The World Series, just how it's supposed to be.

This year's fall classic is turning out just the way I want it. Low scoring, great pitching and all of the little things that make baseball great.

Tampa Bay defeated Philadelphia 4-2 Thursday night to even their series at one game each, a night after falling 3-2 to Cole Hamels' and the Phillies.

The Rays got runs on outs and a squeeze bunt and great pitching from James Shields, Dan Wheeler and David Price.

Price has been the most pleasant surprise for the surprise-filled Rays this postseason.

A heralded prospect with a lightning fastball, the lefty had just five games of big league experience before this postseason.

Now he has a win and a save in the ALCS, including the final outs of Game 7 against Boston, and a commanding 2 and one-third inning performance Thursday against the Phillies, shutting down the power of the lineup twice.

Price worked through Chase Utley and Ryan Howard twice in the game, getting both of them in the ninth inning with one man on base.

The kid showed a lot of poise by trusting his slider when his fastball lacked command.

What's scary is he is just another in the long line of talented starters the Rays have, all under the age of 26.

Shields, Price, Scott Kazmir, Andy Sonnanstine and Game 7 hero Matt Garza just top the list.

This is a team that has the formula for success down to a science. Draft well, develop all of your talent and committ to success from within.

The Phillies on the other hand have done those things, but have forgotten that when you get good pitching in the postseason you need to also hit the ball once in a while.

Philadelphia is approachin a 1-for-30 mark with runners in scoring position in the World Series.

That's just two games so far. They have gotten a lot of runners on but have scored just five total runs in two games.

You can compliment the Rays' pitching staff, but you could also turn it all around on the Phillies, who have had enough runners on base to have won both games with comfortable leads.

If the Phillies are going to win this series, they are going to have to get the bats in play, otherwise the better pitching staff is going to bring a championship to Tampa.

The NFL is starting to figure me out. Or is it the other way around. I went 9-5 last week to give me some breating room at 47-39 on the season. This week feature's one of the best matchups of the season with the Giants coming to Pittsburgh. Eli vs. Ben. Defense vs. Defense. Expect a lot of hard hitting and a lot of running from both teams, but the quarterbacks will decide the outcome. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes will lead his team to victory. But rest assured on both sides, this game will not end either team's season. Both of these teams are headed in the direction of a Super Bowl run and a possible rematch in February. I am taking the Giants to win 31-24 on the road.

The rest of my picks look like this; Buffalo over Miami, Washington over Detroit, San Diego over New Orleans in London, Tampa Bay over Dallas, Baltimore over Oakland, the Jets over Kansas City, New England over St. Louis, Carolina over Arizona, Atlanta over Philadelphia, Houston over Cincinnati, Jacksonville over Cleveland, San Francisco over Seattle, and Tennessee over Indianapolis on Monday night.

Bonus picks here from the college ranks for you. I got No. 3 Penn State over No. 10 Ohio State in the biggest matchup of the weekend 38-23. Also in a matchup of top-ranked teams I am taking Texas to defend number one against No. 7 Oklahoma State.

Enjoy the weekend and all of the football.

article for my newspaper, Saturday, October 4

The first few games of the postseason have happened, and with some surprising (Tampa Bay) and some not so surprising ( Chicago Cubs) happening.

Tampa came out in their first ever playoff game and defeated the Chicago White Sox behind the strength of two solo home runs from rookie sensation Evan Longoria.

This kid first gained fame when he was in college because of his name's similarity to Tony Parker's wifes. Now he is making everyone compare her to him. Well, not exactly.

Longoria showed no fear, no butterflies, in stepping to the plate for his first two at-bats on Thursday night. This is not just a special ball player, but we might be witnessing the beginning of a very special career.

Tampa Bay locked Longoria up for the next five years, wisely making a committment to not just the player, but the whole team that they are all about winning from here on out.

Losers no more, the AL East champions are for real. With great starting pitching from James Shields and Scott Kazmir at the front, and a great bullpen put together like a patchwork quilt, Tampa is in control of what could be one of the most historic seasons Major League Baseball has ever seen.

17 years ago Atlanta became the first team to go from worst to first and now Tampa is poised to become the second.

Clutch hitting all season from up and down the lineup has been the staple for the Rays' success. Longoria, Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Gabe Gross and more. Some of them stars, some superstars, and some supersubs. But all of them believe in first-year manager Joe Maddon and they believe in themselves.

