General: Around the Horn

Ah, September. Major League Baseball pennant races, a new NFL season and basketball and hockey just around the corner. A look at a little on this and a little on that.

On the thought that the NFL preseason is too long and should be shortened to two games. Not Happening. Why? The answer is one that can be used to answer many of the questions and problems in sports. The dollar, and many of them.

Owners pay out on the average of less than $100,000 during pre-season per week, and yet still get regular season prices for tickets, parking, etc, etc. During the season? Over $4.5 million. Got it now?

On the Manny Ramirez stuff in Boston. I never heard of pharyngitis until a few weeks (when Pedro Martinez got it) ago, but all the criticism and so-called controversy is really a lot being made out of nothing. If the guy was guilty of anything, it was for not showing for his scheduled appointment with the team doctor on Sunday morning. As for him not playing. No one should ever dispute a player's injury or sickness. Remember J.R. Richard? Nobody seems to question injuries anymore, but let a guy get his pharynx swollen...

ESPN"S David Justice played with Ramirez in Cleveland and said he had "never seen Manny ask out of a game." That's enough for me. The guy just happens to be one of the best right hand hitters in the game, and Grady Little knows he needs Manny to have any shot at the playoffs.

Little, by the way handled the entire situation well. There were a few teammates unhappy with Ramirez after Sunday, when he did not feel well enough to even pinch hit, although he was joking around and seemed to be full of energy before the game. Little then benched Ramirez, or gave him an extra day off (however one chooses to look at it) on Tuesday, the first of the two game series with the White Sox. His replacement, Gabe Kapler, hit a home run to put the Sox ahead for good, in the 2-1 victory.

On the Patriots dumping Lawyer Milloy. Again, it's all about the money. Milloy refused to take the cut the Pat's wanted him to take and gave his agent the ok to shop around. It seems the Bills, Saints, and Redskins all were interested with the Bills coming up with the best offer. Milloy signed with the Bills after the Patriot's waived him.

I doubt Pat's coach Bill Belichick looks forward to seeing Milloy on the other side of the field twice a year. Why did they wait so long to make this move?

The Patriots seem to be a trendy pick in the AFC East, but after this they have only one returning defensive back starting. Not a good thing.

On Larry Bird firing Isiah Thomas. When Bird left the Pacer's three years ago, Thomas got the coaching job beating out Rick Carlilse who was Bird's recommended choice then. Should it be a surprise that when Bird took over he wanted his own guy running the team? Although the Pacers went to the playoffs all three years Thomas was at the helm, they were also knocked out in the first round each time.

There are other things that bothered Larry Legend about this team and it's former coach. After a 37-15 start last year the team faltered badly down the stretch winning only 11 more games. Thomas did not play Austin Croshere much at all, and Bird believes he can play. Bird also felt Thomas should have done a better job of keeping Ron Artest in line as he became more and more of a distraction as the season went on despite his obvious talent.

The first thing Bird and Carlilse must do is calm down star Jermaine O'Neal who is very unhappy, to put it mildly, about the firing of his coach and mentor. O'Neal feels the organization was less than forthright with him in his negotiations, promising him that Thomas would be back.

Bird plans on talking to O'Neal on this matter soon. Most likely it will work itself out. But, if it doesn't and O'Neal continues to squawk, don't be surprised to see Bird move him.

On predictions. Anyone can make them, but does anyone really remember who predicted what, when it's all said and done? Well sure, anyone who got it right will be quick to remind us, but other than that, what good are they?

Having said that, I'll make my NFL predictions anyway, sans picking those who will advance until later.

NFC East: Giants NFC North: Green Bay NFC South: Tampa Bay NFC West: St. Louis NFC Wild Cards: Philadelphia and Atlanta.

AFC East: Miami AFC North: Baltimore AFC South: Tennessee AFC West: Oakland AFC Wild Cards: New England and Kansas City.

Questions? Comments? Ed Duffy can be reached at eduff56@yahoo.com