The Weekend in Review

Ramblings from a guy who was once traded for a soccer ball

• I think that "baseball players not wearing their caps" is up there with "womens basketball players trying to walk in heels" as far as awkward athlete moments go. Their hairstyles are never what you expect. For example, in addition to the insane amount of balding guys, you also have Sean Casey's circa 1996 hair Brett Boone's inexplicable frosty tips.


• Alicia Ratay realized she couldn't live without basketball, and is currently looking to play in Europe. She'll be in the WNBA in no time.


• Danny Almonte, the kid who pitched a perfect game in the Little League World Series at age 14 (the age limit is 12), has recently led his high school to a New York state championship. Almonte reportedly has an 87 mph heater and a wicked breaking ball. But wait, there's more. Because he took a year off before entering high school, Almonte is currently a 17 year old sophomore. What does this mean? Well, his senior year, he'll be 19 - a year or two older than everyone else he plays against.


• Finally, be sure to check out C'mon Ref!, a Detroit-centric blog that was nice enough to link to us.

Transaction Wire

• Three way trade: YHC gets 2b Jose Vidro from Gammonsesquity; MMEB get 3B Corey Koskie from YHC and free booze from Gammonsesquity; Gammonsesquity gets 2B Luis Castillo from MMEB. A great trade all around - Dave gets insurance at 2B in case Brett Boone gets busted for 'roids, Kanka's team gets younger and faster, and Klondike gets free booze.


• White Sox trade RP Billy Kock to Florida for a minor leaguer. Well, Koch was always more of a thrower than a pitcher, and Billy Beane basically cheated when he was able to get Keith Foulke for Koch a few years ago. Now that Koch is barely topping 90, it's time for him to reinvent himself as a setup man in Florida.


• Royals trade RP Jason Grimsley to Baltimore. Ah, it took a whole year for the Royals to return to their "trade everyone as soon as their good" philosophy.


• Phil Jackson is out of LA (poor baby doesn't want to rebuild). Shaq and Kobe shouldn't be far behind.


• Rumor has it that there's a small shot the Cavs would trade Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Carlos Boozer for Shaq and Luke Walton. That's terrrrible! Yeah, let's give up my favorite Cav (Boozer) for my two least favorite Lakers. Why don't we trade for Warren Sapp, Shannon Sharpe, and Ray Lewis while we're at it. Yippee!


• Everyone's probably heard the Tracy McGrady for Steve Francis rumor by now. Random question: who's better, McGrady or Kobe? I'd say Kobe is a smarter player, but if you want pure talent (at least as a scorer), I'd take McGrady.


• WNBA news: rumor has it that the Minnesota Lynx are interested in a trade to bring Lindsay Whalen (or Whay Dizzle, as her friends call her) to her hometown team. The Lynx are prepared to give up three players, including former K-State standout Nicole Ohlde, but the Connecticut Sun allegedly want four players in return for the rookie guard.

I have all the KankaMatic transactions up to date, so don't worry. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to update the web pages, however. Scoring on the main page, however, is up to date.