To be quite honest, I am starting to believe in them too.

Now on to the NFL, it's week five and my picks are still not starting to add up. Last week I went 5-8, bringing the season total to a dismal 22-22. Bounce back week or not, I just need to get something right.

This week's slate will look like this; Chicago over Detroit, San Diego over Miami, Green Bay over Atlanta, Giants over Seattle, Tennessee over Baltimore, Houston over Indianapolis, Carolina over Kansas City, Washington over Philadelphia, Denver over Tampa Bay, Dallas over Cincinnati, Buffalo over Arizona, New England over San Francisco, Jacksonville over Pittsburgh on Sunday night and New Orleans over Minnesota on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend and enjoy the playoffs.

my column from Saturday, September 27

The NFL season continues to take twists and turns with each passing day.

Plaxico Burress received a two-week suspension from the Giants for going MIA twice last week.

The Pittsburgh Steelers not only lost to Philadelphia last week, they are playing Sunday without Willie Parker and Casey Hampton, their starting running back and best defensive lineman.

Cleveland can't figure out which quarterback is the right one to lead them to a win this season. The answer is Derek Anderson, for now.

As players continue to drop like flies to injury, you have to be intrigued by which rookies will show up and make a difference this season.

Steve Slaton of the Houston Texans had a big game last week, and the elusive West Virginia product could continue to make a difference as the season goes on.

Slaton will challenege Darren McFadden of the Raiders and Pittsburgh's Rashard Mendenhall for the top rookie back this season.

Mendenhall will get his first shot at being the "man" this weekend with Parker's injury. The Illinois grad will have a tough task too, facing an intimidating Baltimore defense.

Steelers fans shouldn't have too high of hopes for Mendenhall on this Sunday, but don't get down on him just yet. The kid has proven himself in college at a high level so he will be just fine.

In Buffalo the Bills are maturing every day, relying on the young arm of Trent Edwards and young legs of Marshawn Lynch, their first and second round draft picks last season.

Edwards has done a great job of managing the game for the Bills, and not making mistakes, and Lynch is being the same workhorse he was last season as a rookie.

The Bills will have a challenge though, as return man extraordinaire and third receiver Roscoe Parrish is out for four to six weeks. Buffalo will use Josh Reed and rookie James Hardy in his place on offense, but his return skills won't be easily replaced on punt returns.

On to this week's picks. Last week I went a terrible 7-9, bringing my season total to 17-14. I need a bounce back week more than the Browns do.

I am taking Arizona over the Jets, Minnesota over Tennessee, Denver over Kansas City, New Orleans over San Francisco, Carolina over Atlanta, Cincinnati over Cleveland, Green Bay over Tampa Bay, Jacksonville over Houston, Buffalo over St. Louis, San Diego over Oakland, Dallas over Washington, Philadelphia over Chicago and Baltimore over Pittsburgh.

here is my column from Sept. 20, sorry it's late

We'll get to my football picks at the end, but first it's all about baseball this time of year.

The regular season is winding down, and there are some honors still to be decided, as well as playoff spots in the final weeks of the season.

Sunday, however, marks the final game at Yankee Stadium. Yes the new stadium next door will be called Yankee Stadium, and it will have the monuments and plaques, but it won't be the same.

One of my favorite memories of action at that stadium was David Cone's perfect game against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999. That was a special day for all Yankee fans and a very vivid memory of mine.

All of the stadium's magic will be missed.

As for this season, many of the regular season's honors are yet to be decided, with many hinging on who makes the postseason.

Starting in the American League, the MVP award this season looked to be Carlos Quentin's for the taking, but a forearm injury has derailed his hopes of winning now. There are a number of worthy candidates though on playoff contenders. Dustin Pedroia in Boston, Justin Morneau in Minnesota and Chicago's Jermaine Dye. Also worth mentioning are Alex Rodriguez in New York, Aubrey Huff in Baltimore, Grady Sizemore in Cleveland and Josh Hamilton in Texas.

The award, in my mind, right now is Morneau's for the taking. If he can drive Minnesota into the postseason he is very easily one of the most valuable players on his respective team. The Twins weren't supposed to do anything this season, but Morneau has led the charge all year for them, batting above .375 with runners in scoring position with nearly 100 RBIs. Pedroia and Dye are going to be very close in the race though.

