Weekly Sporties

-You may remember that in a previous "Sporties" post I mentioned I didn't understand the Red Sox fascination with Toronto manager John Farrell. They wanted him last year but couldn't convince Toronto to trade him to them so they settled on Bobby Valentine while Farrell guided the Blue Jays to their second-straight 4th-place finish, four whole games better than the Red Sox. Still, the Red Sox have a habit of locking on to certain people and after the disaster of this season they were not going to be denied a second time. So, even though his team wasn't much better than Valentine's, last Sunday the Red Sox traded shortstop Mike Aviles for Farrell (technically the Blue Jays included a player, but he's a long-shot to make the majors). While I clearly still don't see what the Red Sox do about Farrell, especially when you factor in he was Terry Francona's pitching coach and the front office was so terrible to Francona after he left, I can at least be at ease with what they had to give up to get him. Last year the Blue Jays had outrageously high demands like pitcher Clay Buchholz, but they obviously came back to reality this year. While he wasn't in the Red Sox long-term plans, I actually like Aviles as a player and think he could do some good things for the Blue Jays, so I believe Toronto should come out of this pretty satisfied. Plus, I don't understand why you would want to keep a guy who is making googly eyes at another team in the division anyway. And the Red Sox finally have their man, so it appears this is one of those deals in which both sides can walk away happy. Also, they did it much faster than last year's managerial search so now the Red Sox can concentrate on fixing a few other minor issues like first base... and outfield... and the back of their rotation. Actually, when you put it like that you have to wonder why Farrell was also so hung up on this job and not the other way around.

-But, lest you think the hiring of John Farrell was going to allow Boston to put the Bobby Valentine era in its review mirror, Valentine finally broke his silence this week and gave an interview about his time as Sox manager to Bob Costas. Most people didn't think Valentine was going to say anything of note and would instead use the interview as a platform to let the world know if he either wanted to manage again or if he would rather return to TV. But Valentine, never one to let a good microphone go to waste, decided to use the opportunity to say that slugger David Ortiz quit on the Red Sox after the mega-trade which shipped out Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford. Ortiz had just come back from the DL and went right back on after the trade which signaled the end of the Sox season. GM Ben Cherington quickly began to defend Ortiz and pointed out that if the Red Sox had any questions about Ortiz's commitment they wouldn't be trying to sign him to an extension. Here's my question: can't both sides be right? Look, David Ortiz has done some great things during his time in Boston, but he has also proven to have a selfish streak. It isn't a stretch to think he decided not to risk further injury for a lost season. He was heading into free agency, made no secret of the fact he was sick of taking one-year deals and has said on numerous occasions he felt no great loyalty to the Sox because they obviously felt none towards him. None of that makes him a bad guy, it just makes him a professional baseball player. So what Valentine said could be true, but Cherington's stance it doesn't make the organization worry could also be the truth. The only one who comes out looking bad here is Valentine, who isn't exactly making himself look attractive to any potential employers. He was already going to have a tough road back if he wanted to manage again and throwing former players under the bus isn't the way to prove how professional you are. Actually, I guess in a roundabout way he just declared he wanted to go back to TV.

-One place that has an opening is the Miami Marlins, who early this week fired manager Ozzie Guillen, also after just one year on the job. I have to say this one surprised me a lot more than the Valentine firing because for all the big-name players the Marlins signed during last offseason's spending spree, Guillen was the real centerpiece of their rebuilding effort. Not only was he a Latin manager in a very Latin community, he had a World Series pedigree and was supposed to give the re-booted Marlins credibility as they moved into their new stadium. Admittedly, Ozzie didn't get off to the best start in Miami when he gave an interview in which he said he admired Fidel Castro, but once he got through that rough patch I figured he was on his way. The problem for him is that the team couldn't seem to get their act together and winning is always going to be the best way to cover up any type of controversy. With his team ending the season on a dreadful streak even a manager without his colorful past was going to have a hard time defending his job. I thought when they traded closer Heath Bell, who had butted heads with Ozzie all season long, that was a sign the organization was backing their manager. Instead Guillen's hire is just another in a long string of high-profile moves which didn't work out for the Marlins. However, I will say this in Ozzie's defense - a couple months ago he pointed out that he was the 4th manager the team has had since 2006. Constant turnover is not the way to build a winning organization. At some point the executives down in Miami need to look in the mirror, because it is starting to look like if the Marlins ever want to be competitive again the real place they need to make a change is in the owner's box.

