You're right, Rob. I was wrong.
There's my mea culpa.
Now get over yourself. You still have a way to go.
So far, I am proving why I don't gamble for a living. Tigers beat the Yankees. A's sweep the Twins. Mets do the same to the Dodgers. I can make it an embarrassing sweep if the Padres can rally back from two games down to beat the Cardinals.
Back up the moving vans to 161st. and River Avenue.
The New York Yankees again came up small in the postseason, losing the AL division series in four games to Detroit. So, all you fans, hold off again on changing all those signs to reflect 27 World Championships.
Remember, the Yankees were the team built from the top to the bottom of the order to win now. Problem is one through five -- the pitching staff -- is largely being ignored.
With a 19-win season, Chien-Ming Wang established himself as the ace of the staff. After that, the staff would be one of the best in baseball ... if it were 1997. Randy Johnson cannot do it anymore at age 43. All you needed to see was him laboring in Game 3.
Future Hall of Famers need to recognize when it's time to call it a career.
Mike Mussina? Cory Lidle? Jaret Wright? Do any of these players truly strike fear in batters today? Apparently not.
It would be easy to pile on A-Rod, but that is a subject that has been beaten around far more than it deserves to be -- .071 batting average, failed to drive in a run for the second straight postseason.
He needs to get out of New York -- whether it's his choice or the Yankees', it's time to cut the cord. A-Rod will challenge for Hank Aaron's home run record. When he shows up at spring training, he'll still be just 31 and need only 291 homers to move atop the list, but it's clear he can't do it in a Yanks uniform.
The worst thing A-Rod did was leave Seattle. He was the big fish in the small pond there. Had his contract not been worth $252 million when he signed with Texas, he would have been in the same situation.
Instead, the spotlight was turned on him because of his landmark deal. Going to New York only turned up the heat. Forget what you read about him, he's clearly a very sensitive man -- when he reads the comments in the papers and hears what people say about him on sportstalk radio, you just know they stay deep in his psyche.
Maybe A-Rod likes barbecue or day trips to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or Mall of America. Fisherman's Wharf also is a nice place to visit.
It's time.
You could see this coming ... the Carolina Hurricanes are still hung over from bringing the Stanley Cup to the Tar Heel State.
After losing their season opener in a shootout on Thursday, Carolina was overmatched in a 4-0 defeat to New Jersey on Friday. Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goaltender Cam Ward looked bad in giving up three first-period goals.
Both losses have come at home, where Carolina enjoyed a decided advantage in going 31-8-2 last season at the RBC Center ...
Congratulations to Martin Brodeur. The future Hall of Famer made 29 saves for his 81st career shutout and 447th win tying him with Terry Sawchuk for third on the all-time list.
It will take a couple, three more years, but Brodeur will pass Patrick Roy to become the NHL's leading winner among among goaltenders. Roy, headed to the Hall of Fame next month, recorded 551 wins with Montreal, Quebec and Colorado ...
Confidence-breaker of the night? Columbus' Pascal LeClaire gives up two third-period goals and OT tally in 3-2 loss to Vancouver. LeClaire became the Jackets' starter after Marc Denis was shipped to Tampa Bay, and the newbie will need a short memory.
Columbus travels to Chicago to meet the Blackhawks on Saturday. Chicago, opening its home slate, recorded its best offensive output in 3 1/2 years with an 8-6 win over Nashville on Thursday ...
Farewell, Buck. Whenever an APNewsAlert comes across the wire, it's almost certainly bad news.
CORE ^^*2080< ^AP-APNewsAlert<,0024<¶ KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Buck O'Neil, former Negro League star, has died at 94.
I met O'Neil nine years ago at a journalism workshop in Kansas City. Soft-spoken, but a very powerful man.
What was the bigger injustice, though -- not being able to play in the majors for being black or falling one vote short of enshrinement to the Hall of Fame?
It was a good run while it lasted.
The Minnesota Twins had a chance to evoke memories of 1987 and 1991, but instead were sent packing after an 8-3 loss to Oakland in Game 3 of the AL division series on Friday.
Here's what the Twins can take into 2007, though ...
-- Joe Mauer, the former Cretin-Derham star from St. Paul, will be back as the reigning AL batting champion.