The AL Cy Young race is much slimmer in the picking, with Cleveland's Cliff Lee having on of the best season's by a pitcher in recent memory. Lee was 5-8 last season with an ERA over 6, banished from the rotation to the bullpen to AAA. Now Lee is 22-2 with an ERA at 2.41 with 162 strikeouts, four complete games and two shutouts, the first two of his career. Francisco Rodriguez in Los Angeles has had a record breaking season, saving 58 games to break Bobby Thigpen's all-time mark of 57. But Lee's dominance is greater as a starter than K-Rod's as a closer. Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina and Daisuke Matsuzaka will also garner votes, but not many.

Evan Longoria has been simply great this season, and with Thursday night's three homerun barrage on the Minnesota Twins, the Rays' rookie has started etching his name on the Rookie of the Year trophy. Others have played well, Alexei Ramirez of Chicago, Mike Aviles of Kansas City, Joba Chamberlain of New York, but none have played as well as Longoria.

The National League is a different story. With a large number of potential MVP candidates, it may come down to who doesn't choke in the race for the postseason. Albert Pujols in St. Louis is having an award worthy season, as he always does. So is Lance Berkman in Houston. But neither of them is likely to be headed to the playoffs. Carlos Delgado and David Wright may hurt each other's cases if the Mets don't collapse this season. Ryan Howard hits a ton of homers, but the batting average under .250 will hurt him. Aramis Ramirez is good for Chicago, but not good enough. My vote is split 50/50 between Pujols and Wright at the moment, with Pujols maybe edging out the Mets' thirdbaseman a little.

The Cy Young battles is just as heated, but in my opinion, the winner is clear. Tim Lincecum is playing on a very bad San Francisco team, but he just keeps winning. Similar to Lee, Lincecum is really the only bright spot in a bad season for his team. Lincecum is 17-4 this season with a 2.46 ERA and 243 strikeouts. His dominance should trump the higher win total for Arizona's Brandon Webb. Webb is 21-7 with a 3.26 ERA and 170 strikeouts, with his wins being the only key stat he beats Lincecum in. Johan Santan, CC Sabathia's half-season and Cole Hamels will also garner votes.

Geovany Soto is the NL Rookie of the Year, there isn't any question or doubt. Soto has backstopped the best team in the league all season, has over 20 homeruns and 80 RBIs, and is a key part of that Cubs team. Jair Jurrjens and Jay Bruce have made good cases, but not good enough.

The managers of the year should fall as follows. Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay over Ron Gardenhire of Minnesota in the AL and Lou Piniella of the Cubs over Joe Torre of Los Angeles in the NL.

These awards and the pennant races should make for an exciting final week-plus of the major league season.

On to my NFL picks. Last week I opened with a 10-5 record, not counting my big error in the Maplewood-General McLane game. This week I am taking Tennessee over Houston, Buffalo over Oakland, Carolina over Minnesota, Atlanta over Kansas City, Chicago over Tampa Bay, Arizona over Washington, New England over Miami, New York Giants over Cincinnati, Seattle ov er St. Louis, Detroit over San Francisco, Denver over New Orleans, Cleveland over Baltimore, Indianapolis over Jacksonville, Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, San Diego over the Jets and in the biggest matchup of the week, Green Bay over Dallas at Lambeau.

And before I go, birthday wishes to my niece Madison Bancroft on Sunday, she turns 3. Also birthday wishes to me, I turn 25 on Monday. And a happy anniversary to my wife Kelly, we celebrated two years on September 16.

Enjoy the weekend.

With all of the work put into preparing for our local high school sports this fall season the NFL just snuck up on me.

And then in Week 1 it made an impact usually reserved for a whole season's worth of games.

Tom Brady went down for the season. Shawne Merriman is gone too. Marques Colston will miss up to six weeks. Osi Umenyiora, gone as well.

I feel smart now for making some bold predictions after these injuries have gone into effect, now I won't make the mistake of putting my Super Bowl hopes on the right arm of a guy who hasn't started a game since high school, some almost nine years ago.

So even though I am a week late, I am going to make some bold predictions for the season, as well as picks for this weekend - something I will continue to do the rest of the NFL season.

