General: B-Side Rumblings

Did something happen recently in the wonderful sport of boxing? I wouldn't know because I didn't feel the need to pony-up $49.95 for the Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones, Jr. fight.

Boxing -- by far the most interesting and charismatic sport of them all where you can't watch it on television (ESPN Friday Night Fights don't count) without ordering pay-per-view. Just another reason to hate the sport that brought us Mike Tyson and Don King.

Okay, maybe I was wrong about the Lakers. Maybe they can just turn it on during the playoffs and win titles whenever they feel like it. I guess they didn't feel like it in '99 or '03. Thanks, Lakers, for allowing us the joy of watching the Spurs in the finals. What a treat for people who like to see the ball go through the basket a few times per game. Or not.

Remember when the Royals were the darlings of Major League Baseball? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Kansas City, 13-27 at week's end, finished 83-79 last season. In the AL Central. Wow. Maybe they deserved a ribbon or a medal. I think everyone forgot that you need one thing that the Royals don't have to be a true playoff contender: PITCHING!

The wait is finally over. (Trumpets sounding) the WNBA is baaaaaack! I was all pumped about the new season when I tuned in to the big tilt on ABC Saturday between Phoenix and UConn, er, the Connecticut Sun. Then a strange thing happened to curb my excitement as I found something more interesting to watch. The wall. No, not a documentary on the Pink Floyd album, I mean the actual wall next to the TV. I only wish I would have watched some grass grow as well.

File this one away in the category of things you don't want to hear: Congrats on winning your playoff series and advancing to the next round. For your trouble, you get to play the Lakers.

Despite its recent playoff woes in Game 7's, the Sacramento organization's scouting department should win an award for finding two excellent high school players. Chris Webber and Bobby Jackson have made very successful careers in the NBA after leaving right out of the 12th grade.

What's that you say? Webber played at Michigan and Jackson at Minnesota and both led their teams to final fours? I looked in the NCAA record book and I didn't find any stats. I also checked Minneapolis and Ann Arbor and I didn't find any banners.

If you took a peak at the 1986 Topps Barry Bonds rookie card, you would have all the information you needed to make a judgement on whether or not Bonds is "juicing."

Last year at this time if you have said that in the coming 12 months Sammy Sosa would be caught with a corked bat and be placed on the DL due to a bad sneezing episode, I would have slapped you for being such an idiot. Funny how things work out.

Ah, graduation party time. What a great time to be homeless. You can wonder around from yard to yard for weeks and pretend to belong just long enough to grab a few ham sandwiches and some potato salad. Only thing is you have to find a clean shirt first.

Speaking of homeless, I see Kerry Collins' career has come to this. Either become Brett Favre's backup (which means he might get to dress for a couple games) or, well, go back to a life of drinking.

Maybe next column I write the NHL playoffs will be over. No, I wouldn't be that lucky.