Will someone with more graphic design talent than I please design an A's iGoogle Theme?  The ONLY baseball theme is the Gnats and I just can't take it.

For those who've been trying to get me to stop using "LS" for 14/MaEl/Unicorn/Ellis/Brigg's Dad... this could be your chance to negotiate!!! 

Also on the table:

1.  I'll make a significant  good beer contribution to AN Day. 

2.  I'll stop trashing that pig-nosed Jaymee chick (in writing).

3.  Google and AN communities' eternal gratitude and appreciation of your awesome design talents.

**These offers not valid with any other offer, or in combination.**

Next to y'all, Dave Zirin is my favorite sports writer. 

In this week's column Dave writes,

"All traces of Bonds, the greatest player in baseball history, have vanished from the Bay. The left-field wall no longer carries an image of Bonds chasing Hank Aaron for the crown. There is no marker of where Bonds hit home run number 756. There is no reminder that Bonds ever even wore a Giants uniform.

      But it's not just Magowan trying to “disappear” Barry Bonds. He has been blackballed in a blatant and illegal act of Major League collusion, a bosses' boycott."

And

"There is one problem. Bonds doesn't want to go gently into that good night and is pushing his union to fight back. He has asked the Players Association to file collusion charges on his behalf and the union has served Commissioner Bud Selig with papers."

So what do you think?  Is Bonds a victim of "a once time honored  practice" of owner collusion or "a rare display of common sense"?

Disclaimer: I'm from Oakland, "home of some of the most important social movements of the last 100 years" so I'm willing to entertain a conspiracy theory or two.  But not without your penetrating analysis and opinion-as-biased-as-mine that I've come to expect from my other favorite sports writers:  y'all.

Posted elsewhere but in need of its very own fanpost....

Greg Smith needs a nickname. The following have been used/offered:

1. Smitty (like that's an improvement)
2. Smithers (see #1)
3. Lil Moyer/Young Moyer (sounds like a rapper from the early '90's)
4. Young Glavine (see #3)
5. Glavish

6.  Nuke

Others?

It needs to be done... It HAS to be done. Only YOUR VOTE can save Greg Smith from the pit of pablum.

One of the following or post your own.

So I'm just checking out the A's roster trying to learn a little something about the new guys to wow my seatmates at the game.... And I notice the A's have THREE players from South Dakota:  Ellis, Foulke, Duchscherer.   "What are the chances of that?" I wondered.  Well... turns out, if the baseball almanac website is up to date... the A's have all three active major league ballplayers from South Dakota.  Three.

Which brings me to another little thing I noticed, both on the roster and at the park... I suspect the A's have the least diverse team in major league baseball.  One Dominican.  One African American.  One Hawaiian of Japanese decent.  And Chavie (from L.A) and Hernandez who is from Miami (but I didn't look up his family history).  No Venezuelans (I miss Marco too).  No Puerto Ricans.  The A's have only eight players from the states contributing the most players to modern baseball California, Texas, and Florida -which also happen to be the most diverse states.  Four Californians (L.A., Orange, and Lakewood).  Two Texans.  Two Floridians (Miami).

I'm not accusing anyone of anything... but I'm just saying...