The Sports Rumors

Hilarious Clubhouse Prank

Has to be one of the funniest sports pranks I’ve ever seen… Enjoy.

A Month to Remember

Can you remember the last time there were as many enormous sports stories as we’ve had thus far in February? I certainly cannot. You had one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, the Clemens-McNamee saga, arguably the greatest center of all time traded to the best team (record wise) in the Western Conference, the Commissioner of the most popular sports league in the country called to answer questions and defend his strange actions in Washington regarding Spygate, and most recently, you have one of the top five point guards in NBA history on his way to being traded to Dallas, only to have the transaction blocked by a bench player with a clause in his contract. Not to mention the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers traded their dirt for gold, leaped to become favorites to win the Championship (according to Vegas odds makers), and now suddenly face the possibility of losing Kobe Bryant for 6-8 weeks if he opts for surgery.

Catch your breath yet? I haven’t.

Each one of these stories deserves its own write up, but in the essence of time, I will give you my take on each event, starting with Clemens.

Clemens Reputation Ruined

Well, you’ve got to admit, the guy didn’t hold back when it came to defending himself. He didn’t hide from the public, didn’t hide from 60 minutes, didn’t hide from Congress even. Maybe he should have? It’s hard to tell. The reaction would have probably been even more negative had he stayed silent. However, based on his stories and accounts which were constantly changing, one thing is clear. Roger Clemens is no saint.

I wanted to believe that he was clean, but deep down I knew that it was highly unlikely that he was. It’s hard to believe that the guy’s best friend and training partner was using HGH and he had no idea. What makes it even harder to believe is that Debbie Clemens, his wife, was using HGH and he didn’t know what the stuff even was. Come on, who are you trying to fool? This entire saga is so odd because of the lengths Clemens has gone to and the risks he has taken to clear his name of using steroids. He’s risking jail time stemming from possible perjury charges just so people believe him. But when you look at everything, and you look at how he can’t seem to keep his story straight, it’s really hard to take the guy’s word for it. Make no mistake; Brian Macnamee isn’t some credible witness who’s out there trying to do the right thing. He’s as big a joke as any. But the accounts that he has given have added up. Clemens accounts have not.

I don’t think the judicial system will push for perjury charges against him though, and I think that this was the last time we’ll have to see a baseball related Congressional hearing. The Rocket was consistently right about one thing though; No matter what he does or says, his reputation will never be restored.

Shaq to Phoenix

Everyone piled on at first saying that the Shaq trade to Phoenix was absolutely ridiculous. Then, as always, people listened to Shaq talk and bowed down to “The Big Aristotle” and changed their views. Suddenly, they went from saying “There is no way Shaq can run with that team” to “OH, uh, Shaq.. Shaq’s a great teammate and he won’t mind being the fifth option. He’ll make it work!”

Bull.

If you honestly believe that a 300lb plus, old and slow center that’s well past his prime can fit into a system run by Steve Nash, you’re lying to yourself. I’m so sick and tired of people falling in love with Shaq like he’s Jessica Alba. Look at the facts. He’s not an offensive threat anymore. He was taken out by Pat Riley to avoid getting the record for most consecutive games fouling out. He can’t play defense anywhere like he used to and teams in the West all have big guys who can play inside AND outside. Shaq can’t run the fast break.

“Well, he’s going to grab the boards and outlet.”

Umm, somehow I think that a fast break with Nash, Marion and Bell is better than Nash, Bell and Grant Hill while Shaq is back on the other end of the court eating a donut. Maybe that’s just me. Also, this absolute GARBAGE talk about how Shaq is a great teammate drives me through the roof. Every team he has left, he’s left on bad terms. Okay, Orlando was retarded to not try and resign him and he had a falling out with Penny Hardaway. Blame that one on Orlando. Okay, Kobe and Phil piled on Shaq in the media calling him fat and lazy; blame that on the Lakers. What about Miami? What about the guy Shaq was in love with? You think Dwayne Wade and Shaq were on good terms? They weren’t even speaking to each other anymore. Pat Riley and Shaq weren’t speaking either. You think it’s a coincidence that every place he leaves, it’s because of a problem with the other star player? I don’t. I think Shaq is a selfish ego maniac who gets too much credit for being a great teammate just because he gives the media good soundbites. By the way, don’t forget what Shaq said about Nash winning the MVP. He said that the MVP award has “lost its credibility”. When asked about those comments, he suddenly had amnesia and forgot ever saying it. Here’s the fact of the matter.

