Armed and Ready

The Yankees are going to wear a black armband during the season to honor the memory of Cory Lidle. Lidle was killed when his small two seater plane crashed into a building in NYC last fall. It has never been determined whether Lidle himself was piloting the plane at the time of the crash. The Yankees have worn armbands in the past to honor past Yankee greats who have died. Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio come to mind. The only other person who was active at the time of their death was Thurman Munson, and the Yankees did wear the armbands to honor him as well. In fact that was the first time I remember any team doing something like that.

Now this is probably going to sound a bit callous, but Cory Lidle??? He was basically thrown in with Bobby Abreu when the Yankees made a trade with the Phillies. Cashman made some pronouncement about the fact that he wouldn't have made the trade if Lidle wasn't included, but I'm sure they would have found another pitcher to fit the bill if Lidle had been unavailable. Cory Lidle was about to become a free agent and while I'm not privy to the inner workings of the New York Yankees, I'm pretty sure that he would have been allowed to explore his options. He was unimpressive in his time with the Yankees and I would have been shocked if he was brought back again this season. And now he is being honored in the same way that Mantle, DiMaggio and Munson were. Does that seem right? Why don't they just give him a plaque in monument park as well?

Once again, I'm sure this isn't the most popular of opinions. Lidle did die while he was still officially a member of the Yankees, so I guess that requires them to make some gesture to acknowledge his passing. I just think that a moment of silence on opening day would have been more than enough. Hank Bauer died recently. He was a WWII hero and member of seven World Series winning teams. Are the Yankees going to honor his memory by wearing armbands? No. Are they even going to have a moment of silence on opening day for him? I don't know. But if we use Cory Lidle as the benchmark, then perhaps Yankee stadium should be renamed in his honor.

Sorry about the rant today. I guess the cold is getting to me.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Yesterday Mariano Rivera was speculating about his future with the NY Yankees. He is currently in the final year of a three year contract that pays him approximately $10 million a year. I'm paraphrasing here but what he basically said was that if the Yankees don't show him the proper respect, then he was going to have to pack up his bags and move on. He went on to say that the Yankees have always shown him the proper respect in the past and that he was sure they would deal with him fairly.

This is one of the things that annoys me most about athletes. They like to use code words for MONEY. It's a fairly simple thing to say that if I don't get enough money then I'll have to go somewhere else. I guess athletes think that by using the code word "respect", the fans will be too stupid to know what they really mean. I remember when Mike Hampton signed the biggest deal ever given to a pitcher with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies basically doubled the offer from the nearest competitor for Hampton's services. Everyone in baseball knew that Colorado was a graveyard for pitchers and especially for breaking ball pitchers. Hampton was not a classic curveball pitcher, but he wasn't exactly a power pitcher either. I knew he was going for the money, he knew he was going for the money, the American people knew he was going for the money. So what did he say in his press conference announcing the deal? He talked about how he and wife had decided on Colorado because of the school system. The public school system???!!!??!!? You just signed a deal for $90 million and you are trying to tell me that the reason you chose to go to Colorado was because of the public school system?

Why won't athletes just say that they chose to sign a deal because the team offered them the most money? It's not a crime. I'm sure most people make decisions on their next job based on money. The public won't hate you for admitting it. In fact it makes you look foolish when you come up with ridiculous reasons other than money. Tomorrow when you go to work, why don't you try throwing around the word respect and see how far it gets you. Say something like, "When my review comes in, I better get the proper respect or else I might just have to start looking elsewhere". See how far that gets you. It might even work if they happen to like you. Perhaps they'll give you a better office or more assistants. Of course what you really wanted was more money, but respect in the real world, just mean respect. In the world of the athlete it means cold, hard cash.

