Speaking of voting people in for things...

Stephon Marbury for NBA All-Star! How awesome would it be to vote him into the starting lineup of the 2009 all-star game, while he sits on the bench in a suit making $20 million during a standoff with the Knicks that again reminds of George Costanza's showdown with Play Now.

You can vote on NBA.com once every 24 hours. Come on folks, together we can make a difference. You do have to sign up for a login and password, but it doesn't take very long, and the possible reward is so much sweeter.

Steph '09: Yes We Can! Yes We Can!

Mussina: Lacking in championships, but...

Mike Mussina retired today. I'm going to jump way ahead here and say he should be in the Hall of Fame someday. He never won a championship, and doesn't have 300 wins, two things that will hurt him in the "shortcut" department, but he's still worthy. I don't like to cherry-pick arguments, but I'll compare him to a pitcher who is generally cited as the next pitcher who should be inducted, Jack Morris. Neither were truly dominant for an extended period of time, or won a Cy Young. But Mussina is better than Morris any way you slice it. Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 80s, had a 254-186 record in 18 seasons. Mussina was 270-153, in 18 seasons. 61 percentage points higher, and 16 more wins (sure, Mussina had the Yankee offense behind him for 8 of these seasons, but Morris played for several championship teams.) And obviously wins are overrated for pitchers, but that's what the voters judge by. So, I have to speak their language. You know, "When in Rome..."

Now, in career ERAs, I see as the biggest difference. Morris: 3.90. League average ERA during his career: 4.08. That's a career ERA+ of 105. In other words, Morris was barely better than the league average pitcher for his career. Mussina's career ERA: 3.68. League average ERA: 4.51. ERA+: 123. I'd even go back now and say that Morris played for better teams than Mussina, evident in Morris's .577 winning percentage with a barely above league-average ERA. Of course you can point to the postseason for Morris. He has the 1991 World Series, Game 7, the 10 scoreless innings. That is a great performance in a big spot, that I can't take away. But to put it inperspective, it was one game. His career postseason stats, evenincluding this game, are pedestrian. 3.80 ERA. And his signature game is balanced out by his going 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in thefollowing season's World Series with Toronto. The Jays won in spite of him! Again, Mussina is ringless, but it's no fault of his own. Career postseason ERA: 3.42. And how about his own signature postseason game? 2003 ALCS game 7, when he came in against Boston with the bases loaded and no one out (after that worm Clemens left in the 4th) and threw 3 scoreless innings, keeping the Yanks in the game, and we know what happened from there (thanks Aaron Boone). The next series, against the Marlins, he allowed 1 run in his only start of the series, beating Josh Beckett in game 3. Then in 2004, he left game 5 of the ALCS after 6 innings with a 4-2 lead before the bullpen lost it. Moose's postseason resume is definitely there. Plus, he closed out his career with a 20-win season, another overrated benchmark that sportswriters love.

Anyway, Mike Mussina was really good, and the Yankees have a tough job ahead in replacing him. I'm sure they'll be frugal and responsible about it, and not throw a bunch of money at someone who's not that good...

Box score incorrect?

I just want to make sure this is accurate...Brett Favre is 10-13, for 136 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs, as the Jets lead the Patriots 24-6 midway through the 2nd quarter. Since I don't get the NFL Network along with 90%* of the national television viewing audience, I have no way of verifying the authenticity of this information.

24-6 is a pretty nice beating so far, especially because this game is for the lead in the AFC East, the toughest division in the conference. Although I did say before the season that the Patriots would take a measurable step backwards this year, due to no longer being allowed to cheat.**

*Frustrated estimate; may not be accurate.
**Yes I just linked to myself.