- You can’t have both Amare and Shaq playing inside together because they have the same, one dimensional game. Stand within 6 feet of the basket, catch the ball or rebound it, and dunk. Neither one of them can step outside and shoot worth a nickel.

- The Suns get open shots when in half court situations by running the pick and roll. They are as good as any when it comes to running it. That’s why you don’t see Bell or Barbosa dribbling around; they run through screens, catch and pop. Shaq cannot play in the pick and roll because he’s not a threat to catch and shoot a jumper.

- Shaq’s enormous body will clog the very same lanes that the Suns have thrived on running through for open looks.

- Duncan and Gasol-Bynum will abuse the Suns inside because both have the ability to step away from the basket and hit shots. Don’t forget the biggest weakness in Amare’s game is his defense.

- Speaking of defense, losing Marion takes away your best defender. Raja Bell is a stud defender when he’s not picking up a foul per 30 seconds, something Kobe and Manu have caused him to do. Marion also spreads the floor by means of being able to shoot from deep. By losing him, you take away your best defender and one of the most versatile players in the league.

Everyone who’s in favor of the Shaq deal says, “The Suns didn’t get to the championship with Marion before.” Hit rewind and think back to last year. The Suns lost to the Spurs because of the suspensions handed out to Amare and Co. because of Robert Horry and the whole incident that happened with the flagrant foul. Had that not happened, the Suns would have won that series. Anyone who argues otherwise is misinformed.

My point is, you don’t break up a team that is winning (first place when they made the trade) to pick up a slower, older, and more expensive player. It doesn’t make sense and the Suns will suffer the consequences soon enough. One last point I wanted to make; Shaq is suddenly talking about winning a championship and playing healthy the rest of the season. Doesn’t anyone find it strange that just a couple of weeks ago, he was injured and unable to play at full strength for the rest of the season? Funny how no one calls him out on that. I just did. He’s a selfish player who will limit the Suns from advancing deep into the playoffs. Take that to the bank.

(Doesn’t sound like Wade is going to miss Shaq too much, does it)

More to come on Goodell vs. Congress, Dallas Trading for Kidd, and the landscape of the NBA.

So Now What?

Where do you we go from here? We got all the dynamics we could have imagined thrown into one scrum. You have the evil Barry Bonds and you have the mostly liked, respected by all Roger Clemens. You have the hitter and you have the pitcher. You have the good guy and you have the bad guy. You have the race element. You have the family man and you have the adulterer. But the fact remains, both “allegedly” used.

So now what? Everyone screamed for an asterisk next to Bonds name in the hall of fame. Are you going to do that for Clemens? Where do we put the asterisk? Does it go next to every single mark he has? I mean, you can’t just have it for the records. What about his career ERA? What about his wins? What about the Yankees championship teams? Do you put an asterisk next to them, considering the fact that Clemens had arguably the best two game pitching performance in league history; the same year and timeframe he is accused of using.

Everything is tainted. Everything. There is no clear cut right and no clear cut wrong. The entire era is tainted. You can’t single out a few select players who hold records and make them the scapegoats for all the players and owners who are at fault. The following suggestion is not mine, and I want to make sure that is clear. Bob Costas, one who I sometimes love and sometimes hate, is without a doubt an extremely bright individual. His idea goes a little something like this.

