The difference between the Jets and the Giants

Utter ineptitude...

...versus a championship squad.

Same old Jets

You would have thought that when the Jets swung an offseason deal to acquire Brett Favre that they'd finally secured the critical piece that had eluded them since the days of Joe Namath: a difference-making, superstar quarterback.

You would have thought that when the Jets surrounded Favre with $140 million worth of free agents and trade acquisitions that they had given Favre the supports necessary to turn a 4-11 team into a legitimate AFC contender.

You would have thought that when Tom Brady went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 that the stars had aligned for the revamped Jets to make a run at the Super Bowl berth that has otherwise been off limits in the Brady-Belichick era.

You would have thought that when the Jets went into Foxborough and beat the Patriots in Week 11 and that when they then went into Nashville and ended the Titans' undefeated season the following weekend that they were indeed taking advantage of their best championship opportunity in recent memory.

Nope.

Four weeks and three disgraceful losses later, the Jets have completed an epic collapse that stands alone even in their putrid history. It culminated in a downright pathetic 13-3 setback to the three-win Seahawks yesterday, a loss that all-but guarantees they'll be home come January.

Just how badly did the Jets play with their season on the line yesterday? Their defense registered zero sacks of Senaca Wallace, stymied by a patchwork Seattle offensive line of 5 (!) backups. Their quarterback, legendary for his cold-weather prowess and his cannon arm, was abysmal in the snowy conditions, underthrowing every pass except a 4th-and-4 heave with 2:21 to play that Laveranues Coles dropped. Their coach, touted as a "genius" just two years ago, showed zero faith in his team of 7 Pro Bowlers, opting for a chip-shot field goal instead of a touchdown try in the first quarter and then a punt instead of a 50-yard field goal try in the fourth.

But then again, what else would you expect but a gutless performance from a team that lost at home to the Patriots in Matt Cassel's first professional start? That fell to both Oakland and San Francisco (combined record: 10-20) this season? That made the freefalling Denver Broncos look dominant three weeks ago? That needed a gift from the football gods just to get by the lowly Bills last week?

Sp put those dreams of an all-Jersey Super Bowl (Jets vs. Giants with Bruce Springsteen performing at halftime) to bed. Start gauging Bill Cowher's interest in coming out of retirement. Don't even wait for Favre to start his annual will-he-or-won't-he retirement drama -- just show him the door.

This once-promising season is now down to a nightmare showdown against Miami in the Meadowlands next weekend. A season-ending loss to Chad Pennington, who the Jets cared so little about after acquiring Favre that they let him sign with a division rival, would be the ultimate slap in the face. Then again, a win would open the door for the hated Patriots to clinch a miraculous postseason berth. Regardless, it'll be one more punch to the gut, as if Jet fans haven't endured enough already.

Jason who?

At the start of the Nets' clash with the Dallas Mavericks last night, the 9,899 fans who braved stormy conditions and journeyed to the Izod Center may have felt a tinge of nostalgia. Triggering those sentiments was the return of Jason Kidd, the man whose 2001 arrival in New Jersey signaled the dawn of the franchise's greatest years since it won a pair of ABA championships in the 70s.

By the end of last night's game, however, as the clock wound down on a 121-97 drubbing of the Mavs, the sparse crowd was singing a different tune. "Thank you, Cuban!" it chanted, a nod to the Dallas owner who took a disgruntled Kidd off the Nets' hands in February and gave them Devin Harris and two first-round picks in return. With those cheers, a night that began as a celebration of the Kidd era ended with fans embracing a new chapter of Nets basketball, the face of which is undoubtedly the 25-year-old Harris.

Mired in the relative obscurity of the Swamp, Harris has flown largely under the radar this season. But thanks to Kidd's much-ballyhooed return to New Jersey, Harris finally had a captive audience before which he could strut his stuff. He didn't disappoint, torching his former club to the tune of 41 points, 13 assists, and 3 steals.

It might be the signature performance in a season that has seen the shoo-in All Star thrive under the total freedom afforded him by coach Lawrence Frank's unorthodox dribble-drive offense. Harris is one of three players -- LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are the others -- to average at least 23 points and 6 assists per game this season. He has developed an uncanny knack for getting to the free-throw line, trailing only Dwight Howard with 10.5 attempts from the charity stripe per game. Most impressively, Harris has been at his best against superior competition. At the tail end of the Nets' West Coast trip in late November, Harris outplayed Deron Williams and Steve Nash on back-to-back nights, totaling a combined 81 points and leading New Jersey to two impressive road wins.

And then there's his flare for the dramatic. In a Nov. 7 game against Detroit, in which all the pregame chatter surrounded Allen Iverson's first game in a Pistons uniform, Harris stole the show, tallying a then-career high 38 points. A week later, nursing a badly sprained left ankle, he dropped 30 and 8 on Atlanta. Most notably, in a Nov. 26 game at Sacramento in which he was held to just 2 first-half points, Harris rebounded to drill a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation before nailing a go-ahead 16-footer with 12 seconds left in overtime, leading the Nets to their first win at Arco Arena in over a decade.

There's no question that the Nets' surprising 13-12 start, which has included a 6-4 mark against the vaunted Western Conference, has been a team effort. Contrary to what some prognosticators believed at the beginning of the season, Vince Carter has not sulked his way into a trade to a contender and has in fact strung together arguably his best season in New Jersey (23 PPG, 40.5 3P%). Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson, the team's two first-round picks in the 2008 Draft, may not be scoring in droves, but they've made contributions on defense and on the glass. The bench, led by Jarvis Hayes and Keyon Dooling, has been solid. But Harris is the engine that makes it all run, something that started becoming apparent when the Nets went 0-3 while he was sidelined with an ankle injury earlier this season and continued through last night's dazzling performance.

If Kidd's legacy was defined by the unprecedented team success the Nets experienced under his stewardship, then Harris has a lot more winning to do before he matches his predecessor. Officially handed the torch last night, Harris proved he's up for the challenge.

Weekend baseball recap

A recap of a fascinating weekend of baseball:

Thumbs up:

Minnesota Twins:

Did you happen to catch who moved into first place in the AL Central today? It's the upstart Minnesota Twins, who got six shutout innings from the just-recalled Francisco Liriano, beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2, and opened up a 1/2 game lead on the Chicago White Sox.

The Twins made an interesting call Friday, when they designated Livan Hernandez for assignment to make room on the roster for Liriano. Hernandez was far and away Minnesota's most experienced starter, and his departure leaves the Twins relying on 5 very young starters -- Liriano (24), Scott Baker (26), Kevin Slowey (24), Nick Blackburn (26), and Glen Perkins (25) -- to win them a division title. Not one of them has more than 3 years of MLB experience.

That may seem like a daunting challenge, but it's not a bad decision for a team that's been playing with house money all year. Fans probably won't fault the Twins if they don't make the playoffs -- how could they have expected their team to even be contending after dealing Johan Santana in the offseason? And if they do make the playoffs, their young rotation gets valuable October experience.

So heading into August 4, your AL division leaders are the Rays, Twins, and Angels. And when you remember that many people thought Seattle would win the West this year, every single member of that trio can be considered a surprise. Meanwhile, the teams with the highest payrolls in the East (Yankees) and Central (Tigers) are both in third place, and the team with the second highest payroll in the West (Seattle, trailing the Angels by just $1.5 million) is in last place. How's that for parity?


