We believe the Official RandBall Anchorman Quote (”Boy, that escalated quickly… I mean, that got out of hand fast!”) applies to the brawl last night between the L.A. Sparks and Detroit Sparks Shock. Sad but true: this is the most attention the WNBA has received in a while, and is far greater evidence that they are ready to join their male counterparts than any in-game dunking. (We’re half-joking). In a major upset, Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn were involved. Cheryl Ford, sadly enough, had to be wheeled off the court in a Pierce-mobile. Have a look-see:

We had been looking for an introduction to a new item we’d like to roll out on a daily basis: Commenter Talkers. Do you have a thought that’s so brilliant it needs its own space in a main post? E-mail it to us by 2 p.m. every day, and we’ll spotlight your opinions. Stu read our minds (as usual) and provided the first example. Stu?

(Applying tinfoil rube hat)

Francisco Liriano is lights out right now. The Twins need someone, anyone to pitch the 8th inning. Call Liriano up, slide him into the rotation, and put Glen Perkins in the set-up role, as he actually has done that before.

(/Removing tinfoil rube hat)

I don’t have any better ideas, unless they can trade Hernandez for a middle reliever, which just isn’t going to happen.

Love it? Hate it? Have a better idea? Let’s hear it.

We thought about putting a moratorium on Brett Favre posts, but it’s going to be pretty impossible as long as the NFL is visiting Winter Park regarding the tampering stuff and ESPN is saying Favre wants to play here. Nothing would shock us at this point. Nothing. It also seems as though Favre is still on the brains of you dear readers as well, seeing as how three of you have sent us separate links or messages lately with some Favre thoughts.

*First up is Joker, who reminds us that Favre is on the cover of Madden ‘09. We all know the long history of the cover jinx; we all thought such a thing could be broken this year when they picked a “retired” player for the cover. But it now appears we have irrefutable evidence of a curse — unless you don’t consider a ruined reputation to be a bad thing.

*Next is Newbie, who reminds us of something we saw last week with this e-mail: “In accidentally watching ESPN — my wife was watching it, I swear! — I noticed the bottom line, which used to be just for sports scores, but now has become a place for “breaking” news. The usual headlines are MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, etc … However due to the recent Favre saga, he now has his own little headline title. So, when you’re watching for the pitching match-ups of tonight’s games we now get the added bonus of catching up on all of the Favre news we have only heard 6 times today. Honestly, is this the first time in the history of the world that an athlete changed his mind about retiring? Or are we just blessed to live in the age of 24 hour news networks? We feel your pain, Newbie. We saw the Favre crawl while sitting in a restaurant. It is truly disgusting. End of story.

*And finally, frequent commenter and mob tough guy Victor Lebanon has this take on the Favre vs. Vikings saga over at his corner of the Internet universe.

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OK, some of you also might be wondering how Official RandBall Band “The Hold Steady” played last night at First Avenue. It was pretty much what we expected for a band on tour backing a very freshly released CD. (Yes, it’s been available for a little longer via download, but still). It’s just harder to get into the new songs. Part of a concert experience is familiarity, no doubt. So when there was a string of new stuff, we listened intently but also felt things bogging down a little. That said: Chips Ahoy was money (the video never fails to crack us up), and the first encore — kicked off by Positive Jam — was extremely tight. The (sold out) Ave was packed with punctual, sweaty folks. We wanted them to play one Lifter Puller song, but maybe we should stop living in the past and just move on.

As responsible concert-goers, we took the bus to and from the Avenue. On the way back, we had a nice chat with a fella whose bottom line will be impacted if bus fares are raised. “I’m glad we’re getting these stadiums. Really I am,” he said before talking more about the tough economic times. While it should be noted that transit funding and stadium funding are parts of two different buckets, they are part of one overall philosophy. We will say no more.

Fasola-link! 50 golf courses, 50 states, 50 days. Must be rough.

