Hey guys. Been a little while, I know. Believe me, I’ve been extremely lazy, so forgive me. I had a few thoughts about what has been going on with the draft signing day, the Home Run Derby and a few other mishmash of things to discuss.

Here are the Lucky 13 things to bring up.

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1- JULY 13th, MUCH MUCH BETTER.

There were a lot of changes in this year’s draft, driven in large part by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement the MLB goes by now. I don’t know the intimate details of the agreement – you know, all that money stuff that I don’t really care about – but there are a lot of upsides for college baseball. The top 10 round picks all have a monetary cap that teams can’t go over with wild-eyed bonuses and whatnot. That means that beyond the 10th round, more players were likely to head to college than before. The other biggie is the new signing date of July 13th for draftees. The old date of August 15th was a vast improvement over the “if a student officially attends his first class of college, THAT’s the drop dead date”. But now it’s moved to mid-July, which is just about right. It’s still over two weeks after the College World Series, so even those players who take part in the CWS will have enough time to negotiate with their respective teams.

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2- WHO CAME OUT AHEAD.

Here are ten programs that came out with huge grins following the MLB draft signing day… in no particular order:

- UCLA.

Five drafted newbies will come to Westwood, led by – what else? – pitchers like 11th round pick Hunter Virant and 27th rounder Cody Poteet, who was projected to go much higher.

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- Georgia Tech

The Jackets will get RHP Buck Farmer (15th round), OF Brandon Thomas (4th round) and OF Kyle Wren (30th round) all back for another season. Also, 11th round SS Matt Gonzales is bees-bound.

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- Kansas State

All three Wildcat signees who were drafted by the bigs have turned them down. So 3B Cody Gunter (19th round), RHP Blake McFadden (32nd round) and C Matt Fultz (34th round) will look to lead the Cats out of the Big 12 cellar.

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- Arkansas

The ‘Backs may have lost out on a couple of high-profile guys, but will get 5th round RHP Colin Poche to come to class, along with returnees like LHP Randall Fant (29th round) and OF Jacob Morris (37th round).

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- Illinois

It was huge news to hear that both the top hitter – 3B Jordan Parr, a 26th round pick – and the staff ace in Friday starter Kevin Johnson, 31st round – would both be returning in 2013. Also, 34th round RHP Ryan Castellanos will join them.

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- Vanderbilt

Coach Tim Corbin is stocking up. Pitchers Walker Buehler (14th round) and Carson Fulmer (15th round) join four other talents to spurn the pros. Returners Mike Yastrzemski and Connor Harrell went in the 30th and 31st round respectively.

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- Arizona State

There will be no down cycle for the Devs as six MLB draftees will come to campus, led by 12th round LHP Ryan Kellogg and three other stellar arms. Also, No. 2 hitter Max Rossiter will come back for his senior year.

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- Kentucky

Junior pitcher Jerad Grundy (27th round) will come back to Lexington and the battery of LHP Chase Mullins (24th round) and C Casey Schroeder (22nd round)leads five high school draftees to skip the pros. And good thing too because there were eight draftees off the 2012 team who will leave the program.

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- Texas A&M

The Aggies were fortunate that most of their talents coming to College Station were lower-round draftees as four 30th round picks or higher will come to campus in the fall. Also,. Juniors RHPs Rapheal Pineda and Kyle Martin will return for one more year and it appears as if JC transfer infielder Michael Reynolds (20th round) will also be in uniform for 2013. Nice.

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3- WHO’s FEELING THE EMPTY DRAFT

These are the teams who really had higher hopes on draft day, but felt a big sense of loss… or just had bad luck in general.

- Miami

The Hurricanes always get a lot of hyper-talented dudes from high up in the draft who never step foot on campus to take advantage of the ridiculous amount of coeds. But this year was worse than most years, as six of the top 100 players picked were Cane Commits and nary a single one of them went unsigned by the bigs, including top draftee Carlos Correa.

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- Florida

The Gators need some re-tooling. Not that coach Kevin O’Sullivan can’t handle that task, of course, but this could be a rebuilding year in Gainesville… you know, one of those years where a traditional power makes it to Omaha anyway. But in draft terms, the Gators were skinned. Six of the top 104 players drafted were UofF commits, and all of them signed. They join names like Zunino, Tucker, Johnson, Fontana and Maddox in the MLB exodus.

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- Cal State Fullerton.

