Reds Making Believers

Have you become a believer yet, or are you still waiting for the Reds flame out? You may be waiting a while. The pitching seems to be the real deal. Cueto is hitting his stride, Mike Leake continues to baffle opposing hitters, Bronson Arroyo seems to get better with age, and Harang gives you a chance. They are far from perfect, but in a league with no perfect teams, the Reds are set up to stay in this race. We'll know by the All-Star break if they're in it for the long haul. How about this stretch of games at the end of June and the beginning of July: three games at home against the Phillies, then on the road for four games at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, three games in New York against the Mets, then four more against the Phillies in Philadelphia. A brutal stretch of 14 games heading into the All-Star break. In years past it has always been advisable to keep a wary eye on the trips to the west coast. But for the 2010 Reds, I'm keeping my eye on that 11-game trip before the All-Star game.

I'll be very interested to see what the NCAA does with UConn's basketball program. These seem to be serious allegations in my book. Things might be worse for Oklahoma. Our friend and wild-child Gregg Doyel thinks the Sooners deserve the death penalty. He makes a heckuva point.