Spring games begin, WEC 39, Blame Sather

While I work I devoted most of my time to my new pet project, The YES Blog. I've been happy with the contributions of my colleagues, Joe and Glenn, reader comments and the MLBlog community. The Yankees have played only three spring games and excitement is on the rise. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy looked good in their debuts, Brett Gardner has taken an early lead over Melky Cabrera in the competition for center field, and Nick Swisher has made a great first impression with both his patience at the plate and vibrant personality.

It seems like every week there's a MMA show either on Spike, Versus or Pay-Per-View. Diego Sanchez showcased his stuff on Spike last Saturday and on Sunday Mike Brown defends the WEC Featherweight title against Leonard Garcia. Many people still no little, if anything, about Brown even after he shocked Urijah Faber in November. There is a lot to know, and especially like, about Brown. And Faber, despite his rock star status, is extremely down to earth. Here's hoping these two meet again with the title again on the line.

My next assignment should be very interesting: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. He fights Keith Jardine a week from tomorrow at UFC 96 in Columbus. If Rampage wins, he's lined up to take back the light-heavyweight title from Rashad Evans, who took it from the man who took it from Rampage, Forrest Griffin. Should Jardine win Lyoto Machida gets the title shot. Also fighting is Ohio native Matt Hamill, who takes on Mark Munoz. I've remained in touch with Hamill's camp since penning the Matt Hamill: RAW series for Junkie. Trust me when I tell you life under trainer Duff Holmes gets harder every day.

Tom Renney was fired on Monday. His replacement, John Tortorella, is a good choice and a good coach who won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. Alas, he was Rangers property four years earlier before Glen Sather decided he wasn't worth keeping and hired Ron Low - and then Bryan Trottier. Sather has completely lost touch with today's game and the mess the Rangers have become is on his hands. The Rangers are 0-2 under Torts with two regulation goals. Yes Slats. It's Renney's fault and not yours.

Diego's dominance

Diego Sanchez made a seamless transition from welterweight to lightweight, you think? Sanchez dominated Joe Stevenson for three rounds Saturday in London to position himself into the division's championship division. His management team is working on getting me an exclusive for Junkie this week. I also hope to catch up with Josh Koscheck, whose UFC status is now tenuous after his controversial KO loss to Paulo Thiago. Koscheck and the fans in London were furious over what they perceived as a premature stoppage; UFC commentator Joe Rogan disagreed. It'll be interesting to see if the outspoken Koscheck is still steaming over this.

Also on tap is Mike Brown's first defense of the WEC Featherweight title Sunday night against Leonard Garcia, and his first right since shocking Urijah Faber in November. Junkie ran a poll on February 14 in which less than 10 percent thought Brown wouldn't last the year as champion. I am amazed he's being treated like another Buster Douglas. Brown took advantage of  a rare Faber mistake and caught him flush with a right cross. A win over a good fighter in Garcia and it'll be interesting to see if he gets a rematch with Faber or tackles a deep division. Lots of interesting topics to explore here.

Thanks to everyone who checked out the new YES Blog. I've been keeping tabs on the Yankees and their routine down in Tampa, with my colleagues Joey and Glenn soon to follow. It'll be read and react until the team makes its way up north and into the brand new Yankee Stadium, and that will be when the real fun will begin.

The YES Blog

The YES Blog is here! Me and my YESNetwork.com colleagues, Joe Auriemma and Glenn Giangrande, will be sharing in-depth analysis of the Yankees, as well as quick posts and photos of events in and around George M. Steinbrenner Field and the new Yankee Stadium thoughout the season. When the doors to the palatial palace open April 1 with an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs, I'll be relaunching my on-line diary complete with photos and observations of the vibe on and off the field. Log on and let us know what you think!

There's plenty of stuff happening in Tampa, Fla., already — and I'm not talking about Alex Rodriguez. While the YES Blog will carry most of my Yankees takes, I'll be linking them on this space as well along with my continuing coverage of Mixed Martial Arts and other special projects.

Speaking of MMA, lots of excitement surrounding Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson Saturday in London. Pay particular attention to the profound comments of Sanchez's trainer, Saulo Ribeiro.

