Yesterday in the WBC:

Smith was so overjoyed he ripped the "H" off the back of his jersey in excitement.

Netherlands 3 Dominican Republic 2 - Well this is embarrassing for the Dominicans. Somewhere in Santo Domingo, there is a crusty old sportswriter sitting at a typewriter trying to pin this loss on A-Rod. Meanwhile, Sidney Ponson had a typical "good for Sidney Ponson" outing: 4IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 1HR allowed, 4.50ERA for the Dutch. This all but assures that he will get signed by some desperate contender in mid-June, only to completely implode by August and get waived with a 6.75ERA.

USA 6 Canada 5 - The U.S. avenges their 2006 loss to Canada behind homeruns from chubby pasty white guys Brian McCann, Kevin Youkilis and Adam Dunn. To their credit, the Canadian crowd in Toronto was nuts for this game, creating a playoff-type atmosphere. I'm officially pulling for them to upset Venezuela and advance to Round 2. Also, only in an interview with the president of "Baseball Canada" could you ever hear Rick Sutcliffe utter the phrase "the next Stubby Clapp."

Puerto Rico 7 Panama 0 - In the first inning, the announcer mentioned that former Braves, Orioles, and about-10-other-teams pitcher Bruce Chen was hoping for a strong WBC performance in hopes of signing on with a big league team. Just as the spittle landed on the mike, Carlos Delgado knocked one into the right field stands, causing delirious Puerto Ricans to celebrate by jumping up and down, shaking violently and pouring beer all over each other. It's like the SEC, only replace "beer" with "dip cups." We'd never waste beer like that.

Venezuela 7 Italy 0 - After somehow shutting out the Venezuelans through four innings, the Italians brought in Jason Grilli, who does what he does best, giving up a homer and 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Carlos Silva and Felix Hernandez each pitched four scoreless innings, which i'm sure thrilled their respective MLB team's skippers to no end, seeing as how they're busting out with 60-pitch sessions during the first week of March.

Korea 14 China 0 - So this technically happened this morning I guess, but whatever. Nobody knows what time it is right now anyways. Korea clinches a spot the next round of competition, joining Japan from Group A. Have you noticed the disparity in talent between the Asian countries? Japan mercy-ruled Korea, which mercy-ruled China, which beat a hapless Taiwan team 4-1 for their only win in this tournament ever.

Today: Cuba has probably already dispatched of South Africa by the time you read this, Panama becomes sacraficial lambs for a shellshocked Dominican team looking to avoid a stunning elimination, Venezuela and the U.S. play for a spot in the next round at 8p.m. tonight; and at the same time, Australia and Mexico square off in a matchup that is making me re-think my plans to watch the U.S. game at a dingy mexican restaurant with only one TV, located within viewing distance of the kitchen...