-The Yankees got a much needed 5-4 comeback win over Toronto Saturday to snap their three-game slide. Trailing by a run in the seventh, they rallied for two on a pinchhit Jason Giambi double and a Derek Jeter bases loaded walk to go ahead. Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera made it stand up with splendid relief work to give Chien-Ming Wang his 11th win. The second-year Taiwan native is the most underrated starter on the staff. He’s not fancy and doesn’t strikeout many batters but gets the job done by throwing strikes. While it’s true Wang allows his share of hits, he’s still able to get the double play ball when he needs it. In an experienced rotation, it’s the 26 year-old who can be trusted to take the ball every fifth day and pitch deep into games. If the Yanks do qualify for their 12th consecutive postseason, it will be in large part due to Wang.

-Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez DH’d for the first eight innings, striking out all four times. After a rarity when Joe Torre pinchran Jaret Wright for Giambi in the ninth, A-Rod came in to play third as part of a doubleswitch with Andy Phillips, who moved back to first. In a day where he struggled at the plate, the 2005 AL MVP caught a popup for the final out of the game. We’re just guessing that he’ll be back in the field later today for all nine innings as the Bronx Bombers look to split the four-game set in Toronto.

-The Mets continued to roll, improving to 21 games over .500 with a 4-3 win over Houston at Shea. The big blow came from Xavier Nady, who slugged a three-run homer for his 14th of the season. Carlos Delgado knocked in the deciding run with a sac fly. The best news for the Amazin’s was that El Duque rebounded from a tough first inning to go seven, allowing three runs and fanning eight. Duaner Sanchez pitched a scoreless eighth before Billy Wagner closed it out for his 20th save. If the Mets can get the kind of performances they received from Duque and John Maine the past two days along with the continued progress of rookie Mike Pelfrey, there’s no reason to trade for another starter.

-Out of curiosity, we looked over Cards’ slugger Albert Pujols’ situational numbers to see how they stacked up against David Wright. Wright checks in with very good numbers- Runners On: .359, 9 HR, 67 RBI, RISP: .379, 5 HR, 57 RBI, RISP w/2 out: .373, 3 HR, 26 RBI. MVP calibre, right? Not so fast. Here’s Pujols- Runners On: .361, 15 HR, 67 RBI, RISP: .457, 8 HR, 53 RBI, RISP w/2 out: .375, 1 HR, 13 RBI. One word comes to mind. Incredible.

-Wildest game of the night. Tampa Bay edges Baltimore 13-12. In this game, both teams batted around for huge innings. Trailing by three in the fifth, the Devil Rays got two two-run homers from shortstop Julio Lugo in a 10-run inning to go ahead 10-3. They added three more in the sixth to lead by 10. Game over? Wrong. The Orioles responded the next inning with a nine run outburst to cut it to 13-12. That was as close as they got. Brian Meadows was able to close it out for Tampa.

-In a losing effort, ex-Cub Corey Patterson went 5-for-5 with two RBI’s and his 32nd stolen base. Did we mention that Chicago unloaded the centerfielder in January for prospects Nate Spears and Carlos Perez? The same team traded Sergio Mitre plus prospects Renyel Pinto and Ricky Nolasco to Florida for Juan Pierre. After a dreadful start, Pierre is up to .277 with 36 steals. It’s just that the guy he replaced has four less swipes and 20 more RBI’s. Nothing against Pierre. He’s not going to drive in a lot of runs. But don’t the Cubs look silly for giving up on the 26 year-old Patterson? It might explain why they’re the Cubs.

-Speaking of the Cubs, they lost 7-3 to the Nationals to fall 22 games under .500. Their 37 wins are only two more than Pittsburgh and three better than MLB worst Kansas City. Well at least they unloaded awful reliever Scott Williamson to San Diego for Class A pitchers Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo. Not a bad return for a reliever who had over a 5.00 ERA. What was Padres GM Kevin Towers thinking?

