Sunny  High 85  Sunrise 6:14  Sunset 7:55  Daylight 13:41

I traveled yesterday to Philadelphia for a Phillies' day game against the New York Mets. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, just a few clouds to help keep a hot sun off the crowd of 45,775  for at least part of the day.

The Mets won 7-2, hammering rookie Pitcher Scott Mathieson before he was pulled in the 5th inning. Mathieson's start underscored the Phillies' delimma through the remainder of the season - they are trying to prepare for the future, and at the same time contending now for a wild-card spot. They are still just 2 1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

Despite the loss, we were treated to a Ryan Howard home run, which landed in the section below us in left field. It was his 42nd of the season. But besides that, the Phils had little offensive punch..

Sunny High 80  Sunrise 6:09  Sunset 8:06  Daylight Hours 13:57

The Soviets have finally taken over the world. Well, sort of.

For the first time, professional boxing's four heavyweight titles are in the hands of fighters from the former Soviet bloc. Last night, Oleg Maskaev KO'd Hasim Rahman to complete the Soviet conquest.

Why boxing has four titles in just one division is a story that goes back several decades. But the collective reign of ex-Soviet fighters in a recent phenomenon. Three Eastern European champions - Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko (IBF), Russia's Nicolai Valuev (WBA) and Sergei Lyakhovich of Belarus (WBO) - hold the other titles.

Nobody really wants a reuinfication of the Soviet empire, but a reunification of the heavyweight boxing title is long overdue.

Sunny High 85  Sunrise 6:04  Sunset 8:12 EDT  Hrs of Daylight 14:08

The NFL is going through the process of choosing a commissioner to replace Paul Tagliabue, who is retiring. The top five candidates are being interviewed by league owners, and voting will take place soon.

The world's most successful sports league has enjoyed excellent leadership. Tagliabue has guided the league to unprecedented success, and his precdessor, Pete Rozelle, helped revolutionize the league. The league has been very well administered; hopefully the new commissioner will keep it that way.

Update - NFL owners yesterday chose Roger Goodell, assistant to Paul Tagliabue.

Sunny High 87  Sunrise 6:02  Sunset 8:15  Hours of Daylight 14 hrs 13 mins

On this day, Aug 6, in 1890, Cy Young achieved his first major league victory. He would accumulate 511 in his career.

That record for wins by a pitcher is one truly unbreakable sports record. That number of wins is staggering. To illustrate how insurmountable it appears to be, consider in comparison the record of Roger Clemens, who is still active in the major leagues.

Clemens, now age 44, is still 167 wins short of Young's record (Clemens won his 344th last night and celebrated his 44th birthday Friday). That means Clemens would need to average 16.7 wins a year and pitch for another decade to approach Cy Young's win total. Clemens has already been pitching for 22 years.

Clemens' record this year is only 3-4, and he didn't even start pitching until two months of the season elapsed, so it's hardly possible that he's going to get anywhere near 511 wins, even if he does hang around for a while.

Also, considering the way Major League Baseball has changed, it's tough for a pitcher to even accumulate 300 wins, let alone 500. In Young's day, the starting pitcher often finished as well (Young pitched a mind-boggling 749 complete games, another likely unbreakable record), whereas in the modern era, even pitchers who are doing well are usually lifted for relief in the late innings. In addition, during these days of huge salaries, most pitchers want to conserve their pitching arm, mindful that a large contract may depend on it.

So Cy Young's incredible record 511 wins appears to be one of those records that really will "never be broken".

Sunny, Hi 97   Sunrise 5:59   Sunset 8:18 EDT   Hrs of Daylight 14 hrs, 19 mins

Seemingly lost amid all the trading that happened during the past few days, the Philadelphia Phillies have actually been playing pretty good baseball. Last night they beat St. Louis 16-8, as Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 34 games on a changed call. The Phillies win was their 7th in the past 9 games.

I'm going to see the Phils on August 17 against the Mets. While the Mets are cruising to a division title, the Phillies still have wild-card hopes, and I'm hoping that they can play well enough to keep alive in that race so that when I attend the game, it will be a meaningful affair.

I'm also going on September 2nd, and it would really be nice to have that contest against the Braves be meaningful as well.

