The Post Mortem

Interleague play really illustrated just how bad the dregs of the National League can be. The Devil Rays would probably be leading the NL Central right now. The Angels game against the Pirates on Saturday night was so one-sided, the only intrigue was whether the Angels would score a 10th run ensuring a free round of Hooters chicken wings.

Of course, free chicken wings sounds good when you have had a few belts and are looking to party (thanks to those 6 p.m. starts on Saturday). But the offer kind of loses its luster the next morning.

But holy hell, Pittsburgh can�t throw the ball, can�t catch the thing and the Angels seemed disinterested in the whole series until the Pirates tied the game on yesterday. This whole interleague has been great to the Angels who finished 14-2. But that didn't stop the experts from raving about the Red Sox.

There also is a special level of hell reserved for a-holes that get free wings, and then only order water, stiffing the waitress. (And it doesn't have to be a Hooters, this goes for all places.) If you are getting free food, kick down a little for the help.

THE AMERICAN LEAGUE�S BEST

More than 50 percent of ESPN�s Sports Nation indicated that the Boston Red Sox were the best team in baseball proving that more than 50 percent of Sports Nation are dopes. Or at least Boston fans. And you really hate to give credence to polls such as this that are designed to get people talking. But Joe Morgan and the other idiot broadcasting the Tigers v. Braves game on Sunday night whole heartedly agreed with it.

Was there ever a time when the sports viewing audience wasn't smarter than the broadcasters? Because that would be pretty fun.

Morgan and the other idiot raved about Dice K being able to shut down the last two teams he faced�the Giants and Padres. Yeah, two teams that don�t exactly put up a lot of offensive numbers. Shutting out the Padres, nobody like ever does that! Great take, Joe!

The Red Sox also have put up a pretty good record playing in the worst division in the American League as they are the only team above the .500 mark. So excuse the rest of Sports Nation if we aren�t buying the Red Sox just yet.

• And nice Sunday lineup, ESPN. As painful as it would be to hear Joe Morgan and the other moron talk about the Angels for three hours, what do they have to do to make it to Sunday prime time? Actually, going to a Sunday 5 p.m. game is a blast.

• The Yankees are interested in Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira. And you have to wonder why at this point. The Yankees are what, 12 games back now? Time to be sellers. How about A-Rod for Angels prospect Mark Trumbo? The Yankees have no business being buyers at this stage of the season. As unfathomable as it seems, the Red Sox lead is, dare we say it, safe.

• It is a shame that Ken Griffey Jr. isn't the one closing in the on the all-time home run record, but thankfully, he no longer plays in the AL West.

• Congratulations to Oregon State for winning a second consecutive College World Series. Strange to believe, but the West Coast power has shifted from Fullerton over to Corvallis, Ore. Sad, considering bad base running probably cost Fullerton a title last year.

• Seriously, Kelsey Grammer for Hyundai? Are the Cheers residuals that bad? Maybe Hyundai has a great sense of humor.

• U.S.A! U.S.A! The U.S. beat Mexico in some soccer game. Oh come on, that�s not even fair. America doesn�t even like or want soccer, but we still take it away from Mexico. Kind of like Texas.

AND FINALLY

Jon Kitna believes that the Lions will win 10 games this year. And you know what, that�s not as crazy as everybody is making it out to be. Every year a team comes out of nowhere to surprise the �experts,� or the collective dopes who get surprised by an upstart each season. But consider this for the Lions, the NFC North really isn�t that strong of a division. The Vikings are miserable and will likely start a quarterback with no experience. The Packers did nothing to improve during the offseason. The Bears also will probably suffer a similar fate of most of the recent NFL runner�s up by falling back to Earth, especially if they insist on playing Rex Grossman this year. So the Lions winning 10 games? Anybody who has watched the NFL over the past decade should know better than to write any team off, no matter how morbid they have been over the years.