It wasn’t what the Titans lost, it was the fact that they had just one player drafted, starter Dylan Floro in the 13th round. That’s the first time in the 38-year history of the program where less than two players were drafted. On the good side, three high schoolers were drafted and will come to school, led by RHP Justin Garza, a 26th round pick.

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- Oregon

Don’t shed too many tears for the Ducks (Actually, do Ducks cry? I digress), they’ll have plenty of talent on campus for 2013, including three drafted pitchers coming to campus in 22nd rounder Joshua Graham, 29th rounder Cole Irvin and 37th rounder Clayton Cum. But the Big Green lost their other four high schoolers and also had the bizarre occurrence where leading hitter Aaron Jones announce he was quitting baseball to concentrate on a firefighting career… which begs the question: Isn’t firefighting ALWAYS going to be there, but playing baseball is much more temporary?

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- North Carolina State

Like Oregon, nobody is feeling sorry for Elliott Avent and Co. After last year’s bonanza where they landed Frosh All Americans-to-be in Trea Turner, Carlos Rodon and Brett Austin, the Pack will get only one high school signee to come to campus this time around in the form of LHP Brad Stone, a 35th round pick. But again, watch for the Pack to be Omaha contenders for a few years to come, so all is forgiven for an off year on signing day.

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- Ole Miss

Last summer I talked to Rebels coach Mike Bianco at the Area Code Games in Long Beach and he told me the reason he came out to the event was because eight of his commitments for 2013 were taking part. Well, guess how many of them are coming to campus now? One. RHP Jake Waguespack, a 37th rounder. Granted, 1st round picks like C Stryker Trahan and SS Gavin Cecchini were never really expected to go to college anyway. Not with that big money around.

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4- THE BIGGEST WINNER: STANFORD

You might’ve noticed that my “top 10″ of teams who came out ahead only included nine teams. That’s because I had to make a special mention of the biggest winner of draft signing day: the Stanford Cardinal.

It looks like Stanford will be able to rally around Mark Appel for another season.

That small tremor you felt along the fault-line of college baseball was the news that Stanford’s Mark Appel, the No. 8 overall pick, did not sign with Pittsburgh on the final day and apparently will come back to The Farm for his senior year. (Unless his agent Scott Boras finds some Mexican or Japanese League to pay him 100-zillion dollars to play for one year). Of course, that’s great news for college baseball in general, but my gut still tells me some of it had to do with how badly he got roped at Florida State in the Super Regionals. Would anything have changed had he won and the Cardinal advanced to the CWS? Who knows.

But of course, now Mark has to beware of the Sam Stafford Syndrome. The Texas RHP went in the 2nd round in 2011′s MLB Draft but didn’t sign. Then it was discovered a week before the 2012 season began that his shoulder injury had not healed completely and he needed surgery. He didn’t pitch at all his senior year and then got drafted in the 13th round for 2012. He went from being the 88th pick in 2011 to the 426th pick in 2012.

Coach Marquess and Co. racked up a bevy of talent once again. Not only did they get their Friday All American ace back for 2013, but they’ll also welcome in RHP Freddy Avis (25th round), who I saw pitch at the Area Code Games last August, catcher Austin Barr (29th round) and a pair of 37th rounders in SS Drew Jackson and RHP Daniel Starwalt.

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5- MORE TALENT DOWN THE PIKE FOR THE COLLEGE GAME.

I don’t know all the ins and outs of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and its effect on MLB, but I DO know that it appeared as if more late-round draftees turned down the pros and will come to play our much more beautiful game. In 2011, 60 of the players drafted in the 36th-to-40th rounds signed to play pro ball. This year, with those being the last five rounds of the shortened draft, only 41 signed on with their MLB clubs. Beauty.

And FYI, the top seven draft picks in this year’s draft signed for $18million less than last year’s top seven. As for the rest of the draft, the remaining draftees pulled in $10million less than 2011′s players.

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6- BLACKS IN BASEBALL.

According to the last statistic I heard Major League Baseball has just 8% of its players which are African American, a number I found astonishing by the way. But I thought it was interesting to note that seven of the 31 first round draft picks were blacks.

Does that mean the big league’s RBI program is working? Or the Urban Invitational is making some inroads? Sure, I think every bit helps.

If you ask me, it may be more of a case where parents of all races are getting freaked out over all the head trauma and concussion talk of college and pro football the last five or six years, so baseball seems to be a more safe alternative sport for their kids to play. And yes, that includes the very athletic kids of different races.