July acquisitions:

The greatest trade deadline in history has lived up to the billing, as several July acquisitions gave their new clubs big boosts over the weekend:

• Jason Bay: .533 on-base percentage, 6 runs scored in 3 games vs. A's
• Joe Blanton (Sat.): 7-inning, 1-run effort in 2-1 victory over St. Louis
• Ken Griffey, Jr. (Fri.): 2-3, 2 RBIs in 4-2 win over Kansas City
• Jeff Karstens (Fri.): 6 shutout innings against the first-place Cubs
• Xavier Nady: 7-11, 7 RBIs vs. the vaunted Angels' pitching staff
• Manny Ramirez: 8-13, 2 HR in 3 games vs. Arizona
• C.C. Sabathia (Sat.): 8.1 innings, 9 strikeouts 4-2 victory over Atlanta
• Mark Teixeira (Sun.): Go-ahead grand slam in eighth inning against the Yankees

Brad Ziegler

Maybe it's because he doesn't throw 100 MPH, pump his fist, or pitch for the Yankees that Ziegler hasn't attained Joba Chamberlain-esque mega-stardom yet. Nonetheless, the A's rookie reliever certainly deserves a great deal attention for having, statistically, the greatest start to a career ever. After tossing 2 shutout innings Saturday in Fenway Park, the 28-year-old former independent leaguer, who spent parts of 6 seasons in the minors before being called up on May 31, is up to 32 consecutive scoreless innings to begin a career, a new record -- the previous mark of 25.0 frames hadn't been touched for the last 101 years.

And it's not like Ziegler has had an easy go of it, having thrown more than 1 inning in each of his last 5 outings and in 12 of 25 appearances overall. The sidewinder has also faced 6 of the top 13 offenses in all of baseball (1. Texas, 3. Detroit, 4. Boston, 6. Chicago White Sox, 12. Florida, and 13. New York Yankees) and hurled a combined 10.1 shutout innings against them.


Thumbs down:

New York Mets:

Between August 1 and August 26, the Mets were to play a grand total of three games against teams currently with winning records. But in the midst of this golden opportunity to run away with the NL East, the Mets got off to a terrible start, getting swept by the pathetic Houston Astros over the weekend. After deciding against adding a much-needed bullpen arm at the trade deadline, Omar Minaya watched his team pay the price, as reliever Aaron Heilman surrendered a go-ahead grand slam to Mark Loretta in the series opener and closer Billy Wagner blew a 2-run save the following day. And when you consider that the Mets' 5-9 hitters in today's game were Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, and the pitcher's spot -- since Minaya also decided against trading for a hitter before July 31 -- it's no wonder they were shutout 4-0 by, of all people, Randy Wolf.

To add a little insult to injury, the Yankees took a not-so-veiled jab at their cross-town rivals during Saturday afternoon's Old-Timers' Day festivities at Yankee Stadium. Among the guests of honor was former Mets manager Willie Randolph, who was introduced by emcee Michael Kay as "once a Yankee, always a Yankee." The Bombers' mainstay second baseman for two championship teams in the late-70's and much of the 80's, Randolph received the loudest ovation of the afternoon and then told reporters, "I've been away for a while, but I think my heart and soul's always been here."

That's the kind of stuff that makes Met fans, who already feel an incredible inferiority complex towards the big-brother Yankees, hurl. All-in-all, it was a downer of a weekend in Queens.

Detroit Tigers:

Did Tiger fans ever think they'd miss Todd Jones? They sure did today against the Rays, when Kyle Farnsworth blew a two-run lead in the 8th inning and Fernando Rodney couldn't protect a one-run lead in the 10th. Rodney surrendered a bases-loaded walk to Carlos Pena that gave Tampa Bay a 6-5 walkoff win and a sweep of the three-game series against Detroit.

Well, so much for those preseason World Series aspirations -- it just might be time to declare the Tigers dead. In the Central race, Detroit and its $138 million payroll are now closer to the division cellar than they are to first. The squad's Wild Card chances, already looking bleak given the logjam of teams ahead of them, took a big hit, as well, as Boston's sweep of Oakland left the Tigers 8.5 back with 51 games to play.

Brett Favre:

Just go away, Brett.


Yankee Review:

At the end of the day, a 2-2 split against the loaded Angels is about all you could ask for as a Yankee fan, particularly after the way the weekend started off. Andy Pettitte, who has always been prone to the occasional dud performance throughout his career (see 2001 World Series, Game 6), picked the wrong time for one Thursday night, yielding 9 earned runs in 5.1 innings. It was a particularly ill-timed performance on Pettitte's part given some of the pitching matchups for the remainder of the weekend (Ponson-Santana, Rasner-Lackey).

As it turned out, the Yankees would actually get an outstanding performance from Sidney Ponson the following evening (7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs). But the two most befuddling aspects of their season -- their frequent ineptitude on offense and Mariano Rivera's inability to pitch in non-save situations -- reared their ugly heads in a downright frustrating 1-0 loss. As a result, the Yanks got none of the benefits out of a good Ponson start (a victory) and all of the detriments (he earns another start).

Things began to turn in the Yankees' favor, however, when Mike Mussina perfectly played the role of stopper Saturday afternoon, allowing just 2 hits over 7 innings. Couple that performance with the outstanding play of the much-maligned Yankee bench -- Wilson Betemit had a game-tying two-run home run and Jose Molina went 3-3 with 3 runs scored -- and it shaped up to be a nice bounceback, feel-good effort from the Bombers. And in Sunday's series finale, while they did receive a big assist from the Angels in the form of 9 unearned runs, the Yanks still showed some fortitude in overcoming a 5-0 lead against John Lackey and a 9-8 deficit against Scott Shields to win a wild 14-9 affair.

The weekend left the Bombers with an 11-5 mark since the All-Star break; ironically, the only team to have taken a series from the them in that period was the Orioles, also the only sub-.500 team they've played since the break. It's a promising sign as the Yanks head onto a taxing part of their schedule that has them on the road for 16 of the next 19 games.

Recapping the deadline

Have you ever seen a trade deadline unfold quite like this?

In the past two days alone, three players with a combined 38 All-Star selections -- Ivan Rodriguez, Ken Griffey, and Manny Ramirez -- were all dealt. The reigning A.L. Cy Young winner, the league's best switch hitter, and the 2004 NL Rookie of the Year also changed addresses. As ESPN.com's Jayson Stark put it, that sounds more like a Hall of Fame ballot than it does a list of guys on the trading block.

Now that this topsy-turvey period of wheeling and dealing is behind us, let's recap who fared the best -- and the worst:

Winners:

Los Angeles Dodgers
In one of the biggest steals you'll probably ever see, Joe Torre's squad gave up absolutely nothing of any worth to them this season for one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time. Yes, Manny's probably a rental, and yes, he's a royal pain in the ass. But if you look at talent alone, Ramirez has the ability to change the balance of power in an NL West race where nobody has separated from the pack. Plus, now that Manny's assured of being a free agent at the end of this season, you have to figure he'll be motivated to go out and earn the $100 million contract he apparently feels entitled to. It's also safe to assume that Torre, a master at managing clubhouses, will find a way to play 5 outfielders without anyone getting too disgruntled.
Grade: A+

Los Angeles Angels
A simple check of the linescore would have given you all you needed to know about why the Angels were swept by the Red Sox in last season's ALDS; the team scored a ghastly 4 runs in 3 games and hit just .192. L.A. should have no such problems this season after acquiring first baseman Mark Texeira from the Braves and giving Vlad Guerrero the protection he has been without his entire tenure with the Angels. The move fills the best team in baseball's one glaring hole and makes it the favorite to win the World Series. The only downside -- and this is nitpicky -- is that L.A. is really banking on 2008 to be their year, since Texeira is almost certainly a rental and K-Rod, John Lackey, Garrett Anderson, and Guerrero could all become free agents in the offseason. (The latter three have club options for 2009.) Most definitely a worthwhile gamble, though.
Grade: A

