One week in to free agency and it is already crazy time........

Phil Rodgers of the Chicago Tribune decided to take a break from covering Chi-Town news and, instead, focused on the Bronx Bombers this weekend - asking what the Yanks would do if they struck out on ALL their pitching free agent targets.

There are a couple of things I want to say about this. First, it is pretty apparent that sports writers all across America have less and less reliable sources. If they had people whispering in their ear on a more consistent basis, we would see less useless columns like this one by Rodgers. The beauty of Rodger's column is that it offers NO insight or new information. For those of you who don't want to click on the link, I'll sum up for you what he said: CC Sabathia really likes California and would prefer to stay there; AJ Burnett will have a lot of suitors; Derek Lowe will probably be option A for the Red Sox and he seems to like them as well; and if the Yanks don't get any of those three, coupled with Mussina leaving and Pettitte getting older, they are gonna be in a world of hurt.

No, Rodgers doesn't offer any rumors or opinions as to what the Yanks WOULD do in such a circumstance, which would seem to be the only value of writing such a column, right? I mean, if you have no new information, such as a "source" saying that Sabathia has turned down the Yankees or that the lefty has no interest in playing in New York no matter what, then you would think you would be able to offer some ideas as to what the Yanks next move would be in case of armageddon, no? That, for Rodgers, seemed to be too taxing. So all we are left with is "the Yanks will be screwed if everyone scoffs at their offer." Brilliant.

Second, and more importantly, why is everyone, not just Rodgers, flipping out about Sabathia and the fact that he has not accepted the Yankee's offer as of yet? Take a moment, if you will, and put yourself in CC's shoes: this is the largest, longest contract you are EVER going to sign in your life. This decision will essentially plant you in a specific town for the next 6-10 years. You just became a free agent LAST WEEK and, so far, have received a record breaking offer from the most storied team in sports history. Wouldn't you wait at least a week or two to see what other offers come in, whether the Yanks are willing to increase their offer, or at least mull over your decision before you sign on the dotted line? I mean, really, doesn't that seem reasonable? Doesn't it seem as if any one of us would take a little time before jumping at an offer? Again, we are talking about A WEEK!!!!!!!!

Also, what is shocking to me is that no one seems to be discussing the fact that none of these teams, NONE of them, have made an official offer to Sabathia as of yet. If it is this forgone conclusion that Sabathia actually doesn't want to play for the Yanks, and would consider a deal far less lucrative to stay in the NL and/or on the west coast, why wouldn't one of these teams (the Giants, Dodgers, or Angels) jump at the opportunity to nab the best free agent pitcher on the market? They have all remained quiet. Why?

Well, let me do a little bit of my own speculation: wouldn't it be plausible that none of those teams have offered contracts because a.) they know that Sabathia will ultimately take the higher offer from the Yanks and don't want to be played by team CC as they try to increase the offer and/or b.) each one of them has other goals this offseason that don't include CC and they aren't going to become distracted by a free agent that, chances are, they can't sign anyway.

The Dodgers are going to inevitably come back to the table with Manny, and most people believe that they will sign him to a three or four year deal for boat loads of cash. That would take them well out of any running for Sabathia. The Angels? Obviously, their #1 concern is Teixeira, who will come with his own $160+ million price tag. They aren't signing two guys for that kinda cash. The Giants? Please, they would have to move Barry Zito to even think about signing CC and who is taking that contract off their hands? They need hitting help, not pitching help.

Instead of focusing on why Sabathia hasn't signed with the Yanks, the focus should be on WHY these other teams, you know, the ones CC is supposedly clamoring to sign with, haven't made an official offer to the young man. If you use a little logic, I think it is pretty easy to figure out.

Sabathia is weighing waiting on other teams to get involved and the only way he can do that is to sit on the Yankee's offer. He can also only attract other teams to the negotiating game if he makes it seem that he is willing to leave MILLIONS on the table. There is not one report out there that indicates any other team's interest in going as high as the Yankees for CC.

My prediction? Sabathia either signs with the Yanks this week or early next week.

Random Thoughts -

*Last weekend I got in to a pretty heated discussion with a friend of mine about college football. He, as a Notre Dame grad, is a HUGE CFB fan. Me, not so much, and my contention was that college football just isn't competitive enough on a week-to-week basis. My friend disagreed, insisting that, if you looked at college basketball and college football, there was similar parity.

Well, look at this weekend. Florid scored 70 points in their victory and several teams won by at least 30 points. Now, can you think of another sport where, in the final weeks of the season, you have such lopsided games with teams having NO CHANCE at victory? In college basketball, these types of gimme games are over and done with by the end of December. Once you hit January you have conference games and good out-of-conference schedules to deal with. Do you think you're gonna see 35 point blow outs in the Big East this year come the end of February? No chance.

The fact that, in almost any given year you can challenge the legitimacy of the college football champion (and with Texas Tech losing this week, and Penn State winning huge, you are going to have yet another controversy on your hands this year) makes the sport less than credible on my eyes, but in terms of watchability, for me, I can't get past the fact that the level of competition is, for the most part, horrid. How can I take Florida seriously when, down the stretch of their season, they are scheduling teams that are 60 points worse than them?

*Sticking with the college football theme, is there any doubt now that Charlie Weis is not a very good coach? I mean, what exactly is the man's excuse? His team, with a TERRIBLE schedule, is 6-5 and is heading towards a beating (again) at the hands of USC next weekend. These are his players, right? Clausen isn't a freshman any more, but rather a second year man that should be ripping the league apart, correct? Those great recruiting classes should be showing some real signs of greatness right about now, no?

My buddy, the ND grad, has turned on Weis (well before the Syracuse game) but is still convinced that, next year, the team will win 10 games. He is sort of in a little candyland world with that idea. Even with an "easy" schedule, this team is simply a 7 or maybe 8 win team, at the most. Their players just aren't that good, case closed, and Weis has proven to be just as bad a coach as Bob Davie or Tyrone Willingham, both of whom have been villified around South Bend.

Personally, while I don't take any great pleasure in watching someone else suffer, I do have to admit that there is a certain satisfaction watching both Notre Dame and Charlie Weis fall off the face of the earth. ND and their alumni act as if their school is this pillar of righteousness - a beacon of morality for the rest of the world - and that their struggles stem directly from their incredible standards. ND grads truly believe that their football and/or basketball players would be splitting atoms and developing new, innovative surgical procedures if it wasn't for football practice and travel schedules. Watching such overtly elitest, arrogant, upity rich kids suffer as their once revered program falls more and more into obscurity is gratifying, just as it is watching Weis, an arrogant, self-absorbed assh*le get left out to dry and have his job in real jeopardy. Weis went all over America patting himself on the back after his first year at ND, in which they looked like a team that might challenge year in and year out for BCS prominence. He did it on the shoulders of someone elses players, but that didn't stop him from writing a book, doing the talk-show circuit, and telling everyone how much of a genius he was.

Reports also began to surface about his boarish behavior and about how unseamly his actions and antics could be. His rotundness was convinced of his own importance and evidently didn't feel shy about putting people in their rightful place - standing directly behind or underneath him. Now?

All of South Bend wants the man's head on a stick. The love affair is over, and Weis spends much of his time answering questions about his team's poor performance. What a shame. It is always sad when someone so vial is taken down about 20 pegs, isn't it?