Whatever coverage Bill Walsh’s death received Monday, it wasn’t enough. Simply put, Walsh is the Godfather of the modern National Football League. Every franchise has either hired a coach that cut his teeth with Walsh or implemented wrinkles in its offense that Walsh invented. You might debate who is the greatest coach of all-time, but there is no discussion about who was most influential.

One team’s trash is another team’s treasure

Joel Pineiro, such a bust and so extraneous that the Red Sox jettisoned him to Triple-A Pawtucket last month, has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals with cash for a minor-league player to be named later. Ever wreck a car and then get a ridiculously fat check in the mail for its “blue book value?” That’s pretty much the size of this deal.

Quote of the day

“I am making a comment by not making a comment.” – Hank Aaron’s perfect response to questions about Barry Bonds’ pursuit of his all-time home run record.

Left overture

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Tom Glavine went after his 300th win Tuesday evening. My favorite Glavine story: I watched the young lefty pitch for the Richmond Braves against the Maine Guides at OOB in 1987, and he made the Guides look like a T-ball team. Glavine is wrongly viewed by most fans and media as simply very good. Nope, try great. If Glavine pitched in the 1960s and ’70s, he would be at 350 and counting.

Please tell me they were actually playing soccer

Team USA quietly finished fifth in the Pan American Games basketball tournament. Fifth! Our college boys lost to Uruguay and Panama. Will somebody finally admit that the self-absorbed, pass-only-in-emergency, defense-optional American style of hoops isn’t working?

Two days longer than the first round of the draft

Brady Quinn’s holdout reached its fourth official day Tuesday, and the Cleveland Browns are no closer to getting the Second Coming of Rick Mirer into camp. Hey, Brady: You were the 22nd pick. You’re going to be paid like the 22nd pick. Deal with it.

Looking to the future, living in the past

Michigan and Notre Dame have extended their annual football series until 2031. I’m all for tradition, but if the Fighting Irish don’t get over themselves, admit that Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian are dead, quit acting like an Ivy League school and join a conference, the Michigan-Notre Dame “rivalry” will be as irrelevant as Notre Dame-Navy by then.


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