New York Yankees
Two weeks ago, the 7, 8, and 9 spots in the Yankees' batting order belonged to Melky Cabrera, Jose Molina, and Brett Gardner. By the evening of July 30, those spots were being occupied by Xavier Nady, Ivan Rodriguez, and okay, Melky's still here. It's a drastic upgrade for the Bronx Bombers, and that, too, at a relatively cheap price, as the Yanks traded from areas of surplus: minor league pitching and power arms out of the bullpen. Still, they couldn't make a deal for a back end starting pitcher, so unless they find something on the waiver wire, they'll be relying on Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson, and a couple mediocre options in Triple-A to win some big games for them down the stretch. Nonetheless, when you compare what they did to what the teams in their division did (or, in Tampa Bay's case, didn't do), the Yankees emerge from the deadline as big-time winners.
Grade: B+


Losers:

Boston Red Sox
Yes, Boston emerges from the whole Manny fiasco with its dignity in tact, and yes, there is such a thing as addition by subtraction. But it's hard to make the argument that giving up $7 million and three major leaguers -- Manny, Craig Hansen, and Brandon Moss -- for Jason Bay is a good baseball decision. It's an even harder to rationalize when you consider that the Red Sox are trailing in the AL East race and that the hard-charging, third-place Yankees got better at the deadline. And by shipping Moss out to Pittsburgh instead of Kansas City for Ron Mahay, the Manny trade also cost Boston a chance to get the middle reliever it badly needs. No one would dare count out a team that's won 2 of the last 4 World Series crowns, but in a cutthroat American League East race, the defending champs are, at the least, looking very vulnerable.
Grade: D+

Arizona Diamondbacks
Their tandem of Webb and Haren is as good as it gets, and they did land a valuable bullpen piece in Jon Rauch. But the D-backs missed out on a chance to get the big stick they desperately need, balking at Atlanta's demands for Teixeira. As a result, Arizona is stuck with the same offense that struggled in last season's NLCS against the Rockies and that's ranked 25th in the league with a .252 average. Oh, and Manny went to their division rival.
Grade: D+

Houston Astros
The Astros are a whopping 14 games out in the Central and a distant 9 back in the Wild Card. But apparently, that's close enough for Ed Wade and Co., who made the appalling decision to make a run at a playoff spot. Forget about a trade, there wasn't even a single rumor out there that any of their desirable assets -- Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and Miguel Tejada -- were on the trading block. Instead, Houston traded for veterans, albeit worthless ones in Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. A rebuilding process that should have begun last year is only further delayed.
Grade: F

Florida Marlins
The Fish began the day rumored to be the favorite to land Manny. They ended it with Arthur Rhodes. Florida's inability to make pry away a future-Hall of Fame slugger from a team desperate to trade him is yet another black eye for an organization that, for all its success, has made a litany of questionable personnel moves over the years, and there's no doubt now that this overachieving bunch will soon fade into oblivion in the NL East race.
Grade: F


Wait and see:

New York Mets
You can't necessarily blame the Mets for not wanting to tinker with a team that's won 16 of its last 22 games. Still, the Mets are entering August with an overachieving Fernando Tatis in right field, a revolving door of bench players in left, and Damion Easley at second. That might be good enough to win the NL East, especially since the Marlins couldn't pull off a Manny trade and the Phillies couldn't do better than Joe Blanton to upgrade their horrendous starting pitching. But by standing pat, the Mets have hinged their World Series hopes on the continued success of their super scrubs, and when it comes time to face C.C. Sabathia and Carlos Zambrano in the postseason, that might be a bit too much to ask.
Grade: C

Chicago White Sox
If this were the mid-90's, maybe we'd be singing a different tune about the South Siders' acquisition of Ken Griffey, Jr. But Griffey hasn't been motivated, healthy, and -- most importantly -- good since the waning days of the Clinton administration, and that makes you wonder what the 38-year-old has left in the tank. If he's got anything to offer -- and that's certainly a possibility if he gets rejuvinated joining a team in a playoff hunt -- it'll be a tremendous help to a White Sox squad that has seen Nick Swisher hit .200 in the month of July and Paul Konerko collect 5 RBIs since returning from the DL on July 8. If Griffey career is indeed down the toilet, the White Sox's season might go right with it.
Grade: C-

It's all good in Yankeeland

Yankee fans couldn't have really asked for a better day. Joba mows down the Sox for seven innings at Fenway, Mo reaffirms his place as a Cy Young front-runner with a 5-out save, and finally, the Yanks complete a trade with the Pirates for outfielder Xavier Nady and lefty reliever Damaso Marte for four minor leaguers.

If you're a Yankee fan, you have to love this trade. A team that's built to win now can't worry about trading the occassional promising prospect -- or four -- once in a while. Three good arms and a potential star outfielder is a solid price to pay, but to get two key pieces without relinquishing top prospects Mark Melancon, Austin Jackson, and Jesus Montero is savvy work on GM Brian Cashman's part.

Here are four things we learned from this mega-trade:

1.) Brian Cashman isn't gun-shy about trading prospects, after all:
After he was reluctant to deal Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, amongst others, in a deal for Johan Santana in January, Cashman developed a reputation amongst Yankee fans as being too leery to make the types of bold trades necessary for a win-now team to compete.

Well, so much for that.

Want guts? How about Cashman giving up the highly-touted Jose Tabata, once perceived to be the crown jewel of the Yankee system, a guy who could very well be a superstar one day? How about Cashman dealing the live arm of Ross Ohlendorf, a key piece the Yankees received in return for Randy Johnson? How about Cashman trading a pair of Triple-A starters in Jeff Karstens and Dan McCutchen from a team that has gaping holes in the back end of its starting rotation? All that for two guys who will essentially be role players on the Yankees.

So while certain guys -- Hughes and Melancon, in particular -- are always off limits, that doesn't mean that Cashman isn't bold enough to make a big move with some of his other blue-chip prospects. His occasional reticence simply prevents him from overpaying, and for a fan base that's used to seeing George Steinbrenner's rash and reckless management style, Cashman's patience and restraint is quite a refreshing change.

2.) The Yankees really believe in Austin Jackson:
Tabata is definitely the toughest piece to let go of, especially because the Yankees have a notorious dearth of position players in the minor leagues. A 19-year-old outfielder whose been compared to Gary Sheffield, Tabata has been highly thought of for a few years now, and entering the 2008 season, Baseball America ranked him as the 3rd best prospect in the Yankees' system.

Sure, there were red flags with Tabata: he has yet to regain his form after having wrist surgery last season, he has shown signs of immaturity, and he has yet to show that he can hit for power. That said, he was still considered a premier prospect in the organization, and the fact that the Yankees let him go probably says less about him than it does about his Double-A teammate, Austin Jackson.

The 21-year-old outfielder burst onto the scene in the second half of last season, when he hit .345 for Class-A Tampa. He's since moved up to Trenton, where he is sporting a .298 average with 27 doubles and 57 RBI. Jackson's success appeared to move him past the struggling Tabata in the organization's prospect rankings, so much so, apparently, that it made Tabata expendable. That the Yankees would move Tabata when they a.) don't have very many good outfield prospects to begin with, and b.) will experience some turnover in their outfield after the contracts of Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, and Johnny Damon expire in the next two years, shows how much faith they have in Jackson to realize his potential.

3.) The Yankees aren't counting on Jorge Posada to return this season:
When Posada decided to forgo surgery on his ailing shoulder in hopes of helping the Yankees' struggling offense during the stretch run, it seemed to make their need for a right-handed bat obsolete. Though Posada, by his own admission, wouldn't be able to hit for power, his return would still deepen a lineup that was featuring Cabrera-Molina-Gardner in the 7-9 spots.

