* Ironic choice of uniforms last Friday by the Rays for their Turn Back the Clock game against the Orioles. They opted to wear the retro uni’s of the 1970 Tampa Tarpons, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Only there was no hint of “Tarpons”–just Tampa. The other choice, a vintage Devil Rays uniform, would not have turned the clock back very far–but it would have spared inevitable, and somewhat awkward, reminders of the team’s obvious interest in a possible Tampa relo. Unless, of course, that was the message the Rays intended to send.
* It’s that time of the year again: the NFL Preseason. That means one of the more absurd traditions in all of sports: published preseason point spreads. Mind you, these are exhibition games, whose outcomes are largely determined by those who either won’t be playing much when the regular season begins or won’t even be on the team. Does anyone actually bet on these things?
* There was probably a time when Gatorade baths for football coaches and shaving cream pies for baseball players were not juvenile clichés, but I don’t remember.
* I was in Caracas, Venezuela two years ago, and the small group I was with was robbed or assaulted three times the first two days. It all came back to me the other day while reading the sports page, of all things. It was reported that Hong Kong pulled out of the women’s World Cup of Baseball in Caracas after one of its players was wounded by a stray bullet during a game.