Buck begone

So much for contract extensions.

The Texas Rangers on Wednesday announced that Buck Showalter has been let go as the team's manager, making him the fourth skipper this week to lose his job.

After an 89-win season -- and third-place finish -- in 2004, Rangers owner Tom Hicks signed Showalter to a contract extension through 2009. Two more third-place finishes have followed. Hicks, speaking to a Dallas radio station on Friday, said he would meet Showalter and general manager Jon Daniels on Tuesday.

"It may take us a while to sort things out," Hicks said. "I am not going to lean any way until I get a chance to talk to him. He was Manager of the Year two years ago. Things haven't gone the way we wanted to this year, and I want to sit down and figure out why."

Since winning a franchise-record 95 games in 1999 -- the last time they appeared in the postseason -- the Rangers have reached 80 wins only twice. Texas was tied for first place with Oakland coming out of the All-Star break, but went 7-11 to start the second half including a six-game slide from July 23-29.

Next?

Quick turnaround

The Marlins didn't wait for the grave to get cold. Hours after cutting ties with Girardi on Tuesday, Fredi Gonzalez was named manager.

Girardi a goner

This will be one of those moves that, years from now, people are going to look at and question just what the Florida Marlins were thinking.

The Fish today fired manager Joe Girardi after one year -- one highly successful year -- on the job. This came two months after a highly publicized rift with owner Jeffrey Loria boiled over into an on-field confrontation. The Marlins already have targeted Atlanta third base coach Fredi Gonzalez as their new skipper, and probably name him this week.

Florida was expected to lose 100 games this season. They had the lowest payroll in the majors -- roughly $15 million -- an inexperienced pitching staff, a rookie-laden lineup and had no hope of competing. An 11-31 start reinforced what many thought.

Here's what the Marlins did under Girardi:

-- Finished with a 78-84 record, and stayed in the wild card race until the final week of the season.
-- Had four rookie pitchers each finish with more than 10 wins, including Anibal Sanchez who tossed a no-hitter.
-- Nurtured the development of Miguel Cabrera (.339 average, 185 hits, 114 RBIs) as a superstar, and Hanley Ramirez (51 steals, 185 hits, 119 runs) and Dan Uggla (172 hits, 27 homers, All-Star berth) as stars in-the-making.

Yeah, I'd fire him too.

Girardi apparently talked himself out of Florida when he chided Loria for berating umpires during a game. And while Loria does sign the paychecks, he does have the right to do what he chooses. Given Girardi's success, you'd think he would have built up some equity.

Short-sighted. Very short-sighted, Jeffrey.

My call ... Girardi ends up in Chicago, turns around a moribund Cubs franchise and is considered a latter-day Joe Torre. Considering he played for Torre and briefly was a coach for him, it stands to reason the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Senior circuit predictions

I'll be brief-ish

3. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets. I have a friend who's incredibly bright, but loses a sense of reality when it comes to his beloved Mets. To him, this season's team is Murderer's Row, the Gashouse Gang and the Big Red Machine all in one.

But were they? He's not going to like the answer.

Yes, New York had 97 victories and was a runaway winner in the weak East, posting its best season since 1988 -- when they lost to Los Angeles in the NL championship series. But in 2006, the Mets as a team batted .264, good for a tie with Florida for eighth in the league. New York did hit 200 homers, 47 more than the Dodgers, but it doesn't really matter how many homers you have if you cannot get the bat on the ball consistently.

Los Angeles scored the fourth-most runs in the NL with 820, just 14 behind New York. The Dodgers led the league in hits (1.558), batting average (.276) and on-base percentage (.348), meaning they're patient at the plate. That doesn't bode well for a Mets pitching staff that suffered a major blow last week when it was announced Pedro Martinez would be lost until the middle of next season due to rotator cuff surgery and to repair a torn tendon in his calf.

Pedro was the key. When the Mets signed him nearly two years ago, it specifically for him to get them to the postseason. My friend tells me that New York will be fine without Pedro. I think this is where he steps away from reality. Steve Trachsel is attending to a family emergency and may not be available either. I'm not sold on Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez as postseason stars at this stage of their careers, and the back end of the rotation is a mess -- John Maine? Please. This staff is going to be overworked.

New York and Los Angeles were ranked third and fourth in the NL in ERA. Momentum will be a key. Los Angeles enters the postseason on a seven-game winning streak, and they bounced back well after coming out worse than flat after the All-Star break. The Dodgers dropped 13 or 14 before going on a 17-1 tear.

Oh, and they picked up a pretty good pitcher at the trading deadline. Look up the word "crafty" in the dictionary, and there's a picture of Greg Maddux -- 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA after being rescued from the Cubs.

