In 1997 I had just turned 15 years old, and like any kid with a passion for the game of baseball I thought I knew enough.  Not everything, just enough.  Like any walk of life you find out that when you get older you grow wiser and I found out I was just a kid with a lot of heart - but I didn't know enough.  Otherwise I would have given this baseball manager the benefit of the doubt when he was fired that very same year. 

11 years rolled by and not a single team lined up to hire a two-time World Series championship coach.  He wasn't first on anyone's list.  However, teams lined up to hire never-will-be's like Davey Lopez, Phil Garner, Gene Lamont or Don Baylor.  I could have put together a list of coaches who's records were better than the names mentioned above and they still would not have the resume this man had/has.  Aside from current coaches like Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Terry Francona, not one has as many or more championships as this man.  Not Lou Pinella, not Jim Leyland and not Bobby Cox.  In fact, this guy was this year's desperate hire to save the General Manager's job and it looks like he has done just that.

That man is Cito Gaston, the first - and only - black manager to win a World Series.  Not that race even matters in this case because winning a championship is a difficult task.  Ask Cox or Mike Hargrove.

Cito Gaston was not only a sentimental choice in Toronto but a man who's track record deserved more than just minor consideration for a Manager's job.  Granted, he was holding out for the right position and when you do that it cuts your possibilities down, but how does he get passed over?  How does Cleveland not hire him after Hargrove?  What about Seattle after Pinella left?  Boston after Jimy Williams?  The Dodgers after, well, anyone?  Marquee places where Gaston wouldn't be given a fair shake.  The closest he got was the White Sox who hired Ozzie Guillen, who won a World Series himself.  If that title was Cito's we'd be talking about a potential Hall of Fame manager along with about 10 shame-on-you articles from Fox and ESPN asking how he didn't get his shot sooner.     

His hiring was out of desperation from a General Manager who's held his position 2 years too long and knew the city of Toronto would love him for it.  J.P. Ricciardi has saved his job for another year, and if Toronto somehow (and I mean, SOMEHOW) makes the post-season in 2009, Ricciardi will keep his job for another 2 years and will continue to poorly assess talent and damage the farm system.

Take Adam Lind for example; Cito not only wanted him up with the big club, he promised he would play.  Lind has responded since going 1 for a million in his first stint this season.  This is a guy who's a 2-time minor league player of the year and the best prospect in the Blue Jays system for years.  While he was tearing up the leagues, J.P. refused to bring him up (the last time a guy under 23 has stuck with Toronto was Alex Gonzalez - well before the Riccardi regime.  Imagine how he would have held back A-Rod or Pujols if he had them).  He didn't feel Lind was ready, otherwise he would have said bye to Matt Stairs in the off-season and not sign Shannon Stewart after cutting the hard-nosed Reed Johnson due to being over-budget.  Cito wanted Lind, and he has been the MVP of the Blue Jays over the last 3 months. Not bad considering the GM wanted him to linger in the minors this season.  He hit .273 in the second half last season - he was ready this year and many people in Toronto knew it.

Not a bad call by Cito considering his one knock over a decade ago was how he handled the younger players.  Perhaps he could be guilty of loyalty to his veterans like Joe Carter, a Jays icon who only hit one of the biggest homerun in baseball history.  Cito was a players manager who was very loyal to his guys.  We've seen numerous managers do the same thing with little success.  But I bet those managers don't have fans purchasing their replica jersey the way Toronto has with Gaston.  Already I have see 4 Gaston jerseys being worn around town.  That is how much the city loves Cito.

Although he won't win the Manager of the year award, he has taken overrated talent (which means lack of talent) and has gotten the most out of it.  He's had his #2 and #3 pitchers out (Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan - Marcum has returned), his starting second baseman (Aaron Hill) and his star Centerfielder out (Vernon Wells - returned last week).  Yet the team now sits 1 game behind the New York Yankees, who have much more talent than Toronto.  The award should go to either Joe Maddon of Tampa or Mike Scoscia of L.A., but the job Cito has done with this team has been outstanding. 

It should be noted that neither 1992 or 1993 World Series was a lock for Toronto and nobody should look at those years and think any less of the job Cito did.  He won 4 division titles in 5 years and the two years they did not get to the World Series (1989 and 1991) they may not have been the most talented team in the old AL East.  Cito should be remembered at the manager who was ahead of his team, and got the job done when several other managers who've had a lot of talent could not close the deal.  It is a constant reminder that no sport, let alone baseball, should ever pass over a proven winner and 2-time champion the way teams in Major League Baseball passed over Cito Gaston - especially being replaced by a con artist in Tim Johnson.

