Any visit to Firestone (like this week’s to the Bridgestone Invitational) brings feelings of awe. The course is simply that great, a jewel in the nation’s obsession with hitting a dimpled ball with a metal stick. Firestone is a great, great course. No tricks, no gimmicks, no island green, no ridiculous fairway contortions. Just golf as it was meant to be played – although I wish they had not lengthened 16 and left the monster as it always was. The most entertaining 15 minutes at this tournament came Friday during an interview with Peter Lonard, an Australian who is 100 percent Aussie. Having covered tennis and golf in my pitiful existence, I’ve come to have great respect for Aussies. They are straight-up, down to earth and real. Find me a boring Aussie and I’ll show you a Brit (Hey … it’s a JOKE). At any rate, Lonard offered the following when asked what it meant that Tiger Woods was missing: “To me him not being here is usually on average probably the difference between 39th and 38th. So I don't miss him much. But I'm sure the boys up in the big money end, they definitely notice a difference.” After shooting a 66, Lonard quipped that it was better than the 74s he had averaged the past few years at Firestone. What enabled him to shoot 74? He said: “Thick trees, thick rough, hard greens to putt on, being a bad chipper. You name it, I've got it all.” When Lonard talked about the course not being as hard and tough as a year ago, Jude Coen, the young lady next to him from the Australian Tour, said “Australians aren't hard and tough, the courses are hard and tough.” Lonard could not let that go. “Well,” he said. “The chicks are hard and tough, from what I've seen anyway, from the ones that will talk to me.’’ In this nation in this day and age, that might be considered sexist. To an Australian it’s just life. Coen laughed with everyone – while also rolling her eyes just a tiny bit. I don’t know … maybe you had to be there.

Oh … Lonard did not mention Adriana Lima being hard and tough, which of course provides an excuse to post a photo of her.

So now we come to find out that Manny Ramirez asked not to be trade to Los Angeles. His agent called the Red Sox and said he would behave (my word) if the Red Sox kept him and eliminated those oh-so-onerous final two year team options in his contract worth $20 million. Problem was the call came after the trade was completed, and by this point the Red Sox were doing dances in Kenmore Square. The offer from Ramirez’s agent, by the way, does kind of bring up the question as to what Ramirez was doing – and does pretty much confirm that the Red Sox’s belief that he was faking injuries and not trying was pretty much right on the money. Call me crazy, but that’s not the kind of guy I’d want as a teammate.

And … here's Manny signaling how many are out after the leadoff hitter of an inning flied to center (thanks to deadspin.com for this photo)

The Boston Red Sox improved on Thursday. They improved by trading one of the better hitters of our generation, but a guy who was starting to blow up the team’s clubhouse with his antics. Apparently, there is even a limit to “Manny Being Manny.” If it does not seem like the Boston Red Sox had had it with Ramirez’s whining and mysterious injuries, read this interview with Curt Schilling, one of the more honest guys in baseball. Ramirez’s act had worn thin. So the Red Sox got rid of him and brought in Jason Bay, a very nice player the Indians tried to acquire last offseason. On paper, the numbers indicate Ramirez is far superior to Bay. But when you add in what Manny was costing the team, Bay will be better for Boston. The proof? According to Peter Gammons, the Red Sox will pay Ramirez’s salary the rest of this year. Talk about being eager to send a guy packing. Ramirez quit on the team, period, and a guy who does that is not welcome on a team. As Gammons said: “When you’re making $20 milion a year and say you don’t want to play, and you sit out games and say I might play or might not, what does that do for the integrity (of the game).” He added: “The happiest man in America right now is Terry Francona.” Let’s be honest. Manny is out for Manny, which he showed when he showboated after hitting a home run in the playoffs in Cleveland last year when his team was getting waxed. The guy can hit, but all the peripheral stuff means that Boston is better without him.

