Eventually, it simply seems like the time is right to turn against or pile on someone. Brett Favre was consistently lauded by nearly everyone but over the last year or so a growing contingent began harshly criticizing him (I was a trailblazer in this movement). LeBron James was the chosen one, now he’s the one many choose to direct their scorn upon. Those are just a couple high profile examples.

Often, there is a major event (retirements for Favre, “Decision” for LeBron) or failure in a big game that acts as the impetus for a change in the tone of the coverage one receives. For Derek Jeter, it was his contract situation this past Summer.

Fair or not, the time is nigh for Jeter to face the heat (and get the sort of treatment that’s been bestowed upon the Miami Heat). It’s already started after a measly three games. And if Jeter keeps hitting balls into the ground, it will only get worse. He is going to face an onslaught of negative attention and the only defense is consistent excellence.

There was a “South Park” episode about Britney Spears that dealt with our society’s need to build people up and tear them down. By the end of the show, the masses had moved on to Miley Cyrus. We’re seeing it happen with Charlie Sheen right now. Just a few weeks ago he was the toast of the town, now he’s being labeled an embarrassment. I’m tired of him too but this reaction is just part of the machine.

Jeter is dealing with the machine now. Many of the same people who lauded him for years are anxiously waiting for him to turn around so they can blast him in the back of the head with a steel chair. He could go from the captain to captain overrated in the time it takes him to hit a weak roller to second base. (I never said I wasn’t part of the machine.)

The Yankees feel the need to respond to the Rangers call and Brian Cashman takes advantage. (Originally heard with Ruocco and Lundberg on 1050 ESPN NY)

No, I’m not using that quote as an excuse to praise Jay-Z. I’m actually using it to make a point. Taking it literally, Jay is saying that he made the Yankee hat more trendy than any one Yankee is capable of. What does that mean? The Yankees brand is much stronger than any one player.

The same can’t be said for other stars. Michael Jordan is bigger than the Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers are no longer relevant now that LeBron James isn’t there. Heck, Brett Favre may be bigger than the storied, beloved Green Bay Packers. Derek Jeter however is in no way bigger than the New York Yankees.

I don’t know what his official position is in these contract negotiations but judging by the reaction from Brian Cashman and Yankees brass, it’s fairly outlandish; almost to the point of thinking he is indeed bigger than the team.

Cashman has stated that the team’s offer to Jeter is fair. In fact, it’s more than fair. They are offering him three years, $45 million. That’s well more per year than Hanley Ramirez makes. Plus, as Cashman intimates, it’s significantly more than any other team is willing to offer him. And it’s apparently their initial offer!

I think Derek Jeter will hit better next year than he did this year (in which he led the majors in outs, not good). I don’t think he’ll ever be what he once was offensively or defensively and he’s bound to decline. So while the way these negotiations might not sit well with some Yankees fans, that doesn’t mean management isn’t correct in this case.

I suppose they have to prepare for the worst. With their recent comments they are letting the public know the situation. And if worse does indeed come to worse, at least the fans will know Derek Jeter wasn’t low-balled. In addition, while the initial reaction may cause a firestorm, the Yankees will go on with or without him. And we all know, winning is the ultimate cure-all.

Derek Jeter needs the Yankees a lot more than the Yankees need him.

(This will be hilarious in retrospect when they do eventually reach an agreement and everyone forgets this all even happened.)

We’ve all done something under pressure. Whether it was taking a free throw, writing a paper ten minutes before it’s due or deciding which wire to cut in order to diffuse a bomb, we’ve all felt it. That’s why we give out so much credit to guys who get it done when the stakes are higher. Performing under pressure is insanely difficult.

In fact, we put so much weight into performing in those situations that we give guys extra credit for just being themselves (or for not crawling into the fetal position and crying). Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte are often lauded for their clutch performances. Jeter has reached base safely at a .385 clip over his career. Pettitte has a 3.88 career ERA. Their postseason equivalents? .379 and 3.83. Exactly the same. They get credit for being clutch simply because their performance remains level.