And I apologize for wanting him out as Manager in the first place.  I guess 15 year olds don't know better. 

The easy part about the Beijing Olympics is that if you live on the east coast you know the games are exactly 12 hours ahead in time.  That means the television is on live coverage of the Olympics as we speak and it sure beats the hell out of watching reruns of Melrose Place.  Although seeing a young Heather Locklear is great, the Olympics are more fresh.

I'd like to congratulate Canada on their fine showing thus far.  If we really are America's dandruff then someone toss us some Zest fully clean (not sure if you guys know Pert Plus so I used Zest instead).

Now on with the blog...

- A rare hockey spot to start; in my city the hockey fans are amped up over the possibility of Brian Burke becoming the GM of the franchise.  Known as a genius, Burke truly is not.  He has simply taken credit for teams he never put together and has portrayed the arrogance of a legend before he could build himself as a legend.  Though he finds the time to rip other General Managers in the league he simply hasn't understood that he's not as big as he thinks he is.  Toronto Maple Leaf fans will find that out quickly and will want him shipped out of town.  I'll save you guys the trouble by telling you to hold out for hope that they don't overpay for the gravy-training GM who's bark is much bigger than his bite.

- Don't buy into the new headline involving Brett Favre; this is all head games.  He probably feels tired after the first few days of practice but don't buy into "arm fatigue".  Last year he was throwin 90+ MPH bullets to his receivers.  This is just a way for people to doubt him going into the season, only for him to emerge a hero.  There is no arm fatigue, just head games with the rest of the league.  He's back, his arm is back and this is classic Brett Favre setting himself up to be the feel-good hero for mankind.

- I haven't yet seen the US Olympics team's basketball highlights from their last game against Angola but if they can't blow them out by 40 and if Dwight Howard is jawing with any Angola player then there is a problem.  Any game against Angola should be a friendly ####-kicking.  Canada's lack of medals thinks that is poor.

- What Michael Phelps is doing is nothing short of remarkable and if you are a sports history buff you may want to take notice and start watching his incredible display in the pool.

- If people think the New York Yankees need to pack it in I have news for you: Tampa Bay is reeling.  Losing Carl Crawford for the rest of the season is a killer.  Add Evan Longoria into the mix and you have 2 of their 3 best players out of the lineup.  The spread may say 8.5 games but bigger leads have been blown this late in the season.  Then again, Detroit is only 9.5 games out and they seem to have packed it in.

- Dear St. Louis Rams: Steven Jackson is your best player.  SIGN HIM.

- With all the condoms being distributed among the athletes you can bet that all the athletes you have found hot on TV is getting some. 

I can't top that last point so why try?  Let's call it a night...

 

If you are a big fan of the Olympics and you can't wait to watch the events that unfold over the next 2 weeks I commend you.  It seems every time the Olympics come around I become less interested.  It takes a bunch of millionaire basketball players to make me pay attention to basketball.  Meanwhile, athletes who've had to sacrifice themselves over years of training for this very day, who don't have luxury cars or houses or jacuzzi's, don't draw as much interest.  That seems unfair but that is reality.

Let's walk around the leagues...

- FINALLY!  Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers have parted ways.  Here are a few thoughts about that whole situation:

*The Green Bay Packers may have moved on, promised Aaron Rodgers a starting role and felt like they had to eliminate what could have been a cancer on the team, but if they were a QB choke-job away from winning the Super Bowl and Favre is the better quarterback why get rid of him for very little in return?  How badly did they want him out of Green Bay?

*By the time Rodgers is ready to lead, IF he's ever ready to leave, will the rest of the team still play at the level they were at last year?  Doubt it.  They will lose defensive players , guys will get hurt, running backs will break down and every team is a big injury or two away from a disastrous season.  Green Bay needed to take their shot this season.

*There is more that meets the eye with that situation.  What it is we may never know.  I just don't see teams giving up a 4000 yard passer with a 2-1 TD to INT ratio very much.  We know Favre is selfish and will put himself above the team whenever he can, but was he also taking too much control over the offense?  Did McCarthy only want Favre to throw 30 times instead of 40 per game and that ticked Favre off?  We won't know, but it had to be bigger than just a couple of mind changes and a little jerking around in order for the Packers to get rid of their beloved quarterback.