-A couple week ago I mentioned that the players suspended for 'Bounty-Gate' had asked Commissioner Roger Goodell to recuse himself from the appeal, arguing that since he was the one who handed down the suspensions, he was too invested to be unbiased in the ruling. At the time I thought it was a good idea, but also didn't think Goodell would go for it because it could be seen as a sign of weakness. Turns out I was (kind of) wrong and Goodell asked former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to oversee the appeals. I'm not sure if asking your former boss really counts as recusing yourself and the NFL Players' Association agrees with me. The NFLPA didn't see this as much of an improvement and has asked that Tagliabue prove that he will be independent. Now Tagliabue retired as a fairly well-liked Commissioner who would probably be able to separate himself from Goodell and focus on the issue but I'm not sure he will be able to convince the players of that, because at this point I think if Roger Goodell said that the sky was blue the NFLPA would run to a window to check, then point out that clouds aren't blue and accuse Goodell of being a liar. I think the only way this moves forward now is Goodell asks the NFLPA who they want as an arbitrator and give in to that demand because he needs to get this out of the news. I know Goodell works for the owners and is only doing what they want him to, but the sharp level of distrust between him and the players is rather staggering. The NFL likes to have Commissioners in place for long stretches, but I'm not totally sure how long Goodell is going to last if he can't oversee something as simple as this.

-Speaking of Commissioners, after NBA head honcho David Stern rejected a trade which would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers in favor of another deal for the league-controlled Hornets, people began to publicly question if Stern had gotten a little too comfortable to the power which came with his office. He has been in office for longer than most of the current NBA players have been alive and has led the league through unprecedented growth and some wondered if it hadn't all gone to his head. Well, it appear that will no longer be a concern, as this week Stern announced he will retire in February of 2014 and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver will take his place. This is smart because by announcing it himself, Stern essentially ends any discussion of being removed. (If you are wondering why he's waiting 15 months to step down, that will be the 30th anniversary of Stern becoming Commissioner while also making him the longest-tenured Commissioner in the history of professional sports. I don't know why people are worried about his ego.) Now, you can question some of the moves Stern has pulled lately, such as the Chris Paul veto and allowing the Sonics to leave Seattle, but overall you have to credit Stern with making the NBA what it is today. He may have had the good fortune of taking over when Larry and Magic were coming in to their own, but there are plenty of people who could have fumbled that away. Sometimes success can be harder to manage than failure. Stern not only knew what to do with his stars, he took the game to levels no one else could have dreamed of. He made not have made friends with everyone along the way, but sometimes that is the best way to tell if you are doing a good job or not and David Stern did his job better than most.

-There was a strange story out of college football this week. It appears USC coach Lane Kiffin had one of his players switch jerseys in the middle of a game against lowly Colorado. Now, as you would imagine this is against the rules of college football because often numbers are the only way to tell the players apart and the NCAA doesn't want teams deceiving their opponents by hiding their best players in another man's jersey. Kiffin claims that he wasn't trying to trick the Buffaloes, he was trying to deceive future opponents who may be watching film of the game. Here is why this story probably annoys me more than it should: it's the University of Southern California, not some lowly mid-major attempting to pull off an upset of a high-ranking opponent for the first time in program history. USC has an amazing tradition, is able to have top-five recruiting classes every year and plays on a beautiful campus - they don't need any more advantages. Honestly, this would be like the Yankees trying to sneak a player back into a game after he was pinch-hit and USC should be above the petty tricks. Also, this was a bad idea because it just creates another question about Lane Kiffin. More than a few people have questioned if Kiffin, who didn't win at the Raiders and wasn't at Tennessee long enough for anyone to figure out if he is a good coach or not, is unqualified for such a lofty college job. He may very well be a good coach, but stuff like this isn't going to help his reputation. And unless he plans to finally start beating Stanford Kiffin is going to need his reputation intact, because I'm pretty sure he isn't going to be able to fail-upwards into a better job again.

-I often wonder what Olympians do for the two years between when their Games end and they have to start training for the next installment of the Olympics. After all, it is not like a majority of these athletes play sports which have leagues for them to play in the rest of the time. I'm sure some of them are able to just take time off while the rest get jobs loosely related to their sports so they can still train. But apparently, some Olympians decide to simply take up another sport entirely. Current US sprinter Lolo Jones was recently invited to try out for the US bobsled team. If you ever saw the movie "Cool Runnings" you can see why - bobsledding is allegedly all about the start and no one will give your sled a better push than some sprinters with thighs of steel. Well, here's the funny part: Jones made the team after taking up the sport three weeks ago. At first blush you might think this was a good thing for the US bobsled team - despite coming up short in her races and not winning any individual medals, Lolo was still the media darling of the London games this summer. Since the Winter Games are never the draw the Summer Games are they can finally have a star they can market. However, I'm not sure if you want to promote your Games with the tagline: our most famous athlete has been doing this for almost a month! I know Jones is a world-class athlete and just because she can master a sport the first time she tries it that does mean every can, but that isn't how a lot of people are going to see it - they will just assume bobsledding is really easy. When you are already having a hard time convincing fans that things like curling are a sport I'm not sure this is the storyline you should go with.