Bottom line is the Dodgers were a better battle-tested team this season, and that's going to carry them. Dodgers in four.

4. San Diego vs. St. Louis. This will be easy. The Cardinals have Albert Pujols coming off the best season of his career, but their pitching staff is a mess -- no closer in Jason Isringhausen (gascan-like as may have been this year), no No. 2 starter in Mark Mulder. Jim Edmonds is dealing with the aftereffects of a concussion, and having Preston Wilson and Juan Encarnacion as your corner outfielders always is scary.

Add to that the Cards nearly blew a 7 1/2-game lead in the final 11 days of the season and they needed help to back into the postseason. St. Louis was the last in, and it'll be the first out ... unless Pujols develops a 97 mph fastball. Padres in three.

Adios, Senor Felipe

See ... it's amazing how the stress in dealing with Barry Bonds just melts away when you no longer have to manage him.

After four seasons, the San Francisco Giants on Monday cut ties with Felipe Alou, ending a relationship that dated back to 1958 when he joined the team as a player. Ironically, it was Alou who replaced Dusty Baker -- who hours earlier was told he would not be offered a new contract by the Cubs.

Wake me up when September ends

How's that for a self-portrait? This is what I look like -- for the most part -- especially after my first baseball season back in the STATS end of the business. After all, look at the circles under the eyes. Those, my friends, are homegrown.

And thanks to the Goddess In Training (she's almost got it down now) in Kansas for the site that let me create myself.

Baseball's regular season, mercifully, is over. No more turning around 15 previews in just a couple hours on a Friday night. No more whining from Cubs and White Sox fans -- yes, I said whining -- about how poor their teams play.

This is funny only because it illustrates the reasons for their consternation ... the White Sox post back-to-back 90-win seasons for the first time in more than 40 years, and it's considered a failure because they didn't get back to the World Series. To quote a coach from another sport: "You play ... to win ... THE GAME!" So, going 33-40 after the All-Star break, and trying to hold off a determined Minnesota team while waiting for the three-run homer each time doesn't help much.

ChiSox fans learned something this season ... winning it all one year doesn't entitle you to a return performance. Don't start turning into Yankees fans.

As for the Cubs, and their NL-worst 96-loss season, the bloodletting has just begun.

Minutes after beating Colorado in the season finale, CEO Andy MacPhail quit after 12 years. He helped the Twins to unlikely World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, but was unable to bring that success south. While the South Siders ended an 88-year championship drought a year ago, a World Series hasn't been played at Clark and Addison since 1945, and the Cubs haven't won one in 98 years.

In a matter of hours, the Cubs probably will announce the end of Dusty Baker's four-season stint as manager. While with the Cubs, he was four games under .500 at 322-326, but that's not enough to save his job. Even if he was winning more, they've had just to much too overcome, especially this year: injuries to Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Derrek Lee ... an abysmal pitching staff, most of whom still should have been with the minors.

Assuming Baker is not back, here are five other managers that I think will be shown the door: Joe Girardi in Florida, Buddy Bell in Kansas City, Clint Hurdle in Colorado, Ned Yost in Milwaukee and Eric Wedge in Cleveland. I didn't add Washington's Frank Robinson to the list because the Nationals officially announced Saturday that he would not be coming back.

Girardi -- as good a motivator as he is to have kept the Marlins in the wild card race until the final week of the season -- will never be able to co-exist with owner Jeffrey Loria, especially after essentially telling his boss where to go during a game. I expect Girardi to be guiding the Cubs in '07.

Bell was forced to leave the team last week after a cancerous growth was discovered on a tonsil. Kansas City ended up losing 100 games for the third year in a row, and though they have plenty of good prospects in the pipeline, there is no way this team will be able to contend until 2009-10 at the soonest.

Hurdle, Yost and Wedge will be held accountable for underachieving seasons. Two others who may be asked to leave the island are Texas' Buck Showalter (regardless of the contract that runs until '09) and Arizona's Bob Melvin.

And now, the first-round series in the American League ...

1. Minnesota vs. Oakland. This will be one all baseball fans should watch. If you've never seen players like Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, Joe Mauer, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez and Huston Street, consider this your introduction. These are not the uber-stars you'll see on a team like the Yankees.

Oakland has had it pretty easy for much of the season. Having the Los Angeles Angels, Texas and Seattle was good was 34 wins in the division. Minnesota looked dead in the water in May -- trailing first-place Detroit by 12 1/2 games. On Aug. 7, the Twins were still 10 1/2 back, but chipped away (and took advantage of the Tigers' late-season swoon, but more on that later) and head into the postseason as division champs ... which means they don't have to face the Yankees in the first round.

