It's been several hours since the last incremental shred of news about Brett Favre and I don't know about you but I'm having withdrawal. It's actually getting addictive for me.

You know -- 10 a.m., Packers team president Mark Murphy boards unmarked private jet with undisclosed flight plan but headed due south; 1 p.m., Favre works out with local high school football team but leaves when he learns they won't let him compete for starting job, 3 p.m., unidentified league source tells ESPN's Chris Mortensen that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

So in the absence of substantial reports like the above, we have to bring you Michael Irvin's take on the Brett Favre situation in an interview with FOX Sports Radio Network's Out of Bounds. My favorite part is when the Playmaker suggest that Favre basically wants to go to Minnesota or Chicago just to spite the Packers.

So here it is, Irvin on Favre:

 "It is an ugly thing here going on, but there's no way I can imagine the Green Bay Packers being able to force Brett Favre's hand in March when we can't do it here in July. And its just the reality of it, they asked him, no matter how they asked him or how hard they asked him they have done it for years, 'Brett, we need a decision by March this or March that.' Brett had the right to say this decision is huge for me and I'm sorry, I'm not ready to make this decision…The worst thing I hate out of all of it is Brett saying he wants to go to Minnesota or Chicago because it seems like a spiteful move. 'These are two teams I know you will play against every year and I want to come back and hurt you guys'. Now, I don't say he should have any loyalty to front office because that battle will ensue always between player and front office because we are talking about money. But certainly, certainly to the fans of Green Bay they deserve something besides you going to Minnesota or Chicago and coming back saying 'I will eat you up', in your attempt to eat up Ted Thompson you will eat up the fans that who have supported you so long and loyalty should lie there, no doubt to me it's Brett's fault."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Sports journalism normally doesn't get tangled up in First Amendment issues. It is our colleagues working in City Hall or are otherwise engaged with the "real world" who have to battle their way through freedom-of-speech issues. But a pair of situation have just come up that pose an interesting parallel. The first is in China (where admittedly the concept of a First Amendment is pretty alien) but the second is in Phoenix, Arizona, where they should have heard of it.

* In China at the Beijing Olympics, reporters are being barred from some Internet access, particularly Web sites that the government believes to be critical of its policies, say discussion of the unrest in Tibet. Among Web sites that reports have been unable to reach is Amnesty International. The overarching philosophy being: "It's my country and I'll lie if I want to." And to the argument that reporters should have no beef because they should follow the rules of the host country, I’ll point out that Beijing had to "win" the right to host the Olympics. And being in a competitive situation with other world-class cities, China had to be persuasive in convincing the IOC to allow the Games to be held there. Reportedly, the IOC tried to make sure certain fundamental principles of Internet access were part of the overall atmosphere of the Olympic Games but there seems to be differing interpretations of what was agreed to.

* Concurrently, we have what is certainly a much pettier discouraging of free speech in Phoenix. Apparently, there's a swanky golf country club out there and incredibly, still in the 21st century there's a policy in place that bars women from the club's grill room. It may seem like small potatoes but it's also a known haunt for the city's power lunches so quite obviously, this is another way of keeping in place a gender glass ceiling. But even that's not what's really galling. One of the club's members, and reportedly a pretty good golfer, Rusty Brown, spoke to a newspaper making the point that he didn't like the policy and he thought some fellow club members were equally unhappy with it. Brown has been kicked out of the club.

Here's the point I want to make. If you’re proud of what you're doing, usually you don't have any problem with people talking about it. And usually, when you have reason to be ashamed, that's when you want to keep it quiet. On grand and petty scales, that's the lesson to take away from Beijing and the country club.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

With the sports world consumed by the prospects of Brett Favre playing elsewhere this season, a few other player movements involving big names are overshadowed. Among them:

* Ken Griffey Jr. maybe/probably to the Chicago White Sox. The Reds and White Sox appeared to have agreed but Junior has last say-so. And for a change it’s not just about the money. The 38-year-old Griffey is hitting .345 this season with 15 home runs. The White Sox lead the AL Central but are in a scramble with the Twins while the Reds are out of it.

* Manny Ramirez isn’t exactly under the radar but we’re mentioning him because he had good-naturedly suggested a trade for himself for Brett Favre. Reportedly, Ramirez joked to ESPNdeportes.com's Enrique Rojas: "I should go to Green Bay straight up and they should send Brett Favre to Boston. That will end two soap operas at the same time," Ramirez told Rojas. Seriously, the Florida Marlins who are battling the Mets and Phillies in the NL East are the latest hot rumor to surface regarding Ramirez.

