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OK, admitted, I forgot to wait until the Braves' inevitable midsummer hot streak (also known as the time of year the rest of the division beats up on itself, or in the case of the Phillies, the time of IMPLOSION) before writing off the Braves. I really didn't mean to, anyway. A few weeks back, I was simply saying a Braves slide was understandable with everybody hurt, whereas pitching-rich Florida had no excuse.

With that said, the Braves will look good in the division race -- and wild-card hunt -- when Hudson, Thomson and Hampton return to the starting rotation because: 1) They've broken in some R-Braves players who will provide nice depth when the injured return to form. 2) The Nats will likely falter at some point. They've won 25 or 26 1-run games and a ton of come-from-behind games. I don't see the success in close games as so much a strength as a statistical anomaly. The law of averages tends to even those close wins out with close losses. I'd feel a lot better about things if Jose Vidro made a quick return to the lineup.

By the way, Bruce, the Nationals just swept the Cubs -- in Chicago, not D.C.

No offense to Tim Kurkjian, but I'm not sure why he's so dazzled by these Richmond Braves. I like Kyle Davies' arm and toughness. But Wilson Betemit was supposed to be a breakthrough star 4-5 years ago. Is he a legit prospect or not? And Pete Orr? Come on.

And, how do you like these numbers?: 29-56. That's the R-Braves' record. Don't say it's terrible because half their team's in Atlanta. They were below .500 at the end of April, when they had many of these young studs that everyone's frothing at the mouth about.

When they win the World Series with this makeshift group, I'll give Bobby Cox his due. Until then, you guys can enjoy feasting on a bunch of shlub NL East teams that have demonstrated over the years they don't know what it takes to win a division like the Braves do.

I will say this: If the wild card's the thing for Atlanta, they don't have Arizona or the Dodgers to worry about. I went to see those clubs play last night at Chavez Ravine, and it was a comedy of errors and all-around bad baseball. Both (they're about 4 under .500) are fading fast. So the Cubs -- and Florida??? -- are the only team to worry about.

(This blog entry's dedicated to sometimes Wang Chung fan Joe Sirera.)

I've crossed off two more ballparks in my quest to visit all the major leagues have to offer while visiting friends in Santa Clarita, Calif., this weekend. A baseball traditionalist though I am, the nod goes to Anaheim's Angel Stadium over Dodgers Stadium. My apologies to Vin Scully, whose treasured radio voice is the best thing the Dodgers have going for them these days.

Really, this is a question of atmosphere, entertainment value and quality of the on-field product. And beer prices.

Dodgers Stadium has a view -- well, it's situated in a ravine, so not much of one, but better than the Angels' backdrop, which is Disneyland. They also have more history (even when just considering post-Brooklyn) -- I caught myself picturing Kirk Gibson's home run landing in the right-field seats. And, of course, there's Scully.

But the Dodgers are also pretty lousy and have a fairly tuned-out following. JD Drew's broken wrist -- he got hit by a pitch in the game we attended Sunday -- doesn't help a lineup that already features such luminaries as Oscar Robles, Antonio Perez, Olmedo Saenz, Jason Werth and Cody Ross. They lost 9-3 to Arizona this night. It was the 2nd-largest crowd in Dodger Stadium history, but, as usual, it arrived late. At least it didn't bolt early -- there were postgame fireworks.

The Angels had their 17th sellout of the year Monday night (thanks also to fireworks). But, unlike Dodgerland, where signs say "Think Blue" and fans act the part, the LA Angels of Anaheim had their place jumping. With the Angels down late, the Rally Monkey rallied the masses. I thought I was fed up with the gimmick by the end of the '02 World Series, but it's actually a pretty fun crowd-riler when those monkeys start dancing around on the big screen. A lot of stuffed monkeys being swung around in the crowd, too.

