Naturally, Yankees help Sox-- ESPN should be all over it

I've stopped reading ESPN.com, much like I've stopped watching ESPN TV. That's easy in Canada, where they don't have it. While the Yankees were busy parading their history and their tradition in front of my hapless Orioles, lost in the fold was some simple math. Like the number one, Boston's magic number for clinching a playoff berth.

While the schedule makers clearly aired in not making the Yankees' final home game against the Red Sox, the extra insult came in that a Yankees lost would have allowed Boston to clinch a playoff berth prior to their season-ending seven-game homestand. While I don't condone that fact, it is, at this point, inevitable. It would have been much better to have the Red Sox celebrate quietly in the confines of their individual homes rather than tomorrow night at Fenway Park once they get through dismantling the woeful Indians.

So as usual, Red Sox bandwagoners have something to be happy about. This time, they can thank the Yankees for winning and allowing their team to clinch at home in front of the so-called greatest fans in baseball (try telling that to the Wrigley die-hards).

ESPN and its undying Boston-New York bias did not get around to mentioning this in its 12-hour Yankees memory-lane trip today, but given the opportunity it most certainly would have. In an age where the baseball gods are smiling down at the Red Sox 24-7, this is a new low for inconvenient truths.

Dolphins, Saints know stormy times lie ahead for Texans

The 2004 version of the Miami Dolphins and 2005 version of the New Orleans Saints can probably relate to what this year’s Houston Texans team is going through already. With Hurricane Ike ravaging the gulf of Texas, and Reliant Stadium banged up as a result, those two clubs cringingly think back to recent seasons in which they were focused on Mother Nature than their next opponent.
The ’04 Dolphins had their first two home games moved around because of Hurricane Jeanne. Their opener was moved up a day to Saturday, and their second home game was played in a monsoon on a Sunday night. Amidst all of their football troubles that year, the natural disasters helped contribute to a miserable 4-12 campaign.
The Saints ’05 season was much more well-documented, as Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans before the regular season began. The SuperDome was wrecked, and the Saints played their home schedule in three different locations: Baton Rouge, San Antonio, and one “home” game at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The end result was a 3-13 record and controversy that owner Tom Benson wanted to move the team to San Antonio on a permanent basis.
While those two teams did follow up those nightmarish seasons with winning records the next year, the Texans may be in for a rough go of it this year. Even if their home opener against Baltimore is the only one affected by Ike, their season had already begun on a sour note with a 38-17 drubbing at the hands of the Steelers. Combine that with playing in the AFC’s toughest division, and the off-field distractions could prove to be too much for a team that has still never had a winning season in its six-year history.

Classless Red Sox buying their way back atop East

What is it with all of these also-ran teams willingly handing over solid veteran players to the Boston Red Sox for virtually nothing? Are most baseball general managers just green with envy over Theo Epstein? The same can be said about teams' quick willingness to help out the New York Yankees as well.

When most teams in most sports suffer injuries or ineffectiveness, it's up to the bench players or minor league players to step up and fill the voids. But with deep deep pockets, the Red Sox and Yankees have an easier solution -- just go out and buy a player because something isn't going their way.

J.D. Drew whines about back spasms, and so naturally Mark Kotsay is in Boston within days. Tim Wakefield needs a cortisone shot, so the Red Sox pick up rabid HGH user Paul Byrd. Hideki Matsui goes down for the Yankees, and Xavier Nady comes by and hits another 15 home runs down the stretch.

It is a crying shame the Tampa Bay Rays didn't go out and stock up at the trade deadline, and in some ways kudos to them for showing class and not abusing the system like the financial demons above them did. But it is coming back to bite them now, as they will be buried back in second place in the American League East within a matter of days.