-How bad is basketball at MSG? The Knicks were pathetic this past season. Now you can add the WNBA’s Liberty as well. They dropped their franchise worst 10th straight game, losing to Seattle 91-54. Seattle are called the Storm. Well, they literally stormed the Liberty off the court by 37 in what was New York’s largest margin of defeat. Embarrassing stuff. The Liberty were once again without pretty injured star Becky Hammon. Hey. You have to notice that. Their 4-19 record is second worst in the league which makes me wonder if putting together a winning basketball team is optional at the Garden. To think that they’ve aired these ridiculous commercials during the season with fans talking about how it’s pure ball. Maybe in the past that was the case. Those commercials are almost as sad as the Knicks ones. I didn’t really think that was possible. You got to feel for Bob Wischusen, who has been calling these games. The bad news is it won’t get much better for the reliable play-by-play man when he calls Jets games this Fall. He’d probably rather vacation in Siberia.

-In her first tournament back in six months at Cincinnati, Serena Williams made it all the way to semifinals before falling to Vera Zvonareva Saturday in straight sets. That just won’t cut it in this comeback. She could need a wild card just to get into the U.S. Open next month. It will be interesting to see if she can make some progress in the coming weeks.

-An all-American final between James Blake and Andy Roddick is as good as it gets for the RCA Championships in Indianapolis. Hopefully, it would be an exciting match.

-Tiger Woods takes a one-stroke lead into the final round at the British Open over Sergio Garcia, Chris DiMarco and Ernie Els. His perfect 10-0 PGA record when leading after 54 holes will be severely tested. Should make for an intriguing day at Royal Liverpool.

-Devils’ center Scott Gomez could find out how much he gets from arbitration later today. I’m most interested though to see how his reward stacks up against Buffalo’s Daniel Briere.

-All that the Yanks accomplished has vanished quickly. They’ve followed a five-game win streak out of the All Star Break with three consecutive losses. So after cutting Boston’s lead to half a game, they now find themselves four games out in the loss column. The only saving grace is that the suddenly reeling White Sox dropped their third straight, remaining just 2.5 in front for the wild card.

-Don’t look now. But with Toronto taking the first two of four this weekend, they’ve crept to two behind the Bronx Bombers. The Blue Jays got outstanding pitching from A.J. Burnett. The free agent bust went into the eighth inning, allowing just three runs on A-Rod’s 450th career dinger. He also fanned seven by mixing in a lethal fastball with a ridiculous curve. YES Network’s Michael Kay couldn’t understand why Burnett was permitted to throw 121 pitches given his arm history. A night after manager John Gibbons pulled ace Roy Halladay after 93 pitches, Kay made a lot of sense. But Burnett made his skipper look brilliant to notch his second win.

-This whole controversy between Gibbons and former Jay Shea Hillebrand is entertaining. The two got into it after the first baseman was aggravated over not being in the lineup a few days ago. He was also peeved over the organization’s lack of well wishes on his adoption of a girl. Aside from that, he reportedly wrote “play for yourself” and “ship be sinking” on a board. Not exactly the best way to win support. Gibbons supposedly challenged Hillebrand to a fight. I would’ve liked to see that. Where’s YouTube when you need it? It didn’t take long for Toronto to ship the embattled slugger to San Francisco for reliever Jeremy Accardo Friday night. Got to applaud the Jays for their quick response. Guess Hillebrand and Gibbons won’t be exchanging Christmas cards.

-The Mets got a great effort from emergency starter John Maine Friday night at Shea tossed a much needed shutout in their 7-0 win over Houston. Subbing for El Duque due to rain, he went the distance needing only 98 pitches. Such a performance was huge for Willie Randolph’s ballclub. With a taxed bullpen, that kind of outing was exactly what the doctor ordered. It was also an eye opener, especially with the Amazin’s searching for starters on the trade market. Maine definitely earned another start.

