Tuesday's News/Notes

Before I post, I want to offer my thoughts and prayers to the troops and armed forces that are continuing to fight the "War on Terror" even after the 6th year anniversary of 9/11. Thank you and god bless.

That day is a day I will forever remember. I was sitting in my 8th grade government class when my 7th grade geography teacher came running to our door and told us the news. He was drenched in sweat after running room-to-room to tell each class. I went home and remembered seeing the events and seeing the people on the streets running from the smoke and debris that fell from the two towers. I remembered laying in bed that night asking the question "Why?" over, and over, and over again. And still to this day, I don't have an answer.

I am really thankful to all of those men and women who have served this country in order to maintain our freedom. God bless all of you and I hope that one day we can live in peace so that my own children don't have to see what we have seen.

News/Notes

• The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 last night. Boof Bonser went the first 5 innings and gave up just 2 runs before being taken out in place of Nick Blackburn who pitched 2+ innings of shutout relief before Joe Nathan later came out to pick up his 31st save of the season. Jason Kubel continued to hit well from the #2 spot in the order. He pitched in with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Justin Morneau also drove in 2 runs on a double and a single.
• The Twins will send Scott Baker to the mound tonight to face Kyle Davies.
• According to rumors, Johan Santana wants a 6-year contract extension with the Twins.
• Make sure to check out Seth Speaks to see how I (and many others) did on the "NFL Expert" Picks. It's awsome to have guys like Kevin Slowey, Kyle Waldrop, Jeff Manship and Joe Benson apart of the picks.
  
• Also, check out AaronGleeman.com to see his "Who is..." feature on Nick Blackburn.
  
• The Beloit Snappers will play the West Michigan White Cap's in the Midwest League Championship. The teams split their season series 4-4. Alex Burnett will likely take the mound in game 1 of the series. Burnett pitched 5 scoreless innings in game one of the semi finals to lead the Snappers to a game 1 victory. For a fantastic preview of the series click here.
• Is Johan Santana a Cy Young candidate? As much as you may think he's not, he is. And his chances just got a little better with Erik Bedard being placed on the disabled list with an Oblique strain. I know he's a dark horse candidate to win his 2nd Cy Young in a row and his 3rd in the last 4 years, but if he can continue to pitch well (and win) the rest of his games, I think he has a legitimate chance of winning it. Unfortunately, the voters put a lot of emphasis on victories which is more so a team effort and not an individual effort. It's the only reason Bartolo Colon beat Santana in '05 and it'll likely be the only reason why C.C. Sabathia or Josh Beckett beat Santana in '07. It's truly unfortunate, but it's reality.
  
• Away from MLB and onto the NFL. Sad news for Bills Fans/players. Kevin Everett sustained a 'catastrophic ' and 'life threatening' injury on Sunday. The 25-year-old Tight End was playing special teams and collapsed after tackling Domenik Hixon on the 2nd half kickoff. Although 'full recovery' is possible, it's likely he will be paralyzed and unable to walk again. Truly a sad story. God bless him and his family.
• Over the weekend, UFC 75 was on and to my pleasure, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson continued to impress MMA viewers with a victory over Dan Henderson. A lot of people were surprised with Jackson's victory, but I didn't have a doubt in my mind that he would win. Although I'm a big Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell fan, Rampage Jackson has been a guy I've liked ever since I saw this slam in Pride fighting.