The positive side…

Congrats to David “Big Papi” Ortiz for breaking a homer-less drought that had extended all the way back to last September 22. Hope you hit a bunch of them over the next week or two.

…Of course, reality always has a nasty way of intruding into the sometimes-fairy tale world of professional sports. Consider:

Diamondbacks reliever Scott Schoeneweis gets a call informing him his wife is found dead.

And prayers and wishes for only good things go out to Phil Mickelson and his wife Amy, recently diagnosed with breast cancer. There’s a lot of good things happening in the field of breast cancer research, hopefully an early diagnosis and the incredible advances made in that regard will play in her favor.

Sadly, for some, another’s personal troubles are nothing more than a convenient opportunity to promote your own progressive liberal agenda. For Yahoo! Sports’ Roy S. Johnson – obviously a total idiot – prayers and support are not enough: Mickelson’s fellow golfers need to open up their wallets to support breast cancer research. Not only is his column in extremely poor taste, but I’m always amazed at how liberals find the misery of others to tell people what they ought to do and how they should spend their money. Hey Roy, if you feel so strongly about Amy Mickelson’s plight, why not open up your own wallet and let others make their own minds up for themselves? My guess is you’re as tight with a buck as a tick. Go back under the rock you crawled out from under.

And speaking of creeps, knowing the media’s tendency to focus on the depraved and pathetic, watch for a ton of publicity over the next several weeks about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and how he should handle the Michael Vick situation. Were I Goodell the issue would be a non-starter – I don’t want a morally bankrupt, pathetic excuse for a human being playing in my league. I’m sure Vick will find any number of suitors wanting to toss $s at him if only to boost attendance, but if the NFL is truly serious about cleaning up its gangsta image, they’ll do themselves well to ban Vick from any and all future contact with the league.

Of course they won’t – after all, the only thing the NFL stands for these days is profit, and you can bet Goodell will respond to the cries of “fairness” and racism (I half expect Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to lead a nationwide effort on Vick’s behalf) and cave like a cheap bridge table. After all, Vick would be perfect for the Oakland Raiders – he and Al Davis deserve each other.