THERE'S TOO MUCH PRESSURE

For the record, I only write when I'm inspired...or irritated...or excited...or drunk.  Because the Yankees don't seem  willing to be the Yankees, I'm bored.  So what is going on in the world of sports?

***THE MONEY IS FLOWING***
Not out of New York, but the Dodgers have picked up the slack. They're buying everybody in sight. One of the partners said that their goal is to have an all-star at every position. There were many times this past season that the Yankees starting lineup included an all-star at every position, including the pitcher. You can see how well that worked out.

The contract dollars for   Josh Hamilton seems to be ratcheting up. There is even a rumor that the Yanks may get involved. They don't need him, they're thisclose to signing Ichiro Suzuki. Of course, at 39 years old, Ichiro is not contributing to any youth movement.
What's going on with Youkilis? He's had an offer for five days now, and hasn't made a decision. Meanwhile, the people in Boston edited the "JOHNNY DAMON, TRAITOR" T-shirts to include Youkilis name and are waiting to put them on the market. Kevin's uncle Ed owns a bistro near Yankee Stadium and he's pushing for Youk to sign with NY, probably to increase his business.

I wondered why Cashman wasn't doing anything at the winter meetings but then I read this little item from the Wall  Street Journal, of all places:
"Brian Cashman came to the winter meetings in Nashville with his hands so fully tied that he lacked the authority to make offers to free agents. The situation was first brought to light by agent Scott Boras, who quietly suggested Wednesday that Cashman lacked the power to make offers.
 On Thursday, people within the Yankees organization confirmed that this was in fact true: Cashman arrived in Nashville unable to make offers to players, and without that power, targets like Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez took deals elsewhere"
Well, isn't that interesting? Maybe that's what's holding Youkilis back; he's not sure the offer is real.

Michael Young, recently traded to Philadelphia after 12 years with the Rangers, said he had "...no relationship with the Ranger front office."  He did keep cashing those paychecks, though.

This is for all the Sabermetric fans out there. There is a stat called WAR - Wins Above Replacement, which, through some magic, they can put a value on players as to how many more wins they could contribute to a team over a "standard" player. A player with a WAR of 5, for example, is worth five more wins than the player he replaces. One writer put together the WAR on the LA Dodgers roster. Here are the results.
"Add it all up and we get 72.7 wins above replacement. Assuming a replacement-level standard of 50 wins, we're talking 122 wins or so."
 I'll be waiting to see how that turns out. (I noticed that every time I come across one of these Sabermetric predictions, the word "assume" finds it's way into the formula).  

The Yankees and the Angels have cut loose from the StubHub - MLB deal, to go a different way. StubHub offers tickets to various sporting events and concerts and the like, for a price, of course. The Yankees say they're doing it for the "...benefit of our season ticket holders," a statement which sends shivers down my back. 

In a recent survey, Boston was voted the smartest city in the U.S. If so, then how do you explain hiring Bobby Valentine?

***THEY SAID IT***
" Bears receiver Brandon Marshall says some players are taking Viagra as a PED. I'm thinking the NFL will start imposing stiff penalties." --  RJ Currie
 "West Virginia has ordered Jonathan Kimble — who dresses in buckskins as the Mountaineer mascot — to stop using his musket as a hunting weapon after he killed a black bear with it and posted pictures on Facebook. Just be thankful Kimble isn't the mascot at some other place that issues weaponry — like, say, Army"  -- Dwight Perry
  [Mr. Perry just celebrated his 13th year of "Sideline Chatter" at the Seattle Times. And the hits just keep on coming. - CP]
"Geneva (Pa.) College's has a 43-year-old freshman swingman:  He's at that awkward age for a basketball player — too old to play college ball, too young for the Knicks."  -- Brad Dickson

"Seats still available  The three-point shooting — 6 for 31, 19 percent — in UCLA's 65-63 basketball victory over Texas on Saturday was downright torrid compared to this stat: Only 2,797 showed up to watch the game at Houston's 43,000-seat Reliant Stadium — 6 ½ percent of capacity."  -- Dwight Perry
 "The Los Angeles Dodgers new ownership has now committed $650 million to players under contract. Forget “The Boys of Summer,” we’re now approaching “The Billionaire Boys Club.”  -- Janice Hough
"Injury report for Steelers: QB Rothlisberger is now listed as probable this weekend. Safety Troy Polumalu is listed as questionable, however, his hair is listed as doubtful."  -- Tony Chong

 "The Heisman Trophy will be given out on Saturday. You have to like Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel. He’s put up more numbers than Lindsay Lohan’s bail bondsman."  -- Alan Ray
"The International Olympic Committee has stripped India of its right to participate in the games. In response, India said, "Fine, just try logging on to your computers now."  -- Conan O'Brien

CP-