--After game two of the ALDS, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said that if the Yankees lost, manager Joe Torre would lose his job. What an ultimatum. The Yankees responded winning game three, but that's as far as their run would go, losing in game four and being eliminated. With the loss came the speculation of what would become of Torre; would Steinbrenner actually let go of the man who had been at the helm for the past 12 years and lead the team to many successes? The day came when Torre flew to Tampa to meet with the Yankee's hierarchy. A contract was offered to Torre that day: one year, base pay of $5 million- about $2.5 million less than his salary this season, and incentives of $1 million for hitting certain postseason benchmarks of making the playoffs, the ALCS, and the World Series. So what did Torre do? Well, in the words of WWE's The Rock, he told them to "turn it sideways and stick it straight up...", well, you get the idea. 
Good for him, I say. Torre was shown blatent disrespect from Yankee management, why should he put up with it? He was the longest tenured manager during Steinbrenner's ownership of the team. He was a two-time American League manager of the year. He is ranked 9th on baseball's all-time wins list and has the most wins as manager in Yankee history. In his twelve seasons with the Yankees, he led the team to the playoffs each year. He won four World Series titles, six American League pennants, and won the AL East ten times. His record as a Yankee was 1,173-767, and was 76-47 in the playoffs. Overall he was 2,067-1,770, and 76-50 in the playoffs. With such a pedigree, it is embarassing how the Yankees' management chased him out of his job.
"I had been there for twelve years," he told reporters in a newsconference, "I didn't think motivation was necessary.""The incentives I took as an insult."
The Yankees face a huge dilemma now. They have to find a manager who can handle a team and lead them to the postseason each year, as well as handling Steinbrenner and the New York media. This new manager will be under much scrutiny because he is following such a popular figure in franchise history. His job becomes harder when one looks at the possible roster purge that could happen in the off-season. Closer Mariano Rivera, catcher Jorge Posada, and starting pitcher Andy Pettite, all longtime veterans associated with the Torre era, could be on their way out, following their manager. That's not to forget about other possible players to leave the Yanks, such as first baseman Jason Giambi, outfielder Bobby Abreu, starting pitcher Roger Clemens, and, of course, third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The Yankees are surely making a huge mistake in letting him walk, as Joe Torre's deparute is most likely the beginning of the end of the Yankee dominance. 

--The Cleveland Indians made a huge mistake. Up on the Boston RedSox 3 games to 1 going into ALCS game 5, the Indians faced the only RedSox pitcher to beat them in the series, Josh Beckett. Beckett has had a great season, and his start would certainly be difficult for the Indians. So for the national anthem, they trott out country singer Danielle Peck. Only problem with that choice- she dated Beckett.
Why, why would you bring out a fellow man's ex? It only means trouble. The curveball the Indians sent him must have fired him up. He pitched eight innings, striking out 11, and only giving up one walk, five hits, and one run as the Sox beat the Tribe, 7-1. Beckett was also involved in an exchange of words with Cleveland outfielder Kenny Lofton.
"I don't make those [expletive] decisions," he told reporters after the game. "Thanks for flying one of my friends to the game so she could watch it for free."

--The Pats improved to 7-0 today against the 0-7 Miami Dolphins. Sure, the Past were supposed to win, but the 'Fins did not play all that poorly. A weak o-line created good holes for both Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman to run through, Cleo Lemon didn't play terribly, and if you take out a kick-off return for a touchdown and an interception in the endzone from the Patiors, and you have a new ball game. That being said, Tom Brady had a field day, with over 300 yards passing and 6 touchdowns. He was nearly perfect today with his accuracy and had a QB rating of 158. He rifled balls into Wes Welker. He threw bombs down the field and let Randy Moss get to them and make one-handed catches ub double coverage. No matter what Miami threw at them, the Patriots were unfazed. They just rolled right over Miami. And they make it look so easy. Brady has all the time in the world to throw. It looks as if they are playing in a video game. It's unreal, and never have I seen anything like this from a team, in any sport.

Shawn Marion has had an impressive career in the NBA. He is on the Pheonix Suns, a team that is a title contender year in and year out. He plays alongside Steve Nash, one of the top two point guards in the world, and Amare Stoudamire, a dominating young and athletic post player. The Sun's signed proven veteran Grant Hill over the summer. The team plays in what seems to be a non-stop fast break offense, in which he is usually the finishing end of an exciting alley-oop. He is the Sun's highest paid player, due to make $16.4 million and $17.8 million respectively in his final two years of his contract. He is a four time All-Star, two time All-NBA third team, All-Rookie second team, a member of the 2004 U.S. Men's National Olympic Team which won a bronze medal, and has career averages of 18.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game over his eight year NBA career. And to top it all off, he has an endorsement deal with Nike. Yet after all these accolades, he's unhappy and wants to be traded. Why? He's got everything short of a championship, why leave a good thing, willingly?
The answer: the team used him as trade bait. Imagine, ownership trying to push their team over the edge and dangling a good player in an effort to get something in return that could give them that inside edge to the championship. Has Marion ever heard the phrase "You can't get something for nothing"?
Marion told the Arizona Republic, "I'm tired of hearing my name in trades." He continued his rant, "I love my fans in Pheonix but I think it's time for me to move on."
Sound familiar? Think back to 2005. Then Pheonix Sun and Marion teamate Joe Johnson became a free-agent and decide to explore the market, wanting to be a marquee player, no longer a supporting cast member. So where did he go- Atlanta. And how did that play out? Well since Johnson's arrival the Hawks have won a total of 56 games, the same amount of games they lost in Johnson's first season in Atlanta. The Suns won 115 games in that time, doubling the Hawks' total, winning 61 games last season and reaching the conference finals two seasons ago. Johnson has played extremely well and is gaining much attention. But winning ball games, playing in the playoffs, having a shot at a title? Johnson and the Hawks are not even playing close to .500 ball.
Yet, Marion persists. "I haven't done anything wrong," he claims, "I leave it on the floor night in and night out. Sometimes, it's just time, and it's time to go." "It's been like a nightmare. It hurts me making this phone call. It's hurting me in my stomache."
But wait, there's more...
"It's just a bad marriage."
Well, I think he's made his point clear. In addition to being upset about being mentioned in numerous trade rumors, he's also a little ticked the Suns didn't reward him with a contract extension. His point is clear to me- he certainly isn't playing for the right reasons. His team is winning games, and they are winning in a fun fashion. But he wants to go. And listening to trade rumors? They are rumors, they didn't actually happen, some of them even are made up, not even close to true. In some ways, it's a compliment. Someone wants him, thinks he is their missing piece, and his current team knows he's good enough that other teams would be interested in listening to their proposals. Do you think a team would be interested in Pheonix's offer if the main piece was Sean Marks or Brian Skinner, especially if the Suns' target is someone like Kevin Garnett? No, me neither.
So Marion has not been traded. And he said he will be a proffesional and show up to camp when it becomes mandatory. The Suns will look forward and try to win that elusive championship. But it makes you wonder, after his summer tantrum, does Marion deserve to join them? Or should he get his wish and be traded, and possibly, like Johnson, go to a team in the NBA basement? Personally, I'd like to see the latter happen, and see how happy Marion is in a place like Minnesota.

This is for all the sports fans.  Perspectives will be covered for all different sports, teams, athletes, and maybe more. It will show what is right and what is wrong with the sports world. Some will be entertaining, others, not as much. But read, and be enlightened.