WHO’S WHO IN INJURIES

Tom Brady

Looking at the final week of NFL Football, must be what a general would find in a field hospital as the battle is winding down! It seems a lot of talent injured and or healing, and the injuries are the 12^th players that will show up on the field of battle.

Tom Brady has a left shoulder injury.-Patriots

Ben Roethlisberger nurses a sprained left ankle-Steelers

Tony Romo owns a tapped right throwing hand-Cowboys

Osi Umenyiora babies a high ankle sprain-Giants

Brian Dawkins –lingers with a neck injury-Broncos

Key players on playoff bound teams that injuries will impact somehow. When you look at each playoff season, the teams involved biggest hope is that they have a full healthy squad, the biggest nagging fear is that their QB is injured.

NETS PLAYING FOR A #1 PICK

Three games into the season and the Nets look like they are out of the playoffs!

Going against the Orlando Magic, there was NO magic, as the Nets once again got bitch slapped by their opponent! So far this season their record is 1-3 with a stinker last night in Atlanta!

KNICKS LOOK EVEN

The Knicks should stay home and away from the west coast. After the fan fare comes the reality it seems. If the Knicks want to be considered a real team with real hopes for playoff contention, they have to learn how to win on the west coast. They now sit at 2-2.

The LA Lakers, who own the Knicks and have for some time (7 straight wins vs. the NYers). Having them handed off from one spanking in San Francisco to another in Los Angeles, the Lakers then praised the Knicks, for what a fine team they are! Really.

Since 2007, the Lakers have won every meeting between the two teams, the last on was on a 4^th quarter surge, as they roared past the Knicks.

CHAMPS TO CHUMPS

What a difference a few months make! One day you are on top of the NBA world, as champions, the next, the bottom looking up wondering, what happened! The Dallas Mavericks now look at a 0-3 start, and a lot of missing pieces seem to be apparent on defense.

TO ALL OF YOU-HAPPY NEW YEAR

May it be a grand slam, hat trick,  slam dunk, touch down of a year in 2012!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

BOSOX DON’T GIVE AN INCH

Rodger Maris

With Bobby Valentine on board, the Red Sox went out and addressed another issue that was lingering. What to do about the missing Jonathon Paplebon? Paplebon went to a hitter’s park and in his place comes Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A’s!

Years ago, in the mid 50’s and early 60's, the then Kansas City A’s were considered a New York Yankee farm team, as the A’s languished near the bottom of the 8-team American League, they sent all their stars to the Yankees, and up until Rodger Maris, that was the case.

Such greats as Enos Slaughter, Art Ditmar and Bobby Shantz, Clete Boyer, Ryne Duren, Virgil Trucks, Ralph Terry, Hector Lopez, Rodger Maris, Joe De Maestri, and Bob Cerv all came to the Yankees. This was between 1955 and 1961!

Well history is repeating itself. The only difference is the Bosox are getting the values!

THE SCUTTLEBUT

Payton Manning

The New York Daily News’ Gary Myers has offered a prescription for the ailing Jets, the idea being that they bring on Peyton Manning, and keep Mark Sanchez. It sounds good at face value, but what about Manning’s age, and recent injury. If you couple them together, it can be dicey. If you remember Brett Farve, the idea was similar in nature, and what happened? Farve didn’t finish the year out.

I think if you want to destroy Sanchez’s confidence, this will do it. He is going on his fourth year with the Jets, and had them in the AFC Championship game twice, in spite of Shottyheimer game plans.

SPEAKING OF WHICH

Mark Sanchez

If you want a reason to get rid of Shottyheimer, consider this: This season and last, the Jets were slow to get started for the most part. Too many games were exciting and pulled out at the end. The Jets were slow to score and played catch up all season. The only real game they got ahead of was their final game this year against Buffalo.

What that tells me is that the Jets offensive game plan is not good going into a game! This puts a lot of pressure on a quarterback, let alone a young guy like Sanchez. Sanchez may not be the best and maybe never will, but he could be a good one, good enough to get to a Super Bowl or two. If you compare him to Elie Manning in his first few years, Sanchez comes out more favorably.

