In basketball recruiting, they refer to the times when a college coach can’t contact a prospective player as a “dead period.” Well, this must be one, because there is absolutely freakin’ nothin’ going on in the world of Flyer Hoops. The Summer Leagues haven’t started, BG is busy recruiting but there are still 2 scholarships for 2003 that are waiting to be filled and I’m gonna puke if I read one more MB post or newspaper article about Conference-jumping.

Sounds like an ideal time to empty my brain of all the flotsam and jetsam that is rolling around in it:

— Rick Carlisle got fired from the Pistons after back-to-back 50 win seasons. Moral of the story: Rule #1 — Don’t piss off the owner. Rule #2 — Any questions, refer to Rule #1.

–Speaking of owners, is George Steinbrenner ready to explode or what? Thank you Houston for the no-hitter by committee! I love to watch Georgie suffer. Same with Mark Cuban of the Mavs — I was rooting for the Spurs to beat the Mavs, just so I wouldn’t have to watch his antics anymore this season.

— Rumor has it that Jason Kidd will sign with the Spurs after the playoffs. Yeah, the Spurs might have room in the salary cap, since David Robinson is retiring, but that just ain’t fair.

— I’m really excited to see Darko Milicic in a Pistons uni. If you haven’t heard about him, Darko is a 7’2″ 18 year old European phenom with mad skills whom the Pistons are going to select right after Jimmy Paxson grabs LeBron James for the Cavs.

— Speaking of Pax, what are the odds that he and little bro John (GM of the Bulls) pull the trigger on a trade? I would say highly unlikely — they both know each other too well.

— I got to see the Red Sox play the Pirates in a doubleheader at PNC Park last week and damned if the Sox didn’t win them both! Great pitching from Derek Lowe and newly acquired BK Kim, lots of homers and a ton of Red Sox fans, which kinda irritated the Bucs fans in attendance. PNC is a great park, but $5.75 for a beer made me glad I don’t drink.

— Sammy Sosa never used a corked bat in a game before. Rrriiigghhhttt.

— The Elder Swampette is doing UD’s Study Abroad Program in London for six weeks. She and her friends spent the weekend in Dublin. The closest I’ll get to doing that is visiting the suburb of Columbus. She emailed us the other night and now she and a friend want to extend their stay and visit Italy. While you’re at it, Africa is right down the road, hon.

— I’m sorry: I like to golf, but I would prefer to have absolutely nothing to do with the US Open rough.

— The worst rough I’ve ever seen was at legendary Oakmont CC in Pittsburgh. My father-in-law arranged for my father and me to play there. My dad had the misfortune to hit his ball into some of the nasty Oakmont long stuff. He took a full swing at the ball and it traveled maybe 10 feet. I guess that’s why they call it “rough”.

— That day at Oakmont represents one of my favorite golfing memories with my old man. The weather is perfect. He and I both hit our tee shots down the middle on #1, which is a par 5 for the members, but a 4 for the pros. We both hit our 2nd shots long and straight and both chip on and have birdie putts. I think to myself “It doesn’t get any better than this”. Not so fast! My dad hit his first putt off of the green and 4 whacked. I was lucky to only 3 putt. Ouch!

— I got my dad the new David Halberstam book “Teammates” for Father’s Day and read it before I sent it to him. It revolves around the relationship between Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Domenic Dimaggio and Bobby Doerr who were teammates on the Red Sox in the glory years of the ’40s and early ’50s and the closest of friends ever since. They don’t make ballplayers like those 4 any more…what a great read.

— Springfield, OH native Elgrace Wilborn slugged his room/teammate, got booted from UT and is looking for a new school. Pass.

— Sorry to hear that former Flyer Stan Greenberg died. Never saw him play, but he was a vital part of the 1st NIT Championship team in 1962, a heck of a lawyer and, from what I’ve read, an even better guy.

— My buddy Matt Schwade at FlyerHoops.net has a mildly annoying habit of posting links on the free MB to stories requiring premium access. Yo, Matt — we can’t read the damned things, so why post a useless link?

— I’ll pitch in some bucks to have Sean Finn accompany KW to Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp…who’s with me???

— KW’s little bro Adam has to compete with what Fans Only Recruiting deems to be the #1 recruiting class at FSU. 4 studs — 2 of them of the 6’10” variety — that can’t be good for AW’s PT.