Whereas Dodgers-D'backs felt like a midseason Triple-A game, Angels-Twins felt like a playoff game. (The matchup very well could happen in October.) Vlad Guerrero, perhaps the best free-swinger in major-league history, blasted one home run halfway to Burbank. Joe Nathan got Darin Erstad to fly out to preserve a 7-5 Twins victory with a man on and Vlad on deck. Man, what I would've given to see that dramatic tet-a-tet with the game on the line.

They've really done a great job refurbishing and remodeling one of the old toilet-bowl stadiums of the '60s-70s. Dodgers Stadium has been spruced up, too, but I refuse to wash down a Dodger Dog with an $8 Sam Adams (12 ounces). I'd rather pay the almost-as-ridiculous $6.75 in Anaheim for that same beer.

One very Southern California thing about both parks: beachball-bopping in the bleachers. Maybe the thing that pushed the Angels over the top, besides the beer prices: Dodgers fans did several waves. Whenever dorks in the Angels crowd tried starting waves, neighboring sections declined. There was a baseball game going on, after all.

So, in what's being called a major upset, London beat out Paris for the 2012 Summer Olympics by a 54-50 vote. Folks in France are in an apparent outrage, bitter toward their rivals across the English Channel. France native Tony Parker, now a San Antonio Spur, went so far as to accuse the IOC of an Anglo-Saxon bias. That seems a bit farfetched given how much animosity the international community has shown Tony Blair and the Bush administration lately for their Iraq policies and the very demographics of the IOC.

Could it be instead the skyrocketing unemployment and crumbling socialist economy of Jacques Chirac's France? Maybe that was a bigger strike against.

Should we feel sorry for Parisians? Je dis: "Mais, non!" (And it's been many years since I studied French, so please no snappy retorts on my grammar or spelling from French teachers.)

First off, in case you missed the comment to my recent blog on London landing the '12 Olympics, I'd like to thank John for sending a link to this London Olympics blog. I, for one, hope the Brits pull it off masterfully. My only suggestion: Don't skimp on the antiterrorism security measures.

Unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee has eliminated baseball and softball from the docket for 2012. Jemele Hill of the Orlando Sentinel makes a compelling case that Major League Baseball, not the IOC, blew it by not agreeing to take three weeks off in the middle of its season to send the world's top players to the Olympics and because of baseball's substandard drug-testing policy.

I don't disagree, but my cynicism cuts both ways. To drop baseball seems preposterous when you consider the huge growth of the sport elsewhere, particularly in Latin America and Asia. IOC prez Jacques Rogge pretty much says baseball and softball are too "Americanized" to be played on the world stage. According to mlb.com, though, there are now 122 world baseball federations, compared to 60 in 1990. About the only place the game hasn't caught on is Europe, which happens to dominate the IOC.

The good news is that baseball and softball could be back as early as 2016. In the meantime, enjoy that team handball.

OK, I rarely encounter much argument to the notion that Chris Berman's baseball shtick has gotten really, really old and he needs to turn down the volume on ESPN. But I went from the usual cringefest to flat-out offended during tonight's Home Run Derby when he dropped a Mark "Al-" Texiera reference. The Rangers first baseman should sue for slander after having his name intentionally entangled with Al Jazeera, the increasingly disreputed Middle East TV network.

Am I overreacting here?

Meanwhile, Bobby Abreu of the Phillies was cranking balls out of Detroit's Comerica Park like he was batting in that silly little bandbox the Phils call home. A record 24 homers in the first round and 41 for the night to beat out hometown favorite Pudge Rodriguez in the finals. Maybe now the 5-tool Venezuelan will stop flying under the radar in the U.S. Then again, he was voted into the NL starting lineup for the first time, and I'm not sure the pre-All-Star game festivities get any better TV ratings than pro billiards.

So, we have two choices here: Johnny Damon was right that Curt Schilling as closer is a bad idea, or Schilling came back too soon from his ankle injury. As "bush league" Alex Rodriguez drilled one of his limp split-finger fastballs for a game-winning home run last night, I couldn't help but noticing Schill's splitter wasn't doing much splitting and his velocity was way down.

