Fast forward to the fourth of November and all of the chatter early on that you can’t buy a championship has quieted. Yes, the Yankees do have many home grown components on the roster but without the addition of the big three free agents there would not have been a 27th World championship won.

After a rash of busts that have gone through Yankee Stadium since the last championship in 2000, the organization was meticulous in doing their home work. They needed to address the starting rotation and did so in astonishing fashion, inking lefthander CC Sabathia and righty A. J. Burnett. With Jason Giambi’s albatross of a contract finally expired, the Yankees had a hole at first base.

At the 11th hour, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman swooped in and signed Mark Teixiera right under Boston’s nose. This completed the trifecta of big name additions and immediately put the Yankees as favorites to win it all.

They not only dominated the regular season by finishing with the best overall record but easily dismissed the Twins and Angels in the playoffs. They then defeated the defending champions in six games. The Phillies were a formidable opponent but it was men versus boys. Even the biggest Yankee hater has to tip his or her hat to them following the 7-3 clincher at the new Yankee Stadium.

It is quite amazing when you sit back and ponder that not only have the Yankees captured 27 titles but also 40 American League pennants since they moved from Baltimore back in 1903. The next two teams on the list are the St. Louis Cardinals with 10 World Series championships and the Athletics franchise (Philadelphia, Kansas City and Oakland) is next with nine.

Even the staunches Yankee hater has to tip his or her hat to them. Come to think of it, a bigger story this year would have been if they didn’t win it all.

NEW YORK YANKEES WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS

1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009

Photo by Bill Menzel

Claiming her innocence while her lawyer states the positive test for Clenbuterol contained only “low amounts” of the drug, swimmer Jessica Hardy ‘s dreams of winning Olympic gold in Beijing this summer are in doubt. After testing positive in both her “A” and “B” tests following meets during Olympic trials on July 4, the 21 year-old began spinning damage control.

For her to fail a ‘sandwich’ unrinalysis after testing negative on July 1 and 6, Hardy is going to try to use them as leverage against the middle test. How far that will go remains to be seen, especially with the back-up ‘B’ test coming out the same. Her fate will be determined by proceedings that will begin in the near future.

Clen can clear the body and is not usually detected through the urine 72 hours later. That would make it appear that Hardy used the substance right after her July 1 test, or sometime the next day. It appeared to be out of her system on July 6 with the negative test, so that leaves a small window of when she could have used it.

“I’m innocent,” Hardy told reporters via telephone in the company of her attorney, Howard Jacobs. “That’s all I can say to everybody. Whether or not people choose to believe me, I’m innocent.” Not the easiest sell, especially with Howard basically admitting that the positive test was correct by claiming the low amounts. Low or high, Clen is a banned substance and if Hardy was caught using it, she is wrong. Only making it worse on herself by denying the obvious, Hardy should also look into finding more convincing counsel.

A check of her official website, www.jessicahardy.net showed that the page was ‘not found.’

Photo credit: theage.com

Three and counting. That’s what the Tour de France has become, and with Italy’s Ricardo Ricco being disqualified, doubt is hovering over every rider left.

A winner of two previous stages, Ricco is the biggest name to be caught using performance-enhancing drugs this year. He was detained by police, who have been quite busy cracking down on cyclists who have been caught using and/or possessing steroids.

Ricco made a bid to keep himself in the race by claiming he has a naturally high hematocrit level, which is an indicator of possible EPO use. It didn’t work and his entire team pulled out of the race, leaving more suspicion and questions being asked.

This marks the third consecutive year that the Tour de France has had a doping scandal interfere with the famous bicycle race.

Photo credit: bikeradar.com