Congrats to the Washington Mystics on locking up its first Eastern Conference title. Beating the team (Atlanta) they'll be facing in the first round to do it? That's just a bonus. Note to the Wizards: Ahem. You may want to pick up the pace a bit.

My favorite thing about August? The Little League World Series. (I know, I know, the Babe Ruth World Series is being held right around the corner in Purcellville. So go already!) But I love the LLWS. Maybe it's the kids trying so hard to act grown up and failing so miserably as their exuberance, their enthusiasm, their joy and their heartbreak all bubble to the surface. Maybe it's the idea that these kids are all playing just because they love to do it. Maybe it's because the games are played on scaled down fields perfect for the scaled down munchkins running around on them. Maybe it's because the kids always play hard, always care and regularly make plays they'll remember for a lifetime. Whatever the reason, I encourage you to tune in if you have a chance. Games are being broadcast on ESPN and ABC.

Lou Pinella walked away from the game he's played and managed professionally for the last 48 years of his life on Sunday. He cried. He thanked people and organizations. It was all sort of what you'd expected it to be. But he didn't throw any bases, he didn't toss any bats or helmets or other equipment, he didn't kick any dirt. Lou has mellowed with age. But I'll still miss his presence on the field and in the dugout. With Bobby Cox retiring at the end of the season the game is losing two of its finest characters, and two of its finest men.

Congrats to the Nats on signing Bryce Harper, the generational hitting talent that the team hopes will join Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg as the foundations of a soon to be proud franchise. Of course, Harper won't join the team for at least another two or three seasons (if he does as well in the minors as everyone hopes) and by that time who knows what state the Nats will be in.

Strasburg's latest injury, hopefully just a strained flexor tendon in his throwing arm, should underscore the team's plans to treat Strasburg with utmost care. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by NOT shutting him down. The Nationals' season, as far as Strasburg is concerned, is done. He was closing in on the team-mandated innings-pitched limit anyway. How many more 4- and 5-inning starts did they have in mind to confirm what they'd always suspected about Strasburg, that his stuff is as good if not better than advertised, that his attitude and approach are everything you could want from a face of the franchise?

And speaking of Harper and Strasburg, can anyone explain to me why, exactly, it took until "under a minute" before the signing deadline to get both of these guys signed, sealed and delivered? I simply don't understand why teams and agents engage in this game of chicken each and every year. Does anyone look good because of it? Really? Do Scott Boras and Mike Rizzo not have each other on speed-dial? Do neither of them have enough anytime minutes to spend some time talking about this kind of thing months earlier? Why the drama? 'Cause they've got better things to do? Really? Pick up the phone, gents. You both just look silly.

For a team that worked so hard to revamp itself from the inside out this off-season, from turning the reins over to people who actually had a bit of experience doing this kind of thing to using draft picks to address needs rather than wants, the Redskins have done just about everything right this offseason. Even this situation with Albert Haynesworth is progressing according to script…

Haynesworth set himself up for failure when he decided to blow off the OTA's that all his teammates managed to get to; he set himself up for failure when he spent his first week in camp repeatedly failing his conditioning test; he set himself up for failure when he decided to sit out practices with a mystery ailment just now diagnosed as rhabdomyolsis, a breakdown of muscle fibers into the bloodstream that can damage the kidneys. (Granted, the number one course of prevention for rhabdomyolsis is proper and frequent hydration, something you'd think a $100 million athlete could keep up with, but Haynesworth has never come across as the sharpest tool in the shed.)

Haynesworth's petulant attitude has finally caught up with him and there's not a thing he can do about it. He doesn't like playing with the second-teamers? Tough. He doesn't like playing in the third quarter of a preseason game? Should've been on time for practice, not down in Bermuda working with your personal conditioning coach. (How does one get that job by way?) He doesn't feel appreciated, loved, care for, whatever? Suck eggs, Albert; you gotta give to get, and so far all you've given is bad attitude.

The Redskins are going to be a better team this year, either with Albert or without him; Shanahan doesn't care one way or the other. His doghouse is more than big enough to accommodate the $100 million malcontent. The sooner that message sinks in to Haynesworth's aching head, the better for him.

"The days of him playing without practicing are over. And that, to me, says it all," Mike Shanahan said the other day.

Exactly. Coming from Shanahan, that's not a line in the sand.

That's written in stone.

Oh, my aching head….