From the Bench returns

The horror ... the horror

Just when you thought it was safe to read the sports section, today marks the return of my column From the Bench.

Run for your lives!

Or as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now would say "the horror ... the horror."

From the Bench is coming out of its brief semi-retirement to cause havoc once again.

And there are several topics I want to discuss. So let's "get it started" as the Black-Eyed Peas would say:

H Nebraska Cornhuskers -- I realize that a lot of people are really excited about the upcoming college football season and so am I.

But we need to cool our jets and bring down expectations a bit.

Zac Taylor looks like a great quarterback on paper, but realize he hasn't thrown an NCAA Division I pass yet.

The Huskers are picked to finish third in the Big 12 North behind Colorado and Iowa State.

Texas and Oklahoma are picked 1-2 in the Big 12 South.

Two other Huskers -- strong safety Daniel Bullocks and center Kurt Mann -- were picked as preseason All Big 12.

Taylor is picked as the preseason Newcomer of the Year.

The best two players in the Big 12 figure to be Oklahoma sophomore tailback Adrian Peterson and Texas quarterback Vince Young, who should be favorites for the Heisman Trophy along with last year's winner Matt Leinart of Southern Cal.

* Kansas City Royals -- It's been another long summer for long-suffering fans of the Kansas City Royals (like me).

But the Royals do have some talent, but it's very young talent and they are going to struggle.

* St. Louis Cardinals -- The Cardinals are running away with the National League Central even though third baseman Scott Rolen has been playing with one arm most of the season.

He will have to play sparingly for the next 6-7 weeks because of his injured left shoulder.

The Cardinals have the pitching this year with starters Chris Carpenter and Matt Morris and closer Jason Isringhausen.

St. Louis also has the best young hitter in the game in Albert Pujols.

* Colorado Rockies -- Say something nice about the Rockies John.

Ahem.

The Coors Field ball park looks lovely. When does the microbrewery open?

* Tiger Woods -- Did someone say his swing was flawed and he can't putt? We should all be that messed up.

After this weekend's British Open romp, I would say he's back on track.

And Jack Nicklaus went out a winner even if he didn't make the cut.

* New York Yankees -- The Yankees are battling for the American League East title with the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles despite the fact they seem to holding open auditions for pitchers.

After Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina, the staff is in a little disarray.

The Yankees need starters, the Red Sox need relievers and the Orioles have a young pitching staff.

The second-place team in the AL East will be sitting at home come October because the wild card team will likely be the AL Central runnerup. Minnesota and Chicago will be battling toward the end.

* Rafael Palmeiro -- The Baltimore Orioles' slugger Rafael Palmeiro is a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite the rantings to the contrary by snobby sports columnist Skip Bayless that Pameiro doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Palmeiro, who I watched play semi-professional baseball for the Hutchinson, Kan., Broncs in the early 1980s, will join Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as the only players in the 3,000-hit, 600-home run club.

And Bayless should volunteer for moon missions if NASA decides to resume those in the near future. It sounds like he's halfway there already.

I have more ideas, but I will save them for my next column.

It's BAAAACCCKKK!!!

John J. Mesh is the sports editor of the McCook Daily Gazette. In addition to seeing Palmeiro play semi-pro, he also watched a young, wild Roger Clemens pitch for the Hutchinson Broncs. What a name-dropper. E-mail John at sports@mccookgazette.com