Santana rarely loses in the Metrodome, and seeing that he starts Game 1 there Tuesday, I have no reason to think he's going to start now. Minnesota also was 5-1 this season at home against Oakland. Twins in four.

2. Detroit vs. New York Yankees. The Tigers were baseball's darlings for much of the season. Two years after a 119-loss season, and now under Lucky Strike spokesman Jim Leyland, Detroit was running away from the pack. On Aug. 7, the Tigers were an unfathomable 40 games over .500 at 76-36, and had a double-digit lead in the AL Central.

By the end of the season, they were a wild card thanks to a 19-31 fade. Five losing streaks of at least three games, including a five-game slide to end the season gets them a date with the Yankees instead of an easier opponent in Oakland.

Time for your minutiae: Tigers' pitchers had a 4.21 ERA, blew seven of 13 save opportunities and had a .279 opponent batting average over the final 50 games. Compare that to 3.68 ERA, converting 40 of 49 save chances and a .246 OBA. At the plate, the Tigers batted .281 through Aug. 7, but saw that drop 20 points with the fade.

Getting swept by Kansas City in the final series of the year doesn't help when you're next facing one of the most potent lineups, one through nine, in baseball. Randy Johnson's back injury and Mariano Rivera's tender elbow are concerns, but when you have the ability to mash the ball like the Yankees can, they won't have a problem winning games 12-7 so long as they're on the winning side.

Matsui and Sheffield are healthy again after wrist surgeries. Cano established himself as a hitter. They added another offensive weapon in Abreu, allowing Sheffield to move to first and keep Giambi's bat in the lineup. Jeter has done this before.

New York had only two three-game losing streaks in the second half of the season, and still has a pretty big chip on their shoulder after what the hated Red Sox did to them in 2004. The Yankees also took three of four in Detroit in May and June when the Tigers were on their amazing run. One thing about New Yorkers ... you're not going to intimidate them much. Yankees in three.

Terrell being Terrell

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in T.O. that he didn't follow through.

Listening to Terrell Owens' press conference Wednesday, one night after his supposed suicide attempt, I can safely draw one conclusion. There is NO way this clown came remotely close to taking his own life. If he did, there would be no way Baylor Medical Center -- or any healthcare facility in America -- would release him without a full evaluation.

And no ... though some may think I would speak of this from experience, it's more common sense than anything.

"I want to apologize to the organization for this being a distraction," Owens said Wednesday at the end of a confusing half day capped by his explanation of what happened. "This is definitely an unfortunate situation."

He claimed that he mixed up his pills to deal with pain from surgery on his hand with a variety of supplements he takes daily. Reminds me of an old "Bloom County" cartoon where Opus mixed up toothpaste with Preparation H.

What is reprehensible by Owens, adding to a seemingly endless list, is feigning mental illness to make yet another "Look at me, I cannot be forgotten, I AM THE BEST DAMN FOOTBALL PLAYER IN THE GAME TODAY" grab for attention.

Is he feigning it though? Remember the run to midfield and stomp on the star at midfield of Texas Stadium following a touchdown years ago (and subsequent mauling by the Cowboys' George Teague)? Signing the football in the end zone on a Monday night game when he was with the Niners? The outlandish statements and interviews that have made him public enemy No. 1 in places in the Bay Area and Philadelphia? Sounds a little manic, perhaps.

In an effort to stay relevant, Owens has resorted to behavior that borders on ghoulish. That is more disgusting than anything he's done so far.

Big Ben Bombs

Some literary dim sum to chew over ...

Jesus -- did I really just write that??

1. Less than eight months ago, Big Ben was on top of the world after leading the Steelers to a Super Bowl win. First, a motorcycle crash wrecks his face. Then the emergency appendectomy. Add a fever as he makes his first start of the season in steamy Jacksonville. Stillers lose 9-0. Cowher's jaw must be aching.

2. Warrick Dunn leads the league with 266 rushing yards? Frank Gore -- yes, Frank Gore -- is fourth with 214? Michael Vick is tied for eighth with 175 yards? It probably won't last, but makes for some interesting story lines this season. Dunn was always thought of as too small. Gore shredded a knee in college at Miami. Vick ... well, I think when Rush Limbaugh made his comments a couple years back about Donovan McNabb that got him booted from ESPN, he could have easily been talking about Vick.

Right now, Michael Vick is all about potential. He's no better than Bobby Douglass -- a scatback QB -- was for the Bears in the early '70s.

3. The Saints are 2-0 and headed home to New Orleans for the first game of the post-Katrina era when they face Vick and the Falcons on Monday night. Now, never mind for a moment that New Orleans can match its win total from last season: that was going to happen anyway.

They're back. The Superdome is back. Add another semblance of normalcy to Gulf Coast.

