Don't Worry A.J., We'll Take That Door Down

Just when the Yankees thought they had gotten lucky, receiving news that A.J. Burnett's injured hand would not keep him from missing a start, more bad news came their way; Andy Pettitte is now on the DL for at least a month with a groin injury. The Yankees look like the best team in baseball right now, but Pettitte's injury has to make the organization at least a little uneasy. After the Cliff Lee deal slipped through the cracks a few weeks ago, the Yankees are in need of another pitcher in order to feel very confident in the second half of the season. With Sergio Mitre (Sergio who?) being the man who will supposedly take Pettitte's place while he is on the DL, the Yankees need to find a pitcher before the trade deadline. In my opinion, they should aggressively pursue Houston's Roy Oswalt. Oswalt has made it publicly known that he wants to play for a winning team, and that just isn't going to happen any time soon in Houston. Also, the Yankees have the prospects available to make a deal with the Astros, who are in dire need of rebuilding tools, possible. If the Yankees were to land Oswalt, they would be getting a starter who is arguably just as good as Cliff Lee, and much better than Mr. Mitre (with all due respect to Sergio, of course). If it were to happen, talks of an "unbeatable" Yankees pitching core would likely resurface. I'm not saying I want to see it happen; I'm just saying that if I were the Yankees, it'd definitely be something I'd be thinking about doing.

Maybe the Heat organization should tell their superstar trio to stay as far away as possible from all media personnel. Ever since Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh hooked up in South Beach, everything they say is being examined under a microscope. Take for instance what Dwayne Wade said on Sunday. In explaining how the media will blow every losing streak the Heat have next season out of proportion, Wade made the mistake of claiming that "you all are going to make it seem like the World Trade has just went down again". Uh oh. Now, I am aware that Wade should not have worded his response differently, but the fact of the matter is he is right. He hit on an extremely sensitive topic, which wasn't necessary, but the media will do exactly what he said. You can't tell me that when the Heat drop a few consecutive road games that ESPN won't be speculating as to whether or not there are locker room issues, and that the Cleveland sports media will be screaming "Karma!". My advice to Dwayne Wade is, next time you have a legitimate point, don't try to use fancy wording.

This isn't all the surprising, but the Reggie Bush case opened the floodgates to the NCAA investigating student athletes receiving illegal benefits. The NCAA is now investigating the University of Florida after an allegation that former offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey took money from a sports agent sometime between last year's SEC Championship game and the Sugar Bowl. If the allegation is found to be true, then the Gators may have to vacate their Sugar Bowl win over Cincinnati. If the NCAA thinks that they are curbing this kind of behavior by imposing that kind of punishment, they are mistaken. How exactly will Maurkice Pouncey be affected? Will he have to give back his Sugar Bowl ring or any of the other goodies that he received from the Sugar Bowl? No. Will he have to give back the money he received? Not if the NCAA imposes punishments that they have dished out in similar cases in the past. The point is, it's all well and good that the NCAA is trying to curtail this kind of activity, but they aren't really punishing the right people. The University of Florida shouldn't have to shoulder the blame; Pouncey should. The fact is, these kinds of things are happening at the big-time football university near you, and very few people know it's happening until those involved are long gone. Until those who actually committed the infraction are punished, this type of thing will continue to occur.



- K. Becks

Premiering This Fall: Miami Thrice

It's official; Lebron James has announced his intentions to sign with the Miami Heat, joining fellow superstars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Cleveland is heartbroken, Miami is ecstatic, and the rest of the NBA general managers are pulling their hair out trying to think of ways to compete with a team as good as or better than when Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman hooked up over a decade ago in Chicago. What does this all mean? Well, let's take a look from the perspective of a couple of different franchises.

Miami- So, how many years are all of these guys going to be there for sure? Five? Well, then that's how many years they should win the NBA Championship. This is, without a doubt, the best team in the league, and even minor disagreements in roles probably won't slow them down enough to cause significant damage. Add on the fact that Pat Riley is twice the coach that Mike Brown is, and you've got someone to raise the level of Lebron's game and maturity even higher. For all we know, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley could develop into talented role-players, which make this team even more dangerous. Miamisty, Dyiami, Dynasty, call it what you want...this team is going to be good.

Cleveland- See: The Drive, The Shot, Art Modell. You can add "The Decision" right up there with the list of things that have crushed the spirits of Clevelanders in the past. It's been awhile, but let's go back to the years B.L. (Before Lebron). Remember what the Cavaliers were then? Terrible. You know what they'll be now? Mediocre. Lebron made this team what they were. Do you know what happens when you take the ice cream out of the milkshake? You get milk. The Cavs will be starting from scratch, and that doesn't bode well for teams in Cleveland (See: Cleveland Browns Rejoining the NFL).

Everyone Else- No, I'm not putting the Knicks or Nets into their own category. The Knicks, other than Amare Stoudemire (who has his own issues), are no better than the Cavs. Lebron wants to win, and New York isn't the place to do it. The Nets, other than Jay-Z being buddies with Lebron, didn't have enough to offer either. As for the rest of the teams in the NBA, see if they can make a trophy for second place. With Miami's new lineup, second place is as good as gold. Quite honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Phil Jackson change his mind and decide to retire for good. He has firsthand knowledge of what a team like Miami can accomplish; he coached one. The odds of Jackson completing another three-peat just took a major hit, and I just don't know if he is up for the challenge.

Many times throughout this post, I have christened the Miami Heat as the next pro sports dynasty. I realize that it's not a done deal; they still have to go out and prove that they are the best. However, we're talking about three Olympic gold medalists on one team. We're talking about guys ranked 2nd, 5th, and 9th in the league in scoring last season on one team. We're talking about arguably the best shooting guard, small forward, and power forward in the league on one team. If they aren't the next dynasty, something will have gone terribly wrong.

Now, this is addressed to Cleveland fans. I know that you are probably clearing all of your Lebron/Cavaliers memorabilia off of your mantels, but remember this before you accuse Lebron of being a traitor: everyone wants to win. He gave it all he had, and the truth was that Cleveland didn't give him enough support to win it all. Some say that it will hurt his legacy if he wins with two other superstars by his side. Well, there is another way to think of it. Does it hurt his legacy more to win three or four or five titles with a superstar cast, or to stay "loyal" to Cleveland and never win anything at all? Neil Kinnock once said "Loyalty is a fine quality, but in excess it fills political graveyards." The same is true in professional sports.



- K. Becks