NOW THAT’S SMART!

Roger Goodell has seen the light! Settling with the referees in the labor dispute will now restore the game of NFL Football to a state of integrity. They can’t make up for the first three weeks, or the loss to Seattle by Green Bay, but we have to move on.

Maybe the settlement and disaster that occurred for the NFL will spur the NHL to end their lockout.

YANKEES STILL KEEP ON ROLLING

Many people watch the New York Yankees and wonder when they will implode. I think people have been wondering that for the past two months, since they starting losing their 10-game lead.

The Yankees will win because they are used to winning, they will continue to win by habit. They can be reduced to Single A farmhands from injuries and they will win, it is just the way it is.

Speaking of winners: The New York Mets finally got something to cheer about with their only real super star in David Wright. The star third-baseman set the all-time hit record for the team passing Ed Kranepool. R. A. Dickey was scheduled to pitch Thursday if the weather held up, and if he did against the reeling Pirates, would be a 20-game winner, the first for the Mets in 22 years!

How many managers will be fired this season? Jim Leyland and Bobby Valentine look like candidates. Leyland, even thought the Tigers are in first place, if they don’t take it all he may be gone! Bobby Valentine, not only for failing to make the playoffs, but also failing to win 70 games, which is a real possibility. If that isn’t enough, the discord of the team should be the fork that says he’s done.

If you think I’m crazy in saying that about Leyland, look at history. Johnny Keane of the Cardinals was fired after being in a World Series, Casey Stengel was canned, even Yogi Berra after the 1964 World Series.

Joe Torre had his butt canned after losing in the playoffs in the early rounds, so think of Leyland being in Detroit for a while and a lot of money on free agency being spent, he has to bring home the goods.

That’s all I wrote, folks.

IS BOBBY V. COMING BACK?

It seems like just yesterday that Bobby Valentine put his foot in his mouth. Actually it was, but he also did that the day before last ands the day before that.

Going into spring training that Bobby V. said Josh Beckett was in good shape with the right attitude.

Then on September 1^st he said that the Sox were going to win a lot of games in the month. But he doesn’t stop there: no he goes ahead and puts down his lineup of players! Not even Terry Collins with good reason would do that!

But the question needs to be asked, whose fault is this? Who should be faulted for the lousy play and disinterest of the team? Who should they fault for the poor relief efforts?

Granted Bobby has expressed confidence and hope in his Sox, and yet they continue to disappoint. The flipped side of that coin of course is where he told his pitcher Will Middlebrooks after a pretty bad inning: “Nice inning kid!”

But whose fault is it?

He’s had his run-ins with the media, and frankly some of it was deserving and some not, and has set a record for Bosox managers of getting tossed 6 times, but whose fault is it?

With the rebellion of players, complaining to the front office by certain members of the team, I can’t help but wonder if he will see a Bosox spring training. But if he goes I think they need to replace GM Ben Cherington and sweep the front office clean!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

STOP ALREADY!

It is getting out of hand! The NFL has to either settle or shut down. You can’t allow to have what happened on Monday Night football between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers continue.

Having replacement refs is outrageous and when they decide a game by their decision, then the integrity if the game is compromised. And here is another point brought up by New York Daily News sports reporter Filip Bondy: the subs are scabs! That’s right, they are and it is an overlooked point that should be considered.

The scabs are demeaning the sport, the job and the fact is they are diminishing a man’s income, and hindering him a chance to make money!

Monday night’s game at the final play was the last straw, I will refuse to watch anymore of this nonsense, and will ignore it until things are fixed. Shame on the NFL for allowing themselves to lessen the game, cheat the fans out of their money’s worth and expecting TV to pay for it too. What ABC Sports should do if it has any integrity is cancel the balance of the telecasts and that should force everyone back to the table. The fact is that people are turned off already, especially after the Seattle/Green Bay fiasco.

