This week saw a momentous occasion in my life: I finally purchased Nintendo Wii. Along with a generous birthday present of Rock Band, I may or may not have spent my entire week largely ignoring baseball and rocking out on pretend guitar and drums, neither of which I can play in real life. One observation: I had no idea the song “Roam” by the B-52's was so hard to play on the guitar. Or maybe I'm just not particularly good at the game. Both are entirely possible.

I also saw Tropic Thunder this weekend, and while it was funny, I think my expectations were somewhat too high, and I was slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was still very funny, and had its moments of brilliance, but I was expecting to be rolling on the floor, and in that regard, it fell short. Nevertheless, Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely amazing, and between this and Iron Man earlier this summer, he is having one hell of a year.

Turning to baseball, Greg Maddux was reportedly traded from the Padres to the Dodgers, although there was no indication of who the deal was for just yet. From a real baseball perspective, this apparently is the Dodgers answer for the Adam Dunn trade to the Diamondbacks, as well as a replacement for Brad Penny's continuing arm woes. Despite Andruw Jones' incredible underachieving, and Rafael Furcal's injury problems, the Dodgers are somehow tied for first. Maddux, of course, is not the Maddux he used to be, but is still fairly effective at age 42, and could put the Dodgers over the top. My money is still on the Diamondbacks to take the division by a nose.

I've already mentioned him in previous columns, but another word on San Francisco minor league pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who, at age 19, is absolutely destroying the competition at Single-A. His last start was Friday, where he threw another six shutout innings, allowing only two hits, and striking out 12. For the season, he is 13-3, with a 1.52 earned run average, a 0.936 WHIP, and 145 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings. He has not given up a run in his last four starts, dating back to July 22 (a span of 28 innings). Given that he is still pretty young, it may not be until 2010 before he sees the majors, but he is still one to keep an eye on.

This past week may have seen the Florida Marlins finally turn back into a pumpkin, as they have compiled a 6-10 record in August thus far, dropping four games out of first place. While they should not be discounted yet, particularly with 12 games left against the Phillies and Mets, everyone has been waiting for a mini-collapse, at which point the two team race between the Phillies and Mets can begin. We can point directly to the offense, which has only put up about 3.5 runs per game in August thus far, after averaging roughly 4.8 runs per month from April through July. The Marlins appear to be on a make or break nine game road trip against San Francisco, Arizona, and Atlanta. By the time they host the Mets at the end of the month, their 2008 season may have already been fitted for a toe tag.

And finally for this week, the Mets bullpen is absolutely terrible. Not exactly much insight here, but it's always fascinating when a player like Luis Ayala, sporting a 5.77 earned run average on the season is seen as a potential upgrade for this bullpen. The 'pen cost the Mets another victory against Pittsburgh on Monday, as they could not hold a 2-0 lead (partial blame goes to John Maine for only being able to last five innings with such a dreadful bullpen). Although they currently sport a 1.5 game lead on the Phillies, one has to wonder if and when these blown games will catch up to them. Don't be surprised when it does.

That will do it for this week. Just 11 short days until college football starts! Go Blue!