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7- THE COLLEGE HOME RUN DERBY.

In case you missed it, once again the Home Run contest was held in TD Ameritrade park and was shown nationally on CBS, hosted by former CSTV-mate Adam Zucker and Wichita State’s Joe Carter. This year’s winner? A guy who hit just four home runs all during the 2012 season: Fresno State’s Aaron Judge. He beat out Virginia Tech’s Tyler Horan and LSU’s Mason Katz in the finals to with the 2012 title.

Fresno State's Aaron Judge lifting his Home Run Derby trophy as fireworks go off behind him.

The interesting thing about the Home Run Derby was that players weren’t handcuffed by the BBCOR bats as they were allowed to use whatever bat they chose to use. So that old familiar “Ping” was back. And in case you were wondering, there were no home runs hit to center field. That 408-foot fence still has yet to have its cherry popped, especially in real game competition. The twist to it all was that Aaron Judge used an Easton Stealth, dubbed “the Mac Daddy of all bats” as they said on the broadcast. But it wasn’t Aaron’s Easton. The Easton actually was lent to him by South Carolina’s LB Dantzler, since apparently the Easton Stealth was the best bat the Gamecock slugger could find. (And of course, I’m not surprised here.)

South Carolina's LB Dantzler proudly displaying his Easton Stealth he used in the Home Run Derby. Aaron Judge borrowed it to win the contest.

The other interesting part of the Derby was that one of the biggest sponsors of the event was Miller High Life. Even the quirky Miller High Life delivery man, actor Windell Middlebrooks, made the trek to The Big Tiddy and was there for the event. And yes, the irony of an alcoholic beverage being a prime sponsor of a college sport is not lost on me. The NCAA has a strange double-standard when it comes to alcohol. “Sure, give us all the money you want and help us promote and finance our sport, but we really don’t want these 18-to-22 year olds who play our game to use your product. Hopefully, college students everywhere will ignore the commercials.”

Beers for everyone! The very-likeable Miller High Life delivery man Windell Middlebrooks gives a "cheers" with the wounded veterans he sat with in foul territory during the College Home Run Derby.

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8- RAY TANNER, THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

I’m not really shocked about the whole deal with Coach Tanner becoming Mr. Athletic Director Tanner. In 2010, rumors had it that coach Tanner wanted to jettison the head coaching gig and try to go into becoming a Dick Vitale-type and do the color commentary/studio expert thing. Not sure how much juice was given to this rumor or how close it came to reality, but you probably noticed that Coach Tanner was a studio guest on the ESPN Thursday night pregame show a couple of times this past season and now, sure enough, he has left the head coaching position after all… though it is now to become a high-ranking administrator, not a TV talking head. My guess is this new AD gig will also allow him to pad that 401 a lot more, while giving him control of an even larger operation.

As for the TV studio thing, I s’pose in the less-busy months of April and May he could still get the chance to go on the tube and give his advice and insight. Though no one would ever mistake him for a Dickie V, who has the lively, vivacious, over-the-top enthusiastic and – dare I say – hilarious camera presence which makes people want to stay glued to his every word. Good or bad.

In fact, now that I think of it, with the nature of our sport taken into consideration I don’t think there will ever be anything close to Mr. Vitale in college baseball. Again, much of it has to do with the stitched-ball being more of a fringe sport at best on the college level.

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9- THE NINTH QUESTION.

While we’re on the subject, which head coach could you see being an effective, high-energy and knowledgable college baseball studio guest host?

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10- JOE PATERNO’S STATUE.

Yes, it’s a good idea to take it down. But not necessarily because of the horribly tragic situation going on at Penn State. I think it should be taken down because of the Lionel Richie “Hello” Video Curse: It looks nothing like him.

And secondly, I have never seen JoePa raise his index finger and proclaim himself or his team to be “No. 1.” I only saw him fist-pump while being carried off the field following national title victories, not wagging a finger.

And by the way, can we get off this fad of erecting statues of coaches? Winning a national title doesn’t mean you should be immortalized with a bronze bust that looks nothing like yourself. Especially since there is still time for said coach to do something later on in life which soils his reputation. Just knock it off.

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11- PICS FROM BIG LOU.

