Breakfast with Strasburg, Crabtree, Cable, and a memorial to a great NFL official.

Well, hello there world! Especially those international readers, (Blatz eating breakfast over in Canada Land. I hope you're having a huge meal because there's a lot to read). It was definitely an interesting day in sports yesterday, where do I start?

Well, the signing of Stephen Strasburg is a good one. When all of us expected to hear some ridiculous number of dollars, once rumored to be $25-$30 million in guaranteed money, Stephen was signed, minutes before the deadline, for 4 years, $15.67 million plus a $15 million signing bonus. We all know how crazy and notorious Scott Boras can be when it comes to getting big contracts, and even though Boras set out with the goal of smashing a record, he did break one, for most guaranteed money ever to a drafted player, but just for not as much as Boras wanted. I was just stoked to hear how genuinely happy and relieved Strasburg sounded to finally be signed. "It's an amazing feeling. I really wasn't sure if it was going to happen, but I'm glad it did," Strasburg told ESPN's Pedro Gomez. Now, the reason I like Strasburg's mentality is because I don't like Michael Crabtree's. Yeah, who am I to say that it sucks or not, but when the #10 overall pick Michael Crabtree wants to be paid like a top-5 pick, just because Mel I-Don't-Deserve-A-Job Kiper predicted you would be (Gee, Kiper got it wrong? Shocker), doesn't mean you should. Earn your starting spot, ball it up for a few years, hire Rosenhaus, get paid, and Eric Bleezy will draft you for his fantasy team just because you're a star wideout.

So, enough with the children. Wait, one more college kid. Greg Paulus, 2005 Gatorade player of the year for football, is obviously more known for being a star point guard at Duke. You know the story, he started his first 3 years for Duke, got beat his senior year by a better kid, beat UNC his junior season while leading his team in points (18), blah blah blah. This kid, after the season, then tried out for the... Green Bay Packers? What's going on here? Well, anyway, he's now officially the starting QB for the mighty Orange of Syracuse, and I think it's a fantastic story. Props to Greg Paulus for following his two sports dreams. In a time when students are rarely able to play dual sports in college, Greg Paulus is balling it up at two different schools. Weirdly enough, being a Duke boy, his brother is a QB at UNC.

So, about a couple months ago, I joked with my friend Brian Magerkurth (Angel Fan) about whether or not the Angels were at .500. Well, two months later, they look like arguably the best team in baseball, and my Dodgers, well, they look like an average team when playing the Cards, Braves, or... Diamondbacks? 14-17 since the All-Star break, the Dodgers have shocked many baseball fans with their under-achieving streak of suck they've been riding for over a month now. I really hope they can pick it up. Why couldn't we get a good pitcher? As for the Angels, well, life only gets better. They finally have Vladdy and Hunter back in the line-up, which is sickening to think about considering how well they played without him. They're pitching is solid, they've got a great coach, plenty of bats, and I don't have to mention their lack of K-Rod in the 9th. I truly expect them to make the ALCS, which is crazy because of how good they were last year, and because of how badly they tanked in the playoffs. This team is different though. They've got a chip on their shoulder. They play a straight-laced, true badass brand of baseball. Oh, and the Angels are batting .800 with RISP. Yeah, .800, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Do my Dodgers, who are a young and extremely talented bunch, need to watch a few more Angel games on their days off?

Back to the NFL. I hate Tom Cable. Hate him. Is it because he took over for my boy Lane Kiffin after Kiffin was fired? A little bit. Is it also because he's the head coach of the Raiders? Yes. I hate the Raiders. I Always have and always will. They make me sick, but this is why I hate Tom Cable. There was some sort of incident that occured earlier this month involving Cable and his assistant coach Randy Hanson. However, regardless of whether or not Cable punched Randy in the face out of anger, or accidentally knocked him out of his chair, Cable was still responsible for the dude breaking something in his face! We'll never know what really happened, but I think it's a joke that Cable had the nerve to not say whether Randy Hanson is still employed by the team or not. Clearly, something bad went down and Cable wants to hide it all up.

Lastly, we here at Talk At The Urinal would like to pay tribute to man who most NFL fans do not really know too well, Burl Toler. Burl was the first African-American official in the NFL. He officiated in the NFL for 24 seasons (1965-89) as a field judge and head linesman. He was once the Cleveland Browns #1 pick, but he injured his knee during a college all-star game which forced him to give up football. Burl then decided to officiate. Not only would he become the first African-American official in the NFL, he became the first African-American to officiate a Super Bowl, Super Bowl XIV (incidentally a Super Bowl many LA fans would like to forget). Burl was also a part of the “Freezer Bowl,” the coldest wind-chill game in NFL history. Burl was an innovator. He paved the way for many officials today. Many do not know of him, but I think that is because how great an official he was. The true job of an official is to be unnoticeable. Burl passed away this past Sunday (fitting right?) at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife Melvia, six children, and eight grandchildren, one of which that played wideout for CAL.

-GonZo