* BIG Series: Padres and Giants set to battle for control of NL West. These are the series we watch baseball for. With just over three weeks to go in the regular season, the Padres lead the Giants by just two games in the NL West. Starting tonight at Petco Park, they’ll meet for four games that will set the tone for the rest of the month. [Big League Stew]
Editor’s Note: By the power of Crazy Crab, the Giants WILL be in first place on Monday!
* Which NFL Team Is Really ‘America’s Team?’ So it appears that the Dallas Cowboys are indeed “America’s Team.” The Cowboys did have help from the NFL, who gave the Cowboys a league-leading six national appearances, which equates to a colossal 117 million viewers. But it’s not just television where the Cowboys are getting all of their exposure. Dallas was helped in the study by the immense amount of traffic their website draws — nearly 50% more monthly unique visitors than the second-place Steelers. Overall the Dallas Cowboys were an astounding 23% more popular than the the No. 2 team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The New York Giants were the third most popular team, followed by three of the four teams in the NFC’s North division: the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. [Ted Williams' Head]
* Rex Ryan Keeps It Real On Revis, Sanchez, Hard Knocks and Dungy. On if he went screaming out of his meeting with Revis and his agents: “I was just tired of hearing it from both sides. I wanted the thing to get done. Darrelle wanted to play. I just couldn’t take it. It’s hard for me to understand the thing not getting done. There was definitely some urgency on our part, my part for sure, and on Darrelle’s part. Watching that, I don’t think I’m a very good negotiator.” [Sports Radio Interviews]
* Ray Lewis Old Spice Commercial — He Blows Up Saturn! Recently, Old Spice has created a new line of commercials for the NFL and have decided on Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis as one of their new spokesman. In this advertisement, we learn that Ray Lewis has his own life-sized Raven and it has laser-beams coming out of it’s eyes. [Outside the Boxscore]
* For the Record: Bill Belichick has a nice, fat unclaimed $300 check waiting for him from the state of Massachusetts … Greatness from Food Court Lunch.
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Contact Rick Chandler at rickchand@gmail.com. Join in on Twitter.