AFC East

This division went from a potential Patriot runaway to completely wide open. New England still has weapons in Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Laurence Maroney and playmakers on defense. But they are counting on an unproven backup to win a lot of big games. Brett Favre instantly made the Jets better, but the rest of the team is going to keep them average. The Dolphins are well, the Dolphins. Again. Buffalo is the most intriguing player in this division to me. They have a young quarterback in Trent Edwards, and emerging playmaker in Marshawn Lynch, bigtime wideout Lee Evans and potential threat in rookie James Hardy. Their defense was stocked in the offseason with free agent acquisitions Marcus Stroud and Kawika Mitchell along with number one draft pick Leodis McKelvin. If they all play well together and Edwards matures quickly, I think they can take this division.

AFC North

Pittsburgh is the class of this division, and it really isn't close. Cleveland made strides in the offseason, but they still aren't the unit they need to be. The Browns are wild card contenders for sure, but Pittsburgh's two-headed running attack of Willie Parker and rookie Rashard Mendenhall is too much for teams to handle. The Bengals are more a mess than a contender, even though they have playmakers like Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson. The Ravens are starting a rookie at quarterback in Joe Flacco, and even if he is talented, he is still a rookie on an average team.

AFC South

This division looks upside down after week one. Peyton Manning and the Colts showed some age in a loss to the Bears, Vince Young went AWOL on the Titans even though they won, and Jacksonville lost as David Garrard threw two interceptions - one less than he threw all of last season. The Texans lost big, but that's the only constant here in the South. I expect Jacksonville and Garrard to turn things around in a hurry, and ride Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor to a division crown. Don't count out the Colts though, Manning is too good to let this team fall back.

AFC West

This is a division of one team that has, and three teams that want. San Diego has the offensive firepower, led by LaDainian Tomlinson. They also have a good defense, with or without Merriman. Denver is close to being a contender, but they are relying on too many young players to make a difference this season. Kansas City and Oakland are also playing for something this season, the chance to pick first overall in the 2009 Draft. Tim Tebow anyone.

NFC East

Easily the strongest division in the league, and possibly in sports. The defending champion Giants came out strong against the Redskins in their Thursday opener, proving they can still get pressure up front without Umenyiora and the retired Michael Strahan. Eli Manning still needs to improve on his completion percentage to make the team a legit repeat contender. Dallas has all of its firepower back on offense, but until they win a playoff game they are still just a regular season horse. Philadelphia is playing well early and Donovan McNabb looks strong. But McNabb's injury history has to concern Philly fans. Washington is still a team relying on an average and young quarterback to do too much.

NFC North

Favre left and everyone thought the Packers were done for. Now Aaron Rodgers has carried them to victory over the rival Vikings and all looks good in Lambeau Field. Minnesota's defense will win them a lot of games this season, but Tavaris Jackson is capable of losing them just as many from the quarterback position. Detroit is a good team for fantasy points, but not a good team on the field. Chicago is an enigma, playing great against the Colts in the opener but capable of putting up a lame duck any week of the season.

NFC South

New Orleans is the team to beat here, even without Colston for the first half. Drew Brees and new tight end Jeremy Shockey will form some cohesion and expect bigger numbers from Reggie Bush this season. Carolina is an improved team and a healthy Jake Delhomme could make them a playoff contender. Atlanta got a great debut from Matt Ryan and Michael Turner, but it was against the hapless Lions. Don't expect any miracles in the Dirty South. Tampa Bay seems to have too many issues internally to make a run this season, but they will spoil a lot of teams plans along the way.

NFC West

Probably the worst division in the league. Seattle could win this one again by default, if anyone on the roster makes it to the end of the season healthy. Seattle is staring at the possibility of having to start Seneca Wallace, their backup quarterback, at wide receiver if someone doesn't get healthy soon. Arizona has the offensive firepower to steal this division, as long as they let Kurt Warner quarterback and Matt Leinart handle the hot tub parties. St. Lous and San Francisco are more than just one year away. They are about six top draft picks and a few hail maries from contending.

Playoffs

My call is like this. Division winners in the AFC will be Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and San Diego with wild card winners the Patriots and Colts. The NFC will send Dallas, Green Bay, New Orleans and Arizona with the Giants and Eagles taking the wild card spots.

My Super Bowl picks line up like this... I see Pittsburgh as the team to beat in the AFC after Brady's injury and with them receiving a bye in the first round they should have a nice road to the championship game. I like the Giants to make it back, considering Dallas' tendency to choke in the playoffs, but Green Bay is to tempting for me. Packers-Steelers it is then. No winner for now, I reserve the right to be wrong and correct it at a later date.

Michael Phelps is done now.

