Weekly Sporties

-The biggest sports news in this area was that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady signed a new, 3-year contract extension for $27 million which will keep him with team through his 40th birthday and almost ensure he will retire as a Patriot. Also, it gives the Patriots some much-needed salary cap relief in the short term (what is not known is if Brady did this deal while telling them to use the money to sign Wes Welker to a new deal or go after some other free agent). Immediately people started locking in on the dollar figure and did the math, noticed that the per-year number is a lot less than Brady is making now and began touting this as an incredibly selfless act by Brady because he wants to improve the team, once again showing why other teams are jealous of Brady and the "Patriot Way." Unfortunately for the people who enjoy a good narrative, the reality doesn't actually fit into the neat and tidy storyline. Yes, if Brady had let his current deal expire and gone into free agency he could have gotten a lot more than the $9 million a year he got with the extension and the deal give the Patriots a lot of room to work under the salary cap. However, the reality is that what this deal really did was average out Brady's salary over the next five years instead of the next three and guarantee all the money in his contract (guaranteed money is the only part of a contract NFL players actually care about). Basically, this all means he actually got a raise and more financial stability. Now, don't take this as a complaint because if anyone deserves to be well-compensated for his work it is Tom Brady, but I just figure we should be honest and not act like he is throwing himself on the sword here. Besides, there is an above-average chance the deal will be redone in another couple years anyway. NFL contracts aren't worth the paper they are printed on, but at least the Patriots' offseason just got a little more interesting.

-World #1 Rory McIlroy has not gotten off to a very good start this year. After being unveiled as the newest Nike athlete amid much fanfare, Rory went out and missed the cut in Abu Dhabi. Most figured it was no big deal - couple bad days after a long layoff while trying to get used to new equipment. Then he was beaten in the first round of match play by a guy most golf fans had never heard of. A little more concerning, but he could have simply run into a guy on a hot steak. Still, it will be a little harder to explain away his actions yesterday, when he walked off the course in the middle of the round after being 7-over through eight holes. After hitting two balls in the water and withdrawing before finishing the hole, at first Rory said he was in a bad space mentally, but later released a statement saying the reason he walked off was he was in pain due to his wisdom teeth and couldn't concentrate. Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you about the Swedish golfer who extracted the venom from a spider bite and still finished her round? At the time I said it was proof golfers are tougher than they get credit for. Well, Rory pretty much undid all that good will with this move. However, it is not just that he used a sore mouth to explain away his bad play, but the way he quit in the middle of a hole which looks really bad. Every golfer in history has had a day like Rory's and how they handle it tells a lot about the player. The great ones never stop grinding, the good ones turn it into a glorified practice rounds and it's only supposed to be the bad ones who quit. Unfortunately for McIlroy, who we need to remember is till just 23, his learning curve will be televised. People can forgive not playing well, but as soon as it looks like you are taking your opportunities for granted the public is not going to be as sympathetic to your plight. Obviously the next time he shows up and contends all will be forgiven, but for the next couple of days he had better be prepared to take a lot of grief.

-When if was first announced that the so-called "Catholic 7" members of the Big East were planning to break away from the league and form a basketball-centric conference, there was speculation that they were willing to sue the other teams in the league for the right to take the name with them. At the time I said I thought they should have it, because schools like Georgetown and Providence were founding members and certainly had more of a right to call themselves the "Big East" when compared to a school like Syracuse which had announced its intention to run to the ACC or any of the schools like South Florida which had only been in the league for a couple of years. The good news for basketball purist is that the only thing which never changes in these days of realignment is that money is really the only thing that matters and after settling on a price the "Catholic 7" will be able to retain the name Big East, keep having their tournament in Madison Square Garden and the remaining football members of the conference will be able to re-brand themselves with a moniker more fitting of their nation-wide conference layout. The biggest question now is who will join the 7 basketball members in the new Big East. Personally, I think a lot of people at Notre Dame are trying to figure out the easiest way to back out of their commitment to the ACC, because this league would be perfect for them. They could stay with a lot of rivals, be one of the better programs in the conference and remain Independent in football, which is really what they want to focus on. Also, let's be honest, the new Big East would rather have Notre Dame than Davidson, who is rumored to be joining. So far the Irish are saying they intend to follow through with joining the ACC, but the AD Jack Swarbrick has already said that since they were supposed to stay in the Big East through 2014, they wouldn't mind it if that meant the new basketball-friendly version instead of whatever the football-heavy conference turns in to. I think this is the first step to the Irish remaining the new Big East, but we shall have to see.

