National Geographic has an article about Civil War battlefields being turned into subdivisions. I happened to notice one of the name of a Confederate general killed on the field of battle that was such a marvelous name I had to look it up to see if it was really true: States Rights Gist. There really was a man named States Rights.

The Civil War fascinates me. The bravery, the slaughter, so foreign to our present America. Six Confederate generals died the same day that Gist did in combat. Six generals! At Cold Harbor, before they attacked, Union soldiers went ahead an pinned names and addresses on their uniforms so their bodies could be identified. I cannot imagine.

This is a fascinating. At least to me. It's generally accepted that pitchers today don't throw any harder than Bob Feller or Walter Johnson. Why? I mean, athletes in other sports have gone faster over the last 50 years, why not pitchers?

Turns out that a 100 miles per hour fastball realy is about the maximum speed the human arm can throw. The article doesn't really talk about the physics, but of course if your hand has to be moving 100 mph at the release point to throw the ball 100 mph. It's just not possible to make one's hand move faster than 100 mph. Ligaments, tendons, etc., start to snap. And unlike, for instance, tennis, there's no equipment out there to help pitchers. It's just them and the ball. Fascinating.

On the other hand, the story of the legend mentioned, Steve Dalkowski, is just really sad.

Well, I admit, I hadn't thought much about Bo Jackson these last few years. But now we know what happens when a truly innocent man is accused of using steroids.

We're still awaiting lawsuits from Messrs. Bonds, Giambi, McGwire, Sosa, etc....