* Denver Broncos safety John Lynch, a seven-time Pro Bowler in Denver and Tampa Bay, is saying he’s out of Denver. Lynch appears to be out of the nickel and dime packages in the Broncos defense which means he’d essentially be a run-support safety and he’s apparently not happy with that. It remains to be seen if Lynch, 37, winds up on another team or tries to break into broadcasting.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I'm going through stages on the Brett Favre story.

First, like most other folks (I'm assuming), Favre's unretirement had me saying "Wow" and rolling my eyes. We had all seen that movie before and right from the very beginning in March, you had a sneaking suspicion this might happen.

Then the Packers' reaction about sticking with Aaron Rodgers had me thinking, "Gee, this could get interesting." And then it started getting semi-ugly with Favre implying the Packers weren't being truthful about who said what and the list of teams began to emerge of who Favre might be traded to and I thought, ""All right, enough, get it over with."

And now we have a situation where the Packers' team president is taking private jets to Mississippi for a summit with Favre and his agent, news reports that Green Bay offered him $20 million to stay retired, that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is delaying approving Favre's reinstatement to allow for more time for an amicable resolution and that the Packers may be thinking the unthinkable, trading Favre to Minnesota or Chicago. Hey, I'm interested again.

As we mentioned yesterday, we're going to keep passing along the incremental news and our semi-novel contribution to the Favre coverage is going to be a concert of Favre-related music videos. This one is a country-western original by Dustin Bogue, It Was All About the Game.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

In today's Sun, colleague Ed Lee wrote about Ravens' backup offensive lineman Mike Kracalik having to step in as the starting left offensive tackle for now after tackles Adam Terry and Jared Gaither -- the immediate successors to the retired Jonathan Ogden -- were sidelined by ankle injuries.

Kracalik seems like a good guy (Lee details some of the issues the player went through at San Diego State when he felt compelled to make public an event about which some Aztec fans would have preferred he keep quiet) and he certainly has impressive size (6-8, 340). But left tackle is among the most demanding and critical positions on the field. Inexperience at that spot can lead to big problems for your quarterback and as a result, the entire offense.

But we're still in the early stages of training camp and a lot can and probably will happen between now and the opener against Cincinnati on Sept. 7. However, when you consider just a few training camp mishaps have the Ravens down to putting the health of whoever is under center in the hands of a player who has bounced among practice squads, waiver wires and active rosters, it can make you a little uneasy.

Ravens fans have had the luxury of the reliable presence of Jonathan Ogden around for more than a decade. Admittedly, in the previous couple of years Ogden had missed time but he still helped hold the delicate puzzle along the offensive line together. Now, we're about to realize how steep the drop-off can be when a Hall of Famer like Ogden is no longer around.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Orioles' hopes of sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx evaporated in a hurry this afternoon as New York jumped out to a 3-1 first-inning lead on first-time starter Dennis Sarfate. It got worse when Brian Burres relieved Sarfate, trailing 5-2 in the fifth, and after one good frame, Burres  surrendered four more runs in the sixth. After Burres, Fernando Cabrera was basically throwing batting practice -- three hits, two of them homers, and a couple of walks.  It ended 13-3.

What all that means is that manager Dave Trembley has, at best, a 2 1/2-man rotation -- that would be Jeremy Guthrie, Daniel Cabrera if he's pitching against the Yankees (he's 3-0 against New York) and on the od occasion, Garrett Olson.

Burres is probably a little shell-shocked right now.  He's given up nine runs in three innings during his last two outings.  For the O's, there better be some arms in the minors.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Brett Favre soap is turning into a minute-by-minute drama with the latest being that Packers team Mark Murphy -- what a minute Mark Murphy, coach Mike McCarthy, general manager Ted Thompson, there's a serious alliteration issue going on there in Green Bay -- is in Hattiesburg, Mississippi meeting with Favre and his agent "Bus" Cook.

This follows Favre applying for his reinstatement with the league yesterday and – imagine this – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell delaying acting on the reinstatement to give the Packers more time to figure out what to do.