Though the end of any season is painful enough, one of the things I always look forward to is getting the final issue of Collegiate Baseball in the mail and perusing the pages of photos Lou Pavlovich took at the College World Series. I actually complained… well, not “complained” but rather, I begged him to include even more pictures this year, mainly because I think his photos are really, really good. Here’s a small sampling of some of the shots he got while down in the 1st and 3rd base photo wells (and Lou, please don’t sue me for posting part of your photo section here. I have enough legal troubles as it is):

If you haven’t subscribed to his rag yet, go to www.baseballnews.com and hit the subscribe button. Lou and his father have been pumping out Collegiate Baseball since 1958… can you believe it? That’s a very very rare case of longevity in our sport.

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12- THE PROBLEM OF DEALING WITH THE MLBers.

One of the things that Lou Pavlovich had written in the latest issue of Collegiate Baseball was how Arizona State and the Chicago Cubs have run into some snafus in trying to get their new partnership going on this bling-filled new stadium. Looks like the big money boys aren’t being so honest. Here’s the first paragraph of Lou’s write-up on it:

“A plan for Arizona State University’s baseball team to share a new sports complex in Mesa with the Chicago Cubs seems to be in jeopardy and the school is already looking at another possible Phoenix-area stadium to relocate. In mid-June, ASU President Michael Crow sent Mesa Mayor Scott Smith an Email that accused the Cubs management of being ‘erratic’ and ‘not people of their word’ in negotiating ASU’s participation in the soon-to-be constructed stadium complex.”

Great. As if the probation, loss of post-season and watching their hated rivals win the national title wasn’t painful enough for this Sun Devil program? Now this.

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13- THE TOP 10 BOND-FILM GIRLS

In celebration of Encore Networks’ 30 Days of Bond, I thought I’d give you my top chicks to grace the screen with the six different James Bond – 007 characters over the years. I’m sure ours will differ, so feel free to add your own to this list:

1- Ursula Andress, Dr. No (1962)

The original is still the best. That bikini “Honey Rider” wore at Crab Key is a tad on the racy side, even for today’s standards.

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2- Caroline Munro, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

This voluptuous raven-haired temptress was the cordial host-turned-villainous “Naomi” upstaging Barbara Bach at the same time. Oh, she was also the nerdy-turned-hottie in Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes” video.

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3- Lana Wood, Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

The very plentiful “Plenty O’Toole” had a short shelf life in the Bond flick. But she did have one distinction that not many of Bond’s women have: she flashed some skin. Plenty’s last scene in the flick was her shown (nearly) naked in her see-through nighty as she was tied to a cinder block in Tiffany Case’s swimming pool.

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4- Luciana Paluzzi, Thunderball (1965)

The fiery red-head looked like Ann-Margaret but was as dicey as a rattlesnake to our 007 hero. There was the unforgettable scene where Bond walks in on her “Fiona Volpe” character as she was in the tub. She asks Bond for something to cover with so she can get out… and he threw her a pair of shoes. Classic.

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5- Famke Janssen, GoldenEye (1995)

Love her. The 6-foot “Xenia Onatopp” was a sadistic, pain-loving, Bond-killing villainess who still commanded the screen in ever scene she was in. And if you ask me, I would’ve been okay with her killing off that Remington Steele dude who played Bond in three of the films. Wasn’t my fave. But Onatopp?… Oh she was a fave alright.

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6- Britt Ekland, Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The Scandinavian damsel-in-distress played “Mary Goodnight” and spent nearly the last third of the film in a bikini, flashing a very solid abdomen, back in a time when the hour-glass shape was all the rage.

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7- Susan St. James, Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Sure she had your grandmother’s haircut at the time, but “Tiffany Case” was vintage Bond-chick who came with a forked tongue. She would call gas station attendants “Charlie” and told a villain who dared to honk at her, “Lean on that horn again and you’ll get a shot in the mouth.”

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8- Barbara Bach, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Born in Brooklyn in real life, Bach played “Triple X”, a Russian spy who is at first at odds with Bond, but as usual, he ends up bedding her by the closing credits.

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9- Claudine Auger, Thunderball (1965)

The former Miss France was actually the third choice to play the role of “Domino” in T-ball. Julie Christie, who went on to fame in the film “Heaven Can Wait” was the original choice, but Bond-Mastermind Cubby Broccoli saw her lack of an hourglass figure in rehearsals and said no thanks. Then, reigning 60s international sex symbol Raquel Welch was offered the part. But she was stuck in contracts with “Fantastic Voyage” and had to decline. That led to the very capable Ms. Auger.

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10- Honor Blackman, Goldfinger (1964)

C’mon, I had to include the only character in movie history to ever be given the name “Pussy Galore.”