In case you had your head down in a bucket a vomit and tears this afternoon as the Phillies waved the white flag on 2012 by trading Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence, here are some must-read stories that we missed.

Our old friend Steve Whyno wrote an outstanding article for the Washington Times. It details the Phillies’ rather abrupt crash from best team in baseball to sellers. And, it’s sad. 

“You had all these young players coming together at the same time, and you knew they were going to get better. And they did,” Plesac said. “But what’s happening is it happens with every team in baseball. It’s the fine line you walk between having the right amount of veteran players and the right amount of up-and-coming young guys that can take the place of the guys that have carried the load for so long.”

 

The nightclub owner with ties to an Eastern European gambling that was responsible for the “do shot” ladies robbing John Bolaris has been arrested.

Asked to elaborate on his life being hell, Bolaris said, "I haven't worked in seven months, my credibility and credit are hurting and I have become more of a cartoon than a chief meteorologist." 

 

Mike Kafka still probably isn't any good. But, this offseason, he underwent a ridiculous training program, which basically forced unused muscles to realize their potential. The result is Kafka throwing harder.

Through a series of tests performed by stimulating the nervous system, Schroeder unearths what muscles are not working and which ones are working out of order. Once that is determined, he sends messages to the brain via an electrical modality called POV (for force velocity) that gives the proper information on how to perform what you want to perform.

 

Right. 

Last night, NBC aired a commercial promoting gold medal winner Missy Franklin’s appearance on the Today Show. Problem: her race was still about seven minutes away from airing, 10 hours after it happened.

On that note, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert laid into NBC for their Olympics coverage. You can watch their rants, after the jump.

via SportsGrid