Put a page at the beginning of the book of records or somewhere in the hall of fame that makes the following clear: Baseball for as long as we’ve known it, has been tainted in some way shape or form. There was the baseball before integration. There was baseball with all day games versus both day and night games. There was baseball with the flat mound versus the elevated one. There was the cocaine era of the late 1970s. There was clear and rampant gambling in baseball. All these eras preceded the Steroids Era. Fans should be aware that baseball has always had something different taking place, some different era which needs to be taken into careful consideration. Baseball has always adapted for the better. And just like any other era, the Steroids Era has now come to a conclusion. Fans should know that they need to take all eras that made up baseball’s history into consideration when making their own personal judgments about which records mean how much.

I agree with Bob Costas because this is the only way I see feasible and just in making a note in history about what we’ve gone through the past 10-15 years. We don’t need asterisks. We don’t need to blacklist players. We need to simply recognize and state in writing for historical purposes, what exactly happened. You can’t change the past; you can learn from it. A document stating this will show that this unfortunate era happened, was learned from, and that we moved on from it.

Mitchell Report List

· Brady Anderson

· Manny Alexander

· Rick Ankiel

· Jeff Bagwell

· Barry Bonds

· Aaron Boone

· Rafael Bettancourt

· Bret Boone

· Milton Bradley

· David Bell

· Dante Bichette

· Albert Belle

· Paul Byrd

· Wil Cordero

· Ken Caminiti

· Mike Cameron

· Ramon Castro

· Jose Canseco

· Ozzie Canseco

· Roger Clemens

· Paxton Crawford

· Wilson Delgado

· Lenny Dykstra

· Johnny Damon

· Carl Everett

· Kyle Farnsworth

· Ryan Franklin

· Troy Glaus

· Rich Garces

· Jason Grimsley

· Juan Gonzalez

· Eric Gagne

· Nomar Garciaparra

· Jason Giambi

· Jeremy Giambi

· Jose Guillen

· Jay Gibbons

· Juan Gonzalez

· Clay Hensley

· Jerry Hairston

· Felix Heredia, Jr.

· Darren Holmes

· Wally Joyner

· Darryl Kile

· Matt Lawton

· Raul Mondesi

· Mark McGwire

· Guillermo Mota

· Robert Machado

· Damian Moss

· Abraham Nunez

· Trot Nixon

· Jose Offerman

· Andy Pettitte

· Mark Prior

· Neifi Perez

· Rafael Palmiero

· Albert Pujols

· Brian Roberts

· Juan Rincon

· John Rocker

· Pudge Rodriguez

· Sammy Sosa

· Scott Sc hoenweiis

· David Segui

· Alex Sanchez

· Gary Sheffield

· Miguel Tejada

· Julian Tavarez

· Fernando Tatis

· Maurice Vaughn

· Jason Varitek

· Ismael Valdez

· Matt Williams

· Kerry Wood

· Brady Anderson

· Manny Alexander

· Rick Ankiel

· Jeff Bagwell

· Barry Bonds

· Aaron Boone

· Rafael Bettancourt

· Bret Boone

· Milton Bradley

· David Bell

· Dante Bichette

· Albert Belle

· Paul Byrd

· Wil Cordero

· Ken Caminiti

· Mike Cameron

· Ramon Castro

· Jose Canseco

· Ozzie Canseco

· Roger Clemens

· Paxton Crawford

· Wilson Delgado

· Lenny Dykstra

· Johnny Damon

· Carl Everett

· Kyle Farnsworth

· Ryan Franklin

· Troy Glaus

· Rich Garces

· Jason Grimsley

· Juan Gonzalez

· Eric Gagne

· Nomar Garciaparra

· Jason Giambi

· Jeremy Giambi

· Jose Guillen

· Jay Gibbons

· Juan Gonzalez

· Clay Hensley

· Jerry Hairston

· Felix Heredia, Jr.

