Back From The Ledge

I was almost there.

First the LeBron nonsense (and every bit of the was nonsense) left me feeling not so much sick, but just hollow inside. I wasn't disappointed in LeBron, but that was because I didn't expect anything less than a full ego bath from him.

Then the Yankees had to step in and give me a double shot of suck.

Cliff Lee, the Seattle stud pitcher was on his way to everywhere from Minnesota to Tampa Bay via trade. I'm a Rangers fan, so I of course wanted him to go to Texas, but being a Rangers fan, I knew that somehow that probably wouldn't work out. Pitching never does down here.

That was okay. I wouldn't mind Lee in a Twins, Rays, or any other uniform. Except one.

And then it happened. Suddenly, the Yankees became the front runner for Lee. The Yanks. The team that already bought C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Javier Vazquez. Oh and they have Andy Petite too. If they added Lee, the team would literally have five All-Star pitchers on the team.

This is a team with the richest lineup in baseball. The infield makes more than several entire teams and they put up like numbers. They are the favorites to win the World Series again. Easily.

When the news came down, I talked to some of my Yankee friends about it and this is the part that kills me: they weren't even that excited about it. One of my friends actually said "I'm not really excited, but I'm not upset by it."

Well, that's good. I'm glad you're not angry that your team is getting another All-Star pitcher.

Could there be a better example of a spoiled rotten fan? They don't even get excited about major aquisition because they're so used to their team just stockpiling talent.

I was prepared to proclaim the competitive spirit of sports dead. There was no longer a balanced fight between two champions trying to get the ultimate prize. This was more of a way to circumvent rules in place to keep competitive balance or just the rich getting richer.

I don't blame the Yankees for what they do, it's perfectly within the rules. The system just happens to be broken in the MLB and New York is the poster child for how out of whack that it is.

But just as my hands were flying up in the air, something amazing happened: Lee didn't actually go to the Yankees. The fact that he went to the Rangers was just icing on the cake for me. The point is that New York finally didn't win the battle for aquiring talent. I've been pulled off the ledge.

At least until the end of baseball season when the Yankees outbid everyone and get Cliff Lee anyway.