By now everyone knows what happened last night in Detroit so I'm not going to rehash the details.  I just hope that this is the final straw that wakes up MLB to the fact that it needs instant replay. Yes, it needs replay.

I'm not talking about unlimited replay.  Or challenges to balls and strikes.  Take what we have now with home runs and expand it to the bases and for diving plays in the outfield.  Use the NFL model where the coach gets one or two challenges per game.  It makes no sense to ignore the technilogical capacity that we currently have in the name of game speed or tradition.

Those concerned that the game is already long enough are wrong to think replay would significantly lengthen the game.  Give the ump 90 seconds to look at the replay.  Figure 60 seconds to walk back and forth.  Two challanges per game for each team.  That is ten minutes.  Ten minutes if each team uses both in a game.  Is it that big a deal if a three hour ten minute game becomes three hours and twenty minutes if it means everyone is happy with the calls?

Those concerned with tradition please come join us in the 21st century.  There is little at all in today's game that resembles any kind of MLB that Babe Ruth knew.  For instance, the teams fly around on chartered jets.  There are six divisions and three rounds of playoffs.  And I think most would agree that today's players are a bit more fit than those of the early 20th century.

So come on, MLB.  Join your major sport bretheren and lets get instant replay in baseball.  Not just because you can.  Because when the entire viewing audience and those in the clubhouse can see a replay then the umprires should too.  I would think they would welcome the chance not to end up in a situation like Jim Joyce found himself last night.  Lets just get it right.

On another note, it has to be mentioned that both Armando Galarragga and Jim Joyce handled that situation about as well as anyone could possibly hope.  It was actually quite amazing.  Kudos to both for showing that there is still a lot of class in pro sports, even though we sometimes seem to forget.  If everyone who screwed up or got screwed handled it that well then the world would me a much better place.

In what can only be described as the greatest moment of the 2010 French Open, top-seeded Serena Williams was beaten by seventh seeded Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-7, 8-6.  It marked the seventh consecutive year that the insufferable crybaby, Williams, was not able to make the semifinals.

I don't care that she is an American, there are few people in sports I detest as much as this woman.  Good riddance.

The following took place between 2001 and 2010.  Events ocurred in real time.

Thank God there is going to be a movie.

If I had not known that there will be a 24 movie some time in the (hopefully near) future I probably would have taken the end of this series much worse than I did.  But with that knowledge and with last night's ending leaving a lot open for the movie, I was able to keep it together.  Of course there was a little dampness in my eyes as Jack said goodbye to Chloe.  I am human, after all.

The phenomenon began November 6, 2001.  Two days after my Yankees were defeated in their bid for a fourth consecutive world series championship.  I remember walking around November 5 in a total daze, replaying the ninth inning in my head.  How could Mo have blown the save?  How could a such a weak little bloop be the hit that dethroned the greatest dynasty in 30 years?  November 6 was not much better.  Still stunned by the loss, I needed something to snap me out of my haze.  Little did I know that this show would snap me out of one and throw me right into another.

The funny thing is that FOX so overpromoted 24 during the MLB playoffs that I had actually started to resent the show before it even aired.  I remember thinking to myself that if I saw one more preview I would boycott the show on principle.  But then my roommates and I decided we would give it a shot.  We had to give it a shot.  The show planted its hooks in us from the first hour; we could not wait for the second.  Jack Bauer was now a part of our lives.  It was also around this time that I became a full time viewer of The West Wing and thus my holy trinity of television was born.  Seinfeld, The West Wing, 24.

Never before had a show combined the quality of writing, acting, and suspense that was the hallmark of 24. By the fourth week I was literally watching on the edge of my seat, much like I had recently done during the world series.  Week after week we were amazed as the story kept getting better.  How were they doing this?  How were they topping themselves?  How were they misdirecting me so badly that when a plot twisted I felt like I had run into a wall?