· Darren Holmes

· Wally Joyner

· Darryl Kile

· Matt Lawton

· Raul Mondesi

· Mark McGwire

· Guillermo Mota

· Robert Machado

· Damian Moss

· Abraham Nunez

· Trot Nixon

· Jose Offerman

· Andy Pettitte

· Mark Prior

· Neifi Perez

· Rafael Palmiero

· Albert Pujols

· Brian Roberts

· Juan Rincon

· John Rocker

· Pudge Rodriguez

· Sammy Sosa

· Scott Sc hoenweiis

· David Segui

· Alex Sanchez

· Gary Sheffield

· Miguel Tejada

· Julian Tavarez

· Fernando Tatis

· Maurice Vaughn

· Jason Varitek

· Ismael Valdez

· Matt Williams

· Kerry Wood

BREAKING NEWS: ROGER CLEMENS SUPPLIED WITH STEROIDS

10:07 AM

Sources say that a trainer has informed Senator Mitchell that he supplied Roger Clemens with steroids. More to come as I hear it.

Turn the Page-Close the Chapter-Move On

“I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be positive about this subject.” - Mark McGwire

Quite frankly, I’ve had enough. There are times when events or situations take place for which justice needs to be served. There are circumstances for which an intermediary is needed to settle things so that all parties feel that a fair conclusion has been reached. The Barry Bonds indictment and possible jail time is not one of those situations.

First off, let me make a few things perfectly clear. I don’t think Barry Bonds is a good human being. I wouldn’t want to be his friend or hang out. I think he’s an arrogant, moody, pompous prick to be blunt. I think that there have been numerous situations where he could have handled himself with more class than he has shown. For years, he was a rude individual to reporters from the media who were just trying to do their job and ask the star athlete questions. I’m not talking about the post steroid accusations. I’m talking about before that. I’m talking about when he wasn’t 260 pounds with a head the size of an 18 pound bowling ball. Whatever his reasons may have been for being impolite is irrelevant. The mere fact that he was unapproachable to many is irrelevant. His character and public demeanor is irrelevant.

The fact of the matter is that we cannot pick and choose who we want to persecute and go after based on their looks, attitude, nationality or race. We need to go by the specifics and the whole story. So let’s talk facts.

Fact number one says that it is moronic to think that the vast majority of baseball players during the “Steroid Era” were not using some sort of performance enhancing substances. It was called the Steroids Era for a reason; not because three guys used and the rest of the league didn’t. It is immature to think that people were not experimenting with such substances. I don’t care if you’re as straight edged as Charlie Brown. If the guys you are competing with for a roster spot are getting healthier or stronger quicker than you are because they are using, you’re going to either start using too or start filling out applications for another profession. That’s as clear as it gets.

Fact number two says that baseball knew about this all along and they turned a blind eye to it. Baseball ratings were at all time highs while McGuire and Sosa battled for the single season homerun record, followed by Bonds setting it in 2003. Do you really think that baseball was going to step up and say “Wait! Everybody stop. There is some illegal stuff going on here. We need to stop with the selling of the jerseys, the high TV ratings, and the interest in the sport and make sure everything is clean and ethical.” Absolutely not. They took a chance; rolled the dice. They thought that either they can put this problem off till later, or hope that it gets swept under the rug without people finding out. They were just as arrogant and full of themselves as we accuse Bonds to be. They took you, me, and the rest of the public to be fools. And for those of you who are naïve to think that baseball didn’t know, and I know there are some of you out there, let me paint this picture for you.

Colin has a house. He’s letting Shaun crash in his basement for a year. Everything looks good from the outside and the house is decorated really nicely. The lawn is nicely kept, the driveway is freshly paved, and there are no cracks in the brick front or the windows. Picture perfect house. Colin comes down unexpectedly one day and sees Shaun slinging cocaine out the back of the basement door. Now Shaun is making tons of money because he’s the best dope dealer on the block, and Colin starts getting money out of it for staying quiet and letting him do what he needs to do. Do you think Colin is going to make a lot of noise if he’s getting an extra 10 G’s a month for not saying anything?

Same concept. Bud Selig knew. Of course he knew. His top players, the Bonds-McGuires-Sosas, were the best dope dealers on the block. Baseball was getting their cut because of the increased interest in the homerun chase. Why squeal?