The buildup and anticipation of one of the greatest records in sports being broken has come and gone.

The Olympics will continue, as will the world. But what Phelps has done in the past week will be remembered for a very long time.

Phelps has solidified his place among not only the greatest swimmers of all time, or the greatest Olympians. But he is in the argument as one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the planet.

The swimmers' dedication is matched by few. Two-a-day practices most of the training season, in the water, in the weight room and in the kitchen.

Phelps has given so much time and energy to his sport, passing up on a normal college life, a normal high school life as well. All in the name of being the best.

He didn't party, he didn't find himself all over the pages of tabloids and the internet out late with different women. He went to bed early and got up to train earlier.

Phelps' accomplishment differs from Mark Spitz' because Spitz swam just the butterfly and freestyle events. Phelps swims all four strokes, competing in two of the toughest events (400 individual medley, 200 butterfly) on the event list, and he does it all better than anyone else in history.

He owns, or co-owns, the world record in six of the seven events he swam, missing out in only the 100-meter butterfly.

It is few and far between that you see one athlete who is so far beyond his peers that you begin to see him in a different light.

Babe Ruth was this kind of athlete. When he hit 54 home runs in 1920, George Sisler finished runner-up with 19 home runs. The Yankees hit 115 as a team that year, Sisler's St. Louis Browns hit 50. The Philadelphia Phillies hit 64 to lead the National League that season.

Ruth performed so far beyond his peers during the early 1920's that he was bigger than the game.

Phelps isn't there yet. But if you were to ask just the casual sports fan on the street to name one swimmer from any country in the world, I am willing to bet that 9 out of 10 will say, Michael Phelps.

His domination of the sport, in my opinion, exceeds that of either Tiger Woods or Roger Federer, two of the most dominant individual athletes out there today.

Phelps has done it at every competition he goes to, he doesn't miss a beat, have an off day. And when he does slip up, or face adversity, he still wins.

Federer can't win on clay, evidenced by the French Open every year. Phelps win in any pool at any time of the day. This year's Olympic finals were held in the Beijing morning, a complete opposite to what is normal in a swimmer's routine.

Woods has won every tournament there is, but he only plays in a small sample of the events, ensuring he is properly rested up. Phelps swims multiple events in the same session, some as close as 30 minutes apart.

Phelps may not be the greatest athlete of all time. He may just be the greatest athlete of today.

But that is fine by me. Because what he has accomplished over the past week is more than memorable.

This is the stuff legends are made of.

As a diehard Giants fan I am going to break down the fantasy impact from the defending Super Bowl Champions for 2008-09.

Quarterback: Eli Manning emerged late last season, going on a run of epic proportions. Manning led the Giants on the road to Tampa Bay, Dallas, Green Bay and Phoenix for the Super Bowl to beat the Bucs, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots. His leadership skills are not questioned, what is questioned is his on field decision making. He threw only one interception in the postseason, but he threw 20 in the regular season. Eli is coming along but he is not a top tier guy, yet. He will be around in the middle rounds of your draft, but don't take him ahead of David Garrard, Ben Roethlisberger, Donovan McNabb or the equivilant. Backing up Manning this season will be either David Carr or Anthony Wright, avoid at all costs.

Running Back: Brandon Jacobs just barely eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last season, battling injuries along the way. This moves Jacobs, a bigtime touchdown threat, out of the first 10 or so running backs and into that second round, early third round area. He is a great pick though as the Giants are a run-heavy team and will give the big man lots of carries. The area that still needs to be decided in who backs up Jacobs. Both Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw played well last season backing up Jacobs. Ward ran for over 600 yards in his time and Bradshaw came on late to provide some speed when Ward went down. Problem is they will probably split the backup carries, making neither of them a strong fantasy play.

Wide Receiver: Plaxico Burress is an elite receiver. He is the big man on the Giants roster and is numero uno in the red zone, see Super Bowl winning TD. Burress is a strong pick in the second or third rounds. After him there will be a big fall off to Amani Toomer, Steve Smith, David Tyree, Sinorice Moss and rookie Mario Manningham. Smith emerged late and Toomer was hurt last season. They will both see probably 30-35 catches this year, but not many touchdowns, maybe five between them. Tyree and Manningham will be non-factors.

Tight End: Kevin Boss has become a very important late-round draftpick with the trade of Jeremy Shockey. Manning likes to use his tight ends and Boss proved last season he can make the big play when necessary. Boss isn't worth drafting ahead of more proven veterans but if he is on the board in one of the final rounds, he is worth grabbing and stashing if you have space.