And that's that

Yeah, right. Alex Rodriguez at times came across like a fool. Others he showed how sorry he was and especially expressed remorse to his fans and teammates. Against my best wishes, this topic will not go away, but this week I'll have a reaction: the fact that 25 guys, including A-Rod, play this game called baseball. And because the game of baseball is not at fault, there are reasons to get excited about team that few have talked about thanks to A-Rod. For example, I've seen one or two articles on Chien-Ming Wang, a two-time 19-game winner coming back from a torn tendon in his foot that short-circuited his season last June. In this rotation, depending on your point of view, he's the Yankees' second or third starter.

MMA Junkie has started its coverage of UFC 95 with features on Troy Mandaloniz and Evan Dunham, and my piece on Chael Sonnen. Sonnen is easily misunderstood. Think of him as your mischevious kid brother who will not leave you alone. He'll poke and prod you, and get you riled up, but he means no real harm. That's Sonnen. His views are rather peculiar and with his experience stands a decent shot at defeating Demian Maia in London.

Quick hits

Forgot to mention this earlier: Hermes Franca is having knee surgery February 23 in Miami, performed by Dr. John Uribe at the Sports Medicine Institute. Once we get on the horn we'll see how that went am I'm interested in hearing how he thinks Jeremy Stephens will respond from his submission loss to Joe Lauzon on February 7. It's a quick turnaround for "Lil Heathen" as he takes on TUF Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero April 1.

Alex Rodriguez's press conference is today at 1:30. Joy. The sooner this nonsense is put behind everyone, the better. But A-Rod needs to take that next big step, not play the game of hop scotch he did with Peter Gammons.

Weekend notes

Today I watched, when I wasn't channel surfing or dozed off, one of the absolute worst performances I've ever seen put forth by the Rangers, a team that clearly is in serious trouble. Only the Rangers can allow a 3-on-5 goal like the one when Mike Richards took control off a blocked shot, split his defenders and beat Henrik Lundqvist with a flutter over his left shoulder.

That was the Flyers' first goal of three in a span of 1:49. After Richards' goal I turned on Invincible on FX. At the commercial break I switched back to NBC. It was 5-0, Flyers. The Rangers and Tom Renney were completely at a loss. The fans serenaded Renney and the incompetent, over-the-hill GM Glen Sather with chants once reserved for Isiah Thomas.

Interesting postgame comments from Renney, who realizes the end could be near. I've been steadfast about giving Renney until the end of the season for the Rangers to make a full and fair evaluation. Renney has been the coach since 2004. It's inevitable players begin to tune out the coach, as this group has done with Renney. And Renney is with plenty of faults. His defensive system is suffocating to his own personnel. He leaves the wrong players on the ice (read: Wade Redden and Aaron Voros) on the ice during critical situations. He's never held his underachieving veterans (Redden, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Michal Rozsival) accountable, nor has sent them a message with a benching or a healthy scratch. Yet he'll keep Petr Prucha in a jacket & tie and refuse to tweak the system to best fit his young and energetic players.

Everyone shares the blame in this mess and the philosophy is always you can't fire the players, so fire the coach, with the thinking that a changing of the lead voice will slap new life into the team. But someone explain to me what difference Jim Schoenfeld, Renney's assistant, would make at this point of the season. The true culprit is Sather, who put together this budding disaster and has left the Rangers choked in salary cap hell. Of course, since he works for the Dolan Dummies, don't expect him to go anywhere.

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In the MMA world, UFC 95 is this Saturday in London, and I'll have features on Diego Sanchez and Chael Sonnen (fighting Joe Stevenson in the main event and Demian Maia, respectively) posted on Junkie this week. UFC president Dana White confirmed show No. 100 for July in Las Vegas with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre to fight on the card, but in lieu of top contender Thiago Alves, a third bout with B.J. Penn may be in order.

My take: Forget this Vaseline controversy and keep the divisions intact. If Sanchez beats Stevenson, he deserves the next shot at Penn's lightweight crown, if not Kenny Florian, while Alves was assured a shot at GSP. Quick take on Penn: He may never be the same following GSP's destruction of him. Sanchez's trainer, Saulo Ribeiro, touched on this during our interview and insists his fighter can defeat Penn if they fought tomorrow.

