Meet Toby Gerhart

Some people know Toby Gerhart as the guy who set the California High School career rushing record by more than 1,000 yards (!) at Norco HS.



Other people know Gerhart as the Stanford outfielder who belted a mammoth home run against Florida State in the 2008 College World Series.



And the Oregon State football team? The Beavers know Gerhart as this:



19 carries. 147 yards. 2 touchdowns. 1 improbable season-opening win.

Get on board the Gerhart Train. Next stop: Tempe, AZ.

Let's Take a Look Under the Hood

Little girls carry lunch pails; real men wear mechanic's shirts. Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh gave blue collar shirts to his players this summer, a gesture meant to symbolize the Cardinal's workmanlike effort. I can dig it. Vintage is so in among the college crowd, the marketing possibilities are endless, and it sure beats putting a stump of wood alongside the recently returned Stanford Axe in the locker room. Here's hoping Harbaugh sports his own shirt -- with "Jim" embroidered on the name tag -- on the sideline this season.

This Will Never Get Old

Stanford kicks off the second year of the Harbaugh Era tonight against Oregon State -- the first of three brutal games (@ Arizona State, @ TCU) to start the season. The Beavers' schedule is no joke either, and OSU could be looking ahead to next week's trip to Happy Valley.

Bold predictions: Stanford rushes for more than the -8 yards they racked up in a 23-6 loss in Corvallis last year; Tavita Pritchard does nothing to make Cardinal fans forget about Trent Edwards and nothing to make them yearn for T.C. Ostrander; ESPN's Ron Franklin or Ed Cunningham will refer to Stanford as the "Cardinals" at least once; Jim Harbaugh will show more emotion after one play than Walt Harris and Buddy Teevens did in their too many years combined on the Farm. Oh, and Stanford wins, 28-14.

DJ Strawberry = Sean Singletary

Huge trade in the NBA today, with the Suns sending former Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry to Houston for former UVA standout Sean Singletary.

On TheSabre, one Hoo laments:

"Damn, SS is getting passed around like one of my old girlfriends."

Meanwhile, a Singletary fan weighed in on the deal over at TerrapinSportsReport:

"As much as you guys may hate this trade, you know that SS couldn't have ended up with a better team in terms of matching play style. Run up and down, little reckless at times, harass the ball. Dont hate, appreciate."

To which a Maryland fan responded:

"we dont care about singletary on this board we care about DJ and this trade puts him in jeopardy of not making the team or 12th man again."

And:

"who cares, go away"

That last comment about sums it up. As much as I loved watching DJ Strawberry do his thing in College Park, I'd be surprised if he or Singletary sticks in the NBA.

Cubs Broadcasters Are Morons

With the Nationals in Chicago for a three-game series with the Cubs, I took advantage of the opportunity to watch the opener on WGN. I like MASN's Carpenter-Sutton pairing just fine, but I can always use some fresh perspective while watching the worst team in baseball. Much to my dismay, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly didn't provide it.

As a graphic showing each category in which the Cubs ranked first and the Nationals ranked last was displayed, Kasper explained how the Cubs players still considered Washington a pesky team that they can't take lightly. The Nationals, after all, have nothing to lose at this point -- except more baseball games. Blah, blah, blah. Hackneyed? Sure, but I understand the sentiment. WGN conveniently left out the one category that the Nats rank first in: "Number of Light-Hitting Middle Infielders."

I didn't really start to wonder if Kasper was sleeping with Stan Kasten until Emilio "Why Walk When You Can Run" Bonifacio and Christian Guzman both grounded out weakly to second base to start the game. After Guzman was called out on a bang-bang play at first base, Kasper said something to the effect of, "You can really see how dangerous the top of this Nationals lineup could be. With the speed at the top of the order, they could wreak some havoc on the basepaths and score some runs if they could get on base." Um, yeah, and the heart of the order -- Zimmerman, Milledge, and Belliard -- could strike fear in eyes of opposing pitchers if they could, you know, hit a lot of home runs.

Bonifacio has four walks and 29 strikeouts this season, with most of his at-bats coming in the leadoff spot. Guzman has 18 walks and 45 strikeouts. Neither of them belongs anywhere near the top of the order.

Perhaps by Sunday, when the Cubs complete their third consecutive shutout of the Nats, Kasper and Brenly will realize that there is nothing potentially dangerous about Washington's current lineup, except to those who have to watch it suck.

Nuts About the Nats

This guy is a huge Emilio Bonifacio fan.



The new-look Nats remained perfect in August after pummeling the Rockies 9-4 behind Bonifacio's three hits. The win moved Washington to within 19.5 games of Milwaukee for the NL wild card spot with an absolutely crucial four-game series against the Brew Crew looming next weekend. Go nuts, Nats fans. This could qualify as the high point of the season.