Texans tell Carr to hit the road

Call me nostalgic, but I'm pretty disappointed that the Houston Texans decided to dump David Carr in favor of some guy I've never heard of.

I remember the glory days of 2001 when David Carr led Fresno State to an amazing, nearly BCS-worthy season. When he was chosen with the first pick of the 2002 draft, I even purchased a Houston Texans hat at a swap meet to show my support.

But alas, the heights from which he has fallen!

Truth be told, his career numbers stink. But I'm pretty sure he'll end up with at least a backup job somewhere. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and predict that within the next year he'll wind up as a starter and do pretty well at it.

If you're going to fall asleep at the wheel...

... this is the way to do it. First Tony La Russa gets a tattoo celebrating the Cardinals' World Series championship, now this. What's happening with this guy?

La Russa has always been, in my opinion, a class act. He's been around for a long time, and I've never heard anything negative about him.

According to the ESPN story, the fans gave him a standing ovation when he walked onto the field today. Perhaps they were cheering because Tony successfully followed the first rule of drunk driving, which states: whenever possible, fall asleep at the wheel while waiting at a traffic light so no one gets hurt.

Cheering for Tony? A bit overboard. But letting the incident slide (not criminally) without permanently tarnishing his reputation? I can go for that.

Yankees Refuse to Up A-Rod Ante

The Yankees won't be adding any more money to the get A-Rod's great-great-great-grandchildren through college fund. This report by ESPN sounds to me like a reporter desperate for a story.

So here's the breakdown:

A reporter, looking for his story of the day, walks up to Yankees' GM Brian Cashman and asks if the Yankees will sweeten the pot to ensure A-Rod doesn't walk at the end of this year.

What is Cashman supposed to say to that? A-Rod is set to earn $27 million this season. Even though the Yankees are paying only a portion of that figure, Cashman has to be thinking that this is a joke.

Quite frankly, all of this "news" that's conjured up about A-Rod is a joke. His "rift" with A-Rod. His inability to hit in the clutch. His defense at third base (so that actually IS a storyline). Just let the guy play out the season, and when it's over, watch as he doesn't opt out of his contract and elects to remain a Yankee.

There's no way A-Rod is getting a raise anytime soon, but he's not going to take a paycut before he has to, either.

Top 5 Most Overworked and Underpaid Sports Cliches

The first one (see title) is free.

So I discovered that an article on this has already been written. Crap. So I'm going to create my own list, 100% independent of the one linked to above. Feel free to add your (least) favorites if you feel like I left any out.

1. "We left it all on the field tonight." Really? What is "it"? Should we call in maintenance to clean "it" up?

2. "This really looks to be a David and Goliath battle." From what I can tell, every sporting event that isn't evenly matched falls into this category. The ultimate hyperbole.

3. "We've really got to bring our 'A' game." Can't be certain of where this started, but I'm guessing it was in a ghetto somewhere. Let's send it back.

4. "We played with a lot of heart." A slight variation of #1, this one suggests the contest was neither physical nor cerebral, but that some foofy, ethereal substance called "heart" was almost the difference maker. Almost is usually the operative word.

5. "These guys really are the Cinderella story of the fill in the blank tournament." What would Cinderella have said about George Mason? Wasn't Cinderella the main character in the Cinderella story? I'm guessing George Mason could do without the magic carpet ride. Oh wait...