And it was hard not to notice that the Yanks -- dreadful for three months -- sense opportunity. They could be leading the AL East by the end of the weekend.

In any event, Schill and the Sox fans still have October '04 to warm their hearts. And I had a Fixx concert at Greene Street to put the ugly Fenway finish out of my mind. Anyone catch my subtle Fixx song-title reference in the headline? No? Figures. It was a great show but not a great turnout.

Sentimentality replaced cynicism in the pro-sports world for a good little while Friday, as Jack Nicklaus finished up at St. Andrews, playing his 38th and final British Open.

At 3-over for the tournament, it was clear he wasn't going to make the cut when he reached the old Swilcan Bridge at No. 18. So the patrons at the Old Course gave him a rousing sendoff. Jack stopped on the bridge, waved and posed for pictures with Steve, his caddy and son, as well as Tom Watson and Brit Luke Donald and their caddies. Corny, sure. But touching as all get out.

And Jack made a nice birdie putt to end his round at even-par 72. A nice final touch.

But imagine how tough it must have been for Donald, a contender, to keep his focus over those last few holes. I'd say he handled the swell of emotions all around him bloody well, although Tiger Woods was getting away from him (and most everyone else) several holes back.

OK, hockey's back. Great. The bad news, at least for those of us who miss the sport, is finding it on TV could be tough this winter now that ESPN has passed on its $70 million option to televise games the next two seasons.

According to this Philadelphia Inquirer report, Comcast wants to bid on hockey. Wonderful. The cable operator that's already conspiring -- along with Orioles owner Peter Angelos -- to keep the Nationals off TV on the East coast, including in Washington, now wants to corner the market on the NHL. If they make the most attractive offer, then all the more power to them. But we in the Triad are beholden to Time-Warner and wouldn't be able to view the Comcast sports channel(s) that would be broadcasting the majority of nationally televised games. (NBC, unlike ESPN, has not opted out of its contract with the great lockout league.)

As the Philly Inquirer story suggests, Comcast might have an answer for hockey fans in Time-Warner land: They own the E! Channel, Style and the Outdoor Life networks. Just think of the potentially bizarre programming juxtapositions you'd have. Gary Thorne reminds viewers: "After the game, keep it here for the raunchy madness of 'The Howard Stern Show.'"

And various other French phrases of distress.

Since Rob and Jeff have effectively banned me from talking about the Tour on Radio Free Sports (I question the whole free thing, personally), I've returned to the blog to tackle a topic that's often hard for Americans to resist:

Picking on the French.

This won't consist of snarky jokes about freedom fries and white flags. Rather, it will rely on cold hard facts.

There have been 19 stages completed in the Tour de France so far. Only one - Stage 12 - has been won by a Frenchman. Only David Moncoutie's win has salvaged some French pride.

There are no Frenchmen in the top 10 in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau fell to 11th.

The last time a Frenchman won the Tour was 1985, when Bernard Hinault won. That's 20 years, if you're counting.

What in the name of Jacques Anquetil is going on here? This is the Tour de FRANCE. How is it possible that the cycling crazy host country has produced so little cycling talent in the last two decades?

As if that weren't enough angst for the French, consider this. If Lance Armstrong claims his seventh title on Sunday, that will make it an even 10 titles for U.S. riders since 1986. And it's not just a case of two phenoms - Armstrong and Greg Lemond. There are two other Americans - Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis - in the top 10. They'll be contenders next year, after Armstrong retires.

Larry Brown's introduction to his eighth NBA head coaching job -- this one with the New York Knicks -- is expected to come any day now.

To me, this guy's got a lot of questions ahead of him, and plenty trailing behind him, too. Going forward, there's the question of the 64-year-old coach's health. Does he have the ability and willingness to put up with NY's fan & media circus while resurrecting the beleaguered Knicks franchise? If so, for more than a year or two before burnout or boredom ... or blazed bridges with management? Will he get paid over $60 mil, double Phil Jackson money? And folks with UNC ties are probably wondering if Brown will be able to secure jobs in the Big Apple for former Tar Heel assistants Phil Ford, Dave Hanners and Pat Sullivan. They worked for him in Detroit, and he was reportedly trying to get them work in Cleveland.