It didn't stop in season 1 and sure didn't stop as the seasons passed.  You will find a lot of critics and even "fans" that say the show lost its edge over the last three or four seasons.  They're entitled to their opinions.  And they may even be right.  I have been known to be a bit of a 24 apologist.  But I don't care.  To me, the show could do no wrong.  It entertained me every week until the very end, regardless of what the naysayers said.  And while I'm sad to see it end, I feel the time was right.

When the news broke that this would be the final season I felt both sadness and relief.  Television shows are a lot like athletes.  Some are never good enough to make the bigtime.  Some make the bigtime for just a little bit only to find they are not good enough to stay.  Some have solid careers and peform well but when they retire are for the most part not missed.  And some turn out to be superstars.  The ones whose names and numbers we wear on our backs and whose performances we cannot miss, for the simple reason that you just never know what they're going to do on a given night.

But the harsh reality is that time is a relentless foe and even our superstars reach a point at which they are no longer what they once were.  And as hard as it can be for fans to admit or accept, no one can play forever.

24 gave its fans eight great seasons and a multitude of characters we'll never forget.  It gave us countless moments that shook the foundation of what network television could be, both in structure and in content.  It gave America its first African-American President, six years before it happened for real.  But most of all, it gave us Jack Bauer.

Now for the thank you's.  Thanks to the villians for providing Bauer with his motivation.  Ira Gaines, The Drazens, Peter Kingsley, Ramone & Hector Salazar, Nina Meyers, Stephen Saunders, Habib Marwan, Christopher Henderson, Vladimir Bierko, Phil & Graem Bauer, the Chinese, Abu Fayed, Dmitri Gredenko, Ike Dubaku, General Juma, Jonas Hodges, Alan Wilson, Mikhail Novakovich, President Yuri Suvarov, and of course, President Charles Logan.

Thanks to all of the characters who did not make it to the end of Day 8, not including of course, those who deserved the incomparable wrath of Bauer.  Edgar Stiles, Milo Pressman, Teri Bauer, Richard Walsh, Curtis Manning, President Kessler, Ryan Chappelle, President Omar Hassan, George Mason, Michelle Dessler, Bill Buchanan, Tony Almeida (deserved of his own category), Renee Walker, and President David Palmer.

A special thank you to Chloe O'Brian who for the last six seasons never disappointed Jack, or the audience.

And a final thank you to Jack Bauer, the greatest patriot and hero in American history.  You have simply been one of the greatest television characters of all time.

Goodbye and good luck, Jack.  We all look forward to seeing you again.  Wherever you may be.

Before getting into the meat of the discussion today I should acknowledge the fact that its been close to four months since posting anything in this space.  In that time we have seen the Saints win their first Super Bowl, a fantastic Winter Olympics (despite the tragic death of the luger), capped off by the one of the greatest hockey games of my life, the conclusion of a college basketball season I refuse to acknowledge ever happened, the beginning of Major League Baseball, the return of Tiger Woods, and more importantly another Masters championship for Phil Mickelson.

Why, you may ask, have I been silent since January?  Some of it had to do with studying for an insurance exam in early March (I passed).  But since the test most of it has to do with laziness.  My apologies.

--

Until yesterday I was no fan of Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver.  This is not because of him as a person.  It is strictly because of the way he chose to run his basketball team.  Over the past six years Sarver has consistenly sold draft picks and refused to sign or resign crucial players.  These penny-pinching decisions have sabotaged the Suns chances, ensuring they were just good enough not to win the western conference.  In the process he has essentially wasted the best years of my favorite player, Steve Nash.

But today and for the foreseeable future Robert Sarver is one of my favorite people in sports.  By now everyone is familiar with the absurd anti-immigrant law in Arizona. Tonight, for Game 2 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs, being played in Phoenix, the Suns will wear their special jerseys that read "Los Suns" in a show of support for the hispanic community that has been targeted by this racist and fearmongering law.  Sarver gave his team the chance to vote on whether or not to wear these uniforms and the team voted yes.  Here is what Sarver said in a news release from the team:

"Our players and organization felt that wearing our 'Los Suns' jerseys on Cinco De Mayo was a way for our team and our organization to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation."

