THIS TIME, IT SUCKS.

This just in: I couldn't give a flying crap about tonight's All-Star Game! It's probably because of overexposure, with ESPN Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter, a thousand internet sports web sites, fantasy leagues, the satellite TV baseball packages, and something like 15 MLB games on ESPN and FOX every week . . . I mean, you can't escape these guys. It used to be a novelty, but now there's nothing interesting about the All-Star Game, because we've already seen them all play, and with interleague play and rampant free agent moves, they've already gone head-to-head dozens of times. Meh.

So who really cares? Pedro Martinez, the only deserving Mets player, surely doesn't so he's skipping it, and I can't blame him (he gave his cash bonus to charity). So the starters for this game are Mark Buerhle and Chris Carpenter. This is supposed to showcase the best players in the league, and that's the best you could do? You've got to be kidding me. I may sound like an old fogey, but the last good pitching matchup was probably back in 1986, Roger Clemens vs. Dwight Gooden, which was an eventual World Series preview. (1999, Pedro vs. Schilling is interesting in retrospect, and also because it was the last time Pedro was dominant.) Oh well.

Apparently, the Home Run Derby was yesterday, though I didn't watch a second of it. The only thing I know is that the "American" representative (they gave it an international twist to publicize their "World Cup of Baseball" or whatever it's called, a horribly bad idea) was someone from Pittsburgh named Jason Bay. Who? The star of "Arrested Development" and "Teen Wolf 2"? Oh, and this "slugger" hit exactly ZERO dingers. USA! USA!

That's why, more than ever, it's time for golf. Thankfully, The British Open Championship starts on Thursday. Set your alarm, because those tee times are early (for everyone except Kris). Too bad it couldn't start today.

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AMERICAN TV TIMES
Thursday, July 14th
TNT: 6:30 - 7 a.m. ET/PT (Preview Show)
TNT: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. ET/PT
ABC: 1:05 a.m. - 1:35 a.m. ET
Friday, July 15th
TNT: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. ET/PT
ABC: 1:05 a.m. - 1:35 a.m. ET
Saturday, July 16th
TNT: 7 - 9 a.m. ET / 4 - 6 a.m. PT
ABC: 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
ABC: 5 - 6 p.m. ET (Highlights Show)
Sunday, July 17th
TNT: 6 - 8 a.m. ET / 3 - 5 a.m. PT
ABC: 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. ET
ABC: 5 - 6 p.m. ET (Highlights Show)