Justin Morneau is off to a slow start for the Twins this season.

Last week I gave you guys some homework, how many of you actually did it?  I am willing to bet that many of you watched two of the three items on my watch list, but I do have until early July to convince you to watch the Ultimate Fighter. 

Lets start with the game that I told everyone to watch, the Braves and Nationals on Sunday Night Baseball.  Other than having to suffer through four hours of Joe Morgan and John Miller, the game was pretty interesting.  To start the night off, we had had a “lame duck” (or dud, its up to you) throw out the first pitch and make it a trio of idiots in the box calling the game for a few innings.  When we finally got the game started, the Nats came out of the gates fast, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.  The game would stay 2-0 until Chipper Jones hit a solo home run to left.  In the top of the ninth Martin Prado scored the game-tying run on a passed ball.  With game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth and two outs, Nats slugger Ryan Zimmerman came to the plate with a chance to be the hero, and did not pass up the opportunity.  Zimmerman hammered the ball to deep center field to break in the new ballpark the right way, with a walk off home run.

The second thing that I told everyone to watch was the Elite Eight games.  Only one of the games turned out to be worth watching.You know which one it was too, the Davidson vs. Kansas game.  The game was close right up until the final buzzer when Stephan Curry tried his best to play role of David and hit a huge 3 pointer with just 54 seconds left that brought the score to its final at 59-57.  Davidson had the ball for the last shot, but Kansas double-teamed Curry, forcing him to pass the ball to Jason Richards, who then went on to throw up an ugly brick off the backboard.  This year’s Final Four marks the first time in history that all four number one seeds made it to the semi-finals.

For you guys out there that just love to see some good old fashioned boxing, you need to wake up and realize that boxing is being supplanted by a sport that is faster paced, has better all around fighters, and some of the best knock outs in combat sports history.  The sport that is fast becoming one of America’s favorite sports is Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  The show that I told you to watch was the Ultimate Fighter, and the season premier lived up to its name.  We saw eight fights in one hour and every one of them was packed with nose breaking punches and bone twisting jujutsu.  One of the fighters showed up for the show 17 pounds over weight and had to cut that weight in one day in order to fight for the right to the six-figure contract awarded to the winner of the show.  The two coaches on the show are two of the best at what they do, and some of the previous fighters on the show have made an amazing impact in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).  This coming Wednesday there will be eight more fights to decide whom the final 16 fighters are.  Just remember to watch Spike TV at 10 pm on Wednesday.

Let’s get to some baseball.  This week we have seen some rookies off to great starts in their Major League career, some vets struggling early, and one pitcher attempting to come back from years of injuries, and not quite getting there. 

Johnny Cueto made his major league debut a day that the Diamondbacks, and Cueto himself, will never forget.  Cueto gave up one hit, one run, struck out 10, and zero walks in seven innings of work.  The first five innings of Cueto’s career were perfect, with the only hitter that was able to touch his slider/fastball combination being Justin Upton.

Kosuke Fukudome started off his American baseball career with a bang.  So far this year Fukudome is 6 for 12 with one home run and 3 RBI.  His first major league home run could not have come at a better time for the Cubs.  He hit a game tying three run home run off of the large gorilla looking closer that is Eric Gagne. 

Justin Morneau’s start to season has been horrible, and the only thing lower than his batting average right now is the before mentioned “lame duck’s” approval rating.   So far this season, Morneau has managed to go 1 for 16 with just one RBI.  There is no need to worry yet though, he still has 157 more games to get his second hit.  Seriously though, Morneau will find his timing soon and will go on to have a solid season.

David Ortiz should be at 100 percent now that he has gotten his knee fixed. So why is he hitting so poorly?  There is no explanation as to why he has been so awful so far, but the Red Sox and his fantasy owners are hoping that he snaps out of this 2 for 18 funk that he been in since the start of the season.  Like Morneau, there is no real reason to really freak out yet.  We are only one week into the season, so don’t go dropping him because he is not having a good first week back to work.

The one player that you can drop already is Mike Hampton.  I hope that none of you drafted him, but if you did don’t feel badly because I want you to know that I made a mistake of my own by drafting Barry Zito.  The walking, living, and breathing piece of glass that is known as Mike Hampton has been put on the DL once again!  What a surprise!  This time he hits the DL with a strained pectoral muscle.  I have some advice for Mr. Hampton, go out and get the local newspaper, throw everything away but the classifieds, and look for a job because after this year you won’t have one.  Was that a little too harsh?  Oh well!!

That’s going to do it for me this week, but before I go, remember to watch the Final Four games this weekend, and the Ultimate Fighter on Wednesday.