And Behold, a White Flag

Fitting that I was able to fly the white flag to herald my return here after a week long hiatus. (Or if not fitting--and it's probably not--at least pleasant.) While I wasn't writing about sports, I was engaged in one of the more mantacular extended weekends in recent memory, involving a marathon horseshoe pitching session (pictured at left in a stunning action shot), piles of barbecued meats, two Sox-Yankees games, and visits to both the Basketball Hall of Fame AND the Baseball Hall of Fame. (The National Soccer and Horseracing Halls of Fame were withing striking distance as well, but there's only so much three guys can do. Big thanks to all involved, specifically Brennan, Justin, Kate, Christina, Andy, Erica, Scott and the Dodge Avenger.)

And there's still more on tap. I've got the Rockies v. Orioles on Saturday in my first ever visit to Camden Yards followed by my first ever international soccer experience with the US v. El Salvador next Tuesday.

But before I can get there, I have to go back and pick-up on some of the stories I missed over the weekend and there were a number of them. Please indulge me as I rehash the recent past...

The Great Dugout Punch-out...So Carlos Zambrano bloodied Michael Barrett's lip on Friday. In addition to the joy of seeing my two favorite Cubs have at it, I was fully in favor of this. Neither party was really wrong based on my lip-reading skills. Zambrano's right in the fact that Barrett needs to start playing some defense and make better decisions. Barrett, however, is also right because Big Z needs to start locating some pitches so guys don't keep jacking it clear out there (as evidenced by Michael's pointing.) If you can't fight with your catcher, who can you fight with? Besides, it's not like what the Cubs were doing prior to the brouhaha was working anyway.

Sweet Lou covers his tracks...The Lou Pinella era in Chicago can officially begin after his first ejection as a Cub on Saturday. I was entirely okay with this as well for the exact same reason as above: what could it hurt? Since then the Cubs have won three out of four, including taking two of three "on the road" against the division leading Brewers.

The Cubs have played six of 17-straight games and they're sitting at 3-3. Ending up above .500 at the end of that grueling stretch is essential.

Thank you very much, King James...On May 22, following Cleveland's Game 1 loss to Detroit, I asked LeBron to give me excellence, to save the playoffs from being as boring as it has been in recent memory and deliver a career making performance.

He delivered. His Game 5 performance was as good as you'll ever see and Game 6 was simply a feather in his crooked conference champions hat. But now the question is can he do it again?

I'm extremely doubtful. San Antonio is everything Detroit is not: savvy, championship tested, well-coached and confident. (Not to mention a great team defensively.) Cleveland, at least the non-LeBron portion, is still Cleveland.

If you're looking for alternative storylines, I'm fully in favor of Mike Brown employing the John Cheney method and sending in Scot Pollard to take Bruce Bowen out. From a victory standpoint, this would more effectively be used against Duncan, Ginobili or Parker but it would be so much more satisfying if Bruce got some of his own medicine.

Hole in the Sox?...The Yankees took two of three from the Red Sox in Boston and I just so happened to be in attendance for both of them. Purely a coincidence, I'm certain, but they've gone on to lose two more to Oakland to start the week.

Despite 50-degree temperatures and intermittent rain, Sunday night's game was a fun one to watch. A questionable call at home cost the Sawx their sixth run of the evening which lead to the epic showdown between Loozeana Pap and A-Rod.

After Papelbon blew the first two pitches by Rodriguez, my brother called for a slider down and away. I disagreed, said Loozeana Pap would go back to the heat and he did and A-Rod flipped his bat out there and drove the ball out of one of the deepest parts of the park. Ball game.

I still support the decision. When you're working with a double-digit lead over the Bombers you can get in to some pissing matches. But this also might be why my brother has coached two Legion baseball teams to the state tournament and I, well, write about coaching.

Good to be back.