Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wednesday 07/23 A.M. Quickie:
WNBA, Favre, SEC Media Day, Phils, More

Wow, it's not every random, slow summer day that you encounter the defining moment for a sports league. It certainly livens up my Sporting News column today.

But, congratulations, WNBA: You are now a league defined by a brawl involving your biggest superstars, national-TV exposure and a coach pushing a player in the middle of a melee. It's the trifecta of worst-case scenario.

Thankfully for many of you, that YouTube moment -- which will transcend the sports page and make its way to non-sports mainstream media coverage, you just watch -- eclipsed a few things I'm sure you are already sick of:

(1) Brett Favre Watch: So the Packers ARE trying to trade him? I just don't get it. The fans will be so much more irate than if the team either kept him on the bench or bullied him into staying retired.

(2) SEC Media Day, Day 1: Undoubtedly, the last thing most of you want to hear is more about Tebow Tebow Tebow. I, however, can't get enough. I will try to spare you -- for now, obviously. (But how amazing is it that CFB conference media days across the country have become the signal that the new season is here. Between this, the "preview" season, the regular season, the bowl season, the recruiting season and the spring-ball season, CFB has basically become a 10-month-of-the-year sport. That's taking a page from the NFL.)

(3) And New York-centric baseball stories: The Mets collapse to the Phillies (again!) The Yankees win their 9th straight at Yankee Stadium! Yada yada yada... how about this: The Cubs are freaking impotent offensively right now. Or that the trade deadline is coming, and don't think that the Mets loss last night won't inspire them to play for today by trading the farm for Huston Street, Matt Holliday or both.

Prediction: This new urine test for HGH will have more impact in sports over the next few years than anything else. Can you imagine what would happen if we actually had a complete accounting of how many athletes -- NFL and MLB especially -- were using HGH because they knew there wasn't an available test for it?

Not in the SN column (but should have been): Josh Childress bolts the NBA for Greece. Offended by the Hawks, wooed by Greece money, he did what few thought he'd actually go through with: He abandoned the NBA for a better deal. Harbinger or exception?

Complete SN column here, including NFL camping, USA Oops and more.

-- D.S.

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