News item: Severna Park's Gavin Floyd (Mount St. Joseph) took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning against the struggling Detroit Tigers yesterday on the way to his second victory of the young season.
My take: Great to see him getting off to a good start. It'll also be good to see him make his first appearance as a pro at Camden Yards on Thursday, barring a weather disruption in the Chicago White Sox rotation.
News item: An unidentified construction worker told the New York Post he cursed the Yankees by burying a Red Sox jersey under the visitors clubhouse at the new Yankee Stadium.
My take: Works for me. Don't know if it'll put the whammy on the evil Yanks, but that's one fewer Red Sox jersey we'll have to look at this year at Camden Yards.
News item: The Orioles moved up from 30th to 21st last week in ESPN's major league Power Rankings.
My take: Still no respect. That's only three spots lower than the Detroit Tigers, who were 1-8 when the latest rankings were published.
News item: Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have amended the game's drug policy for the third time in three years, toughening the testing regimen and ending the threat of discipline for the players named in the Mitchell Report.
My take: The only active player who isn't off the hook is former Oriole Miguel Tejada, who still is the subject of a federal perjury investigation.
News item: NFL players union chief Gene Upshaw is reportedly trying to consolidate his power after someone leaked an e-mail by Ravens kicker Matt Stover encouraging his fellow player reps to begin the search for a successor to replace Upshaw after the next round of collective bargaining.
My take: By publicly blasting Stover for having "no clue," Upshaw proved one thing ... he's long since forgotten who works for whom.
News item: Tennessee Titans bad boy Adam "Pacman" Jones is expected to apply to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement on Tuesday.
My take: There must be more than smoke here, because the Cowboys and Titans wouldn't be talking trade without some signal from the NFL central office that Jones will be allowed to play this year.
News item: Lead play-by-play man Bryant Gumbel is leaving the NFL Network, citing the mutual desire of him and the network to go in "different directions."
