As temperatures in the East cool down, the sports scene is heating up. With the Olympics upcoming, retirements, people dropping 81 in the NBA, college unbeatens falling, the World Baseball Classic teams coming into focus, and some game in Detroit, there’s a lot of fodder to shovel back and forth. Might as well get right to it. Lets run it full:

BALL ONE: No Ball(s) for Bonds — Barry Bonds announced today that he won’t play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic, siting that he does not want to take the risk of injuring himself before what could be his final season in the Major Leagues with San Francisco. Ok, so if you’re hurt, you’re hurt, and your allegiance should fall with the people that pay you millions to play the sport. Liberty and patriotism aside, I’m not insensitive to that. However, he then said he hopes to play a full Cactus League spring training schedule to prepare for the season. Hmmm, I’m wondering, when all he would have done for the US team is DH, how he is risking injury more by doing that than by playing leftfield for the Giants in spring training games. Lets call a spade a spade here. Bonds has 708 homers and this WILL be his last season unless he falls one or two short. He needs 47 bombs to catch Hank Aaron, and anyone that thinks winning a World Series in San Fran is a bigger priority to him than breaking that record is out of their ever-loving minds. The Giants don’t have a prayer of winning the title anyway! Adding Matt Morris helps, but their lineup is putrid, even with Bonds, who won’t play everyday unless the NL suddenly adopts the DH. So, as much as Barry’s comments were gentlemanly and heart felt on why he’s not playing, lets call it what it is…he’s got no balls.

BALL TWO: Will Hit For Food — Does anyone else find it funny that Mike Piazza is homeless and it doesn’t seem like anyone wants him? Wouldn’t he be a solid DH in the American League? The answer is that he would probably hit you 25 to 30 without the rigors of wearing the tools of ignorance, but at 7-8 million bucks, is he worth it? The Yanks apparently just said “no thank you,” siting that they think the aging Bernie Williams will be quite sufficient and that they are happy with Kelly Stinett backing up Jorge Posada at catcher. So, in essence, he can’t even grab a backup job. The only two low-ball offers noted so far for Piazza’s services are from the Padres and the Phillies. The Phils are locked into Mike Lieberthal for one more season at the ungodly and unfortunate $7.5 million mark, so I don’t know what they think they’re going to do with Piazza. If they end up paying him $4 million to back up that stiff, I may hang myself from the big bell in Citizens Bank Park. Now, if they could find someone to take on half of Lieberthal’s salary and sign Piazza at $3.5, I would consider it a huge upgrade for the same amount of money.

STRIKE ONE: Adieu to Lemieux — The seventh leading scorer in NHL history, Mario Lemieux, will announce his second retirement from hockey sometime today, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s the right decision. It’s never easy to give up your livelihood, but when the continuation of that livelihood can put your life at risk, you have to do what’s best for your family and for yourself. Lemieux has been a testament to the fighting spirit, returning from Hodgkin’s Disease after a long absence, and attempting to come back this season after finding out he has an arterial fibrillation, which can flare up and cause erratic heartbeats, an extremely risky proposition. He’s proven everything he needs to prove. His team is going nowhere. It’s time for him to pass the torch to Crosby and step aside, for himself more than anyone. He’s given enough to Pittsburgh.

BALL THREE: Is Mo Cheeks Herm Edwards, Jr.? — I’m not an NBA fan, but my allegiance is with the 76ers when I turn a squinted eye toward the product. I love basketball. I just can’t stand the players. Sixers coach Mo Cheeks comes from what I consider to be the glory days of the NBA, the 80s, when the Sixers, Celtics and Lakers beat each other up like hockey brutes in a blowout. He was one of the finest point guards of all-time, and watching him coach the Sixers this year, I just can’t help think of Herman Edwards, another ex-Philly athlete turned coach who obviously has a keen mind for his sport, but has been thrusted into frustration by the organization he coaches. We’ve seen Herm flip with the Jets, and I have the feeling that before the end of the season, we may see Mo blow his top. Between the Webber/Iverson spat, the lack of flexibility to make a productive move before the trade deadline mostly because of GM Billy King’s poor decisions, and the complete and utter lack of the word defense in his player’s vocabulary, I think he’s a time bomb. If it happens, remember where you heard it first.

STRIKE TWO: Minority Coaching Candidates — ESPN actually has a piece up laying out the field for who the next minority head coach might be in the NFL. I’ll say this once: the next minority candidate to get a coaching job in the NFL should be the next minority candidate that is the best man for that particular job in comparison to the other men that organization has deemed fit to interview for the position. Teams are actually forced to interview minorities, and I understand the concept of equal opportunity employment, but let me ask you this: if the Lions got fined and had to give up a 4th round draft pick when they hired Steve Mariucci, why was Kansas City not penalized the exact same way when they hired Herman Edwards without interviewing anyone white? Or heck, how about Hispanic? French? Jewish? It’s a joke. And go ahead, I dare comments.

I’m Vegas bound Thursday and probably won’t be around till next week. I hope to post something tonight or tomorrow before I go donate all my money. If not, have a great week.