A-ROD A LIGHTENING ROD

A-Rod

Alex Rodriguez has six years left on his obscene contract. Since the 2007 season, A-Rod has not been healthy, has not really earned the millions he is being paid. His latest injury in his knee has him seeking help in Dusseldorf, Germany for a procedure that is not approved in either the US or Canada. Although the procedure called Orthokine is not banned by MLB, it is not recommended by it either.

Time for the Yankees to find a way to buy out A-Rod’s contract, and stem some of the loses they will incur. He will be 42 when his contract expires in 2017. I keep wondering how many of those remaining six years will be productive? Better pay him off, and get back in the bidding wars for some of these free agents once again. I think his contract is what held Cashman back from signing anyone of note this past winter meeting.

Rodriguez is considered one of the best all-around baseball players of all time. He is the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs, and the youngest to hit 600, besting Babe Ruth's record by over a year. Rodriguez has fourteen 100-RBI seasons in his career, a record. A-Rod is the all-time leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

CELTICS ON A ROLL…

Downhill.

LeBron James and company extended the Boston Celtics losing streak to 2 games, and once again the Celts made it close. It seems funny to see the Celtics at the bottom of the pile, a temporary condition I am sure.

James netted 26 points and rookie guard Norris Cole poured in another 20; as the Miami Heat held on to win.

The Celtics need a win, over an opponent that cares and soon. Although I don’t doubt that the Celtics can win their division, is it time to break them up?

NETS BACK

The New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets reverted back to form in their home opener getting crushed by the Atlanta Hawks, 106 – 70. If the Nets hope to garner fans in Brooklyn, especially with the Knicks on the rise, they better start looking good and consistent. Coming out flat after only one game won’t do.

Why do you sit Deron Williams and Kris Humphries for most of the second half? If I was a Nets fan, I’d be unhappy sitting in the Newark arena, after paying for a ducat and not seeing much of the product I paid to see.

Williams tallied 10 points and Humphries 11 in the embarrassing lose.

MAVERICKS LOST

What’s with the champs? They dropped 2 in a row, both by wide margins! Can this be the World Champs or impostors?

According to Tyson Chandler, he’s not surprised. Seems the Mavs only give out one-year walk contracts, so they are literally playing for free agency.

AARON RODGERS

It doesn’t take a genius to know that Aaron Rodgers is terrific. Is he as good as say Tom Brady, or Drew Brees? The debate could go on forever, but rest assured that he is one of the very best.

True, the Pack looks human suddenly, but it is a long season, and the hits and bangs of the schedule can wear down a team and a quarterback, especially one that plays at such a high intensity.

I think that the pack is back a second year, and Green Bay is restored as America’s Team, for sure

DANGEROUS IS WHAT DANGEROUS DOES

The Miami Dolphins have a season to salvage, a coach looking to prove something, and an opponent who is psychologically beaten and embarrassed by the previous week.

The Dolphins have a 5 – 10 record, and nothing to gain except a positive end to a disastrous season, and the Jets, who lack any motivation and a playoff spot, have their season on the line and are ready to be ruined.

R. A. DICKEY

If you have a season left on your contract with a bad ball club and the season is still ahead of you, you might contemplate something drastic.

R. A. Dickey is planning a charitable effort to climb a mountain in

Africa to help the victims of sex trafficking in India. That’s what he says.

If you are on a team that finishes toward the bottom, can’t win, hit, score or pitch, and the best player just fled the coop, you’d want to find a mountain to jump off of too.

The New York Mets just sent Mr.Dickey a letter stating that if he hurts himself by violating the stipulations in his contract, he is not going to be paid. But being Mr. Dickey IS a Mets player, he will anyway. Maybe he can take Jason (no way) Bay with him.

BOSOX ON THE MOVE

I just love Boston! The team tries hard and although not always successful, still manages to get up and try. This time the retooling includes Oakland A’s best relief pitcher, Andrew Bailey! The 6’3” right-hander had a 3.24 ERA with 24 saves and averaged a strikeout an inning.