They absolutely do not want to release him so that he could sign with any other team without compensation to the Packers. And they really, really don’t want in camp where his presence would create in his own words a “circus” and an atmosphere of angst for the whole team, especially the nominated starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

So it would seem the only way out is a trade. What Murphy hopes to accomplish in Mississippi remains to be seen

However, we have seemed to stumble upon something in the process of poking through the Internet. It seems that Brett Favre may be the subject of more original songs that any other sports figure on the planet. And since all we can do is wait to see what happens in the Green Bay-Hattiesburg shuttle diplomacy, we thought we would periodically run a Brett Favre song.

This one is a take off on Don McLean’s American Pie by singer-songwriter and Favre fan Annette Summersett.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The ejection of Daniel Cabrera from last night's 7-6 win over the Yankees is truly mystifying.  It was so apparently irrational that it's really hard to get upset about it.  You could see exactly how confused Cabrera himself was when home plate umpire Chad Fairchild tossed him from the game in the bottom of the eighth inning after Cabrera hit Alex Rodriguez in the shoulder with a pitch.  Two innings earlier A-Rod had hit a solo home run.

It just seems preposterous that Cabrera, with a 6-1 lead at the time, would open the door like that.  He already had a runner on second after Bobby Abreu doubled and there were no outs.  Given the circumstances after the hit-batsmen, I certainly believe Orioles manager Dave Trembley when he said that he was going to pull Cabrera.  Two runners on, no out, Cabrera just past 100 pitches, eighth inning.  If you seen many Orioles games you know what that means, cue relief pitcher Jim Johnson.  And that's exactly what happened.  George Sherrill was going to pitching the ninth so the fact that it got exciting at the end had little to do with the ejection.

Who knows, maybe the ejection will have the effect of defusing any potential Yankee retaliation when the two teams play again today starting at 1:05 p.m., although even A-Rod said he didn't think Cabrera was trying to hit him.  Otherwise, it just seems to be an overreaction by the umpire.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

With the sentencing of ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy today, it seems particularly approprite to introduce this music video by singer-songwriter Ryan Parker. Parker satirizes sports gambling by suggesting that betting on the Olympics is a sure sign that someone has gone over the edge. To turn up the volume, slide the volume control to the right. It's next to the loudspeaker icon in the lower right of the video screen.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Tim Donaghy, the NBA referee who schemed with gamblers to pass along insider information on games, was sentenced to 15 months in prison in federal court today. Donaghy's partners in the schemes, high school friends James Battista and Thomas Martino, were sentenced last week. Battista received a 15-month sentence for placing wagers on games about which Donaghy provided information. Martino received about a year. He paid Donaghy for the information.

That Donaghy received 15 months surprised some observers because his information helped prosecutors build their case against Battista and Martino. However, the obvious fact was that the Donaghy case's publicity made escaping prison impossible for the NBA ref. The three convicted men also have been ordered to pay a combined $217,266 to the NBA in restitution.

Yet to come are the results of the NBA's own probe into the Donaghy situation as well as concerns over possible inappropriate conduct by other referees.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

This is one of those items that teeters on the edge of sports -- but bicycling, even when not done competitively is certainly considered sports-like, right? Here's a video making the rounds on the Internet of a weird event in New York City where bicyclists are in an otherwise uneventful protest ride through the streets of Manhattan making the case that bicycling is a more sensible approach to inner-city travel. Okay, fair enough. But then this happens (see video below) involving a policeman who, reportedly, has been reassigned to desk duty while this gets sorted out. As you watch, you may be struck by the same thought I was. Why did the officer pick this particular guy? Luckily, the rider appears to be OK.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The player who has been at the top of many Orioles' fans' wish list, Atlanta first baseman Mark Teixeira, apparently is about ready to change uniforms for the second time in a year as the Major League trade deadline approaches on July 31.

Teixeira, a Baltimore-area favorite son who was acquired by the Braves from Texas a year ago to  be the player to put them over the top, is highly available after Atlanta failed to take full advantage of his services in both the 2007 stretch run and through two-thirds of a season this year.  There has been nothing wrong with Teixeira's output.  Granted, his numbers were Hall of Fame-like last year compared to merely All-Star caliber this year but the 157-game total in Atlanta has been .295 with 37 home runs and 134 RBIs.  Sounds pretty good to me.  In addition, you could make the case that Teixeira, batting behind the now injured Chipper Jones, helped Jones get off to a scorching start this year when Chipper flirted with .400.

