LIN-GUINE

I guess the Knicks ran out of miracles from Mr. Lin, he's been playing like a wet noodle! Six straight loses, and danger of falling out of the playoff hunt! It makes it difficult to Mike D’Antonio to maintain his composure when the Dolan imposed that trade last year. Makes you wonder why Walsh really left the team. Maybe he should have Melo’d out.

More Peyton Manning

Seems that everybody has mentioned Peyton Manning going to one team or another, and that team giving up their developing QB.  I know Manning was great, but he only won one Super Bowl, yet his baby brother has won more. I still can’t seem to crunch the numbers, and 36 years old is old in sports. How does any of this make any sense? Give up a long future for a short end of a great career, not to mention the millions? It has to be a way of getting fans into the seats, but not for long.

DEREK JETER

Derek Jeter

I happen to like Derek Jeter, as an example of what a gentleman is like, as a great hitting shortstop, but he was not really a great shortstop with a glove on. The way he played that position it looked like when he wore his glove his hand was cold! I don’t mean to take pop shots at him, but some people think he should be in the Hall of Fame! These people are mostly Yankee fans. His hitting was very good, but that shouldn’t rate Hall consideration. He does have the most hits in franchise history and so you can make a case for it with over 2700 hits, and many were game changers? In 17 years he hit 270 homers, which averages out to 15 a year and a .313 Batting average, solid hitting credentials. Baseball unlike football is both an offensive and defensive game, and both offense and defense should be considered, not just one when considering a player for the Hall, just a pet peeve of mine.

ADAM WAINWRIGHT

Cardinal Sins

How well will Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter hold up this coming season? Both are ailing and I have to wonder if they will stay the best one, two combination in baseball. I really doubt that Carlos Beltran is the answer to the loss of Albert Pujols, unless you mean Spanish-speaking millionaires.

ARE YOU MAD?

March mad that is? Here goes for the first round:

Kentucky (NO BRAINER)

Connecticut

Wichita State

Indiana

UNLV

Baylor

Xavier (Something to prove)

Duke (See above)

Michigan State (Sorry LIU Brooklyn)

Memphis

New Mexico

Louisville (It’s a tradition thing)

Murray State

Marquette (The Cinderella story ends here for Iona)

Virginia (I must be crazy but, March madness, right?)

Missouri

Syracuse

Kansas State

Vanderbilt

Wisconsin (Jordan Taylor is why)

Cincinnati

St. Bonaventure (My upset pick)

Gonzaga (Love the name)

Ohio State

UNC (No contest)

Creighton (by 10)

Temple

Michigan

San Diego State

Georgetown

St. Mary’s

Kansas

Some of these picks are iffy, but so is the result for any team that gets invited to the big dance. There are some picks that some people would say is madness, but that is the point, no?

MR. DWIGHT HOWARD

Dwight Howard refuses to cooperate, as the Orlando Magic would like to trade him to Chicago. “Too cold” for Mr. Howard! I guess the NBA needs a dome to play all their games under. For some reason, Derrick Rose AND the cold keep Mr. Howard from playing in Chicago.

He’s Back!

Randy Moss signed a one-year deal to play catch for the San Francisco 49er’s. If you remember the NFC Championship game, no one was catching the ball for the 49er’s!  

That’s all I wrote, Folks!

CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG

MARK SANCHEZ

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn’t Mark Sanchez take the New York Jets to 2 AFC title games in his three years with the team? Why is the media in such a rush to get a 36 year-old quarterback who is on the last legs of his career to replace Sanchez?

I wonder why Sanchez bears responsibility for dropped passes, no running game and an offensive line that plays, well… kind of offensively. Did Mark Sanchez stand in the end zone while taking a shellacking at the wings of the Philadelphia Eagles taunting them with an embarrassing late TD? Did Mark find the personnel that constituted the New York Jets in 2011? Are we watching a franchise using a sacrificial lamb for their mistakes?

EXTRA WILDCARD TEAM

I think that the extra wild card team in Major League Baseball is sad. It seems to me we reward a bit of mediocrity that way, and all it does is negate the idea of trying to define who the best team in baseball is. If they want to do what they are doing, create more divisions, 4 in each league, and have the winners square off according to their records. The best can play the worst team record and the two middle teams against each other, the winners face off and go to the World Series.  

STROS STICK ‘EM UP

The Houston Astros will put the pistol back up on their jerseys for their throwback uniforms, after being banned by the league. The Colt 45 that was on their original uniforms when they were called the Houston Colt 45’s, and because the league changed its mind, it will be restored. All is right with the world once again!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

LENNY DYKSTRA

Lenny Dykstra to jail! What did they get him for, stealing second? Actually he got 3 years for auto theft. Too bad, these guys should put all that money they are all overpaid away, earmarked for when they have kids, instead as fathers they get into trouble and can’t do squat for their children from jail. I guess you can say it is stealing from their kids. The former Met hero and Philadelphia Philly is now a major league disappointment to his fans. I will only remember the thrills and there were many that he gave as a player. Too bad.

UNC

One of the best rivalries in college basketball played itself out recently when the UNC Tar Heels stepped on Duke for the ACC Championship, you might say beating the devil out of them! It didn’t matter that UNC can’t make the 3-pointers, they beat the Blue Devils impressively, 88-70

METS

The courts have established a price ot pay for being stupid, $83 million to be maybe exact. There could be more, but the judge thinks it will be hard to prove Pickard’s case against them. Seems like a lose, lose situation for the Mets, since they do just that. They lose money themselves and have to pay more because of their association with Madoff, and of course they always have the playing field too.