-Jose Valentin continues to be a revelation for the Mets- slugging a grand slam for his 11th home run in the big win. It’s amazing what the 36 year-old veteran has accomplished. Especially after struggling mightily the first six weeks as a backup. The ex-Brewer has been an unsung hero playing a fairly new position of second base. Kudos to GM Omar Minaya and Randolph for sticking with him.

-As Mark Prior continues to struggle for the God awful Cubs, when are they finally going to pull the plug on Dusty Baker? That organization really needs to reassess things and start over. Prior and Kerry Wood can’t seem to stay healthy. It really is ashame what’s happened to one of the most popular teams in baseball. Those diehards have suffered enough. It’s time to give them a real team back.

-This whole Barry Bonds thing has dragged out long enough. Either indict him or leave the guy alone already. Not for nothing but this whole thing looks more and more like a witch hunt against an unpopular star chasing Hank Aaron’s home run record. Yes, Bonds cheated. We get it. But how come you don’t see them making a big deal out of anyone else? Why aren’t Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa being investigated for sabotaging the game just as much back in 1998? Don’t bring up last year’s BALCO hearing, which was an absolute disgrace.

-Is it any surprise that Tiger Woods is tearing up the British Open 12 under par leading by a stroke over Ernie Els heading into the weekend? Woods is a winner and is out to prove he still is the man to beat after failing to make the cut at the U.S. Open following his Dad’s death. If he wins, it’s his 11th major and a repeat in London. If he prevails, will anyone mention Phil Mickelson again in the same breath as Tiger?

-I love how ESPN’s NFL panel of experts didn’t mention Tiki Barber at all when it came to the game’s top running back. Not that I believe he’s the best but he’s been doing it a heck of a lot longer than Sean Salisbury’s “league MVP” Larry Johnson. One season doesn’t make you the best. For the record, I’d put LaDainian Tomlinson at the top with Barber second, Shaun Alexander third and Edgerrin James fourth. Rounding out my top five wouldn’t be Johnson but another more proven commodity in Clinton Portis. Let Johnson repeat last year’s performance before we annoint him the second coming of Priest Holmes.

-Someone should tell Reggie Bush that he hasn’t accomplished anything before he holds up the Saints for more money. This is what’s wrong with sports. The guy hasn’t played one down in the NFL and already he’s considering sitting out an entire year. All cause he’s already made over $5 million in endorsements. This isn’t USC. Quit your yacking and earn respect on the field.

-Props to Donovan McNabb for finally letting loose at former teammate Terrell Owens. T.O. recently released an autobiography on the 2005 season in which he got his ass rightfully suspended by the Eagles after bickering with teammates and bitching out his QB. McNabb had it right when he referred to Owens’ latest work as a “children’s book.” He should be in the next Child’s Play. I hear Chucky’s calling.

-Scott Gomez is entitled to get what he wants at arbitration but we just don’t think he’s worth more than the $4 million Devils’ GM Lou Lamoriello offered. If he really wants to remain a Devil, stop listening to Dad.

-How long before “new Islander GM” Garth Snow trades himself to a real NHL team?

-Do the Red Bulls really believe former USA World Cup coach Bruce Arena can bolster their offense?

-This whole Peter Cook affair with an 18 year-old Diana Bianchi is kind of creepy. A wealthy man married to Christie Brinkley 28 years older than an attractive teenager he meets at a South Hampton toy store woos her to work for his architecture firm. Out of curiosity, what kind of toys was he searching for when they met? Couldn’t resist. It really makes for a good Hollywood script.

-The Yankees had their five-game win streak snapped, falling to Seattle 3-2. The good news: In the loss, Randy Johnson went eight innings striking out a season high 11 on 129 pitches. The bad: Despite that kind of effort, the Bronx Bombers fell a game and a half behind Boston after the Red Sox shutout the Royals 1-0 to complete a three-game sweep. Josh Beckett tossed eight scoreless and Cy Young frontrunner rookie Jonathan Papelbon notched his 29th save to make Manny Ramirez’ 25th homer stand up.