But now that the Yanks have made the move to get Nady, it's a sign they're not so sure Posada can rehab himself through the injury this season. At the very least, they've put themselves in a position where they don't have to count on Posada to return because if, as he said, he can't catch again until he has surgery, there really isn't a spot for him anyway. With Nady now in the fold, Damon will be forced to become more of a regular DH and Jason Giambi, backed up by Richie Sexson and Wilson Betemit, will have to play more first base.

That doesn't leave much room for Posada, which leads one to believe that the Yankees don't think they'll be getting their mainstay backstop back in 2008.

4.) Bobby Abreu is in his last season in pinstripes:

By acquiring Nady, the Yankees have put themselves in a position where they don't have to resign free-agent-to-be Bobby Abreu this offseason. Earning $16 million in 2008, Abreu figures to command a deal in the $10-12 million a year range this winter, even though he will be coming off one of his worst offensive seasons ever and is hardly the best defensive right fielder.

At that price, for that production, the Yankees will probably move on and take two draft picks, especially now that they have a cheaper, more effective replacement in Nady, signed through next season. Their 2009 outfield could feature Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui -- both in the final year of their contracts -- in left, Nady in right, and a combination of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, and Jackson in center. Not half bad, and it helps the Yankees considerably as they try to get under the luxury-tax threshold next season.

Brett the Jet?

After going 4-12 last year, the Jets might have been smart to go into full rebuilding mode. They didn't appear to have a legitimate quarterback on the roster. They had some tradeable assets in Jonathan Vilma and Chad Pennington. And so long as Brady and Belichick were on the schedule twice a year, they're weren't going to compete in the AFC East.

But instead of purging the roster, coach Eric Mangini felt the pressure to make a splash in the third year of a four-year contract, and Gang Green dove head-first into the free-agent market. On the defensive side, they inked linebacker Calvin Pace (6 years, $42 million) and traded for lineman Kris Jenkins (5-year, $35 million extension). They fortified the offensive line by signing Damien Woody (5 years, $25 million) and Alan Faneca (5 years, $40 million), the latter of whom is now the highest-paid player at his position.

In another sign that they were forsaking the future for the present, the Jets didn't use either of their two first-round picks on a young quarterback, even though Joe Flacco and Chad Henne were still on the board.

It's fine that the Jets want to go for it now, that Mangini wants to get himself a contract extension, and that the Jets want to generate some buzz before they move into a new stadium in 2010. The only problem with the team's win-now plan is that it doesn't have the most important piece it needs to win now: a good quarterback.

Enter, Brett Favre.

The Packers would probably love to send their Hall of Fame quarterback to an AFC team that's not on their 2008-09 schedule, and the Jets definitely fit that description. Still, we haven't heard much about the Jets potentially being involved in Favre sweepstakes, and with good reason: he'll be 39 on October 10, he's due to make $12 million next season, and he seems to have a chronic inability to make up his mind -- not to mention the fact that he's always been a bit overrated.

Nonetheless, Favre is a guy who could be one of the top-10 quarterbacks of all-time, and the Jets might be just a quarterback away from competing in the AFC -- it almost makes too much sense. If all it's going to cost them is draft picks, the Jets should settle their QB dilemma right now: trade for Favre, release Pennington to relieve the salary burden, and make Kellen Clemens Favre's understudy for the next two years.

So long as Favre doesn't quit on them midway through training camp, it would be the ideal situation for the Jets. When was the last time this team had a franchise quarterback, or even a franchise player for that matter? It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say it was the early 70's, when Joe Willie was under center for the Jets. Favre -- or should we call him Broadway Brett? -- would give the Jets a star quality it has lacked for decades.

Worried that Favre's arrival is going to delay the development of Clemens, a 2006 second-round pick? If the Jets felt Clemens was ready to take the reigns of the 2008-09 squad, they would have jettisoned Pennington and his $6 million salary during their busy offseason. Couple in Pennington's penchant for winning training-camp QB battles -- not to mention the fact that Clemens sucks -- and it makes it unlikely that the Oregon product would have been the Jets' Week 1 starter anyway. If Clemens is going to be riding the pine this season, the choice is really between Pennington and Favre -- and we all know there's no debate there.

From Favre's standpoint, it's difficult to say whether he would even entertain the idea of moving from small-town Green Bay to the Big Apple. But if all he's worried about is finding a team that he can help win next year, the Jets wouldn't be a bad fit. While the Jets lack in terms of depth at the wide receiver position, their leading receivers last year -- Jerricho Cotchery and Laveraneus Coles -- combined to catch more balls than Green Bay's tandem of Donald Driver and Greg Jennings did. Couple in the addition of rookie Dustin Keller, a pass-catching tight end the Jets took with the 29th pick in the draft, and Favre would certainly have some legitimate weapons to throw to.

In addition, the Jets can compliment Favre with what should be an improved running game. Besides adding Faneca and Woody to their offensive line, Gang Green also signed fullback Tony Richardson, a blocking specialist who helped Adrian Peterson rush to Rookie of the Year honors last season. Thomas Jones was already the 10th-leading rusher in the NFL last season, and he figures to improve this year given all the fortifications the team has brought in.

The story goes that the Jets were poised to take Favre in the second round of the 1991 draft, only to see Atlanta trade up and snatch him one pick earlier. Now, with Favre in the twilight of his career (we think), the Jets have another shot at the legendary QB. Let's hope nothing stands in the way of him coming to New York this time around.

Critical stretch will determine Yanks' fate

So, it turns out it may have been a tad premature to declare the Yankees dead back on July 4. Fresh off a sweep of the Oakland A's this afternoon, the Bombers are well within striking distance of a playoff spot: 4.5 back of Tampa Bay in the East, 3 back of Boston in the Wild Card.

But right as they begin to inch closer in each race, the Yankees are about to encounter their toughest challenge of the season. When they kick off a three-game set against the 55-43 Minnesota Twins tomorrow, the Yanks will also be starting a stretch of 23 games in 24 days that could very well make or break their season. From now till August 14, the only team with a losing record on the Bombers' schedule is Baltimore, who, at 47-50, isn't exactly tanking it. Along the way, the Yanks will be making stops in Boston, Texas, Los Angeles, and Minnesota, whose combined home winning percentage is .635.

The next stop after the Twins series is Fenway Park, where New York will face a Red Sox team that is 36-11 at home and, in all likelihood, will have David Ortiz back in its lineup. After that, it doesn't get any easier. Beginning on July 31, the Yanks will play 7 of their next 11 games against the West-leading Angels, who have lost just one of their last six series against New York. From there, it's on to the Twin Cities for another three-game series against Minnesota, with the Wild Card potentially hanging in the balance.

Are there reasons to feel good about the Yankees right now? Sure. You can no longer attribute Mike Mussina's success to a simple hot streak, as he's allowed 3 runs or fewer in 14 of his last 16 starts. It's fully reasonable to expect that he, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain can serve as a very formidable 1-2-3 atop the Yankee rotation for the remainder of the season.

The bullpen also continues to be one of the team's strengths. The last time the Yankees lost a game in which their starter left with a lead was back on May 27, when Ian Kennedy was still in the rotation. Even Kyle Farnsworth -- no hits allowed since June 27 -- is getting his act together.

Still, there are reasons for pessimism. Opting to stand pat as C.C. Sabathia, Rich Harden, and Joe Blanton were all traded, the Yankees enter this critical stretch with Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson as their No. 4 and 5 starters. Hardly awe-inspiring.

They also haven't made a whole lot of progress towards solving their season-long offensive woes. In 15 July games, the Yankees have scored fewer than 3 runs an astounding 8 times. Their .254 batting average with runners in scoring position ranks 21st in the league, and that number doesn't figure to improve anytime soon now that one of their clutchest hitters, Hideki Matsui, is apparently lost for the season. Jorge Posada's defense has become so bad that Jose Molina (.219/.260/.302) has been forced into the everyday lineup. And minus Johnny Damon, the outfield has literally been punchless, batting just .226 in 11 games without him. Is the offense really going to turn it around against the likes of Josh Beckett and John Lackey?

