Things you shouldn't care about (and a few things you should)

Here's the most unimportant topics in sports today:

• Alex Rodriguez and steroids. 104 players are on a list. 1 name got released. Unfair? You betcha, particularly after those names were supposed to be expunged from any record keeping after 2003. Newsflash: Everyone in baseball takes or has taken steroids. It's an era, we'll get past it eventually, but it's not something we're going to fix with a witch hunt.
  
• Michael Phelps...for anything. The Olympics are over and the United States needs to remember that swimming is unconscionably boring. It really doesn't mattes whether Phelps enjoys hitting bongs, and it's especially irrelevant in this time of war and economic crisis.
• Pat Summitt and women's college basketball in general. I find it hard to be less interested about anything than I am when it comes to women's basketball. College, the WNBA, whatever, it's not fun to watch, it's not interesting, and nobody cares. The fact that ESPN has devoted hundreds of hours of programming to Summitt should be proof of its irrelevance. I raise this question: If someone wins 1000 games of college croquet, is that worth televising? Scratch that. At least croquet is mildly neat.
  
• The Oklahoma City Thunder. see also, Los Angeles Clippers
  
• A clearly biased for profit ESPN Bracket Buster week that pits good teams like Northeastern (RPI ~50) against terrible teams like Wright State (RPI ~100) instead of Siena, Cregihton, or Davidson (RPI ~20). "Improving mid-major RPI" my ass.
• The Westminster Dog Show. How the fuck is this even approaching sports? I was praying someone would step in dog crap during a telecast.

Important topics in sports today:

• Bobby Abreu, he of the 120+ OPS for the last 10 seasons or so, is close to joining the Angels on an estimated 1 year, $8 million contract. Abreu brings patience at the plate, speed on the basepaths, and a skillet for a glove. It's a good signing, if it happens, as it provides OBP and SLG to the lineup without costing the Halos draft picks, years, or dollars.
• The Kings are, somehow, three games over .500 for the first time in a couple years. Credit former UMass goalie Jon Quick and a reignition of scoring from Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Alex Frolov, and Pat O'Sullivan. The Kings beat the Islanders in a shootout on Long Island last night, 4-3, thanks to Jack Johnson's SO goal, the only goal of the skills competition.
• Northeastern looks to remain on top of the CAA with a win over Drexel tonight at Matthews Arena. The Huskies are 11-2 in conference but have a harder schedule than George Mason or VCU to close the season.