Now we're not saying that Mariano professed undying eternal love for the Yank's newly signed All-Star catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, but he did say that he thinks he's great, loves that the team signed him, and implied he feels the Yanks are in a real good place to make a playoff run.

Mariano, whose taken on much more of a mentoring role with the young pitchers in recent years, was quick to deflect attention away him by talking about who he thinks are some of the best young relief arms in the game right now - Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels, Joaquín Benoit of Texas & Boston's Jonathan Papelbon. He said more, so check out then video after the jump...

It’s the first day of August and still nobody knows what’s ahead for Brett Favre. We fans have been driving ourselves crazy trying to figure out whether it’s Favre or the Packers organization that has caused this mess. But what really matters (for Favre and football) is the man’s legacy. Brett has been the face of the NFL for years. He’s won three MVP awards, a Superbowl, broken the all-time career touchdown record, and retired with his consecutive games started streak in tact. So what is there left to prove?

Last year Favre returned to the Packers with a simple goal: Prove that he was still a premiere NFL quarterback. And he did it by putting up Pro Bowl-worthy numbers and leading a young Packers team to the NFC Championship. At this point he has very little to gain and a lot to lose. Read more after the jump.

As sports fans of the Earth, first thing is we all have to agree on one thing: inaccurate calls suck. And as most know, MLB began paving the way to use instant replay last fall when the GM's ok'd a plan to be sent to the commissioner's office for evaluation. In fact, the Commish himself, Bud Selig said just last week, that there's a chance replay may be added for this year's playoffs.

Well, bravo fellas, it's about time. Unfortunately, though, you're still a bunch of dolts because you're only going to use replay for "fair and foul calls and for plays that happen over or near the outfield fence" and not calls at home plate or even for when players slide into the other bases - which if you ask a fan, is where most of the really egregious umpire errors occur (save for the pitching, of course, but hey, might as well leave something for the humans.)

One would think that any sports fan anywhere would always be interested in accuracy. And up to this point in history, we've done alright without any electronic back-up, but these days the electronics exist, so why not use them if they can make your sport better, more accurate, more fair, and more fun for the fan who doesn't have to worry as much about watching his or her team or player lose because of a mistake.

Now no one wants to see R2D2 behind the plate at Yankees Stadium, but if you look at the sports world, almost every sport has benefited in some way by adopting technologies, which may not have been present when that sport began. So what's the problem, boys of summer? Why not let your sport catch up to everyone else? Read more after the jump >>>

The Olympic Games in Beijing start next week and basketball fans everywhere are anxious to see how the USA men’s team will fare. For me it’s not a question of whether they will win, but how badly they will demolish their opponents. Led by coach Mike Krzyzewski and a talented cast of NBA all-stars, anything less than a gold medal will be an embarrassment.

In the ’04 Olympics, because of selfish play and a lack of interest, Team USA had to settle for bronze. We even lost to Puerto Rico, a team that had one NBA player on its entire roster! How could a USA team so loaded with talent fail to reach the title game?

It was five years ago that our weekend sports anchor Sean Kimerling was diagnosed with testicular cancer and passed away within a month at age 37. Friends and family gathered on Monday to celebrate Sean's life and to raise awareness about testicular cancer at the 5th Annual Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation Golf Outing.

In addition to members of our CW11 family, a number of celebrities were on hand to participate in the annual benefit at Bethpage State Park. It was a day of golf, dinner, live jazz, and it was all for a great cause. Video after the jump.

The baseball season has entered August and, as usual, Yankee fans are getting nervous about their team’s AL East position and playoff chances. But I’m not ready to freak out. Sure, the team is 6 ½ games out of first place and 3 ½ back of the wildcard, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to play.

With Xavier Nady and Ivan Rodriguez joining the squad, the Yankees have the most dangerous lineup in baseball. Their season numbers may not show it, but they can catch fire at any time. Their pitching staff, although shaky of late, has come a long way since April. Furthermore, they are loaded with veterans who are hungry for a championship. More after the jump.

After weeks of confusion, one thing’s sure: Brett Favre is no longer a Packer! Following hours of conversation between Favre and Coach Mike McCarthy, it was clear that the organization is determined to move on without the future hall of famer. It’s hard to imagine that the Packers will be a better team without Favre. But after all the recent mayhem, the relationship between Brett and the organization could never be the same. (Unless they won the Super Bowl.) So here’s the million dollar question: Who will Favre play for?

Right now it looks like a tossup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets. Both teams desperately need a solid quarterback and would benefit from adding the 17-year veteran. So which city’s a better fit? Tampa Bay would provide Favre playing conditions very different from those he’s accustomed to. That’s not to say he won’t perform in warm weather. He’s just really hard to beat when it’s cold. (Think New York in December). At the same time, New York isn’t the most media-friendly environment. But can things really get worse for Favre on that score? Read more after the jump.

Above: Cullen Jones Below: The U.S. Team celebrates with gold. (Chris Faytok/The Star-Ledger)

Jones, 24, had already won several medals in other international competitions, but this first-time Olympian is the first African-American swimmer to win the coveted gold medal. You can see the race video here, and what an amazing race - some call it the best relay of all time.

When Jones is not competing, he leads learn-to-swim and pool safety clinics for children. These workshops are important to him. When he was 5-years-old, Jones almost drowned at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Pennsylvania.