And again, as bad as steroids are, I don’t have a problem if baseball addresses it as a mistake and comes forward along with Bonds as being the enabler of the problem. But to sit there and get the government involved and put together four years of investigation to go after your dope boy? That’s wrong. For Bud Selig to turn his back on Bonds for the past several years is wrong. For everyone to make Barry Bonds as the scapegoat of the entire problem while Giambi, Sosa, and McGuire quietly go about their business is wrong. The government is trying to bring justice to this whole situation but the ironic part about it is the way they’re doing so is unjust. Taking Barry Bonds and making him the poster boy for steroids and what was wrong with baseball is not only unfair, but immoral.

And again, let me reiterate so I don’t get stupid emails calling me a steroid-condoning prick; steroids and any form of cheating in a sport is not the thing to do. I don’t condone it. But enough with everyone playing the morality card as if we’re all angels who run a straight route our whole lives. The same people who are criticizing Bonds, like Chicago Sun Times beat writer Jay Marrioti, are the same ones who collectively said that Shawn Merriman of the San Diego Chargers should be the defensive player of the year even after he was suspended for half the season due to steroid use. They are the same people who quickly dismiss the notion of putting an asterisk next to the New England Patriots perfect season, even though they were caught cheating and punished for it; but definitely want an asterisk next to Bonds homerun record even though he was never caught cheating.

Do you really think that the NFL is a clean sport where 350 pound lineman can run 4.8 second 40 yard dashes, and guys can come back from a grade three knee sprain in a matter of a week or two when in reality, it’s a month long injury at minimum? You really think that NFL players can be that big and that strong naturally? Don’t kid yourself. Quit throwing the “Steroids sets a bad example for the kids” card around so freely, just so that you can justify Bonds being put behind bars of banned from the game. You know what sets a bad example for the kids? I’ll tell you.

• Gambling on a sport (MLB)
• Most popular player found guilty of dogfighting (NFL)
• Reinstating repeat marijuana-use offenders into the league (NFL)
• Steroid using player, who was found guilty of it, winning Defensive Player of the Year (NFL)
• Having starting point guards blackmail their head coach (NBA)
• Sexual harassment cases in the front office (NBA)
• Players’ posse shooting up strip clubs (NFL and NBA)
• Coaches using cameras to cheat (NFL)
• Quarterbacks getting actresses pregnant while dating other super models. (Yeah, you’re damn right I just went there. I don’t care if it’s Tom Brady or not) (NFL)

Since we’re all so conscious and adamant about what’s good for the kids and about being role models, let’s open our eyes to other things that we either ignore or put on the backburner after a few days or weeks blow by. If you’re going to walk around with a stick and discipline people, don’t slam the stick down on certain people because you don’t like them, and lightly tap others on the wrist. That’s not fair.

The steroids problem in baseball was a terrible predicament. It is something that I’m sure, in hindsight, baseball regrets having let happen. There are a lot of things not only baseball would have done differently, but Bonds, McGuire, and Sosa would have done differently as well. However, if we want to move on with the sport and have it rehabilitate itself, we need to close the chapter on that era. There were steps being taken to instill a stiffer drug testing policy. The repeat users are being weeded out. The steroids era was looking like it was put to a close and a new era, “The Post Steroids Era”, was beginning.

But just like always, the MLB in conjunction with the government have stepped in and basically hit rewind on the whole drama. Going after Bonds doesn’t solve anything now. It’s a far stretch to think a jury will find him guilty. And suppose that they do; Then what. What are you going to do? Pretend that he didn’t break the record? Once something has been broken, justly or unjustly, it’s broken. You are not going to convince me or anyone else who is into sports that Hank Aaron is still the homerun king. He’s not. You can’t undo the past.

Baseball had a great story this year with the Yankees surging back the way they did and the season finishing with the Red Sox winning their second title this decade. There are lots of great players that are on the trade block and teams will be realigning soon. There is so much to look forward to for the sport but now we’ve all gone back into the debate mode regarding steroids.

