Tagliabue's decision and his supporting opinion are the latest installment

And then Tagliabue reached his highest level of pedantry and pretension with, "If the league wishes to suspend a player for pre-game talk including 'offers' to incentivize misconduct, it must start by imposing enhanced discipline for illegal hits that involved the kind of player misconduct that it desires to interdict."

Tagliabue's decision and his supporting opinion are the latest installment in one of the most bizarre chapters in the history of a league that has thrived with heroic players, solid leadership and lucrative television contracts, and now finds itself watching its former commissioner snipe at its current commissioner on a discipline case that should have been easy.

Yet Chris Paul is with the Clippers

Yet Chris Paul is with the Clippers, Howard with the Lakers, and players seemingly still are getting where they want, how they want.

But if the Lakers, or other potential suitors, knew the Heat could "franchise" LeBron, would they be as quick to shove Kobe and Pau out the door? We've already seen what can happen to teams that bank on free agency and come up short, such as the Mavericks after their failed offseason bid for Deron Williams.

Just this past week DeShawn Stevenson, now of the Hawks but then of the Mavericks, said the forward-thinking approach of Mark Cuban toward 2012 free agency essentially robbed Dallas of at least getting back to the Finals against the Heat.

To his credit, Cuban wanted it all. To Dallas' detriment, it effectively, at least as Stevenson now claims, cost Dallas a season of championship contention.

In the wake of 2010 free agency, David Stern spoke of how the process drew focus to his league, created the type of offseason interest heretofore unseen in the NBA during the summer months. 

NHL players raise their stick and a skate into the air

After an impressive dunk, NBA players release primal yells. NHL players raise their stick and a skate into the air and do a one-legged jig after scoring a goal. And more than a few baseball sluggers have stood at home plate admiring their work a little longer than usual.

Tiger Woods ... you know, back when he was Tiger Woods... pumped his fist, his face contorting whenever he dropped a big putt in a major championship ... you know, back when he won major championships. Such displays were the antithesis of accepted conservative golf decorum. The old guard considered it tacky and in bad taste.

What Alburquerque did was nothing compared with the competition.

Who is Josh Reddick to stand as judge and jury in regards to respecting the game after he showed up the home-plate umpire by angrily flipping his bat after a disputed called third strike?

Diggs actually missed the pylon

"Diggs is an amazing player," said quarterback PerryHills, the front end of Diggs's 113-yard afternoon. "I'm very privileged to have him on my team. Just makes big plays every time he touches the ball. It's a great opportunity to play with him."

And yet there's the obvious question mark. Diggs only had three receptions. He returned seven kickoffs and punts and was solid again in that aspect. But when the ball came his way on plays from scrimmage, the Mountaineers had no answer for the Good Counsel product.

His first score came on a 15-yard out route in front of West Virginia's bench. Diggs planted, tiptoed near the sideline and got solid blocks from Marcus Leak and Kevin Dorsey. Running side-by-side with Mountaineers cornerback Pat Miller, Diggs took flight from the four-yard line, football in his right hand.

Diggs actually missed the pylon. He landed three yards into the end zone.

The membership of Augusta is comprised of a good percentage

I also wonder if Martha Burk and the National Council of Women's Organization's hadn't made a public spectacle about admitting women back in 2002 if the decision to add women members wouldn't have been made faster.

The membership of Augusta is comprised of a good percentage of the most powerful men in the world, men for whom bully and bluster can often fall on deaf ears.

That's where you get the "but not at the point of a bayonet," comment from Hootie Johnson.

Well, that bayonet has dulled in the past decade and Augusta will be the better for it.

The backup catcher was in the lineup Wednesday

Upon re-entering the Dodger clubhouse, Treanor said he was greeted with a hug by teammate Matt Kemp, who was shouting "U-S-A, U-S-A!"

Treanor plans on watching the part of the final that he missed later Wednesday night after the Dodgers game and expects to do a lot more crying and shouting when that time comes.

"Deep down in my heart I wanted to be there for all three of them," he said.

The backup catcher was in the lineup Wednesday night and Mattingly joked, "he wasn't playing until she won."

Treanor said he's hopeful to see his wife in Miami when the Dodgers take on the Marlins, but he's not sure if she'll be able to make it with all the media hoopla that will surround her in the next week. He is beyond proud of his wife for all she has accomplished, getting emotional while talking about all of her accomplishments. 

Thole skipped a single off the front of the mound

"Nothing was as sharp as I needed it to be," said Young.

The Mets finally awakened in the fourth. David Wright opened with a double into the left-center field gap. One out later, Lucas Duda walked and Scott Hairston smashed a double to left, scoring Wright from second. Kirk Nieuwenhuis then sliced a single to left, sending two more runs home. Nieuwenhuis had entered the series batting .133 (6-for-45) since June 16.

Thole skipped a single off the front of the mound and into center field. That ended the night for Young, as Jordany Valdespin came up to pinch hit in the ninth spot. He popped out. Then Ruben Tejada, who fell into a two-strike count, shortened his swing and poked a single through the right side, scoring Nieuwenhuis to make it 5-4.