Weekly Sporties

-When Peyton Manning was signed by the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, it created a slight quarterback controversy because the Broncos already had fan favorite Tim Tebow. Well, Denver cleared that up quickly by trading Tebow to the New York Jets the very next day. Now, even though I am not a fan of the franchise, I was slightly disappointed in that move because I wanted to see Tebow end up with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I mean, he's from the area and played college in nearby Gainesville. He's probably the most popular athlete in Jacksonville history and, given the fact that the Jaguars are one of the few teams in the NFL which has to tarp large sections of seats to make sure they can claim a sell-out and are as close to irrelevant as you can be when you are still an NFL franchise, they could use a little excitement down there. Apparently, the Jacksonville coaching staff didn't want Tebow because they think he would just create a circus-atmosphere. Normally I am all for an owner staying out of his football personnel's way, but reportedly the Jaguars' owner wanted Tebow and I think he should have stepped in and over-ruled his staff. The simple fact is that when you own a sports teams sometimes you are in the winning games business and others you are in the selling tickets business. Jacksonville, you are a mediocre team with no pull to get quality free-agents - you are currently in the selling tickets business and you blew your chance to sell a lot of tickets.

-Some people might think the Tebow-to-the-Jets moves concerns me as a Patriots fan. Rest assured, it does not. First of all, I think the Patriots showed in their beat-down of the Broncos during the playoffs that they have a pretty good idea of how to handle Tim Tebow. But, secondly, I think this hurts the Jets a lot more than it helps them. After failing to get so much as a courtesy visit from Peyton Manning, the Jets tried to make amends with their current starter, Mark Sanchez, by giving him a large contract extension. Sanchez was happy with the new contract, saying it should serve as a reminder to everyone in the locker room that he is a leader on this team. (This is where I would like to point out that leaders don't usually have to remind people they are leaders, but we'll move on.) Yet, less than a week later the team traded for another quarterback and while they stated multiple times that Tebow was being brought in strictly as a back-up, they also said they were looking forward to his leadership off the field and his positive energy in what was reportedly a toxic locker room last season. You know, if you are looking for a 3rd year, back-up and trick-play quarterback who only plays a couple snaps a game to be the voice of your locker room, you have bigger problems than you know. You'd have been better off asking a kicker to be captain. At least we know why Rex Ryan wasn't promising any Super Bowl trips this year.

-The other huge news in the NFL this week also happened on Wednesday when the NFL brought the hammer down on the New Orleans Saints franchise following their involvement in a bounty scandal, where former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams admitted to giving player illegal bonuses for big hits which knocked opposing players out of games. Head Coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire season, GM Mickey Loomis was suspended for half the season, various other coaches were suspended six game and Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely. I have to say, the harshness of the penalties really surprised the hell out of me. I thought Payton would get six games at most. Apparently, what really did him in was saying he had no knowledge of the bounty policy when the NFL had emails from Payton admitting the exact opposite. (As Richard Nixon learned the hard way - it's never the act that gets you into the most trouble, it's the attempt to cover it up.) It is a really tough hit for the Saints, as it effectively derails their 2012 season before it even starts, but I think everyone saying this is another hit to New Orleans along the lines of Hurricane Katrina need to throttle back the rhetoric a little. It's one year. The Saints were inept for 40 years before getting their act together in the last couple of years. Something tells me the fans are going to survive having to watch their team lose a few games again.

-On the other end of the punishment spectrum we have NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson. After his car failed a pre-race inspection at the Daytona 500 for illegal modifications, Johnson was docked 25 points while his crew chief, Chad Knaus, was suspended six races and fined a few hundred thousand dollars. Then this week, after a series of appeals, NASCAR reversed their decision and gave Johnson back his points and allowed Knaus to return to work, though they kept his money and he remains on probation for a few more races. I'm always surprised when suspensions are over-turned on appeal, because I just want to know what the defense could possibly be. You have to imagine NASCAR did a thorough investigation before handing out punishment. After all, this is Jimmie Johnson - a five-time champion and one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. (Never mind, I think think I just got my answer as to why the suspension was reduced.) Also, I think the fact that Johnson crashed on the second lap and finished 42 in the Daytona 500 probably helped his cause because that in and of itself was like a one-race suspension. They need Johnson around and contending at the end of the season, so no need to pile one.

-One of the reasons I think a lot of people don't like LeBron James is that, much like Alex Rodriguez, they don't feel like they have any idea what he is actually like. Everything he does feels scripted and thought-out (in the case of "The Decision" it would be poorly thought-out, but still...), so as to not take a side or offend anyone and therefore damage his brand in any way. Of course, James is far from the only high-profile athlete who does this. It is natural progression to the old story about Michael Jordan famously refusing to endorse a Democrat for Senate because, "Republicans buy sneakers too." But James is the biggest star in his sport, so anything he does takes on greater meaning. That was why I was happy to see James and his Miami Heat teammates all don hoodies and take a team photo in support of Florida shooting victim Treyvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was gunned down by a self-appointed neighbor watch captain who claimed the teen was suspicious-looking. Some in the media think the fact Martin was wearing a dark hoodie had something to do with him looking "suspicious", hence the team photo. Now, coming out and taking the opposite side of what is clearly an idiotic position might not be much of a risk, but I'm just happy to see James take a stand at all. Maybe he isn't just desperate to have everyone like him all the time.

-Another basketball player who could probably use some good publicity right about now would be Carmelo Anthony. You may remember last weekend when I wrote about the New York Knicks firing their head coach, Mike D'Antoni, in an attempt to save a slumping season. What I neglected to mention was that it was working, as the Knicks won six games in a row before losing last night. One the key players in that run was Anthony, who had famously had tension with his former coach and who seemed to come alive once D'Antoni was let go. Anthony even admitted as much this week when he said he was playing with more energy in the last week. See, this is the kind of stuff I hate about the NBA. Because the rosters are so small one superstar can half-ass his way for a couple games, stage a mutiny and get a coach fired, then start playing hard again once he has gotten his way. Fortunately there has been a little backlash towards Anthony, because some sports analysts were quick to point out that Anthony's paychecks were the same no matter what level of effort he had been giving so maybe he shouldn't be so quick to admit he wasn't trying his best because he didn't like his coach. Suddenly I can see why guys like James and Rodriguez are always careful with what they say.

-The baseball season hasn't even started yet and things are already getting testy between the Red Sox and the Yankees thanks to new manager Bobby Valentine. The two teams were playing in an exhibition game the other night when the Sox used a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. That was when Yankees manager Joe Girardi went to the ump and told them he have any more pitchers available so the game ended in a tie. Valentine than accused Girardi of lying, saying the Yankees had more pitcher available but they just wanted to get the game over with because they had a long ride back to Tampa, adding he thought it was rude of the Yankee skipper to go to the umps instead of telling him directly because he has started warming up a pitcher for the next inning. Now, as a man who often wants baseball games to end sooner, I find myself strangely on Girardi's side in this one. Why are you playing for the tie in Spring Training? [Sidebar: The better question is why we need 30 spring training games to begin with, especially one between two teams who will play each other 19 times during the regular season, but that is a topic for another post.] Anyway, here's the main question I want to ask: why can't this happen during the regular season? Honestly, do we need 14 innings of the Royals and Orioles in the middle of August? Let them call it after 12 and everyone can go home. Really, there are already too many games on baseball's schedule, is anyone going to care if we occasionally cut one short?