Lincoln Financial Field has been the home of the Philadelphia Eagles since September 2004. I've yet to attend a game there, but I've been at the Phillies' home, Citizen's Bank Park, which shares the same complex with "the Linc" as it's called in these parts.

The Linc replaced Veteran's Stadium, which I had been in on many occasions (the Vet also served as home of the Phillies, so Citizen's Bank Park replaces it too) and the disparity between the Vet, which no longer exists, and the other two stadiums is dramatic.

Here's a comparison between the Vet and the Linc:

What every fan wants of course are more concessions and more bathrooms, and the Linc trumps the Vet big time in both categories, as well as in those features most important when viewing a football game. I found it a bit odd though that no comparison is included in regard to ladies' restrooms, which are always in more demand, but I'm sure the Linc trumps the Vet by a huge margin in that most important function as well.

This photo gives glimpse of the superiority of Lincoln Financial Field to Veteran's Stadium, which was nothing more than a concrete bowl and sported little in the way of distinctive features. The days of cookie-cutter multi-use stadiums are fortunately pretty much a thing of the past not just in Philadelphia but all over the U.S.

The Cleveland Browns have made a few small changes to their uniforms for the upcoming season. Already a simple outfit, the Browns' uniform change will bring the team's look further into line with their more distant past.

For example, the helmet, already the league's most simple design with no decal insignia, will feature a return to a gray facemask. The number on the back of the helmet will now be on the right side of the stripe, rather than split between sides.

Other changes involve doing away with the brown separating stripe on the sleeve of their brown jersey, which previously divided the orange and white trim, and a return to black shoes.

I like the gray facemask change particularly, since white ones just don't look good, especially on a colored helmet. Also, I'm a black sneaker guy, so the return to black shoes is a welcome change too.

Black shoes, as well as helmets with gray facemasks, await the Browns' players in the Browns' locker room as a new season gets underway soon.

I drove to Philadelphia to see the Phillies host the Atlanta Braves yesterday, a game scheduled for a 4:05 PM start (moved from 1:05 due to a "Picture Day" promotion. The schedule change resulted in a rainout, as heavy thunderstorms ripped through the area as soon as the national anthem ended.

Two hours later, the game was postponed and rescheduled for September 2. Ironically, the sun emerged as soon as the announcement was made. Maybe God wasn't too happy about messing with the schedule. I know I wasn't happy with driving four hours (two there, two back) to stand in a rainstorm for two hours. It wasn't my idea of a fun day.

Over my many years following the NFL, I've had more than one favorite team. I've had three in fact, since 1967, when I started becoming aware of football and watching it on TV to a limited degree. By the following year, I was pretty well versed in the league's goings-on.

I tend to choose a team with a certain core group of players from a certain era as a favorite, rather than sticking solely with an organization. The Rams of the late 60s with the "Fearsome Foursome", the Vikings of the late 60s to mid 70s of "Purple People Eaters" fame, and the 49ers of the 80s were all teams that I felt passionate about. After Joe Montana and that core group of Niners eventually retired,  I've felt little passion for any team since. The Niners are still my favorite club, but since the Joe years, I just haven't been very excited, not only about San Francisco, but about any team, save for perhaps the Tennessee Titans of the late 90s.

Most folks feel that you have to stick with a team forever, but if players and coaches can leave a team for another, why can't fans? I plan to stick with the Niners, but I like to be free to choose which team I'll follow closely, rather than be constrained by geographical proximity (technically, I should be an Eagles' fan) or choices I made when I was just a boy.

Those words of ex-Steeler Quarterback Terry Bradshaw uttered last year to current Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger certainly ring true now that 'Big Ben' was seriously injured in an accident while riding his motorcycle yesterday.

Roethlisberger was not wearing a helmet. As a resident of Pennsylvania, he was not required to, since our silly Legislature repealed the existing helmet law in 2003.

But I think Bradshaw is right - Roethlisberger should not have been riding at all. As the leader of a football team, the Quarterback should also be the most responsible player on the team. Putting his team first, he should avoid high-risk activity.

Ben Roethlisberger plays with a helmet on. He should have been wearing one while riding his motorcycle - or better yet, he should have waived the right to ride at all.