-Talk continues to center around A-Rod and whether he’s mentally cut out to carry the Yankees to another postseason. One would think that after two years of already playing in New York, this wouldn’t be an issue for the 2005 AL MVP. It’s amazing that the so-called best player in baseball still struggles with the elements. At some point, he’s got to block it out and just go and play the game the way he can. Dominate.

-There was a minor trade in hockey today involving the Rangers. The Blueshirts traded center Dominic Moore to Nashville in exchange for right wing Adam Hall. The Predators then turned around and shipped Moore plus a prospect to the Penguins for a 2007 third round pick. So the Rangers will see their fourth line center eight times this season. Still, this was a solid deal when you consider that New York still has Jarkko Immonen and Blair Betts to center the final two lines. While Moore was a solid player who gave an honest effort every night, he was limited offensively. Immonen has bigger upside and Betts can easily replace the former Harvard product. Aside from that, the Rangers added a player in Hall with some much needed size. Last year, he scored 10 of his 15 goals on the power play. The question is will his role change on Broadway? Stay tuned.

-In more upsetting news, former Devil Ken Daneyko was arrested back in May for drunk driving. A key defenseman who helped lead New Jersey to all three Cups, the likeable Daneyko apparently suffered a relapse. During the 1997-98 season, he entered a league alcohol-abuse program to confront the problem. This past season, he saw his No.3 jersey go up to the rafters on March 24. It’s a pity that such a nice person is still battling such a serious problem. Wishing him a full recovery.

-Thursday, the British Open kicks off. It should be interesting to see how Phil Mickelson responds to his collapse at the U.S. Open in which he double bogeyed the last hole to lose a chance at winning three straight majors. While that will be fun to watch, everyone will also be keeping an eye on how Tiger Woods performs after failing to make the cut for the first time as a pro at a major last month. Both should definitely be in the running this weekend.

-When the news came down yesterday about Neil Smith already being out as Isles’ GM, it wasn’t surprising. All you had to do was look at how off the wall team owner Charles Wang is. Who hires both the coach and GM and even brings in reinforcements on the same day? This man is delusional. He has no clue how to run a professional franchise. Somehow, Wang has done the impossible by making MSG boss James Dolan look sane. How do you run an organization by committee? This just doesn’t happen. The less voices, the better.

-It gets even better. Wang somehow decided on former backup netminder Garth Snow as Smith’s replacement. Snow has no experience and still has two years left on his contract as a player. In the world of remarkably absurd, the new Isles’ GM can’t get rid of his $750,000 a year salary off the cap. To top it off, Pat Lafontaine resigned immediately following a ridiculous press conference in which the clueless owner tried to explain his laughable policy. Is this The Twilight Zone? This can’t really be happening. Or can it? Only in the bizarre world of today’s owners who have no business running sports teams. What you see with Wang will continue to become more common. Scary thought indeed.

-When does Carlos Beltran start to get NL MVP consideration? He only hit his second grand slam in two games to lead the Mets past the Reds 8-3. A disappointment in his first season as a Met, Beltran leads the ballclub with 27 home runs and his five RBI night moved him ahead of fan favorite David Wright for first with 78 RBI’s. He’s been just as valuable as Wright. It’s time to show the Amazin’s centerfielder some love.

-The Yanks rallied with two in the ninth off Seattle closer J.J. Putz before waiting out a lengthy rain delay to comeback and beat the Mariners 5-4 in 11 innings. After Aaron Guiel came through with a pinchhit RBI single to cut it to 4-3, the Bronx Bombers caught a break when first place umpire Mike Reilly ruled Jorge Posada safe at first to put runners on the corners with one out. Replays indicated he was out. Instead of two outs, Johnny Damon’s sac fly forced extras. In the 11th, surprising rookie Melky Cabrera hit first walkoff home run to give New York its fifth consecutive victory.