Unlike so many people in the sports world with the platform to speak out who choose not to do so, Sarver has.  And he should be commended.  He did this without knowing the repurcussions it may have on his business and that is a legitimate concern.  Recent polls have suggested that up to 70% of Arizonans support this law and you have to believe that there will be more than a few people in his seats tonight that are among that 70%.  But he felt that  as the owner of a team in a city with a major hispanic population it was the right thing to do.  In his press release he went on to say:

"The frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in the passage of a flawed state law.  However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them."

It is extremely rare to see an owner take such a puclic political stance and that is why I feel so strongly that Sarver be commended.  I am also proud of the Suns players for not shying away from this issue of such great attention, both national and even more local.

I have heard multiple people say today that sports and politics should not mix.  That's just the easy way out for people who don't want to offend anyone on any side of an argument.  That's their choice and it has to be respected to some degree as well.  But athletes are among a rare group of people in this world with a vast platform and they owe it to themselves and the causes for which they believe to speak up when they feel strongly enough.  Does anyone believe it would do real harm to the relationship between fan and team?  Does anyone think that the Suns fans at tonight's game who are in favor of this new law will root for the Spurs because of the Suns jerseys?  I guess here would be a good place to mention that many Spurs players said that had there been enough time to make the jerseys, they would have gladly worn "Los Spurs" across thier chests tonight.

My loyalties to the New York Yankees are well documented and acknowledged.  I accept the fact that some of those guys, though I am not sure who, are Republicans.  My general feelings toward Republicans are also well documented and acknowledged.  Its not going to have an effect on how I root for the Yankees.  Would I rather my favorite players were politically like-minded?  Of course.  But I have friends and family members with whom I vehemently disagree about politics and we get along just fine.  If I find out that Mark Teixeira voted for McCain I'm still hoping he hits a home run in his next at bat.

These are politically emotional times in our country and I understand why high profile people don't always want to speak out.  Lots of money is at stake.  That's why Robert Sarver and the Phoenix Suns deserve so much credit for voicing their opposition to the immigration law.  They said what they believe.  Sounds simple, but never really happens.

When given the chance, sports can help push politics in the right direction.  We've seen it happen before and will again.  All it takes is the for someone to swing at the pitch.

--

I do appreciate the fact that there is a major illegal immigration problem in Arizona and why some people in that state would tell me that I have no idea what I'm talking about and to shut the hell up.  It would be a fair point.  All I'm saying to the good people of Arizona is there has to be a better way than this.  There just has to be.

If you happened to be watching the end of The Biggest Loser on NBC last night, you would have been interrupted by an even bigger loser - Martha Coakley, Attorney General of Massachusetts. She had to concede a loss to Scott Brown for the empty Senate seat left by the late Edward "Ted" Kennedy.

The writing was on the wall weeks ago for this one. Much of the analysis from the Left has been that Coakley just ran a bad campaign and was a bad candidiate. But the Right is trying to turn this into a referendum on Obama; no surprise there. Look, Coakley was a moderate Democrat with little to no legislative experience as Attorney General and a country District Attorney before that. She had a voice that sounded more upper midwest than South Boston. She was quoted as saying she didn't need to "stand outside of Fenway park" to get votes and in an ad, her campaign misspelled the very state in which she was running. She even called legendary Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt "Bloody Sock" Shilling a Yankee fan for Christ's sake!  The "perfect storm" culminated with a disinterested electorate which had previously gone for Obama by 61% in the 2008 election, and also 3-4 inches of wet, slushy snow that basically made people who didn't care stay home. She must have known her chances weren't good when most people's first response to who they were going to vote for started with "I don't really like her but..."