Along with Bailey comes Ryan Sweeney for outfielder Josh Reddick and two minor-league prospects. In the deal, first reported by ESPN, Bailey gives the Red Sox a reliable ninth-inning guy to replace the departed Jonathan Papelbon, who signed a $50 million, four-year contract as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in November.

That’s all I wrote folks!

IT WAS A BREES

Congratulations to a real quarterback, in Drew Brees. Not only does he break Dan Marino’s record for passing yards, he does it on a fourth quarter touchdown to Darren Sproles, the man that made a difference in New Orleans.

After all the Tebow and nonsense that we have been hearing, give the guy his due. A real winner, no antics, no kneeling, no nothing but passing and winning, that’s Drew Brees.

MORE SHOWTIME

Can the Giants win again? Can they fly into the Meadowlands and pump more life into Met Life Stadium, can they maintain their high emotional drive once again? Last week against the Jets, they played with great intensity and won a convincing victory. They needed the victory, the season was on the line. Well I guess the playoffs started early for them this year, another needed victory has come up.

Funny how a lot of sportswriters wrote the Giants off this year, and Coughlin found a way to keep them together, alive and relevant to the fans. There were many injuries that made it seem like the season was a washout this past summer-fall.

Meanwhile their opponent, the Dallas Cowboys and Tony Romo gallop into the stadium and have their first place division title on the line as do the Giants. Romo is expected to play in the regular season finale. This should be a great game. My sense is one of these teams could very well crash from the past weeks emotions, and be down. Yet, this IS an important game for both teams. I kind of remember another team from NY falling flat in an important, must win, emotional game recently.

PRACTICE GAMES THAT COUNT

The NY Rangers worked out with their Long Island farm team, the Islanders, and the practice went well. First they got the good news that all-star defenseman Marc Staal was cleared for contact, then when they finished practice with their farm team, they had a 5^th straight win (3-0) and continued the farm team with their own streak, albeit a winless one.

As I like to say in hockey jargon: “Who cares?”

SPEAKING OF WHICH…

The New Jersey Nets played their last opener for New Jersey before they move next season to Brooklyn, then move back again to New Jersey, as is the history of the franchise. The good news is they won, the bad news is they played over their heads so don’t get excited Nets fans.

The most despised player in basketball, Kris Humphries muscled the boards and battled in the paint and along with Deron Williams, took it to the Wizards, who were wondering how it could happen to them.

Humphries had 21 points to go along with 16 rebounds and Williams added his 8 assists and 8 rebounds for the 90 – 84 win.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

THE WEEKEND THAT WAS

It was some weekend spent over the Christmas holiday. The Jets and Giants went at it and only one came out of it alive!

The Giants get closer to winning their division while the Jets find out that they are just tenants at the Meadowlands, the place the Giants own.

I think that to say Rex Ryan is a big mouth is unfair. He has gotten the Jets into the playoffs up to this year, and his mouth has generated a lot of sparks for the rivalry. I think it is good that he does it, and I think sometimes he WILL come out on top. just not this year.

My problem is the offensive coaching of the Jets. Brian Shottyheimer is NOT an offensive coach, just offensive. The last two weeks have been horrible, and although no one is calling out the Jets defensive coach just yet, the Jets offensive lacked a lot of focus, plan, execution and judgment. Sanchise looked lost, out of his league and pathetic.

As for the Giants head coach, I hear a lot of disgruntled Giants fans complaining. I think blaming the coach is unfair in this circumstance. Tom Coughlin has proven to be a winner, has taken limited talent and often molded it into something extraordinary. If there is a knock, it is the execution by the players, and you can read that in the coach’s face every time they miscue, which is often.

The Jets were totally embarrassed on offense, and if I was Rex Ryan, I’d dump Shottyheimer now, take solace in the fact that I am doing something about an embarrassment and move on.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GARDEN

The Knicks found a way to beat the Celtics finally! Breaking an eight game curse, they deliver with their new look offense, although they almost blew the game after a nice size lead, and a missed Garnett shot at the buzzer saved them their opener.

Carmelo, playing Santa sans the suit made a great delivery under the Garden tree of 37 points, 17 in the fourth quarter in a 106 – 104 win.