Kicker: Lawrence Tynes is good, but not great. It's fantasy football and kickers are not important, if he's there you can get him, he will get a lot of chances to score, but he didn't have a great FG percentage last season.

Defense: The Giants defense is one of the five best in the game. They will get you a ton of sacks, even without Michael Strahan, and will cause a lot of fumbles. They are prone to giving up some big points but will make plays all over the field. Their defensive backs should have decent INT numbers this season with Aaron Ross, Corey Webster, Sam Madison and Kenny Phillips out there.

Every year as the summer winds on baseball's long season gets a boost of interest in July.

First comes the All-Star break, giving the fans and teams alike a chance to re-evaluate their organizations season. Which for fans in places like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, means just a break from the disappointment and losing.

Then comes the non-waiver trading deadline, July 31 every year. This is a team's last chance to seek help from outside their organization or to start building for the next season and seasons to come.

This year's action was really broken into three periods, early, middle and the deadline.

In the early period, before July 11, two of the market's biggest names were dealt in major deals.

CC Sabathia was dealt from Cleveland to Milwaukee, sending the free agent-to-be from the cellar to the heat of a playoff race. The Indians made the most of it, getting a top-flight prospect in Matt LaPorta and two pitchers who could provide depth but weren't blockbusters.

Sabathia has been lights out for the Brewers, going 5-0 since the trade and showing he is worth a major pay day this offseason.

Rich Harden was also dealt in the early period, headed from Oakland to the Cubs of Chicago four four players, headlined by Matt Murton and Sean Gallagher.

The Harden move has payed off well for Chicago for now, since he hasn't gotten hurt. The move was definitely a counter-move to Milwaukee's acquisition of Sabathia.

The trade of Sabathia, much like the trade of Mark Teixeira from Atlanta to the Angels marked a changing of the times for Major League Baseball.

Both players are free agents at the end of the season, and if they do not re-sign with their current clubs, they are both Type A free agents and both Milwaukee and Los Angeles will receive two first round draft picks, a hot commodity now a days.

This idea, getting draft picks when your top talents walk as free agents, also led to a number of players not getting traded. Included in this list was Raul Ibanez of Seattle, who definitely could have helped a contender. Seattle chose to hang on to him, probably with no intentions of re-signing him, just to get the picks next season.

Between July 16 and July 30 there were eight major deals, involving a total of 25 players. The Teixeira to L.A. deal and the Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady to New York deals highlighted the action.

The deadline period, July 30 and July 31, saw just five trades, and only three of a major difference.

The biggest deal was obviously the Manny Ramirez- Jason Bay-prospects deal.

ManRam had reached a breaking point with the Red Sox front office and had to be traded. The Sox did the best they could, receiving a cheaper replacement in Jason Bay who is under contract.

Manny wins the most though, he is happy in L.A., and was able to drop the option years from his contract, so he is now in a contract year, playing the rest of this season for a new pay day.

The Dodgers win also then, they get the most feared right-handed hitter in baseball, and if Ramirez walks at the end of the year, they get the two draft picks as compensation.

This year's deadline has shown the change in the market, where younger, more talented players are valued higher than veterans who make a lot of money.

Teams are less willing to trade away their future to win now, instead hoping someone will develop from within and help them while still cheap.

The New York Yankees have acquired Pudge Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers this afternoon for Kyle Farnsworth. Straight Up.

I couldn't believe it either. This is an excellent deal for the Yanks. They needed an upgrade over Jose "Name that" Molina with Jorge Posada down for the season.

Pudge is going to hit arond .290 this season, get on base, and most importantly call a great game behind the plate. Pudge is a veteran presence and will handle the young pitchers on New York's staff well. Joba Chamberlain, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, David Robertson and more will all benefit from this deal.

Hopefully this brings consistency to the team and the offense because the Yankees are still looking up at the ass-end of the Rays and Red Sox.

NASCAR has run into a very touchy problem.

The Brickyard 400 is one of the most anticipated races on the Sprint Cup schedule every season. Some consider it one of the "majors" on the list. It is compared with the Daytona 500, or racing at Talladega or Bristol.

Everyone wants to win it, and even more just want to be a part of it.

But after Sunday's debacle, no one knows just what the race is anymore.