4. Oklahoma is in a snit because of poor officiating in a 34-33 loss to Oregon on Saturday. The Ducks scored two touchdowns in the final 72 seconds and then blocked a game-winning field goal attempt at the final gun to preserve the win.

Turns out an incorrect call by Pac-10 officials changed the outcome of the game. An onside kick was touched by an Oregon player before traveling the required 10 yards, giving the Ducks the ball back and trailing 33-27. Now, Oklahoma is threatening to cancel its home-and-home series with Washington, another Pac-10 school, in retaliation.

The Sooners are screaming about the poor call. Fine. Can we hear something about the poor play by Oklahoma's defense that led to all this? No, of course not.


5. Kellen Winslow. Shut...the...FUCK...up!

A little more background. He was Cleveland's first-round pick two years ago from Miami. Missed all but two games in 2004 with an injury. Missed all of last season following a well-publicized motorcycle accident. So far this season, he's got a team-high 12 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

But he's not happy. Like Keyshawn and Terrell before him, he wants the damn ball. And, to make things worse, he wants it every play.

"The Giants run the same system as we do," Winslow said. "The Cowboys run the same system as we do, (Jason) Witten and (Jeremy) Shockey are on the field on third down, and I just don't understand why I'm not on the field sometimes. ... It's very frustrating. We're losing and I'm not on the field. I just don't get it."

Try this: you've played four games in three years. You've disappointed your coaches, teammates and fans. I'm hardly a Browns fan, but I would tend to listen to head coach Romeo Crennel than this young pup.

Put your time in and you'll be rewarded. Until then, zip it.

6. Detroit was 10 1/2 games ahead of then third-place Minnesota on Aug. 7. Forty-four days later, the Twins have shaved 10 games off that lead and can move into first place tonight with a win and a Tigers loss.

How many packs a day is Jim Leyland up to? I say three. Detroit has been in first place since May 21, but if they miss out on the playoffs, it's a collapse for the ages on the Gene Mauch-1964 Phillies-type scale.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Happy 100th!

Wow ... 100 posts ... and it only took me, what, a year and a half to do it?

OK ... this needs to be written. Who's been designing hockey jerseys lately?

Above, dear reader, is the latest from the Buffalo Sabres. They did something right -- the blue-and-gold scheme was brought back, evoking the days of Gilbert Perreault, the French Connection line, and a young, brash pain-in-the-ass goalie named Tom Barrasso.

The color scheme is far better than what they've been wearing since vacating The Aud for what is now HSBC Arena, formerly the Marine Midland Arena. The jersey on the left was not-so-affectionately called the Goat's Head because, try to envision it as much as possible, it just doesn't look like a damn buffalo!

So what's wrong with the new unis? LOOK AT THEM! Two images come to mind and have been discussed ad nauseam on message boards on the World Wide Web. It's been called the Buffaslug ... which I suppose, isn't much better than wearing a goat's head on your chest.

Second, if you look closely, it looks kind of like this guy's hair...

Thoughts? Comments? Discuss among yourselves.

Bank-breaker

My routine when I get up in the early afternoon usually starts with firing up the Powerbook G4 to check the day's news on The Sports Network, Canada's answer to the evilness that is ESPN.

So you can imagine the look on my face Tuesday when I saw New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year contract worth $67.5 million. It's not the amount that makes me cock my head and say "Wha-a-a-a?" -- I'm used to the ridiculousness that comes with sports salaries these days.

It's the three elements that come together: Rick DiPietro. Nearly $68 million. Fifteen years.

Jesus wept.

You see, it's not as if owner Charles Wang was paying for Hall of Fame caliber netminders like Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur or Miikka Kiprusoff. He's also not getting a bright talent like Henrik Lundqvist or Cam Ward.

It's Rick DiPietro. The Chevy Cavalier of goalies.

Former general manager "Mad" Mike Milbury traded away a good, young goaltender in Roberto Luongo for the opportunity to make DiPietro the first goaltender to be selected No. 1 overall. In four seasons, DiPietro is 58-62-8 with a 2.85 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and six shutouts. He had one playoff win in five games, though.

Among those with more regular season wins than DiPietro in that span include Roman Cechmanek, Tommy Salo and Roman Turek -- all of whom no longer play in North America.

And for this Wang shells out almost $68 million.

This is why the words "Islanders" and "circus" often belong in the same sentence. In the salary cap era that is the new NHL, this is a bank-breaker. Since no team will take on that contract, this will be one long marriage. All this comes on top of the hiring -- and firing six weeks later -- of general manager Neil Smith ... only to be replaced by Garth Snow, DiPietro's former backup.

If nothing else, Rangers fans will continue to get a chuckle out of this. So will the rest of the league.