Now comes the hard part. Shumpert hurts himself in the third quarter when Chris Wilcox fell on his knee. Couple that with Baron Davis being out with a herniated disc until February or March and Jared Jeffries about two to three weeks with an injured right calf he suffered on Christmas Day’s opener.

HIRING A HEAVY BAT

Carlos Beltran

It was the bottom of the 9^th. The Cardinal’s Wainwright walked Paul Lo Duca to bring up Carlos Beltrán with the bases loaded and two men out. Down 0–2 to the rookie Wainwright, Beltrán looked at a called strike three, a curveball on the outside corner at the knees, and the ballgame was over. The bat never left Beltran’s shoulder. They almost made a statue of Beltran in that pose and were going to remove Stan The Man’s statue in front of the St. Louis Stadium! The Cards almost voted Beltran a World Series share for his contribution!

The Cardinals it is rumored have signed Beltran on for 2012 at $26 Million for two years. He will be the opening day right fielder and Lance Berkman will move to first base to replace Albert Pujols. What next? The Mets signing Bill Buckner to play first base?

IT’S GETTING TO BE A HABIT!

Indianapolis that is, well, all the winning, anyhow. The Colts stunned the Texans Thursday night with a 19-16 come from behind victory with a 19 seconds to go 1-yard touchdown! Sneaking over the Texas border was Reggie Wayne, keeping the streak alive and scoring to extend the victory totals to a whopping 2.

Dan Orlovsky, was given the ball by Wayne after scoring, breaking a tradition of Wayne’s of keeping the ball after each TD in his career. After a 0-14 start. Wayne felt that Orlovsky deserved the ball after two recent back-to-back victories. Don’t forget the Orlovsky was the 0-16 QB for Detroit in 2008.

Gio Gonzalez

NATIONAL GIO DAY IN WASHINGTON D.C.

The Nationals have traded for All-Star pitcher Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland A’s! The A’s will get three top prospects and a player; Catcher Derrick Norris. Gonzalez is 26 and was the 38^th overall draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2004. He pitched himself to 16 career high wins and 12 loses last season after going 15 wins in ’10. Last year he had a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts.

A TERRITORIAL RIVALRY

The only real territorial rivalry was played out once again when the NY Islanders traveled all the way to Madison Square Garden to face off against the New York Rangers, and faced a bitter lose to the Manhattanites.

Opportunity is the trade mark of NYC, and the Islanders were full of opportunities, which they handed one after another to the Rangers! You might say Christmas was early this year for the Rangers.

The Rangers enjoyed a three game win streak while the Islanders saw their two game win streak snapped, 4-2. The victory puts the Rangers just 2 points out of first place in their division!

IT’S OVER THE TOP

Or at least over the wall as the UCLA Bruins, stage their yearly ‘Over the Wall – let’s skip practice today’ tradition that dates back to the late ‘80’s.

Jim Mora

New UCLA coach Jim Mora says the tradition of Bruins players going "over the wall" at practice will not continue next season. His feeling and rightly so is that if you play on the team, it is a privilege to, and you are expected to dedicate yourself 100% The latest childish act occurred and some of the teammates did not participate, and were angered that others did go over the wall.

SEE YA IN A FEW DAYS!

I will take the next three days off and return on December 27^th.

That’s all I wrote folks!

NEW YORK, N.Y.

It’s a hell of a town

With a lot of trash talk going around.

And so with one more day yet to be lived, the Giants and Jets go at it. The coaches have not stayed out of the fray, either. The city area is hyped for this game. This is one season game that has a lot for meaning for each team. Outside of the Super Bowl, there is not going to be a more important game between these two rivals.

Plaxico Burress will look for some kind of “I told you so” revenge, depending on how you look at it, when he suits up against his old team on Saturday. Revis is no longer feared by the Giants secondary, and the two coaches are jabbering away, very pretty. The important thing is who gets to shut up and who goes on talking in the playoffs?

There will be one man in the stadium that day who will have the destiny of another’s in his hands. That man is Eli Manning, and his coach will feel every pass, every handoff, and every mistake Eli makes on the field of battle.

