Weekly Sporties

-Towards the end of his introductory press conference earlier this week, new Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington tried to casually slip in the news that Red Sox pitcher John Lackey was scheduled to have Tommy John surgery and miss all of next season. Nice try, but we all caught it. Now, I know that a pitcher having major surgery on his arm and missing a year of his career sounds bad, but this might be the best thing for everyone involved. First off, fair or not Lackey has become the symbol for everything that went wrong with the Red Sox in September. He would have been booed by the Boston fans louder than any of the visitors on Opening Day. They no longer want him here and I highly doubt he wants to be here. Secondly, the rest of baseball knows the Sox are desperate to get rid of him, so the offers they have received while trying to trade him have been very low. Frankly, a year-long break from each other may be the best for everyone involved. Lackey can get healthy and hopefully deal with his off-the-field issues, while the Red Sox can try and salvage his image around the league. Maybe by this time next year everyone is in a better place emotionally. Lackey still may never pitch in Boston again, but hopefully the next year can be spent crafting a smoother exit from the city.

-Still, as bad the Red Sox appear to have been run in the last few weeks, it could always be worse - they could be the Dodgers. Late in the week an attorney for Dodger owner Frank McCourt sued the two men accused of beating San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow into a coma following Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. Currently, Stow's family is suing the team and the stadium for not having enough security in the parking lots and the Dodgers contend it was just the fault of the two assailants. Well, not totally their fault. You see, the lawyer also said it was partially Stow's fault because, "It takes two to tango." Blaming the guy who was beaten into a coma and suffered brain damage just for being a fan of the visiting team... classy. This from the same owner who took money from the team to finance his ridiculously extravagant lifestyle, while simultaneously running the organization into the ground, to the point that Major League Baseball took control of the team away from him and are trying to force McCourt to sell. Just remember, McCourt was one of the finalist to own the Red Sox before it was ultimately awarded to John Henry's group. Suddenly players drinking beer in the clubhouse doesn't seem so bad, does it?

-In the constantly-shifting world of college football, the news this week came from West Virginia, who told anyone who would listen that they intended to leave the Big East for the Big 12. However, the Big 12 told them to quiet down and be cool about this because they only planned to invite them to join if Missouri left for the SEC. While this was going on someone accidentally put up a press release on the official SEC website welcoming Missouri to the conference, even though they hadn't technically been asked to join yet. Meanwhile, Louisville was on the outside looking in, trying to go around West Virginia's back and convince the Big 12 that they would make a much better addition to the conference than the Mountaineers. Seriously, this is like a plot of "Glee", only with university presidents instead of singing teenagers.

-For a few hours on Friday it appeared that, after weeks of no movement and public posturing about doomsday for the season, the NBA Lockout was on its last legs. The two sides had made a tremendous amount of progress in a short time, and everyone was crowing about how a deal could be in place by the end of the weekend. There was even talk that every attempt would be made to play the full 82-game season. But, late Friday afternoon talks broke down again, the sides left without an agreement and Commissioner David Stern cancelled another two weeks of the season, saying that now there was no way the league could play a full schedule. After the dust settled from that announcement, the "anonymous sources" came out of the woodwork to spill the beans about the breakdown in talks. Apparently, everything is in place for a deal, except for a plan for revenue sharing (aka: the whole reason there is a lockout). Oh you mean the two sides are still having a staring contest over the only issue that really matters? Well then, sounds as though they were never really all that close to an agreement. How about you deal with the one issue that matters to both sides and then you can come and tease me about how soon I met get to see basketball this year? Until that get settled everything else is wasted energy.

-In an attempt to prove that he is all the way back from a knee injury, wide receiver Terrell Owens staged a public workout for any and all interested parties. Turns out no NFL teams showed up. While I know that sounds bad, the lack of scouts at the workout should not be interpreted as a lack of interest in Owens - I'm sure some middle-of-the-pack team could use him and he will make his way onto a roster eventually. But, the NFL works like this: if they are interested they call you and you go to them, not the other way around. This public workout was just further proof that T.O. seems to think he is somehow special and not an older wide-out with an image problem who has never won squat in the NFL. He needs the NFL a hell of a lot more than it needs him and the sooner he realizes that the sooner he'll find himself back in the league. This was just a way for all the teams in the league to remind him of that.

-The NFL is notorious for handing out fines to players over the stupidest little things. Wear unapproved cleats? That'll be $5,000. Hit a guy with a tackle that drew a penalty, but which appears perfectly legit on replay? $20,000. (But run after a fellow coach and challenge him to a fight? Nothing.) Anyway, that it is why it was not surprising to see that Troy Polamalu was fined $10,000 this week for using a cellphone on the sidelines, which is a no-no. Polamalu was calling his wife to let her know he wasn't seriously hurt after leaving the game with concussion-like symptoms, but the NFL wasn't interested in the reasons behind the call, just the rules he broke. Now, a lot of people took this opportunity to jump on the NFL for being too strict, but for once I find myself on the side of the Commissioner's office. The unofficial creed of the NFL is "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying." So, if they let this incident slide, how long until every player was "calling home" to "check in with the wife"? God only knows who could really be on the other end of the line. So, I'm not going to chastise the NFL for this one, but I do feel like it should be a team, not an individual fine.

-Early in the week the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, who have been the guardians of the laws of golf pretty much since its invention, changed one of the rules. Previously, if you were on the green and your ball moved after you had addressed the ball (placed your club on the ground behind the ball) you were penalized a stroke. It didn't matter whether you moved the ball or it shifted as a result of wind, earthquake or another act of God. The bottom line is if it moved, you were screwed. Well, someone finally realized that penalty is a bit harsh and now as long as you don't touch the ball and cause it to move, you will not be penalized a stroke. It's about time this was fixed. One stupid golf rule down, about six thousand to go.