How could Roger Goodell in all honesty do what he is doing and keep control of the game? Maybe the owners do lose money, but then they deserve to for trying to steal it from the fans to begin with!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

VIOLENCE IN SPORTS

Every thinks that hockey is the most violent professional sport being played. Recently a poll was taken asking if the fans would want the violence to stop in the game, and the answer was overwhelmingly a ‘No’! The fans think and like the fact that violence and fighting is part of the sport.

Last summer there was a big investigation into the New Orleans Saints play to maim attitude: seriously injure an opponent to get him out of the game. A number of players and coaches, including the head coach were implicated and fined and or suspended.

Then this past Sunday, the Houston Texan’s quarterback, Matt Schaub was injured so badly by a vicious hit that it knocked his helmet off his head and he lost a part of his left earlobe! The culprit, Broncos defender Joe Mays hit Schaub with the intent to hurt and the so-called tackle was illegal. They should suspend Mays from ever playing the game again, fine him big bucks and let it be a reminder that there is no place for that kind of ugliness. Football is a rough sport without having headhunters roaming the field.

In baseball as football, you can’t put your hands on an official, and that is exactly what Bill Belichick did at the close of the Ravens/Patriots game after the Ravens kicked the winning field goal to drop the Pats to a 1-2 record.

I often wonder about the coach, if he thinks he is a sacred institution to the league, who can demand everyone be accountable to him? He will probably receive a heavy fine and they should suspend him too, because the arrogance the man exhumes from deep down inside becomes obnoxious. Maybe he has no respect for the officials because they are the scapegoats for the players and coaches for poor play and coaching. Granted the league should be cancelling the games, because with the substitute officials and refs, they are putting out a sub-par product for the fans to pay for. But no matter what, if you take the field, you play by the rules, big shot coach or not.

That's all I wrote, folks!

SOMETHING TO ROOT FOR

Tomorrow night, R. A. Dickey goes for his 20^th win of the season!

In this sad and disappointing season, there is something to cheer about on the New York Mess. In spite of Wilpon and his money, there is this one little spot of happiness. The shame is that if Dickey had a decent team behind him he would have won a to more games than the 19 he already has!

Gio Gonzalez has already won 20, and Dickey should have been way ahead of him. Dickey deserves to win the Cy Young, based on the lack of team support and couple that with the fact that the Wilpons are the owners, and he should get the MVP too.

To think that the NY Mess has a true ace on their team and he has more than 25% of the wins and you wonder, what is going on with this team?

By the time you read this, the NY Jess will have played another game, this time in Miami, the place where their playoff dreams went to die last year. They have to win to maintain their credibility, or they will be facing a hole early on in the season. When all you play is 16 games, it is hard to grab a playoff spot with a few loses early on. Every loss eats into the season more profoundly: there are not a whole lot of games to catch up to. This is not baseball or hockey for that matter.

After the NY Giants initial loss to Dallas, they came right back and made a statement, the Jess need to do that too! If they Jess are 2-1 after this past Sunday in Miami, they are sitting pretty, if not, they are in need to win them all for a divisional title, and can’t afford to lose more than another game for the playoffs to be realized. This is the NFL mathematics of a 16-game schedule.

Looks like no Hockey pre-season this year, as teams have postponed parts of the pre-season schedule. How much will this affect the sport remains to be seen, but let’s face it, hockey does not garner the same numbers of fans as the NBA does in terms of TV revenue, so they need to play and have the exposure. Soccer has already past the NBA as the third best attended game in pro sports, and so hockey needs to be exposed even more so.

That's all I wrote, folks!

LET THE RUMBLINGS BEGIN

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I can understand the fans frustrations, with regards to the New York Mets and the bad baseball they are playing since the All-Star break. And now there will be a ground swell from the fans and media to replace the manager.

A couple of thoughts on the subject:

1)   Don’t blame the manager for all the troubles: there is plenty to go around the clubhouse.

2)   Collins couldn’t control the clubhouse in Houston, and left managing for a while (10 years) with that rap, but I think deserved a second chance and proved he could do it.

3)   For the months of April, May, and June he had them in the thick of things, but they were over-achieving because of the manager.

4)   Wilpon tied Alderson’s hands with the Bernie Madoff mess, and will continue to do that for a while.