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Meanwhile in Yankeeland, pitchers and catchers are in camp, and CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett look relaxed and ready to compete in the Bronx. Of course, the center of discussion is Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod will address a huge media throng Tuesday in Tampa, which is hopefully the first big step in putting his sorry predicament behind him. This being A-Rod, it's never cut and dry, but my hope is by the time I'm back on the beat April 1 for the new Yankee Stadium's grand opening, more of the talk will be about baseball and less about a terrible situation that will not go away.

Ranger Danger

SNY.tv published this yesterday afternoon. The Rangers take the ice tonight against the high-octane Washington Capitals as a team with big problems. They're not scoring. Offseason additions not name Markus Naslund have failed miserably. And unfairly, Tom Renney is on the hot seat. At this rate Henrik Lundqvist has to pitch a 1-0 shutout for the Rangers to earn two points.

The Rangers were projected to be a sixth or seventh seed in the East anyway, but when you consider that they spent much of the season atop the Atlantic Division, their fall has been precipitious and has exposed their weaknesses: no go-to scorer and nobody who can carry a team on broad shoulders.

Sean Avery has already been labeled a savior. What? If he clears re-entry waivers and and rejoins the Rangers, he'll be a big help. But cries of "Hurry Sean hurry" are a bit ridiculous. If Glen Sather can steal Vincent Lecavalier from the Lightning, there's your savior.

Speaking of Sather, he should have been out of the front office a long time ago, but what do I or any of us know?

A wild weekend roundup

Finally some quiet in what's been a chaotic week in sports, except for more reaction towards A-Rod's latest fling with drama. More on this in a bit, a situation that unlike chatter about his love life, shouting "Ha!" or if he's really a fraud is very real and very serious.

It was a great night of fighting Saturday in Tampa and UFC Fight Night 17. Joe Lauzon carved up Jeremy Stephens with Jiu-Jitsu that would earn bows from the Gracie family. Anthony Johnson TKOed the capable Luigi Fioravanti in the first round. What impressed me about Rumble and Cain Velasquez there most were their harsh evaluations of their performances. Too many fighters enjoy small tastes of success and think it's a breeze. Then they get pounded into the middle of next week and their development is set back at least a year.

The MMA world was tame compared to the stuff that happened in New York City alone. First, you had the knee-jerk reaction towards Joe Torre's "tell-all book." Then Kobe Bryant and LeBron James combine to shred the Knicks for 113 points. From there, Sean Avery may be on his way back to the Rangers, a smart decision if they can pull it off.

The Rangers are 0-3-1 in their last four games, the latest a hideous 10-2 embarrassment in Dallas, while scoring a total of four goals, one that came with 10.5 seconds left against the Thrashers. Should Tom Renney be on the hot seat? I don't think so. What makes anyone think Jim Schoenfeld or Pat Quinn, or anyone else. will make any difference whatsoever? I've said this since Day 1: Give Renney the season and then decide.

You think the Rangers have problems? To quote one of my mentors, "It's always something in Yankeeland." The Yankees come off a tremendous offseason in which their revamped their pitching staff and solved a ton of problems with one player, Mark Teixeira. Instead of tossing away zillions, billions and trillions, the Yankees spent their money wisely this time. (OK, five years was too many for A.J. Burnett, but he's an upgrade over Sidney Ponson.)

Instead of opening Spring Training this week talking about a complete upgrade, it'll be a circus thanks to Sports Illustrated's revelation that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steriods in 2003. This is one of the greatest players of our generation, and maybe ever, and we oh so wanted to believe in someone after having Barry Bonds forced down our throats. Alas, A-Rod is now forever tarnished, but there is something he can do to remedy this fairly quickly: Be accountable, admit you made a big mistake and take your medicine. As soon as A-Rod goes 3-for-4 with four RBIs everything will be convienently forgotten.

But should A-Rod play the deny or "I have nothing to say" game, it's going to be harder and harder to hide, and the distractions around the Yankees will grow to nearly intolerable proportions. That's completely unfair to Burnett, Teixeira and CC Sabathia, the big-ticket players who decided they wanted to play in the Bronx to compete for a championship. Now there's the risk they'll be in the middle of the A-Rod melodrama. Should that happen, it would be a damn shame, but remember that A-Rod came begging to Hank Steinbrenner and showed remorse over his ill-timed opt-out. He got a 10-year deal for his penance. And now the Yankees have to deal with the side effects.