About Cleveland. That remains the big source of angst looking back. Why did he actively flirt with the Cavaliers during the Pistons' playoff run? How much respect did he lose among his players and how much did he torch relations with his bosses? With the success he was having in Detroit, why did his tenure there go all to hell?

I'm in the camp that believes Brown's a brilliant coach. But if I'm an NBA owner, I think I might just run the other way when I see him coming. What a paradoxical character. Listen in tomorrow to our Radio Free Sports podcast (should be up at our Web site after noon) to hear more discussion on the nomadic coach.

Colleague Rob Daniels has heard plenty of ranting from me on how Peter Angelos, the owner of his beloved Baltimore Orioles, only agreed to "allow" Washington to have a baseball team in exchange for the TV rights to the Nationals' games. Angelos is actually the Nats' ally in a legal battle with Comcast, the cable operator that refuses to let its subscribers see the Nationals. But, that said, the Nats have a terrible TV deal -- you pretty much need direcTV to see them in their own market -- by which they can't make any money and Angelos has total control.

My theory being that Angelos has set it up to a) ruin his unwanted neighbor's chances of survival or b) if they're popular, he'll profit from it to the benefit of his franchise, not DC's. You can watch all the Orioles baseball you want in Washington, by the way.

And, as I learned last night, you can watch the O's on Fox Sports South in the Raleigh TV market but not the Braves when they're on FSN South. Because of some twisted geographical logic, RDU is in the O's region, not the Braves' (or Nats, for that matter). Given that there are probably 10 Braves fans in the area for every one Orioles fan, I'd be irate about that arrangement if I were a tomahawk-chopper and letting Time-Warner Cable hear about it. TWC also doesn't offer Turner South in the Raleigh market, cutting down on televised Braves games even further.

I don't care for the Braves personally, but find it perfectly acceptable that TWC makes Braves games available on TBS, FSN South and Turner South in the Triad. Given their majority (or at least plurality) support throughout NC, I find it almost indefensible that the Orioles, not the Braves, hold sway in the Triangle.

It'll be interesting to see how English Premier League champion Chelsea's 2-1 victory over D.C. United tonight will go over back home. It was a preseason exhibition on Chelsea's US tour, a "friendly," as it were. So maybe not the truest test of the MLS champion's legitimacy as an international-level soccer club.

As a test of American interest in the sport, how do you think it did? The match drew 31,000 to the Redskins' FedEx Field. Not sure of the TV audience at this point. Probably niche interest, at most. It is what it is.

The acrobatics of United teenager Freddy Adu was a sight to behold, for those who were watching. Chelsea, owned by a Russian with deep pockets and alleged mob ties, likes what it has seen of him, apparently. The ESPN announcers said Adu's mom was a guest in their owner's suite at one point during the game.

It was also good to see former Southwest Guilford HS and ECU star Clyde Simms flying around the midfield for United late in the game.

T.A. McLendon, one of the most talented running backs to ever come through N.C. State, continues to sputter as a would-be NFL back. The N&O's Caulton Tudor notes his quick release from the Atlanta Falcons, examining his history of falling short of expectations because of injuries and lack of heart.

Word out of Spartanburg, where the Carolina Panthers open training camp this weekend, is that Stephen Davis' knee troubles will prevent him from returning any time soon. He's expected to fail his physical and to be put on the PUP -- active Physically Unable to Perform list. So maybe McLendon, from nearby Albemarle, can get an invitation to Panthers camp.

You can now catch N&R staffers Jeff Carlton, Rob Daniels and Jim Young in the studio talking about ACC football, Larry Brown's travels and ESPN's poor choice of "50 states in 50 days" theme music on our latest Radio Free Sports podcast. The last two weeks of podcasting have belatedly been posted, too.