Jeff: Hello Summer!

Well summer is officially upon us (ok not “officially” but who waits till the 21st of June to declare summer? Exactly). Here in the Great White North the igloos are melting, the sled dogs are shedding their winter coats, the women of the village are weaving that dog hair into toques and moccasins they can sell at the market, and the caribou are migrating south for the summer. All in all a wonderful time of year. What gets me excited about summer in the world of sports? Glad you asked:
PENNANT RACES!
For the first time since 2001 the Mariners haven’t been eliminated from playoff contention by April 1st, May 1st, or even June 1st. Amazing but true! Thanks to a weak division, smoke, mirrors, and a whole lotta horseshoes, somehow a poorly constructed, overpaid team is only 4.5 out in the division race, and just one behind Detwah in the ever popular Loss column in the Wild Card chase. The probabilities of the Mariners to sustain this success isn’t high, but hey, I’ll take it!
As for the Little Engine That Could, they’ve won 4 in a row and 7 of their last 10 to pull within 6 games of The Tribe in the Central, and 3.5 of the aforementioned Tigres (who have conversely lost 7 of their last 10) in the Wild Card. The big lumberjack himself Justin Morneau is leading the charge with a torrid last couple of weeks, and the Twins are doing all of this with Santana’s usual slow start and an unhealthy Mr. Sideburns. Imagine when those 2 get going? Should be a very entertaining summer in the Central.

THE FALL OF GOLIATH
At some point this summer, if I get around to it, I’ll share my belief on why parity is bad for sports. Sports needs Goliaths (yes even the NFL), and nobody does Goliaths better than the New York Yankees. As you’re probably already sick of hearing, it’s June 1st and the Bombers are in last place in the division and an insurmountable 13.5 behind the Red Sox in the East. Sure they’re only 7.5 behind Detwah for the Wild Card, but can the almighty Yanks really turn it around? I, like many others, would LOVE to see them go down in flames, and it just may happen. Not only would it be great to see the Yanks suck, it would lead to 3 more things Yankee Haters should love:
1) the Yankees firing manager Joe Torre. In my opinion he’s still the best manager in baseball. You’re telling me anybody else could have gotten more out of this team than him? Somebody else could handle the media pressure better? Somebody else could manage the egos better? I don’t think so. Anybody else managing in New York makes the Yankees worse, not better.
2) Firing GM Brian Cashman. He’ll be the fall guy for this, when really this is more about owner George Steinbrenner. Since Cashman has been given more control over player personel moves the last couple of years, he's sought to rebuild the farm system which was depleted completely because of George's “Win at all costs!” demands. Sports franchises are starting to figure out you build good teams through the draft, not free agency. When the All-Powerful Yankees go to this strategy, that should be a big wakeup call to everybody else. Yankee fans believe their entitled to having the best team every year, but I just don’t think that’s possible anymore. Cashman is doing what’s best for the Yankees in the long term, but because it’s still always “Win at all Costs” in New York he’s going to get fired for it. That's not good for the Yanks either.

3) ROGER CLEMENS’ FALL FROM GRACE
I’ve found 2 things where the Rocket is underrated: people’s perception of him as a steroid user (again why do we hear little to nothing about Clemens’ curious late-career resurgence?), and people’s perception at the size of his ego. When you hear people discuss egos in sports, they usually talk about Terrell Owens or Barry Bonds. Why not Clemens? He thinks so much of himself that he decides to only play half the season, and then doesn’t spend off days with the team. He shows up for his starts and spends the rest of his time at home. Wouldn’t that be nice? Then to top it off, his signing with the Yankees is announced at Yankee stadium by him stepping out of the Owners Box to wave to the fans, like Caesar of freaking Rome?!?! Wow. How does this not get more play as Roger being an egomaniacal A-hole?

ANYWAY, Clemens signed with the Yankees not just because they gave him ridiculous money, but because it would further enhance his image and ego by saving the Yankee season. Well guess what? Besides the fact that Clemens has been pitching in the inferior NL the last few years, and that he’s at best now a 6 inning pitcher, no one player can save the Yankees. Clemens went to New York to cement his legacy and retire a legend by saving the Yankee season. So what happens if the Yankees continue to flounder and Clemens gets lit up? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate egg-on-your-face exit? As much as I would LOVE to see this happen, there’s just no way Clemens allows himself to be humiliated like that. So I’m excited to see what excuse he comes up with to get out of it. I don’t see anyway he could ask to be traded, so he’s going to have to invent an injury. To me it’s not a question of IF he does this, but when and how it happens. What a snake.

NBA HOT STOVE
Nobody loves NBA rumors more than me (well except maybe for Joel) so if there’s one thing all the Kobe hoopla has guaranteed us this summer, it’s that the Lakers will make a blockbuster trade. YES! They have to! And considering Dallas CANNOT return this fall with the same lineup that got humiliated by Dallas, and that Phoenix’s current cast has gone as far as they can, that should mean more big deals are in order right? RIGHT? Throw in that both Portland and Seattle should make trades to accommodate their new stars, and that Utah needs to deal AK47 for a perimeter scorer (Does a sign-and-trade with Seattle for Rashard Lewis just make too much sense to happen? Probably does), there SHOULD be a flurry of moves this summer.

HOCKEY WILL BE OVER
I’m just not a hockey fan anymore if the Canucks aren’t involved. I really haven’t watched a game since the Nucks got knocked out in round 2. And you know what? I don’t think I’ve missed much. We’re back to pre-lockout hockey with 1-0 games, no speed, no flash, no excitement.(and for anybody reading this who’s not from Canada, you’re probably shocked to know the NHL still exists), The NHL has failed in the US and the sooner they admit that the better. Considering Gary Bettman won’t be retiring anytime soon, the league will fade further and further of the American sports radar as Bettman refuses to admit he’s wrong and make some necessary drastic changes.
Poor Canada. Their passion and their livelihood, the sport that matters above all else sucks right now and they know it: and yet they’re still compelled to follow it. As bad as the sport is, it’s never been more popular here (the Leafs, Canadiens and Canucks are 3 of the most expensive tickets to get in North American sports right now, the CBC paid about $100 million for broadcasting rights, and one of the sports networks up here just paid $250 million just for rights to Leaf games!!! And before you go making the "Canadian money is worthless" jokes, I'd like to point out the Loonie is worth .93 cents US right now), and yet the league has never neglected Canadian fans more. It’s really sad.
Now I’m not necessarily excited, but definitely interested to see if the “sports” radio station here in town is capable of talking about anything other than hockey. It’s all hockey all the time here. Different hosts, same guests, same hockey talk. All the time. Every day. When the season mercifully ends will the 24/7 hockey talk stop? I doubt it but we’ll see.

A HEALTHY ADRIAN PETERSON IN A MINNESOTA VIKINGS JERSEY
I try not to think of this one too much because I don’t want to jinx it. We have Adrian Peterson. The best running back in college last year. The best collegiate back in a long, long time. A potential elite player in the NFL for a long long time. And he’s a Viking. Seriously. I still can’t believe it.