ONLY 33 DAYS UNTIL...

...pitchers and catchers. Or as it is known in the Yankee camp, till the first starting pitcher goes down with an injury. The baseball writers keep talking about the potential health problems of the Yankee pitchers and the fact that they are relying on some very old veterans to carry the offense, yet they continue to peg the Yanks as a probable playoff team. Sure, they could perform close to their career numbers and propel the team into the post season, but I think there may be too many danger spots to get my hopes up too high.

A-Rod: He performed better than anyone could expect but he ran out of gas for the last month.
Teixeira: Was outstanding until he broke his leg. He's really become very fragile the last few years.
Beltran: He looked over the hill in the beginning of the season, but after he recovered from his physical ailments, he was very productive.
Sabathia: The Yanks seem to come up with some technical problem to explain his inability to perform, saying that after he corrected some problem, such as losing weight (didn't work) or adding a knee brace (which may work), he performed much better. Now he has to overcome an alcohol addiction.

There are other question marks:
Can Jacoby Ellsbury ever return to his all-star capability? Can they get 140 games out of him?
Is Brett Gardner capable of getting through a season without some nagging injury making him ineffective?
When does Masahiro Tanaka's elbow finally blow up?
How much time will Aroldis Chapman lose to suspension?
Will Chase Headley finally remember how to throw the ball to first?

Brian Cashman seems done with anymore roster changes, unless he has some block buster trade he's working on. I don't think there is. We'll talk more once we see what Spring Training begins.

The Kansas City Chiefs vs the Green Bay Packers - Super Bowl I
I watched the ESPN special about the first Superbowl game this morning after using the DVR feature. The first announcement said they had recreated the event eliminating timeouts, explanation of penalties, commercials and even the huddles. Wow, this could be good. Then I found out that this 60 minute game was actually a three-hour event. I knew what that meant: three guys sitting in a studio analyzing the hell out of each play. Boy, was I wrong. It was SEVEN guys plus a few former players commenting on the game. They didn't even talk about each play. They showed the tape on 2/3rds of  the screen, But we could hear the actual broadcast only occasionally while these guys talked over it, usually not even about the play that was being shown. And what earth-shattering information were they giving us? "How about those single bar face masks?" "There's the punter with his chin strap undone." We were told at least four times the Max McGee only caught four passes all year but ended up the star of this game.
ESPN did their part - they added a block containing the score and the down & distance. Thank you. Then there was this juicy tidbit: When the Packers scored to make the score 21-10, ESPN told us it was, "The FIRST time a team had a double-digit lead in Super Bowl history." Since this was the first Superbowl, how could it not have been the first?
The only former player who was at all entertaining was Packer Jerry Kramer. They should have let him moderate the whole game.

The Name Game: 
Trail, B.C., Smoke Eaters, Junior League Hockey

***THEY SAID IT***
"So the 49ers have hired Chip Kelly as their next coach. Well, with Oregon, Kelly does have experience dealing successfully with an amateur operation."  -- Janice Hough
"A 14-year-old has become the first person to ever solve a Rubik’s Cube in under 5 seconds. It took me 6 seconds to get my Rubik’s Cube out of the box."  -- Brad Dickson
"Michigan Wolverines’ Jake Butt was named College Football’s “Tight End of the Year”. No punchline needed."  -- TC Chong
" Rams owner Stan Kroenke disparaged his current locale in his bid to move the team to L.A.. If Kroenke were running for mayor of St. Louis against Satan, the polls would likely have the race as ‘too close to call.’"  -- Jack Finarelli
"A judge has ruled the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders are entitled to earn at least a minimum wage. Only seems fair since they have to wear minimum clothing"  -- RJ Currie
"Traffic already lining up to be late to L.A. Rams’ opening game."  -- TheOnion.com

"Q: What’s the difference between the disappearances of El Chapo and Johnny Manziel?  A: There’s no public clamor to find Manziel."  -- Dwight Perry

"Ronda Rousey is following up her SI Swimsuit photos from last year by posing only in body paint for this year’s edition. The paint will strategically cover her bruises from the Holly Holm fight."  -- TC Chong

" Johnny Manziel reportedly partied in Vegas wearing a blonde wig and fake moustache. Just like that he went from Johnny Football to Johnny Goofball."  -- RJ Currie

"The underwear New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wore during his cameo in the movie Ted 2 is going up for auction next week. With bids starting at $2,500. The bidding process is expected to be brief."  -- Ian Hamilton

"Ken Griffey, Jr. was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. On his way to the podium, he pulled a hamstring and was placed on the disabled list."  -- Jerry Perisho
"There are plans for a “Baywatch” movie. It’ll just be nice to see people running in slow motion who aren’t the Philadelphia 76ers getting back on defense."  -- Brad Dickson
"Your mathematical odds of winning the Powerball were 1 in 292.2 million, only slightly worse if you didn’t buy a ticket. You are more likely to be struck by lightning — twice — while performing a handstand on a three-legged unicorn as it wins the Kentucky Derby."  -- Greg Cote

CP-