Mariano is probably my favorite player on the Yankees. He's been spectacular for the past 11 seasons. He's been so good in fact that I never really blamed him for blowing the series against the Indians in '97 or the World Series in '01. He's done his job and has seldom had anything but positive things to say in the press. Perhaps he's getting cantankerous in his old age. I don't know, but hopefully the Yankees show him the proper respect in contract negotiations. I would hate to have him end his career somewhere else. But seriously Mariano, if you want more money, just say that. Trust me. No one is going to hold that against you. You are arguably the greatest closer of all time. But if you start using stupid sports cliches, I am going to hold that against you.

Turn The Page

It's time to put the silliness that is the NFL season behind us and look forward to the glorious time that is the major league baseball season. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training next week and I'm sure I speak for 20% of the people when I say that it's about time. The baseball off-season is fun for about a minute and during the depths of winter, the new season seems further away than ever. But just when I'm about to be overcome by the despair and gloom of cold weather and long nights, spring training appears on the horizon to save the day.

I don't think that I need to remind everyone of my Superbowl pick (I was wrong. There, I said it, are you happy now, Paul?), but I will freely admit that football is not my forte. In fact it is nothing more than a mildly amusing distraction during the long harsh months of the baseball off season. I congratulate the Colts and Peyton Manning for winning it all. Perhaps now the sports writers can get off his back about never winning "the big one". Peyton can now make the same transition that Elway did. No one ever talks about how many he lost, just the one's that he won.

Also there is thankfully one more distraction to carry me through until the baseball season starts and that is college basketball. This week features the best rivalry in all of college basketball. The young, talented Tar Heels are taking on the evil Duke Blue Devils in Durham. I can't say that I'm an impartial observer of this game since I went to UNC in what seems like the 1940's at this point. Duke has had the better of this match-up since about the mid 90's and I think it's about time for the Tar Heels to turn the tables on the demons from Durham. A season sweep would be a nice place to start. UNC certainly has the better team, but conference rivalry games aren't necessarily won by the better team (e.g. UNC losing to NC State last weekend). I'll be watching closely tomorrow night and with any luck I'll be having a celebratory drink after the game is over. Regardless of the outcome the fortunes of the Tar Heels will keep me entertained right up until the baseball season starts. It's like they planned March Madness just for me.

It's a little too early for me to make predictions about the upcoming season but I will say this, it's going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait for Matsuzaka's first appearance at Yankee Stadium. I'm looking forward to watching major milestones being achieved (Multiple hitters going for 500 HR's, Glavine and Randy Johnson heading toward 300 wins. However, I refuse to acknowledge the sideshow that is Barry Bonds.). The pennant races should be just as exciting as ever and it will be warm enough to sit in the stands and actually enjoy the weather outside.

Spring may be weeks away, but spring training is right around the corner and that's good enough for me.

Chips and Dip

I guess I have to post a Superbowl prediction. As you have all been able to tell from my incredibly off target picks during the season, I'm not much a football prognosticator. The odds favor the Colts. There are the great story lines of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison finally reaching the big game. The Bears probably have more fans around the country than almost any other team and they carry the label of underdogs very well, even though they finished as the #1 seed in the NFC.

The big question is going to be whether Rex Grossman comes out and stinks up the joint. He had four games this season with a QB rating of under 20. I think he was under 10 in a couple of them. He can be downright terrible. His job should be to try and not lose the game. That's it. He doesn't have to win it, just try not to lose it. If he can manage that, the Bears actually have a pretty good shot to win the game.

My head says that the Colts should win. They have better players at the skilled positions and Peyton is dying to get rid of that "can't win the big one" label. So of course I'm picking the Bears to win and for Rex Grossman to be the MVP of the game. After all, this is opposite year. If the Cardinals can win the World Series with a barely .500 record during the season, then why can't Rex Grossman and the Bears win the Super Bowl? The prediction: Bears 24 - Colts 16. Don't ask me how Indy gets to 16 because I don't' know. That's just my pick. There is some history in the Bears favor. Everytime the best offensive team in football has gone up against the best defensive team (in terms of yardage gained and allowed), the best defense has won every time. I believe it has happened four times in NFL history. So this will be the fifth such game.

Enjoy those Superbowl parties people. I'll be back on Monday to review just how wrong I was.