People have been focusing on the high profile free agents in baseball this off season and it will be interesting to see where they wind up. Imagine for example if the Mariners win it all. How will Scot Boras - the toxic waste dump of sports agents - spin that to explain why Alex Rodriguez has to leave Seattle to play for a winner? The player at the "second tier" of free agents that I think will be an excellent pick-up for whomever signs him is Darren Driefort. I'm not sure you could build an entire staff around him, but as a second starter, he is very good!

Now that the trial is over, Marty McSorley is portraying himself as a martyr who "took one for the game". He did not want his trial to be about "the game" and he did not want to use the seamy side of the NHL as his ultimate - and clearly exculpatory - defense because he loves the game so much. He feels abandoned by the game and is considering playing in Germany. Good riddance. And maybe one more trial like this with one more bad outcome and the NHL will find a way to keep goons out of the league?

The USC Trojans have fallen on some hard times in their football program in recent years and coach Paul Hackett is not always the most lovable and media friendly guy in town. He seems to be a new age kind of guy who wants the team and the players to have inner peace and good feelings - and a few wins if they come along. Last weekend against Arizona, the Trojans had two extra points blocked, lost five turnovers, gave up five sacks and gained all of ten yards rushing. Real estate agents are lining up to be the first to contact him to list the house …

Georgia Tech coach, George O'Leary is under fire for making one of his players stand up to four defensive lineman as they ran at him and waxed him. O'Leary said he was trying to teach this player what a QB feels like when players - like him - miss their blocking assignments. The player has quit the team and his mother has declared that the event was assault and battery and she is calling for O'Leary's arrest. This story has more to go. There is a movement within the evangelical community where people faced with temptations or tribulations ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?" I wonder now if the President of Georgia Tech is asking himself, "What would Miles Brand do?" I don't think so.

A manufacturer of face guards on helmets is recalling one model. It seems that under certain conditions the face guard "becomes dislodged" from the helmet itself. The Washington Post felt it necessary to explain that, "If the helmet is dislodged, a player's face is exposed to possible injury." I would put that in the category of one of those "self-evident truths" that Thomas Jefferson was talking about in the Declaration of Independence.

Tom Coughlin would not state unequivocally that Mark Brunell would be the QB in the Jags next game against Tennessee before practice/team meetings on Tuesday. After all that stuff, he did confirm that Brunell would continue to start ahead of Jamie Martin. The Jags are in disarray and are virtually out of the race for the AFC Central title barring a catastrophe in Baltimore (remember the Jags lost to Baltimore twice this year so the Ravens have the tie breaker should the teams have the same record). But the fundamental problem in Jax is that the OL is hurt and they are plugging guys into positions just because they are healthy at the moment. That leads to a non-existent running attack and so the problems on offense are not something that should go on the QB's debit account alone. If Tom Coughlin thinks Jamie Martin can come in and run the table for this team through December, he should put him in there immediately; of course if he believes that, he also believes that Al Gore invented the Internet.

The Rams had a bye last weekend. They still scored 40 points.

The Eagles have lost Duce Staley for the year to foot surgery and have signed Amp Lee as a running back. If anyone in Philly thinks that Amp can play tailback for the whole game - except when Brian Mitchell comes in for 3rd down situations - they must have taken courses taught by Timothy Leary. At best, Amp is a backup 3rd down back to Mitchell... unless of course Mitchell becomes the RB and someone else takes over the punt and kick return duties.

Don't peek, but tell me who has the worst offense in the NFC in terms of yards gained per game. The Falcons - only the Bungles are worse in the entire league! And the Falcons make up for that by having the 3rd worst defense in the NFC. This week they fact the Rams who can certainly move the ball and score points. But the Rams have the 2nd worse defense in the NFC so you might think this could be a close game where both teams run up and down the field like an NBA game. The spread on this game opened at 16 and is now up to 17.5 in favor of the Rams. People do not think this will be close.

In the last 4 games, the Giants have failed to score more than 14 points. Remember, their offensive coordinator was ordained as a genius in weeks one and two by Bill "No" Maas. Remember, they have the "thunder and lightning" offensive duo. Remember, one of the talking heads predicted that Kerry Collins in that offense would be the highest rated passer in the NFL at the end of the season. Well in the last 4 games they are averaging 11.75 points per game and two of those four games were against Chicago and Atlanta.

The Chargers have released QB Kevin Daft from their practice squad. Given the incredibly poor QB play that team has had this season - and for the last couple of seasons - this guy has to be pathetic. Or maybe he is very talented and that is what has confused the Chargers' braintrust and kept him on the practice squad and off the field?

The Lions are 4-2; they have been outscored by their opponents by 5 points. The Bucs are 3-3; they have outscored opponents by 53 points. What is wrong with that picture?

Golf and NASCAR both have "secondary" events and tours where people who are not up to the elite level compete and aspire to get to the big money circuit. So does tennis, but it is much quieter. The top rung women's tour players are in Switzerland this week. The second level event is the Japan Open where I am pleased to be able to report to you that Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand defeated Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan in a first round match. Don't waste any synapses remembering either of those names; odds are, you will never hear or see them again.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...