Just a few random thoughts to get me through the weekend ...

• So baseball wants to use instant replay? So use it. The replay clearly showed that Detroit's Brandon Inge was hit by a pitch in the top of the 12th inning of Tuesday's play-in game against Minnesota. The umpire ruled the ball never hit Inge.

Get that call right and it likely alters the outcome of that game. If baseball is going to use replays to decide home runs, it should use replay to decide any umpiring call it clearly shows should be overturned.

• I wonder if Jim Tracy sent the Pirates a thank-you card for firing him yet.

• Wouldn't it be cool to see the New Orleans Saints reach the Super Bowl?

• Maybe the NFL just isn't as good as it used to be. There's a quarterback turning 40 who's tearing up the league and Mark Sanchez is becoming the third rookie quarterback in two years to experience immediate success.

That stuff never used to happen, except maybe for George Blanda.

Remember Terry Bradshaw's, Troy Aikman's and Peyton Manning's rookie years? Ouch.

• Alex Ovechkin is off to a rousing start for the Washington Capitals. Ditto Sidney Crosby for the Penguins. Who would you rather have, Ovechkin, Crosby or Evgeni Malkin?

Prepare to hear that question for the next 10 or 15 years.

• The rumblings and grumblings have started concerning the future of Butler football coach Jeff McAnallen. Haven't we been down this road before?

Those who don't follow history are doomed to repeat it. Translation: The head coach isn't the reason why this program isn't winning.

• Don't panic over the sudden silence at Heinz Field on Saturdays. The Bill Stull boobirds have flown the coop, that's all.

• Here are two reasons why Division I college football needs to revamp the BCS. Cincinnati and Boise State could go unbeaten this year and have no chance to play for the national championship.

If any team can win all its games and not get an opportunity to win the title, the system is wrong.

• What's the bigger joke? That Pitt and Penn State don't play each other in football or that the Pirates and the Phillies visit each other just once each in a 162-game baseball season? You choose.

• If the Yankees don't win the World Series this year, it might never happen again — or they could hike their payroll to $300 million.

• Is Karns City's football program that good or is the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference that bad? I'm betting on the former.

• Tiger Woods deserves to be the first billion-dollar athlete. Even when he doesn't win, he's right there in nearly every tournament he plays. This guy is as intense a competitor, day in and day out, as anyone I've ever seen.

• Slippery Rock University dropped a surprising 27-10 decision at home to Clarion Thursday night. What's more surprising is The Rock is 5-2 with a roster dominated by freshmen and sophomores.

Brighter days — and years — are ahead.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.