So I've been sitting by my computer for the last hour trying to figure out how to get people excited over the European Soccer Championship, which starts tomorrow.

Should I discuss how the Dutch's 4-5-1 system is completely ill-suited for the team they have?  How about the hope that the 2004 champions, Greece, are going to have a tough time getting out of group play?  Or the effect that new coach Gus Hiddink will have on a moderately talented Russian squad?

Nah, it's much easier to spotlight some of the hot soccer WAG's (wives and girlfriends) that will be in the crowd and player boxes over the next three weeks.

For instance, the tournament opener tomorrow pits the Czech Republic against one of the host nations, Switzerland.  Who'll you be checking out in that game?  Edita Hordova, sig other of Czech striker Milan Baros.

Then, Tuesday afternoon, while Spain is competing against the Russian squad, you can gaze at Eva Gonzalez, girlfriend of Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas (careful, goalies have a lot of free time during the games to knock out leering guys).

While the Germans are taking on Portugal Sunday, you can fooucs on Helen Sveden, wife of Portugese forward Luis Figo.

The Netherlands may be in the group of death, but when they play Italy and France in their first two games, your focus should be on Sylvie Van der Vaart, wife of Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart.

And finally, Italy is considered the favorites to win Euro 2008.  And that means more air time for Valentina Zambrotta, wife of Italian defender Gianluca Zambrotta.

Interested yet?

For whatever it's worth, I'll pick Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Croatia, Italy, France, Spain, and Russia to make it out of group play.  Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Spain will be in the final four, with the Italians lifting the cup after beating Portugal in the finals.

Big Brown will attempt to become the first horse in 30 years to win horse racing's Triple Crown, a feat that requires that a horse win three races in seven weeks.  Horse racing is not the only sport with a Triple Crown award as baseball also has its versions.

The Baseball Almanac states that the Triple Crown is "awarded" (received or honored with as no physical award exists) to the hitter who leads his own League in all three of these hitting statistics: 1: Home runs. 2: Batting average. 3: Runs batted in. All three categories must be led or tied at the end of the season in order to be part of a Triple Crown performance. Few players have ever come close and when a player simply leads in two categories it is often a noteworthy achievement. Meanwhile there is also a Triple Crown of pitching that's "awarded" to the pitcher who leads — or ties — his league in three major pitching areas: 1: wins 2: strikeouts and 3: earned run average.

While there hasn't been a hitter to win the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967, there have been several pitchers in recent years to accomplish the feat. Jake Peavy won the NL's pitching Triple Crown last season and Johan Santana won it in the AL for the Twins in 2006. In fact, since horse racing's last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed in 1978, there have been a total of seven pitchers to win a Triple Crown.

That leads me to the point of this post, which of the Triple Crowns are the most impressive?

It is easy to see that a pitcher that dominates a league for a year can walk away with all the hardware. However, in today's modern era it is rare to see a power hitter that also hits for average. Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez have come close in recent years, but close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes, but not horse racing.

There have been 43 horses who won two out of the three Triple Crown races and 20 who won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to fail in the Belmont Stakes.  Six of the 20 were in the last 11 years, so we are more than due for someone to finally win and maybe Big Brown will be the one to do it. Only eleven horses have won the elusive Triple Crown. The grueling schedule of three races in five weeks at longer distances than most have run previously in their careers is probably the most difficult task any horse will face in his racing career. Smarty Jones became the lastest to fail when he finished second to Birdstone in the 2004 Belmont.

Either way you frame it if Big Brown wins on Saturday it is going to be pretty special. 

Homer Bailey made his season debut for the Reds on Thursday and picked up the loss at the Phillies' beat the Reds 5-0 in the series finale. Bailey pitched well, but three errors led to three unearned runs and Phillies' left-hander Cole Hamels once again dominated the Reds' lineup.

Bailey, who was added to the roster before the game, pitched well in his first start this season, allowing four hits and five runs (two earned) in 6 1/3 innings as he struck out one batter and walked four.

"It was a pretty good outing," manager Dusty Baker said. "He threw strikes. His pitch count [89 pitches] was down. We gave them the first three runs."

Bailey was only 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA in the minors before his call-up -- not exactly numbers you want to see out of a guy who gets the nod -- but he showed promise here and will stay in the rotation for now. His next start is likely to take place Tuesday night as the Reds return home to face the Cardinals.

If Bailey can start living up to his hype, the Reds will bolster of the NL Central's best rotations with Bailey joining veterans Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and the young guns, Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. 

This weekend you could watch history be made for the first time in 30 years as Big Brown makes his quest to win the Triple Crown in horse racing. Just 11 horses have pulled off the feat in the past 140 years, the last being Affirmed in 1978.

In the days leading up to the race, we’ve been inundated with media reports about the injury to Big Brown and how he is ready to go. I don’t have the level of expertise of the trainers and doctors in this situation, but they say Big Brown is just fine and ready to race. I cannot argue with that.

But as a huge horse racing fan, I’m torn between the two scenarios running in my mind. The first is the best case scenario of Big Brown doing what Big Brown does and destroy his field of competitors on his way to becoming the 12^th Triple Crown winner. The second is a more disappointing, worst case scenario of Big Brown suffering a catastrophic injury during/after the race, similar to Barbaro and Eight Belles.

Should Big Brown race with a known injury? How bad is the injury? And, what happens to horse racing if something happens to Big Brown?

The tragedy of Eight Belles is still very fresh in the minds of many with investigations being asked of the Kentucky state government. Moments after the Kentucky Derby, the stories weren’t about a horse that won from the 20 post position, but about the horse that had to be euthanized on the track for breaking her two front legs. We know there was not a pre-existing condition to Eight Belles and the answer is that is simply a part of horse racing.

But what if something happens to Big Brown? With the known hoof injury he has, I believe horse racing would take its biggest blow ever to the sport … almost to the point of no return. Horse racing simply cannot withstand another powerful horse ending in such a tragic way.

I think it brings up an interesting debate. Can horse racing survive if Big Brown suffers an injury? I’m not sure it can.

I’m not arguing whether he should run or not in the Belmont. I think that is a no-brainer. If the trainers and doctors say he is OK, then he runs. But you have to be careful. You already have a $50 million stud deal in the bank. This is all about managing the risk vs. the reward.

The Reds went after Yonder Alonso, a first baseman out of the University of Miami (Fla.) with the seventh pick in the amateur baseball draft Thursday. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior bats left and throws right. He hit .370 for the Hurricanes this season with 21 home runs and 66 RBIs.

The move was bit surprising to some. For starters, the Reds already have a young first baseman in Joey Votto. Secondly, Alonso once again is a left-handed power hitter and the franchise desperately needs to inject more right-handed hitting in to the lineup and has for years.

Many fans are also disappointed that the team did not go pitching in the first round, but they did go that direction with their next three picks.

They took RPH Zach Stewart out of Texas Tech in Round 3; RHP Tyler Cline out of Cass H.S. in Round 4; and RHP Clayton Shunick from NC State in Round 5.

The team wrapped up day one's action by selecting Delaware SS Andrew Buchholz in Round 6. 

The Reds did not have a pick in Round 2.