A Few Notent Notables

• I finally read the comments to my All-Star game post and put up a response. If Justin and Chris and anyone else wants to continue the discussion, I'll add more. Here's the direct link. I stand by my broader list of All-Timers. Even if Ichiro doesn't make the HOF, he's someone I'll talk about for the rest of my life. But I do like Justin's unique classification of Manny Ramirez in the "Manny Ramirez" category. He's not quite on par with some of the other guys on that level, but you can't put him down a notch either. He's so quirky, we'll never forget him. He's the best RBI guy of the past decade. He's Manny Ramirez.
• I'm trying to cut back on the amount I post about PEDs, but I figured I should weigh in on the latest cyclist to test positive. First off, I've watched every single leg this year (with TiVo I can knock them off in an hour and a half) and many stages from the past three years and I've never heard of Patrik Sinkewitz. Second, I think his positive test is very overblown which is bad but also good. It's bad because it's getting the most coverage I've seen of the Tour on ESPN.com. It's good because one positive test is causing such a strong backlash from cyclists and media. I'm even more convinced that this is the cleanest Tour in 20 years. The punishments for doping are so severe and the damage to a riders reputation is so great, I believe most cyclists will decide its not worth it.
• What a great weekend for the Sports Sauna! The British Open, David Beckham in the MLS, and the Tour de France hits the Pyrenees. Alas, it's also going to be quite a busy weekend for me so I probably will only catch the Open live.