Derek Jeter

Jeter, who had been trying to come back from a broken ankle suffered in the playoffs last season, has been shut down for the rest of this season.

Much like the ACL tear that sidelined Mariano Rivera for much of last season, Jeter's injury throws the rest of his career in doubt. He no longer seems to have the durability that allowed him to break many Yankee records. Then again, he is thirty-nine.

Jeter, Rivera, and Andy Pettitte could have retired in 2009 and I'd be happy. I don't like seeing players play until injuries leave them permanently hobbled.

FOX Sports 1

FOX debuted its latest sports channel Saturday, and so far I'm not wowed. It seems a blatant copy of ESPN with lesser known personalities and not as much cachet, yet it's already lampooning itself in on-network commercials.

Alex Rodriguez and the Biogenesis Scandal

Let me say upfront, as a lifelong Yankee fan and an admirer of Derek Jeter's character, I've always rooted against Alex Rodriguez. There was a time I believed he was naturally a great shortstop, but he was in Seattle, and for about as long as he's played, New York has had the solid-fielding, much more composed Jeter at shortstop.

When 2003 ALCS hero third baseman Aaron Boone went down with a boneheaded pickup basketball injury, I didn't see Alex and Derek on the same team. A-Rod wasn't a third baseman. He would have to voluntarily move to third for the chance at a championship. That was a lot to ask of a star who commanded MLB's richest contract, crippling the Texas Rangers. I didn't think he'd make the switch, but he did. From his months of yips at third, though, I can only assume he didn't come to terms with the switch for some time.

Then there were the rumblings that Derek didn't embrace Alex as a teammate. There was the speculation that if Derek only showed more approval, Alex would feel more comfortable and get back to being MLB's best all-around player. I thought, if Alex really was the best, he wouldn't need anyone's approval to play well. He would play well because that's who he was.

Then came his admission of buying and taking performance-enhancing drugs while with the Rangers. Because MLB had no penalties for the drugs at the time, he couldn't be punished retroactively. Even though I'd never warmed to Alex, I was disappointed to hear he had used.

Finally in 2009, Alex seemed comfortable with himself and came through when the Yankees needed him, helping them to a twenty-seventh championship. I still was no fan of his, but I respected him as someone who had come back from rock-bottom.

Little did I know he would be caught in another, potentially more damning drug scandal. That said, I think his 211-game suspension is unfair by MLB's current 50- and 100-game standards for PED violations. It does show how seriously MLB takes Alex's alleged actions, and if the players' union has genuinely come out against PED use, stiffer penalties will be written into the next collective bargaining agreement. I'd like to see full-season suspensions for first offenses, lifetime bans for second offenses.

Murray Wins Wimbledon

Beating Novak Djokovic in straight, if tightly contested sets, Andy Murray is the first male player from Great Britain to win tennis's most storied tournament since Fred Perry in 1936. What a way to end a fortnight that saw Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eliminated early. I'm happy for Andy, and for his coach, Ivan Lendl, who was frustrated at Wimbledon in his playing days.

Sports Takes

• The Knicks claim their first Atlantic Division title since 1994 and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. I was glad to see the Knicks vault from the turning point of the season. I don't think they'll beat Miami, but they are once again a respectable contender. Kudos, Mike Woodson.

• Kobe Bryant tears his ACL. I'm not a Kobe fan, but I wouldn't wish this injury on anyone. Most recently I followed Mariano Rivera's recovery from the ACL he tore while shagging flyballs, but explosive basketball players like Kobe and Dominique Wilkins don't regain their form. I think Kobe will have to adopt a new style of play, but as many aging athletes do, I'm sure he can.

• Rutgers' men's basketball scandalized. I signed up as practice and equipment manager for the volleyball team in high school largely because I'd befriended the coach, who many classmates saw as verbally gruff and demanding. I saw that it was an act to motivate his students. Mike Rice clearly crossed the line by physically abusing his students, and everyone who allowed it in any way should answer for that. As a fan of all the old Big East schools to some degree, I wish Rutgers luck rebuilding the program.

Mariano Rivera

Today the most accomplished closer in Yankee history is expected to announce the 2013 MLB season will be his last. I've followed Mariano's whole career, drafting him as the closer on my only fantasy baseball team when he was setup man to John Wetteland.

Like most closers, Rivera didn't have the sustained stuff to be a starter. It's probably somewhat true he's gotten by all these years with one pitch, his cut fastball. But he has poise to rattle anyone else. Closers who are more than flashes in the pan usually bounce around to several teams, losing and regaining their mojo unpredictably. Mariano has been the foundation of the Yankees bullpen for eighteen years.

I've actually wanted him to retire for a few seasons now, not wanting to see his performance dip. He spent most of last season injured, which helped me prepare for today's announcement. It will still feel odd to realize he's truly retired. The Yankees may have to wait a few generations for another closer of his caliber.