PICKS

Since I didn’t do all that well last week, here are the picks for this weeks mistakes. I hover the level of sucks and stinks, and hope to rise a little this week.

Houston, New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington,

Denver, Pittsburg, Giants, Carolina, Tennessee, Oakland, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Green Bay, and New Orleans.

  

TYSON CHANDLER

OK, it’s the Nets, not the Mavericks, but the Knicks look good in their two exhibition games against the Nets. But this time, Tyson Chandler was in the mix, and the Knick fans loved it. 8 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots later, Chandler is the talk of Knickstown, and the Garden.

88 – 82 was the final score, and you gotta believe as they used to say way back when, in New York. You have to wonder how good the Knicks could or should be.

That's all I wrote folks!

BIG WEEKEND

The biggest Christmas present you can bring to N.Y. fans is this weekend that shapes up! First off, on Saturday, Christmas Eve, the New York Giants square off against their co-tenants, the New York Jets. What is at stake is the playoffs for both teams, and only one can walk or limp away from the game victorious.

The Jets need the win to stay alive, and let’s face it, where would the playoffs be without Rex Ryan? Tom Coughlin meanwhile has a lot to worry about. If he loses, and the Giants don’t make the playoffs, he is gone. Another late season collapse should not be tolerated.

It is an interesting matchup, both teams coming off embarrassing loses on Sunday, and should be motivated. It is Manning vs. Sanchez, Pierre-Paul vs. Ferguson, Big Blue vs. Gang Green, NFC vs. AFC, that will be fun. I hope to see a great game, and I am predicting the Giants will win it. Somehow, the Giants are in a better position to win the playoff spot that the Jets are of keeping theirs.

Joe Namath will disagree with me, but he is only going by his hunches also, even though his are more credible. But from the results of the season so far, Eli Manning has the knack to move his team when it counts the most, with the game on the line. That is not to say that Sanchez hasn’t in the past, but Manning has the experience. Sanchez has proven though that he will be a great quarterback, and someday, both may be the best in the business.

In regular season play, the teams have met 11 times, and the Giants have won 7 times.

Here is the final bit of interesting comment that came from my brother-in-law John, a true blue Big Blue fan. He asks the question: so what if they (Jets or Giants) get into the playoffs, are they good enough to beat the teams they will face?

CHRISTMAS DAY

The NBA season finally opens, and the New York Knicks go toe-to-toe against the Boston Celtics. This is interesting from a NY fans perspective as to just how good the Knicks really are. Will their backcourt hold up? Can they match well against a really good team like the Celtics?

Although Baron Davis will not play until the earliest February, and maybe later, the team does seem to be on the verge of something special, but not there yet.

The Celtics will be starting the final season of real championship hopes as the big three will begin their final season together. The expectations were high until they found out that Jeff Green will undergo heart surgery and will miss the season. Knowing Boston, I feel they will find a way to win anyway. Doc Rivers will get the right combinations out there on the court when it comes to lineup sets and create things to happen for the Celtics.

ANDRUW JONES AND THE YANKEES

Looks like there may be a fly in the ointment for the NY Yankees and Andruw Jones! Seems that although it is a mutual admiration society of two parties, very little progress is being made to sign Jones on. The Yankees are in need of right-handed power to share duties in the outfield. But wouldn’t you know it, so are some other teams, one being a club up in the Boston area called the Red Sox.

The 34 year-old veteran who is a lifetime .256 hitter, had an adequate year for the Yankees last year, batting .247, with 13 HR’s and 33 RBI’s.

WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?

My words come back to haunt me, and frankly I’m glad they do. The New York Islanders have won another game! This time in Winnipeg, a shootout win, topping the Jets 3-2!

Montoya was injured in the win, as Nabokov came in to replace the goalie and held on for the win in overtime. Nabokov was tested only once when he fended off a Andrew Ladd wrist shot with only five minutes left to play in regulation.

BRONCOS TO WHISTLE PAST THE GRAVEYARD?

John Elway granted Kyle Orton's request to move on, now Elway may be getting left out of the postseason.

