The Healing Begins

Yankees 15, Royals 6. Where were all these runs when we needed them in Minneapolis and Anaheim?

That's 16 wins for Mike Mussina. Who would've thought at the beginning of the season, after all the hype about The Great Johan Santana, that the best starting pitcher in New York this season would be the Moose?

A-Rod hit Number 544. Only 219 more to go. Not that this matters as much as any hits he may get between now and October 30 (which is when Game 7 of the World Series would be played, if it goes that far).

Hideki Matsui may be back tomorrow night as the Yankees begin a three-game set at the SkyDome -- excuse me, the Rogers Centre -- in Toronto. Joe Girardi says he'll limit Matsui to DH duty to save wear and tear on his knee. Man, I would love to see him come back and smack some horsehide around.

Phil Hughes and -- gasp, this is the big one, I'm coming, Elizabeth -- Carl Pavano both pitched yesterday. One or the other may start on Saturday night in Baltimore. If we can get anything out of either one the rest of the way, it's a plus. Much more so with Pavano, because Hughes is young and can bounce back more easily.

With Boston and Tampa dealing with their own injuries, there's still a chance. This old buzzard ain't givin' up on the 2008 Yankees.

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A lot of slobbering in the Tri-State media over Brett Favre's debut with the Jets. I guess they forgot that, A, the Jets lost; B, it was an exhibition game and didn't count anyway; C, there was a season a few years back where the Jets went 5-0 in the preseason and started the regular season off 1-4; and D, it's the Jets -- if the quarterback doesn't get hurt, his linemen will.

Favre may have made Jet fans hopeful, but he hasn't made the Jets relevant.

And the regular-season opener? Against the Miami Dolphins, with Bill Parcells as GM and the newly-signed Chad Pennington as starting quarterback. Uh-oh...

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The Olympics in Beijing have been everything the Chinese government wanted: Splashy, successful for their own athletes, and without major controversy.

Literally splashy, in the case of American swimmer Michael Phelps: Having won 6 Gold Medals in Athens, Greece in 2004, he has achieved his goal of winning a record 8 this time, surpassing the 7 won by another American swimmer, Mark Spitz, in Munich, Germany in 1972.

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The Great Premiership Experiment continues:

Newcastle United 1, Manchester United 1. At Old Trafford. That's an embarrassment for the defending chumps.

Chelsea 4, Portsmouth 0. As the saying goes, my "upset special" turned into an upset stomach.

Aston Villa 4, Manchester City 2. Not a surprise.

So my first-ever weekend of picking Premiership games ends 5 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie, counting Newcastle's tie of Man U as a loss.

Still, if "A tie is like kissing your sister," then Newcastle must feel like they kissed their sister's really hot best friend, while Man U must feel like they kissed their mother-in-law.