But despite all that, the Braves gassed last year as the Phillies overtook the Mets in the NL East and this year, Atlanta appears winded again as it sits mired in fourth place.  At the end of the season, Teixeira becomes a free agent so the Braves have to take what they can get now.  The only teams for whom an immediate Teixeira deal makes any sense because they would be getting him for just a final sprint to October are contenders in tight races, Boston,  Tampa Bay and Arizona and one that may want to reload for the playoffs, the L.A. Angels, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.

You will notice the Orioles are not in that mix.  But if you are in the Bring Mark Home crowd, take heart.  Teixeira appears to have tired of being shuttled around the Major Leagues as a short-term fix.  Hence his comment on the current trade rumors: "I realize that things are going to happen in this game that are out of your control. And over the next two months, a lot of things are going to happen that are going to be out of my control. But once I get to free agency, that's when I get to start making the calls."

Hard saying where the Orioles can fit here.  If anything, the six to eight weeks have shown that Baltimore's more pressing need for the long run is pitching but if there was one positional player who would resonate with Baltimore fans, it's the big kid from Severna Park.

Photo: Tony Dejak/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

In the grand scheme of things, yesterday's 13-4 win over the Yankees in New York doesn't count any more in the win column than any other game but to Orioles fans such games are both balm for the past and hope for the future.

Starter Jeremy Guthrie and center fielder Adam Jones are obviously two of the most important pieces for the Orioles in the Great Rebuilding and seeing them perform well against the team that is sure to remain a constant chief competitor in the AL East is an enormous plus. 

Guthrie took the game into the seventh inning giving up just one run and three hits when his pitch count hit triple digits (102) and he left with a 10-run lead.  A succession of pitchers from the deep bullpen mopped up.

Jones went 3-for-6 with his first career grand slam, one of four homer runs the Orioles had last night.

Interestingly, it was a player who had once provided Orioles fans with so much hope himself, Mike Mussina, who was the victim on the Yankees side.  Mussina was tagged for two of those homers and left the game behind 6-0 after five innings.  Apart from the Orioles, Mussina is having a solid year with a 13-7 record and 3.56 ERA.

As I said, balm and hope.  Orioles fans need generous portions of both.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Manny Ramirez business in Boston seems to be getting a little serious but I’m intrigued by Manny’s take on it.

If you read Ramirez’ quotes what he is suggesting is the notion that the Red Sox are conjuring up a rationale in the event they miss the cut for the playoffs this year. Ramirez is tossing out that Boston management is setting him up as the scapegoat should the Rays and Yankees go one-two (in either order) in the AL East.

Here are Manny’s words on that: “The Yankees are getting closer and getting stronger, while we haven't done much. I could say that right now there's a strange atmosphere in our team.”

Ramirez has been working on what he says is a sore right knee but although he missed a couple of games last week, he played yesterday and went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored.

For hardly the first time in his career, Ramirez is just about daring the team to trade him in colorful terms. "I don't have any preferences,” Ramirez was quoted as saying. “I could choose a team that offers me the best conditions or one in the chase for the postseason. I don't care where I play, I can even play in Iraq if need be.”

If I were Manny, I wouldn’t give Boston GM Theo Epstein any ideas.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Goose Gossage entered the Hall of Fame this past weekend recognized as a pioneering relief pitcher, the archetypal closer. But in the accounts of Gossage’s career, an important distinction is made between him and the star closers who have followed.

Gossage’s outings were, on average, for far more outs and innings than latter-day relief pitchers. For instance, while Gossage has 310 saves compared to Mariano Rivera’s 443 so far, Gossage worked more than two innings on 52 occasions in getting those saves. Rivera has done that just once.

Obviously, it’s a reason why Gossage is third all-time in relief wins and innings pitched.
But think about what Gossage’s performances meant to his club in a practical way. It meant shorter bridges between the starters and a quality pitcher and obviously fewer innings pitched by less talented arms. It actually may have meant saving a roster spot or two for position players.

Then stretch that thinking about what Gossage was able to do relative to the current-day Orioles’ pitching situation, just as a for instance (and Baltimore is no different than any other team). Now, this is absolutely no knock on O’s closer George Sherrill because he has done his job almost flawlessly in the context of what a closer is asked to do in 2008. But manager Dave Trembley has to manage a pitching staff that, on the best of nights, needs three decent outings from three different pitchers. Yesterday, he needed four in a 5-2 win over the Angels. Again, that's the same for any other team but it means that a team today needs more links.

Gossage reduced the need for so many links. For much of Gossage’s career, a manager needed just two strong outings – seven innings from the starter and two from the star relief pitcher. Maybe one in between from a set-up man.

