Interesting week...

I'm gonna start with the bad and work my way back to the good....

Do The Right Thing...

Thirty-seven years ago I was born to Lawrence and Elaine Smith in the City of Brotherly Love. At the age of three my parents moved to Sudbury, MA. Growing up we would visit my extended family, almost all of whom remained in the Philadelphia area.

I remember being taken to see the Phillies at Veteran's Stadium when growing up. I may have seen more Phillies games in person while living just outside of Boston than I did Sox games.

I rooted for the Phillies during the 1980 World Series (familial ties and all).

That said, I have to admit, in light of recent actions by the Colorado Rockies players, I am rooting for the Coors Field crew this year. During an era filled with "me-first" players, this is one of those stories about players doing the right thing for the right reasons.

For those of you who don't know, a first-base coach, Mike Coolbaugh, for one of the Rockies' minor league affiliates was struck in the head and killed by a line-drive earlier this season. Coolbaugh was survived by his pregnant wife and two small children. The players voted Coolbaugh's widow, Amanda, a full playoff share.

For more on this, check out this article.

Sorry Philly, but the playoff share is bigger for the winner than for the loser, and I think the Rockies are playing for more right now than you are.

Spankees...

Chien-Ming Wang is supposed to be the Yankees' Ace. The roster Joe Torre and Brian Cashman activated for the playoffs is supposed to give the Bommahs their best chance to win.

Wang gave up eight earned in four-and-two-thirds innings.

The pitcher who relieved him, Ross Ohlendorf, gave up another four in just an inning of work.

At this point I'm unwilling to count out the Yankees due to their record against the Indians this year (6-0), however, a team that has struggled to get quality starting pitching like the Yankees have, this sort of performance from the team's ace cannot be reassuring to the Yankees faithful.

About as surprising as a bad Yankees pitching performance...

Track star Marion Jones is reportedly admitting to doping use after years of vehement denials.

For anyone familiar with Jones, she has been fighting allegations since before the 2004 Olympics, however they were heard the loudest at the '04 Games. Her denials always rang hollow with me.

I'm a track and field guy. I was a quarter-miler and hurdler in high school and college. I used to follow the sport much more closely than I do now, but now it seems as though for all the biggest names in the sport that it's not a matter of whether or not they're doping so much as when they'll be caught doping.

Marion Jones should come as no surprise.

Her former coach Trevor Graham was a reputed supplier, she has links to Victor Conte and BALCO, her former boyfriend Tim Montgomery is serving a two-year ban for doping, her then-husband, shot-putter CJ Hunter and fellow Olympian at the time of the 2004 Olympics was dismissed from the world's biggest sporting event when he tested positive. Graham also coached fellow banned track stars Michelle Collins and Justin Gatlin. Jones also hired Canadian coach Charlie Francis, who had already admitted providing drugs to banned Canadian track-star Ben Johnson when she hired him.

She has surrounded herself with people of questionable character. Is it really any surprise that she is too?