Gas prices making a few staples obsolete

I'm sure you've seen those signs at every gas pump, or on the door to the station. You know, the sign that says, "We do not accept bills of $50 or more." Well, it's about time for those to come down. I drive a Honda Civic, and it costs me about $35 to fill it up. So, that sign tells me that the gas station doesn't have $15 for my change? Well, I know they do. But what about people who drive trucks and SUVs? Their gas costs are upwards of $100 a tank. But the gas stations can't take two $50 bills for that fill up? I noticed a new sign the other day. It said something to the tune of, "Please check inside before presenting a bill of $50 or more." Glad to see things are changing.

Another change that needs to be in the works are for those of us who never pay for gas with cash. It's no new thing, but credit card companies have a limit to how much you can spend per day at the pump. According to a USA Today article, MasterCard customers have a $75 limit. Visa and Discover customers are restricted even more, with a $50 cap. Like I said, these restrictions are not new. But they're just not being noticed as gas prices are pushing purchases past the cap limit. People are having to use two and three credit cards at one day to ensure a complete fill-up. Oh, you can also use just one card if you pay inside. That, however, completely destroys the convenience of pay-at-the-pumps. Come to think of it, so does having to use three credit cards to full up your Ford Environmentblaster. Because the limits are imposed by the credit card companies, and not the gas stations, it doesn't look like the rules are going to be bent anytime soon. Until then, better get a second card.

He said "butt" and "scratch" in the same paragraph

Randy Johnson placed on DL with back injury

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Randy Johnson was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night with muscle tightness.

It is the second time this season the 43-year-old Johnson has been on the disabled list. He started the year on the DL while recovering from offseason back surgery.

He will be replaced on the roster by right-hander Enrique Gonzalez.

Johnson felt tightness in his buttocks muscle while playing catch, Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. He was scheduled to pitch against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, but was scratched before the game Friday night.

Do what makes you happy

Why do people do things that make them unhappy? I can't figure it out, but it's rampant. There's so much complaining in the world these days, and don't worry ... you'll get plenty of it from me. I do so many things that either make me unhappy or just don't make me happy (yes, they're two different things). That's why when you find something that makes you happy, you should be proud of it and do it often. You know what I like to do? I like to put on my red Everlasts and punch the shit out of a big leather bag filled with sand. Am I talking about boxing? No. It's just an example. It's an example of something that exhilarates me. Sure, it tires me. It makes me sore. But, in the end, it relaxes me. If there's something that makes you happy. Do it. Don't be ashamed of it. Unless it's weird ... I'm just kidding. :)

On the flip side. If you're lucky enough to find someONE who makes you happy. Maybe tell them once in a while. Maybe tell someone else once in a while. Take it from me, and my past experience, if you don't tell them, they may end up married one day ... and all you get is an invitation to their wedding. They might move away and never look back. They might just move on. Again I'm not talking about specifics here (though, there are some real-life examples up there). I'm just talking about the broader scene. Just think of this as a longer-than-usual fortune cookie ... without the calories.

Sopranos’ non-ending fine by me

For those of you who saw the series finale of the Sopranos and were left wanting more, I feel your pain. But that’s life, and that’s what the popular HBO series tried to mimic. Sure, we all know there is no “real” Tony Soprano. But that doesn’t mean the series didn’t do a great job at being as close to “real life” as it did. That ending, I felt, couldn’t do a better job at getting across the exact feeling the show’s creators wanted. In the last four minutes of the series, in the last four minutes of that episode, think back to the feeling you had deep in your gut. Think back to that feeling of anticipation, that feeling of “what if.” What if this is it? What if this is the last onion ring Tony Soprano is ever going to eat? What if this is the night? And then it’s not. Or is it?

That’s the feeling that the character Tony Soprano must get every time he’s in public. Sure, it’s probably not as pronounced as it was for you during the last few, and intense, moments of the show. But, if only in a fictional gut, it’s there in his gut nonetheless. And you felt it, too. If only for a moment. That’s why I believe this was such an effective ending. Because, for an instant, the show’s viewers were clued into exactly what the main character was feeling. For a few moments, you felt exactly what Tony Soprano felt. Didn’t you?

Sure, there’s the whole part about “making your own ending” and drawing the same comparison that Mike Greenburg did on ESPN Radio this morning. Greenie citied a similar ending to the short story I’m sure everyone read in the seventh grade, “The Lady or the Tiger.” Obviously, the ending left open much for debate, conjecture and even the possibility for a spin-off series of a movie. But I think that’s merely a side effect of the intended ending — getting right in there and knowing exactly what Tony felt … being able to truly empathize with that character. And that’s about as close to actually being a fictional character as you can get.