- Did Kobe Bryant really say he'd play in Italy for $50 million dollars?  Before I go there, did Kobe grow up wanting to be an NBA superstar and win championships?  We assumed so.  I just wouldn't expect the one player that people talk about as a cold-blooded assassin who should have the ball with 5 seconds left on the clock.  All this tells me is Kobe will play for the money.  And all this does is validate the argument I have made for nearly 3 years that Bryant isn't MJ, isn't as clutch as you think and now I have a brand new one: a money-over-winning player.  I'm sorry, making 50 million in Italy does nothing for the guy or this "legacy" that he's built.  If he had a shread of killer-instinct that people say he has he would have said "Hell no.  I play to win NBA championships".  Sorry Kobe fans, your boy isn't what you thought he was - then again we could have told you that 5 years ago when he was in Colorado.

- 3 reasons why Tampa Bay could hold off Boston and New York in the American League East: Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Carlos Pena.  None of the 3 keys to their offense has had a good year.  Crawford hovers around .300 every year and is barely over .270.  They NEED him to heat up because when he is hitting and running the bases well he's one of the most lethal weapons around.  Upton, who's power numbers have dropped, is hitting just above .260 and is slumping.  He's a guy who should be hitting .280 and they need him to carry the team for a week or so with a power surge.  Pena is a .260 guy at best.  He's under .240 and they need him to also have a power surge and somehow lift that average.  The Rays have not hit all that well this year and if their pitchers hit the wall in September, which could happen, they will need the hitting to step up. 

- The Florida Marlins may have wanted to send rookie sensation Mike Stanton to Boston for Manny Ramirez.  He is proving that he can carry teams offensively AND the NL East is as vulnerable as ever.

- Someone should tell Prince Fielder to chill out.  He can't take his anger out on teammatesespecially since we aren't sure if he's upset with them, himself, his dad or the fact that he hasn't seen his #### since high school.

- The waves must be too great in San Diego for him to refuse a deal to Boston.  Either that or Boston just want as many outfielders as they possibly can and Giles would rather start than have a shot at a ring.  It's probably a tougher decision than we think; start for a bad team, ride the bench for a serious contender.  I'd probably take the ring.

- The PGA Championship is this weekend? 

- 20 years ago today: Wayne Gretzkey was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.  Has it been THAT long since the biggest trade in hockey history took place?

That will do for this morning...

As we prepare for another Major Championship tomorrow, let's look at what we have presently...

- Greg Norman leading a major tournament is almost unheard of at his age and at this time period.  He has managed to stay atop the leaderboard despite the playing conditions and the fact that he will not out-drive people in this tournament.  Not in this day in age.  But let's remember who we are dealing with; a guy who's had a knack for urinating a championship on a Sunday.  How many major titles SHOULD Norman have?  The answer is more than what he already has.  I don't expect him to hold up tomorrow, but this does not mean he won't win.  He could shoot 75 tomorrow and still win the title because there is no Tiger Woods to test his mettle.  Nonetheless, tomorrow's tourney will be interesting.

Speaking of Woods, he must think he can win this Major without arms or legs.

- Are the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers going to change their names to Golden State Clippers and Los Angeles Warriors?  Seems like these two teams are swapping players left, right and center.  What's the deal with that?  And how strong does Utah look with Denver getting weaker?

- Maybe Michelle Wie should have paid more attention in math class if she is making errors on her scorecard.  That is just brutal.

- The Tampa Bay Rays have gotten back on track thanks to the scheduling of the Toronto Blue Jays.  I should have bet on this series.  Stupid me...

- The Los Angeles Angels are handling the Boston Red Sox and now I've heard a couple people talk about whether or not they are the team to beat in the American League. 

Look, I like the Angels.  I will always remember them for being the FIRST team to bully the New York Yankees over the last 15 years.  Arizona may have beaten them in 2001, but the Angels bullied them in 2002.  The Yankees would beat down teams the way the Angels beat them down in the ALDS that year.  The Angels have had a knack for beating the Yankees consistently over the year.  The problem is, Boston has owned them in the playoffs.

