Hope your summer travels have been fun and energizing. (Side question: When did we get to the age when we need a vacation to recover from vacation? So it goes.)
We also hope you summer travels have been only very infrequently plagued by the worst of all backseat questions: "Are we there yet?" (OK, second-worst, "Who did that and what do you say?")
As of today, the correct answer is to the long-time parental nemesis is "We're halfway there."
Today is the final day of the first half of 2014. This weekend we got to the midpoint of the baseball regular season, Wimbledon and even roughly that kickball tournament in South America.
So from the "Talks too much" studios, Daddy, who's gonna' hold your hat?
Baseball turns for home
The big league teams passed the halfway point this weekend, moving beyond the 81-game mark across the league.
We'll break this down in two scenarios: The Atlanta Braves halfway and the league halfway. Deal? Deal.
Philadelphia Phillies' Marlon Byrd is greeted by Cody Asche after his solo home run during their game with the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, June 29, 2014, in Philadelphia.For the Braves, being 44-38 after a four-game sweep of the hapless Phillies is the consummate glass with water reaching the midway portion of the middle.
Is the glass half full, as our ace columnist Mark Wiedmer suggests here? It's a fair assumption considering three of the scheduled five pitchers in the rotation are on the shelf with arm injuries and the Braves are still a half-game in front of Washington in the NL East.
Is the glass half empty? Also a fair assumption since the Braves are next to last in runs in the big leagues - you stay classy San Diego - and have a run differential of zero, meaning they have capitalized on playing in the worst division in baseball - Atlanta is 21-14 against the NL East and 23-24 against everyone else.
The feel of this bunch is that they find a way to win, which is an extreme positive. They also are not as good as their pieces and have struggled to be consistent after a torrid start. That's not a positive.
So at the halfway turn, is the Braves' glass half full or half empty? Hard to know. It does make a fellow thirsty though. Co-Colas for everyone.
We'll say the Braves are individually underachieving while overachieving as a team if that makes sense. And while it's next to impossible to bottle or predict a team's ability to consistently deliver - and these Braves are a serious dichotomy in that department considering they are 16-10 in one-run games and are second in the NL with an average of .273 in late/close situations (a category similar to the offensive equal to a save situation) and one of the worst teams in the baseball with runners in scoring position and two outs (NL-worst .181).
As for the rest of the league, well, who before the season had the two teams playing better than .600 baseball would be the A's and the Brewers? Yep, that's what we thought.
Here's a quick top-five things we think we know this morning:
• Clayton Kershaw is worth the price of admission - be it in Chattanooga or on Mercury. Dude is slap nasty.
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, (27), celebrates his three-run walk off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays on during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 15, 2014.• Mike Trout is worth the price of admission - and he still will be when the Yankees give him a $300-million contract in the next eight months and raise ticket prices every year.
• For all the mumbo jumbo surrounding all-star games in the various leagues, this year's home-run derby could be a lot of fun. Lot of intriguing names in the mix. That said, if Chris Berman is doing the broadcast, we'll have to turn the sound off.
• We are completely open to all the new stats and metrics that baseball has adopted. Case in point, by the WAR stat (wins above replacement that values an array of stats comparative to your position and rates the number of wins a player generates over an average player at that position) the best player in each league is Mike Trout in the AL and Troy Tuloqitzki in the NL. We're good by that. Of course, the WAR argument takes a dent when it has Jason Heyward as the fifth-best player in the NL.
• Halfway home, we'll go with the Jays, Tigers and A's as the divisional winners in the AL. The Nats, Brewers and Dodgers as the divisional winners in the NL. Wildcards, we'll take Yankees and Angels and Giants and Cardinals. Thoughts?
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Halfway to World Cupdom
The U.S. plays Tuesday. We're in.
The world has been focused on the grandness and the play and that's great for soccer fans around the globe.
Dutch soccer fans celebrate their team's victory after they watched the World Cup round of 16 match against Mexico on a live telecast inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, June 29, 2014. The Netherlands staged a dramatic late comeback, scoring two goals in the dying minutes to beat Mexico 2-1 and advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.Something happened Sunday, though, that needs to be addressed. Mexico lost in the knockout round because some dude from the Netherlands tooks dive. Yep, a flop from the Nether regions cost Mexico a World Cup shot. (Side note: Some guy in Vegas bet on the Netherlands to win when they were down 1-0 with less than four minutes left and turned $400 into $20,000. That's a good day - messed around and got a triple-double and everything.)
Maybe acting and faking are parts of all sports, but this has become a significant story line in this World Cup. That and biting, and if biting and flopping are two main terms and we're not talking about throwing a line in a lake somewhere, well, that's not good.
As for the U.S., we need to thank the boys for giving us a great ride so far. Will it continue beyond Tuesday? That seems to be a tall order against Belgium team that waffles between very good and great, especially in the syrupy climate that is eating danger for breakfast like the World Cup.
We'll see, but here's hoping the U.S. pancakes 'em. And flips their flops for that matter.
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Halfway through the sports year
Tomorrow, we're going to offer up our best and worst of the first half of the year.
Today, we'll take some nominations if you want to share them.
Best athlete. Best moment. Worst moment. Best game. We'll even let you guys and gals nominate a category - and winner/loser of course - if you'd like.
So what say you fine, smart folks of the clan? Discuss.
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This and that
- Tomorrow is the first day NBA teams can talk to free agents. The biggest story is the Big Three in Miami, considering each of whom has opted out and appear set to resign in Miami for discounts and the chance to reload a flawed roster. That's completely their right of course, and taking less to make sure you have more qualified co-workers is a an interesting idea.
- Big Papi David Ortiz hit homer No. 450. In the steroid era - and Papi's name has been at least whispered in some of those chats - is Papi a Hall of Famer?
Tiger Woods walks off the 11th green during the second round of the Quicken Loans National PGA golf tournament on Friday, June 27, 2014, in Bethesda, Md.- Tiger returned to the course but managed to keep his weekend open for whatever. Woods' return was less than grand.
- According to news reports, someone with the online handle Blubbler beat Super Mario Brothers in less than five minutes. And somehow, we were amazingly impressed by that. Yes, Super Mario Brothers came out in 1985 - and if you are over 40 and say you never played it, well, hope you're comfortable living in that web of lies - and we watched some of Blubbler's highlights here. As we are wont to do here at the 5-at-10, we celebrate excellence, and today, that excellence belongs to Blubbler. "Ma, MEATLOAF!"
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Today's question
As always, we have the Monday stalwart of who won the weekend. We feel certain this will come up on Press Row today on ESPN 105.1.
Still if you need more, let's discuss a Rushmore of almost all-timers in honor of Mike Tyson turning 47. This is our list of guys who were great, but because of one reason or another, despite a great and even Hall of Fame career, you can make a hard argument they still underachieved.
Discuss, and with Friday being the 4th, let's have at least a few Patriotic questions in the mailbag. Deal? Deal.