News and notes while thinking of a cat nap…

Phelps, U.S. swimmers open with show of force (AP/USA Today) Americans gain bragging rights over hosting Aussies.

Notes: Cardinals’ rotation announced (MLB.com) Despite having multiple days off during month, La Russa sticks with five-man rotation.

KSK: Manning brings the funny (KissingSuzyKolber) The gang at KissingSuzyKolber digs up the aforementioned United Way/Peyton Manning spoof.

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Gammons: Even Rockies have a shot (ESPN INsider) ESPN’s Gammons provides his weekly news and notes throughout MLB, including a small excerpt:

• Tampa Bay obviously is looking for pitching, but Jorge Cantu is not getting it done.

• The Cubs do have two very good hitting pitchers in Carlos Zambrano (.212 lifetime, 10 homers in 330 at-bats) and Jason Marquis (.223), but before one suggests they move up in what could be a pretty dangerous order, remember, their combined walk/strikeout ratio is 12/190.

• Washington has asked waivers on four minor league free agents with guaranteed contracts — Mike Restovich, Jermaine Van Buren, Tim Redding and Billy Traber.

• Octavio Dotel is hitting 95 on the gun for the Royals, but for those Red Sox fans who wish he had been signed, when they called last winter, he did not want to pitch in Boston.

And the real reason comes out why the 2002 All-Star Game was called a tie…

As it turns out, the reason the 2002 All-Star Game ended up tied was that a pitcher on one of the two teams was imbibing in the clubhouse and was not in condition to pitch, hence the game ended.

And that’s how home-field advantage is decided in the World Series, not by regular-season excellence. But then, what owner thinks about the guys who spend their money on tickets?

News and notes while rolling out of bed…

NC State, Yow eliminated from NCAA women’s tournament (AP/Yahoo! Sports)  Coach Kay Yow guided team as she battled breast cancer, chemotherapy treatments.

Manning gets laughs as ‘SNL’ host (AP/Yahoo! Sports) The skit to watch: his United Way takeoff with the kids.

Sharapova, Federer advance at Sony Ericcson Open (AP/USA Today) Federer had a special guest in the crowd: Tiger Woods.