-Is it me or does passing up on the overpriced Bobby Abreu make a heck of a lot more sense? In case anyone hasn’t noticed, this team has figured out how to win without Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield. Both will be back for the stretch drive as will All Star second baseman Robinson Cano. Btw…that is why the Yanks are a better story than the Mets. The Mets play in a lousy division and have been very healthy. Despite what Daily News columnist Mike Lupica says, it’s not surprising that the Amazin’s have the NL’s best record. I could have told you that before the season began. My World Series pick was the Mets against the A’s. Sticking with it.

-Make me watch the ESPY’s.

-What was more surprising this past weekend? The Yanks’ sweep of the White Sox or the Mets’ remarkable 11-run sixth inning rally against the Cubs to comeback and win 13-7? We’ll take the Yanks just cause sweeping the defending World champs is a more daunting task than adding yet another blow to how embarrassing Dusty Baker’s team at Wrigley Field is. Plus the Bronx Bombers needed all three wins a lot more than the Amazin’s needed that big sixth to keep a 12 game lead over Atlanta.

-How brutal are the Cubs? In a game they led 5-0 after three innings, they somehow managed to give up two identical opposite field grand slams to Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran in the fatal sixth. An inning so bad that Todd Walker misplayed two balls to help setup the onslaught. So brutal that when Floyd’s first homer cut it to 5-2, I had just left for the park Sunday night. At that moment, I figured the Mets would comeback and take the lead. So, 35 minutes after getting in 3.5 miles, I turned on the radio to find Cubs fans mockingly cheering the end of the sixth after their team had predictably fallen apart. You’d think it was some kind of bad joke but these are the Cubs. A team so pathetic that they almost make the Knicks look sane. I really feel for my buddy who lives and dies with those Cubbies. What a nightmare.

-The Mets’ comeback overshadowed the latest struggle for El Duque. We’ve seen this act before. He can look pretty pedestrian in meaningless spots but when the games get bigger in the fall, he usually rises to the occasion. Guess we’ll see if he’s still got it on the big stage this October.

-The biggest thing that happened Sunday was Yankee closer Mariano Rivera saving his 400th game. He earned it by working two innings against Chicago, notching the milestone in style by fanning Jermaine Dye with a cutter. It’s amazing what the greatest closer of his generation has accomplished with one signature pitch. The Sandman became the fourth closer to ever reach 400- joining exclusive company with all-time saves leader Lee Smith (478), Trevor Hoffman (460) and John Franco (424). Rivera has been the one constant for the Yankees during the last decade of excellence- helping them win four world championships, six pennants and eight consecutive division titles. They don’t accomplish any of it without Mo. What’s amazing is that 10 years after taking over for 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland as closer, he still gets the job done. Rivera has shown remarkable longevity. He nailed down his 22nd save in 24 chances a night later to keep his ballclub a half game back of Boston. 401 saves encounting until Cooperstown comes calling.

-On the same night Rivera got the final three outs against Seattle, A-Rod struggled mightily in the field making three throwing errors to increase his season total to 16. By contrast, last year in an MVP season he committed just 12. Yes, a foul ball off a toe contributed to the career worst three miscues before being replaced by Nick Green at the hot corner. Still, 16 errors when we’re not even in August is cause for concern. You really got to wonder what’s going on in A-Rod’s mind. The Yankees need him big time these last two and a half months.

-After reading the SI story on Andre Agassi, I believe that’s the best piece I’ve read in a long time. Definitely was the highlight of last week’s issue which featured the Mets on the front cover and also recapped Italy’s World Cup victory over France. What’s amazing is that for the world’s biggest sporting event, how little respect it got. You’d think Italy’s fourth World Cup championship would grace the cover. Nothing against the Mets. They’re a fun team and clearly the NL’s best. But baseball is 162 games last I checked. That was soccer’s biggest stage. One seems a little bigger. Same could also be said for Roger Federer’s four-peat at Wimbledon over Rafael Nadal.

