NOOOOOOOO!

"Say it ain't so." A kid once said that to Shoeless Joe and I'm saying it to Yao's foot. I know that nothing is final. Yet. But when you heard the news that Yao might miss a year didn't you just have this feeling that the Yao era in Houston could be over? I hate to be pessimistic. Me, being the Norman Vincent Peale of Houston sports. But, Yao's big feet are not cooperating the way his heart and mind would like. Let's hope whatever they decided to do works and we again get to see performances like the 28 point night in L.A. to go up on the Lakers.

Jose Valverde's meltdown Sunday reminded me that closers are kind of like field goal kickers. I'm not saying getting out of one inning is like an extra point chip shot. But how about a 35 to 40 yard boot to win a game. The team does all this work to get into position to win then one guy basically blows it. Valverde went through a little funk earlier this year and snapped out of it. With the Astros getting good starting pitching lately the last thing you want to see is bullpen failure...especially with the team having trouble pushing runs across.

I was neck deep in Team USA tension with them leading Brazil 2-0 at the break. Facebook was blowing up with reaction. I was getting texts from everywhere. Yet there were also friends and acquaintances who didn't even realize it was on. Weird. I am not a huge Soccer fan but with our boys about to knock off the Yankees/Lakers of the sports I was into it. It was strange feeling sports anxiety like that this time of year.