This applies to other sports as well. Kobe Bryant has averaged 25 points per game on 45% shooting over his career. In the playoffs those numbers are 25 and 45. Exactly the same. Tom Brady has thrown 235 career touchdowns to just 103 interceptions. In the playoffs he’s thrown 28 and 15. A similar ratio but a little worse. Still, he’s considered clutch.

It’s rare when a guy elevates his play in the clutch. So rare that it’s defined the career of certain guys. See Horry, Robert; Fisher, Derek and Duque, El. It’s less rare to see a dip in performance of particular players. Superstars like Peyton Manning and Alex Rodriguez, amongst many others, have faced such criticisms.

So when a guy is already excellent and then takes it up a notch (or two or three) when it counts the most, people take notice. It’s why the Cliff Lee hype has been justified. Enough so that I’ve seen people throw the J word around (Jordanesque).

That may be a bit much.

(Michael Jordan averaged 30 points per game over his career. He dropped 33 a night in the playoffs. He always seems to be the measuring stick.)

Take the RBI, a severely flawed statistic. It can help illustrate how good a season a guy is having but on its own it is not a good evaluation tool. For instance, Alex Rodriguez spent some time atop the major league’s RBI leader list this season. In related news, he is having the worst offensive season of his career. His on base percentage and slugging percentage are both way down. His RBI’s are a function of where he hits in the lineup and constantly walking to the plate with runners on base.

There is no greater proof of this than Barry Bonds. From 2001-2004 he put up the greatest offensive numbers of all time. They were cartoonish and absurd. He was only slightly more likely on a given pitch to swing and miss than to lace an extra base hit. His RBI totals those years? 137 (73 were himself), 110, 90 and 101. Good but not otherworldly. RBI’s do not tell you how productive a hitter is.

The same can be said for wins and pitchers. Felix Hernandez only has nine wins this season. However, he is pitching to a 2.51 ERA with 183 strikeouts in 197 innings. The reason he doesn’t have more wins? How about the fact that his team has managed to score just an average of 1.8 runs per game in his starts? That might have something to do with it.

The object of baseball is to score runs. If you score more runs than your opponent, you win. Yet, runs batted in and wins are not the best tools in evaluating performance. It’s counterintuitive but it’s true. *Puts down protractor and adjusts pocket protector*

I actually feel bad the for the guy. No one believes him (that’s because he’s lying) and now everyone seems to be out for his head. What I see is the sad case of a man who views this whole thing as a competition. That’s how he functions. His hubris will not allow him to lose even if it could mean jail time. I pity him because it shouldn’t have come to this.

Did he perjure himself? Sure. Does he deserve to go to jail? Of course not. I believe in gray areas in life. By the letter of the law he should be locked up. But he is not a man who belongs in prison. We’ve all broken laws and besides, there are certain laws I agree with and others that I find ridiculous. So what if he volunteered this upon himself? Congress should have told him to bug off and take his story to Larry King or something.

It is because of these same gray areas that he does belong in the Hall of Fame. Dude won seven Cy Youngs. I don’t care if he was on the juice his entire career, he was going up against hitters on the juice. We have to use our brains here. Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were creations of PEDs, Clemens and Barry Bonds were enhanced by them.

Are these writers really going to keep everyone who cheated out? How do you then decide who has plausible deniability? And were these same writers really that oblivious to what was going on when guys were hitting 212 homers a season (which was good for the sport by the way)? They needed something to come out before they could climb atop their high horse and become properly outraged and saddened? Dumb.

As it is, if Roger Clemens is going to go down, he’ll make sure he goes down all the way. I’m beginning to think his lies are on PEDs. Strong lies.

I’ve attempted to avoid fandom for most of my life (sure, I have some rooting interests). It makes people crazy. They live and die with their teams. If they happen to be Yankees fans, their lives are literally better. The most negative memory a Yankee fan under 25 has is missing the playoffs…once!