-Congratulations to Gabriela Sabitini and Patrick Rafter on being inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame this past weekend in Newport. Both had outstanding careers and were well deserving of the honor. Sabitini won her only career slam at the 1990 U.S. Open over her archrival Steffi Graf. Had Graf not been around, she would’ve won a lot more slams. Same could be said for Rafter, who won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 1997-98. He also was a runner up at consecutive Wimbledons in 2000-01 losing to the legendary Pete Sampras and falling to Goran Ivanisevic in a five set epic. Definitely miss his brand of classic serve-and-volley tennis.

-Sabitini was my first tennis crush. She still is the best looking woman to ever grace the tennis court. Don’t believe me? Check out this photo from her induction:
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060716/capt.0e09d217c3174b62bf41f5ef8d698ad3.correction_hall_of_fame_tennis_inductions_riea103.jpg

Eat your heart out Maria Sharapova fans.

-Two solid wins for the Mets and Yankees to start the second half. The Amazin’s won their third straight 6-3 over the miserable Cubs, getting solid pitching from Steve Trachsel and the usual contribution from David Wright along with a go-ahead hit from Cliff Floyd.

-Meanwhile in the Bronx, the Yanks snapped Jose Contreras’ streak without a loss at 17 by pushing across three runs in the eighth- including a go-ahead single by Melky Cabrera and key double by Johnny Damon which proved to be the winner. Though Mariano Rivera made things interesting allowing two runs, he won the battle against A.J. Pierzynski to get the save.

-Combined with Boston’s second straight loss to Oakland, suddenly the Bronx Bombers find themselves just 1.5 out of first. Amazing what can happen in the span of two days.

-So who had Royals’ reject Aaron Guiel hitting a home run off the facing of the upper deck?

-The most interesting ballgame outside New York took place in San Diego where the Braves overcame their awful pen to hold off the Padres in 11 wild innings 15-12. After getting four in the first, Tim Hudson gave up five runs in just three innings. Despite that, the Braves were still in good shape up 8-5 in the fifth after Chipper Jones connected for his second homer of the night. But ex-Met Mike Piazza tied it with a three-run shot and Josh Barfield put San Diego ahead in the sixth. Three nights after blowing a save for the NL in the All Star Game, Trevor Hoffman gave up three to Atlanta to put his team down 11-9. But as usual, Atlanta’s awful closer if you can call him that Jorge Sosa gave it up to force extras. After Adam LaRoche hit his second homer of the night to put the Braves up again 11-10, the Padres got another run off Sosa to send it to the 11th. Finally, the Braves plated three thanks to Barfield’s misplay and Tyler Yates recorded his first major league save to end the madness. This game in a nutshell is why the Braves have struggled mightily. If they had any pitching, they’d be a lot closer.

-Barry Bonds, Steve Finley and Moises Alou became the first trio of 40 year-olds in MLB history to start a game in the Giants’ 5-3 win over the Phillies at Pac Bell.

-In other news, with fading slugger Bonds facing indictment charges for perjury due to the BALCO investigation, no truth to the rumor GM Brian Sabean was on the verge of bringing back Jeffrey Leonard to fill the void. That would be much better than his trade three years ago for Pierzynski, sending Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to the Twins. The same Pierzynski who was let go of in 2004 and helped lead the White Sox to their first World Series championship since 1917.

-Michelle Wie was hospitalized Friday due to severe heat exhaustion while attempting to become the first woman to make a PGA Tour cut in 61 years. In her second day at the John Deere Classic, she only played the first nine holes before becoming too sick to continue. At the time, she was eight over par and had virtually no chance of making the cut. Hopefully, she’ll have a speedy recovery. But I’ll say it again. Why should Wie get special treatment when she hasn’t even dominated her own tour? Blame golf. They are exposing this teenager to far too much while shafting a proven LPGA winner such as Annika Sorenstram. Credit WFAN’s Kevin Burkhardt for taking a similar stance on his show Friday night regarding why Wie can’t just compete against the LPGA.