-- Justin Morneau finally showed what kind of player he can be. Easily their best at first since Hrbek.
-- Johan Santana will likely head to spring training with his second AL Cy Young Award safely tucked away.
-- IF all is right with the world, Francisco Liriano's arm will be sound again.
-- Matt Garza and Boof Bonser will no longer be rookies. No better way than to get rid of those first-year jitters than to be caught up in a playoff race.
This team was 12 1/2 games back in May and 10 1/2 back as late as Aug. 7, and STILL won the division. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise ... 2006 was a success in Minnesota.
0155 a.m. CDT
Some more bits and pieces, now that all is over and I can breathe:
...very nice effort from the Blues in a 5-4 overtime loss to San Jose. Bill Guerin, coming off a bad season in Dallas in which his contract was bought out, scored the game-tying goal with 5.6 seconds left.
St. Louis' streak of 25 postseason appearances ended last season when they finished in last place in the Central. How bad was it in the Gateway City? The Blues had 57 points -- 67 behind first-place Detroit.
New ownership, led by former New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden boss Dave Checketts, and new president John "Ohh-h-h-h-h, baby!" Davidson have to be somewhat pleased.
... your shots on goal by period, Atlanta, in a 3-2 shootout loss to Tampa Bay. Six. Two. Two. One. That's the last four digits of a Social Security number. Not gonna git'er done much with 11 shots in a game. 
... very impressive, Marc-Andre Fleury. A 40-save shutout to beat hated cross-state Philadelphia is a nice way to introduce yourself to your new owner.
Games to keep an eye on for Friday include New Jersey vs. Carolina in a rematch of an Eastern Conference semifinal from last season. Also, Anson Carter, a 33-goal scorer for the Canucks last season, faces his former club for the first time when Columbus meets Roberto Luongo and Vancouver, which you can read about here
I may be making my first road trip of the season on Monday: Phoenix vs. Columbus.
1030 p.m. CDT
The Chicago Blackhawks scored eight goals in their season-opening win over the Nashville Predators.
It was their most in one game since 2003, and I know ... it's one game ... but as someone who's lived in the Windy City for just a year, this is gratifying because media coverage of the Blackhawks in this town is non-existent. The AHL's Wolves get more ink and more coverage than the 'Hawks -- one of the Original Six teams.
May be time to jump on the Martin Havlat bandwagon.
... End of two in the desert, Isles goalie Rick DiPietro has already allowed six goals. For $55,284.55 a game, can you stop a piece of rubber, for the love of God?
...For years, the New York Rangers had a bad habit of picking up aging superstars. Phil Esposito leaps to mind. So does Marcel Dionne. So, it's good to see Brendan Shanahan score two goals -- including the 600th of his career in a 5-2 win over Washington.
...BlackBerrys for all! Hours after reaching an agreement to be sold to a Canadian businessman, the Penguins shut out Peter Forsberg and the Flyers 4-0. Jim Balsillie -- love that name -- has agreed to buy the team from HOF'er Mario Lemieux for $175 million.
Pittsburgh needs a new arena in the worst way -- Mellon Arena is a barn in the middle of downtown. I still think this team is on the move regardless of what Gary "The Keebler Elf" Bettman says.
I have one thought from opening night ... anyone who thinks Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore is the second coming of Patrick Roy, guess again. You cannot be giving up game-winning goals to the likes of Darryl Sydor. 
In overtime.
On a breakaway.
As he comes out of the penalty box.
Skating like he's in cement.
Now, to answer noted column castigator Chris Altruda, when we move offices, the M.G. will become "the NB." As far as picking the Caps to win the Southeast ... dare to dream.
Let the season begin with some quick hits.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
1. NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Martin Brodeur was inconsistent at times, but still led the league with 43 wins ... Harvest's husband, Brian Gionta (affectionately known by column castigator Chris Altruda in the M.G. as "that widget") will top 50 goals and 100 points for the first time ... Patrik Elias is healthy again.
2. NEW YORK RANGERS: What more can Henrik Lundqvist do in net during his second season? Get the Rangers past the quarterfinals ... Petr Prucha burst on the scene with 30 goals in his rookie season, and needs to avoid the sophomore slump ... Jaromir Jagr was nosed out by Jonathan Cheechoo for the Maurice Richard Trophy and Joe Thornton for the Art Ross Trophy after a 54-goal, 123-point season.
3. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS: Peter Forsberg and Antero Niittymaki must stay healthy -- and that's not a given ... Simon Gagne was three goals short of 50 last season, and may be hard-pressed to duplicate that ... Did Mike Knuble really have 13 power-play goals last year?
4. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: At some point this season, they will likely have one of the top two picks from the last four drafts -- Marc Andre-Fleury (No. 1, '03), Evgeni Malkin (No. 2, '04), Sidney Crosby (No. 1, '05) and Jordan Staal (No. 2, '06) -- in the lineup at the same time. They're still not going anywhere, except eventually to Kansas City or Winnipeg.
5. NEW YORK ISLANDERS: Major applause for bringing back Ted Nolan to coach in the NHL. He may want to quit by Christmas ... Rick DiPietro will be laughing to the bank. He needs to find out what branch Alexei Yashin (the "petulant Russian prick," according to the column castigator) uses ... Biggest offseason move was signing Mike Sillinger. He joins his 12th team in 15 seasons, and he's scored more than 20 goals just twice.
NORTHEAST DIVISION
1. BUFFALO SABRES: Beware the Buffaslugs ... Goaltender Ryan Miller missed 18 games last season with a broken thumb and still found a way to win 30 games ... Daniel Briere has 25 goals and 33 assists in an injury-shortened season a year ago. If they stay healthy, they win. 
2. OTTAWA SENATORS: "Swiss Miss" Martin Gerber is in net after the Dominik Hasek experiment fails ... Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley will fight tooth-and-nail again for the scoring lead ... the loss of Zdeno Chara (forever known as "Alice the Goon" in the M.G.) will hurt some ... Andrej Meszaros was a plus-34 last season. I would be too on that team.
3. MONTREAL CANADIENS: "Les natifs" are getting restless for another Stanley Cup ... After seven shutouts in 36 games a year ago, Cristobal "Baby" Huet was the real deal. Now do it again ... Underachieving Sergei Samsonov replaces Mike Ribeiro.
4. BOSTON BRUINS: Just getting rid of the gold "Winnie the Pooh" jerseys means they're headed in the right direction .... Zdeno Chara will become a fan favorite ... Phil Kessel leaves the University of Minnesota for Beantown ... Tim Thomas and Hannu Toivonen? Remember the name Tuuka Rask.
5. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: New coach Paul Maurice was born the year the Leafs last won the Cup -- 1967 ... Fans will soon learn Andrew Raycroft is more like Jim Carey than Ed Belfour ... Mats Sundin is coming up on 500 goals and that may be the only reason to watch.
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
1. WASHINGTON CAPITALS: Surprise. Alexander Ovechkin really is God ... Washington will win, but also will give up a lot of goals ... Chris Clark and Matt Pettinger are underrated, but will score 20 each again.
2. CAROLINA HURRICANES: Cup hangover hits Raleigh ... Cam Ward was exceptional in a short postseason -- welcome to the regular-season grind ... Josef Vasicek will be missed more than they think ... Eric Staal doesn't reach 100 points this season.
3. ATLANTA THRASHERS: If Ovechkin is God, what does that make Ilya Kovalchuk? ... Noted whiner Marc Savard is gone but so are the 97 points he scored last season ... Marian Hossa continues his development as a finesse player; his goal totals have gone down while his assists have gone up each of the last two seasons.
4. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: Anyone feel like hitting a bar with coach John Tortorella after a loss? Plenty of chances this season ... Unsung hero Fredrik Modin -- 60 goals, 17 PPG over the last two seasons -- will be missed ... Martin St. Louis needs to improve on a 61-point season from last year.
5. FLORIDA PANTHERS: Could challenge the Islanders as the worst team in the East ... Roberto Luongo was a rock in net, not so sure about Alex Auld ... Player to watch: center Rostislav Olesz. Trust me.
CENTRAL DIVISION
1. NASHVILLE PREDATORS: The trendy pick to win this season and for good reason ... Paul Kariya gets help on offense from newcomers Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont ... Another name to remember: Alexander Radulov ... Tomas Vokoun's health still a concern after blood clotting.
