Ask any popular baseball analyst what MLB team is destined to lose roundabout 100 games this season and without pause they will mention the Washington Nationals.

D.C. folks do not want to hear that their team is already in the battle for best draft position next year. The Nats did quite well in that same battle last year, “earning” the 6th pick in the upcoming 2007 draft. Not to mention they have 5 total picks in the top 75 overall picks thanks to shipping away the likes of their best now-talent.

The best of the talent by far let go was the new member of the 40-40 club (home runs and stolen bases), Alphonso Soriano. Though his first days in DC were mixed with controversy involving his change of position (second base to left field), he reluctantly accepted what was laid out for him and proceeded to have one of his best seasons ever.

And as the trade deadline loomed last July, some of us DC folks begged for the Nats to pony up a few extra pennies and keep Sori — the league’s most potent, well-rounded offensive weapon and lead-off man — or at the very least trade him away in order to receive some form of compensation before he headed off to free agency at season’s end.

The trade deadline came and went, yet Sori remained.

What happened after that can be summed up with an extremely large dollar amount ($136 million) and an extremely happy Sori. The Chicago Cubs paid more money for players in the off-season than any other team, letting it be known that they are looking to win a championship very soon. The Nationals, by letting 19 of the top 25 paid players go in the offseason, let it be known that they aren’t planning on winning any time soon.

But according to the Post’s Thomas Boswell, Washingtonians should look to raise expectations rather quickly.

The playoff run in the Nats’ inaugural year spoiled hometown fans. Trading for Sori provided a shot of excitement. But now, fans are back down to ground level again.

When business folks say they’re headed in “another direction,” no high-paid consultant is needed to step in and explain.

The Nats wouldn’t unlock their wallet to pay for a big name this year. And we are in the midst of an era where many under-achieving athletes are extremely overpaid.

But Sori’s placement in the rare, 14 member, $100 million+ Club is well-deserved. He went through ups and downs and now finds himself on a competitive team, in a win-hungry town with owners who spared no expense in proving their dedication to winning a world championship.

Maybe come this time next year the same will be said about fresh Nats lead owner Ted Lerner and the Washington, DC area. But, for the love of Nats baseball, if Washington ever happens upon another gem as talented as the potent-swinging Sori, they need not let him slip from their grasp.

I have a buddy who hates strip joints. His reasoning is quite entertaining:

“I’d rather rent a porno and throw my wallet at the TV screen!”

Obviously, Adam “Pacman” Jones is not this buddy I speak of.

If recent allegations are indeed true, Jones’s preference is more along the lines of throwing his wallet directly at strippers’ faces, but expecting to preserve his dollars just the same as my buddy.

Pacman Jones is not the first professional athlete to act a fool inside or outside a strip joint (Especially in Las Vegas, where the only things easier to find are slot machines, ATMs and Elvis). It just so happens that he has the longest rap sheet of those frequent fool-actors. As we all know, in professional sports especially, once a bad apple is spotted, the bunch is compromised. Call it an overreaction or a necessary precaution if you will, but there’s no doubt that the league will drop the hammer on Jones once the winter meetings come to an end.

Being involved alone earns him a suspension by league rule. But if criminal charges are indeed brought to the Tennessee Titans star defensive back/kick return man, he will most likely miss an entire season. Unless, as John Clayton mentioned on Mike & Mike this morning, Jones pleads his case in amazing fashion, in which the league would grant this one-time leniency and only apply a suspension of 10-12 games.

Side note: Maybe Jones should lobby Chris Berman and Tom Jackson to take the stand as character witnesses, attesting that imitating sounds of the Pacman video game during Jones’s highlights somehow makes him less a threat to society and more apt to finally change his ways?

The No Fun League cracks down on many unnecessary issues — end zone celebrations, player equipment (think Jake Plummer tribute patch/sticker to Pat Tillman, Sean Taylor socks, the towel often used for wiping football-like babies in end zones and mocking waiter cloths, etc.), league age limits, etc. — but in this case one would be hard-pressed to defend a heavy penalty for Jones. There’s something about a person who repeatedly spits in the face of women and (allegedly) spikes strippers’ heads onto grounds after throwing thousands of dollar bills in faces that… just isn’t likeable.

So to Pacman we say: GET YOUR MIND RITE!

Stay away from strip joints, folks who always end up getting you into trouble (please refer to Allen Iverson’s maturation and entourage downsizing) and any event in which more than $100 worth of dollar bills is required. That is, unless you find yourself invited to a national snack and soda machine convention of some sort. You’re much too talented an athlete to let an addiction to loogies, strippers and crime ruin you. Keep your head up because, on the plus side, if you do bounce back from your punishment, start anew and shine for the rest of your playing career, there just might be a seat for you at The World Wide Leader in the NFL Sunday Countdown Booth.

Related Links:

• Read up on Peter King’s latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback for more on the Pacman Jones/Tank Johnson issue the league is dealing with at its meetings, as well as other random notes of things NFL and very not-NFL… that Petey is an interesting fellow.
• Wikipedia gives us the skinny on Pacman’s history.
• Ex-Cowboy, stripper-lover and trouble-finder gets boot from The World Wide Leader broadcasting booth.

After much neglect and other commitments taking over time meant to be dedicated to this site, MRS.com is back in action.

I’ll be making a handful of design changes but for now the template is set.

Hop on over to the archives and read old posts from previous months. Keep checking in, as we plan on posting updates daily.