So looking at a couple of victories in July is nice, but that does not say that much.  Let's factor David Ortiz since he has punished Los Angeles over the years.  The Angels may own New York, but the Red Sox own Los Angeles until we are proven otherwise.  I will say, however, that the Angels may be the best team to beat Boston in a best of 7 series.  Let's hope they avoid eachother in round 1.

- As of right now, I bet Green Bay is wondering if they should have let Brett Favre walk a couple years ago just so that Aaron Rodgers would be absolutely ready to take the 2008 Packers team to the promise land.  Maybe, maybe not.  But right now this team has received so much publicity over this that I would not be surprised if Green Bay lays an egg this year.  Favre has always craved attention and he's gotten that much.  But not all of this is his fault.  Although if he had stayed retired there would be no gun to the head of the Packers organization. 

- Whenever I watch Ken Rosenthal on Saturday Fox baseball games, I think of how much better he is over Keith Olbertool.  WAY better.  Sideline reporting can be pretty lame at times but Rosenthal's good.  The only memorable thing the previous #### bag ever had was when Chuck Knoblauch hit his mother with a throw.

I know I know, you guys are going to come in and talk about how great "The Big Show" was.  We'll see how bad it is when NBC tries to revive it for Sunday Night Football.  They will be nothing more than just half-wits and you can book that.

...Are you guys sure you don't want any hockey news?  Never mind.  Have a super Sunday.

When you are a franchise that finds out your starting quarterback is retiring - after nearly reaching the Super Bowl - you tend to be disappointed with the decision, but because you have a job to do you can't be stuck in the past and you have to look toward the future.

The Green Bay Packers were forced to do so when Brett Favre announced his retirement earlier this year. So when I see a headline like this:

Favre: I don't feel welcome in Green Bay

I don't feel bad for Brett. The organization believed the face of their franchise was through with football. Regardless of how selfish or classless Favre has been, Green Bay knew that losing Brett at that time was a liability. Why? Because they wanted to win a Super Bowl and they were so close this past season. Now they have to do it with basically a rookie quarterback. So be it. That is football. That is the way it goes. And now Favre says he wants to come back? The franchise was forced to move forward because YOU moved forward. Now you expect them to take a step back for you? What kind of self-service, me-first athlete are you?

You have put this organization in one hell of a rough spot simply because you've never truly cared for anyone except yourself. Go play for Minnesota or whomever, choke in the playoffs as you normally do on cue and keep padding the career stats so that you make Peyton Manning work harder to blow your records away. And maybe this year you can sincerely congratulate a running back who scores a touchdown that you felt should have been a pass.

- What did anyone expect from Alex Rodriguez? Did you expect him to be a faithful, loving husband? Did you expect him to show class on the ballfield? Did you expect him to come through in the clutch? Did you even expect him to participate in the home run derby? If you said yes to any of these then you should probably take a break from sports and take some time off for personal reasons. It would be out of A-Rod's nature to do the right thing. I bet a long time ago he was a nice kid, did right by everyone and was a tough kid. Then somewhere down the line things changed; he stopped showing guts, he continue to plow through women despite being married and his insecurities caught up to him ON the field as well as off it. The more homers he hits the less impressed we are with him. He just cruised past Yankee legend Mickey Mantle and I could care less about it. Seriously, whatever is making you play without a Richard isn't worth all of this Stray-Rod, so move forward.

- Within 3 years the Washington Wizards will live to regret the Gilbert Arenas signing. First, will he stay healthy. Second, will he ever touch the production he had 2 or 3 years ago before he had the injury? Last, who the hell thought he was worth 111 million for 6 at his very best? Is he even a top 5 guard in the NBA? No way. He isn't a Deron Williams or Chris Paul-type of player, but he's more like an Allen Iverson - and he isn't even Allen Iverson. He may not even be Baron Davis. What a horrible move by Washington. This is a move backward.

- Sticking with basketball, Phil Jackson must think he can coach the cancerous Ron Artest, otherwise there would be little interest. Considering that Phil did win a ring with Dennis Rodman (3 rings) and Isiah Rider, he may be the guy to keep him in line. However, Artest will be asked to do more than what Rodman and Rider were asked to do on the court. And if Kobe doesn't get in Artest's face because Ron is "his boy", then Kobe is softer than you all realize. MJ would never allow a teammate to skate on stupidity. Who knows where the Lakers would move?

- I haven't watched a single minute of Golf since the U.S. Open. In fact I've watched more LPGA than PGA since Tiger announced he was going to the 60-day DL. I have moved forward to next year.