Last week, James Ford had a chance to talk to Cullen BEFORE he became the next Wheaties box.

WATCH THE VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP...

Basketball’s popularity is increasing internationally, which only spells trouble for the NBA and the quality of its game. With the number of international players in the NBA nearing the one hundred mark, other countries are clearly producing stars at an accelerating rate. To build up their own professional leagues, teams from Europe are sure to make U.S. superstars such as Kobe Bryant offers they won’t refuse. The world’s gain will be the NBA’s loss.

The NBA will do everything in its power to prevent this from happening. And yes, that means getting rid of the salary cap, which is what gives each team an equal opportunity to succeed. Without it, the teams with the most money are usually the ones who win. (Take baseball and the Yankees, for example.)

It’s been a decade of suffering for Knicks fans. Things seemed to hit rock bottom during the Isaiah Thomas era, but I doubt they’ll get much better. In fact, with the team making one insignificant move after another, the pain is going to get even worse if they don’t turn things around very soon.

The season opener is still months away, and the desperate organization has made some changes. The Knicks drafted Italy’s Danilo Gallinari with the sixth pick in this year’s draft. They have also added point guard Chris Duhon (as if they needed another guard). Their biggest move was the hiring of Coach Mike D’Antoni from the Phoenix Suns.

Do you remember when the Knicks were the talk of the town? They used to sell out every game before September! The Knicks are one of the most storied organizations in NBA history and their collapse has been disgraceful. This downfall began when they offered Allan Houston a mega-million deal which would limit their spending for quite a long time. Don’t get me wrong. He was a great player and did a lot of good things, but he was no Kobe Bryant. Next, the Knicks began acquiring average players with big contracts, such as Antonio McDyess and Steve Francis. And let’s not forget all of their worthless draft picks, which they ended up trading away. (The Knicks haven’t drafted a star since Patrick Ewing.) Read more after the jump.

Dubbed the Alltime Olympian on the new cover of Sports Illustrated, USA Swimming golden boy Michael Phelps weighed in on his whirlwind trip to the Beijing Games that netted 8 gold medals, bringing his career total to a record 14 golds. Speaking to the CW11 Morning News via satellite from Beijing, Phelps, while humbled by success, is already looking beyond the Olympic Games and is ready to start the next phase of his career—furthering the sport of swimming and raising money to fund the USA swimming program. Watch the interview after the jump

A country's success in the Olympic Games has always been measured by its total medal count, and as usual the United States leads in that category. But we only have a three-medal lead, and that edge can disappear by tomorrow. What's more, the Chinese have won 43 gold medals thus far compared to our 26. The Chinese have made it clear that beating the U.S. is their main objective.

What's more important, the overall medal lead or the tally of golds? The country with the most medals in the greatest number of events is clearly the most well rounded. But can we consider the U.S. the best athletic nation when China has many more number-one finishers? Many of China's gold medals have come in events such as badminton, judo, weightlifting, trampoline, artistic gymnastics, and diving, while U.S. athletes seem more concerned with the major sports. Michael Phelps and basketball's "Redeem Team" may be the talk of this year's Olympics, but the United States is not the athletic standout it used to be.

Regardless of how you look at it, China is catching up to us, and fast! Our dominance has dwindled since Sydney. We may win the total medal count in Beijing, but we're going to have to make many changes if we want to keep ruling the world of sports. We will need to start training athletes at a younger age and increase the popularity of the "minor" Olympic Sports. Is our country up to the task? More important, is this something we want to do to our kids? Do we really want to take a lot of the fun out of sports, which is what playing sports is supposed to be about? - Matan Cohen, (special to Bobby v. the World)

Kobe Bryant (left to right), LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony of the United States hold up their medals after defeating Spain in the gold medal game during Day 16 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

In a surprisingly close game with Spain, the “Redeem Team” won the gold and proved that the United States still dominates basketball. Despite talk of the world’s talent catching up with ours, Team USA beat most of its opponents convincingly, averaging a winning margin of over 30 points.

The US team was clearly more prepared for this year’s games than in 2004, when it failed to reach the gold medal game. These guys really wanted to win and their dedication was evident. Team USA also represented our country very well off the court. Players showed up on many occasions to support American athletes participating in other events. Not so the 2004 team, which was extremely standoffish and didn’t seem to understand what it means to represent your country.

Maria Sharapova unveiled her limited-edition Canon Powershot Diamond Collection Wednesday, August 20 2008 at New York City's South Street Seaport.

I had the enviable task of covering the unveiling of Canon’s new Powershot Diamond Collection on Wednesday. I wasn’t as interested in the diamond encrusted camera, however, as I was the 6’2 Russian tennis player that was doing the unveiling. Although Maria Sharapova won’t be playing in the U.S. Open this week due to a torn rotator cuff, she did make it out for a night on the red carpet at the South Street Seaport. I caught up with her to talk about the injury, and her thoughts on having to sit out her first major. Video after the jump.

Professional sports, such as football, have been using instant replay for years to review questionable calls on the field. Major League Baseball will begin utilizing it today for debatable home run calls. Thank god, right? Now we no longer have to worry about teams losing games because of a foul ball called fair or a fan interference that went unnoticed.

But will MLB eventually begin to use replay for other controversial calls, making the game even longer than it already is? And of more immediate concern, does it make sense to introduce such a crucial rule near the end of the season? Read more after the jump.