Some mid-week thoughts and links...

Interesting that heading into tonight's game, Chipper Jones leads the Braves in games played with 126. Chipper just played 128 all of last year while winning the batting title. Maybe at his age he should cap his number of games so he doesn't run out of gas again in the future...

Yep, those Braves dragged me back in after winning 5 in a row while Colorado lost 4 in a row. Still, being 5 back with just 2 1/2 weeks to play is still a longshot.

I bragged on here recently about how impressive Ichiro's run has been during his 9 year big league career. Another guy that sometimes goes overlooked is Joe Mauer. We waited 65 years between catchers winning batting titles before Mauer in 2006. Now, at .374 through Wednesday, he is a virtual lock for his 3rd in 4 years. In fact, since George Brett's .390 clip in 1980, no player has hit higher than .373 in a season in the American League.

One potential downfall of building a multi-multi million dollar stadium with a trillion dollar scoreboard that is in the way of the actual game is that you still need to fill the 100K seats or your local TV coverage gets Blacked Out. Jerry! Jerry!

In response to Beezbo earlier this week, I have to retract my statement about the best-case scenario in the UT-UF game. The thought of the look on Urban Meyer and the rest of Gator Nation after a loss on Saturday is waaaaaay better than Meyer putting up 50+ on Lame Kiffen. Touche Beezbo. Prediction remains UF 49 UT 10.

Tough luck for DE Rod Battle of UGA as it appears he will not be eligible for a medical redshirt after tearing his ACL against South Carolina. He will not be recovered from his surgery in time to work out at the NFL combine and can't come back like Jeff Owens did this year and play out his full senior year. Good luck Rod, hope someone gives you a shot at the next level.

Those interested in the 2010 MLB draft should check out Baseball America's top 25 prospects. Most people know the name Bryce Harper now, but GT pitcher Derek McGuire and UGA pitcher Justin Grimm also make the list. The #4 player is one of the 2 1st rounders that did not sign from the 2009 draft, Levon Washington. Interesting that his college is listed as Chipola JC and not the University of Florida, which was listed as his college committment choice leading up to the draft.

Can't wait to get to the GA Dome on Sunday and watch the Falcons in their retro 1966 jerseys. The Birds look good and there is nothing like being excited about your NFL team on a Sunday morning.

Big surprise that Mike Hampton is out for the entire 2010 season. If Mike decides to come back again after major surgery to pitch in 2011, he will be working on 46 starts in 6 seasons. He will be pushing 40 at that time so I would imagine this is it for old Mike. What a career. He earned over $125 million for his career and will likely finish with a 148-115 record with a 4.07 ERA. Those career earnings place him 19th all-time, just ahead of Roger Clemens, Chipper Jones, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, and Curt Schilling.

Looks like Cal is still under the radar even after 2 convincing wins to start the season. Javhid Best is looking even better than last year and the defense is very good, even for the Pac-10. Look for Best to be close to 2,000 yards by Bowl season and maybe put Cal in position to play in a BCS bowl for the 1st time in school history. The school hasn't had a Heisman winner either, but playing out west with Tim Tebow on the ballot? Probably not gonna happen.

NC State opened the season with South Carolina at home and has Pitt at home next week. In between? Two games against FCS opponents (Murray St and Gardner-Webb). If you are going to schedule 2 FCS games, at least spread them out so observers forget that you have already played one. Pretty easy schedule for the Wolfpack this year playing 8 home games. With only 2 ranked teams on their schedule, this one has to be one of the easiest in all of FBS. And 1 of the 2 is UNC and they probably won't be ranked for long if they don't improve quickly.

Finally, a couple more ACC football thoughts. Virginia is currently 0-2 and are 17 point underdogs to Southern Miss. If they don't compete Saturday, Al Groh has to be gone. Also, the GT line keeps moving Miami's way. Last I checked, Miami was a 5.5 point favorite against the Jackets. GT has won the last 4 meetings and the only reason Miami is being touted now is their name and the fact they beat FSU. Well, after dodging the Jax St bullet last week, it doesn't appear FSU is any good either. Take GT and the points and UVA and the points playing for their coaches job...