I bring this up because Andy Pettitte got hurt and some are making it out to be a big deal. It is not. The Yankees still have four quality starters without Pettitte. They will be fine until he gets back. They’ve got an embarrassment of riches. People are hating the Miami Heat for being the new super team but most of the country has hated the Yankees for being a super team for most of their existence.

It is for this reason that the Yankees are the engine that drives baseball. Much like interest in golf wanes when Tiger Woods is not involved (because golf is boring), interest in baseball does the same when the Yankees are eliminated. Luckily for MLB, that generally only happens in the postseason, if at all.

I’m not a huge baseball guy. I don’t find it a compelling watch (see what I said about golf). Plus, I never grew up with a rooting interest. But when I moved to New York six years ago, I decided I should pick one of the local teams to quasi-root for. Guess what? I didn’t pick the Mets.

I like enjoying life.

–Being a Yankees fan is like being born a Trump or a Kardashian

–Being a Yankees fan is like being Chris Bosh right now

–Being a Yankees fan is like joining the cast of “Baywatch”

–Amare Stoudemire and his cool guy goggles went off in game three against LA. He is still a 1B, not a 1A though. There are three 1B’s available this Summer (LeBron and Wade are the 1A’s). Stoudemire, Chris Bosh and now Dirk Nowitzki (I’d put Amare third on this list). Dirk has spent most of his career as a 1A and was nearly a championship caliber one at that. But I think his true role might be as a super number two. He opted out of his contract. We’ll see if he feels the same way by what team he chooses to sign a new one with.

–FYI…Johan Santana is still an excellent pitcher. I am compelled to mention this because I feel like homeboy is getting slighted by the New York media. Yes, he gave up 10 runs to the Phillies earlier this year but he’s only given up 15 in his other nine starts. The guy is still good at getting people out.

–Another quick thought on baseball. Nothing is more overrated than a baseball manager. Do people actually think changing managers will make a drastic difference in a team’s play? Their entire job is just not to screw things up. They don’t have as much influence over the game as they are given credit for. I bet the top skipper in the league is only worth a few actual wins.

–Seven people saw “MacGruber” this weekend. I wasn’t one of them. I won’t judge the movie without seeing it but the 90 second sketch never made me laugh, so I’m frightened by how I might react to the 90 minute version.

–”Lost” and “24″ are done. I’ve seen one episode of the former. It seemed like the writers could write their way in or out of anything. If someone dies, their body can become a host for somebody else or they could just go back in time or something. I’m sure it was good, I just don’t watch much TV (and no dramas). As for “24″, Wolverine would whip Jack Bauer’s ass.

–I saw Danica Patrick whining about her car the other day. I love her. She seems like such a little bitch. And she is a racecar driver. That is a good combination.

Tim Lincecum and Ricky Williams don’t need performance enhancing drugs to achieve high levels of success.

Think about it. In every movie about baseball (even ones about little league), the Yankees are the antagonists. The Boston Red Sox are a creation of the Yankees. And interest in the playoffs increases exponentially when the Yankees are playing. People either love them (2 million plus) or hate them (many enjoy rooting against them more than rooting for their own team) but they certainly watch them.

What does this prove? It proves that salary caps are dumb and that dynasties are good. The Yankees have the resources to be excellent every year and when they are excellent the overall product is better. Sports are a t.v. show. They are a better t.v. show when the characters are intriguing. The same sort of thing can be said about the Lakers, the Cowboys and any other celebrated and captivating franchise.

The sore thumb here is the New York Knicks. The one thing that the NBA is missing is a real contender in New York. I maintain that President Obama should mandate that LeBron James signs to play in the Big Apple. Planet Earth would be a better place. Then things would truly be as they should.

As of now, things are as they should be…Sort of.

I can recall seeing at least a handful of plays in which a base was not touched and an out was recorded or a run was scored. That seems extremely silly to me. I have been told that this can be chalked up to “unwritten rules.” What the hell is an unwritten rule? If it is a rule, write it down (here are some other rules I would add). People break written rules all the time, how is it possible to enforce unwritten rules? That is like arguing about social conventions. You might as well bring Larry David out to argue.

