With Bernie Williams seemingly out of the picture, the New York Yankees continue to lack any righthanded pop off their bench.  Andy Phillips and Josh Phelps have proven they can't even be useful utility players and it's looking more and more as if Doug Mientkiewicz will be the regular starting firstbaseman.  It really is odd to not have Bernie at least on the bench, given the sad state of the Yankees bench, which doesn't even have a solid backup catcher, Mike Piazza would've been nice.  But with "backup catcher," Miguel Cairo and "other firstbaseman," the Yankees had better pray they don't have any major injuries like they did last season with Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui.

On the pitching front the Yankees still look solid with their top three.  However my only gripe is that the brilliant pitching of Jeff Karstens this spring will go for naught.  The Yankees in a panic move once again with Boston, felt they had to jump and sign Kei Igawa for an insane amount of money.  Proof that once again they never give their farmhands a shot until unless out of necessity.  In 1995 Jimmy Key went down with an injured rotator cuff and Andy Pettitte was slotted into the rotation.  Back in 1996 they almost dealt Mariano Rivera to Seattle for Felix Fermin because they weren't confident Derek Jeter could be the everyday shortstop.  Mariano Rivera became one of the Yankees top relievers and eventual closer because they'd tried and failed with everyone else in the 1995 playoffs.  Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano emerged in 2005 after great spring training's and injury and ineffectiveness of Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano and Tony Womack.  In addition because of injuries last season and after a great spring showing, Melky Cabrera also came into his own.  So while all the attention may be focused on Phil Hughes, it may well be Karstens who will come up into the rotation and save the Yankees bacon in late May or early June.

Every year it seems just like clockwork that there will be the inevetible 1st round upset in the following matchups (4-13, 5-12 and 7-10).  None of which occured this year, which means one of two things, the selection committee was dead on with the higher seeds or dead wrong with their picks for the lower seeds.  I tend to favor the latter.  Of the last remaining at-large bubble teams selected, only Illinois put up much of a fight. 

If you're a Syracuse fan, such as myself, how delighted were you to see Villanova, Marquette, and especially Arkansas, Stanford, Old Dominion and Illinois all go down?  And if you're not a 'Cuse fan, tell me that Drexel, Kansas State, Air Force, Florida State and West Virginia  wouldn't have fared drastically better than those bubble teams knocked off in the 1st round?

If you ask me, there's gotta be a better, more exciting way to have bubble teams play into the tournament.  The current system is flawed anyhow, seeing as two teams that recieved automatic bids by virtue of winning their conference tournament, with the loser going away with the feeling of having never been in the NCAA tournament to begin with.  Obviously one can't have two potential powerhouse at-large teams competing for the 16 seed, that would be unfair to those teams who earned a 1 seed. 

Thus my proposal is this, assuming the 11/12 seeds are all the last of the at-large bubble teams to be selected to the tournament, this year's being Stanford, ODU, Illinois and Arkansas, have those teams play other bubble teams in order to get into the NCAA tournament.  One could even make the case that there could be play in games for the 8/9 seeds thus giving the number 1 seed an easier matchup in the 2nd round.  By doing this, one would expand the field to 71, with 4 play-in games, which would be played on either the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday before the tournament.  This would breed more excitement than disapointment and would be quite a juicy appetizer to the tournament.  Imagine Syracuse playing Arkansas, Drexel playing Illinois, Florida State playing Stanford and Air Force playing ODU for the right to get into the actual field of 64.  Of course one does also have to factor in that a certain number of automatic bids are already in, so in addition to expanding the field to 71, one of three things could happen. The play-in between the two automatics from weaker conferences to determine who faces the 1 seed could still be in effect, thus expanding the field to 73.  Secondly that play-in game could be done away with and the weakest of the automatic teams remaining could be put into a play-in game with one of the at-large teams in the 4 play-in games in the field of 71.  The final option would be to put a team from a larger conference such as New Mexico State or George Washington, who had to essentially run the table in their conference tournament to get in, to be put into the one of the 4 play-in games with the other at-large teams in the field of 71.  After some of this year's selections and snubs alike, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea.

Gary Sheffield, the ex-Yankees slugger has never been one to shy away from voicing his opinion during his career, and his prediction of Alex Rodriguez having a big season sounds like as solid a prediction as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

There are many factors which may lend to A-Rod having his best season yet as a Bronx Bomber.  For one thing, he's come into camp slimmed down by at least 12 pounds.  This should allow A-Rod to be more flexible and have better plate coverage overall.  Along with that, A-Rod also shed some mental weight by airing out his strained off the field relationship with Derek Jeter. 

A-Rod is also in his option year and is it just me or do almost all players have their best or career year in their walk year?  It's not being cynical or a knock on A-Rod, it's just a fact, the extra motivation of dollar signs is there.  Heck look at Carl Pavano in his walk year of 2004 with the Florida Marlins, the guy won 18 games.  In addition, the last two odd seasons of 2003 and 2005, both MVP seasons I might add, A-Rod hit nearly 50 homeruns each year leading the American Leageu and his slugging percentage topped .600.  Might I also add that the Yankees this July make a jaunt to Coors Field, which should no doubt add to A-Rod's statistical output.

Spring Training has barely started and one has to wonder is all the hype surrounding Yankees camp really valid or is it a case of a press corps yearning for or wishing they were covering the old 'Bronx Zoo' of the 1970's just hoping to gin up any kind of controversy possible?  Oddly enough the ring leader of that circus George Steinbrenner, has been the most quiet and out of sight figure of them all. 

