Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees that so much is going on in the world of sports. Of course, none of these goings on seem to benefit any team that your Maximum Leader cares much about…

In baseball, the trade deadline has passed and his beloved Nationals have done nothing to better themselves. On the one hand it is understandable. They are 21 games out of first place in the NL East. That pretty much makes this season a moot one. But one (okay… Your Maximum Leader is the one) could have hoped that they might do something to bring a little offence to town. Or they could have decided not to trade away their (defacto) closer to Arizona. The Nats games get harder and harder to watch, but your Maximum Leader continues to suffer through in the hopes that the Nats can be a spoiler in the NL East race. Since the race is down to the Mets, Phillies and Marlins the winner of the division will likely be decided by which team can beat the Nats more during the stretch. Your Maximum Leader will hope that the Nats show some signs of life and don’t just roll over and die (any more than they already have).

In other baseball news… Manny to the Dodgers. Jason Bay to the Sawx. Wow. Didn’t see that one coming until it happened. Manny had grown tired of Boston - and Boston had grown weary of him. It makes sense really. Manny didn’t want Boston to exercise their options to keep him (so that he could get a bigger deal from someone else). But to do it in the classless way the Manny did it is sad. One hopes that teams would shy away from someone who could basically give up on his team to make a point. But, since Manny is someone who can produce when he wants to, someone will pay him. The Sawx have probably made out pretty well by getting Bay.

In more baseball news… Have you seen those LA Angels play. They just seem to be putting the smackdown on everyone. First the Sawx. Now the Yankees. Eeee! They are looking pretty damned strong right now. One wonders if they can keep it up down the stretch.

And finally… Your Maximum Leader is a Green Bay Packers fan. He is also a huge Brett Favre fan. But now the story is getting on his nerves. Your Maximum Leader hopes that Favre will stay retired. If he does not, the Packers should try and trade him to an AFC team - or at least a non-NFC North team. Your Maximum Leader isn’t sure what the hell Brett is thinking when he seems to want to go to Minnesota. You can’t go giving the Vikings a QB when they are a division rival. That is plain ole stupid. At this point, your Maximum Leader just hope the whole thing will just go away…

Carry on.