-Yesterday’s big topic was the Yankees and Mets on a “collision course” to possibly meet in the World Series and touch off the greatest baseball summer we’ve had in a while. I just don’t buy it. While the Amazin’s have a free ride to the postseason and possibly the World Series, the Bronx Bombers’ path is extremely difficult just to make October for the 12th consecutive year. The Tigers and White Sox show no signs of slowing down and the division-leading Red Sox are going to be tough to catch because they’re healthier. Even if the Yanks make the postseason, it’s hard to see them winning two rounds to get to another Series.

-On that note, Yankees GM Brian Cashman took a waiver on Sidney Ponson Thursday. Sidney Ponson? What? Melido Perez or Scott Sanderson wasn’t available? This is the sad state the Yankee rotation is in. They better hope Ponson becomes another 2005 version of Shawn Chacon or Aaron Small.

-In his first interview since a serious motorcycle incident, Ben Roethlisberger admitted to ESPN’s Jim Rome he was close to death. But still hinted that he might ride a bike again with a helmet possibly in the future. Why even take that risk?

-The Rangers’ recent signing of Brendan Shanahan was a solid move. Only giving the proven goalscorer a year should help solidify their secondary scoring and power play. There was far too much workload on Jaromir Jagr last season. That should change, giving the Blueshirts more balance this fall.

-Meanwhile, the Devils have had a great summer re-signing star Patrik Elias along with key cogs Jamie Langenbrunner and Colin White. You can’t ask for much better from President and GM Lou Lamoriello. Now if only he can find a way to keep Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta longterm under the cap.

-The same can hardly be said of new Islanders GM Neil Smith’s moves. While Brendan Witt is a solid addition to the blueline, Tom Poti, Mike Sillinger and Chris Simon aren’t exactly championship calibre. On top of it, he committed three years to a 35 year-old Sillinger coming off a career year. If I’m an Islanders fan, that’s alarming.

-Serena Williams is finally returning after a six month layoff due to a balky knee. She said she needed the extra time off for a “mental break.” You can only hope she’ll comeback more focused and play the kind of championship tennis she’s capable of. That would be a tremendous boost to American tennis.

-After the NL found another way to blow an All Star Game by losing for the ninth time in 10 years 3-2, the talk in New York today is how San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman spoiled the Mets’ night. Yes, it’s true David Wright hit a home run in his first AS at bat and Carlos Beltran stole third and then scored on a wild pitch for the NL’s two runs. So those two Mets did everything possible to almost deliver the senior circuit’s first win in the game since 1996. But let’s think about this for a minute. Their night was “ruined” because of a silly rule that could penalize a team with the major’s best record. If you can’t win the most games in an inferior league, you don’t deserve home field. It’s completely ridiculous that they continue to put so much emphasis on a meaningless game. It’s time for baseball to ditch this idiotic gimmick because one year, a deserving team really is going to get screwed.

-Do those same writers think the end result would have been any different with Billy Wagner in? Oh that’s right. The $10 million closer didn’t even make the team.

-Wagner is right about one thing. If the Mets have a shot to win their first World Series in 20 years, they should sacrifice a Lastings Milledge to get another arm. You only get so many chances to go for it. And Wagner, Pedro and Tom Glavine aren’t getting any younger. The window will be gone sooner than Omar Minaya thinks.

-This whole controversy surrounding why France star Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi in overtime of the World Cup Final is sad. Zidane claims Materazzi crossed the line with some disparaging comments about his mother. Of course, Materazzi denies it. We’ll never really know what happened on that field in Munich, Germany. Only the two stars know the truth. It’s unfortunate that such a great world event in which Italy captured their fourth World Cup (first since 1982) on penalty kicks (5-3) was marred by such an incident. What’s even sadder is that Zidane, who was named the tournament’s best player probably cost his country the trophy. It was a bitter way for the 34 year-old French legend to bow out in his final World Cup. He’ll have to live with that unfortunate decision the rest of his life.

-One of the problems with the MLB All Star Game is that too many stars don’t want to be bothered participating. They can say it’s all about the fans with this silly notion that such a meaningless game actually decides who will get homefield advantage in the World Series. But if some of the best players who fans voted for don’t participate and use the time for vacation, is it really fan friendly?

