Murph's Stream of Consciousness for July 15th

• I love the All-Star game. The introductions are my favorite part. Makes me feel 10 again. I love the step forward and tip of the cap.
• The pregame was terrific. Loved the All-Stars Among Us tribute, including all living Presidents.
• To my relief, Sheryl Crow didn't butcher the Anthem as I've seen her do in the past. She was okay.
• It was great to see the Cardinals Hall-of-Famers, especially Stan Musial. I know some Cardinal fans are disappointed Musial didn't get the Ted Williams treatment from players, but if the same feeling's not there, they shouldn't force it.
• Barack Obama can work a locker room like no President I've seen. He needs to work on that rainbow first pitch though. Not as bad as his bowling, but a clear sign of someone who hasn't thrown a baseball much in his life.
• Major cool points to the President for wearing a White Sox jacket and not pandering to Cardinals fans. Do you think Hillary Clinton would have done that?
• Game was pretty good too, though the National League can't get out of its own way. At least this year John Bachman wasn't worried about whether the outcome would keep the Cubs from having home-field advantage in the World Series.
• Keno Davis is averaging more than one contract extension per year.
• I was skeptical about the Chiefs paying $63 million for Matt Cassel, a guy with one year as a starting quarterback since high school, but the NFL Network's Paul Burmeister tells me he thinks it's a smart move.
• Paul also said he has serious questions about the leadership of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.
• Paul's most underrated NFL player? Peyton Manning. Think about that for a minute.
• Tony Romo reportedly dumped Jessica Simpson the night before her birthday. Andy thinks this was to save money on a gift.
• Florida's Urban Meyer says he'll never coach at Notre Dame. Based on the track record of college coaches who make statements like this, it's time for Charlie Weiss to watch his back.
• UNI is putting in new turf. Thank goodness. The Panthers old field feels like worn out cheap carpet spread over a concrete floor.
• It's good news that Jewel Hampton may be in uniform for the UNI game. We had two different sources tell us Hampton partially tore his ACL and would likely miss considerable action. Kirk Fernentz---through Gary Dolphin---says Hampton did injure a knee ligament, but doctors think he should be ready for the opener.
• The more I get to know LeBron James, the less I like him. He's a once in a lifetime talent, and as far as I know, a law-abiding citizen, but he has some punk tendencies. We saw the first sign of it with the bad sportsmanship after the Magic crushed the Cavs, and another look when LeBron (reportedly) conspired with Nike to prevent anyone from seeing the King get dunked on. That's just stupid. Plus, it only makes us want to see that tape more.
• NASCAR says Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for meth AGAIN. Keep this guy off the track.
• Brett Favre says he'll let the Vikings know by July 30th if he's their quarterback. In other news, Brett Favre will announce July 30th that he's coming out of retirement to quarterback the Vikings.