A-Rod, The Jazz, and JC Penney

A few things of note this week. Some are obvious tops, like Alex Rodriguez or the Utah Jazz, but I certainly didn't start the week thinking about JC Penney. A-Rod opted out and I read an amazing stat that is hard to believe, the Jazz kicked off the 2007-08 season, and I bumped into one of the funniest things I've read on the web in many weeks.

To begin, I'm a Yankee fan. I've also been an A-Rod fan, feeling for the most part that the media and fans are doing the same ole, build somebody up, and then tear them down when they fail to live up to the unreal hype. I knew A-Rod was likely to opt-out of his contract, though the Yankee fan part of me wanted him to stay, under the condition he'd let the Yankee's extend his current contract. I understand the business decision he and his agent made to opt-out, but the way they did it has caused me to officially jump off the A-Rod bandwagon. For his agent to leak the story to the national media during the World Series was a selfish and classless move. To top it off, he did so prior to telling the Yankees of their decision. I hope the Yankee management sticks to their pledge to not negotiate any further and use their massive amounts of money to pursue pitching and younger players. As for A-Rod and Boras, I doubt they'll get the wish list they've created: $300 Million, a roster spot with a legitimate pennant contender, and a team where A-Rod can play shortstop. I think I'd prefer to quote that old Saturday Night Live skit with the flight attendants and tell A-Rod, "Buh-Bye". (related link of interest: The New York Times blog shares an A-Rod stat that is hard to believe.)

As for the Jazz, I'll analyze them deeper as time goes on, but I think at this point it's fair to quickly comment on expectations for the season. I think the National media for the most part is correct, the Jazz will have a tough time cracking the top 4 in the Western Conference. Here in Salt Lake City however, I think many people are expecting the team to get close to 60 wins and make another run to the Western Conference finals. I expect the Jazz to be better than they were last season, probably in the 52-56 win range and battle with Denver for the division title. The playoffs however will be very challenging in the West, so I think the Jazz are a probably another year away from being one of the best teams in the conference.

It's not sports related, but....Last mumble for today is about that JC Penney catalog review - that I'm sure many of you have heard about already. It's certainly not sports, but this article will definitely hit your funny bone. Why is a JC Penney catalog funny? Well, the fact that it's the 1977 JC Penney catalog is the main source of the humor.