5)   Don’t blame the Madoff mess for Wilpon’s troubles, this started long before that all occurred.

6)   No one can stay healthy, pitch, hit or play consistently.

7)   They can win with David Wright, but they can also lose with David Wright, no one is should be exempt from being traded.

8)   Santana and Bay were the biggest busts in baseball.

9)   The whole team stinks collectively

10) Wilpon has got to go for the Mets to win.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

THE FORTUNES OF WAR

Why is it that some teams, no matter what personnel they have can repeat the same scenario every year? Some teams are like bad habits, some seem charmed to a winning existence.

Having followed the New York Mets and New York Yankees, they each have their own way of making their fans crazy. Either crazy with bad expectations and losing like the Mets or crazy with the winning traditions the Yankees possess.

Look at the NY Giants, they seem to be like cockroaches, they have everyone after them, picked as losers and continue to win! How is that ever possible, if you look at the Super Bowl last year, look at the season they had last year, up and down, yet they are the world champions! Speaking of Super Bowls, look no further than the New England Patriots, perennial winners, year after year. The Jets are just teasers, some years they can be competitive and some years so bad you don’t watch, but NEVER a Super Bowl.

I watch hockey and I see the New York clubs, and again there is this thing that goes on. The Islanders just outright stink, year after year, while the Rangers can break your heart with winning, rarely achieving the Stanley Cup round. Teams like Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit make noise year after year and some teams you just don’t hear from at all.

By my thinking, the team’s fortunes are tied to their ownership and management. The owners that win are fans, those that lose are just businessmen, looking to make money.

Looking at some regimes that are holdovers form earlier times like the Yankees, the machinery in still in place and so they win, the Steinbrenner’s living off of the residuals of what their father built, and then there are the Wilpons, the wanna-be Yankees without a clue as how to spend their money for a winning team.

As for the New York Islanders, no team should be allowed to be that bad year after year and exists. How they draw at all is beyond me. After the 1980’s they just fell into the garbage can and should move to Kansas City or even Alaska, because they will always be second rate.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

DIRTY PLAYING AND CHEAP SHOTS

The Buffalo Bills have accused the Kansas City Chiefs of taking cheap shots during the disappointing game play by the sorriest team in the NFL! "Two plays in a row they're taking cheap shots at us" said Bills Defensive lineman Eric Wood.

"They did the same thing last year in Kansas City. You start getting a team down: you'll see their true colors. And the last two years, we're not just gonna sit back and take it. ... "Some stuff after the play, where they're trying to take a guy's arm out of the socket and twist a guy's head under the pile."

Defensive end Tamba Hall was accused as the offending party, going after Bill’s offensive tackle Cordy Glenn’s shoulder.

Then the Baltimore Raven’s Vonta Leach accused the Philadelphia Eagles of playing dirty football! “They play dirty. They take shots after the play, a lot of dirty stuff after plays. We weren’t going to back down. We weren’t going to take that.

“Anytime someone thinks they’re a bully, you got to step up or they’ll keep doing it.”

Leach squared off with Eagles safety Kurt Coleman, Ravens guard Marshal Yanda and Eagles defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins were called for offsetting personal fouls while Baltimore Ravens cornerback Cary Williams and Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson got into some fistycuffs.

This is of course not the same thing as the issue the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Bucs had on the final play of their game where the Giants expected the Bucs to kneel in prayer like a bunch of Tebows and end the game.

My point here is that the fact to the matter is a question of the players feeling lawless and willing to take cheap shots at the expense of their opponents due to the fact that the refs are inexperienced and unable to control the game, and rather than play anymore, the NFL should suspend the season or end the lockout!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

THE GENTLEMAN’S GAME

Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was noted for the end of game controversy created by Giants coach Tom Coughlan about the way the final play ended.

The final score was 41-34 in favor of the Giants, and the Giants had the ball on the final play. The Giants feel the game should have been a ho-hum kneeler to end it, but the game was still in doubt with a 7 point differential, so a fumbled snap, mishandle from center to quarterback could have led to a Tampa pick-up and score to tie the game.

