Nice Backpack, Rookie

Your morning roundup for Aug. 29, the day we learned stale beer works wonders as a wood polish. Photo of Padres rookie Anthony Bass via Big League Stew. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors.

You might have heard about this already, but there was a hurricane on the East Coast this weekend. The eye of the storm didn't result in the five boroughs becoming an archipelago somewhere near Greenland, and as a result the Monday Morning Meteorologists have spent much time debating whether New York City overreacted.

And while it's true that plenty of Manhattanites who were able to get back to enjoying brunch early yesterday, there was enough flooding and property damage to hit the outer boroughs and points south before the storm rolled upstate and into New England to justify all the hype.

The 24-hour weather cycle of storms like this can indeed grow tiring, as if there's something new to glean from seeing another TV reporter driving through rain-slicked streets at some distant shore point for the 15th time. But another way to look at this is to consider what the reaction might have been had the devastation been a lot worse while the city did not at all prepare. Caution was called for, and the city's warnings and closures were prudent. Now let's move on.

• Madden '12 is released today, and we'll have some kind of report on it.

• We asked you to send us your overwrought Fantasy Football League emails, and many of you have obliged. Look for a pretty solid collection of them later today.

It's Monday. Let's ease into it and get going.

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