Random Rumblings: Pressure is on for Favre

• It seems like every time Brett Favre’s name is brought up, we hear about how regular and easy to relate to he is. But for the NFL’s everyman, New York might be the one spot where is he different than just about every man.
  
  New Yorkers don’t lace up their cowboy boots and wear their Wranglers out to a ball game the way folks in other parts of this country might. And they definitely do not fall in love with athletes who look like “they are just having fun out there,” the phrase most often used to describe the Jets new quarterback.
  
  Ask Alex Rodriguez. Results are all that matters.
  
  Unlike ARod, Favre is alreafy recognized as a winner, but he also has a much smaller window to prove himself to fans in New York. Two years, tops. That’s why it won’t be too surprising if, after a couple of poor games from the old gun slinger, Jets fans start turning on Favre the way the crowds in Green Bay will undoubtedly turn on Aaron Rodgers.
  
  
• Only two weeks ago, I called Manny Ramirez the greediest athlete in the history of sports for complaining about his contract situation with his team in a playoff race.
  
  While I stand by that thought, I do think that the Red Sox were wrong for not a) offering Manny a contract extension earlier this season or b) telling him that his option would not be picked up at the end of the season.
  
  Anyone on the Sox side will tell you that the team is by no means obligated to do such a thing, but considering all that Manny did do for the organization, it would have been the right move.
  
  
• Two issues I had while watching Team USA defeat China in basketball this morning:
  
  1) Does LeBron James really need to make that silly “who me?” face every time a whistle gets blown? It’s reminds me so much of ARod.
  
  2) In the first half, commentators Doug Collins and Mike Breen went off about how bad the referees were in international basketball after one official called a palming violation on a Chinese guard. The truth is, just before the call, I said to myself, “it’s really looks like he’s palming the ball.”
  
  
• C.C. Sabathia should be the National League Cy Young.
  
  
• Memo to the Yankees: It’s difficult to change your setup man constantly over the course of a season and still remain successful. Yes, the Yanks had to put Joba in the rotation but they didn’t have to trade Kyle Farnsworth.
  
  Now they’re paying for it.
  
  
• Congratulations to Sacha Kljestan, who scored for Team USA on a pass from Freddy Adu this morning against the Netherlands. The first sports article that I ever wrote was during my freshman year at Seton Hall and the topic was Sacha and his brother Gordon. It’s nice to see a classy guy succeed.

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Sox sold soul with Manny

Red Sox Nation deserves no sympathy today. Not John Henry. Not Theo. Not Terry. Not Big Papi. And definitely not the fans. This is a group that collectively sold its soul for two World Championships in four years, allowing and embracing Manny Ramirez’s bi-polar tendencies every step of the way.

But as the Yankees were in the midst of taking two of three in Boston, Manny let it be known that he was tired of the franchise and suddenly, the Nation decided it was finally fed up with the guy they still cheered even after he pushed a traveling secretary to the ground, watched three straight strikes from Mariana Rivera at Yankee Stadium (allegedly in protest of his fine for the previous incident) and laughed it up after an error against the Angels last weekend.

Who ever thought the devil could be so goofy?

Certainly not the Red Sox, who have constantly made excuses for their sensitive slugger during his run with the team. This is a franchise that has let go of much better men while it built and celebrated a brand out of Manny’s absurd antics.

Of course, no one the team ever let go was considered one of the top five right handed hitters in the history of the sport.

And that’s precisely why nobody should feel bad for the Red Sox, a team that is quickly deteriorating while its rivals are only getting stronger. If Manny wasn’t on pace to have the worst season in which he played more than 140 games of his career, would anyone be openly voicing their displeasure with him?

The answer is no. They would continue to be enablers and they would undoubtedly pick up the greediest athlete in sports’ $20 million option for next season. Think that’s strong? Latrell Sprewell made his infamous “I’ve got a family to feed” before the season started. ARod opted out of his contract during the World Series, but his team had long been eliminated by that time. Manny, on the other hand, is moaning about his contract with the Yankees in town in the middle of a playoff race.

He does this because he can. Because, like an overly-spoiled child, he doesn’t know any other way to act. And now, like the parent who suddenly decided it was time to be a disciplinarian instead of their child’s best friend, it’s hard for anyone to take the Red Sox seriously.

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