The Bucs came all out, playing the last play to the hilt, looking for a miracle, hoping to tie or win with a two-point conversion after the touchdown. If I were a Tampa Bay fan, I would hope my team played that way, and as I fan of football I expect that. If the game was out of reach for Tampa Bay, then you don’t risk any injury.

What the hell was Coughlan complaining about? Why was Manning whining? You play the full game when it is reachable, you reach for the win if you can, even with a slight chance. Did Coughlan think the Bucs should have rolled over for the Giants? Would Coughlan under the same circumstances accepted the same result if the spikes were on the other foot?

That’s all I wrote, folks!

FILL-INS?

The NFL seems to want its cake and eat it too, they can’t settle with the game officials so they bring in a bunch of amateurs who don’t know the rules and seem to be creating a lot of controversy.

Missed calls, blown decisions and not interpreting the rules properly have had a negative impact on the last two weeks of play! They have hired people who had to study the NFL rules the last two months in hopes of getting up to speed, and it is not working out very well!

While this disagreement is going on, they are charging full-price for the games, while delivering an inferior product. The players are all up in arms and angry, the coaches have to be restrained form killing some of these guys, and who’s to blame?

Officiating is a very difficult thing for a person to do during a game that involves 22 men being watched, it is probably the hardest job in sports. The amount of concentration must be very high. If the people doing it are not experienced enough, they should not be out there, and the games should not be played.

This to me is like a lockout or player’s strike, when either happens, they close the stadiums, they should treat the officials with equal importance and close the stadiums. Of course this will lose a lot of revenue, but the owners greed, and insensitivity to the value of real professional officiating is destroying credibility for the NFL!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

WILPON HAS GOT TO SELL

Wilpon has got to go

He tried, it doesn’t work, and it is time to move on, put the team up for sale Fred Wilpon and Mr. Katz.

It has become the laughing stock of the Major Leagues, the team will probably lose more money this year again, and maybe more than anyone else who owns a franchise, and the fans will be leaving very quickly.

There is no hope for the next few years to rebuild this sorry crew, and I wouldn’t want to come to New York as a free agent under these circumstances. The only free agents the Mets will manage to get are players on their last legs, trying to save a career, or youngsters unproven.

Everyone has seen what happened to the Dodgers with their lousy management, they sold and now the team is flush with money to pursue free agents to make the Dodgers competitive. The Mets don’t need to spend piles of money on name players, just get decent players who hit the ball, catch and throw it and don’t get picked off a base! Let the chips fall where they may then.

The issues are simple for the Mets: they need relief pitching, a hitting catcher who can catch and an outfield that can put their bat on the ball. If they all hit .275, they have a team that can play to win, not collapse in July. No one is asking for Albert Pujols and Derek Jeters, just good solid players without egos or pretention, that love to play the game.

The handcuffs on Sandy Alderson leave marks, the marks are that he will forever have to deal with what he’s got, getting talent form within, that may or may not pay off. Meanwhile other teams will be active in the free agent market improving themselves. Wilpon has got to go!

That’s all I wrote, folks!

RUTH OR DIMAGGIO?

Bill walks into a bar with a dog. The bartender says, 'You can't bring that dog in here.'

'You don't understand,' says Bill. 'This is no regular dog, he can talk.'

'Listen, pal,' says the bartender. 'If that dog can talk, I'll give you a hundred bucks.'
Bill puts the dog on a stool, and asks him,
'What's on top of a house?'
'Roof!'

'Right. And what's on the outside of a tree?'
'Bark!'

'And who's the greatest baseball player of all time?'
'Ruth!'

'I guess you've heard enough,' says the man. 'I'll take the hundred in twenties.'

The bartender is furious, 'Listen, pal,' he says, 'get out of here before I belt you.'  As soon as they're on the street, the dog turns to Bill and says, 'Bill, do you think I should have said "DiMaggio"?'

And so, everyone has an opinion.

He's thinking: "Sanchez or Tebow?"