Sheff is wrong on this one

Gary Sheffield has always been a loud mouth. And this week is no different. In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, the Sheff spoke about the changing faces of baseball. To summarize his overall point, there are fewer and fewer blacks and more Latinos in baseball these days.

He’s right.

Where he’s wrong is why.

“(It’s about) being able to tell (Latin players) what to do — being able to control them,” he told the interviewer. He went on to say, “Where I’m from, you can’t control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that’s a person that you’re going to talk to with respect, you’re going to talk to like a man. These are the things my race demands. So, if you’re equally good as this Latin player, guess who’s going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of these guys.”

Either Sheffield just wanted to say something that would get people talking about him again (if that’s the case, it worked), or he just didn’t think about what he was talking about.

Or, he’s just dumb.

The way I read the comments, he thinks Major League Baseball is specifically turning away black players and replacing them with Latin players. That’s just simply not the case. First of all, are Latin players “easier to control?” Just ask anyone who knows the phrase “Just Manny being Manny.” Secondly, by the time players are of the age to be drafted by Major League ball clubs, the “filtration” Sheffield spoke of has already happened. Now, being a white guy from the South, I’m not going to fill this column with my opinions other than what I’ll write in the next paragraph.

Latin players play nothing but soccer and/or baseball. American black athletes have so many more options. Some “Want to be like Mike.” Some have visions of playing like Barry Sanders. I’m not saying it’s not the MLB’s fault more black athletes aren’t interested in their sport. But, unlike what Sheffield said, it’s not happening at the club level. And it’s not because they can get away with disrespecting Latin athletes.

As soon as I heard the story on ESPN Radio, I made a few quick phone calls — mostly to a few athletes I used to cover while they were in high school. I just wanted their takes, as black athletes, on the situation.

“I never played baseball,” said former high school football and track standout Terrance Davis. “Honestly, when I got to high school, there was nothing but a bunch of white kids on the team. I figured if I was going to have to run, I’d just run track with my friends.”

Davis told me he looked up to football players Deion Sanders and Barry Sanders growing up. He did play a little basketball, too. He said he looked up to sharpshooters John Paxon and Mark Price.

Also a friend of Davis, I phoned up M.J. Mackey — who loves baseball. Mackey just finished his first season on the East Carolina club baseball team. Of note, he batted .450 and led the team in home runs (3) and RBIs (29).

“Most of my friends played baseball,” Mackey said of his early youth years. “I didn’t want to be the odd man out. It started with T-ball, and then I fell in love with baseball.”

Mackey had a sports role model, too.

“I loved Ken Griffey Jr.,” he said. “Everything he did, I would copy, from his batting stance to the way he played center field.”

Also at ECU, on the football team, C.J. Wilson chose to play football and basketball growing up. Wilson offered an interesting insight to the plot.

“I don’t like baseball, I guess, because I didn’t play it growing up,” he said. “The sports you play when you’re young are the ones you love when you grow up.”

And just by the luck of a situation, I got to speak with a representative of Major League Baseball. Someone, who as a manager for 16 seasons, is one of the people Sheffield blames (albeit, not directly) for the lack of blacks in the sport today. Davey Johnson, who was in town for a charity golf tournament, was a manager for the Mets, Reds, Orioles and Dodgers. He had read Sheff’s comments, and had his own opinions. He pointed out that black athletes aren’t being introduced to baseball at a young age. Something, you’ll remember, that Wilson said is important to get a kid to fall in love with a sport. As more and more people are living in urban areas than there were decades ago, the children are playing the sports for which inner-city parks have facilities.

“I think Major League Baseball is very aware of the fact that inner-city programs have fallen on hard times,” Johnson said. “They’re not creating the diamonds for these kids to play ball on. They’re just playing hoops, and the bigger guys are playing football. They always have facilities for that (football and basketball), but they don’t promote inner-city baseball. And that’s something that Major League Baseball is very aware of. There are a lot of people, Willie Mays is one, that are doing a lot of good things to create more opportunities in the inner city.”

While the opportunities are lacking in those inner cities, there is an abundance of them somewhere else cranking out athletes who love the diamond sport.

“Major League Baseball has done a good job at setting up camps in all these Latin American countries,” Johnson said. “They have schools that teach them English. They provide uniforms and an education, and they have an opportunity to go out and play baseball. And the talent pool is very hungry down there, because they’re getting an opportunity to play. We’re just not providing that here at home.”

So, while Sheffield is wrong about why there are less black athletes in baseball today, he did one good thing in that he pointed a spotlight at a deeper problem. While there are plenty of diamonds for the kids in the suburbs, there’s a need for more in our country’s urban areas. It’s been my experience that a kid who likes sports will try just about anything you put in front of him. It was once best said by a faceless voice, “If you build it, he will come.”