Confession: in another life, “Stensation” is Star Tribune sports reporter Brian Stensaas, who works under our strict and direct supervision in the prep sports department. He is filing reports from tonight’s American Association All Star Game at Midway Stadium and thus was in prime position to glean some knowledge from one Mr. Bill Murray. Stensation, take it away:

No promotion here. Bill Murray actually is part-owner of the St. Paul Saints. The two-time Ghostbuster and several time Feb. 2nder was in town today for the American Association All-Star Game. As you might expect, the career comedian didn’t shy away from the spotlight and offered up some gems for anyone who would listen.

On why he came to town for the game: “Hosting the All-Star game is a big deal. You have to pick up a couple of checks. You have to show that hospitality, and that’s why they expect me to show up, you know, to do that. And, I can misdirect. Make people pick up checks they don’t think they picked up.”

On attending games here: “My sons and I used to spend a lot of time in the bullpen. They learned how to drink and chew tobacco when they were in single digits in age.”

On independent baseball: “It’s probably the finest entertainment dollar you can get shy of some personal projects of my own that will be coming out in the fall.”

On being a Cubs fan: “It’s sort of independent by itself. You have to have an enormous amount of faith. People say [they won’t win] until you’re [dead] but I think it’s going to be this year. The Cubs are going all the way and the Saints are going to take the second half.”

On Twin Cities baseball: “I really think we should get a new ballpark [for the Saints]. The Twins have taken everyone’s money for long enough. I think we should have somebody’s money and get our own damn ballpark in St. Paul. We don’t need that much room and we could make a really beautiful ballpark.”

On Saints promotions: “I just have to see the headline and I know where it comes from. Major League teams are doing things we did 12 years ago. It’s sort of like when we used to do things on Saturday Night Live, and like a year or two later it would sort of creep down into prime time television.”

On politics: “I’ve got this new Al Franken for President, or whatever the hell he’s running for, button. (pause) Oh, he’s running for the Senate? What do you think, does he have a shot? (silence) I want to put a little badge on that says ‘I know Al Franken.’ Didn’t you here … not Robin Ventura, Jesse Ventura got elected, right? So Franken’s got a shot. This is what he’s always wanted to do, maybe. Maybe it’s what he’s destined for. And, if Franken gets in … (eyes a TV camera, and stares): Franken, we better get that new ballpark in St. Paul. Al Franken for President, ladies and gentleman.

On what he’d take as souvenirs from ballparks:
Wrigley: “I guess some of the ivy, and then I’d go plant it on my own.”
Shea: “Well, there’s this sausage stand I always liked. But I’d just move the whole place. They’re building this new one, but it’s still at the end of a runway.”
Yankee: “Again, something I could grow. Some sod, I guess.”
Midway: “I’d just want a photo of then throwing a fake body off that fire tower in right field. That was always so great.”

It doesn’t get much better than that.

If at first you don’t succeed … and then you still can’t … et cetera … then what? You try again because you’re Michelle Wie. We’ve been alternately trying to ignore her antics (being DQd last weekend because she failed to sign her scorecard), trying to ignore the latest story (she’s playing with the men … again), trying to replay in our minds just how she made a 9 on 9 in the Open at Interlachen (it was a meltdown only Mickelson could love) and trying to figure out if the Wii Fit is really just a misspelling related to The Pouty One’s on-course demeanor. But like Roger Clemens, Brett Favre and a handful of other thorns in the sides of sports news hounds, Wie just won’t go away or be ignored. So she leaves us no choice as to wonder what’s next for an 18-year-old.

*There’s a 17 percent chance it will have something to do with bees.

*There’s a 35 percent chance one of the male golfers at the Reno-Tahoe Open will say something about her that oscillates between insensitive and true.

*There’s a 0.4 percent chance that she’ll ditch her family and choose Greg Norman/Chris Evert as surrogate parents. By the way: wow.

*There’s a 0.00001 percent chance she’ll be romantically linked to Alex Rodriguez.

*There’s a 54 percent chance she’ll describe one of her two upcoming rounds as “unlucky.”

*There’s a 32.7 percent chance we might one day say, “Hey, Todd Marinovich’s career wasn’t all that bad.”

*There’s a 99 percent chance nobody cares anymore.