3 Up and 3 Down; Week of 7/6-7/12

Every week (probably on Sunday nights or Monday mornings), we will have a 3 up and 3 down post. 3 up and 3 down is designed to highlight the people, teams, and other aspects of sports that had good weeks, or bad weeks.

3 UP

• Shane Victorino: It's always good to know that the fans appreciate the way you play, and fans voted in record numbers to send Shane Victorino to the All-Star Game. After becoming a well-known player in the World Series last year, Shane has batted over .300 this season and he is currently 2nd in the NL in runs scored. Also, he is the a reigning Gold Glove outfielder, and that defense has not dropped off.

• Lance Armstrong: This story fascinates me, because it is amazing to me that this guy, at the age of 37 years old can take a couple years off, and be competitive against a bunch of people in their mid 20's who have spent the past year getting ready for this event. Anyway, Lance Armstrong is currently in 3rd place at the Tour De France, a position that he likes to be in during the beginning of the mountain stage. Plus, he has said that he thinks that this will "probably not" be his last Tour De France

• Jonathan Sanchez: Ryan D. Smith has his blog post about this. Jonathan Sanchez went from a bullpen pitcher on the trade block to the pitcher who threw the 13th no hitter in Giants history. Not bad for a pitcher who was no supposed to start throwing to a catcher that wasn't supposed to play.

3 Down

• Active Home Run Hitters: When I heard this stat, I was so amazed that I had to look it up and make sure it was true. After confirming the stat, I can share it with you. Of the 12 active career home run leaders, guess how many of them made the All-Star game this season? ZERO! That is really a surprising fact.

• Lebron James: This video-gate story has gained so much momentum that it has spun out of control. Nike allegedly took Ryan Miller's video of Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunking on Lebron James. Ryan Miller, a Syracuse University Student Class of '09 (yes, I had to fit it in there), told many media outlets that Lebron James told the Nike reps to take the video. I personally don't have a problem with Lebron James in this situation, but many people do think Lebron was wrong in this case. The image hit has been pretty substantial. 

• Toronto Blue Jays Players: How does it feel to play the second-half of the year knowing that your GM doesn't think your team can compete for another 2 years? Unfortunately, that message was sent when the Blue Jays announced that they were listening to offers for ace Roy Halladay. This is far too common in baseball where you have a season with so many games, and no salary cap, or anything to even the way teams spend. We are at the All-Star break, and pretty much a third of the league can just pack their season in. This point is magnified in the AL East, where the Yankees and Red Sox dominate the spending, thus dominate the standings. It makes you appreciate what the Rays have done to be competitive with those teams for two years.