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.
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