I look at this like when two divorced parents finally get back on good terms and the child is starting to feel comfortable again. There is a sense of calmness in the air giving one the impression that “hey, everything is going to be alright now.” Then, one of the parents brings up something nasty from the past and they get back to fighting. Congratulations to the MLB and the United States Government. You have managed to throw fuel on a dying fire; once again.

“I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be positive about this subject.” - Mark McGwire

Who would have thought that McGwire’s famous remarks in 2005 would make the most sense in 2007.

Torre, South Florida, Red Sox and More…

Torre Says Thanks, but No Thanks

I was at work yesterday around the three o’clock hour when I got a text message from a buddy of mine in New York. He said that he had just heard Joe Torre was being offered a one year deal for $5 million, with $3 million offered as incentives if the Yankees reach the World Series. First thing that came to mind? Joe, please do not take this deal. Please do not disrespect yourself and your legacy by being a puppet, a scapegoat, and a mere peasant in the empire that is the New York Yankees. Do not let George Steinbrenner belittle you by offering you another one year deal, with incentives no less, so that you have to deal with the constant façade of questions relating to your job all season. The fact that the Yankees threw in “incentives” makes me so angry and outraged because monetary incentives are thrown to motivate people. Joe Torre needs to be motivated to reach the World Series? Dusty Baker agreed with this sentiment when he said in an interview with Michael Kay that this was such blatant disrespect of a man who has won four World Series and made it to the postseason in each of the past 12 years. Now he needs motivation, monetary motivation at that? Absolutely absurd.

Being a Yankees fan, hearing the news on my drive home from work about Torre rejecting the offer was bittersweet. I was happy that he is leaving with his pride, or whats left of it after twelve years of dealing with “The Boss”. However, I was sad because Torre had turned the Yankees into such a respectful, classy organization that was always an elite team. Mike Greenberg said it best this morning on his radio show:

“You can hate them, or you can love them. But you cannot deny that the Yankees were as classy as any under Joe Torre.”

I don’t know who the next guy will be. Mattingly, Girardi, whomever. I don’t know if they will be successful or not. I don’t know which Yankees will be back, which will be gone, which will retire. I do know one thing though. There will never be another manager in Yankees history who won the way Torre did, and who carried himself the way he did. Good luck to you Joe, with whatever you do.

South Florida Cinderella Story is Over

Well it was nice while it lasted, but as I said earlier this week; historically dominant and elite teams win in college football. In college basketball, yes, Cinderella stories happen nearly every year. Not so in football. USF was defeated by Rutgers 30-27 last night. I was impressed by the confidence the team carried into this game, but never in the past six or seven weeks was I impressed by their game play. A reader of this site said it best, “I swear, every game of their’s I watched, it was like high school ball”. He is referring to the sloppy, missed tackles, turnover filled victories that they had up to this point. Again, good for USF for starting to make a name for themselves. But you have to win consistently for a few years before you can be taken seriously.

Red Sox defeat Indians; Beckett and Lofton Jaw

With the 7-1 win last night, the Red Sox have given fans a reason to watch the championship series as they cut the series lead to a game, 3-2. The series shifts back to Boston for games 6 and 7, starting Saturday night at 8pm. (On a related note, what a terrible decision to show the game at 8pm on a Saturday night. Who is going to sit at home on the one weekend night that they can go out and watch a 5 hour baseball game? Terrible.)

The game became rather interesting last night when Beckett and Kenny Lofton began jawing at each other, rather intensely. Both benches cleared, but nothing came of it. The two have a history dating back to a few years ago, where Beckett has said that it is disrespectful to the pitcher the way Lofton tosses his bat on his way to first base after a walk. He said he would like it if Lofton would show a little more respect. Lofton of course, tossed his bat like he normally does, and on his way to first base, Beckett began screaming obscenities in the direction of Lofton, to which he responded.

What a bunch of weak, whiny behavior this is. You’re mad because he tosses his bat a certain way? Seriously? It’s that big of a deal to you? That is extremely lame and I hope every Cleveland batter starts tossing their bats the same way (which is really unnoticeable unless you are looking for it). The whining of Curt Shilling and now Josh Beckett, among other Red Sox never ceases to amaze me. It’s really like the city of Boston and the Red Sox shrill, school girl attitude were a match made in heaven.

