`Hey, didn't you used to be Lopes, Muser, Bell, Garner...' (Caught On The Fly).

If defense wins cham-peen-ships, then Fly can pick (shaddup!) the name next to the Lakers' in the Western finals bracket: Bye.

* When Kevin Harvick says, "Sometimes I come home and mess with my remote-control cars or play with my dogs," he's not just ticking off the ways he's trying to kick back during a difficult season. He's also tryin' to paint a kinder, gentler version of his alter ego as an, ahem, aggressor so he can get back on solid ground with NASCAR honchos after repeatedly revving his proverbial engine in their faces.

* You know Eli wouldn't be a Manning if he wasn't working to get abso-freakin'-lutely better every doggone day. Ol' Rebel yellers say a spring look at the kid showed he's gettin' bigger and stronger, little by little, and what that means for Oxford in the fall is less dink-and-dunk and plenty more of the downfield playbook David Cutcliffe used with Peyton at UT.

* Hey-yo, Raffy Palmeiro, that's one way to raise your, um, profile.

* Sure Alfonso Soriano's thisclose to supe'stardom, but before he takes that final step he needs to clean up those E-4s. The kid's not suffering from Chuck Knoblauch disease; instead it's a lot of little symptoms (lazy throws, poor footwork, not a lot of want-to) ...