A day at the ballpark

Well, I finally went to Miller Park Saturday to see the 2008 Brew Crew in person.

I have come to enjoy coming watching the moving parts and organized chaos of batting practice. Ned Yost holds court with the beat writers and corrects them on his thought processes, and they banter back and forth on what and why things work and don't work. It is always good to see familiar faces and shake hands and give pounds to those I haven't seen in a while. Miller Park is a well-designed, well-run ballpark that makes my job of getting info and getting around very easy.

A big crowd showed up to see the Cardinals for the wrap-around series that runs through Monday. It is always interesting to watch a sporting venue fill up to capacity before a game and watch the fan energy enter the facility.

Watching Ben Sheets pitch is like dating a sexy girl who, for whatever reason, gives you hope of being a soul mate but does something that makes you get cold feet about the whole deal.

Here are some more Haywood Hits: The NBA Playoffs have been off the chain (that's slang for good). You are seeing the new blood (Paul, Howard, Williams) mix with ol' dogs that still hunt (Kobe, K.G., Duncan) which is leading to fun and interesting series ...

"Hard Knocks" on HBO coming up in August and the show just might be better than the entire NFL season. Look at all the subplots that are going to be there, with the head coach / offensive coordinator, Pacman, T.O., Romo, etc., and the top man, Merry Jones. It will be must-see TV ...

There are some good fights coming up on pay-per-view and cable as well. Check out "The Ghost" Kelly Pavlick -- he can fight, take a punch and throw one, too. He' is very entertaining.