Set Timmy Free

Hey, Tim. Are you still excited to be a Jet?

I'm guessing the answer to that question is a big, fat emphatic, "No!"

Manish Mehta, the Jets' beat writer for New York Daily News, tweeted last night: "Next domino in Jets QB situation: Tim Tebow will request to be traded/released after season assuming [Greg] McElroy starts last 2 games, per source."

First of all, with the Jets, nothing can be assumed. You know what they say what happens when you assume. Multiply that by 10 when trying to assume what the current Jets regime will do next.

As for Tebow, you can't blame the guy for wanting out. From all reports, it was his call to go to the Jets. I'm guessing his thinking was he could better expand brand Tebow and/or more broadly spread the gospel to more people from the platform of the world's largest media market.

I'm not sure what he was thinking, but whatever it was, it was wrong.

When Tebow was traded to the Jets, Rex Ryan told us we could see Tebow running some super secret form of the wildcat offense. Remember, they wouldn't even show it to reporters in practice. It was going to be earth-shattering when they eventually unveiled it in the regular season. It was going to blow the minds of defensive coordinators everywhere.

We're still waiting.

None of this is Tim Tebow's fault. He went to New York, fresh off turning Denver's season around and leading the Broncos to a playoff victory, thinking he was going to get playing time. And given his confidence and evidence from last season that Mark Sanchez was never going to be more than an average quarterback, I'm sure Tebow thought he could win the starting job.

He was never given a chance, most likely because he's not an NFL starting QB.

But the Jets specifically traded for Tebow. Brought him to New York and told us he would make a significant contribution to the team each. He may be in on 20 plays a game, Ryan said. We believed this, and I'm sure Tebow believed it, too.

We're 14 games through the season, and, except for that odd scripted insertion of Tebow into the game Monday night in Nashville, we've barely seen No. 15.

Whatever the circumstances, whether he could be a starting quarterback in the NFL or he just plain out sucks, the Jets need to grant him his wish – if that is really his wish – and trade or release him.

They haven't been fair to Tebow – perhaps they've even set his development back a year – and now they need to do the right thing and let him go.

Armed and Angry

I just happened to see this photo on Gawker.com accompanying a story about the NRA breaking its silence following the Newtown massacre.

As you can plainly see, the young shooter in the photograph is wearing a St. Louis Cardinals sweatshirt. I have to ask: Why so angry, young Cardinals fan?

Sure, your team didn't make it to the World Series this past season, but the Cardinals have won two of the past seven titles. Most fans would kill for that take that fortune any day.

So put down your semi-automatic child-killing machine, young man. Spring training is only 90 short days away.   

Sanchez Has (Butt) Fumbled Away His Starting Gig

Mark Sanchez: Sacked!

If you're like me, you're a bit sleep deprive today and totally ticked off that you stayed up kind of late last night watching a game that, if it were not so darn popular, could have set the sport of American football back 25 years.

Good golly, the Jets were horrible.

And it's not fair to pin this loss, and the horrible, horrible season, off on fourth-year quarterback Mark Sanchez, but dagnabbit he deserves much of the blame.

Four interceptions and a fumble lost, although the latter was not really his fault, is what Sanchez gave us on the Monday Night Football stage in a dreadful 14-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

So now, Sanchez, the fella who earlier this season gave us the butt fumble – the play that will live in Jets infamy – will ride the bench this Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.

(Oh, wow. Someone just cracked a sinker in the office.)

Greg McElroy, not the glorified back up and personal punt protector Tim Tebow, will be the starter.

It was just a few weeks ago that McElroy replaced Sanchez in a game and led the Jets, if you can really say that, to a 7-6 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

McElroy was no Kurk Cousins that day and did nothing extraordinary, but he did lead the Jets to a game-winning scoring drive in which he found a wide open Jeff Cumberland in the end zone for Gang Green's only touchdown of the game.

It turned out it was the only score they needed to beat the Cardinals, the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked.

So what does the benching mean for Sanchez in the long-term? That's yet to be determined, but it's almost certain, unless the Jets absolutely want him away from the team, that he'll be back with the team next year.

His contract leaves little wiggle room for the Jets to part ways with the QB, who, according to reports, is guaranteed $8.25 million next season. As ESPN New York's Rich Cimini writes: "Bottom line: He's uncuttable."

As for McElroy, we'll get a small sample size of what he can do this week and perhaps in Buffalo in the last game of the season. Those are two teams who basically have nothing to play for except for a strong desire to not lose to the hapless Jets.

If McElroy plays well, and perhaps even if he sucks, there's a good chance he's atop the leader board in competing with Sanchez for the top of the Jets' QB rotation in 2013.