9/11 plus five

We all know where we were five years ago today.

You don't even need much more than a second or two to remember. I was in Joplin, Mo., having started a new job with the newspaper there some five weeks earlier. My day started with a frantic phone call from one of my sisters, which made me think someone died.

Turns out nearly 3,000 died.

But as we lay wreaths and ring church bells and have moments of silence nationwide, we must ask ourselves some big questions. Are we better off? Have we come ANY closer to putting a halt to terrorism? Have we come ANY closer to finding Osama bin Laden?


If nothing else, I believe we've become more fractured. Think of the civility we showed one another after 9/11. That wasn't limited to New York, Washington or rural Pennsylvania. People in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma farm country and I have to believe in other parts of the country ... well, the feeling is somewhat hard to put into words. I guess the best way to describe it is polite.

Something happened that, and I'm not trying to sound cliched here, tore through the fabric of this country. In a perverse sort of way, the attacks of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon affected everyone -- and I mean everyone -- across the entire spectrum of races, classes and both sexes. Didn't matter if you were a black farmworker in Philadelphia, Miss., a businesswoman in San Francisco or a retail manager in Sioux Falls, S.D. You all felt the same anger, sadness and horror that day.

Think about this: it took a terrorist attack to truly bring this nation together, something we couldn't do ourselves.

Those feelings are nothing more than memories. After all, look at the tug-of-war that's been going on in trying to rebuild ground zero between building and site plans and costs. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin answered a question recently about why his city was having trouble rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina by saying, "That's alright. You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Ray, there's a huge difference between a natural disaster and a terrorist attack. You need to be mindful of that.

By the way, enough cannot be spent on the rebuilding effort. Maybe take some of Bush's billions for war and divert it to this cause.

We've stemmed terrorism in this country. There has not been a follow-up attack. There have not been train bombings like those in Spain or England that have happened over the last five years, and the thing is you'll almost certainly never know how close we've come. While it's true you'll see news on TV or the Internet news items that some plot has been foiled, the low- and mid-level threats almost certainly never get publicized.

Bin Laden? He's the forgotten man in all this. After all, there was supposed to be a war on terrorism, but that's mutated into the war in Iraq, a war without a definite purpose. Is it to bring democracy to a part of the world that doesn't want America's way of life foisted upon them? Is it the monopolize the gas and oil industries in the Middle East? The cynic in me asks if it's not a ploy to make the Bush-Cheney cabal even richer.

So, I ask all of you this ... how do we continue to heal as nation? Once a year to remember the darkest day in American history is not enough.

What do you think? I'd like to know.

I like this kind of party!

Football Sundays are truly an event in this country. Some observations ...

1. I've been watching games as long as I can remember. I don't think I've seen a player take a harder hit than Kansas City quarterback Trent Green. When the words "severe head trauma" are used to describe an injured player, you know it's been a bad day.

I have to believe Green will not play next Sunday against Denver. That's definitely not a good thing for the Chiefs, who will be forced to put more pressure on running back Larry Johnson as he tries to find a new offensive lineman to block for him after Willie Roaf retired. Seventeen rushes for 68 yards just will not git 'er done, as it were.


2. During preseason games, Brett Favre said this year's Packer team was the most talented he's ever played for. If that's the case, what does he say after Green Bay's first shutout in 15 years?.

Seriously, "St. Brett" needs to call it a career. Now. He is a two-time Super Bowl winner and a Hall of Fame quarterback who put Wisconsin back on the NFL map for the first time since the Bart Starr era -- you thought I was going to bring up Don Majkowski? -- but now, he's in danger of just being a circus sideshow.

Back to Kiln, Miss., with you, Brett.


3. Manning vs. Manning. Enough.

There is such a thing as overkill. In case you didn't know, there are two brothers named Eli and Peyton who are starting quarterbacks. And -- this just gets better -- their father, Archie, also played in the NFL! As a starting quarterback! I mean, what are the odds??

Here are some facts to chew on ... a) Peyton Manning is a profilic passer in the mold of Dan Marino. Another trait they share is neither has won a Super Bowl. b) The jury is still out on Eli Manning. At times, he looks polished and poised, but sometimes, he plain looks lost. c) Archie Manning spent the bulk of his career in New Orleans on his back after being sacked.


4. Hey Houston, did you see Reggie Bush's debut? Are you sick yet?

The Heisman Trophy winner had 61 yards rushing on 14 attempts, caught eight passes for 58 yards and returned three punts for 22. That just showed a glimpse of what he's capable of. From the highlights I saw, Bush looked like he was close to doing something spectacular several times. He didn't quite pull it off, but he was close and it's going to be a matter of time before he makes opposing defenses look silly.

