Sports Illustrated on Campus asked Wali Lundy what he listens to before games to get him going… and Wali does it right. He goes from Notorious B.I.G. to Michael Jackson’s Thriller to Kanye West to the Star Wars soundtrack. That’s impressive range.

So it got me to thinking… if I was a world-class athlete, what would I listen to before games to get me going? I wanna know what you’d listen to, as well. The first one that comes to mind is “Fuck You” by 50 Cent. The lyrics are pretty straightforward… “Fuck you. I don’t give a fuck who you are.” And that’s how I’d wanna roll… especially if I was an underdog. As more songs occur to me, I’ll put ‘em on the message board. What about you?

In what will come as a shock to no one, Bill Parcells says there have been a few players throughout this career who have thrown punches at him, though he declined to say who.

What I’m wondering is, who took a swing at Bill Parcells… and missed? I mean, I’ve never seen the guy with a black eye or a busted up face. And I’m kinda doubting that any angry players started working the body. It’s not like Bill Parcells would be all that difficult of a target to hit. He’s a big man, he can’t be very fast. I don’t know… maybe behind closed doors, Bill Parcells is some bad motherfucker. Maybe he’s got a black belt or something.

Anyway, Parcells says it’s really no big deal, and that he likes confrontation… because it “clears the air very quickly.” He’s got a point, and I think “touch” coaching is sometimes necessary and can be very effective, but driving someone, in fact, more than one person, to the point that they want to punch you… that can’t be good. You can be tough, and also make your players feel like you care about them. If that was happening, I doubt anyone would be swinging at him.

Weird: Someone shot a bullet at the Cleveland Indians bus, and it came through and hit rookie pitcher Kyle Denney in the calf. Weirder: He was wearing a cheerleading outfit at the time.

That’s gotta be fun to explain to doctors. I dunno… if I’m working in the emergency room, and a dude in go-go boots and a skirt comes in with a bullet wound, I’m going to assume it was a hate crime.

Apparently, this is the time of year when veterans on the teams put rookies through some hazing rituals, and… well, veteran baseball players have some odd tendencies.

The boots, according to doctors, kept the bullet from going very deep and causing serious injury. So Denney’s fine, and will be available to resume his role as team transvestite on the next road trip.

Honestly, I care about Washington getting baseball as much as I would about Paris Hilton getting crabs. With both, it was just a matter of time, and neither interests me all that much.

Anyway, DC sports fans get another team to gush over, to call the greatest of all-time when they win a few games, and to whine incessantly about when they lose a few. As a sports fan, I really can’t get enough of that. DC sports fan is kinda like Philly sports fan or Oakland sports fan, but without even bothering to pretend that they’re tough.

The debate now turns to what to call the team, and it looks like Senators is the early favorite. Mike Wilbon writes a column today suggesting that they be called the Grays, after the Negro League franchise that played in Washington.

I doubt it’ll happen. A poll conducted on the very webpage where the Wilbon article appears shows Senators with a 46% to 17% lead over Grays. And really, since when has anyone in Washington ever shown an inclination to do something considerate of black people? But on the other hand, naming a sports team after a Negro League franchise is just the kind of meaningless gesture a politician would throw out there just so he can say, “Hey, I like black people… Really, I swear.” So this one’s hard to call. I do know that I would definitely bet against the team being called the Washington Osamas. Senators seems more likely.

If you’ve got a few bucks laying around, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Talib Kweli’s newest, The Beautiful Struggle. Damn, is it tight.

The production, from top to bottom, is incredible. Hi-Tek, Kanye West, Neptunes… some great work in there. And it goes without saying that Talib is the man. No one brings it quite like he does. I feel pretty confident in saying that it’s the best hip-hop album that will come out this year.

And it’s been rare in my life that an artist I really like seems to want to put out albums frequently. Reflection Eternal, Quality, and The Beautiful Struggle all came out within a relatively short time period. I doubt many artists put out albums that quickly, and even fewer actually maintain a high-level of consistency through them.

And you know what else… don’t pirate it. Go buy it. Kweli is not Jay-Z or 50 Cent. He’s a guy who actually put a lot of hard work, thought, and effort into something. And it’s good… Good music, from well-intentioned artists, you should pay for. Believe me, I don’t care if you illegally download every Matchbox 20 album out there, make copies, and distribute it to all the neighborhood children. But when a good artist makes a quality product, and does so because it comes from the heart, it’s worth paying for.