After a sweep of the previously unbeatable Royals and a 5-2 road trip following the All-Star break, today's off-day feels pretty warm and sunny, does it not? So let's air out the Open Thread and let some fresh air come in.
As usual, I'll toss out a few topics for discussion. We had a little bit of this on Tuesday, while waiting out the rain delay, but this is your time to up anything you want, baseball or otherwise.
- One of the great things about the advent of blogs and online media is that we have the time (and desire) to look into concepts and beliefs that traditional media either doesn't have the time (or desire, or interest) to investigate. Lee gives us a wonderful example of that at Tiger Tales, exploring the idea of "saving runs for tomorrow," which is something many of us were saying after the Tigers poured 19 runs onto the Royals. Does a big outburst virtually guarantee shooting blanks the next day? Click over and find out.
- Now that The Dark Knight has finally hit theaters, is your summer movie anticipation finished? Or are there any others that you're looking forward to? Walking out of the theater this weekend, I initially had a similar feeling to the one on Christmas after all the gifts have been opened. Then I walked by a poster of Robert Downey, Jr. in Tropic Thunder, and I felt a twinge of excitement again.
- Over at Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan wrote a feature on Joel Zumaya that captures what makes him such a fascinating figure to Tigers fans. There's his fragility, his bad motor scooter persona, and of course, the rockets that get launched from that right arm.
- Do the Detroit Lions really start training camp this week? I don't think I'm ready for this. I need deep breathing exercises, something to bite down down on, armchair restraints for my arms and legs, and probably some sort of pharmaceutical aid before thinking about Lions football. No, I do not "believe in now."
- Have we decided on the official Matt Joyce nickname yet?
- Favorite summer food? Sweet corn? Strawberries? Hot dogs on the grill? (Or anything else on the grill, for that matter.) I suppose we can count ice cream. As I'm writing this, I pick watermelon.
Okay, I don't want to suck all the air out of the room, so I'll leave the off-day chat to you. Enjoy your off-day and rest up for this weekend's series.