TWO UP AND TWO DOWN

** Even the NFL Playoffs can't seem to force the Manti Ye'o stories off the front pages. This story has changed focus three times that I'm aware of and I'm just not interested in it anymore. I hope he'll be able to adjust to professional football, where all the "girlfriends" are real, it's the relationships that are lies.

** Speaking of lies, Lance Armstrong has moved his sideshow to the OWN Network. Here's what i leaned from his "confession:" Lance admitted that he lied and used PEDs, but he "didn't cheat." Why does he say that?  Because everybody else took drugs too. So the gospel according 'Liar Lance' is if everybody is breaking the rules and you do too, it's okay. Which means they never should have thrown Willie Sutton in jail, banned the 8 members of the 1919 White Sox or fined Paul Hornung for betting.

** This is sad news, but at least I won't feel like washing my hands after talking about these two fellows.

Stan "The Man" Musial died at age 92. When talking about him to various people that knew him, the word that comes up all the time is Gentleman. He's fourth on the list foe most hits in a career, behind only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron, with 3630 hits.  Oddly enough, he had 1815 at home and 1815 away. No bad behavior, no scandals or no controversy. If his name was in the papers, it was because of his exploits on the diamond. I consider him the second best, pure left-handed hitter ever, behind only Ted Williams. And, yes, I'm aware that I'm rating him above Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb. Great hitters all, but to me, it's Stan is THE MAN.

Earl Weaver has also died. The "Duke of Earl," as he was known in Baltimore, ended up with a career record of 1480-1060, 22nd on the list of most wins, but his winning percentage was better than such managers as Connie Mack, John McGraw, Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda, all of whom had more wins. Weaver was also noted for his many battles with umpires and one of his own players, Jim Palmer. Palmer hated Weavers advice and once told a reporter, "The only thing Earl knows about good pitching is that he couldn't hit it." Earl had his own style of managing: Good defense, walk no one,  and the three-run homer. He eschewed the bust as a weapon. "I suppose the bunt has it's place and that place is locked in cage in the basement." He was asked once how games a year did he figure he won for his team. "None," he said, "but I'll lose you five or six."

Those are two guys we'll miss.

***THEY SAID IT***
"In the past few days we saw a once great cyclist humbled on national TV, and one of the best college football players caught in some kind of Internet hoax involving a fake dead girlfriend. See, this is why I love sports."  -- Brad Dickson
"To compete with Big Ten teams, Nebraska Univ.’s men’s basketball team has been drastically slowing the pace. Against Wisconsin, an NU point guard picked up his dribble to take a cell phone call."  -- Brad Dickson
"Earl Weaver passed away Saturday morning at the age of 82. Wonder who he’ll be kicking dirt on in heaven tonight?"  -- Janice Hough
"Maria Sharapova blanked her first two Aussie Open opponents in straight sets—6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-0. I haven't seen that much love since the '60s."  -- RJ Currie
"Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel got ticketed for speeding near Ennis, Texas. Or as Texas A&M spinmeisters prefer to call it, running a go-route toward Dallas."  -- Dwight Perry
"These Te'o jokes are all very funny, but lets all try and remember that a person who never existed is dead."  -- comedian Seth Meyers

Predictions:
San Francisco over Atlanta
New England over  Baltimore.
No great knowledge or insight here, it's strictly from the heart.

CP-