The Fan vs The Athlete Update

We had quite an interesting discussion on a variety of subjects regarding the relationship between a fan and a team. It was all started by the Manny Ramirez “Who cares” comments. The link to the page is listed at the top, and here.

Weekend Recap Part 2 of 3

Here is the baseball section of the weekend.

Before You Join the Fire-Torre Bandwagon, Ask Yourself a Few Questions

If you have been residing under a rock with some very high quality ear plugs for the past few days, you would STILL know that the Yankees are out of the postseason, getting beat in 4 games by the Cleveland Indians. Just a few days ago, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner found it necessary to go blabber his senile mouth about how if Torre didn’t manage to move past the first round, he would be fired.

I don’t know what Steinbrenner was thinking, if he even was thinking. Going out and saying such a thing on the heels of an elimination game isn’t “motivation”. It’s stupidity. These aren’t college kids who will go and “play one for the ol’ ball coach.” No, this isn’t a movie. These are professional athletes who are on the highest level of stardom, who make more money than they can spend, and have their own personal agendas to worry about rather than to be motivated by a 77 year old owner threatening their manager’s job. The antic was not only ridiculous, but disrespectful. If my boss threatened my job in front of all the other employees, and went out of his way to do so for several years, I would quit before he got the chance to fire me and I’d make sure I did something to make him hurt. Joe Torre is too nice of a guy to do that or say anything bad about “The Boss”, which makes it even lower and more despicable for Steinbrenner to continuously leave him out to dry like this.

Okay so the series is over and the Yankees are out. Why hasn’t the man fired Torre yet? What’s the hold up? If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you’re going to stab your friend in the back, the same friend who helped you win plenty of championships and get you to the postseason twelve straight years, make sure you stab him so he doesn’t suffer. Torre has no idea what’s going to happen and the Yankees look like they’re going to take their time in deciding what to do, while he just sits there and waits. The levels of disrespect that Steinbrenner is showing makes me want to stop routing for the Yankees all together.

Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN news last night that the Yankees need to make a change. Why? Because they haven’t won a world series in all of seven years? Seven years is not that long of a time people. Get over yourself Steinbrenner. Get over yourself New York. Getting a team ready and maintaining their focus for the entire season is a manager’s job. It’s a job that Torre did to perfection for twelve straight years. When you go into a playoff series and your ace (Wang) absolutely chokes, how is that the manager’s fault? When no one on your team can hit worth a nickel, after being the best hitting team in the league, how is that the manager’s fault? If your MVP cannot drive in a run when he has the bases loaded and one out, how is that the manager’s fault? What would La Russa have done that would make Wang pitch better? What would La Russa have done to make Arod calm down and hit the way he did in the season? La Russa wouldn’t be able to make Posada have a better series in which he had only one hit. What would ANY manager have done that would have made the Yankees better for those four games?

Say the Yankees fire Torre. What do you accomplish? You bring in Tony La Russa, who everyone seems to be fathoming over. Please. He had squabbles in his tenure with the St. Louis press. What do you think will happen in the New York spotlight? If you don’t get La Russa, who are you going after? I haven’t even heard Joe Girardi’s name mentioned which is a pretty good indicator that he’s not in the running at this point. And forget who the replacement will be, what will happen to the team?

Do you really think Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, and Mariano Rivera would want to stay? Absolutely not. They were all Joe Torre guys. Everyone on that team, with the exception of Arod, was a guy who loved Joe Torre. They would go out and fight for the guy. Ask them. Pretty much anyone interviewed has said that it doesn’t hurt to lose in the playoffs as much as it does to let down and lose for Joe Torre because he’s such a great manager and a great person. If you think you can find someone better, by all means. But I am 100% sure, absolutely, positively sure, that there is no manager in the game who can handle New York and Steinbrenner, along with the egos that came and went, with as much class and style as Joe Torre did. And I can also say with utter certainty that there is no manager who would have won the way Joe Torre did.