Excuse me but wasn't there supposed to be more stability with this ballclub after GM Brian Cashman wrestled away the reigns from the Tampa contingent?  Anyhow here's the Spring Training breakdown and no this breakdown doesn't  involve shavers or tattoos.

Brian Cashman: From sympathetic figure to cold-hearted and calculating?  Not necessarily a bad thing when one considers how he's managed to trim the payroll, re-stock the farm system and acquire more young pitching prospects for the future or as trading chips.  Cashman has also rid the team of percieved malcontents in Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright, while bringing in character guys like Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettitte.  Cashman does have a lot to explain for and do as well, such as why Bernie Williams has yet to be re-signed, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada have yet to be given contract extensions, Kei Igawa was given a pantload of money for never having touched a MLB baseball until last fall, Carl Pavano is still on this team, they plan to carry a platoon of no-hit firstbasemen, Phil Hughes isn't in the rotation and why wasn't Mel Stottlemyre invited to Spring Training to be a special pitching instructor?

Joe Torre: He's still the manager until Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi or Buck Showalter is.  Nobody questions Torre's ability to win and handle the pressure of New York and one assumes he still comands respect in the clubhouse, especially when backed up by the leaders from the dynasty teams in Derek Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte.  There's no question that given the Yankees poor pitching in 2005 and slew of injuries in 2006 that Torre was the one who was able to keep the team together, to handle and massage the egos while acting as a buffer between the media and Tampa.  However since after the 2003 season when Don Zimmer left, it's fair to question in the post-season if Torre has lost a little off the strategical fastball.  Though aside from Showalter, Torre's ability to give the Yankees organization stability has been un-matched since the days of Casey Stengel.

Bernie Williams: Except for the fact that he has created no leverage for himself and as much as I'd love to see him in camp and on the team, I really can't blame Bernie for telling the Yankees to shove it.  At least Don Mattingly was pushed out by Tino Martinez, but are you gonna tell me that the Yankees are seriously pushing out Williams for Doug Mientkiewicz and either Andy Phillips or Josh Phelps?  Why that would be like replacing Paul O'Neill in rightfield with a platoon of Shane Spencer and John Vanderwal and trading for a moody overpriced Raul Mondesi to replace them... oh wait they already did do that, whoops.

A-Rod and Jeet: Oh heavens there's no more sleepovers?  Who did all of you guys in the media think they were exactly Bert and Ernie?  They aren't openly trashing eachother and as long as they both produce, just leave it alone.

Mariano Rivera: Still no contract extension.  Kind of like the Boston Red Sox still have no closer.  It's incredible how Mo never says a peep, pitches through injury, gets worn out by Torre when the Yankees have a taxed bullpen and the Yankees won't budge on giving him an extension.  Tell me how it is that Mo was the tenth highest paid Yankee last season and now that he's asking for an extension the Yankees won't guarantee loyalty back?  Mo isn't worth more than Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi?  Not worth more than an un-proven Igawa?  Don't tell me he's too old or has a tender elbow because that didn't stop you from paying gobs of money to Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth and Steve Karsay.  Ask yourself if Mo is worth $50 million over the next two years as you reach into your endless pockets to pay 45 year old Roger Clemens to pitch three months of five inning baseball for half of that this season. 

Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina: So already Pavano says he has heavy legs after running sprints huh?  Well perhaps if Pavano put down the gun and ski mask he wears everytime he picks up a paycheck from the Yankees, it would significantly help his cause.  Who could blame Mussina or anyone for blasting this guy? 

Phil Hughes: I've said it before and will say it again, Phil Hughes should be the Yankees 4th or 5th starter this season.  Tell me right now as of this moment who is better suited than Hughes to slide into one of those two rotation spots?  It seems to me that the Yankees never want to give "their guys" a shot, though recent history would prove them wrong on Hughes.  In 1996 rookie Derek Jeter took over for the injured and horrible signing of Tony Fernandez.  In 2005 Robinson Cano took over for another terrible signing in Tony Womack and in that same season Chien Ming Wang stepped in for injured and putrid signings Pavano and Wright.  And in 2006 Melky Cabrera stepped in and probably made the Yankees wish they hadn't overspent on Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon.  Thus when one looks to the 2007 season, Phil Hughes could be the star and saviour of this team far before anyone thinks.

Remember shortly after September 11, 2001 how then Commish Paul Tagliabue pledged the NFL would have a Super Bowl in either New York or Washington by at least 2006?  Well it's a good thing they didn't hold up their end of the bargain, otherwise they may have played a game in awful conditions, with a potential for a downpour of rain for the entire game, you know like they just did in sunny Miami. 

Sure it was sloppy at times but the other half of that was just Rex Grossman being Rex Grossman.  I can assure you that many Northerners got a kick out of seeing the Super Bowl played in these conditions in a warm weather venue.

Which begs the question, why can't the NFL play its Super Bowl in a Northern city say once every five years or so in a rotation?  If they could play a game in this stuff, certainly they could play a championship game in as bad or worse conditions.  They play AFC and NFC championship games in the cold, the majority of the season in the cold so why not the Super Bowl?  Or why not have the Super Bowl at the site of the team with the best record or alternate like baseball used to do by league every year? 

This is afterall the league that had one of its most famous NFL Championship games called "The Ice Bowl" at Lambeau Field between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, so am I missing something here or what?