Kyle Orton, former Denver quarterback, who now pitches the pigskin for Kansas City, could conceivably return to Denver in 10 days and beat the Broncos right out of the playoffs, if KC wins that game. It is a risk that Elway knows will haunt him for a long time.

According to Elway: “If we beat Buffalo and Kyle helps [the Chiefs] beat the Raiders, it won’t matter, If that happens, we’d be able to thank him when he comes in here.”

Good luck Mr. Elway!

ANYONE SEE CECIL’S PRINCE?

Prince Fielder is still exploring the free agent market. There are a bunch of teams that are interested in him. Toronto, Miami, Texas, Chicago, Seattle Baltimore and Washington to name a few are the places Prince has visited. Not surprising is that the Yankees and Red Sox are not interested since they are locked in at first base. I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe the Cardinals might sign him, and help the fans of St. Louis forget about Albert.

Whatever happens, Prince will make a determination, and that team will be known as Fielder’s choice! (Gosh, I can’t believe I wrote that!)

That's all I wrote folks!

KNICKS TO SIGN NOVAK AND DAVIS TO ONE-YEAR DEALS

According to league sources, the NY Knicks plan to sign 3-point specialist Steve Novak to a 1-year deal.

The 6’11” forward will have to pass waivers first.

In 23 games for the Spurs in the 2010-’11 season, Novak has 225 career appearances with the Spurs, Rockets, Clippers and Mavericks. Of his 720 career field-goal attempts, 513 are from behind the three-point line. He’s shooting a career .417 on his three pointers. He averages 3.5 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

Meanwhile, the team announced the signing of Baron Davis for one year to a veteran’s one-year contract. This to me is silly since he isn’t going to play for at least 6 to 8 weeks from now, and the season is only 66 games this year! The injury to his back is serious, and disk injuries need time. The idea is that the Knicks will be playing deep into June, and that is when the Baron should make his majestic appearance.

YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!

The Texas Rangers just spent $51.7 million just for the right to sit down with Yu Darvish and try to sign him to the team! They have 30 days to do it! Figure him asking for $60 to $75 million to sign a major league contract! This is why your hot dog cost so much at the stadium these days, and why you really need to stay away from Major League Baseball, and all professional sports that spend this kind of money.

Like I said before, you don’t pay that kind of money when the guy hasn’t proved he can pitch in the majors. It seems that Japan to her credit, will rebuild her economy based on major league contracts.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

Barry Bonds for all intents and purposes is a free man! Yes, do something illegal and walk away free and clear. Oh, there was some nonsense about staying home under house arrest, and 2 years probation, but when you are rich to begin with, you bring in the luxuries of life, and save on gas!

Speaking of San Francisco wonders and the lights going out, it was lights out for the Pittsburg Steelers as they tried to find their way in the dark of San Francisco! When I read the score I thought it was the time-20 to 3! But no, that was the score, and the only scoring done by Pittsburg came from a former Jet, Jerome Cotchery, who almost eclipsed the Jets scoring!

Joe Molica, a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the power company was still investigating the cause of the outage. My question is: do you mean electric or steeler? The interesting thing is they call the place Candlestick Park. Maybe they need more candles.

METS GET MORE RELIEF

Frank Francisco becomes the latest to sign in on the Mets relief corp. Francisco, 32, signed up for 2-years for $12 million.

With a 1-4 record and 17 saves, he posted a 3.55 era in 54 games last year with Toronto. Along with Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez, they hope to keep any lead they may have this year, a big issue they had last year that translated into only 77 wins.

Ohio State gets bowl ban, other penalties

By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—The NCAA has hit Ohio State with a one-year bowl ban and other penalties for a scandal that involved players taking cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia.

The university had previously offered to vacate the 2010 season, return bowl money, go on two years of NCAA probation and use five fewer football scholarships over the next three years.

Ohio State violations

Y! Sports investigation

But the NCAA on Tuesday banned the Buckeyes from playing in a bowl in Urban Meyer’s first year as head coach in 2012, further reduced the number of scholarships and tacked on a year of probation.