-It’s unbelievable that baseball commissioner Bud Selig could continue to let such a game decide that. It makes having the major’s best record meaningless.

-What Roger Federer accomplished by winning his fourth straight Wimbledon this past Sunday was extraordinary. That he did it against Rafael Nadal- a player he had struggled against going 0-4 this year all in finals- made it even more special. The best part was that the Swiss world No.1 had to raise his level to finish off the second seeded Spaniard. It made for some classic stuff between the world’s best two players.

-Staying with the tennis theme, it was fitting that Amelie Mauresmo fought back to beat her nemesis Justine Henin-Hardenne to capture her first ever Wimbledon. It justified her Australian Open win in which Henin-Hardenne regrettably retired. This time, the top seeded Frenchwoman got to legitimize her victory and celebrate fully by playing the kind of championship tennis in an ultracompetitive match, further silencing critics.

-While Andre Agassi went out gracefully in his final appearance at the All England Club, the same couldn’t be said about the disappointing results of other Americans. Andy Roddick’s third round exit at the hands of Andy Murray was damaging because it knocked the former 2003 U.S. Open champ from the top 10. Three-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams’ third round upset loss to Jelena Jankovic was shocking. Though she hadn’t played much tennis entering, she still was the favorite on grass. Imagine what a Mauresmo-Williams quarter would’ve been like. The most disappointing aspect of The Championships was that no American even got past the fourth round- making it the first time since 1922 that’s happened. That can’t repeat at the final slam of the year the U.S. Open in New York.

-A couple of weeks after being severely criticized for taking Renaldo Balkman, Isiah Thomas doesn’t look so off thus far.

This will be a new feature to my blog in which I give my view of what’s going on around sports. So without further notice, let’s get to some stuff.

-Daily News columnist Mike Lupica continued to show his incredible bias this past weekend by saying the Mets’ tandem of Jose Reyes and David Wright might be better than the Yankees’ duo of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. When Mr. Met puts this out there, he already believes it. It’s no secret that Lupica despises the Yankees and has openly rooted for the Mets while bashing the Yanks at every turn, which is very unprofessional. Nothing against Reyes and Wright. Both are outstanding players already in just their third seasons but it’s hard to put them over Jeter and A-Rod. It’s easier to say Wright is having an MVP season and outperforming Rodriguez. Despite Reyes’ tremendous improvement from last year, he’s still not having the kind of season Jeter is. At the age of 32, the Yankee captain is having arguably his best season. If the Bronx Bombers extend their postseason streak, Jeter deserves MVP consideration. Let’s see how Reyes and Wright fare in October before we start making any proclamations.

-On that note, writers such as Lupica are what’s wrong with the New York media. They somehow believe there’s a rivalry between the Mets and Yankees when it couldn’t be anything further from the truth. In order for that to be the case, the teams would have to play in the same league and more than the six times they meet during interleague play. They’d have to faceoff on a bigger stage such as the World Series, which hasn’t happened since 2000 when the Yanks captured their 26th championship by defeating the Amazin’s in five games. In the old days, Subway Series were more common with the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants clashing many times. Unfortunately, those days are gone. It’s about time some journalists woke up and stopped acting like fans.

-One topic which has gotten plenty of attention is Michelle Wie. The 16 year-old LPGA phenom has been overcovered by media outlets such as ESPN. While there’s no denying her talent, she still hasn’t won a major. It’s hard to see all the insane press she gets. And it’s even more difficult to understand why she gets preferential treatment over an established star such as Annika Sorenstram. Why should Wie be allowed to tryout for a PGA major while a proven winner is not even given a chance? It seems very unfair. I don’t see why women should be competing against men anyway. Are WNBA players getting NBA contracts anytime soon? Are we ever going to see four-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer challenged by Amelie Mauresmo? It’s never going to happen. So why should golf be any different? Isn’t there a reason they have a men’s and women’s tour? All the more why what’s going on with Wie makes no sense.