Hamilton, Seattle and Caffeine

Can you see Josh Hamilton playing for the Seattle Mariners?

Better question: Can you imagine the Mariners paying Hamilton the money the slugger is said to be demanding?

Either way, there are reports out there stating the Mariners and Hamilton's reps are talking about a deal.

What interests me most is, if Hamilton does play in Seattle in 2013, gets on a hot streak and then cools off late season, what will be his excuse?

You can see where I'm going with this, right?

Yeah, I'm sure that in mid-August, when Hamilton's numbers dip a bit, a Seattle reporter will ask why and Hamilton will no doubt spout off some sorry excuse about he got hooked on Starbucks coffee and is now either drinking way too much or is trying to quit.

Either circumstance will yield reasoning to why the outfielder is suddenly not hitting home runs, striking out a bunch and missing routine fly balls.

I Am Not an Artist

On my baseball blog yesterday, I wrote about me spending hours a few nights ago looking through some old baseball cards and subsequently relishing those uber cool cartoons that once inhabited the backs of many of the older cards.

One I found particularly fun was the 'toon on the back of my 1958 Topps card Pee Wee Reese.

I began to do a little research when I found a Jim Caple ESPN.com column on the cartoon topic from last summer. Caple's column is a great read, and it contains a handful of card-toons about modern-day players fabricated by ESPN illustrators.

Caple mentions a few of the artists by name and provides a few details about their work and pay and such, but I'd like to do a little more research on some of those artists. And I'd really like to know who drew the cartoons for the 1958 Topps set. So if anyone knows, send me a note.

I tend to think it would be great fun to be an artist who developed some of those 'toons, but after reading Caple's article you learn that perhaps there wasn’t a lot of fun involved.

Still, I'm fascinated by the process and the product.

Now, I'm no artist, as you can see below, but I wanted to sit down and quickly sketch a card cartoon. I had to come up with a quirky idea, and all I could think of at the time was the stories of Hideki Matsui's massive pornography collection. Yeah, that was the best I could do.

Anyway, here's the result of my quick work. Please, all you serious artists out there, don't think I'm trying to pass this off with any hint of seriousness.

Random Wednesday

Bonds and Clemens? Heck Yeah!

Would you vote Barry Bonds into the baseball Hall of Fame?

How about Roger Clemens?

The National Baseball Writer's Association of American released today its 2013 Hall of Fame ballot and Bonds and Clemens are among this year's new candidates. Among the many names, new and leftover candidates, joining the scandal-plagued duo are Aaron Sele, Rondell White and Todd Walker.

Seriously!

Nothing against those guys. They each had stellar careers, but not what I would consider Hall of Fame worthy.

I'm not a big Hall of Fame guy, but when considering whom I might vote for, if I had a vote, I like employing the wife test. It's a good indicator, but definitely not the exclusive, end-all text. If my wife doesn't know a player, that's a strike against them.

My wife has no idea who Todd Walker is. I barely remember him.

But she does know Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Those guys, despite the alleged performance enhancing drug use, belong in Cooperstown.

I know it’s a tired argument to say they both had HOF numbers before they turned, we suppose, to PEDs, but it's true.

And, yes, you can say they cheated the game, particularly Bonds and his destroying the all-time home run record.

But the truth Bonds and Clemens were outstanding, all-world baseball players. They both dominated in their sport.

Say what you will about the ethics of the performance enhancing drug use. Should that be considered in the voting? On some level, I guess it should.

However, Bonds and Clemens, PED use or not, where great ballplayers who deserve to be recognized with baseball's highest honor.

Damn you, Angel Pagan. Because of you, I'm hooked on Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Tacos. You remember Free Taco Tuesday, right? Taco Bell ran a promotion during the World Series stating if any player stole a base during the series, the restaurant would give away a free Doritos Loco Taco. Sure enough, Pagan swiped second in Game 2, and I loaded my wife and kids and into the car and drove straight to Taco Bell on giveaway day. We weren't expecting much, but those things were/are delicious. Taco Bell gave away the regular Doritos Locos Tacos, but I recommend upgrading to the supreme. Should Taco Bell send me a check for this advertisement? Yes. Yes, it should.

Out goes Maryland; in comes Louisville: To the ACC, that is. I know Maryland is one of those traditional ACC schools and many hate to see the university leave for the Big 10. But you gotta believe this swap, Louisville for Maryland, is a win for the ACC. Right? That's especially true when you consider football and basketball. And really, what other sports are considered in these near-daily conference realignments? Maryland has had success in hoops, but they don't bring much to the table football wise. Louisville, on the other had, is steadily becoming a football power of sorts to go along with its basketball team, which usually ranks high in the top 25 polls. The Cardinals are currently ranked fifth in the AP Top 25 hoops poll.