Jim Tressel, forced out in the wake of the scandal, was hit with a five-year “show-cause” order which all but prevents him from being a college coach during that time.

IS SPRING FAR BEHIND?


The Mets have announced that their pitchers and catchers are set to report to Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Monday, Feb. 20.

The 2012 season will mark the Mets' 24th spring in Port. St. Lucie, having moved into the newly completed facility for Spring Training 1988.

The New York Mets also said they will no longer operate a team in the Gulf Coast League, the organization announced in a statement released on Tuesday.
Instead, the club will be conducting three Rookie League teams in Kingsport, Tenn., and one out of its facility in the Dominican Republic.
The GCL Mets finished their 2011 season with a record of 27-29 (.482), finishing in third place and 12 games behind the East division-leading GCL Marlins.
The GCL team used the club's Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., as its base of operations and entered the league in 1988.
 

NETS NET A DEAL 

Free agent Kris Humphries signed a one-year deal for $8 million to remain with the New Jersey Nets, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Humphries will be dressed for Wednesday’s preseason game against the New York Knicks, sources said. He took his physical in New Jersey Tuesday.

That's all I wrote folks!

UGH!

The only Giant in the crowd

UGH, as in football, not just football, but New York football.

Seems like the Giants didn’t come to play in their own ball yard, and got beaten once again by the skins, putting their playoff hopes in deep jeopardy!

Rex Grossman put a nasty beating together for the NY No-shows, and the skins will be the only reason the Giants are out of the playoffs! Coach Tom Coughlin said after the Giants (7-7) fell a game behind Dallas (8-6) in the NFC East with two games left in the regular season: “I’m very disappointed in how we played today! I accept responsibility for it. But I expected to see more — quality execution — and we didn't get that.” Really coach? What about the players? They give you any input, or were they there?

After an emotional win the previous week, and the up and down battle with the Packers where they lost in overtime, I would expect a letdown by the Giants. The problem is this is not the time for one. The Redskins had nothing to play for except pride, and were loose, the Giants had a lot on the table and folded!

No show and no escape

The ugly did not end at the Meadowlands, it found its way in the city of brotherly love, in a place called Philadelphia. The Jets were scheduled to play there but must have missed the plane so management hired some imposters to fill the void. Guess what, the void was still there. So was a gut wrenching stink that came from gang green. In all my years watching the Jets play, and it goes back to the days of the Titans, this was the worst beating they have ever taken!

Not only did they stink, they embarrassed themselves, particularly Santonio Holmes after his only TD of the day. When the season is on the line, and you and your team are in a deep hole, you don’t taunt the opposition, you don’t showboat, you just score and go back to your pathetic huddle of mass green and put your mind in the game some more!

The stats, the turnovers and the penalties should keep Rex Ryan busy for the week. Saturday is a showdown between the two losers as they faceoff for their pathetic season to salvage as much as possible. To both the Giants and Jets: SHOW A LITTLE DARN PRIDE NEXT WEEK!

LST’S HAVE A LOOK

Cowboys, Giants, Packers, Seahawks, Texans, Dolphins, Titans, Bengals, Saints, Raiders, Cardinals, Patriots, Eagles, Ravens, 49er’s

Those were my picks for the past weekend. The bold-faced teams are the ones I got right. As of this writing I am 7-6.  The Ravens and 49er’s have yet to play. This is what I call sucking at predictions! Two big surprises were of course: Green Bay losing and Indianapolis winning! How many had both right?

TEBOW

Thank you New England, I was tired of the hoopla and the yelling.

Mr. Davis

THE KNICK KNACK

Knicks look like Baron Davis is part of the game plan. To me it doesn’t make too much sense, if he will be out until maybe February

PACKERS SENT PACKING

Kudos to Crennel

What a personal victory for Romeo Crennel! He takes over and immediately is asked to beat the best team in football, the undefeated Packers, and what does the interim coach do? HE WINS!

RIDING A WINNING STREAK

The Colts lifted themselves up as a team by not losing. That is the most they can say for their season, and to their fans, avoiding complete embarrassment by not losing every game. It IS only a one-game winning streak, but it is something they haven’t had all year. Is Indianapolis Peyton’s Place anymore? Will he return?