I remember when A-Rod yelled “HA!” in Toronto. A ton of purists had a conniption calling it a little league play and crying that an unwritten rule was disgraced. If it is a rule, write it down. A good old boy network is no way to run a league or a sport. It is bad enough that fat guys can play effectively, no one runs hard on the bases (especially to first) and guys keep tins of dip in their uniform pockets. At least make them touch the base to record an out.

If I was playing in a schoolyard and you failed to tag the base, I would claim that I was safe. I would be right. You would be wrong, unwritten rule or not. Wide receivers have to make incredibly athletic plays to keep two feet in bounds, baseball players should be able to move one foot six inches. I’m just saying…

After this postseason, you might want a picture of one on your bedroom wall.
*Click here if you need context*

–A-Rod has ascended. I have never seen such a turnaround. He is actually playing like the best player in baseball. This dude used to approach big at bats like a little kid does the dark, sans night-light. He now possesses the death stare. I really have no idea what could have happened. Did admitting his transgressions (kind of) lift some sort of weight from his shoulders? Was his wife that overbearing? Is Kate Hudson’s loving that special? Did he catch some swag hanging out with Jay-Z (he now walks up to two Hov songs about already being great–Jigga has a lot of those)? Whatever happened, I think the old A-Rod is dead. Allow him to reintroduce himself…his name is Alex Rodriguez and he is a New York Yankee.

–The NBA couldn’t be a better television show than it will be this season. The Lakers alone should provide hours of entertainment. Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest? It could be love, comedy, tension and action all at once. Plus, you have Mr. Lamar Odom-Kardashian. There will be a lot of zen for Phil Jackson to master.

–I believe this may be LeBron James’ best season. For the first time in years he didn’t owe his summer to Team USA allowing him rest and work on the holes in his game. Plus, there is that whole impending free agency thing. Nothing he does this year would surprise me.

–The elite quarterback crop is sick right now. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Brett “the Gunslinger/Jesus” Favre, Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner and Philip Rivers could all be heading for the playoffs. That deserves an old school Borat Nice!

All that and South Park and Curb are in midseason form. Things are pretty, pretty, pretty good.

What I have learned is what I already knew…even at its best, baseball is too damn slow and boring. If you are younger than 50 your attention span cannot possibly handle it. I refuse to believe that it is possible to watch a game from the first pitch to the last out without doing something else. So, how can we welcome baseball to the 21st century? Here are a few of my suggestions…

–Eliminate umpires. I just don’t think they are necessary anymore. There has to be some sort of technology, adjustable to height, that can quickly and accurately measure balls and strikes. This goes for close plays on the basepaths and fair/foul calls as well. To ensure the call is correct you simply have a replay booth who can take a look at the play and quickly deliver the right call (there should never be a missed call in baseball). The best part of this suggestion? You eliminate arguments with umpires. Do I really need to watch a manager put his hands on his hips and move his mouth for an extended period of time? Has a call ever been overturned this way? “You know what mr. manager, when you told me to go bleep myself it really made me realize that he was safe.”

– Create a pitch clock (football has a play clock and basketball has a shot clock). If the pitcher doesn’t release the ball before his time expires, the batter is awarded a ball. If the batter does something to disrupt this, he is given a strike. 15 seconds or so seems about right.

–Do not allow pitchers to warm up after they come out of the bullpen. Isn’t that the point of the bullpen?

–A limit of one throw to a base per runner (you can throw again to attempt to get an out but if it is unsuccessful the runner is awarded a base). The game is more entertaining when there is running. There is not enough running.

–No conferences at the mound, period.

–Shorten the season by about 20 games. They should be playing the World Series right now. It is October.