BOBBY VALENTINE

BOBBY VALENTINE

Mention his name and my ears perk up. Bobby Valentine is probably one of the best managers in baseball, and not a very good prognosticator when it comes the booth. During the 1986 World Series, predicted the Red Sox over the Mets, and was almost right. Almost. He was a commentator for the network that covered the series, I believe it was NBC, and as one of the panelist that evening made his prediction. Now he faces the daunting task of turning the Sox into winners after that terrible collapse. I look forward to seeing what he does. The Sox don’t seem that imposing anymore, maybe it is the collapse, maybe that they didn’t do all that much to close the gap between them and the Yankees.

PEYTON MANNING

Why doesn’t Peyton sign on with the Giants? His career is almost over, and he can support his brother, who has more Super Bowl rings than he does?.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

PEYTON MANNING

Seems like everybody is interested in Peyton Manning but the Colts. He’s been down for a while, and he is 36 years old. The question begs: Will Manning want to come to such a dysfunctional team as the Jets?

                        Rating     YDS      TD                  Rating            YDS      TD

Regular Season 78.2       3474      26             Career 73.2            9209    55            M. SANCHEZ

MANNING

There are no comparisons to make with Sanchez and Peyton Manning, but if you are going to give up on Sanchez, get a younger guy.

LIN

LIN

The Knicks got some excitement, but the luster seems to be losing itself, first the Heat and now the Celtics seem to have matched Lin. Is the big excitement over? Do they know how to neutralize him now, and will other teams follow suit, or will the Knick learn how to respond?

REPLEAT THE METS

It seems the Mets have picked up where they left off last season, and they haven’t even played a meaningful game this year. David Wright if on the shelf, Ike Davis has a lung infection and we are all afraid of Santana hurting again.

DUDA

Look for Duda  in right field to blossom this year. He may become the next Ron Howard.

Seems like the only thing normal is Reyes is not in the lineup again.

TIGER IN THE WOODS?

Look for Tiger Woods to continue his comeback. The problem seems he is inconsistent, and too emotional to compete anymore. It’s a shame his personal life got in the way of a great golfers career.

WILT THE STILT

CHAMBERLAIN

For years Wilt Chamberlain was considered the best at his sport, and it was 50 years ago he scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knickerbockers, making him probably the most respected player for consistency, poise and ability, until maybe Michael Jordon.

That’s all I wrote folks!

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Phillies won the most games in the Majors last season, finishing with a 102-60 record. A wild card team won the World Series!

In spite of the standings, the Phillies were a good hitting team, but not extraordinary, ranking 13^th in runs scored, 16 in batting average and 11^th in on base percentage and only 17^th in slugging percentage. However, the pitching was the story, finishing 1^st in ERA, quality starts and 3^rd in batting average against them. (.240)

JONATHAN PAPELBON

As far as Free Agency goes: Raul Ibanez left for the Yankees after 1 year in left field, Brad Lidge RHP, 1.04 ERA went to Washington, Ryan Madson RHP 2.37 ERA, to Cincinnati, Jimmy Rollins SS re-signed with the team for 3 years and $38 million, Brian Schneider C re-did his gig for 1 year and $800,000, Laynce Nix LF, replaced Ibanez for 2 years and $2.5 million, Jonathan Papelbon 2.94 ERA, 31 saves, from Boston for 4 years, $50 million, and Chad Qualls RP from San Diego 3.51 ERA, 1 year $1.15 million, Jim Thome 1B from Cleveland to a 1 year $1.25 million to cover for the loss of Ron Howard, Dontrell Willis SP, from Cincinnati 5.00 ERA for 1 year and $850,000.

The Phillies took care of what they needed and quickly. They are missing a huge component in Ron Howard, but until he returns, they are still good, good enough to go all the way.

They should still win their division, but by not as much.

ATLANTA BRAVES

The Braves finished 89-73, 13 games behind the Division winning Phillies.

Hitting was an issue last season, with the team ranking 22^nd in runs scored, 26^th in batting average, 26^th in on base percentage and 21^st in slugging percentage. But what kept them in second place was their pitching. Ranking 4^th in ERA and 4^th in team opposition batting, .240 against Braves pitching.

In the free agency world, Alex Gonzalez SS, signed on with Milwaukee, center fielder Nate McLouth joined Pittsburg, RHP George Sherill signed on with Seattle, and Jack Wilson SS resigned for 1 year and $1 million.

FREDDIE FREEMAN

Packing a lot of punch with Freddie Freeman 21 HR’s, Chipper Jones with 18 and Brian McCann’s 24 HR’s, Prado with 13 and Gonzalez with his 15, all add up with the 36 hit by Dan Uggla to 175. The trouble is they didn’t hit for average last year, collectively batting .243.

The starting pitching was above average, with Tim Hudson leading the staff with 16 wins and an ERA of 3.22, anchored to Craig Kimbrel’s 46 saves. And they say subtraction can be addition, with Derrick Lowe off to Cleveland.

The Braves will stay in second place this season, without the addition of any strong relief in terms of hitting for average. They might even give Philadelphia a race, with the absence of Ryan Howard this season for Philadelphia , at least in the foreseeable first few months.