However, I think there are actually even bigger losers out there than Coakley herself; the people of Massachusetts. Look, I was born and raised in that state and I know enough about local politics to know its not as liberal as most of the rest of the country thinks. But this election wasn't decided on "the issues" no matter how much someone tells you it was. Scott Brown truly is a "regular guy" who drives a pickup and has a family. But that's no excuse for the fact that he is a full fledged conservative Republican who will stop at nothing to block Obama's forward looking agenda.  I heard on a radio show last night that voters don't want to be told they are stupid, that they don't want to be lectured to.  Well, when you elect a jackass who goes against everything you previously thought right, you should be lectured. You don't get to vote for change when change is happening right now. You can not vote for independence when that guy is nothing but a tool of the Republican obstruction machine. And you don't get to stay home for this one. As a said before, a vote for Coakley wasn't a vote for her, it was a vote for the forward looking progressive policies and a vote away from the disasterous, failed policies of the late 20th Century and early 21st Century conservatives. Finally, you don't get to destroy the legacy of one of the greatest senators who ever served and then claim you were doing it all in the name of independence.

And that's why the Biggest Loser is actually the millions of people both home and abroad who will continue to be forced to listen to the Party of No. The citizens who have to give credence to people who can't seem to think about anything but themselves. The people who think because they have health insurance through their employer, thats good enough for everyone. The same people who think that tax breaks for the rich will somehow once again prove that trickle-down economics isn't the sham it truly is. We are all losers now.

p.s. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Its that this could make the Democratic leadership wake up and realize that they don't actually need 60 votes to pass legislation. It just takes a little leadership and courage to do what the majority of Americans want to do and go in a direction we've already decided a year ago. However, quotes like this from party leaders do not inspire hope, indeed.

UPDATE: Figured I'd add some perspective to this. Some good reads:

Ezra Klein on why Obama needs to move away from Clinton era tactics.

Matthew Yglesias injects some realistic analysis.

Mark Schmitt on how the 60 vote threshold was an illusion.

And finally a quote from Ted Kennedy that's making the rounds this morning:

"If the Democrats run for cover, if we become pale carbon copies of the opposition, we will lose -- and deserve to lose. The last thing this country needs is two Republican parties."

All Decade Team

Coach - Bill Belichick

Team of the Decade

2004 New England Patriots

Player of the Decade

Peyton Manning

"The liberal agenda" is a phrase often used by conversations to scare the pants off their own supporters. And they're right! They should be scared. The liberal agenda was voted on in November of 2008 and won squarely. I'm not one to claim a mandate on political agendas, nor even willing to claim the majority gets to overun a country, but the clear, resounding result, was the vote for change and a vote for progressive policy and ideals that say to your neighbor, "where are you hurting?" and "what can I do for you today? You can argue whether that change has come about yet, but you cannot argue that is exactly what happened in the last election cycle.

Fast forward to 2010 and there is a heated battle for the Senate seat left by the late Ted Kennedy. The only reason this is even a close race is because the state Democrats put forth a seriously questionable candidate in Martha Coakley. No matter, I say.  The alternate is Scott Brown, a self-proclaimed independent who is anything but.  Scott Brown should lose for the following two reasons:

1. He can't claim a campaign of change when the "other" party just won on the same idea, resoundingly, and Brown's ideals are exactly opposite of that change.
2. His whole campaign platform boils down to one word, two characters; "NO."  He has stated that he will, for all intents and purposes, fight tooth and nail and vote against everything the Democrats want.

If there are any liberals out there who are upset with the current leadership in D.C., I can tell you for sure that I feel your pain. The current health care bill is far too moderate in how it does what it attempts to do. Having President Obama publically proclaim "bipartisanship" a key point in negotiations over legislation when the other party refuses to negotiate is a sore spot for me as well.

However, a vote for Martha Coakley isn't a vote for yourself, or even for the citizens of Massachusetts. Its a vote for liberal and progressive ideals that America has been striving and moving toward all our lives. Racial tensions may not have disappeared, and people may die for lack of adequate healthcare, but on balance we are becoming a better society than we were 20, 50 or even 200 years ago.

