The first year coach said in the Kansas City Star that no one had made the roster as of right now. OK coach, we're totally buying what you're selling. So that monster deal you signed Matt Cassell to is so he can sit on the bench behind Tyler Thigpen? Makes you wonder though, does that mean that camp is super competitive this year or that everyone on the squad is as immature as Larry Johnson and Dwayne Bowe?

Going Down Looking (Must Watch Game of the Night):Dodgers v. Rockies - The team most believed to be the best team in baseball two months ago has seen it's lead in the NL West dwindle to 2 games over the Rockies, who were 15 games back when they replaced Clint Hurdle with Jim Tracy. Now the Rockies are the hottest team in baseball and could be tied for the the division lead by Friday morning. Colorado is a fun team to watch and this series means alot for both teams, definitely not one to be missed.