Goodyear and NASCAR showed the world just how unprepared they can be when it comes to combining the new car with good, solid tires.

The new car puts weight on the tires in different areas than the old car, especially it puts more weight on the right side, evidenced by Sunday's race.

NASCAR saw Juan Pablo Montoya's right rear explode, then Matt Kenseth's. Earlier Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pitted out of sequence just before a tire blew.

So they started throwing competition cautions every 10 or so laps, bringing everyone onto pit road before another tire could blow.

This is a two-sided coin.

On the positive, this was a safety decision. When a tire blows on a car traveling nearly 200 miles per hour, you don't have a lot of time to react and pull over. Typically you end up headed straight for a wall, or into the line of oncoming traffic, also going 200 miles per hour.

So by bringing the field in before tires started exploding NASCAR was thinking safety first, which is a good thing.

The negative side to this decision was that the fans only got to see short little sprints, not much racing, and a lot of riding around just making it to the next pit stop.

Teams gambled a lot, took two tires and four. But none of it made much difference. The race was dominated by Jimmie Johnson and a select few others who, once they made it up front, stayed up front because they didn't have to hold off anyone's cars on long green flag runs.

Now I commend NASCAR for thinking about the safety of the drivers and teams, but shouldn't this have been a non-issue in the first place.

NASCAR held a test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to test out tires with Goodyear. So is NASCAR admitting that even though testing was done, it wasn't enough. Or that they totally screwed up.

Goodyear spends millions to be the sole tire provider for NASCAR. When they show up to a track with a tire that can't last more than a dozen to 15 laps without exploding, what are we getting for all of that money.

Now I only watched the race on television at home, but if I were one of the thousands who packed into the Brickyard to witness this race, I would be pissed.

The cost of attending a race is outrageous, from tickets to concessions to travel and accomodations. NASCAR is making a fortune but not turning out a product worthy of the price.

This Sunday's race was only another mis-step in a long line of stumbles by NASCAR's leading men. They are cashing a pretty pay check each week because television ratings are up. Those ratings are up because attendence in down.

NASCAR is settling for an average product, and this fan, for one is finally starting to get fed up with it.

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Brett Favre walked away from the game.

After all of those starts in a row, touchdowns thrown and one final interception, he walked away from the game he loved.

And he cried.

Favre retired from football a few months ago, after the Packers' overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC playoffs, having set just about every passing mark there is to set in the league.

He wasn't at the top of his game, but he was still a competitor and was still better than probably 75 percent of the quarterbacks in the league.

So when he left, everyone remembered him, celebrated him, and then began to prepare for the Aaron Rodgers era.

Now that Favre is saying that he wants to play again, and not necessarily for the Packers, he is on the verge of tarnishing a legacy that will live on for decades to come.

Green Bay is taking a hard-nosed stance on Favre's decision to come out of retirement, and I fully support them. They have already begun preperations for the 2008-09 season with Rodgers at quarterback and rookie Brian Brohm competing for the backup spot.

The Packers have welcomed Favre back to compete for a backup spot behind the new incumbent, but they would be foolish to grant him his unconditional release from the three year, $39 million contract he is under should he return to the league.

Green Bay's best decision would be to hold on to him if he is reinstated and trade him. If you are going to move on from a Hall of Famer, you sure as heck better get something in return for him. And you better be sure he doesn't go play for a team in your conference, or worse, your division, where he can beat you in the regular season or playoffs.

Favre is on the verge himself of falling into a category with Roger Clemens, who has retired and unretired, waited and waited, for about the last five seasons. Well until he found himself caught in a web of lies.

All athletes run on schedules and when you do something long enough it becomes routine. For Favre this time of summer means training camp preparation and getting into shape. So it would be natural for him to be "getting the itch" and wanting to play again.

But he needs to show the discipline in sticking by his decision. If your going to walk away, do so with pride and move on to the next part of your life. Michael Strahan did that, and now he is entering the Fox NFL Sunday TV studio. Your always going to want to keep playing, but if you drag it out you are going to regret that decision as you are soon unable to perform at the same level you are accustomed to each week.

I loved watching Favre play, loved watching him wear the green and gold number four each Sunday. But to see him go the rout of Joe Montana as a Kansas City Chief, Franco Harris as a Seattle Seahawk or Willie Mays as a New York Met, would be just plain painful.