Another reason to be nervous: unlike the Yankees, the competition won't exactly be sweating it out over the next 24 days. During this brutal stretch for the Bombers, the Red Sox have series against Seattle, Oakland, and Kansas City. The schedule's even easier on the Rays, who get to play Oakland, Kansas City, Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle in the coming month.

Nonetheless, we've been promised another exciting summer in the Bronx. Despite their reticence so far, the Yanks should be major players for whoever's left on the trade market until July 31. We may get to see some of their intriguing arms at Triple A get a chance to fill holes in the rotation. Most importantly, the Yanks will show us how they stack up against the A.L.'s best teams and let us know once and for all who they are in '08: contender or pretender?

My trip to the All-Star Game

When I had to decide whether to spend $368 for an upper deck seat to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, my first thought was, "No way." I wasn't going to blow a good chunk of my summer income on an exhibition game, of all things.

But then, I got to thinking: I'd never had a chance to go to a major sporting event like this before. The only playoff game in any sport I've ever seen in person was Game 4 of the 2000 ALDS between the Yankees and the A's. (Needless to say, it wasn't a fun experience -- final score: Oakland 11, New York 1.) I reasoned that for someone as big a Yankee fan as I am, what could be a better way to spend what, in all likelihood, would be my last trip to the current Yankee Stadium?

So I bit the bullet, ponied up the dough, and made one hell of a memory. Here is my account of the trip, in pictures:


First, allow me to introduce my travel companion. This is Mike, a rising junior at Johns Hopkins University and one of my best friends from high school. He votes Republican, but other than that, he's a nice guy and, above all, a Yankee fan.

Mike and I get to the Stadium at 3pm, a solid 5 hours before the game is supposed to start and a solid 2 hours before the gates even open. Yes, in retrospect, we probably could have planned that better. But at the time, we thought this gave us a good chance to crowd around the players' entrance and watch the All Stars arrive at the Stadium.

But we are sorely mistaken. The police have set up a web of steel barricades -- several rows of them, in fact -- to keep us away from buses carting the players to the game. We do manage to catch momentary glimpses of Mariano Rivera and Albert Pujols, however.

Honestly, are President Bush's windows even that tinted?

But, at last, we get a celebrity sighting. On the left in the gray suit is Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who for some reason, arrived in a car with Baseball Tonight's John Kruk and Karl Ravetch. Maybe, like the closing duties, Pap didn't want to share a bus with Mariano Rivera. To his credit, though, he did sign a few autographs despite being heckled mercilessly by a Yankee fan behind the barricades. (No, not me.)

At 5pm, we head into the Stadium and sneak down near the field boxes to watch batting practice. But since there are still three whole hours to kill before game time, I decide to take up a new hobby, something akin to a fan's version of ESPN.com's Uni Watch.

Didn't know these jerseys were still fashionable.

Of course, in New York, you'll always see plenty of bandwagoners -- although the woman in the Longoria jersey appears to be jumping ship now that the Rays have lost seven in a row.

Showing their support for the guys who just missed out on All-Star nods.

D-bag.

Back on the field: Joe Girardi and his son shagging fly balls on the field during AL batting practice.

No signs of Madonna as A-Rod takes some grounders. Mike liked the white cleats, but I thought they might have the potential to be a red hoodie-type jinx for A-Rod. And it was: 0-2, including a strikeout with Jeter in scoring position in the first.

That's pretty stealthy paparazzi work on my part. Mike and I also walked right past Spike Lee, but I wasn't quite as quick with the camera.

Time to retreat to our seats: Tier 13, Row X. Notice how there's nothing behind me except a concrete wall -- that's because we're in the last row of the entire stadium. Yup, that's all $368 gets you nowadays.

Still, it's hard to complain about the view.

The Captain makes his way onto the field during the pregame ceremony. I don't know if it came through on TV, but his ovation was way louder than the one A-Rod got. Josh Hamilton may have even gotten a louder applause than A-Rod did.

Quite an incredible sight: a packed house and 49 Hall of Famers on the field. It's already starting to feel like it was worth the investment.

The classic Jeterian batting stance.

A-Rod comes up to bat but doesn't stick around much longer. Kabbalah dinner with Madge, perhaps?

Look what A-Rod missed out on -- they got the actual Village People to do the YMCA!

A sight that never gets old: Enter Sandman.


Nope, we haven't left yet.

Crowd begins to thin out as the game drags on.

Well, so much for going to work tomorrow.

Finally! After squandering a bases-loaded, no-out chance in the 10th and having a runner thrown out at the plate in the 11th, the AL gets it done in the 15th...

...and not a minute too soon.

More on Wimbledon

I still can't quite get over what I saw during yesterday's Wimbledon men's final. I've been perusing through some of the analysis on the match and thought I'd share a few of the more interesting comments that I've read:

The historical perspective:
If you don't believe a casual tennis fan like myself when I wax poetic about how incredible yesterday's match was, check out what Bud Collins, a man who has been covering tennis for nearly 50 years, had to say about it:

"In my 41st year at Wimbledon I witnessed the best final I've ever seen at The Championships. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer gave the sport a title tilt tennis may have to go another four decades or more without coming close to repeating."

Later, doing an interview with Luke Jensen for ESPN.com, Collins said the match was "right at the top" in the history of the sport. Wow.

Federer's comeback:
A lot of analysts are calling yesterday's match "a changing of the guard." Certainly, it's a clear sign that Federer can no longer dominate the sport like he was even as early as a year ago. And even though the world rankings won't indicate it, Nadal, with victories over Federer in the last two majors, is without a doubt the No. 1 player in the world.

But while there may be a new world order in tennis, did yesterday's match give anybody the impression that Federer is done? If he had lost the third-set tiebreaker and gone down to Nadal in straight sets, you could certainly make the case that Federer's career as a great athlete was likely over.

But that didn't exactly happen. Instead, facing unprecedented adversity on what had virtually become his home court, put into a normally-insurmountable deficit by a player who embarrassed him a month ago, Federer showed incredible guts. The odds were certainly stacked against him: not since 1927 has a man won a Wimbledon final after dropping the first two sets, and not since 1948 has a man won the crown after overcoming a match point.

But Federer almost did both -- in fact, he nearly overcame four match points. As WFAN radio host Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo, a passionate tennis fan and astute analyst of the sport, pointed out, Federer had to play uphill for nearly the entire match -- or, about 5 hours -- against arguably the fittest tennis player ever and came away a tough-luck, 7-9 loser in the fifth set.

You can't ask for much more effort, and this from a guy who was criticized for barely showing up to his 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 beatdown courtesy of Nadal at the French Open. Federer redeemed himself big time yesterday with a gritty effort befitting a champion, and even in defeat, he proved he isn't fading from the scene anytime soon.

Nadal's toughness:
We've always known Nadal to be a physically-imposing presence. But mentally? He proved yesterday he might have even more strength between his ears than he does on his arms.

Consider what happened to Nadal in the fourth set: Up 5-2 in the tiebreaker, with the ball on his racket, against a player who had only broken his serve once in the match to that point, Nadal couldn't close the deal. Even after Federer had come all the way back to knot the tiebreaker at 6, Nadal had another chance to shut the door, only to see Federer convert on a miraculous backhand winner down the line. Federer won the next two points to close out the set and deal Nadal what could have easily been a devastating mental blow.

As Russo noted, Nadal not only had to contend with that crushing turn of events heading into the fifth set, but because Federer got to serve first in the deciding frame, Nadal always had to make a critical hold from behind. He had to hold at 0-1, at 1-2, at 2-3, at 3-4. He then had to hold in sudden-death situations at 4-5, 5-6, and 6-7.