I ask you to accept the imperfect candiate and look foward beyond your own interests. Its challenging to consider the delicate balance between "how does this help others" versus "what is in it for me," but it is high time we move toward the former and away from the latter.

Please vote for Martha Coakley on Jan 19th.

All NBA - First Team

I realize that I'm a little late to the party on the whole looking back at the last decade thing, but I wanted to do it anyway.

All Decade Team                                                                                                                 

Today, the Boston Globe officially endorsed Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley, for US Senate.  The special election, to be held January 19, will fill the seat of the late Edward Kennedy.  The Globe does a wonderful job of making the case for Coakley.

As always, these are my awards.  My biases, my choices.  In all honesty they are not much different than the real ones.  Oh well, not much I can do about that.

MVP - Peyton Manning (Indianapolis)

Coach of the Year - Norv Turner (San Diego)

Offensive Player of the Year - Chris Johnson (Tennessee)

Defensive Player of the Year - Derrelle Revis (New York Jets)

Executive of the Year - Mike Tannenbaum (New York Jets)

Well Gilbert, its been fun.

NBA Commissioner Stern has indefinitely suspended the embattled Wizards' star and there are rumblings from NBA people that we may have seen the last of Arenas certainly for 2010 and maybe forever.  Such is what happens when you bring guns into an NBA locker room and then mock the situation as if its no big deal.  Sorry Gil, it but it couldn't be a bigger deal.

I'm not going to spend much time on this because the writers at the Washington Post and ESPN have already covered this in depth.  But I will say that I have always thoroughly enjoyed the light-hearted goofball that is Gilbert Arenas.  Until now.  Until he crossed the line from light-hearted goofball to clueless idiot.  I just don't have any sympathy for someone who seems to be the only person incapable of seeing just how serious a situation this is.

Agent Zero, your time of reckoning has come.  And everyone involved is worse off for it.

Ridiculous.

I think that is the best word to describe Randy Johnson's career statistics.  The future first ballot hall of famer announced his retirement yesterday at the ripe old age of 46.  Though his last few years in the league were hampered by injury, the Big Unit remains one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

22 Seasons.  4135 innings pitched.  303 wins.  4875 strikeouts (2nd all time).  3.29 ERA.  1.17 WHIP.  100 complete games.  37 shutouts.  64.6 winning percentage.  10.6 SO/9 IP (1st all time).  2 no hitters including 1 perfect game (at age 40).

He was an all star 10 times.  He won 5 Cy Young awards, including 4 consecutive from 1999-2002.  Only the second pitcher in history to do that.  4 times he led the league in ERA and 3 more times was second.  6 times he stuck out more than 300 batters in a season.  10 times he led the league in strikeouts and 4 more times he was second.

He may have been surly and grumpy.  He may not have made life easy for the media.  But by all accounts he is one of the 5-10 greatest pitchers in the history of baseball.  He pitched in the steroid era but was never once rumored to have done them himself.  With what we now know about Roger Clemens and with all due respect to Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson is the greatest pitcher of my generation and may well be the greatest pitcher of the next few.  To put it simply, there is no other pitcher I have ever watched who I would rather have pitch the one game my team needed to win.

Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, whose opinion I respect more than anyone who covers the game, calls him the third best left hander ever behind Lefty Grove and Warren Spahn.  To that I say Grove never pitched against an African American and Spahn's numbers, while remarkable too, are no better than Johnson's when put side to side.  I'll take the Big Unit as the greatest left hander ever.  And though I said above he is one of the 5-10 best pitchers ever, in my own opinion he is top 5.

His performance in the 2001 World Series remains one of the most amazing feats I have ever witnessed in sports.  He dominated the Yankees in Game 2 and Game 6, and then came back the next night to close out Game 7 as the winning pitcher.  His stats for that World Series: 3-0, 1.04 ERA, .692 WHIP, 19 K, 17.1 IP.  The fact that he had to share the MVP with Curt Schilling is laughable at best and criminal at worst.