Watching the latest Jets/Steelers game, something is becoming obvious, the team does not fully support Sanchez, but seems to get energized by Tebow! The game was falling into a predictable pattern of 3 and out for Sanchez, when Tebow went in for a few plays, and suddenly there was an energy in the players, and a sudden reaction from the coaching staff of Pittsburg!

Are the players tanking it on Sanchez? Was it a good idea to bring in Tebow for everyone involved? Will Tebow be asking for a trade, or will the Jets bench or trade Sanchez? There was absolutely no energy against the Steelers, the talent is there, but the want and desire isn’t. I was particularly displeased by the offense, and the lack of spark. The Jets defense certainly can hold their heads high, but that offense only added to the questions surrounding this team.

Something has to give and someone has to go.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

HERE’S THE TRUTH

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Whether you love or hate the New York Yankees, one thing you must admit after all this time, the Yankees probably have the best manager in the major leagues right now.

Why do I make this claim? Let’s look at some facts.

The Yankees had a 10 game lead this year at one point in July, and now it has dissipated down to either a tie or one game lead in first place, depending on the day of the week. Like every team in the majors this season, the Yankees have had to juggle their pitching staff, and lineup, due to injuries. Granted their record is not good in August, when they lost most of the lead, but they also lost their closer, for too long, their first baseman and their third baseman for long stretches of time! Most teams would collapse at the weight of the losses the Yankees have experienced.

Yet when you watch them play, although there is frustration, there is very little of it. Having a captain like Derek Jeter lead the team, whether he is hurting or injured or not, yet goes out and sets an example day in and day out speaks for the man and the team, showing the way.

When they lose they just get ready for the next game, no anger, or finger pointing, and all this is under the cool leadership of their very capable manager. Joe Girardi is an exception to my rule that states: A manager is only as good as his team. Girardi has proven down in Miami just how good a manager can be, and just how influential he needs to be when the going gets rough.

Girardi managed the Florida Marlins to a 78–84 record and a wild-card contention even though the team had the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, then on October 3, 2006: the Marlins announced that they had fired Girardi, despite him winning Manager of the Year. Girardi said only that he appreciated the opportunity to manage the club.

He has had a consistently winning record on the Yankees, managing replacements and using smoke and mirrors to win games. The man has been questioned about many of his managerial decisions and you could make arguments about his style, but he does win, under the worst of conditions, and fans can’t be privy to all there is to know about what move was made for what reason or reasons.

I think Yankee fans should stop reading the sports pages when it comes to Girardi and just let him manage.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

PARITY IN SPORTS

MLB Commissioner

Parity, it is a funny thing! It makes a fan get up in the morning and want to root, want to have an interest in their team, and it makes him a better fan, more up to date, aware of what is out there in terms of the competition.

No longer are the teams like the Yankees or Canadians, dominating like they once did, because of payroll caps and the hard lessons that the big market teams are learning about how to man your team.

Way back in the 40’s and 50’s, a big city team like the Yankees could overwhelm an owner like one in Kansas City for a final piece in the puzzle to raise a juggernaut and overwhelm the league and win the World Series.

Yankees Brian Cashen

If you notice in the last ten years, many of the divisional races are going down to the wire, there are more races evident and more interest peaked because of the parity that now exist. This is true in all the sports, including NBA basketball and NFL football.

The only thing that can hold a team back today is bad management or ownership. The Yankees have come to realize that they can stay very relevant to a pennant race without overspending anymore, yet a small market team like the Oakland A’s can have a small budget relative to the rest of the league and stay competitive, while the New York Mets, with a big budget and bad ownership loses every year.

But sports are becoming more interesting every year now, the fan never knows if his team will win or not, be champions or chumps from year to year.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

GOODELL OF AN IDEA

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NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell recently mentioned the idea of cutting the pre-season to 2 games a year and going to a 16 or 18 game regular season schedule. The fans are not on favor of the long pre-season, and season ticket holders don’t like paying for it either, since they have no interest in the pre-season, because the games don’t count.

