The clock is running on the Giants

Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .

 The San Francisco Giants have four weeks to prove they care about winning. It's been five years since Giants fans had a reason to pay attention past the Fourth of July. But here we are halfway through the year and the Giants, thanks to underachieving teams in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, are right in the middle of the National League wild card race. We will now find out if the Giants front office cares enough about its loyal fans to go out and try to win now. Matt Holliday is wasting time in the A's outfield. How about Fred Lewis, Jonathan Sanchez and a middle-of-the-road prospect for Holliday? Hey, wild card races don't come along very often in San Francisco these days (in the winter or summer) and it sure is a shame to waste all of that good pitching.

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  Should the Giants bring back Barry Bonds for the stretch run? Why not? If they aren't going to make an honest effort in the trade market this month, why not take a chance on Bonds? He only has to play three or four games a week to help that lineup. Barry would pass all of the drug tests for three months? Right?

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  Don't be surprised if former Nevada Wolf Pack wide receiver Marko Mitchell makes an impact for the Washington Redskins this fall. Mitchell, who was primarily a basketball player until just a few years ago, came out of nowhere to be a premier college wideout and he could do the same in the NFL. The guy, after all, is still learning the game and he should fit in well with the Redskins' Wolf Pack-like three and four-wide receiver sets.

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 Just 64 days remain until the Wolf Pack takes the field at Notre Dame for the biggest game in school history. What's that? How can a Sept. 5 game be the biggest game in school history? Playing -- and beating -- Notre Dame, even in early September, means more than any Division I-AA playoff game, more than any meaningless leftover bowl game the Western Athletic Conference can offer and more than any Thursday or Friday night game on ESPN. Notre Dame is where they make movies out of walk-ons. Just seeing the Silver and Blue trot onto the field on Sept. 5 should bring a tear to all Wolf Pack fans.

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 Do the Detroit Pistons really think that Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are enough to knock off the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference? Really? Why waste all of that money on one-dimensional players this summer when the free agent class of the century hits the open market next summer? Joe Dumars, who also has to hire his sixth head coach in 10 years, is quickly losing his status as a genius general manager. Dumars should hire Bill Laimbeer as coach to restore some of that Piston pride and toughness but he'll probably hire nice guy Avery Johnson. Get ready for a string of 42-win seasons and first-round playoff exits, Piston fans.

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 What does Ramon Sessions need to do to impress the Milwaukee Bucks? The former Wolf Pack point guard, who was forced to split time with the immortal Luke Ridnour last year, has done nothing but produce for the Bucks the past two seasons. But what do the Bucks do? They go out and draft point guard Brandon Jennings, a kid who was afraid of going to college last year and then went out and averaged less than six points a game in Italy. Don't be surprised if Jennings is the next Sebastian Telfair. Sessions, who needs to get out of Milwaukee, deserves to start and should be playing 35 minutes a game. The clueless Bucks, who also gave Richard Jefferson away for a Big Gulp, Whopper and a free one-month Netflix subscription, are well on their way to a 30-win season next year.

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 While on the subject of clueless NBA teams, the New York Knicks are supposedly talking to free agents Jason Kidd and Grant Hill? What? Did Michael Jordan refuse to return their calls? Somebody please tell the Knicks that it is no longer 1995 and Patrick Ewing and John Starks are not on the roster.

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 OK, I admit it. I love steroid-free (allegedly) major league baseball. In case you didn't notice, the major leagues reverted back to 1968 on Wednesday with 16 of the 30 teams scoring two runs or less. It was incredible. There were three 1-0 games in the National League (who needs the designated hitter?) on the same day for just the fifth time since 1900. If we're not careful, Bud Selig might lower the pitching mounds.

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Ricky Rubio, who is all of 18-years-old, has already been compared to Pete Maravich. Yes, the comparison is more about his floppy hair than anything Rubio has accomplished on the court, but you get the idea. Rubio is a wonderful talent. But he's 18. Just three years ago he was probably listening to Miley Cyrus songs on his I-Pod. He needs another three years of seasoning -- and a jump shot. The Minnesota Timberwolves wasted a lottery pick on the kid. He'll never play in Minnesota and that isn't such a bad thing for the T'Wolves.