Weekly Sporties

-With every passing day things are looking worse for Aaron Hernandez. When he was first arrested and charged with murder I thought it could simply be that he was being charged with a high crime to get him to roll on his accomplices, like when Ray Lewis was arrested for murder but eventually struck a deal to testify against his co-defendants while only pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. Well, as you hear mounting evidence that Hernandez may be linked to a double homicide in Boston last July and another assault in Florida, the chances of this getting reduced to a few minor charges are looking pretty slim. All that being said, I'm still kind of surprised the Patriots released Hernandez in the hours between when he was arrested and when he was formally charged (obviously they knew the charges were going to be a worse than what everyone initially thought). For some reason I assumed that in the cold, business-like world of the NFL the team would hold on to him on the chance charges were altered or dropped. As an expensive investment you would think the Patriots would be more concerned about salary cap ramifications than anything else, but I guess they have already decided to cut their losses. (In an effort to totally scrub themselves of him the Patriots are even offering a free jersey exchange, allowing you to bring in your Hernandez jersey for a different player.) But the real message in his release is just how much the NFL has changed. Ray Lewis never missed a snap the season after he was charged with murder, which is kind of crazy to think about, because in the current climate of the NFL even if Hernandez gets released from jail tomorrow there is no way he would see the field this season, as Commissioner Roger Goodell would end up suspending him anyway. Thus his release is probably for the best. I obviously don't agree with everything Goodell has done in his time as Commissioner, but implementing tougher on-field penalties for bad behavior off it is one thing I can get behind.

-When the Patriots brought in Tim Tebow a couple of weeks ago I was very annoyed simply because of the people in the media who insist on injecting Tim into every conversation about football, even when he doesn't belong. My spirits were slightly buoyed by the first press conference Bill Belichick had in which he slapped down most of the questions regarding Tebow, stating he had said all he was going to say about a third-string player. The problem is that Bill doesn't control all of the media and knuckleheads have this annoying habit of finding their way to open mikes. After Hernandez was released there were several journalists, who somehow have actual credentials, who think Tebow will get a look at tight end of the team. This is, of course, idiotic. Yes, I admit it is kind of ironic that the Patriots went from the tight end position being one of the strongest on the team to having it being one of the thinnest since Rob Gronkowski will also miss some time due to his recent back surgery. However, these people need to realize that this is the NFL, not college which means the Patriots can just go out and sign another tight end, not make due until the next recruiting class comes in. They already claimed Jake Ballard off waivers from the Giants last season and stashed him on IR, a move which caused some tension between the franchises at the time but is looking smarter by the second. And if Ballard still isn't ready there are any number of guys who played tight end before who would love the chance to catch passes from Tom Brady. And trust me, any tight end they pull off the scrap heap of free agency will still be ten thousand percent better than Tebow, a man who has never played a down there in the NFL. Think about it, would you trust just anyone to protect your quarterback's blind side? Of course not. The fact people think Tebow could step in and do this serves as a reminder that some people forget how hard professional football really is. If nothing else I can assure you it is harder to be a tight end than it apparently is to be an NFL pundit.

-After missing all of this season due to various injuries, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is probably itching to get back on the field. I think by now we all accept he will never make the Hall of Fame, but if he is going to have even the slightest of chances of rehabbing his personal image he will need to get back and start playing well so the Biogenesis scandal is not our last memory of him. That is why it was totally understandable when A-Rod excitedly tweeted out that his doctor had cleared him to start playing baseball again. Apparently, the Yankees were less enthusiastic about the news because GM Brian Cashman said when the Yankees had something to announce they would announce it and until that time Alex "needs to shut the fuck up." Woah. Brian Cashman has been the GM for the Yankees for a long time and he knows better than anyone how important it is to maintain composure when speaking to anyone with a microphone, so this shows just how frustrated the organization has become with Alex. I can't say I blame them, because when they signed him to that massive second deal they thought they were getting a guy who would be chasing the homerun record, not getting wrapped up in multiple steroid scandals and missing time due to injuries. Still, no one forced the Yankees to offer A-Rod that contract and he had always had a reputation of being rather shady, so I have no particular sympathy for them. Also, I find it awfully convenient that the very next day there was a report out that Rodriguez was only trying to hurry back to playing so that he could retire, citing his injuries, which would allow him to get all the money in his contract rather than risk MLB suspending him for steroids, which would void parts of his deal. I'm almost positive the Yankees were the ones who leaked that story and while I don't doubt it has some grains of truth to it, the Yankees would benefit from it as well since they could get insurance to cover some of that amount, so they shouldn't pretend like this is all Rodriguez's scheming. Honestly, as these two side desperately try to out-maneuver one another to make it look like it is all the other side's fault I can't help but feel like they totally deserve each other.

-In my personal pantheon of over-hyped sports moments sits the Billy Jean King - Bobby Riggs showdown, known as "The Battle of the Sexes". Some people claim King's victory over Riggs was one of the crowning moments in women't sports history, whereas I look at it as it really was - a 28 year-old, highly-ranked women's tennis player beating a 55 year-old retiree who was probably smoking between sets. (Ask yourself this - if this was really the moment people seem to think it was would there still be so many persistent rumors that Riggs bet against himself and then threw the match?) Still, there is no denying that it drew a huge crowd and since tennis desperately needs any kind of audience, there have been multiple efforts to revive the event in the last few years. Most of them have involved John McEnroe challenging one of the Williams sisters, but that feels like it would be more of the same (and most people can't stand John McEnroe) so the idea never picks up much steam. What tennis really needs is two current highly-ranked players to face off and they may get it because this week Andy Murray was asked if would like to play against Serena Williams and indicated it would be something he would think about trying. Serena initially said she wouldn't get a point off Murray, but since then her competitive side has come out and changed her mind, with Serena now saying she may be able to get a game. I actually think she would be able to do even better than that. Serena has one of the hardest serves in tennis and even though Murray has been playing well lately he is not exactly Pete Sampras in his prime. If she could hold her own serve I actually think Serena would be able to get a couple of games off him especially if they play on clay, which has never been Murray's best surface. Plus, she would be playing free because she would have nothing to lose, whereas Murray would probably get tight after she won a single game. It would make for interesting television and I know this much - a match like that might actually be enough to get me to watch tennis for once.