And though his time as a Yankee was an utter disappointment, well, that's my team's fault for waiting until he was 42 to get him.  So to the Big Unit, congrats on a legendary career.  See ya in Cooperstown, 2015.

Its December 23 and we all know what that means - Festivus!

The "holiday" that Frank Costanza made famous twelve years ago is alive and well, evidenced by the fact that "Festivus" is currently the seventh most searched item on Yahoo.com.

The holiday itself is in fact much older than twelve years, probably closer to thirty-five.  It was born out of the frustration Frank felt over the commercialization of Christmas.  More specifically, the idea came to light as Frank "reigned blows" down upon another man's head while they fought over a Christmas gift for their respective children.  It was at that time Frank realized there had to be a better way.

So get out your tinselless poles, stretch out adequately for the Feats of Strength, and don't be too cruel when airing your grievences.

And most importantly, have a happy Festivus!

Its Jimmy V Week once again at ESPN.  With all of the nonsense and tabloid garbage this network spews these days, this promotion is far and away the best thing it does all year.  Its focus is to raise awareneess and money for The V Foundation For Cancer Research.

These are tough days for a lot of Americans.  There is not a lot of disposable income, especially at Christmas time.  But this is a cause for which I could not be more excited and I ask that you consider a donation.

Cancer is a disease that very likely has touched someone in your family or someone you know.  Please consider a generous donation to the V Foundation and help fight this dreaded disease.  Click on the link below to donate.

www.jimmyv.org

And if you're looking for true inspiration, a good laugh and/or cry, or just to listen to the single greatest speech of all time, treat yourself to Jim Valvano's masterpiece from the 1993 ESPY Awards, at which he accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and announced the birth of the Foundation.

www.youtube.com

Many people close to me know that I am no fan of Tiger Woods.  I don't hate him like I have athletes in the past who I have rooted against but I can say with certainty that aside from international competition, I have never, ever rooted for Tiger Woods to win a golf tournatment.  Why?  Not so sure.  Perhaps it was his corronation before stepping on a pro course, or that fact that Evil Phil Knight and Nike bought him.  Whatever the reason was way back in 1997, its stuck.  And grown.

But for the record, I am NOT enjoying nor do I derive any satisfaction from what has happened to Tiger over the past week and a half.  I don't feel sorry for him either; after all, these were his choices.  However, this is not the way I wanted Tiger to be brought down.  I wanted that to happen on the golf course, like Y.E. Yang did at the PGA last August.

So no, this sordid episode does not make me happy and I have not and will not gloat.  In fact, its quite sad.

Today is the 53rd birthday of the greatest basketball player who ever lived, Larry Bird.  He remains my all time favorite athlete (OK, its a tie with Don Mattingly) and will always be the greatest Boston Celtic of them all.

Happy birthday, Larry.

Daa-gum it, the Bobby Bowden Era is over at Florida State.

The iconic coach announced today that this would be his last season at the healm for the Seminoles, ending a legendary career that saw him win 388 games, second only to Joe Paterno.  In his 34 years at Florida State, the Seminoles won two national championships (1993 & 1999) and twenty-one bowl games.  However, it was the recent mediocrity of the program that led to Bowden's departure.

Before I go too far with the sentimentality, I must admit that I am a fan of the Miami Hurricanes, a blood rival of Florida State.  There is only one football program in this country I despise more than FSU (Notre Dame) and some of my happiest moments with college football have been Bowden's most heartbreaking.

My deep seeded hatred of his team certainly tainted my feelings about a coach who seems to be a genuinely pleasant, jovial man.  I'm not proud to admit it, but I still get immense satisfaction when I see the clip of Bowden's reaction to "wide right" in 1991.  Click here to see the clips (Bowden's reaction is at the very end, right at 2:00 minute mark).  Of course, 1991 was only the first time that Bowden would live this nightmare; it would occur again in different forms in 1992, 2000, 2002, and the 2004 Orange Bowl.  I enjoyed each one more than the last.