Chris Duhon averaged 22.6 minutes, shot 38.7 percent and averaged 5.8 points per game last season in Chicago. This means he was to the Bulls what Devin Brown (22.6 minutes, 40.9 percent shooting, 7.5 points). Didn’t matter to New York, which gave Duhon a contract worth the full “mid-level exception” (who comes up with these ridiculous phrases?), which means he’ll make more than $5 million the next two years. Many in the NBA see this deal as “out of line” (my phrase) with the going rate. No matter, Duhon’s contract now is being used in the Delonte West negotiations. As in West’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, claimed it’s a comparable situation – in fact less than comparable because West starts and Duhon will not. So Goodwin says the Cavs are not being fair by offering West just more than Daniel Gibson received (Goodwin’s “they’re not being fair” rant appeared in the News-Herald). Which only proves that these contract things become an exercise in tedium and boredom. At what point do we all get sick of rich folks arguing over how much money they’re going to make? To the Cavs, Duhon’s contract is inflated. To West’s camp, it’s the new barometer. Please. Just work it out and let us know when things are over. Last year it was Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic. This offseason it’s West. If West wants to play in Cleveland, he’ll sign. If he doesn’t, he can sign a one-year qualifying offer for $2.76 million and take his chances after this season in free agency. If he’s good enough, it will work out, right? Just spare us the histrionics that mean something only to those who are in the middle of the mess.

Speaking of contracts, SI.com reports that “(Manny) Ramirez has been unhappy with the $20-million team options in his contract for 2009 and '10.” Now THAT will sure ruin a day.

CC Sabathia is 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA in Milwaukee, but in a key game against the Cubs this week he gave up nine hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings in a Brewers loss. Sabathia is a great pitcher, and he’s shown it by improving his record to 10-8 and brining his ERA near 3 after a horrible first month. He didn’t exactly pitch badly against the Cubs – the loss was aided by an error and a ninth-inning Chicago comeback when he was out of the game – but until he actually wins a game like that questions about his ability in those games will come up. Fair? The playoffs last year come to mind. He quite simply got himself too worked up for those playoff games, and it might have cost the Indians a World Series spot. One interesting thing about CC in Milwaukee – he’s thrown three complete games, and he threw 124 pitches in the other. Have to wonder if Sabathia can pitch that much the rest of the season – complete game after complete game. The old rented mule line comes to mind. Obviously the Brewers are thinking only short-term with him. Any pitchers who throws that much – even a guy with the fluid motion of Sabathia – takes risk, and it’s a risk that might not show itself in the short-term but over time if his arm wears down. Don’t worry about his contract, though. Somebody is going to give him $140 million this offseason.

Our own Marla Ridenour wrote an interesting story in today’s paper where some PGA Tour players balk at the fact they now have to undergo random drug testing. Who can blame them? Professional sports is one aspect of our society where one must prove their innocence. Kind of goes against the entire grain of our legal system, if you ask me, where one is innocent until proven guilty. Drug testing without cause presumes a problem, and makes an individual prove he or she is not doing something.

Personal aside to RedHawkRick: Don't blame me; I do not smoke.

A few folks wrote to say I shouldn’t have been so negative about Moscow when I wrote about playing pro basketball there. One of my regular readers pointed out how beautiful the Moscow subway is, and this proves he’s right. It’s not the RTA of course … but who knew?

The negative? Apparently it can get crowded there ..

Then there’s my friend Bob, a fellow St. Ignatius alum who is grandfather to my daughters’ best friend and father and father-in-law to my girls’ Godparents. Bob regularly visits the upper reaches of Canada in the summer. He writes that his cabin is in Atlin, British Columbia, on the Yukon border just south of Whitehorse. He’s got a lot of good stories about being there, and this week he sent some pics, which I’ll share. Click on the picture to get the full effect. Memo to self: See if an Alaska vacation is feasible next summer.

I've seen a few comments here and online and I got a few e-mails related to my opinion that C.C. Sabathia didn't really love it in Cleveland and that all he wanted was the money. One said I was a hypocrite, that I would never turn down more money if offered somewhere else. This is a relative statement. If we're talking a difference of, say, $40,000 and $4 million, yes I would take the money. Candidly, I admit that fact. But if the difference were totals that would still allow me to live a decent life and take care of my daughters, there would be other factors. Lifestyle, location, climate, the schools … all enter into it. Fact is I did just that once in my career. I took a pay cut to return to journalism, to work for a newspaper, because that was better suited for me. I loved the job I left, and was treated extremely well by good people. But this was a better fit — even with less money. Now, this does not make me a hero. In fact, in some eyes it might make me dumber or dumpier than I think I am. It's just a fact; we all make decisions at one time or another and they're not always based completely on money.