Baseball’s glory years revolved around newspapers and the radio. It is the perfect sport for those mediums. Unfortunately, there are things like television and the internet around today. I don’t think baseball should be too stubborn to adapt. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to continue playing Scrabble (I just recently started playing. I can’t believe how fun it is), surfing the internet and writing blogs about how slow it is while I watch.

But maybe I’m wrong. Or maybe I’m right. I’m going to go look for an umpire to ask.

In Theaters Now! *This is the last time I will re-up this but somebody has done gone and possessed A-Rod’s soul*

Many people claim to despise the Yankees. Rubbish. Whether you like them or hate them, they are far and away the most interesting thing about baseball and they are the team everyone wants to watch (other than your favorite team that is).

There are many reasons for this, with an unparalleled history of excellence being chief amongst them. Add in one of the more likable guys in sports, Derek Jeter (people have to make up ways to hate on him) and the drama that comes with A-Rod in the playoffs (A-Rod might be the only guy in the sport who makes you stop to watch what he is doing. He is just an interesting character), and you have the reason to tune into the MLB postseason.

If you don’t believe me, check the ratings. Planet Earth is a better place when the Yankees are good.

The reason I ask this is because I don’t think the same philosophy applies to fights in the NBA or the NFL, which happen much more infrequently. Two seasons ago, Nate Robinson was involved in a minor skirmish with Carmelo Anthony and the incident was labeled as a “brawl.” I even read a column calling it a “black eye” on the NBA, which was funny because no one was sporting a black eye after this so-called “brawl” (as I recall, Jesse Carlson left the Jorge Posada fight sporting a nice welt). And that is the last fight I even remember occurring in an NBA game. Meanwhile, in the NFL (the most physical team sport), guys are penalized for even smacking an opponents’ helmet. Plus, whenever they do that, the announcers condemn them for losing their cool and costing the team. I can’t even recall the last major fight in football.

So why are basebrawls accepted, even lauded, at times? Maybe the reason for this is not as clear-cut as it seems but I do believe it is something worth thinking about. “Did you see that bench clearing brawl!?!?!?!?! He punched that guy right in the back of the head! It was awesome!” (Admit it. You have heard something just like this before.)

And I didn’t even mention hockey.

Sneek Peak – the Mets 2009 DVD.

The latest evidence of this is very minor but considering past events I find it telling. When asked if A-Rod’s presence in the lineup has been the key to the Yankees recent surge Jeter responded, “I think [Teixeira] is swinging the bat a lot better, but even when Alex was out of the lineup we were still scoring some runs. We just weren’t pitching as well as we are now. I think most of the credit goes to the pitching staff.” I am sure he honestly believes that but do you notice in his response, and I believe this is unintentional, that he makes sure to mention that the lineup was producing without A-Rod and doesn’t really give A-Rod token credit. If he didn’t feel the way he did about Rodriguez I would expect his quote to read something a little more like this, “Obviously when you get a guy like Alex back in the lineup it helps a ton, but I think our pitching has been the real difference.”

I am probably making too much of this relatively innocent quote but I don’t know if I have ever heard Jeter come out and support A-Rod 100% about anything. I was calling for him to say something in support of his teammate when the fans were booing Rodriguez for his lack of clutch hitting a couple years ago. A-Rod is so insecure that the booing probably cut to the core of him (much like Baxter does to Ron Burgundy) and I think a supportive stance from the team captain and city icon would have been enough to get the fans off of his back. And then a few weeks later they had a mix-up in the field and Jeter shot him a blatant death-stare that surely was aimed right at the soul.

Jeter is likely totally justified in his disdain for A-Rod because while the guy may be fascinating, he is not very likable or genuine and we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. For all we know, A-Rod mutters insults to Jeter under his breath while applying an evening coating of tanning oil (likely his third application of the day).

All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t pretend that these two get along or ever will. I certainly don’t plan on reading about a double-date between Jeter and Minka Kelly and A-Rod and Kate Hudson in Page Six anytime soon.