The Houston Texans passed on Bush to take North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams with the top overall pick in the draft. Williams may be good in his own right down the road, but his name will forever be linked with Sam Bowie.

Bowie was selected some 20 years ago with the second overall pick in the NBA draft. Chicago, picking third, selected some skinny kid named Michael Jordan. How did that work out?


5. Just one baseball note, kids. How good is this guy? Ask the Tigers.

Time ... why do you punish me?

Can the calendar really be correct?

OK, never mind that tomorrow I turn 41 (shudder), and I start a second job doing freelance copy editing for the American Medical Association ... I'm sorry, but even I chuckle when I think of that ... but it's September. That mean summer is just about done, and it's going to start getting cooler here in Chicago. Not that it was a particularly hot summer; there was one really hot week at the end of July, but not horrible outside that.

It also means ...

College football is underway

I was never a big fan growing up because when growing up in New York City instead of Big Ten country where I am now, there really wasn't a lot to root for. Notre Dame? Golden Domers make me ill, and I'm Jewish anyway. Columbia? They sucked for years and never got a lot of coverage except for when they really sucked. That left Syracuse and Penn State, which from Queens may as well have been Qatar and Timbuktu.

Having lived in different parts of the country, I've kind of glommed on to teams over the years. Rooting for the Sooners when I was in Oklahoma, the Tigers in Missouri -- yes, I still have a fondness for the Big 12, though it scares me that two kids I covered when I was working in Mizzou are starting quarterbacks for Kansas and K-State, respectively.

This season, I like a few teams, but I am rooting for West Virginia most. When I left Washington for Chicago almost a year ago, I was driving through western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania when I listened to the Mountaineers on the radio. Running back Steve Slaton is just a sophomore, but I think he's got the makings of a Heisman Trophy winner, having rushed for 19 touchdowns last season -- and he didn't play the entire campaign -- and a Sugar Bowl record 204 yards back in January.

He picked up right where he left out, 200-plus yards and three scores in a win Saturday over Marshall. Part of me hopes he doesn't win the Heisman. Winning the top award in college football doesn't guarantee success as a pro. I could go on, but look back at the history and for every O.J. Simpson, there is a Rashaan Salaam or Ron Dayne.

Toughest break after week one has to be Louisville losing running back Michael Bush to a broken leg in Sunday's 59-28 rout of Kentucky. Bush -- perhaps the only running back better than Slaton a year ago -- followed a 24-touchdown season with three against the Wildcats, but will be out the rest of the season. That may wrap up the Big East title for West Virginia ... already.


Other musings ... Oklahoma looked awful in a narrow win over UAB (wonder if Bob Stoops misses QB Rhett Bomar as much as Sooner fans do) ... Arkansas will start highly touted freshman QB Mitch Mustain after he looked good in the Razorbacks' loss to USC ... Louisiana State ripped Louisiana-Lafeyette 45-3 on Saturday, but don't be shocked if the Tigers saw that as a failure. Heading into the game, LSU outscored the Ragin' Cajuns 543-0 over the previous 10 contests according to ESPN ... Ugliest unis: Oregon, hands down.

Pro football starts this week

Seemed like just yesterday that Pittsburghers nationwide were waving their towels and Jerome Bettis -- by the way, if you didn't hear, he's from Detroit -- was riding off into the sunset. Let's see ... Big Ben mangles his face in a motorcyle wreck and subsequently has an emergency appendectomy ... Bettis is gone ... The Jaw may be next to leave the sidelines. Don't expect a repeat.

Cincinnati? Only if they can keep players out of jail. Dallas? Waiting for T.O.'s long-awaited implosion. Giants? Someday for Eli Manning, but not this season. My callout right now is Eli will be wearing a Super Bowl ring before Peyton.

Colts? I think they'll miss Edgerrin James more than they realize. Patriots? Maybe ... although I wonder who Brady will throw to. Seahawks? Very hard, but not impossible to repeat, and given that they were jobbed in SB XL, there may be some added incentive to succeed.

The thing is this -- you cannot predict who will do what. Did anyone really think Pittsburgh had what it took to win it all last season, or that Seattle was going to be lining up opposite them? Injuries happen -- just ask the Steelers. Life happens -- ask the Chargers, who begin the season with an untested quarterback, but also will be without defensive leader Steve Foley, but it's not like he's holding out or anything.

Foley was shot three times by an off-duty cop early Sunday in San Diego. Can't wait to see how that all shakes out.