You wanna know who the best is? That's him: Iceman. It's the way he flies, ice cold. No mistakes. He just wears you down. You get bored, frustrated, do something stupid, and he's got you.

My Most Popular Tweet of the Day (and Ever)

Only two more days until we see which team wins the Superb Owl.

— Gerald So (@g_so) February 1, 2013

Andy Murray, U.S. Open Champion

Talented Murray finally put it all together to beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in a grueling 5-set, 4-hour-and-54-minute match. I'm happy for Murray, and also for his coach, Ivan Lendl, who overcame similar early career disappointment to become one of tennis's greats.

Melky Cabrera

Former Yankee outfielder Melky Cabrera, a member of the 2009 championship team, was suspended fifty games yesterday, having tested positive for elevated testosterone. Melky was among the league leaders in hits this season with a .346 average and was named MVP of the All-Star game. As a Yankee, Melky was a streaky hitter, his strong defense not making up for his inconsistent offense. As glad as I was to see him succeed, I was also suspicious.

I'm suspicious of all athletes today, and I feel terrible about it. I want to enjoy sports at face value. I want to believe people are doing their best and succeeding naturally. But the sad fact is, as long as major money is involved, professional athletes will do anything to get an edge.

I would only be shocked anymore to hear Derek Jeter were on PEDs. Now 38 years old, Derek is also among the league leaders in hits this season, after having batted .270 with his second-lowest season hit total in 2010. Derek is not only a Yankee, but also symbolizes everything good about sports and how to carry oneself on and off the field. In his case, I hope image is reality.

Legacy

Pennsylvania State University has removed its statue of football coach Joe Paterno after evidence showed Paterno's role in allowing years of child abuse by defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky to go unchecked. As expected, some in the Penn State community assert that removing the statue wipes away all the good Paterno did. I disagree.

I didn't attend Penn State and didn't know Paterno, but I have been inspired by several people about whom opinion was divided, some of whom were even later disgraced. While this taints their legacies and dims my view of them, it does not take away the lessons I learned from them, the values I made my own. Joe Paterno's failings in the Sandusky scandal led to removal of the statue, but they do not take away the good values and behavior Paterno inspired in generations. Part of a person's legacy is all the people he inspires, and all the people they inspire in turn.

Goodbye, Jeremy Lin

At 11:59 last night, the Knicks officially passed on matching the Houston Rockets' offer to Jeremy Lin. As much as I liked Lin, the offer was too much. Lin did not gel with Carmelo and Amar'e as I'd hoped. His turnover ratio was problematic. If I were the Knicks, I would have passed, too.

The camp that thought the Knicks should have kept Lin points to what a splash he made in New York, how much money he would have brought in for the Knicks, but if Lin really wanted to stay on the team, where he could have learned from Jason Kidd, he wouldn't have signed the Rockets' offer sheet in the first place.

The Heat Overwhelms the Thunder

I wanted Oklahoma City to foil Miami in the NBA Finals. I don't resent Miami's big three. LeBron's departure from Cleveland wasn't the first time I'd seen a sports hero alienate his hometown fanbase. My issue with Miami's big three was that none of them were that big physically. On paper, the Heat can't match up with the more traditionally balanced team the Thunder appeared to be, and paying so much salary to three players prohibits the Heat from improving their bench.

The Heat proved conventional wisdom wrong, but that's the best reason to watch sports, for unpredictable outcomes, for personal performances that defy the odds. I wanted the Lakers to beat the Bulls in the 1990-91 Finals that ended in Michael Jordan's first championship. I wanted the Red Sox to lose in 2004. Neither happened. You may want to continue throwing cold water on the Heat, but if you don't acknowledge they won this year's title by a wide margin, you are deeply in denial.

Sharapova Wins French Open to Earn Career Grand Slam

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Saturday, I caught the second half of the French Open women's final that saw Maria Sharapova complete a career Grand Slam in eight years (2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open, 2008 Australian Open, 2012 French Open).

This latest was a mismatch, scrappy but lighter-hitting Italian Sara Errani having beaten some of the best to earn her spot. Still, Sharapova's victory attests to her endurance, proving yet again she's more than looks.

Waiting for BackUPS

We had a three-minute power outage around ten A.M. yesterday. I was watching the French Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, but my computer was on as usual and went down right away, the battery in my uninterruptible power supply having served three and a half years.

As I wait for a new battery this week, I'll be offline several hours a day to limit the time I could be hit by power surges. I do have THE LOST ONES, Ace Atkins' sequel to THE RANGER, to finish reading. Also arriving are COVERT AFFAIRS Season 2 and WHITE COLLAR Season 3 on DVD.