making it worse
version 1: it turns out that the Rangers knew that Alfonso Soriano is actually 28 and not 26 even before they traded Alex Rodriguez for him. regardless of your original opinion of the trade, this revelation totally skews it in favor of the Yankees. a 26 year-old coming off back to back seasons with 38+ HRs is a lot more valuable than an 28 year-old. besides just the two year difference, it is fairly well documented that many, many players have breakout seasons at age 26/27 after which they very rearely get much better than they already are. your real huge stars (like Rodriguez) put up bigger numbers earlier in their careers. so what did the Rangers get? a free-swinging 28 year-old player who has had two good seasons, but who isn't likely to get much better, who plays a cover-your-eyes second base and who is untested in the outfield. yes he's cheaper, but when you factor in the money the Yankees are saving on Soriano, Drew Henson and Aaron Boone (you like how he managed to fuck the Red Sox along with himself here? bastard.), it's not as big a difference as everyone wants it to be. read this for a better technical breakdown of the money involved. the moral? Tom Hicks is an idiot, but not for signing Rodriguez to his gargantuan contract. and the less said about John Henry's e-mail tirade, the better.
version 2: Colorado football coach Gary Barnett is informed that former placekicker Katie Hnida (since transferred to New Mexico, where she was the first female to score points in an NCAA football game), is joining the rush of rape claims against his team. after encouraging her to identify the attacker so that he can be prosecuted, he then went on to denigrate her kicking abilities, saying that she hadn't earned the respect of the male teammates (one of whom committed the alleged rape) because of her lack of skillz. how could he possibly see that as relevant to the conversation at hand? is it really possible for a man this dumb to coach a complicated sport like football and make millions while doing it? this ranks right up there with Bobby Knight's "if rape is inevitable, just relax and enjoy it" quip. the more the flashlight shines on college football and basketball, the uglier they keep getting.