Good Guys...

For all the stories we hear about how pro athletes are such horrible role models I have found a few who are exactly what all athletes should aspire to be. They all happen to be playing in NY. So brace yourselves if you hold the Giants and Yankees in contempt.

The first guy on my good guy list is Kurt Warner. He is horrible lately, a shell of his former self. He can no longer get the job done for some reason. That being said, he has turned into Eli Manning's biggest supporter. In an article in the NY Daily News it quotes him as saying that the quarterback "is a position where you can't flip-flop, you can't jump back and forth..." and then continuing by saying ""When you make a decision to go with a guy, you have to stick with it, especially at this position," Warner said. "It's too hard and (quarterbacks are) too much of a leader, too much of a focal point to bounce back and forth and to present that kind of image to your team. You rally around the guy and you do what you can do. You've just got to battle with him." (NY Daily News)

In an age dominated by headlines of guys plotting to kill their agents, guys beating the shit out of part time grounds keepers, etc it is good to have a guy who is a true team player. Even back when he played in St Louis he was the same way regarding Mark Bulger. During a bad game he was having Coach Martz told Warner to start warming up so he could go in the game and Warner said to him "Don't do it to the kid. Stick with Bulger. Ride it out." (NY Daily News) Bulger has started every single Rams game since then, oh and he also managed to turn that game into a win also.

My next guy on the list of good guys is Gary Sheffield. The allegedly moody, and selfish player he was labeled before coming to the Yankees. Since he joined the team he has been the consummate team player. The exact polar opposite of the reputation that proceeded him. This week he has come through yet again and proved what kind of man he really is. Just about everyone who remotely cares about sports knows who Gary Sheffield is. They also know that he, and his wife, are being blackmailed by a wanna be Al Sharpton in Chicago. There is a video tape of Sheffield's, then 18 year old, wife screwing R Kelly. The shmuck from Chicago tried to extort $20,000 to not make it public. What a jackass. Gary came out and said "We will not be blackmailed," he vowed. "I will not have my family dragged through the mud and filth."(NY Daily News) He has done nothing but profess his love and devotion to her throughout this whole ordeal. Not the ass hole every branded him as.

The last good guy on today's list is my personal favorite, Bernie Williams. Bernie is Mr. Yankee. He has the longest current tenure of anyone on the team, having played CF in the Bronx since 1991. He's the coolest guy in baseball. Who else sits in the clubhouse playing blues guitar in the Major Leagues?? Anyway, widespread rumors have Carlos Beltran going to the Yankees for some exorbitant price. Bernie's response?

"Next year is going to be a huge year for me. It doesn't really matter what I've done in the past. I think my future is going to depend a lot on my performance," he said. "Whatever the team wants me to do to help the club be a better club, I'm more than willing to do it."(ESPN) Adding that "To have a guy of that caliber coming to our team is not going to hurt us." (ESPN) Bernie wants to retire a Yankee. If the Yanks ever let him leave it would be such a huge mistake. This is a guy who would rather be a benchwarmer for the Yankees than be a starter for another team. He has too much pride to put his signature on a contract with a logo other than that with an interlocking NY.

Beltran was quoted as saying "that Williams offered this season to move aside for him in 2005. On Tuesday night, agent Scott Boras -- who represents both players -- added "that's something they've talked about and dealt with." (ESPN). Williams reserved, but competitive nature came out when he heard thta. He fought that off a little by saying "It was kind of like a lighter-tone conversation in-between batting practice," Williams said. "I think he took it as I took it. Kind of like a lighthearted, kind of like in the middle of the battle, 'I admire your skill and it would be good if you came to our team...But I didn't make any big deal out of it and I think, at that time, he didn't make a big deal out of it. I think, at this point, that's all I know," (ESPN). Williams will do whatever the Yanks ask of him, but just like any living legend, he is reluctant to give up the crown he has worn for so long.

For those of you who doubt Bernie's legendary status. Just look at the post season record books: with 22 home runs and 79 RBIs he is the all time record holder in both catgories. Including 3 HR and 13 RBI in the 2004 postseason. Not bad for someone who is supposedly washed up.

There are rumors Tino Martinez is headed back to the Yankees (good) and rumors the Yanks are thinking about trading either Jorge Posada or Javier Vasquez to the D'Backs for Randy Johnson (bad). They should sign David Wells again. he is a free agent who had a good year last year on a non playoff team. And sign Al Leiter...screw Randy Johnson. Let someone else have him.

More on "Grilled Cheese Gate" when I wake up in the morning...