If and when the Yankees fire Joe Torre, I will love to see them miss the playoffs next year with a new manager. How can I say this when I’m a Yankees fan? Simple. I don’t respect organizations that treat good people badly. You screw Torre, you can go screw yourself for all I care.

In other baseball news, the playoffs have now lost pretty much all appeal. The Cubs are out, the Angels are out, and the Yankees are out. Go enjoy your Colorado-Arizona series while I enjoy some football.

A “Player’s guy” is what many described Torre as.

Today’s Rundown 9/19

*Don’t look now but the Red Sox are down to a 2.5 game lead over the Yankees.  40 games into the season, they had a 10 game lead.  If, and that’s an “IF”, they collapse, it will be one for the memories.  However, don’t buy into the homefield in the playoffs factor too much.  No AL team that had homefield advantage last season won that series.  Just a thought.

*While one New York team is surging, the other is plummeting.  The Mets have lost again and the Philadelphia Phillies have climbed to within 1.5 games of catching them.  Keep a close eye on this one because the Phillies have great position players and are rolling.  This has been the closest, most suspenseful race to October since the new playoff system was introduced in 1995. 

*The Atlanta Falcons have signed quarterback Byron Leftwich to a two year deal, reported by ESPN.  So my question is this.  Why didn’t you do this in the preseason?  Don’t tell me you wanted to see how Joey Harrington did first because that’s baloney.  You could have signed Leftwich, sat him behind Harrington on the depth chart and let him learn the system.  Then, if Harrington faltered, you could put in Byron.  Now you bring in Leftwich and he has no idea what this offense is about.  It will take him at least two weeks, and that means another two losses.  I’m really not sure what the Falcons plan of attack is for this season, or if there even is one. 

Today’s Rundown 9/17

*Well if there was any question about whether the Chargers were a threat to the Patriots, it has been answered with an exclamation point. The Patriots dominated, absolutely wrecked, the San Diego Chargers last night 38-14. They played with a ticked off attitude the whole game and I would be very intimidated if I were any other team in their path to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady showed his emotions the entire game pumping his fists and tossing around expletives after big plays and scores.

*The Pats game capped off a wild week two in which football fans saw the Browns drop 51 points on their way to beating the stunned Bengals. The Raiders got jipped at the end and lost in overtime to the Broncos, who aren’t looking very good at this point. The Saints got thumped courtesy of the Bucs and the Packers look like they are a little more than just a playoff contender with a defense like that. I’ll have a full recap of the week tomorrow, after Monday Night’s game which showcases the Skins and the Eagles.

*As far as my picks are concerned: I picked 10 out 15 correct (after getting 13 out of 15 last Sunday), which is terrible and I got two right against the spread out of four, one wrong, and one tied. I’ll have my pick for the Skins-Eagles (versus the spread) later today.

*The Yankees took two out of three this weekend in Boston against the much-hated Red Sox. Last night’s 4-3 victory came courtesy of Mr. Clutch, Derek Jeter. Jeter belted a 3 run homer in the top of the eighth with two outs and the score tied at one apiece. The Yankees have a shot at taking the division if the Sox drop a few games between now and the end of the season. It is clear however that the Yankees have the psychological edge on the Sox again, and Boston fans know it.  See Buster Olney Column.

*College Football also had an exciting weekend with another top ten team getting dropped courtesy of an unranked squad. The Louisville Cardinals, who were ranked 9^th going into the game, lost in a shootout to instate rivals Kentucky. UCLA dropped from their 11 spot after getting drubbed by Utah and Nick Saban’s Alabama boys are back in the top 20 for the first time since 2005 after a thrilling upset over 16^th ranked Arkansas. Other noteable games were Florida defeating Tennessee, USC knocking off Nebraska, and of course my favorite; Notre Dame losing 38-0 to Michigan and dropping to an 0-3 record. A full recap of the college week, in addition to my updated power rankings will be up this afternoon.

Until then, enjoy your Monday morning.