Today on Junkie: Faith in Stephens

My report on Hermes Franca was posted last night. I'll know more by the middle of next week when he sees a second - and maybe a third surgeon - to determine who will perform the surgery. Franca and his camp are exploring every avenue and not taking any chances. Even in his mid-30s, Franca still has a career in the cage ahead of him and many athletes, with the right rehab program, have come back from ACL surgeries stronger than before.

Franca is in Tampa., Fla., for Fight Night 17 to support his protege, Jeremy Stephens, for his fight with Joe Lauzon. Lauzon was supposed to be Franca's opponent until the latter was felled by the torn ACL in his right knee.

Smokin' Joe and Classy Adam

Lots to catch up on. It's been a busy week and it's only Wednesday.

Adam Graves was bestowed a well-deserved and long-overdue honor, a tribute that saluted not only a key player in the Rangers' Cup run in 1993-94 and once the franchise record holder for goals in a season (52), but a very classy, humble and tremendous human being.

Joe Lauzon is fighting Jeremy Stephens Saturday night in Tampa. It was supposed to be Hermes Franca until Franca was forced to pull out with a torn ACL. Bad blood was exchanged between the two on The Underground. Good-natured kidding was blown completely out of proportion in this case.

Speaking of Franca, he met with Dr. Paul Meli today in Fort Lauderdale. Next Tuesday he's seeing Miami Dolphins Team Physician, Dr. John Uribe to discuss the inevitable surgery that he expects will keep him out for six-to-10 months. I'm working on a full report for Junkie.

Anthony Johnson's fight against Luigi Fioravanti has been moved up to Saturday's main card. This is a great chance for Rumble to showcase his skills, writes my Junkie colleague John Morgan. A win will further boost Johnson's profile, not to mention my story for FIGHT appearing in either March, April or May.

Dr. Johnny Benjamin, has a great argument for MMA to finally get sanctioned in New York State. In a nutshell, one crusty clown of a state Assemblyman named Bob Reilly is stuck on the outdated perception that MMA is human cockfighting and "barbaric" when in fact it's far less dangerous than boxing. All this ignorant character needs to do is review the 37 states that have legalized the sport, including our neighbors in New Jersey. Holding events in this state and seeing the UFC work its way into Madison Square Garden will open doors to a huge fan base, not to mention slap life into the failing economy.

As a wise man once said (Charley Steiner): "If it's too logical, it never gets done."

Wild Weekend

It turns out I went 5-for-5 in my UFC 94 predictions. What stood out in the main card was Clay Guida taking it to Nate Diaz and proving he's ready for the top contenders in the lightweight division. Though he was running on empty by Round 3, Jon Jones was dynamite and boosted his profile with a decision win over Stephan Bonnar. Georges St. Pierre left no doubt he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world with his destruction of B.J. Penn, though Penn remains the lightweight champ whose best days are far from over.

The highlight of the night was Lyoto Machida's fiurst-round knockout of Thiago Silva. The Dragon's fighting style has been panned as boring and frustrating to fans for reasons I cannot understand. Like him or not, Machida is the real deal and he's getting a shot at the light-heavyweight title if Keith Jardine defeats Quinton Jackson at UFC 95. Should Rampage retain the strap, he'll meet champion Rashad Evans, but Machida should be in line for a fight with a significant opponent. Lots to choose from in that division. Personally, I'd love to see him against Forrest Griffin - or perhaps Jon Jones or Matt Hamill.

Another busy week on tap. I have a feature with Joe Lauzon in the works to promote his UFC Fight Night main event against Jeremy Stephens this Saturday night. Part of this story was how Lauzon's original opponent, Hermes Franca, was forced to back out with a torn ACL, but that didn't stop him from making disparaging remarks about Lauzon and his brother, Affliction fighter Dan, over The Underground MMA fourm. The normally laid back Lauzon shared a strong respose, which has me tracking down Franca for a reaction.