And he did so every single time. That, too, against arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport. That, too, just a short time after he heartbreakingly coughed up a golden opportunity to clinch a championship that, for all his prowess on clay, is the one he has always coveted the most.

That's off-the-charts mental toughness. It's the most remarkable display of fortitude and perseverance that you might ever see in a sporting event in your life -- go ahead, try to find something comparable.

Wow!

I witnessed the Yankees' miracle comebacks in Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series. I had the pleasure of watching Vince Young will Texas to a national title victory in 2006. I've gotten to see McGwire versus Sosa, Jordan versus Russell, Pierce versus LeBron.

All among the greatest sports events of my lifetime -- but none of which compare to what I saw on a tennis court today.

At around 9 a.m., I sat down with my breakfast to watch the Wimbledon men's singles championship, a dream matchup between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But little did I realize that this highly-anticipated showdown, which already generated tremendous excitement coming in, would turn into something so memorable, so epic, that by the time it would end, it was nearly dinnertime.

For those of you who slept through the day waiting for Joba to take on the Red Sox later tonight, you missed something truly special. I'll let the final score do the talking: Nadal def. Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.

I won't pretend like I'm enough of a tennis aficionado to know where this match ranks all-time in the history of the sport. But what I do know is that I just witnessed the greatest sporting event of my entire life. Yes, neither player is American. Yes, it was frustrating waiting through three rain delays. Yes, it's tennis. But when something makes your heart truly pound, when you find yourself sitting literally at the edge of your seat, when you find that your jaw is actually dropping, you step back and appreciate it no matter how little you paid attention to it before.

It wasn't the outcome per se that made this such an incredible viewing experience. Sure, when someone who has never won Wimbledon in his life, who hails from a country that hasn't bred a Wimbledon champion since the late 1960's, dethrones a 5-time defending champion and arguably the greatest player the sport has ever seen, the outcome itself is pretty noteworthy.

But remember, this was hardly an upset. Given how close Nadal came to toppling Federer at the All-England Club last year and given how Nadal dismantled Federer at the French Open earlier this year, some in the tennis media went so far as to proclaim Nadal the favorite heading into Wimbledon. More so than the outcome, it was the quality of the action that separated this from anything I've ever seen.

Take Federer, for instance. Whenever he was down in this match -- which was basically the entirety of the 4-hour, 48-minute affair -- he came up with some miracle to let you know that he wasn't out. Down two sets, facing 0-40 on-serve in the third, Federer won five straight points to hold. Down 5-2 in a classic fourth-set tiebreak, with Nadal primed to serve out the title, Federer saved two championship points -- the second, on a stunning, gutsy backhand winner down the line -- to force a fifth set.

This was hardly the often lifeless and unengaged Federer we saw lay down at the French. This was Federer the champion and all-time great persisting through a colossal deficit, digging deeper than he'd ever had to before, and nearly completing a comeback for the ages.

And that was just from the runner-up. Nadal was even more sensational with his shot-making, answering all of Federer's heroics with brilliance of his own. Sure, the pressures of closing out the grass-court king caused Nadal to wilt a few times, most notably when he coughed up his 2-set lead, double-faulted away his advantage in the fourth-set tiebreak, and failed to convert on his first three championship points.

But at the end of the day, Nadal somehow had just a little more within himself than a 12-time major champion did. Down 4-1 in the second set, Nadal unleashed his incredible backhand, broke Federer twice, and won the set. How about that breathtaking forehand winner at 7-7 in the fourth-set tiebreak? Or that fearless, over-the-shoulder, back-to-the-net volley he dropped in earlier? Or the unbelievable guts he showed in saving 12 of 13 break points?

So often, you see these classic heavyweight bouts end when one side simply runs out of gas and gives in to the other's relentlessness. But this was different. Deep into the fifth set, a solid seven hours after the championship was scheduled to begin, neither player was showing any signs of fatigue. Instead, for literally the entire match, we were treated to Federer at his best against Nadal at his best, two players who have so clearly pulled away from the rest of the tennis pack throwing their best punches at each other and neither ever taking his foot off the gas.

First it was Tiger Woods pulling the proverbial rabbit out of his hat against the upstart Rocco Mediate. Then it was the Williams sisters returning to the elite of women's tennis. Now, it's Federer and Nadal continuing a summer in sports where the great athletes have shone the brightest. This stood out unlike any of the others, however, an epic duel that can probably best be described as our generation's Ali-Frazier.

And to think, the U.S. Open is still on the docket.

It's over

Last night, the Red Sox stumbled into the Bronx riding a five-game losing streak. The Yankees had Andy Pettitte -- 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last four starts -- on the mound, while the Sox countered with Jon Lester, who had never before experienced the hysteria of a Yankees-Red Sox game. Edge Yanks, right?

Wrong. Hurt by a horrendous throwing error by Derek Jeter, Pettitte didn't make it out of the fifth inning after giving up six runs on nine hits. Meanwhile, Lester didn't have to work very hard against an absolutely inept Yankee offense, throwing a combined 13 pitches over the third and fourth innings en route to a complete-game shutout. Final score: Boston 7, New York 0.

Since going on a 7-game winning streak in the middle of June, the Yankees have lost 8 of their last 13 games. Among the highlights: a 12-5 shellacking against the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates, a 15-6 thrashing at the hands of the under-.500 New York Mets, and three successive beatdowns courtesy of Oliver Perez (5.29 ERA), Scott Feldman (4.60), and Kevin Millwood (5.08). All the while, the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, whose payroll is one-fifth of that of the Yankees, have opened up an eight-game lead on the Bombers, who are now closer to last place than they are to first.

Quite frankly, I'm sick of the Yankees. Sick of watching Jeter boot routine ground balls. Sick of watching Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera -- for lack of a better word -- suck. Sick of watching the pitching staff get so depleted that it turns to Sidney Ponson. (Sir Sidney's next start is slated to be against the Rays, surely a Yankees Classic in the making.) Sick of Giambi's thong, of Hank's edicts, of Girardi's closed-door meetings, of A-Rod's trysts, of everything about LaTroy Hawkins.

These days, the only comfort to a Yankee fan is that on the other side of town, the Mets have managed to be just as worse. Whether its Pedro's rapid decline, Perez's baffling inconsistency, Carlos Delgado's general ineptitude, or Jose Reyes' on-field hissy fits, the Mets, like the Yankees, just can't seem to get out of their own way.

Bottom line: boasting a pair of lowly third-place teams, this baseball-crazed city is going to have little to look forward to this summer. The Yankees and Mets, each with the highest payroll in its respective league, are a combined three games over .500. Both are six games back of a wild card spot, and to be perfectly frank, given how lifeless and unengaged both teams have looked at times this season, it's a shock they're even that close.

Sure, there's still time for each squad to bolster its roster and make a run at a playoff spot. But is it really going to take something as simple as a quick fix for these teams to start legitimately contending? No chance. The Mets already tried that, if you'll remember, when they fired manager Willie Randolph on June 17. In the 16 games they've played since then, all under the stewardship of Jerry Manuel, the Mets have gone 8-8 and haven't had a winning streak longer than 2 games -- hardly different from maddeningly-inconsistent team they were under Randolph.

Now, with C.C. Sabathia rumored to be on the trade market, Yankee fans are clamoring for a blockbuster deal. Is Sabathia going to change the fact that the Yankees are hitting worse with runners in scoring position than the Pirates and the Royals? Is his arrival going to make Bobby Abreu remember how to get on base? Is he going to bring with him some magic potion that's going to make Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui healthy again?