That’s all I wrote Folks!

BIG MATCHUP?

Tebow

By the time you read this, the big matchup, created by the media and Bronco fans will have happened. I find it funny that Tebow’s kneeling exercise and the fact that he is a heart attack quarterback has lifted him from obscurity to prominence. But the thing I find most laughable is that; many sports commentators are comparing him, with Brady! Tom Brady is one of, if not, the best in the business. Tebow is a rookie at best. Tebow does have receivers who get open.

CAN THE PATRIOTS STOP TEBOW?

Brady

Can the Broncos beat Brady? The question is this-will Brady run up the score in the first three quarters, enough so that Tebow can’t make the comeback? The Patriots have a poor pass defense. If there is one team that could be victimized by the Tebow phenomena, it is the Patriots. Yet the patriots sit up in first place in their division, beating the Jets twice and everybody else in their division.

At any rate, the proof will be in the results by the time you read this.

TJ YATES

If it’s last minute quarterbacking you want, without fanfare, just honest to goodness hard work, than TJ Yates is your man.

Pro Yates

The Houston Texans are in the playoffs for the first time in their history. That is due to some bad luck! Injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart meant to go to plan C for Texas, TJ Yates. Hard work and discipline has created in three games, a pro quarterback with a lot of experience it seems. The UNC Tar Heel, has taken the bull by the horns, or is that a Texas Steer, and led the Texans to playoff land. His last game was masterful!

UNC Yates

He is the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to 2 back-to-back victories in the last quarter or overtime in many years. Last week against the Bengals, in Cincinnati no less, he masterminded two 80 plus yard drives that led to scores, one in overtime that took the team from a 19-10 deficit to victory. The week before another 80 plus drive that led to a win!

It helps that the same kind of game was played out with UNC when he quarterbacked there, so he was able to step right into the system he knew so well. In fact it was his old UNC coach Jim Shoop, offensive coordinator who broke down Houston film for TJ.

ISLANDERS DO THE WILD THING!

Nielson

In an unheard of overtime moment for the Islanders, they win! Was it something I wrote, or maybe some welcome back to some injured players, that got them back to full-strength?

Montoya

Frans Nielson put the puck where it belonged for a change, and beat the Wild with the only overtime goal of the game. But it was Al Montoya who kept the cage clean and it was enough for the Isles to overtake the Minnesota Wild, 2-1.

Minnesota came out kind of stiff, and it was costly, never really generating any excitement. In defense to the wild, they did have a rather depleted lineup, but this is supposed to be a professional hockey team, you play the whole game, hard.

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Pouliot

The Bruins scored four first-period goals and ended a Flyers seven-game winning streak with a 6-0 win on Saturday, in the City of Brotherly Love.

Benoit Pouliot, Daniel Paille, Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic got the Bruins on the board 4 times, as Boston extended their winning streak to four games. Thomas blocked 31 shots for his 4th shutout of the season!

Both the Flyers and the Bruins are now tied atop the NHL’s Eastern Conference with 43 points each. Boston now leads the NHL with 21 victories.

The other locals, New Jersey and the NY Rangers also won. The Devils took it to Montreal 5-3 and the Rangers rose over Phoenix, 3-2.

COWBOYS BACK IN THE SADDLE

Tony Romo accounted for 4 TD’s, one he ran in and 3 passes as the ‘Boys beat up on the Buccaneers, 31-15. The 4 scores were all tallied in the first half.

MONTREAL MAKES A MOVE

By firing their coach, Jacques Martin, because of blown leads and shoddy play. The last place Canadiens put assistant Randy Cunnyworth in charge for the rest of the season.

CELTICS HAVE GOT TO HAVE HEART

That means Celtic’s Forward Jeff Green is out for the rest of the season, due to repairing of an aortic aneurysm. Doctors tell him he will be ready for next year.

ROLLINS ON THE MOVE

To sign for 3 years, $33 Million, pending a physical, where he can once again be in position to compete and compare with Jose Reyes.

That’s all I wrote.