Sifting through random thoughts that don’t fit into an epic Sunday column, while adapting to life without having a game to cover every day …

— Three weeks ago I was prepared to mail Hank Steinbrenner a thank-you card for giving up on Alfredo Aceves. Now, No. 91 scares me to death.

Ace singlehandedly threw away a game against the directionless San Diego Madres on Tuesday night, walking five guys (or was it six? I lost track after repeatedly poking myself in the eyes) in one inning.

Not sure Dice-BB ever accomplished that at his absolute worst. Yes, that was me speaking about Matsuzaka in the past tense. Wasn’t smiling when I did it, of course. Far as you know.

— I’m one of those get-a-lifers that watches at least a little bit of the coverage all 14 days of a tennis major, but even I thought the hype leading up to the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut rematch at Wimbledon was ridiculous.

First off, neither man is ranked anywhere near the top 30. Second, on a good day, the giant Isner is miles better, as he demonstrated with a straight-sets win. ESPN in all its glory set the table for the lamest sequel since “Caddyshack II.”

Oh, and third: I don’t care what anybody says. That draw was more rigged than the NBA lottery.

— Speaking of which, did I really see that Ricky Rubio averaged just over six points and three assists per game in Europe? And he’s being hailed as the second coming of Pete Maravich and/or Steve Nash, why?

— As for lottery itself, please. I’ve been a Duke fan since the days of Mike Gminski, and I’m delighted that Kyrie Irving has the opportunity to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers out of their post-LeBron self-loathing.

I will not be watching the draft, however. And if you follow it with any more fervor than downloading an application on your smartphone before Thursday night, you need counseling.

Yes, that goes for any draft.

— At least all the NFL lockout coverage fills the void we all feel without having Brett Favre to kick around anymore, huh?

No? Well, at any rate, the end result will be the same. They’ll patch up the thing in August when light dawns over Marble Head and both sides realize, hello, we’re about to lose a gazillion bucks.

Training camp will be cut in half. No regular-season games will be lost. Like the lemmings we are, we’ll all return to the fold, buy a $150 jersey and a case of beer and park ourselves in front of the TV at 12:59 p.m. on the second Sunday of September.

— American Legion baseball is underway. It sneaks up on us every year, in part because the high school players whose teams are eliminated before the late rounds of the postseason start their summer schedule while reporters and fans are still flocking to championship games.

With jobs and other sports camps and programs intervening, it’s harder than ever to get high school kids out for a full season of summer ball. Legion is still a good product, though, and I urge you get out of the house on a Tuesday or Thursday evening or Saturday afternoon and check it out.

Locally, Gayton Post is the reigning Senior and Junior Legion state champion. The elder team, stocked with stars from Lewiston and St. Dom’s and a smattering of postgrads, has a good shot to defend the title.

— There is no reason on God’s green earth that a 5-4, nine-inning major league baseball game should require four hours to play. While the commissioner is busy monitoring “the best interests of baseball,” how about making sure his umpires enforce reasonable time limits on all this spitting, scratching, stepping off, backing out and conferencing?

Kalle Oakes is a staff columnist. Pick his brain by following him on Twitter @oaksie72 or friend him on Facebook.

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