Now, there’s another part to all this. Because of the innings that Gossage was asked to pitch, he made fewer appearances than current closers. For instance, Gossage appeared in 1,002 games (including 37 starts) in 22 years. Rivera has been in 829 in 14 years. Rivera is on pace for far more appearances. And Gossage and his managers also benefited from the fact that starters threw for more innings and that there were a lot more complete games.

But that doesn’t mean that one can’t still admire the sturdiness with which Gossage worked for more than two decades. Even if -- from an Orioles' fan's point of view -- it was, for many of his best years, as a Yankee.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

I can’t remember the last time a player managed to control a personnel situation as effectively as Brett Favre is handling this current one with the Packers.

Here we have the Green Bay general manager basically begging Favre to not show up in camp because of the uproar it would cause. And even the NFL commissioner is trying to find a way to resolve this thing (read: make Favre happy) before it spirals any more out of control. Look, I can see both sides of this issue. The Packers feel they gave Favre every opportunity to come back for this season, both before and after the March retirement press conference. On the other hand, Favre has said he felt nudged into retirement and that he believes he has earned the opportunity to compete for the starting job in Green Bay. And, in the absence of a true competition with Aaron Rodgers, that he should be allowed to go somewhere else. Certainly, he would like an outright release to choose his own team but he contends he’s open to a trade to any number of clubs.

In the open way that Favre has frequently been, he says that his wife and agent think that he’s giving the Packers too much leeway in not showing up at camp and forcing their hand.

I may be naïve but I’m going to believe that Favre does want to get this resolved in a way that minimizes the embarrassment to Green Bay. For their part, the Packers have to understand that they are playing a weak hand here and that they are not going to get full value for Favre.

The damage-control situation for Packers GM Ted Thompson is to find a team that causes his team as little personal damage as possible, meaning not Minnesota, and take what he can get.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
                    

Well, the Orioles' Sunday streak is over. Fifteen straight Sunday losses ended with a 5-2 victory over the Angels that was preceded by a players-only gathering at Kevin Millar's locker.

The details are murky.  Afterward, Millar evasively explained that "the boys broke something."  The specifics are unimportant as well as any real cause-and-effect. More to the point is that Millar is always trying to do something to stimulate and motivate his teammates. The cold hard numbers show that he's hitting .240 with 14 homers and 50 RBIs. Yesterday, for instance, he went 0-for-2 but had a pair of walks and a run scored. 

It may not be the kind of production that you normally want out of your first baseman but Millar's impact on whatever team he has played for goes beyond the stats. Whenever this Baltimore team is competitive, say 2010 -- even next year for that matter -- if you're realistic, you have to figure that an upgrade at first base is highly likely. After all, Millar will be 37 soon. But whenever that happens, he will be missed and an appreciation of what he has done in Baltimore should go beyond the numbers.

Looking at what happened on the field -- the key was an Orioles starter finally going six innings without letting the other guys score a pile of runs. OK, how about this -- and Orioles starter just getting out of the sixth inning. Garrett Olson went six, gave up two runs and manager Dave Trembley was able to go with a nice, neat Bradford-Johnson-Sherrill bullpen and it felt like May or June again.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Let's face it, we're just going to have to live with this Brett Favre thing until it's resolved and then some.

The latest is that the New York Jets have received permission to talk to Favre. Clearly, Favre is going to have to approve of whatever team trades for him so it's almost as crucial that any suitor have the quarterback in its corner before even talking compensation with Green Bay.

Actually, this could happen a lot sooner than one might expect. There's also a report that Favre intends to report to the Packers' training camp when it opens this weekend and if Green Bay wants to avoid an awkward circus, they'll get a Favre deal done pronto. It's just hard to imagine it can come together that quickly.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Baseball has a well-earned reputation for pretty inept brawling – “swing-and-a-miss” is the way you’d describe most baseball fights. But if you haven’t heard by now, there was a not-at-all-funny melee at a minor league game last night between Peoria and Dayton.

The two teams didn’t even get out of the first inning when three batters had already been hit by pitches. Dayton’s Zack Cozart was struck in the head. The problems apparently had been brewing from a previous game. The most bizarre moment happened when Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo apparently tried to throw a baseball into the Dayton dugout but missed and hit a fan, who was taken from the stands in a stretcher. Pitcher Castillo has been jailed. Initially, 17 players and coaches were ejected but those decisions were temporarily reversed to allow the game to finish.

So, we go to the video.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)