tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Tuesday’s Thoughts

While wondering why I pay more taxes than General Electric here is what's on my mind this morning:

* http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/14706/red-sox-yankees-rivalry-dead-how-to-fix Great article about the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry. While I don't like the idea of a one game playoff for 2 wild card teams, I do agree that the 19 games between the 2 teams is too much. The other problem with the rivalry is that the Yankees don't have anybody with any fire. Do you remember when Thurman Munson and Carleton Fisk hated each other's guts? When Graig Nettles fought Bill Lee?? When Don Zimmer charged Pedro Martinez??? When Karim Garcia charged the mound??? When the Yankee bullpen fought Red Sox fans?? When Tanyon Sturtze took on two Red Sox to come to Zimmer's defense??? Now its all hugging and grab ass B.S.

* The move to bench Jorge Posada is a long time coming. Unfortunately, you would have hoped that Posada would have gone to Girardi and recognized he was hurting the team and asked out. Look at Jason Varitek. Not sure I've ever heard that he was upset with his role with the Red Sox. He maybe plays once or twice a week. Posada should follow Varitek's lead and suck it up. While there are some who question whether AJ Burnett would be on the playoff roster, should Posada be on that roster??

* Is there a bigger dirt bag ingrate than golf caddie Steve Williams?? If it wasn't for Tiger Woods no one would have a clue as to who Williams is. Not to mention the money Williams has made as a result of Woods. Yet, Williams has taken it upon himself to take shots at Tiger. What a piece of garbage!!!

* http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/true_yes_man_1nzhOwzFZC9i0l0k8GGzBM Great article by Phil Mushnick about the annoying and self-promoting Michael Kay. Mushnick really nails it. Take the time to check it out!

* Staying in the world of broadcasting, its amazing to look at what's going on in sports radio. Not sure you can find a better sports radio station than 660 WFAN out of New York. Chicago sports radio is good also. What makes these stations a pleasure to listen to is that they cover all sports, not just the local teams. The Toronto sports radio market is right up there as there is 590 The Fan and now TSN has a radio station at 1050 AM. Being in Western New York, I am fortunate to be able to listen to those stations because Buffalo sports radio is a flat out joke. WGR 550 only focuses on the Bills and Sabres. Basketball and baseball simply do not exist. In fact, if you want to listen to MLB playoff games you have to listen to Toronto sports radio. Despite having 4 mid-major college basketball teams, 550 never covers them, they don't even talk about them. In addition, Niagara and Canisius have fairly decent Division I hockey teams as Niagara has made the Frozen 4 tournament twice but as far as 550 goes it never happened. Not only do they simply focus on the Bills and Sabres, their on air hosts are the most obnoxious and condescending group that you will find anywhere. What makes it worse is that they really are ignorant as to what is going on outside of the Buffalo pro teams.

* Dave Dombrowski received a contract extension from the Detroit Tigers to be their General Manager through 2015. Not good news for those of us who would like to see Brian Cashman go off into the sunset as Dombrowski was considered a possible replacement.

* Here's hoping Joe Paterno is back on the sidelines at Penn State. Joe Pa was injured when a player ran into him causing multiple injuries and sending the college football icon to the hospital. It's reported that Paterno should be back before the start of the season.

* I'm not sure whether Colt McCoy is the answer at quarterback for the Browns but I certainly admire the kid's leadership abilities. The kid was a proven winner in college and I really hope he succeeds with the Browns. It's been almost 20 years since the Browns had a quarterback that fans could believe in. (Bernie Kosar)

* And finally, I saw a clip of a MMA fight that took place over the weekend with Niagara Falls native Rashard Evans. People could save themselves plenty of money and see the same amount of action by hanging out at any parking lot at an NFL stadium on game day. Nothing like a good old fashioned tailgate drunken stupor fight!!
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Tomorrow a look at what's going on in various NFL training camps.