Weekly Sporties

-Early Wednesday afternoon the Indianapolis Colts officially released quarterback Peyton Manning during what had to be one of the most awkward press conferences ever. (Seriously, they were talking about him like his career was over and the entire time there was this, "Yeah, I'm not dead yet" vibe.) Anyway, I was kind of happy at the news - not because I have a horse in that race, but because I was just excited to know the story had finally reached its conclusion. Everyone pretty much knew Peyton was getting released back in January, so it being dragged out this long had gotten on my last nerve. I thought with his release I might finally get a break from Peyton Manning news every day but, of course, I should have known better. Instead I'm getting wall-to-wall speculation about where Manning might sign now that he is a free agent. Local news reporters in Miami and Denver literally followed Manning's car around like a faster version of the O.J. Simpson car chase. Allegedly Manning wants to make a decision within a week, but given how long this has taken so far color me skeptical. I hope he signs during March Madness, so it's almost an after-thought.

-It was really funny to watch a couple teams react (or overreact, as it were) once they slowly which came to the realization that Manning was never sign with them. First there was the Redskins, seriously over-paying for the right to draft Robert Griffin III and essentially clinching that he will be a bust. Then it was the Jets giving Marc Sanchez a massive contract extension while saying this was their plan all along, even though if it was they would have done it months ago. Anyway, since everyone else has weighed in, allow me to speculate where Manning may go. While I believe that Peyton doesn't like playing against his brother, I do not believe the ones which say he wants to avoid the NFC entirely because he doesn't want to have to go through Eli in the playoffs. I think he's going to find the best situation for himself and if that is a team like the Cardinals where he would get to throw to the best receiver in football in Larry Fitzgerald, then so be it. I like the idea of Manning with the Broncos, mostly because I want to see how all the Tebow fans who were defending his passing motion justify the fact that they are now only too happy to throw him overboard for Manning. (Seriously, just trade Tebow to Jacksonville and get it over with.) I don't know if he would like the higher-profile scrutiny which would come with playing in a place like Miami, plus I can't see why he would want to play Brady twice a year. That's why I feel like he will eventually end up in Arizona. Of course, this is all just a guess and given my track record you can pretty much put him in Miami.

-On the other end of the spectrum are all the guys in the NFL who were hit with the franchise tag this week. For those non-NFL fans out there, the franchise tag is what happens when a team has a free agent they don't want to lose, but the sides can't agree on a long-term contract. What the tag does is basically give the player a one-year deal at the average salary of the top-five paid players at their position. The organizations like it because it keeps players who might normally leave in the fold, while the players hate it because they want long-term deals for security and it essentially prevents them from getting the best deal on the open market. At least they get paid a lot of money to ease the sting. Now, normally the franchise tags is used on high-profile, highly-paid guys that would get a lot of attention from a lot of teams, like the Patriots using the tag on Wes Welker this week. However, this year a lot of teams used the tag on special teamers. Five teams used the franchise tag on kickers or punters. Really, the guys you can sign a week into training camp are too valuable to test out the market? Someone needs to explain to these franchises that just because you can use the franchise tag it doesn't mean you have to. It is not like they take it away when you don't use it.

-Late in the week there was a disturbing story about a potential point-shaving scandal involving an Auburn basketball player. Now, point-shaving scandals have been around almost as long as college basketball because they are pretty simple to execute. All you need is one dirty player who has the ball in his hands a lot, like a point guard. Then you bet something like the over/under and the guy just has to bounce the ball off his foot at the wrong time or commit what everyone thinks is a dumb foul and next thing you know the other team is shooting unnecessary free throws. It's one or two simple plays that can make all the difference while going relatively unnoticed. This kind of thing tends to happen at schools or in sports which don't have much to lose, which is what gives this story a little bit of credibility. After all, it's not like Auburn is a basketball powerhouse this season. But, serious gamblers have been quoted as saying they don't think the story is legit because there wasn't the big jump in betting normally seen when a game has been fixed. Now, I'm not trying to disparage the decisions someone else makes in their lifetime, but I don't think being the first person people call if they are curious about something shady is a good thing. If you are the reigning expert on telling whether or not a basketball game has been fixed, it is a pretty good assumption you have made a wrong turn somewhere along the line.

-When Jonathan Papelbon left the Red Sox for the Phillies, there were no hard feelings. Sox fans would have liked him to stick around, but not at the price he ended up getting in Philadelphia. He didn't sign with the Yankees, so Sox fans had nothing but fond memories of his time here. At least, that was until this week, when he told a Philadelphia radio station that the Phillies have smarter baseball fans. He said that Sox fans were passionate, but Phillies fans knew more about the game. So much for not burning bridges on the way out. Now, Pap was never known for being a big thinker, so he probably was just trying to endear himself to his new team and never thought it would get back to Boston. This also comes on the heels of Dropkick Murphy's lead singer Ken Casey saying he didn't want Papelbon to use the song "Shippin' Up To Boston" as his bullpen entrance music anymore (don't know why Pap would use that in Philadelphia anyway, but that is another topic for another day). Casey said he was joking, but Papelbon has said he won't be using any Dropkick song as his entrance music, so you have to wonder if there were some hurt egos. Again, in a break-up there are no winners, everyone just kind of loses equally.

-A couple days ago there was a news story which said Jose Canseco was being released by the Mexican Baseball League after testing positive for high levels of testosterone. Canseco claims he was taking the medication for legitimate reasons after it was prescribed by his doctor, but he was still kicked out. Canseco then went on to say that his banishment only came after Mexican League officials were pressured by Major League Baseball, because they are still out to get him. Now, I have no doubt that there are people who work for MLB who can't stand Canseco after all the grenades he has launched in their direction. Also, I'm sure MLB doesn't like that some people occasionally give Canseco the benefit of the doubt because some of the things he said in his book turned out to be accurate and thus they would love it if he were further discredited. However, I have a hard time believing that those officials still have an axe to grind or are spending their time working on ways to ruin Jose Canseco's life. Because for the last few years Canseco has been bouncing checks, playing in Independent Leagues, appearing on reality shows and in celebrity fights (where he sends his brother in his place) - basically doing anything that provides some cash. In other words, he's doing a fine job of discrediting himself. Canseco said there are people in MLB will stop at nothing to get him out of baseball. Jose, you're 47 and taking steroids just to keep playing in the Mexican League. Dude, you are out of baseball.

-Since we're on the subject of crazy people, every time there is a story about a stupid sports parent I have the same thought: Just don't be from Massachusetts. I like to keep telling myself we're above that kind of stuff around here. Alas, my plea went unanswered this week when Joe Cordes admitted he shined a laser pointer onto the ice during last week's high school girls hockey game between Winthrop and Medway-Ashland. Cordes's daughter plays for Winthrop and he was using a laser pointer to distract the freshman goalie for Medway-Ashland. Winthrop did eventually win the game (they have said they will not forfeit the win, either). Cordes has since said he now feels "like a complete jerk", which is good, because he should. I'm not even going to blast this guy for embarrassing his daughter like that, because I'm pretty sure it's all been said already. Instead, here's my question: who still carries a laser pointer around? Is this still 1999? If his ban ever gets lifted and he's allowed to go to one of his daughter's games again (unlikely) I hope he will have at least learned to heckle like an adult. In the meantime, Cordes has been charged with disturbing the peace and also is officially out of the running for sports-parent of the year.