General: What will you say? (and other sports-related items)

In August, Danny Almonte of Bronx, New York, amazed the sporting world when he struck out 48 of 51 batters in a span of three games during the Little League World Series. This included a perfect game and a no-hitter in consecutive affairs. He didn't allow his first hit until the third game he pitched.

But it's not the perfect game, nor the no-hitter, nor the 48 strikeouts administered that we'll remember Danny Almonte by.

No, it's the fact that he was really 14-years old during the Little League World Series that people will remember him. It'll be the fact that his father forged a birth certificate to make him eligible for the series that he'll be remembered by. And, the fact that his coach knowingly, and willingly, allowed Almonte to pitch, even though he was 14, and is banned from Little League for life... yeah, he'll be remembered for that as well.

And that's what's so sad in all of this.

What's forgotten is that Danny Almonte struck out 94 percent of the batters he faced. So what if they were two-to-four years younger than him? The kid could flat out pitch. He looks like Pedro Martinez: small and wiry. And, he pitches like Randy Johnson, whipping his left arm like a lion tamer. Only the lions were 10, 11, and 12-year olds. But, it's not hard to be amazed by Almonte's performance. You'll never see Pedro Martinez or Randy Johnson mow down 48 out of 51 batters (although Johnson did strike out 20 in nine innings this season). You'll never see a major league pitcher -- at least in this lifetime -- pitch a perfect game and then one game later throw a no-hitter. No way, not in the era of the homerun.

So what will you say if you ever see Danny Almonte in a major league uniform? Will you say, "I hear that kid has a nasty slider," or will you say "Ain't that the kid whose birth certificate was forged by his dad so he could play in Little League?"

In conclusion, can we just leave the kid alone?

Let's go Fresno! -- Fresno State is the talk of college football after beating Wisconsin 32-20 in their first win ever against a Big Ten opponent. They're also 11th-ranked in the latest AP poll after moving up from No. 19 the week before. The Bulldogs have beaten three highly regarded opponents -- Colorado (24-22), national title contenders Oregon State (44-21), and Big Ten power Wisconsin (32-20) -- in an attempt to bring back respectability to the WAC conference. You remember the WAC, the school that used to have Brigham Young University, who won the national title way back in 1983? And San Diego State, whose most famous alumnus are Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott?

Yes, that conference. Those teams are gone, but high-scoring affairs still preside. Just ask the aforementioned squads, who were scorched by Heisman Trophy candidate David Carr and a powerful West Coast-style offense. The Bulldogs have a legitimate shot at providing a shot in the arms of the people in charge of the BCS. If they can go 10-0 the rest of the way and win the WAC (the only potholes in the road from now on are Hawaii and Colorado State), Fresno State will provide the committee with a major problem in deciding who goes to which bowl. Although the WAC has a commitment with the Humanitarian and Silicon Valley Bowls (the conference winner goes to the Silicon Valley Bowl), it would be great for a conference that wants to give the BCS committee and Division 1-A football a shot in the arm. After the way BYU was treated after 1996, a season which they went 13-1, but was shafted by the BCS committee, we hope the same committee will be smarter this time around.

So for those of us who abhor and despise the Bowl Championship Series -- myself included -- raise your beer glasses high and cheer for Fresno State to go 13-0 and gain a major bowl berth.

Pennant Pieces Collecting -- It's only a matter of time before the teams in the American League playoffs will be set in stone. With the exception of a new AL Central champion, Cleveland, last season's playoff contenders (NY Yankees, Seattle, Oakland) will be in the ALDS. Seattle's magic number to win the west is three, while the Yankees' to win the east is eight and the Tribe's number is 13. Oakland's wild card magic playoff number is dwindling down to nine games.

As for the National League, it will be a fight to the finish. Playoff mainstays Atlanta is in front of Philadelphia by three-and-a-half games as the Braves host a three-game set against the same Phillies. Don't count out the Mets, either. The defending pennant holders are eight games out but have been on a tear lately. In the Central, the Houston Astros are beginning to pull away from the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Out in the West, it's a three-way dogfight between Arizona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Giants also hold the wild card berth by one-and-a-half games over the Cardinals.

While the American League playoffs are almost a certainty, it'll be a wild September in the National League with as many as nine teams vying for only four playoff spots.

Translation: fun!