But today is a day to step back from the rivalry and acknowledge the man for what he was and did.  Bobby Bowden quite simply is Florida State football.  The program was essentially nonexistent when he got there and he turned it into one of the most consistenly great teams in any college sport.  Florida State's dominance from 1987-2000 is unprecedented; each year over those fourteen seasons the Seminoles finished ranked in the top five, and two of those seasons ended in championships.

Bowden was not without controversy while at Florida State.  His players had their share of transgressions, most famously leading then Florida coach Steve Spurrier to refer to FSU as "Free Shoes University."  There was also the infamous "Bowden Justice," when it seemed star players would receive no punishment for actions that would cost lesser players their scholarships.  But it never dragged Bowden down too far, probably because the mix of winning, southern charm, and iconic status was too much for any scandal to overcome.

But the positive far, far outweighs the negative when looking at Bobby Bowden's career.  He is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.  This simply cannot be denied, or even debated for that matter.  And his place on the Mount Rushmore of coaches is secure, alongside Bear Bryant and Joe Paterno (we'll leave that fourth spot open for now).  The disappointing final seasons may have forced him out a little earlier than he would have liked but they cannot change one fundamental truth.

Bobby Bowden is and will always be Florida State Football.

We need to stop this Michael Jordan jersey nonsense before it goes too far.

Last night in his post game interview, LeBron James said that starting in 2010 he was going to change his jersey number from his current 23 to 6.  He is going to do this in honor of Michael Jordan, who made 23 famous and in a way, part of the Air Jordan brand.  James said that Michael did so much and has meant so much to basketball that no one should ever wear his number again.

I love that a super-duper star like LeBron has enough humility and appreciation for those who came before him to make such a sacrifice.  It shows just how much he "gets it."  But as great as Michael was, he did not do anything that makes his jersery worthy of retirement across the league.  When Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson's number 42 in perpetuity back in 1997 they did so because Jackie may be the single most important American athlete ever.  He broke the baseball color barrier in 1947 when this country was still heavily racist.  He endured unimaginable hate and humiliation with class and strength that was equally as unbelievable.  And he did it so that those black players who came after him would be able to realize their dreams of playing major league baseball.

Michael Jordan was just a great basketball player.  He may well have been the best who ever played but in the end he was just a great basketball player.  He was not a pioneer (one could argue Jordan was in the business aspect of the game, but not socially).  He was not Jackie Robinson, not even close.  And Michael would agree.

So the notion that the NBA should retire Michael Jordan's jersey number is nice but misguided.  Lets leave the league-wide retired jerseys to those who not only brought their sports to a new level, but our country as well.  Number 23 should be available to anyone in the NBA who wants it.

Except, of course, for those playing in Chicago.

Congratulations to the 2009 World Champion New York Yankees!

I could probably write about 10,000 words on this team and this season but I am going to keep it brief.  This team was a pleasure to watch and root for and this championship, after so much frustration over the past five years, is easily as sweet as any of the previous four I have been lucky enough to witness.

Congratulations to all of the first time champions - 17 in all - and especially to the "core four" who now have their fifth title.  As enjoyable as it is for a fan of this team to see all of the new guys and first timers get their championship, its that much sweeter to see Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, and Rivera get number five.  If their careers and their first four championships ever needed validtion, this was it.  Nine years in between championships shows the sustained excellence of this group.

Also congratulations to Brian Cashman, who had as much as anyone riding on this season.  Some will say that this team bought their title and they should have won.  Well, a lot of times that is when it is the hardest - when everyone expects you to do it.  And Cashman's off-season moves certainly paid off and have given the GM much reason to enjoy #27.

Finally, congratulations to the Steinbrenner family.  Especially George.  They continue to open the checkbooks and commit to putting the best possible team on the field.  We all know that George has not been well for some time and who knows how much longer he will be with us, so for him to get to see his team raise the trophy one more time is very special.

The Yankees are world champions again.  The trophy has returned to its home, Bronx, NY.

Start spreading the news.