FanNation - The Republic of Sport

George Steinbrenner's reign coincided with MLB free agency.
AP

The news that George Steinbrenner, in declining health, anointed his son, Hal, as the heir apparent of the Yankees was a foregone conclusion. That he chose Hal, the reserved son, over Hank, the more boisterous son, was especially good news to general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi.

Nobody expects Hal to have the same hair-trigger reactions as his father. Hank, on the other hand, might as well been named George Jr.

Now that George is no longer The Boss, he is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Should he be immortalized in Cooperstown alongside other owners such as Walter O’Malley, Bill Veeck, Tom Yawkey and Charlie Comiskey?

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Steinbrenner influenced baseball. It was fitting that his purchase of the Yankees from $10 million in 1973 nearly coincided with the dawn of free agency. There wasn’t a bigger spender in baseball. As such, Steinbrenner raised the bar for other teams while restoring the fabled glory and tradition of the most successful and marketable franchise in sports. Steinbrenner is the reason rappers wear Yankees caps.

Randy Edsall says he's not interested in the job at Syracuse.

AP

UConn football coach Randy Edsall has been portrayed as a liar by some in the Connecticut media. I see it as walking a fine line between misleading the media and telling the truth,  simple to avoid tipping your hand and putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage.

So, when Edsall recently said he has no interest in the head coaching job at Syracuse, his alma mater, I believed him, despite reports that he was a leading candidate. But I'm not sure whether to believe he's staying in Storrs. UConn will always be a basketball school as long as Edsall is there, however long that may be.       

In an interview on the New England Sports Network (NESN) earlier this week, Edsall was asked whether he was happy at UConn. He said yes. Then he was asked if he was staying there. He didn't say yes or even answer in the affirmative. He just reiterated that he was happy in Storrs.

Stephon Marbury (left) wasn't too interested in playing Friday.

AP

The Stephon Marbury saga degenerated into a tit-for-tat game between the disgruntled Knicks guard and the team, and both sides are to blame.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't doing Marbury any favors by benching him the first 11 games. Marbury returned the favor Friday night by refusing to play, leaving the Knicks with only eight healthy players and virtually no chance in a 104-87 loss to the Bucks.

Earlier in the day, the Knicks traded three players -- Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins -- in two separate deals and the three players they acquired hadn't not join the team in Milwaukee.

President-elect Barack Obama made a personal appeal to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to his home city of Chicago.

Annika Sorenstam's storied LPGA Tour career ended when she missed the cut at the ADT Championship. [YouTube]

Eri Yoshida, 16, became the first woman drafted by a professional Japanese men's baseball team. [YouTube]

A petition is circulating to make pole dancing an Olympic sport. [KTVU.com]

Witness the resurrection of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. [YouTube]

Spike Lee may be the most famous Knicks fan in the world.
Al Bello/Getty Images

News of the Knicks' trades Friday afternoon came up on Spike Lee's cell phone, each one eliciting as little reaction as the next, as the famed director sat in a Hollywood studio.

"It was funny ... I was in the middle of a shoot, and I got this e-mail that the Knicks had traded Jamal Crawford to Golden State for Al Harington," said Lee, who is currently directing a Super Bowl commercial. "I like Jamal a lot. Maybe I'll see it differently, but right now I don't see that trade."

Lee, who shrugged his shoulders at both trades, basically felt the same way about the Knicks dealing Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley. "I don't see it," he said. "They're making moves, but I just don't see it right now."

Then again, that's nothing new for the Knicks, who have been making countless moves for the past seven years, none of which have helped them be anything other than a sub.-.500 team.

The move Lee would like to see the Knicks make is to either play or move disgruntled point guard Stephon Marbury, who hasn't played this season and has been deactivated for every game since the first week despite being healthy and ready to play. "The man's stuck in limbo," said Lee. "He's stuck in Knick limbo. They're paying $22 million a year. They have to do something with him ... but I think [Mike] D'Antoni is a good coach, and the games I've gone to this year have been enjoyable."