Green Bay is right for not wanting to give in to Favre's demands, but they are being put into a very tough situation because Favre is a name and a player that for more than a decade and half has been bigger than their team, their city and sometimes the sport itself.

My advice to Brett Favre is to walk away now, walk away with your pride, and get a hobby. I hear fishing is incredibly relaxing.

my column for this week's newspaper

Kyle Busch is just driving away. Literally and figuratively.

Busch won his sixth race of the season Saturday night, edging out Carl Edwards on the last lap as the caution flag flew.

Busch not only leads the championship points but he also has a 40-point edge as of today headed into the Chase for the Sprint Cup in eight more weeks.

Some people think a hot start can hurt you over the long NASCAR Sprint Cup season, but Busch is making sure he can afford a bad week during the final 10-race playoff.

Busch's 60 bonus points puts him up on the next highest total of 20 shared by Edwards and Kasey Kahne. No one else has won more than one race this season.

Last year Jimmie Johnson put on a show, winning 10 races en route to his second consecutive championship, and now Busch looks well on his way to eclipsing that total.

Through 18 races, Busch has won six, or one-third. The best winning percentage in baseball right now belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays at .628 entering play Sunday. Busch is at a cool .667, roundup up of course.

And the younger brother has proven over the past couple of weeks that he can win on any track, anywhere.

Busch picked up his first road course win in the Sprint Cup Series by dominating Infineon Raceway. He has won the last two restrictor plate races, winning Saturday in Daytona and at Talladega earlier this season.

Busch also has wins at Dover, Darlington and Atlanta.

Of the 10 races during the Chase there are stops at Dover, Atlanta and Talladega on the schedule. Busch was also in position for a win at Richmond, where they run the final race before the Chase.

Watkins Glen is on the map ahead, as is a second trip to Pocono, California, Bristol and Michigan.

It is not unreasonable given the performances he continues to lay down to expect Kyle to have seven or eight wins headed into the Chase.

It also wouldn't be unreasonable to think he couldn't win three or four of the Chase races. 12 or 13 wins this season is completely within his grasp.

Busch has found a way to leave the most powerful team in the sport, a team he was relegated to being the number three guy at best, and become the number one star on another team of stars.

Two-time champion Tony Stewart has struggled to find any consistency all season, and hasn't found victory lane yet. Stewart didn't even finish Saturday's race in Daytona, suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Denny Hamlin, the 2006 Rookie of the Year, has been strong in winning at Martinsville, but also has struggled to finish races.

All three drivers will most likely cruise into the Chase, but only one will make any noise.

I had been skeptical about Busch's talent in the past. I knew he was good, but I thought he was way too immature and stubborn to harness it.

I figured he would win races, make Chases, and continue to fall short of championships because he wasn't finishing races.

Busch has shown maturity this season, and is not only finishing races, he is making comebacks and winning them.

Like last night, where he went from 37th at one point to the checkered flag at the end.

Clearly this season is Kyle Busch's for the taking, and everyone else is just living in it.

it's the fourth of july weekend and I am on a four-day vacation. So sit tight, enjoy the Yankees-Red Sox and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. I will be back with opinions Sunday or Monday.

Also enjoy my alma mater's football helmet, just because

I am a diehard Yankee fan, pinstripes in my blood. But the Tampa Bay Rays are for real, and it is throwing my world off.

Today is July 1. July 1 and the best record in baseball belongs to the Rays. I can't even write that without cringing a bit.

The worst part is, as the Yankees are attempting to regroup, use players from within the system, and get younger, the Rays have already done it, and are winning with it.

They drafted well, picking up players like Andy Sonnanstine, Delmon Young, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton, Elijah Dukes, Jason Hammel, Jonny Gomes, James Shields, and Evan Longoria. Young was traded to get Matt Garza. And also their was the raping of the Mets in the Scott Kazmir deal.

Bringing in veteran relievers Dan Wheeler, Al Reyes, Troy Percival and Trever Miller, has helped anchor a solid bullpen that isn't hurting the young rotation.

More so the team believes in themselves, they believe they can win against any opponent, anywhere.

All of the credit goes to Joe Maddon and his coaching staff, for telling these guys they can win, and then making them believe it.

Case and point, the Red Sox. The "favorite" for the World Series this season, they have struggled against Tampa, having been swept earlier this season and having lost last night to end June.

I don't know what it is but these Rays are just plain throwing the baseball world for a loop.

And I like it.