But … when comparing our personal situations let's be honest and state that there's a big difference between comparing jobs that pay, to throw out numbers, $80,000 and one that pays $65,000, and jobs that pay in the millions. Sabathia's contract extension offer from Cleveland was worth $91 million. That's $91 million dollars. Count the zeroes — 91,000,000. OK, he gets taxed. Let's say after tax he takes home $55,000,000 — and I have no idea, I'm just guessing. If we went out to spend $20,000 per day, it would take us 2,750 days to spend that $55 million. That's 7 1/2 years of spending $20,000 per day every day. Can't be done. At least not in my world. I suppose you could buy a Prius every day, but even then you'd get tired of all the cars. (Figure it with $91 million and it's 4,550 days.)

Sabathia has an opportunity the rest of us can only dream of. He can handpick where he wants to live and play baseball — and it was because of the amount of money he will make. No matter where he signs, his contract will be huge. And I would submit that in that instance things like quality of life and a place where you are happy gain importance — because the more the money increases the less relevance it has on your lifestyle. Sabathia will have more money than he will ever need. No matter where he plays, he will be able to do whatever he wants. Unless he's the kind of guy who likes to buy a Porsche every day. So the money mattered, but where he made the money might matter more.

Which is why I say that though he may have meant it when he said he loves Cleveland, he really didn't love it as much as he loves the idea of the big contract. He loved it as long as the Indians offered him the most money. The money and the total deal was more important than anything. I don't know where that pressure comes from — maybe he wants to be baseball's highest paid player. Maybe he's waited for this his whole career. Maybe the Players Association put amazing pressure on him (A Players Union official once told me that doesn't happen, and a baseball exec said: "That's what they want you to think. The sky is purple and things like that.") I don't know. But the money clearly meant more to him than the fact he could stay in Cleveland, a city he said he loves.

This certainly is Sabathia's right. He can do whatever he wants as far as his contract. My only quibble is that he shouldn't try to tell us that his feelings for the Indians and Cleveland matter. Because they don't. Or more correctly they don't seem to matter (we'll find that out in free agency). If it's the money you want, that's fine. Just don't tell us it's about other things.

Back to Yellowstone …

There's something about buffalo, one of the true American animals. Hard to fathom that they almost went extinct after there were 100 million roaming our plains. They wander free at Yellowstone, and as one friend said: "They think they own the place." They pretty much do. To the point that they'll stop traffic for hours if they feel like crossing the road and standing there. I'm not going to mess with a buffalo. And my daughters and I think they may be in cahoots. At one point, two or three were standing in the road, blocking our car. Another buffalo was faced away from us on the side of the road. At one point he turned his head and stared right at our car, then turned back away from us and … well … let loose with a No. 2. Almost seemed schemed. Course my daughters laughed hysterically.

Here are some more pleasant views of buffalo roaming the Yellowstone ranges. And there were a lot. My daughters counted in excess of 1,100 in a week. Too, one advantage to visiting when we did is the buffalo babies are roaming as well. And they're actually kind of cute — unlike the rude one we encountered on the side of the road:

Well, C.C. Sabathia is Milwaukee-bound. Everyone and their uncle was reporting Sunday night that the Indians and Brewers had agreed on the trade, and it would see big-hitting outfielder Matt LaPorta come to Cleveland. The other two names are not known, but if one is Taylor Green it's a good thing. These two guys are highly regarded prospects in the Brewers organization. And we all know how Milwaukee spews out the stars. I opined on this for Monday's Beacon Journal, and I'll be at today's news conference (assuming there is one) but here's some quick thoughts:

—The Indians had no choice but to trade Sabathia. Cleveland has seen enough free agents leave for the highest dollar, with the Indians left with nothing but future draft picks in return. Those are nice, but in this case they would have been in the June 2009 draft, and who knows how long it would take the drafed players to produce. LaPorta could/should be ready next year.
—Sabathia may profess to love Cleveland and say he wanted to stay, but he was determined to test the free agent market. Letting him go that way was too high a risk.
—The guys acquired had best be able to play. A team does not trade a reigning Cy Young winner without getting legitimate talent in return. None of this "we think he can play" stuff. The Indians need the players acquired to be able to play, period. The last thing we need is another deal for Charlie Spikes.
—If Sabathia gives it the "I really loved Cleveland" line I may barf. Just be honest and say, "Hey, it was a nice place to play but this is my chance to make big-time money and I'm going to see what I can get."
—I'm sure Sabathia has already made arrangements to have his Jhonny Peralta Bobblehead shipped to Milwaukee after the Indians give them away in August. If not, it's got to be high on his list.
—Sabathia's case is unprecedented. He weighs 290 pounds, and will be 28 later this month. Pitchers enter their prime at 27. It stands to figure he should command a huge deal, but in five or six years he'll be 33 or 34 … and he won't get smaller. The team that signs him will take a risk.
—This is why the Indians offered a four-year extension. It's just too large a risk to give a pitcher those long-term deals. See Barry Zito. Sabathia is a fine pitcher, but he is also a risk.
—Good thing the Indians did not have to throw David Dellucci in the deal. There is a limit to what a team gives up after all.
—What in the world will the Indians rotation look like next season? Sabathia is gone (presumably). Jake Westbrook is out. Jeremy Sowers is struggling. Fausto Carmona is hurt. Wow.
—If Green is included in the deal, the Indians may have their third baseman of the future. That's a need that needs to be filled.
—A 2009 outfield of LaPorta, Grady Sizemore and Ben Francisco does not sound too bad. The Indians have to hope, though, that Francisco does not do a Franklin Gutierrez next season and drop off the planet.
–Has any other team lost a Cy Young winner like this? Once, when Frank Viola was traded from Minnesota to New York in 1989.
—Folks must be camping out to get ducats for that first start by Jeff Weaver.
—What a turn south this season has taken. Amazing.

Looking for information on LaPorta? Here's some of what I wrote for tomorrow's Beacon Journal:

"LaPorta clearly is the key – a bat for a lineup that needs one. He’s 23, plays at Class AA Huntsville and is hitting .288 and has 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 82 games.

"On July 3, he was named to the Baseball America midseason Minor League All-Star team. In February the publication called him the 23rd-best prospect in baseball and called his arrival date 2009. Which would be next year.

“'LaPorta may not be smooth in the outfield, but he more than makes up for it with his bat,' Baseball America wrote in its midseason assessment. 'He leads all Double-A batters in home runs, and ranks fifth in slugging, fourth in RBIs and second in extra-base hits (44).'

"SI.com ranked him 31st and wrote: 'The best college hitter in last year's draft, the Brewers are taking a risk by trying to teach him how to play left field, but all he needs to do is become adequate there, because at the plate, he's a monster.'”

And here are some links to information about him. I take no credit for finding them, though. Indians fans who participate on the forums at the scout.com Indians site found them. They get all the credit. Here are some stats, including his outstanding college stats at Florida. This is an online scouting report. And another online report.

The pros and cons will be discussed the next few days. Me, I'm going to ponder how a team can be within one game of the World Series one year, then the next cut their closer, trade their Cy Young winner and drop to last place.

Does this stuff happen in any other sports town in America? How about in the world? Does it happen to … say .. Real Madrid or Manchester United?

Before we get too depressed, let's remember nature can be beautiful. The Yellowstone sky produced some of the more amazing colors and rainbows I've seen.

Wonder if C.C. will find his personal pot of gold at the end of that rainbow?

Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com reports that the Milwaukee Brewers have made a serious offer for C.C. Sabathia that includes two top prospects in the team's minor leagues. The offer could include a standout left-field prospect named Matt LaPorta and shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar. Rosenthal, a longtime and well-respected baseball writer, quoted anonymous baseball types marveling that the Indians could land those two players for Sabathia — and speculates that the Indians might have to give more than Sabathia to acquire them. The story is here. My scouting reports on the pair are incomplete. Well … I've never seen them even swing on the on-deck circle. But the tenor of this story indicates two things: The Indians are listening to offers for Sabathia, so we should probably expect him to be traded, and there are teams out there willing to give up some top talent to acquire him. If these two players are involved and they are the real deal, it might be impossible for Mark Shapiro to pass up the trade.

Several folks have asked me about Brian Windhorst, our outstanding and congenial Cavs beat writer (not many folks are called congenial these days are they?). Brian is an outstanding person, and he is presently in a local hospital recuperating. He has made progress these past 10 days of treatment, but the recovery and return to health will take time. I hope you all join me in wishing him well.