And look, I know everything revolves around football – it's the money maker – but I really like how the ACC is shaping up once again to be a basketball powerhouse conference. Already the conference has North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State, all of which are in the current AP Top 25, and then next year it adds Pittsburgh and Syracuse, and then Louisville comes along shortly. And then there's talk of possibly adding the University of Connecticut, but the decision by the ACC to add Louisville may have bumped UConn for the moment. Oh, don't forget Notre Dame soon will be a conference foe for ACC basketball members.

Fulham has to get a win today at Chelsea. After a nice start to the season, Fulham has had a tough go of it at late. Here's hoping Martin Jol's club can put together a good 90 minutes today at Stamford Bridge. I almost took the day off to watch the match on Fox Soccer, but next week is my wife's birthday, and to keep in good standing, I'm taking off that day instead. #comeonfulham

Kill the Podcast App Now!

Who at Apple decided it was a good idea to develop a separate app for podcasts? @#$%! I drive more than two hours a day too and from work, and I listen to a lot of podcasts, and this app has totally ruined my listening experience. Many times I think I have downloaded podcasts only to find those are not in my library. Where'd they go? Heck if I know. I guess using iTunes for podcasts was way too easy, so someone decided if it's not broke, let's try to fix it. Come on, Apple. Get your stuff together or Steve Jobs may come back punch someone in the neck.

Oh My Goodness Gracious. Andy Pettitte is coming back. At least that's what I'm seeing on my Twitter feed. According to a CBS Sports tweet, the lefty has signed a one-year deal for $12 million. Tonight's Powerball winner is going to look at that and laugh.

By the way, I love Tottenham's all-white look at White Hart Lane. Hotspur lead Liverpool – don't ya just hate Liverpool? – 2-0 in the 29th minute as I write this.

The quote of the day  month  year comes from Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott who had this to say after his team's loss 91-78 loss to Phoenix Monday night:

"Andy Varejao was fantastic. Everybody else sucked tonight."

Ok, I gotta stop writing and post this before all the above gets old.

Smash Goldman's Computer Before He Writes About the Knicks Again

The New York Knickerbockers are 8-1 and playing great basketball.

I know it's way early, but they look to be strong contenders in the NBA's Eastern Conference.

Everything seems to be clicking for this year's team. They're playing great defense. Melo looks willing to take on any role each night to help his Knicks, our Knicks dammit, thrive.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to watch the team roll the Brooklyn Nets next week. I mean it was great watching them beat Miami on opening night, but…

Wait!

Could I have possibly just jinxed the Knicks by lackadaisically predicting they would "roll the Brooklyn Nets" next week?

Nah. I don't believe in jinxes.

But you know what?

I got awfully close to believing in some kind of weird, wacky voodoo force yesterday when I was strolling through the library where I work and, just by chance, picked up a large blue book containing a collection of several "New York" magazines from 1994.

I flipped through the pages and saw a photo of Patrick Ewing with his arms raised toward the Madison Square Garden roof with a headline that read: Can the Knicks Repeat? (After They Win This Year, That Is).

Now, I'm not a New Yorker – I just happen to be a Knicks fan living in Virginia – so I had never seen this article. I have to say, yeah, I was a bit stunned. (I could hardly work the rest of the day.)

We Knicks fans all remember that season. We, I mean the Knickerbockers, got so close to winning the title. Mark Messier had already seemingly willed the Rangers to a Stanley Cup title, and we were sure Ewing could and would do the same for us orange and blue faithful.

But a strange thing happened on the road to the title.

Several John Starks jumpers clanged off the rim in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and the Houston Rockets – good lord, the Houston Rockets – were world champs.

Sorry, John, we can't really blame it all on you, but you were a pretty reasonable scapegoat back then. After all, you did kill it in Game 6.

After I saw the "Can the Knicks Repeat?" article, I was right then ready to go back 18 years and blame its author William Goldman – yeah, the guy who wrote The Princess Bride – for the jinxing the team. You know, Freakonomist Stephen Dubner edited the article, so I was ready to blame him, too.

But as I said earlier, I don't believe in jinxes. However, this, my friends, nearly made me a believer.

Now as the Knicks roll along – they crushed New Orleans Tuesday night like a good team should squish a bad team – let's hope the team can stay healthy and continue to improve.

They're not the most dominant team in the NBA or even the East – that's still the defending champions Miami Heat – but they certainly look to be building a championship-contending squad.

Now, let's just somehow find a way to keep Goldman from writing a sequel to his '94 article.