ON THE MARK.

NHL LOCKOUT IS OVER IF THE PLAYERS AGREE TO 50-50 SPLIT.

Gary Bettman is a genius.  Some say he's a puppet for the NHL owners, but make no mistake, he is brilliant.   Today's announcement by the NHL that they have offered a deal that sees the players receive 50% of league revenues puts the onus squarely on the players.  Bettman says a full 82 game schedule can begin on November 2nd if the players agree to the deal.   If Players Association boss Don Fehr rejects the proposal, then the players look like a bunch of  greedy jerks and the owners are seen as reasonable, flexible and accommodating.   Funny, it wasn't long ago that the locked-out players appeared reasonable, flexible and accommodating and the owners looked like a bunch of greedy jerks.  Whose side are you on?   

Whenever there's a blown call by the umpires in baseball, the word "replay" rears it's ugly head.   Baseball got along without replay for nearly a century, but now it's threatening to take over the game.   Why?  Because when the New York Yankees get ripped off because of a blown call, MLB has to sit up and take notice.  New York teams are followed by New York media, and they are pretty good cage-rattlers. Currently, fair/foul and homerun/non-homerun calls are the only one's that can be reviewed.  Not safe or out on all the bases, or balls and strikes at home plate.  But when ump Jeff Nelson clearly missed a call that would've saved two runs for the Yankees on Sunday, all hell broke loose.  I think baseball will look very closely at replays involving plays at home plate, where a run is either scored or nullified.  Any other call on the bases should NOT be reviewed, or games will take 4 hours to play.

Speaking of the Yankees, it was so sad to see 38 year old Derek Jeter go down in a heap on Sunday.  He's out with a fractured ankle and his future as a ballplayer is uncertain.  The same is true for Mariano Rivera, who's been out for the entire season.  The last time the Yankees played a post season game WITHOUT Jeter or Rivera in their lineup?  1981.    The Yankees are suddenly looking old and frail.  Alex Rodriguez, who makes 29 million dollars this year, is 3 for 23 in the post-season, all singles.  He's 37 years old, and looks completely lost at the plate.  Just once I'd like to see him smash a water cooler after striking out instead of offering up that stupid grin.  For the Yanks to come back and beat Detroit would take a minor miracle.  Granderson, Swisher, Teixiera and Cano have been awful this post-season.  I don't think I've ever seen such a great group of hitters go stone cold at the same time.

Peyton Manning is 36 years old and coming off 4 neck operations, but has a much better future than A-Rod.  All Manning did was lead the Denver Broncos back from a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat the San Diego Chargers 35-24.   Manning  completed 13 of 14 passes in the second half, including 3 touchdown passes.   Now the Broncos are 3-3 on the season, the same as 10 other NFL teams.  You want parity?  You've got it.  Every team in the AFC East is 3-3.   There's only one unbeaten team, Atlanta, and even the Cleveland Browns won a game on Sunday.  Looks like everybody has a shot at the Super Bowl this year.

Finally, can someone please explain public urinal protocol when it comes to "handicapped urinals"?   I know that in a parking lot, you can't take a handicapped spot even if it's the only one available.   But if you're waiting to pee (guys, this is just for you), and the only urinal available is the shorter, wider one that has handles, are you allowed to use it, or is it strictly for a handicapped person?   This recently happened to me, and while I used the "handicapped urinal", a gentleman in a wheelchair entered the restroom and told me that I wasn't allowed to use it.   Is it against the law?  Would a bylaw officer be called in to hand me a summons?  Was I in the wrong, or was the gentleman in the wheelchair being unreasonable?   After all, he only had to wait about 30 seconds.    Your comments and suggestions are welcome.   I am puzzled.