- Over to the NHL...naw, I won't do that to you. Not today.

-

When a person does something once, you can almost forgive that person and move past the issue.  Of course there are exceptions to the rule, such as infidelity  (or in A-Rod's case ####ing and overrated, over the hill singer with worse teeth than Michael Strahan), murder or theft just to name a few.

In the world of sports we have witnessed several athletes come back from retirement to play.  Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux, Sugar Ray Leonard and Ryne Sandberg off the top of my head.  At this time, Brett Favre may be regretting his decision to retire and having seen other athletes unretire you can only understand that Favre is just like some of those other great stars of sports.

The only difference is this is not the first time Favre has yanked the chains of the Green Bay organization or the fans of that team.  Is he coming back or not?  Well, the issue should have been left to rest because he announced his retirement. 

The other problem that comes to mind is, once again, the obvious selfishness Favre has always had that is overshadowing every other story in the NFL.  He does not care about what this is doing to the organization, especially Aaron Rodgers, and the fans.  Now, you may think that he should not worry about anyone else except himself because of this situation being so tough.  Problem is, he made the decision in the first place.  Didn't he learn from 2006 to sit and wait?  He left the Packers organization hanging out to dry until the last possible second - which prompted the franchise to draft Rodgers in the first place.  Also, Football is the prototypical "team sports" which every player knows very well.  As such, an NFL quarterback always has to put into account his team and the players he works with everyday.  For him to put that team in this position is not only selfish but insulting to anyone affiliated with the organization. 

With Favre's illustrious career, Green Bay can't exactly cut him.  First, because this has been his team.  Second, he helped that team get to the NFC Championship game - only to cost his team a Super Bowl.  Lastly, Green Bay loves him.  With the unknown ahead of them with Rodgers as the starter, Green Bay isn't sure what to do.

Regardless of the decision, this is typical Favre; spotlight on him, he can't do no wrong and people generally feel bad for him despite the fact that he put himself in this position.  Perhaps he comes back, perhaps he plays for another team.  As of now, not every football fan sees Favre for what he truly is and that is sad.  At the very least, Green Bay's new quarterback may actually show genuine enthusiasm when a running back scores a touchdown.  Maybe he won't bother throwing snowballs at teammates or high-5 an NFL official after a touchdown.  Maybe he'll actually win a Super Bowl is stick it up #4's self-serving behind because that would be to a great ending to a pretty ridiculous situation Green Bay is in. 

Someone should tell every network that covers the NFL that it doesn't take guts to rip on Favre when it's obvious that he deserves it.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced he will be having a second shoulder surgery that will end his season and possibly his career. 

This, if you can recall, is the same man who has pitched through considerable pain more than once during his career.  I was reminded of this when watching Tiger Woods fight through the pain in his knee to win the U.S. Open - only to have season-ending surgery after the tournament.  Like Schilling, certain people felt Woods' injury was fake or some bogus story.  Perhaps these people have never played through pain, or perhaps these people cannot stand these two athletes so much that they will say anything to tick them off.

Regardless, these 'people' don't have a clue nor should they be taken seriously.

In fact, a lot of these people are here on this site on Foxsports blogging about it.  The same people who can't get an All-Star vote right.  The same people who recently crapped on Ken Rosenthal for questioning the New York Mets decision to fire Willie Randolph in the middle of the night on the west coast.  The same people who hailed Kobe Bryant as the most clutch player in the NBA - who proved once again that he's no more clutch than the next superstar.  The same people that call Chad Johnson selfish for celebrating a touchdown but applaud Brett Favre for throwing snowballs at teammates on the field.

So when I read about your comments regarding Curt Schilling as a (bleep) or a (bleep), my head shakes as I wonder how people can be angry at a man who's played the game the right way, kept his integrity off the field intact and has come through in some of the most pressure-packed games of our time.  We are a culture that supposedly embraces athletes with guts, yet people seem so eager to cut Schilling's guts out whenever they get the chance.  In case you haven't noticed, he is the anti-Jose Canseco, the anti-Barry Bonds, the anti-Rafael Palmiero and the anti-Roger Clemens.  

He may go into the Hall of Fame.  He may not.  He may wear his heart on his sleeve.  Is there a problem with that?  No.