Of course not. Instead, we all just have to fact the facts: it ain't happening this year, for either New York team. Because over the first half of the season, the Mets and Yankees have revealed themselves for what they truly are, namely severely-flawed, poorly-built -- dare I say, bad -- baseball teams. These sorry squads have made baseball irrelevant in the city this summer, and it's time for us jaded fans to turn our attention elsewhere.

Some suggestions: How about Danilo Gallinari's NBA debut, which will take place next week in Knicks summer league action? Or a trip over to Giants training camp, where you'll be pleasantly reminded that not every team in the tri-state area is completely hapless. Maybe even a little New York Liberty basketball for the most desperate of you. It might be the WNBA, but at least you'll be treated to a team that's in a playoff hunt.

Simply the best

Ever since their team's heralded draft class of 2006, Yankee fans have been looking forward to the imminent arrival of a bunch of talented young bullpen arms. Besides Joba Chamberlain, there's 9th-round pick Mark Melancon, whose hammer curve has earned him comparisons to Francisco Rodriguez, and the recently-promoted David Robertson, who didn't allow a home run in 136 career minor league innings.

Having seen my team trot the likes of Steve Karsay, Felix Heredia, Tanyon Sturtze, and even Armando Benitez out of the bullpen over the past five seasons, it's certainly exciting to see what could become of the Yankees' bullpen. But before all of us get too wrapped up in the future, let's take a step back and appreciate what we get to witness there now. No, I don't mean Kyle Farnsworth and the 10 home runs he has allowed in 36 innings this season. Or LaTroy Hawkins and his absolutely dazzling ERA of 6.03.

Instead, I'm referring to Mariano Rivera, who is very quietly having one of the best seasons of his first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Mo notched his 22nd save in 22 opportunities Saturday against the Mets, hurling a 1-2-3 9th inning in which he threw just two pitches out of the strike zone -- though that's hardly surprising for someone who has allowed an average of one walk per month this season.

Try to digest these numbers: through June 30, Rivera is sporting a 0.74 ERA, a 0.55 WHIP, a K/BB ratio of 14.0, and a .138 batting average against. By comparison, during Eric Gagne's Cy Young-winning season in 2003, the then-Dodger closer's K/BB ratio was less than half of Rivera's and his ERA was nearly half a run higher.

Mo has actually been on this tear since the beginning of the 2007 season. After a rocky beginning, in which he blew his first two save opportunities and carried a 10.57 ERA into May, Rivera looked, well, like Rivera, recording his 10th season of 30 or more saves in the last 11 years. In his last 95 appearances, a run that dates back to April 23, 2007, the Sandman has blown just 2 saves, walked just 13 batters, and served just 5 home runs.

Yet somehow, despite how brilliant he's been for a full calendar year and despite the fact that he plays in a media market whose athletes are nauseatingly overexposed, Rivera has flown under the radar over the past few seasons. This year, Mo's dominance has been overshadowed by Rodriguez, who is leading baseball with 32 saves and may be on his way to breaking the single season saves record.

Sure, the saves discrepancy (32 vs. 22) is drastic, and K-Rod deserves credit for coming through almost every time for a team that plays a lot of low-scoring games. But otherwise, there is no contest as to who is having the better season. In virtually the same innings pitched, Rivera has struck out 10 more batters, issued 18 fewer walks, surrendered 5 fewer runs, allowed 4 fewer hits, and yielded an astounding 22 fewer baserunners. Still, perhaps because we have all been lulled to sleep by 13 years of startling consistency, Rivera's season has gotten a rather ho-hum reception from baseball writers, who are putting first-half wonders Cliff Lee and Justin Duchscherer ahead of Mo as early-season Cy Young favorites.

None of this is to say that Rivera will -- or even should -- win his first Cy Young award; if Gagne's 2003 season is the standard for relievers, then Rivera hasn't been overpowering enough to earn Cy consideration. Gagne, thanks presumably to the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs, struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings (or nearly 15 batters per nine innings), while Rivera has never had more than 83 punchouts in a season since 1997. Through 34 appearances in 2008, Mo has 42 strikeouts, a total Gagne needed just 23 appearances to reach back in '03.

But what it does tell you is that, with apologies to K-Rod, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, and Billy Wagner, Rivera is still the best at what he does. At 38 years of age, Rivera is more dependable than any reliever in the game, and for my money, it doesn't get any more exciting than seeing the best at his best.

No doubt I'm looking forward to the day where Joba Chamberlain goes 6 shutout innings, hands the ball off to Robertson and J.B. Cox for the seventh and eighth, and Melancon shuts the door in the ninth. But for now, while we have the great fortune of watching a legend at the top of his game, the future can certainly wait.

Cinderella wears cleats

Historically, college baseball hasn't exactly been a sport where parity reigns. From 1995-2007, a span of 13 seasons, only 7 different schools won the College World Series. Compare that to basketball, where 11 different schools have claimed the last 14 titles, and football, where in the 10-year history of the BCS championship, only LSU has more than one title, and it's easy to see that college baseball has been relatively predictable, a sport where the powerhouse programs have ruled.

And then, the Fresno State Bulldogs came along.

I'll admit I didn't watch one pitch of the College World Series -- but boy, I wish I had. Because according to those in the know, Fresno State just put together one of the greatest Cinderella runs in the history of college sports. There are people who say this one one tops George Mason's run to the Final Four in 2006, as well as NC State and Villanova's miracle championship wins of the 80's. And really, when you look at Fresno State's story, those people just might be right.

This was a team that began the season 8-12 and that finished the regular season with 27 losses, just six games over .500. With a putrid RPI of 89, the Bulldogs' only route into the 64-team NCAA Tournament was to win the WAC conference tournament -- which they did, thanks to a come-from-behind effort in the title game.

Then it was on to Long Beach, Calif., where Fresno State drew the fourth seed out of 4 teams (the equivalent of being seeded somewhere between 13th and 16th in a college basketball tournament) in a Regional bracket stacked with three top-17 teams. Right off the bat, the Bulldogs proved they belonged, knocking off the top seed, 11th-ranked Long Beach State, in the tourney opener.

Two days later, however, it looked as though Fresno State had come back to earth. The Bulldogs suffered a 15-1 shellacking at the hands of second-seeded San Diego that represented their worst loss of the season and forced them into a must-win scenario against the same Toreros the next day. But Fresno State responded, upending a team to whom they lost by 14 runs just 24 hours earlier to advance to the Super Regional round.

From there, it was more of the same for Fresno State: first put itself in a precarious position against a powerhouse team, and then overcome the odds. It happened against No. 3 Arizona State in the best-of-three Super Regional, when the Bulldogs dropped the first game by a convincing 12-4 margin only to come back and win the next two games -- both elimination games, both in come-from-behind fashion -- to earn a spot in the College World Series.

It happened again against No. 2 North Carolina, when Fresno State split the first two games of the series, found itself in its fourth do-or-die game of the tournament (there would be more still to come), and pulled off a 6-1 shocker against the best pitching staff in the nation.

And it happened once more against No. 8 Georgia in the championship series. First, Fresno State dropped Game 1 despite having a three-run lead in the eighth inning. Then they found themselves trailing 5-0 through 2.5 innings of Game 2, where a loss would end their Cinderella ride. But once again, as soon as their backs hit the wall, the comeback was on; over the next 7 innings, Fresno State equaled the largest comeback in a College World Series finals game and won 19-10 to force a third and deciding game.

The next night, thanks to a 6-RBI performance from sophomore outfielder Steve Detwiler, who was playing through a torn tendon in his thumb, and an 8-inning gem from junior pitcher Justin Wilson, who found the energy to throw 129 pitches on 3 days' rest, the Bulldogs sealed the deal, becoming the lowest seed in any sport to win an NCAA championship.

