Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Washing the mind while wondering why has-been pop stars don’t entertain late night visits from sportswriters:

What a strange bird this A-Rod character is. Great baseball player, but strange. Not to delve too far into the soap opera aspects of this episode, but either he really is as cold as he’s being accused of being, or he fakes “cool under fire” pretty darned well. Both scenarios are kind of troubling.

Is “Kabbalah” ancient Hebrew for “I’m about to lose half a fortune in divorce but I can still walk around with this goofy, not a care in the world look on my face?”

Haven’t quite put my finger on it yet, but something’s missing from this Red Sox team, something I fear not even the return of David Ortiz can cure. The sum of the parts just doesn’t seem to equal the whole. Maybe the eye of the tiger is gone. Maybe Father Time has caught up with too many key contributors. Maybe it’s the traveling secretary’s fault. Something. Let you know as soon as I’ve figured it out.

You won’t get much debate about James Posey being option number one for the Celtics this offseason. But if Big Game James is destined to move on to greater riches, Cory Maggette isn’t a bad 1A. I’ll take a 28-year old who averaged more than 22-points per game last year as a fallback option.

Even if his defensive game isn’t up to Posey’s high standards, being on the same practice court as Kevin Garnett will elevate Maggette’s level of play. All you need to do is check out game tape of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen laying down the “D” to see what effect a little effort and motivation can have on that side of the court. The area we don’t know about, and won’t until he’s tested under fire, is how the former Duke star performs when the money’s on the line. In that regard, Posey doesn’t have many peers. And that’s a skill set you can’t teach. You either have it, or you don’t.

Ben Coates certainly earned his place in the Patriots Hall of Fame. Very nice tight end, with some eye popping numbers in his prime. Best tight end in Patriots history? Not even close. Russ Francis holds that distinction. Had he played in a passing era, the player Howard Cossell dubbed “All-World” would have easily matched Big Ben’s reception numbers. Not just that, but many in the know say he was the second best blocker on those 70’s Patriots squads, ranking right behind a guy by the name of Hannah.

The reason that magnificent Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final won’t lead to a tennis resurgence here in the States is because neither one of them is American. That’s too bad, but as a sporting nation, we tend to ignore accomplishments unless they come from one of our own.

And what once seemed like an inevitable march to career Grand Slam records for Roger Federer and Tiger Woods doesn’t seem like such a foregone conclusion now, does it? In the case of the Swedish racket star, Rafael Nadal’s emergence has slowed the assault on Pete Sampras’ record of 14 (Federer has 12). As for Tiger, injury seems to be the biggest stumbling block. How Woods knee responds to the latest surgery could go a long way in determining how close he gets to Jack Nicklaus’ 18-majors (needs four more to tie).

Me? I’m still waiting to write my first winning column. And for that late-night invitation from Debbie Gibson.

That's the view from here...how do you see things?