The Blue Jays have extended Cito Gaston as manager through the 2010 season. Let me be the first to prematurely declare this team as one to watch next year. The tough AL East should be even tougher thanks to this move. It is no fluke that the Jays have been a much improved squad since the calming influence of Gaston has been in charge. He thinks offense, he doesn’t tolerate crap, and he has the respect of his charges. The team is 48-36 since Gaston took over, and made the AL East race more interesting. The team likely has a spot or two in the rotation to fill, and they still need a bat or two, but the core of this team is good enough to compete. A very good move.
Is Allan Houston freaking kidding? The Knicks’ fourth leading all-time scorer has announced that he is going to attempt another comeback with the Knicks this year. He retired in 2005 wth knee problems. He tried a comeback last year, but it was lame – he missed the first 10 days of camp because his wife had a child, then quit after just one exhibition game. Now he;s 37, and I find it virtually impossible to believe that his knees could hold up to the abuse that they would take under Mike D’Antoni’s offensive system. This is not an offensive approach for the fragile. This story likely won’t turn into much as Houston isn’t going to make the team, but it’s just one more distraction for a team that desperately needs to avoid distractions and get back to playing something resembling real basketball.
Matt Millen. What else is there left to say? He was brutal, and now he is gone. I think that the public is going to overestimate the positive impact of this one on the Lions. The fact is that the GM’s impact on a team mostly happens in the offseason. There are players to be added and subtracted during the season, but the meaningful moves are long done. This move, then, might provide a big boost to fans, and perhaps a smaller boost to the players who have had problems with him, but it isn’t going to have the substantive impact on the team that people will assume it will. People overreact to high profile injuries and quarterback changes, and they will overreact to this, too.
Monta Ellis said he hurt his ankle in a basketball accident. It turns out that it happened on a mo-ped. An injury is an injury, but that’s just funny. The Warriors, it seems, are cursed.