Goodell also feels they don’t need all those pre-season games to get a team ready.

Never have I enjoyed watching a pre-season game, especially in its entirety, feeling that it has no bearing on anything and is just a waste of time, that doesn’t help the team.  Why, because your offense won’t reveal anything to your opponents defense and vice-versa.

I have an idea that I think would make a lot of sense for pre-season. Instead of a team playing another team in pre-season, they send only a defense or offense to scrimmage! The New York Giants could sent their defense to scrimmage against a New England patriot offense, while the New York Giants Offense can scrimmage against a Cleveland defense, all in one day!

This practice could enable both sides of the ball more concentration and depth of practice, no game being played and yet getting the benefit to perfecting the teams.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

A FEW SURPRISES THIS YEAR

If you look at the predictions for this year and mine included, it seems like everyone was wrong in a few cases. One surprise was the Oakland A’s and the master-mind: Billy Beane!

Here is a team with a $55 million budget and it is right up there with a $154 million Los Angeles Angel budget. It proves one thing folks, that I am right about inflated contracts and the crazy contracts that don’t need to be.

Baseball is all about desire, talent and how you play the game, not money. When the owners learn this, they will all make more money and on the players terms. No owner has to pay multi-millions to keep players. When the free agent market no longer exists, then the player will be playing for a fair salary and the loyalty of the fans. Billy Beane sits as one of the smarter general managers in the game, and has proven time and time again my beliefs.

Beane did it by trading, understanding talent and doing his homework, the hard way, the most efficient. Today’s owners, especially in the large markets are lazy and think you can just throw money out there and the World Series is yours. Just contrast Miami to Oakland.

There are few players of any notoriety on Oakland, who have made a big splash, has big numbers up or are household names, yet they are doing what they do because they are out to prove team and pride come first.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

CAN THE METS AFFORD DAVID WRIGHT?

The guy is not going to come cheap. Many teams in baseball covet him, and I would think it would make sense for even the Yankees to want him but they would never sign him. Not even if there was no penalty for going over the money limit. A-Rod is one of my prime examples of large long-term contracts, and why you don’t do it.

David Wright is the face of not only the New York Mets, but baseball. He has the all-American good - looking boy, great moral character and says and does all the right things. More importantly, he can hit, hit with power, is smart on the base paths and can field his position.

Mets fans love David Wright, and David Wright loves New York.

Can the team sign him? That is the question. Sandy Alderson is a baseball person. He looks at the bottom line and the bottom line only. He was put in position by the Wilpons to execute their orders, there are no loyalties and no sense of rivalry with the cross town rivals, the New York Yankees. I’m sorry but that is a fact.

“I’m extremely optimistic,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed it here … There’s not a single complaint that I have,” Wright said. “(The Mets) drafted me as a kid. They developed me. They’ve given me an opportunity to make a living playing a game. There’s a tremendous amount of mutual respect. They’ve gone above and beyond.”

But can the team sign him? The Mets lost $23 Million this year so far. They have collapsed and they have failed to resign another favorite, Jose Reyes. Alderson is the GM while all this happens, and you get the picture. There is a real danger of losing the best third baseman the Mets ever had! They already lost the best short stop the Mets ever had.

If the Mets do not sign Wright, next year and for years to come: Citifield will be like Shea Stadium, Grant’s Tomb. The fans out of anger will stop coming to the ballpark and the team might not recover in Wilpon’s lifetime.

But you can’t deny the writing on the wall, Alderson has ti do what he is told, he has a limit as to what he can afford and that is it. My hope is that with Jason Bay’s contract coming to a close that money will enable the Mets to re-sign Wright.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

DO THE YANKEES HAVE THE PITCHING?

Every one in baseball looks to the New York Yankees when it comes to the prototype team, the one everyone wants to emulate and/or make a comparison to. The Yankee deserve that reputation and winning IS everything.

The sign of a good team is bouncing back, the sign of a great team is roaring back, and I think the Yankees will do just that.