In case you lost count, here's the shortened version of Fresno State's run: 6-0 in elimination games, victories over 5 conference champions, and victories over 4 nationally-ranked schools -- all this for a squad that didn't have any first-round draft picks and whose ace, second-round pick Tanner Scheppers, missed the entire tournament with a shoulder injury.

The Bulldogs ended the year with 31 losses, the most by any national champion in NCAA history. By comparison, the previous two Div. I champions had lost a total of 34 games, and this year's Div. II and Div. III champions combined for 7 losses.

Heart and grit are two of the most overused words in sports. But in this particular instance, is there really any other explanation for what happened? I only wish I had seen it for myself.

A tip of the cap

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling underwent successful shoulder surgery on Monday, a procedure that will not only end his season, but in all likelihood, his career.

That will pose an interesting dilemma for baseball writers come 2013, when Schilling's name will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. As the twilight of Schilling's career has neared, his Hall candidacy has been described as tenuous, mainly because, at quick glance, the numbers simply aren't there.

With a lifetime mark of 216-146, Schilling won 21 fewer games than Jamie Moyer and just one more game than Kenny Rogers. In 20 seasons, Schilling never once won a Cy Young, never once led the league in ERA, and never once threw a no-hitter. He also wasn't exactly what you would call durable, posting just seven seasons of 30 or more starts.

Now, I'm no fan of Schilling's; whether he's campaigning for Bush, offering his unsolicited opinions about everything, or throwing his own colleagues under the bus, his pretentiousness has always been a little tough to take.

But even I have to admit that the debates about his Hall of Fame chances are nonsensical. Take it from someone who has seen Schilling cost her team two World Series crowns: in my lifetime, no starting pitcher has risen to the occasion in a postseason game quite like Curt Schilling. And when you couple those prolific postseason performances with regular season stats that, though hardly awe-inspiring, aren't as pedestrian as others suggest (see below), you have the makings of a slam-dunk Hall of Fame candidate.

First, let's look at where Schilling built his legacy: October. Schilling made 19 playoff starts over his career and posted an 11-2 -- 11-2! -- mark. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, Schilling's 2.23 lifetime playoff ERA ranks second all-time amongst starters with at least 100 innings pitched -- he trails only the legendary Christy Matthewson. And while he hasn't earned any significant regular-season accolades, his mantle does hold a few postseason honors, most notably the 1993 NLCS MVP and the 2001 World Series Co-MVP awards. In the last 30 years, only five other players have garnered postseason honors in two different seasons: Josh Beckett, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Mariano Rivera, and Dave Stewart.

Few understand Schilling's postseason brilliance like Yankee fans, who have twice seen title runs stopped by his right arm. In 2001, following a 22-6 campaign for Arizona, Schilling led the D-Backs to their first-ever World Series appearance against a Yankee squad that was seeking its fourth straight championship. After hurling a Game 1 gem (7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts), he took the ball for Games 4 and 7 -- both on just three days rest -- and was dominant. For the series, Schilling allowed just 12 hits and four earned runs in 21.1 innings, and his 26 strikeouts were tied for the fifth most by any pitcher in any playoff series all time.

Three years later, in maybe the most memorable performance of his career, Schilling torched the Yanks again, this time as a member of the Red Sox. With Boston down 3-2 in another ALCS showdown against New York, Schilling took the hill for Game 6 despite having a torn tendon in his ankle. With blood famously seeping through his sock, Schilling yielded just 1 run and 4 hits in 7 superb innings, keying the Red Sox' 4-2 win and forcing a Game 7.

And if that postseason résumé doesn't sway you, it's not like the regular season numbers aren't there for Schilling. It's true that for his first nine seasons (1988-1996), while he was oscillating between the bullpen and the starting rotation for the Orioles, Astros, and Phillies, Schilling was a mediocre pitcher. Case in point: on his 30th birthday, Schilling's win-loss record stood at 52-52.

But dig a little deeper, and you'll realize that from 1997-2007, Schilling was consistently one of the best pitchers in baseball. During that 11-season span, only Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez bested Schilling's 2,316 strikeouts. Only Greg Maddux had more wins amongst righties than Schilling's 164. Only Johnson topped Schilling's 56 complete games -- the Big Unit had 57. And no one posted a better K/BB rate than Schilling's astounding mark of 5.51.

None of this is to say that Schilling is in, say, Bob Gibson's stratosphere, but when you factor those remarkable stats in with his nearly unparalleled October success, you have to believe that Schilling will be enshrined in Cooperstown in the coming years -- like him or not.

Tennis anyone?

If baseball doesn't float your boat, then you've reached a sluggish point in the sports calendar. With the conclusion of the NBA Finals earlier this week, the MLB is the only one of the four major sports leagues in session. NFL teams won't hit training camp for another month, and at least for the forseeable future, you can't even pay any attention to golf, as Tiger Woods' season-ending knee injury has made the sport virtually irrelevant.

That said, how about a little tennis, anyone?

Wimbledon kicks off Monday, and on the men's side the prohibitive favorite is, of course, No. 1 Roger Federer. He's won a whopping 59 consecutive matches on grass and five straight Wimbledon crowns. If Federer can pull off another win at the All-England Club this year, he would become the first man since 1886 -- 1886! -- to win 6 consecutive Wimbledons.

But perhaps for the first time in the last few years, Federer is no shoo-in to win Wimbledon, and there's nothing like a vulernable legend to bring some suspense into a tournament. Federer's troubles this year have been well-documented; he's captured just two of the 10 tournaments in which he has participated, won only three matches against top-1o players, and most importantly, posted an 0-2 mark in major championships.

There are legitimate reasons for Federer's struggles in 2008. He battled an early-season case of mono that apparently sapped him of energy during the Australian Open, where he failed to reach the final of a major for the first time since 2005. By the time he recovered, he was battling through a clay-court schedule that has always been troublesome for him.

But with Federer now on the wrong side of 26, you have to wonder whether or not his best years are behind him, as has so often been the case for tennis' greats. Not including Federer, there are five players who played their entire careers in the Open era (after 1968) and who have won at least eight Grand Slam singles titles: Sampras, Borg, Connors, Lendl, and Agassi. Of the 49 Grand Slams that group has combined to win, only 19 have come after their 26th birthdays.

But it isn't just time that's against Federer's side. Unlike golf, where there is nobody within 10 clublengths of Tiger Woods' stratosphere, Federer has actual competition challenging him, namely No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal. The Spainiard is 3-0 against Federer this year -- all on clay surfaces -- with the latest victory coming in a dominant 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win in the French Open final on June 8. It was not only Federer's worst loss in 173 career Grand Slam matches, but the worst loss by any No. 1 player EVER in a major final.

The knock on Nadal is that he is strictly a clay-court specialist -- he's never won a major played on any other surface. But it seems Nadal is closer to beating Federer on grass than Federer is to beating Nadal on clay. On Sunday, Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title, beating Djokovic in straight sets in the finals of the Queen's Club, a tournament Federer sat out.

Then there's last year's Wimbledon final, a classic that ranks amongst the most thriling matches ever played at the All-England Club. Nadal challenged Federer to a a 3-hour, 45-minute duel, becoming the first man to ever push Federer to a fifth set in a Grand Slam final. The Swiss star prevailed, but it was clear Nadal had significantly closed the gap on grass.

You'll hardly have to wait for a potential Federer-Nadal showdown to see someone challenge Roger. He could have to contend with France's Gael Monfils, who took a set from Federer in the semifinals of the French Open, in the third round and former Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth. In all, there are five former Grand Slam winners that are on Federer's side of the draw, the most prominant of whom is third-seeded Novak Djokovic. The Serbian sensation won his first Grand Slam at Australia in January, when he dispatched a mono-plagued Federer in the semis before taking the title match over Jo-Wilified Tsonga.

All told, it promises to be an exciting two weeks in England. Even this baseball fan will be watching.