And I would not call pitching with 1 leg in the 2004 World Series selfish either.  I doubt Schilling cares about the self-glory more than he cares about beating New York and winning championships.  The guy is a true winner, a true bulldog, and a type of human we may not see from the new crop of pitchers coming up. 

Appreciate what he has done for this game and the memories he has brought on the field.  Although I am a fan of most of the things he says off the field, people seem to complain about it more than people complain about Ozzie Guillen. 

In a world where athletes get arrested, cheat the game, cheat on their wives, we've actually been able to put a guy like Curt Schilling in that category of an athlete that fans can hate so much.  Goes to show why organizations, sports talk shows and paid-writers on this particular site do not take you seriously.

Curt Schilling deserves better.

Lenny Dykstra
David Segui
Larry Bigbie
Brian Roberts
Jack Cust
Tim Laker
Josias Manzanillo
Todd Hundley
Mark Carreon
Hal Morris
Matt Franco
Rondell White
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley
Gregg Zaun
David Justice
F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill
Mo Vaughn
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Ryan Franklin
Chris Donnels
Todd Williams
Phil Hiatt
Todd Pratt
Kevin Young
Mike Lansing
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Adam Piatt
Miguel Tejada
Jason Christiansen
Mike Stanton
Stephen Randolph
Jerry Hairston
Paul Lo Duca
Adam Riggs
Bart Miadich
Fernando Vina
Kevin Brown
Eric Gagne
Mike Bell
Matt Herges
Gary Bennett, Jr.
Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly
Chad Allen
Jeff Williams
Howie Clark
Nook Logan
Scott Schoeneweis
Jeremy Giambi
Jason Giambi
Aaron Boone
Bret Boone
Mark McGwire
Jose Canseco
Ozzie Canseco
Juan Gonzalez
Rafael Palmiero
Rick Ankiel
Troy Glaus
Jose Guillen
Jeff Bagwell
Brady Anderson
Manny Alexander
Rafael Bettencourt
Albert Belle
Ken Caminitti

If I have forgotten any names add to the list.  Some were added and I have only skimmed the entire report.   Any mistakes please point them out. 

The Mitchell Report is out and the list was slightly better than what I was expecting.  The expectations were very slim heading into today.  Now, certain names are not part of this list (See the New York Met clubhouse section in the report - 23 names are sealed), but if we combine all the names of the past and present we are looking at a total around 110 players - give or take a few.  We are talking about a list as big as 4+ 25-man rosters.  Sounds like it falls short of 50% which is the number Caminitti claimed prior to his death. 

The overall findings of Mitchell's report leave baseball fans uncertain.  We still scratch our heads with more questions than ever before.  Information can do that to a person.  Because there are a guys - a LOT of guys - who bulked up during an off-season who is not on that list and the bulk is at least 20 pounds. 

I'm not here to speculate who was left off the list since we have about 20 years worth of steroid use prevalent in the game.  What I can say is there are a lot of disappointed fans of Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux has never looked better than he has today.

Football Playoffs

- I can't decide if Buffalo is average or if they are really bad.  I have decided that the AFC East is NOT the worst division in Football.  It's better than the NFC South and maybe the NFC West.  That aside, Buffalo hanging in there could be a reflection of the poor play of Miami and the New York Jets.  But here is how I see the AFC playing out:

New England
Indy
Pittsburgh
SD
Jacksonville
Cleveland

- The way it stands today is the way I see it going after week 17 is complete.  Here is the NFC:

Dallas
GB
Seattle
TB
NYG
NO

- Yes, the Saints will somehow slide into the playoffs.  I think they will run the table and get it done. They play 3 average teams (Zona, Philly, Chicago).  First two games at home.  I think they can do it. 

Playoff predictions:

AFC: Cleveland upsets Pittsburgh, Jacksonville upsets San Diego, then both get blown by New England and Indy respectively.  Patriots edge the Colts in one of the greatest showdowns in history.

NFC: Seattle avenges last year's lost to New Orleans and TB handles NYG.  Dallas disposes Tampa and Seattle upsets Green Bay - the way they should have in 2003.  Dallas beats Seattle to get thrashed by New England.

- Alex Rodriguez is apologetic after finalizing a 10 year-275 million dollar contract.  Save the apologies, shut your mouth, hit 50 bombs and bat .190 in the playoffs.  You do all that and avoid the strip clubs or busty blonds you should be ok. 

This is all I've got tonight.  Bring me names if I missed some.