June 10, 2008

There are so many wild and wacky things going on in the world of sports.

Are we really going to believe that Floyd Mayweather is retired from boxing? Come on now, I've got a better chance of growing hair on my head than Mayweather has of staying retired. You know and I know that there will be a press conference down the line, and Floyd will sign a deal to get back into the ring. You can count on that like having coffee in the morning.

I know he is walking away from a lucrative fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather likes the spotlight and eventually he will want to be back in it.

Let's go to Seattle for another wacky story. Yes, the Mariners were expected to contend in the AL West, but instead the team has been on a real slide. Seattle has been a major disappointment considering several offseason acquisitions, including the addition of Erik Bedard. So what do they do when it is struggle city? Blame the hitting coach! They dismissed Jeff Pentland and replaced him with Lee Elia.

Yeah, that is going to solve all of the team's problems. Sure, with that move the team will now be on its way! That's just the next step before the manager, John McLaren, gets the ziggy.

I always get a big kick when the assistant coaches get blamed for a team's failure. They get criticized for a lack of communication from up above. It all starts with leadership and accountability and responsibility is so important. When it doesn't work out, somebody has to be the scapegoat.

That's the way it works in sports. It never amazes me.

One other wacky situation is happening in the Bronx. All of those Yankee fans are thrilled to have Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation. Just take it from a fan, and I don't have the same knowledge that a Peter Gammons has. I follow the game very intently and I feel Chamberlain was more important in a relief role.

This is a club where only one thing counts -- winning. Why do I feel this way? Just check out his pitch counts. Chamberlain will always work the batter and his pitch counts will always be high. It will be tough for him to go more than 5-6 innings without throwing 90-100 pitches. I feel he will have problems as a starter because the pitch count numbers will be so high, not allowing him to eat up innings.

That's why he should be coming out of the bullpen, setting up Mariano Rivera as the eighth inning bridge to the closer. Eventually he would be ideal in that ninth inning role when Rivera retires.

Just a few thoughts on the wacky world of sports.