Their visceral reaction to day-to-day events is endlessly entertaining. When a team struggles for a stretch one may hear: This team has no chemistry, no identity, they stink! That guys a bum! Get rid of the whole damn team! When they go on a mini-tear: These are character building wins! They are having fun out there! I love these guys!

No sport is easier to predict than baseball, at least as far as general trends go. Baseball is a series of isolated events and because the season is so long and there is such a large sample size, statistics are extremely reliable. If you want to find out what is going to happen or why something out of the ordinary is happening just take a closer look at the numbers. You should be able to come up with a good working theory.

It is an individual sport disguised as a team sport. It is also not a sport where you can play better through sheer effort. That is why reacting emotionally to a single event is silly. It is also why intangibles are impossibly overstated.

People always tell me it is a thinking mans’ sport. So why not try thinking about it sometimes…”I’ll tell you what I think…these players are a bunch of losers!”

The poor guy can not get out of his own way and it is fascinating. His every action is transparent and his insecurity is impossible to miss, to the point where you can read it on his face every time he steps to the plate in a big moment. His expression at those moments resembles that of someone who just saw Godzilla emerge from the Hudson River.

There is nothing he can do that would surprise me at this point. I now believe he used steroids his entire career but that only makes him more interesting because I can’t wait to see how he handles himself going forward. Will he travel to Yankee Stadium via hot-air balloon with Madonna in tow? I don’t doubt it. I wouldn’t be shocked if he started using a body double for big at bats and press conferences.

I almost feel bad for him even though he has brought this all on himself. It is ok A-Rod. Next time you get in 15 solid minutes in front of a mirror (seems like that would happen daily with him) just tell yourself “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggone it people like me.” You already lie to everyone else so I think it is alright to lie to yourself, too.

Just my opinion. I realize a large percentage of people reading this (I like to pretend people are reading this) will disagree, perhaps vehemently, but I can’t help but express it; especially with all the NBA bashing that goes on despite that league currently boasting a handful of guys who could eventually make the all-time 1st, 2nd or 3rd team.

So why bring it up now? Because a couple things in the New York tabloids drew my attention (and then quickly lost it) to the vast sea of boredom that is baseball. For one, there were several items about the excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting. This is exciting? Really!? I’d be just as excited to hear that there is a big sale at Bloomingdales. Second, the back page of the paper was dominated by K-Rod saying the Mets are the team to beat in the NL East. That is a big deal? And isn’t it like the 26th time a similar statement has occupied that space? Doesn’t that speak to the inherently unexciting nature of the game?

It is not that I abhor it. It actually makes for good wallpaper (I do maintain that it is physically impossible to watch a game from beginning to end). I am just befuddled as to what about a sport that does not showcase many truly special athletes (they are in the NBA and NFL), that features a pitch followed by 30 seconds of nothing and another pitch and is basically an individual sport disguised as a team sport elicits such rabid fandom.

The only answer is tradition. And isn’t it past time we got over America’s past-time? (The answer to that question is no. It is fairly obnoxious of me to tell you to not like something you love. I just wanted an excuse to bash baseball…and use that last line)

I think I am going to have to get on them just to deal with all of this nonsense. How many times do people have to have the same conversation? I get it. Steroids are bad, the game is sacred and old-timers are infuriated.

The problem for those who get so worked up about this is that it will never go away. Greats like Bonds and A-Rod will be viewed with scrutiny and the accomplishments of guys who haven’t even been implicated will come into question. And are people naive enough to think that this era is over? Do you think the technology used to get around testing is going to get worse? This is what you get when a single act of strength is worth millions of dollars. If there was a cheat-sheet to win the lottery you think people would avoid it to preserve the integrity of the game? (I really like asking questions to prove a point)

I will gladly take a needle in the ass to stop hearing about this, gladly.

Where is Brian McNamee when you need him? Oh that’s right, in court. How fucking retarded is that? What are they going to do build a dug-out in the jails now?

I can only hope that golf is next. I can’t quantify the joy I would feel to see Jim Nantz break down in tears after some goofy sensation is caught trying to get just a little longer off the tee.