I have some thoughts on the Cavs and Indians and Browns in this Sunday's Beacon Journal, as well as the final animal count conducted by my daughters at Yellowstone. Yes, they counted each one they saw, from coyotes to buffalo to elk to moose to swans. One animal hit four figures — and it was not the wild humans stepping aimlessly in elk poop. RedHawk Rick commented on the previous Yellowstone post that this trip sounded like a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my daughters, and it was. I would not trade it for anything in the world. But I kind of think going to Borders with my daughters is a pretty good time too, and there are no buffalo or bears hanging out there. Rick also asked if Yellowstone was better than Jungle Larry's Safari Island. Really now, Rick, are we not stretching things a bit there? This would be like comparing a Pixar movie to Deputy Dawg or something. Dare we insult Jungle Larry by bringing him up in the same breath as Yellowstone's majestic mountains, roaring rivers and wonderful wildlife? Please.

Learned at Yellowstone that bison babies can actually be kind of cute. Not cute like Mikey from the Life cereal commercial or Adriana Lima (he wrote, cleverly finding a way to put her picture in again), but cute in their own fuzzy way. Apparently June is the best time to see bison babies, which makes it a good time to visit the park. Too, you're not there in September, when the male elk decide they want to … well … you know … find a female. So they get kind of aggressive and go after any human wearing a backpack (Hey … the backpack line is a JOKE — but the elk do get worked up in the fall). This time of year, the elk just walk around and eat and show off their furry butts. Elk have furry butts, you know. But you probably do know because Jungle Larry taught us all that. Alas, we digress. Here are a couple baby buffalo and part of the herd we saw the first afternoon we drove into the park.

Also learned that there really is nothing like seeing a bald eagle in the wild. Well … maybe there's a couple or few things like it … but we don't need to get into that at the moment. The day we saw the eagles, this male was hunting while the young eagle hung out at the nest. At first I thought it was the female, but a wise reader posted a comment and informed me it's the baby. (Thanks for that post … kind of saved me from further embarrassment.) I had thought the female eagle sent the male to hunt while she hung around watching The View or something, proving once again that the female of the species is wiser — no doubt she buttered up this poor schmuck male by praising his strength and hunting skills and off he went, like most dopey men. While waiting for Old Faithful to erupt one day — it's interesting, but not the highlight of the trip — a woman of American Indian descent explained that in the old days the women chose the chief, and the women of the tribe decided when the Indian nation would go to war, the thinking being that they had the most to lose. Which proves once again and through generations and cultures that no matter how much influence or power we males think we have, we only have it because the females allow us to have it. Like the guy who wanted to rearrange the living room because he was tired of how it looked. His wife said: "I let him." But since this is the baby, the joke might not be all that relevant. So … never mind.

At any rate, this is the male eagle, perched proudly on the end of this tree, from far away and then close up. And then after he flew into another tree after an unsuccessful venture into the Madison River in search of a fish.

And here is the baby. Amazing how large it gets, eh?

Michael Strahan retired Monday. Strahan was a very, very good defensive end, but were he not to play in New York we'd have heard less about him. He had a great year when he set the sack record, but was given the last sack when Brett Favre fell down at his feet. It was cheap. The past year Strahan's divorce was very ugly and very public. Look, Strahan was a very good defensive end. Had Favre not fallen down, he'd have still had an excellent season without the sack record. Love to have had him on the Browns. But his value and worth were inflated by the fact he played in New York.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run Monday. In an age of Bonds and McGwire and Palmeiro and Sosa and Clemens all helping themselves and their performance with steroids and HGH and the like, Griffey seemed to be the one guy who did not juice. He fought injuries, yes, but he never appeared to cheat. He merely swung the bat, honored his contract (nine years is a long one) and played the best he could — as this story and this story relate.

Griffey had this to say about what is important to him prior to the season in a story on cbssportsline.com: "Not embarrassing your family, not embarrassing your teammates, not embarrassing the organization, I think that's very important. Other than being at my house, I'm Ken Griffey Jr. the baseball player. That's all people really know me as, other than my friends and family. Not giving any more fuel to the fire, that's what I try to do. Having my family never being in the papers. Not having my teammates or the organization answer questions. Because it gets tiring. I feel bad for the guys going through it (the steroid scandal), but more so for their teammates, because they're the ones having to answer all of the extra questions."

It wasn't real pretty when Griffey wrangled his way out of Seattle to get more money in Cincinnati, but since he's been there he's been the one star who's never been questioned. In this day and age, an accusation is just around the corner. But with Griffey those accusaions have never surfaced. At least we can look at this one guy and feel his 600 home runs — a Hall of Fame number — are legit.