-You ever have that one friend who you can tell is living beyond his means but you don't want to call him out on it because you wouldn't want to embarrass them and it is only after they have to start selling off personal possessions that you finally work up the nerve to ask them if they need some help? Well, it is starting to look like the city of Glendale is turning in to that friend and even worse, they are doing so in an effort to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in town. The NHL has owned the Coyotes for about five years and would desperately like to sell them. The problem is that they only people interested in buying the Coyotes want to do so with the intention of immediately moving them out of Arizona. In an effort to buy more time for a local buyer to get the money together the city of Glendale offered to chip in on some of the operating costs of the team. Here's the problem - they didn't really have the funds to back that promise up. Normally this would be the end of the road, but Glendale just paid to build the Coyotes a new area and having it sit empty for 350 days a year isn't going to do them any good (the logic being that a half-empty arena is still better than an empty one). So, what is happening now is that the city of Glendale is seriously considering selling off City Hall to pay for the Coyotes. They would sell the building and the land to a developer who would then lease the building back to them. Is this not the stupidest idea you have ever heard? You know, I love my professionals sports team (even though as I mentioned yesterday, they drive me crazy) but if my local government seriously considered this idea I would immediately demand a recall election and fire them all. I understand that in these tough economic times legislatures have to get create to balance the budget, but I would like to remind you they are doing this to keep a professional hockey team in town. Multiple studies have shown pro sports teams are never the economic boom people claim they will be and that has to especially be the true about the Coyotes, because no one goes to the games. I know the arena will cost the city of Glendale a lot of money, but at some point you just have to take your losses and not make it any worse and I think the Coyotes entered that phase a long time ago.

-Last year the University of Oregon conducted an internal investigation and found their football coaches had been paying a "recruiting agency" to evaluate certain players and that as part of their service this agency would then steered certain players to the Ducks. Obviously, this counts as a recruiting violation and is seen as a pretty severe recruiting violation. The school self-imposed some penalties but the NCAA maintained they would conduct their own investigation and hand down their own penalties. This was not good for Oregon because the NCAA rarely goes along with the self-imposed penalties schools offer up, opting to hand down something a little more harsh (usually a bowl ban since that is their only real weapon). Well, the other day the NCAA concluded its investigation and the school is losing one scholarship a year for three years, former coach Chip Kelly has a show-cause penalty for the next 18 months and the school has restricted recruiting options for a couple of seasons. That's it. So, for the first time I can remember, a school actually handed down harsher penalties on itself than the NCAA. Seriously, this is less than nothing. The show-cause penalty for Kelly is especially laughable. What that means is that if another school wanted to hire him they would have to state their case before the NCAA and get approval before offering him a contract. Ok, but Kelly just signed a five-year deal to coach the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't care how much of a flop he may be in the NFL, he isn't getting fired after one year, which means that penalty is essentially nothing. I can't help but feel like the fact that this is Oregon, Nike founder Phil Knight's (supplier of more NCAA uniforms than any other clothing manufacturer) alma mater, has something to do with all this. If you look at the slanted penalty scale the NCAA seems to use it is not a hard conclusion to draw. I mean, the NCAA regularly comes down much harder on smaller schools for lesser infractions, but Oregon skates with virtually nothing? As the saying goes, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

-Even though they haven't changed the act in a long time, the Harlem Globetrotters do need to keep bringing in fresh talent. After all, their knees take just as much of a pounding as any other basketball player's and the same guys can't do this forever. Mostly they find guys from smaller schools who know they can't pursue the normal path for a basketball career but who have tremendous dribbling talent. That means, like any other basketball team, the Globetrotters need to draft players. However, since they are't exactly drafting against anyone (no idea where the Washington Generals get their talent from), the Globetrotters like to have a little fun with the selection process. Normally the do something like use the last pick on a famous star or an athlete from another sport (this year it was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera), but this year they decided to have some fun at the top as well, drafting former Baylor star and first pick in the WNBA, Brittney Griner. What makes this interesting is that before the WNBA draft there was some talk a franchise like the Dallas Mavericks would invite Griner to training camp, but nothing more ever came of that. Would the Globetrotters be different? Sadly, Griner quickly shot down any talk of going to the Globetrotters as well due to already having a second team in Russia (most WNBA stars play in Europe during the WNBA's offseason and actually make more money there), but I say she shouldn't be so hasty. The entire thing is a big show, so what is the harm is trying it before deciding? I mean, how awesome would it have been if she showed up on the first day of training camp, ready to practice throwing a bucket of confetti? What make it extra funny is that as a center I don't think Griner is the kind of player who can do much trick dribbling, making her the last kind of players the Globetrotters would actually want. It would be kind of a disaster, but the best kind of joke, in that it would turn the tables on the pranksters and at least, for once, the joke would be on the Globetrotters.