A lot to catch up on, so let’s get right to it…
I don’t want to waste time by examining each comment Mark McGwire has made in the past week. The one thing that has irked me, though, was his apology to the Maris family. McGwire claims he only used steroids to help heal from injuries and that they did not assist him in hitting home runs. If that was really the case (.0001 percent chance it was), why would he feel the need to apologize to the Maris family? I wonder if McGwire even realizes that everyone outside of Tony LaRussa thinks he is full of you-know-what.
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The fact the Yankees would actually consider starting Brett Gardner everyday in the outfield because they won’t pay Johnny Damon $8-10 million dollars in 2010 is laughable. Why all the sudden are they penny-pinching? Not enough $1,500.00 seats sold? Based on their production, Damon at $10 million a season is still a better deal than Gardner at the minimum. I do believe all the egos involved (Damon, Scott Boras and Brian Cashman) will eventually work something out, but this process has been excruciatingly annoying.
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For a franchise that has endured a lot of bad luck over the years, the Jets have had a lifetime’s worth of good fortune in the last month. From the Colts pulling their starters in Week 15, the gag job by the Bengals in Week 17 and Wild Card weekend, opposing kickers going 0-for-5 in the first two weeks of the playoffs to Norv Turner’s boneheaded decision to go for an onside kick Sunday, everything has gone the Jets way. I wouldn’t bet on Peyton Manning being as sloppy as Carson Palmer and Phillip Rivers were, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Jets find themselves in Miami in two weeks.
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Sadly, Jack Bauer swung that ax better on Sunday night than Nick Swisher swung the bat in the postseason.
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If I’m a Met and I suffer any type of injury, I’m avoiding their medical staff and heading right to the area walk-in clinic.
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Have you ever seen a story that exemplifies good and bad all wrapped up into one like the UConn women? Yes, their winning streak of 57 games is an incredible feat, but at the same time, the competition from the country’s best teams (Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke) has been, to be kind, atrocious. I don’t know about you, but games that regularly end with 80-40 scores don’t interest me. Sorry.
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Usually a fan base whose team acquires a pitcher who was fourth in the CY Young voting to be their fourth starter would be thrilled to death. However, I’m not sensing too much excitement from Yankee fans over the Javier Vazquez trade. Personally, I still have visions of the grand slam he gave up to Johnny Damon in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, but considering what they gave up in Melky Cabrera, in other words nothing, it was a move that had to be made.
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As a regular viewer of Conan O’Brien since 1996, it’s very disappointing, albeit no surprise, to see how poorly NBC has handled this foolish controversy between him and Jay Leno. Think back to 1996. NBC had the monster Friends/Seinfeld/ER combination on Thursday nights, late night ratings through the roof, the NBA with Michael Jordan and the Bulls in their heyday and the NFL. Now, I can’t remember the last time I watched this network in prime time and trust me, I watch a disturbing amount of television. It’s been a sad, and somewhat shocking, demise for this once great network.
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If you’re a fan of the New York Football Giants, the Cowboys’ win over the Eagles in round one turned out to be great news. Because of that victory, Jerry Jones has decided to retain Wade Phillips instead of pursing a new coach, most notably Bill Cowher. Dallas has arguably the most talent of any team in the NFC, but as long as this current group of leadership is in place, they are not making the Super Bowl any time soon.
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A few cheap plugs for the road:
I will be attending Spring Training in Tampa during the first weekend in March for games between the Yankees, Tampa Bay and Toronto. I’ll have blogs and photos up from those games.
Follow the great Joe Palladino on Twitter. As far as the rumors swirling around that Mark Jaffee is about to start a Twitter account, all I can say is I’m working on it.
Finally, if you’re in the Torrington area, be sure to listen to the Litchfield County Sports Show starring the great Tim Gaffney and myself on Monday nights from 5:30-6 p.m on WAPJ (88.9 and 105.1 FM). For those unable to pick up that signal or if you missed a show, past airings can be listened to here. Last night’s show will be up shortly.
Thanks for checking in, we’ll talk along the way.
