IT'S A PENNANT RACE

I can sum up this season like this. The Yankees have enough talent to win it all and they have enough glaring weaknesses to lose in the first round.

With Texeira now out with a calf injury, the Yankees will be fighting to keep first place. The Yankees will now have to move Swisher to first and Andruw Jones is going to have to play full time. The Yankees have so many injuries right now, their ball club looks like a team that is put together for the second game of a doubleheader.

Texeira is now added to the list of Yankee players that are injured. This list includes ARod, Gardner, Pettite, Pineda and Rivera. Last year Jeter had a calf injury and it took him 2 weeks to come back. Texeira might make it back in 2 weeks which will put him right in the middle of the Baltimore series.

The Yankees have Thursday off and then the Orioles come into the Stadium. The Orioles can come away from this series 1/2 game out of first. The Yankees then take off for Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Boston. I personally see the Yankees being out of first by the end of the next road trip. Injuries and inconsistency will do that to a club.

If the Yankees end in the one game wild card game, the Yankees will have a tough road to travel. They will have to use their number 1 in that game, leaving Kuroda and then nobody in the first two games of the play-offs. I like the Yankees chances if they go into a long series than a short one.

Hopefully this is just a bump in the road that will get smoothed out after the wounded come back.

THE OFFENSE THAT IS OFFENSIVE

The Jets offense is just horrible. I know it's the preseason but after three games of no touchdowns, you have to start to wonder what is wrong. A lot of the blame was being placed on the offensive line but I think that piece has been fixed this afternoon.

Wayne Hunter has been traded to the St. Louis Rams for Jason Smith. Over the weekend Austin Howard looked like an upgrade but I guess they think that Jason Smith will fit in. What is funny about this trade is the fact that Jason Smith was the Rams' Wayne Hunter. Whether it is Howard or Smith, it is going to be an improvement over Hunter.

Everyone is saying that the Jets don't have a running game and that Shonn Greene is not the answer. Greene will never be mistaken for Emmett Smith or Walter Payton but if you give this guy a block he will get you some yardage. It goes back to the O-Line.

What I am noticing is the fact that Rex Ryan is really not a head coach but a real good defensive coordinator. The Jets have a good defense but their offense is non-existent. Ryan sits and states that it is early and there is something around the corner. Unless he has some wazoo scheme this offense will be miserable. The last time a team did not score a touchdown in three preseason games was the Atlanta Falcons in 1977.

The quarterback situation is lunacy. Still don't understand why Tebow was brought in. This guy went 4 for 14 on Sunday. That is awful. Tebow can not throw. Sanchez has to control this team. There are way too many distractions right now with the whole Tebow/Sanchez thing.

This leads us to the receivers. The Jets need a complement to Santonio Holmes. A big strong body that is not afraid to go over the middle. Right now they don't have that. This will not fair well for this offense. The Jets should just sign T O. You may say I am nuts but here me out. If Dustin Kellar has another good year, this will take the pressure off the outside but in order to take the pressure off the outside you need two complimentary receivers. If you sign T O, you get this. What is the downside if you sign him? Nothing. You have nothing to lose.

The Jets went to the AFC Chmpionship game two out of the last three years. The difference with this football team and those teams is the word TEAM. They really don't look like a team, they really don't look cohesive. If they keep this up, I can see them going 1-4 in their first five games. The Jets are not the second best team in the AFC East, the Bills are. The Jets open against the Bills and I think they are an extremely underrated team. They also have an easy schedule than the Jets.

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before the opening kickoff. There are some tough questions and some easy answers. The Jets just need to step back and address these things now.

ANOTHE CHEATER

In one week's time, Major League Baseball has found another cheater. Bartolo Colon has followed Melky Cabrera on the suspended list for the rest of the season. Colon had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

It seems that over the last week the conversation in baseball has not been about pennant races, it hasn't been about the wild card format but it has been about another player getting suspended for 50 games.

Bartolo Colon has used controversial practices to return to the league in the past. Colon sat out the 2010 season with elbow problems and he received stem-cell treatment in the Dominican. He was also working out with Angel Presinal, who was banned from baseball in 2001.

Major League Baseball's program for catching these cheaters is working but this is a double edged sword. Since MLB has caught players using performance enhancing drugs only means that it is still an integral part of the game.

In my opinion cheating is probably a bigger problem than what we know. MLB is a league of riches. Players are paid salaries that are larger than some country's gross national product. If these well paid baseball players want to cheat they can pay a shady chemist to find new drugs that MLB's good chemist can't identify.

