Three Pitches

STRIKE ONE: The Giants signed Aubrey Huff in the off-season for power hitting, not necessarily for speed. Ironically, his first home run for the Giants, yesterday against the Pirates, was an inside-the-park home run.

STRIKE TWO: Here's me watching Arsenal-Tottenham in the North London derby yesterday, with Vaughn and after a couple beers:

"Watch the crowd, Vaughn. Let's see if we can see Neil."

Vaughn, who has poor vision and wasn't wearing his glasses: "I think you'll have better luck that I will on that for two reasons. One, you actually have vision. Two, you know what Neil looks like."

Me, bringing in the Star Wars references: "Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them."

In any case, we didn't see Neil, but we did see Arsenal lose to Tottenham for the first time in 11 years. When you start losing the big games more and more, that's when you know your dynasty has slipped back a bit. Poor Nick Hornby.

It's interesting, because this year, you can sense a changing of the guard. Liverpool fell out of the Champions League, and probably won't win a Champions League spot next year. There is a battle between Manchester City and Tottenham for England's fourth and final spot. There's either more parity, or--in the case of Manchester City--a lot more money invested in players for teams outside of Chelsea and Manchester United, who are still ahead of the pack.

STRIKE THREE: June 11th is the first day of the World Cup. It's a Friday. Why isn't that a national holiday? If Obama is going to be a jerk about still announcing a National Day of Prayer, then he should at least give us this.