Let’s face it; way back when Joe Girardi was managing the Marlins, he did such a great job everyone was clamoring for him to be chosen as Manager of the Year! He is still the same Joe Girardi, maybe even a little better. I don’t think his team will fold and go away.

Derek Jeter continues to play like a great player he is, maybe a little greyer, but still the same. When you look in h9is face you see the determination in performing and the disappointment when he is losing. He is a player’s player.

Robinson Cano is becoming a Derek Jeter, and that is the highest compliment you can give to a player.  He is a very good fielder when healthy and a damned good hitter, that middle of the diamond is secure.

For the rest of them, and this includes A-Rod, I can take them or leave them, some hit for power but no average, some hit and can’t field. The Yankee pitching is non-existent, and the relief never showed up. What keeps the Yankees alive is their ballpark and the fact that they will bludgeon you to death withy homeruns.

Somehow, with the leadership of Girardi and Jeter, and the skills of Cano, they will get to the playoffs one way or another.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

WHO"S SUPER?

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STILL SUPER?

Can the New York Giants repeat? Probably not, the stars were aligned properly last season, everything seemed to fall into place, and if they do, then they have the greatest quarterback ever to play the game. I don't think the team itself is all that super, but the coach may make a difference.

A lot of people are thinking the Jets have no offense. They don't if you count the offensive line, but they will score and I think they will be in the thick of things if they can decide how to use Sanchez/Tebow. To assume they are bad is silly, this is a team that is well coached and has added to new things to the repertoire. The whole Sanchez/Tebow thing is a diversion from the cross-town rivals the Super Bowl Champions, the Giants. I don’t see Tebow really doing much if anything, unless Sanchez goes down or just doesn’t take off.

I look with interest at the New Orleans Saints this season. One would think with all the commotion from the fallout of the NFL suspensions and investigations, that they may not operate on a full head of steam, and may or may not make the playoffs. 

Tom Coughlin of the Giants is secure this season and next, then in 2014 his contract runs out and he is 66 years old. Andy Reid seems to be feeling the heat if the Philadelphia Eagles don’t win and get into the playoffs at least, and look for America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys Jason Garrett coaching career being in mortal danger if they don’t get to the playoffs.

Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos look to be much improved at quarterback. I wonder if they are? I see an old man running the offense, one who was away all of last season. Will he still have the zip, and agility he will need? He has the savvy to do it. It would be a great Super Bowl Giants/Broncos, but it won’t happen.

That’s all I wrote, folks!

DOES BOBBY V DESERVE ANOTHER YEAR?

If you assess the season so far, there are a lot of disappointments that have come out of the 2012 season. For instance, the Chicago Cubs hired a general manager from Boston who had a great track record in Bean Town, and expectations were high in Chicago, but look at the standings and the Hub is down. Theo Epstein must have known something that he bailed when the Red Sox are going down the tubes!

Terry Francona had a perfectly good team, then suddenly come the month of September in 2011, and the team begins its descent into bad, that continues to this day. What happened?

 

Meanwhile the Red Sox made what a lot of people felt was a brilliant move, in hiring Bobby Valentine, a proven manager with a decent record, but nowhere near great.

In 16 seasons of managing professional baseball in America, he never finished higher than 2^nd, won only one pennant, and that was as a wild card that took him to a World Series in which he lost in 5 games.

To complicate his status in a tough baseball town, he alienated his players to the point of almost open rebellion and it all played out in the media, where Bobby holds very little respect.

Granted there was dissention in the clubhouse in Boston, and that may still be lingering, before Valentine came to town, so you can’t hold that part against him. He is not the most favored with umpires and certainly will come out and argue for his guys and of course for himself.

 

They have had an awful road trip recently and there seems to be no hope. Should he go? In my opinion, he should go, not because of the Red Sox troubles, but because he is not a great manager. Let’s face it, for 16 years he has never won anything, never a manager of the year and had only two 90+ winning seasons, both with the Mets, so why would anyone think after 16 years he is capable of winning? Maybe being the son-in-law of Ralph Branca gives him some currency with baseball people.

That’s all I wrote, folks!