This steroid issue is a soap opera. The return of Roger Clemons to the mound with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters definitely has a back story. Clemons is hoping that he gets a look from the awful Houston Astros. If he takes the mound for the Astros, his Hall of Fame clock is reset for five more years. This little move allows him to avoid being on this year's ballot with Bonds, Sosa and Piazza.

Welcome to chapter 2 of the steroid issue.

TWO ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM

Sparano must be off doing something else in the Jets offices because it sure appears that nothing has changed since last year's offensive outage. In fact it appears to be worse right now. Sparano was supposed to come in here and make some changes and make this exciting.

The offensive line that was once the cornerstone of the Jets offense has turned into a liability. D'Brickashaw Ferguson looks average at left tackle and Wayne Hunter is nothing but a turnstile. The only consistent piece is Mangold. In two preseason games, the Jets offensive line has allowed 12 sacks. How are the Jets going to go with a run first offense if the offensive line can't block.

Unless Sparano has some hidden agenda, the Jets will be in trouble. If there is no hidden agenda, I say you have to start Tebow because Tebow can run. With this offensive line breaking down more than a Jaguar, Tebow is the only answer. He is the only one of the Jets quarterbacks that can run for his life and not get killed. This offensive line will get Sanchez killed.

Since nobody knows where Tebow is going to play, why not teach him to play right guard. He couldn't be any worse than Hunter. Imagine all the tackle eligible plays the Jets could run with Tebow at right tackle.

If this is what is to come for the Jets, I am worried but they can look across the country and a bit north into Canada. The Jets could take a page out of the BC Lions playbook.

The defending Grey Cup Champs are putting points up on the board and their defense is playing lights out. The Lions are the west leading team at 5-2. Travis Lulay has thrown a touchdown in his last 18 games, tying him for the fourth longest streak in the CFL.

The Lions have scored 182 points in 7 games.  That is an average of 26 points a game.

Believe me, it is exciting to watch a team play aggressive, stingy defense and then have the offense take the field and put up points.

Sparano, Ryan and Mike Pettine look to the north and take a page out of their system, it might work.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The good goes to Felix Hernandez for pitching a perfect game.

The bad goes to Melky Cabrera for using an illegal substance.

The ugly goes to the home plate umpire who took Tori Hunter's cleats to the side of his head.

TEXAS TWO STEP

Tuesday night Hiroki Kuroda kept the ball down and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Elvis Andrus ruined his bid for history with an infield single. The crowd at the Stadium gave him an ovation for his effort.

Kuroda started the season on the shaky side but he has definitely turned it around. With CC out, Kuroda has basically become the Yankees ace. Since May 27, Kuroda has won 8 out of 10 with a 2.29 ERA.

Even with Kuroda pitching a great game, his offense was putting up a big zero. In the bottom of the seventh, Nick Swisher capped a great two game run with a two run homer and Tex followed Swisher with a homerun of his own. At the end of the seventh, the Yankees were up 3-0 and that's all Kuroda needed on this night.

REALLY SERENA?!

Serena Williams wins the gold at the London Olympics and what does she do to honor our country, she does the Crip Walk.

For those who don't know what the Crip Walk is, I will make it short and sweet. This is a dance move that originated by the Crip gang that originated from Compton (Serena's hometown).  It is so associated with this street gang, MTV refused to air any videos that contained the Crip Walk. The Crip Walk has also been used as evidence in criminal court cases to show that the defendant is a Crip.

With the whole entire world watching, Serena Williams decides to honor one of the most notorious street gangs. Shame on you Serena. I know most of mainstream America did not know what that whole dance thing was including the announcers but some people did. For all the young female tennis players that look to you as a role model also need to take a look at what you stand for.

If it walks like a duck, it is a duck but in your case if it dances like a duck it is a duck.

KURODA THE CONSISTENT

A bright spot for the Yankees starting pitching staff has been Hiroki Kuroda. Over the last 10 games, Kuroda has gone 6-1 with a 2.74 ERA.

In the last 22 innings, Kuroda has only given up three earned runs and has gone 2-0 and has had 18 strikeouts. What makes him even more valuable is his record at Yankee Stadium. He is 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA. He has had 65 strikeouts in 82 innings. What I find incredible about that, is Kuroda gives up fly balls and that usually doesn't sit well in Yankee Stadium due to the launching pad in right field.

At this point of the season and with Yankees showing sign of wear in the pitching staff, Kuroda is stepping up to become the consistent starter that the Yankees desperately need.

HAPPY 70TH JERRY

 Today would of been Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday. From all of us who you inspired, entertained and kept us truckin', Happy Birthday. The below clip is from one of the many Grateful Dead concerts that I have attended. This was on Halloween 1980 at Radio City Music Hall and they performed Franklin's Tower, one of my favorite Dead songs.