More musings ... Kellen Winslow appears ready to play, two seasons after he was drafted. Now let's see if he's all that -- perhaps the Browns will want to play him at center when newly acquired Hank Fraley goes down ... Reggie Bush won't get 1,000 yards for New Orleans this season ... Speakng of the Saints, the game of the year as far as I am concerned is when Atlanta and New Orleans reopen the Superdone on Sept. 25. ... The Raiders brought back Jeff George for a few days, even though he hasn't played since '01. Was this to light a fire under Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter. Yeah. OK. Proves Al Davis needs to STFU and go away once and for all ... Ron Dayne is handed the starting job at running back for Houston? Proves that if you win the Heisman, you end up with seemingly endless chances.

Preseason hockey will start soon

On Sept. 17 -- Edmonton vs. Phoenix in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Bring it on.

Good to the last drop

"All unhappiness and stagnation result from a feeling that you are at the mercy of the world and the people in it. But what a joy it is, what a major shift to strength and power when you no longer wait around for others to favor and love you, for others to flatter and reward you. Reward and flatter yourself, favor and love yourself..." -- Kira Salak, Writer and National Geographic Emerging Explorer

Inspiration comes from the strangest places. Even a disposable coffee cup.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped at a Starbucks while running errands. Sitting in my car with the coffee -- venti skim latte, three Splendas and a couple dashes of cinnamon -- I read the above passage on the side of the cup.

Actually, to be fair, I read the first sentence, and thought, "Well, there's a microcosm of my life." It wasn't until later that I read the whole thing and the eyebrows went up.

Now, I'm not saying I had one of those moments like you may have had growing up when you discovered some undeniable fact for the first time in your life. Still, it was significant nonetheless.

For most of my life, it seems, I have wanted to be loved. I think, ultimately, that's what drives most of us, to be loved, and to a lesser degree, accepted. To be frank -- and when am I not -- there was not a lot of love in my house growing up. Both of my parents did everything they could to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table and clothes on our backs, and for that I will commend them to no end. We never lived on mashed potato sandwiches, and my sisters never had hand-me-downs, but things were not always rosy financially.

The material things were there. The emotional component, though, did not exist. There was no interest in what their kids did at school; there was one family vacation.

Perhaps it was the fact that my mother was almost 41 and my father 39 when I was born. It's kind of tough being in grade school still when your Mom is 50. Work always has, and to this day still, comes first. The way it was with me, anyway, was almost as if the world was a laboratory and I was allowed free reign to poke through it unsupervised. No denying it here, I used that "see no evil" mentality to my advantage many -- make that MANY -- times. Sometimes for good. Sometimes for bad.

Since I wasn't getting the necessary admiration from my family, I'd look to my friends for that. I'm not sure if that was fair or not, but I did so regardless. That wasn't there either. A lot of times when I was younger, I was popular only when I had access to great seats for the Mets, Jets, Knicks and Rangers through a family friend. When I didn't have the seats though, I was the really fat kid who was relentlessly picked on.

How did I deal with the taunts? I took them and internalized them. Years ago, that's what you did. These days, you end up with Columbine or Jonesboro, Ark., or an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota and everyone asking out loud "how could something like this happen?"

It is incredibly tough to go through life alone from an emotional standpoint. Since you're the chief, cook and bottle-washer in that regard, you are responsible for all facets of keeping your emotional well-being healthy, and it's never easy to know when you're doing something right and if it's wrong, it's often too late.

I have been called moody, bitter and aloof for a lot of different reasons. The sports newsroom I work in, many times, is more like a sports bar/talk radio set. When I go to work -- and, funny thing, it's actually to do work ... I like chatting about the news of the day and the back-and-forth banter, but I sense I an still considered the odd one. Truth is, I don't really fit in with my co-workers and when I try to make it work, I generally feel uncomfortable in doing so.

That having been said, I need to take a look at Kira Salak's words more closely and learn, once and for all, to take them to heart. "Reward and flatter yourself, favor and love yourself." It's been told to me that you learn to love and accept others once you learn to love and accept yourself.

For the longest time -- OK, my entire life -- I never really liked myself all that much. How do I change nearly 41 years of thinking?

What do you think? I'd really like to know.

Can I get an "Amen" from the bobbleheads?

Yeah ... I know ... lame ... but bobbleheads are a new passion.

You work for a sports media company, you have to have all sorts of crap like this on your desk. Kind of like a badge of honor. So, amid the computer termainals and media guides, you will find ...

...A stuffed talking AFLAC duck wearing a White Sox batting helmet. (One has nothing to do with the other ... the duck was a gift from the Associated Press folks that transferred from New York and the White Sox helmet came from a cupcake. True story.)

...An Albert Pujols Chirstmas ornament. For the Cardinals fan in you.

...A Todd McFarlane sculpture of former 1960's and 1970's Montreal Canadiens star Yvan Cournoyer. That was from a co-worker who found it for $1.99 in South Bend, Ind.