2. DETROIT RED WINGS: The last go-round of success in Hockeytown ... With Steve Yzerman now in the front office and Brendan Shanahan in New York, Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the face of the franchise ... He's 41 and injury-prone, but he's still Dominik Hasek.
3. ST LOUIS BLUES: They're not making the playoffs, but they will improve over last season's 57-point debacle ... Manny Legace gives them a legit starting goalie perhaps for the first time since Greg Millen ... Bill Guerin comes over from Dallas and Doug Weight returns from a Cup winner in Carolina ... New ownership led by Dave Checketts and new president John Davidson provide stability.
4. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS: The Pascal LeClaire show gets underway in Ohio, but watch for backup Fredrik Norrena ... Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter provide another offensive dimension besides Rick Nash and David Vyborny ... Is Nikolai Zherdev worth the money and the trouble? Ten of his 27 goals last season on the power play.
5. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Will Tuomo Ruutu play an injury-free season? No ... Can Bill Wirtz die soon enough so "Islanders Midwest" can become relevant again? No ... After wearing No. 53 last season, Nikolai Khabibulin hopes No. 39 will be a little luckier ... Martin Havlat, welcome to NHL Hell.
NORTHWEST DIVISION
1. CALGARY FLAMES: In Miikka, we trust -- Kiprusoff logs 12 shutouts this season ... Jarome Iginla finally gets help with the arrival of Alex Tanguay ... Flames won the division last season despite third-fewest goals in the West .. watch Dion Phaneuf play and count how many Norris Trophies he will win.
2. MINNESOTA WILD: No one will be happier to see Pavol Demitra on the ice than linemate and countryman Marian Gaborik ... Not sure if Brian Rolston will duplicate his career-best 79-point season or if Pierre-Marc Bouchard can build off his breakout season a year ago.
3. EDMONTON OILERS: Too many pieces to the Stanley Cup puzzle left -- Chris Pronger to Ducks, Michael Peca to Leafs, Sergei Samsonov to Habs ... Dwayne Roloson and Fernando Pisani need to show last season's playoff magic was no fluke ... Joffrey Lupul will feel no pressure playing in front of the hometown fans.
4. VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Welcome coach Alain Vigneault and goalie Roberto Luongo ... just not having the presence of Todd Bertuzzi around makes them better ... Anson Carter's 33 goals will be missed ... Can one of the Sedins become a 30-goal scorer?
5. COLORADO AVALANCHE: So not sold on Jose Theodore ... Joe Sakic will reach 1,500 career points this year, but this also will be the season he starts to show his age ... Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos begin to assert themselves as stars ... Toughness added with waiver pickup George Parros.
PACIFIC DIVISION
1. SAN JOSE SHARKS: Cheechoo is level-headed enough not to live off his 56-goal season from a year ago ... the Vesa and Evgeni show needs to be settled in net. Nabokov will head to an Eastern team and I'm thinking Washington ... Patrick Marleau had nine preseason goals ... Watch for Steve Bernier.
2. DALLAS STARS: Mike Modano becomes the all-time leading U.S.-born scorer ... Marty Turco is great in net during the regular season, but not a sure thing come playoff time ... Jere Lehtinen is still vastly underrated ... Jussi Jokinen is a lot of fun to watch in a shootout.
3. ANAHEIM DUCKS: Chris Pronger joins a loaded defense ... like in San Jose, the Ducks need to settle on Ilya or J.S. in net, unless coach Randy Carlyle decides to go with the hot hand ... No way Teemu Selanne has 90 points again this season.
4. PHOENIX COYOTES: Glendale Arena's new nickname -- "The Retirement Community" ... Jeremy Roenick? Owen Nolan? Did they learn anything from Brett Hull last season and is Wayne going to lace them up again? ... Ladislav Nagy has missed 66 games over the last two seasons and has yet to score 25 goals ... CuJo is 39.
5. LOS ANGELES KINGS: Dan Cloutier brings a fiery personality to laid-back southern California ... Rob Blake comes back ... rookies Patrick O'Sullivan and Anze Kopitar are reasons to watch ... Lubomir Visnovsky had 41 of his 67 points a year ago on the power play.
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?
The Marlins didn't wait for the grave to get cold. Hours after cutting ties with Girardi on Tuesday, Fredi Gonzalez was named manager.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