-Whoever ends up in the new Big East, I can only hope they are a little better at keeping their composure than a few members of the ACC. Few once-great moments in college basketball have become as water-down as when students rush the court following a big win. It used to be that for people to be inspired enough to storm the floor you had to beat a top-ranked team for the first time ever or win a regular-season title. Now if you beat anyone in the Top-50 on a Tuesday in December the student body is going to come running. I don't know if Virginia beating then-#3 Duke on Thursday night was worthy of storming the court (but I am leaning towards no), I just know that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski thought that Virginia could have done a better job of protecting his players once they knew it was coming. Coach K said that it was a dangerous situation and the school security wasn't adequate. (While I can see his point, I would have to think his players would be able to handle the situation on their own by now because as people were talking about this situation this mind-blowing statistic was revealed: in the last 50 times Duke has been beaten on the road, the opposing team's students have rushed the court 42 times once the game was over. Seriously, people love beating Duke.) Anyway, people have begun to debate whether or not schools should get involve and stop students from coming onto the court. That sounds good in theory, but storming the court is a big part of the college experience and it is appropriate in the right circumstances. Perhaps what we really need is a class, reminding the student body when a victory is truly worth a court-storm. Some of these schools not only need the reminder but the athletes could use the course credits.

-As soon as the Atlanta Thrashers bolted for the more hockey-friendly confines of Winnipeg, the NHL was on the clock concerning realignment. You see, despite the location and name change the artists formerly known as the Thrashers were still part of the Southeast division. Not only did it not make sense geographically, it didn't really work schedule-wise. Remaining in the division was also unfair to teams like Nashville and Tampa Bay because it meant they had to schedule extra lengthy trips north of the border because the NHL likes to have teams play the other members of their divisions more often to build rivalries. Considering the biggest component to a rivalry is proximity, you can't really force places like Winnipeg and Washington to manufacture a rivalry no matter how often they have to face one another. Thus, NHL is going ahead with realignment. That part makes a lot of sense, but what doesn't is the complicated format it appears they will be going to. Rather than have two conference made up of three divisions like they do now and simply moving the Jets to a division which better represents their new location, the NHL is totally blowing up and starting from scratch. The league will now consist of four conference and the playoffs will feature two teams from each conference and another two wildcards from those conferences. Each conference will have it's own playoff tree and then the four conference champions will fight for the Stanley Cup. (Are you confused yet?) While I appreciate the NHL's desire to be different, the playoffs are the one thing they shouldn't be messing with. Playoff hockey is the best thing going and you just know this new format is going to cost one team the chance to go because they play in a conference full of good teams. It is bad enough when that happens now. For example, the current Southeast division leader wouldn't even make the playoffs if it was done by the strict two-conference system which used to be in place, so the fact they will steal a playoff spot simply by being the best team in a putrid division is bad enough. I would hate to see an entire conference full of teams like that.

-The World Baseball Classic (which starts today, in case you were wondering) continues to be a story of contradictions, as some teams take the tournament very seriously while others use the games as glorified Spring Training. This week's oddity comes from team Canada, where Pirates catcher Russell Martin decided to leave the team after being denied the right to play shortstop. You see, Russell came up as a third baseman and was willing to play for Canada, but only if he could go back to the infield and have some fun while not subjecting his body to the rigors that catching a baseball game puts on you. Canadian baseball officials weren't really fond of the idea because they thought it didn't give them a chance to win and made a slight mockery of the proceedings. Also, Pirates officials didn't like the idea because they didn't want Martin, who they just signed as a free agent, getting hurt while playing out of position. So, rather than go back to his natural position and play for Canadian pride, Martin essentially said that if he was going to be forced to catch he was only going to do it for the team who pays him. I know it sounds like a bit of a dick move (and it probably is), but I can't say I totally blame him. It's a little like players on team USA basketball wanting to make sure they go to as many Olympic events as possible - if you are going to ask these guys to take time away from their families and teams to play in a tournament which, let's be honest, Canada has no shot of winning you should at least let them have a little fun while doing so. Martin could have handled it better, but at least the Pirates know he is taking their season seriously. If nothing else, this just proves the theory I have held on to for years - even catchers hate baseball.

-Somehow, a catcher wanting to play shortstop for the hell of it in a tournament which is supposed to be baseball's version of the World Cup wasn't the strangest story of the week. That honor goes to the news that former Piston great Dennis Rodman is in North Korean on a basketball exhibition with the Harlem Globetrotters. Go ahead, read that sentence again and let it sink in. We can't get North Korea to sit down for diplomatic talks, but the man known as the Worm is able to get in there and sit courtside with Kim Jong-un, forming a friendship that Rodman claims is "for life." The new leader of Korea is a huge basketball fan, specifically of the mid-90s Bulls team that Rodman was a part of, so it can't be a total surprise that Rodman was able to get in, but it still makes me uneasy that he is the first American many North Koreans are ever going to experience first-hand. It just makes me nervous that they are going to think we are all that weird even though if we got a vote there is no way in hell Dennis Rodman would have been picked as our representative. It's like when North Korean TV decided to broadcast the first movie from outsiders and went with "Bend It Like Beckham". Not exactly putting our best foot forward. I can't tell if this is a brilliant move by Jong-un, because it paints all Americans as slightly crazy or if this is nothing more than a huge basketball fan living out a dream because he happens to run the country. I guess this could turn out to be an amazing spy story someday if it is eventually revealed that Rodman was wearing a wire the whole time and found out all of North Korea's nuclear secrets. Honestly, once you get past the "Dennis Rodman was invited to North Korea" headline, does anything seem that far-fetched?