It is getting ugly in New York

Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton won the AL MVP with Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano trailing.  Some knucklehead Canadian reporter voted Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista as MVP, the lone vote of five he had that were in the top three, with no seconds.  Nice work, homer.

It is starting to get real ugly in the New York Yankees talks with Derek Jeter.  A day after his agent called the Yankees negotiation strategy "baffling" - and the only thing baffling is that they're offering him three  years at a load more than anyone else would at $45 million - Yankees GM Brian Cashman is now encouraging Jeter to test the open market to see if he will get a better offer than that, which the entire world knows, rightly, that he won't.  Joel Sherman at the NY Post says that Jeter's strategy seems to be "I'm Derek Jeter, pay me."   Amid all this, closer Mariano Rivera remains on the contract back-burner, and he's far more important to the Yankees 2011 than Jeter is.

Cincinnati Bengal Chad Ochocinco is looking forward to facing Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets tomorrow night since "we're both Mexican." 

Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher may be marginalizing Vince Young for more reasons than it appears: he may be looking to get fired to get a shot at some other jobs out there, including Chicago, Dallas and Houston.

The Cleveland Browns are -11 vs. Carolina?  Seriously?

Talk about paying a price: Colorado Rapids forward Macoumba Kandji tore his ACL on the winner in overtime that came off his foot to earn Colorado the MLS Cup.  Guess he wasn't trying to waste time while down, eh FC Dallas?

No, I haven't forgotten that there is Champions League action both yesterday and today, just got a little caught up in clearing the decks after a pile of links came my way.  Arsenal were surprising losers yesterday to Braga, 2-0, in a result that leaves their advancement in question.  Less surprising for the Gunners?  Cesc Fabregas left the game with an injury.  Real Madrid - as hot a team as there is in the world - went to Amsterdam and hammered Ajax 4-0.  Rest of the scores here.  Today's fixtures here.

The latest FIFA Goal of the Year nominee is off the boot of Snatos’s Neymar, who dissected Chelsea with this effort.  And why is it that Chelsea seems to often give up these solo effort goals?


Dancing Alexander Ovechkin.  Exactly how it sounds.