...A set of four Milwaukee Brewers nesting dolls -- J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall.

The bobblehead collection, though, is modest: Former Milwaukee Brewers star Cecil Cooper has been immortalized in sculpture as has 1970s Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Davey Concepcion, the latter picked up Wednesday when I drove to Ohio to meet Rob on his way to Arizona and watch the Cardinals lose to the Reds thanks to a walkoff homer by David Ross off Jason Bleepin' Isringhausen.

It's also contagious. Rob, possibly the biggest baseball fan I know, was on his way to Texas to see the Rangers and Mariners on Friday night ... Jim Sundberg bobblehead night.

Next up -- Sept. 2 and back to Milwaukee for Robin Yount bobblehead night.

And the results ....

All clear ... just a benign mole, and I will follow up in six months.

The wait goes on ...

I had the stitches removed from my arm Tuesday, but they did not have the biopsy results yet. So, for now, I wait a little longer to see what shakes out.

Better safe than sorry, I suppose

I had a biopsy on Saturday.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I suppose I should be freaking out more, but I'm really not. I was at a dermatologist for another issue -- also not major -- when he saw a mole on my left triceps that not a correct color.

He told me they were going to do a biopsy -- just to be on the safe side -- the same way you would tell someone chicken was on sale at the local Meijer or that the Cubs suck.

Local anesthetic, check ... 6 mm dermal punch to take a notch out of my arm, check ... couple of stitches with 4-0 silk, check ... I'll know what's going on around Aug. 1.

Cancer, unfortunately, runs in my family. My mother, 82 in September, beat it twice -- including growths that resulted in the loss of her larynx and vocal cords. My aunt, Rose, lost a four-year battle with intestinal cancer in 1984.

In 1949, my grandfather on Dad's side, died of stomach cancer at either 63 or 64 when that kind of diagnosis was a death sentence. Sad to say, unless a certain member of my family cuts down or quits smoking, she's on her way to a lung cancer diagnosis for sure.

For now, though, it's just a time to wait. When I know, you all will know.

This just in: the "No Shit" award of 2006

So, I'm floating around the Internet last night, hours after seeeing Kobayashi wolf down almost 54 hot dogs, and I come across this gem from Associated Press writer Lindsey Tanner ...

FAT PEOPLE NOT MORE JOLLY, STUDY SAYS

CHICAGO - Fat people are not more jolly, according to a study that instead found obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders.

Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not certain, and the research does not provide an answer, but there are theories to support both arguments.

Depression often causes people to abandon activities, and some medications used to treat mental illness can cause weight gain. On the other hand, obesity is often seen as a stigma and overweight people often are subject to teasing and other hurtful behavior.

The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders including depression were about 25 percent more common in the obese people studied than in the non-obese. Substance abuse was an exception — obese people were about 25 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than slimmer participants.

The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, being released Monday. The lead author was Dr. Gregory Simon, a researcher with Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, a large nonprofit health plan in the Pacific Northwest.

The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.

"The take-home message for doctors is to be on the lookout for depression among their patients who are overweight," Fenton said.

Both conditions are quite common. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and depression affects about 10 percent of the population, or nearly 21 million U.S. adults in a given year.

Previous studies produced conflicting results on whether obesity is linked with mental illness including depression, although a growing body of research suggests there is an association.

This latest study helps resolve the question, said Dr. Susan McElroy, a psychiatry professor at the University of Cincinnati and editor of a textbook on obesity and mental disorders.

"This is a state-of-the-art psychiatric epidemiology study that really confirms that there is, in fact, a relationship," she said.

The study was based on an analysis of a national survey of 9,125 adults who were interviewed to assess mental state. Obesity status was determined using participants' self-reported weight and height measurements.

About one-fourth of all participants were obese. Some 22 percent of obese participants had experienced a mood disorder including depression, compared with 18 percent of the nonobese.

McElroy said the study bolsters previous research suggesting that drug and alcohol abuse are less common in the obese. One reason might be that good-tasting food and substances of abuse both affect the same reward-seeking areas of the brain, McElroy said. Why some people choose food as a mood-regulator and others drugs or alcohol is uncertain, she said.

The study found the relationship between obesity and mental illness was equally strong in men and women, contrasting with some previous research that found a more robust link in women.

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OK ... they needed a study to prove this?

Don't get me wrong, I don't ever forget the size I used to be, and I am thankful to this day that the medical technology exists that allowed me to slim down.

Take it from someone who lived it most of his life: you eat too much because you're depressed. You're depressed because of the way you look. You eat more to combat the depression. You gain weight. You get more depressed.

Thanks for the tip!

KA-BOOOOOOOM

A happy and safe 4th of July from the Windy City!