AL MVP? How about Derek Jeter

I know there will be a lot of clamoring for Joe Mauer and Mark Texeira, and it will be justified because they are both deserving candidates for the American League Most Valuable Player award.

But I'm rooting for Derek Jeter to finally win one. The classy Yankees' star is having a superb year at the plate and in the field where he supposedly no longer had the range to play shortstop. He remains the heart and soul and leader of a team that's currently the best in baseball.

I don't believe in using the MVP as a lifetime achievement award. I think it should be based on what you've done that particular season, and if you look at Jeter's stats (.332 batting average, 86 runs scored, 16 homers, 21 stolen bases), you realize he has earned it on performance rather than sentiment.

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When a punt boinked off the scoreboard high above the Dallas Cowboys' new billion dollar playpen the other night, referees whistled the play dead and ordered a re-kick. I think it would be kind of cool if you had ground rules saying you have to play the ball off the scoreboard. It would be like the rules we made up when we were kids when trees, telephone poles and even parked cars were in play. You have to admit, it would make things interesting.

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You would think for a billion dollars the architects and Cowboy and NFL officials might have taken into account a punter's ability to boot a football really, really high. Then, again, when I sat in the second deck in right field at the new Yankee Stadium - another billion-dollar edifice - I foolishly expected to be able to see rightfielder Nick Swisher when he took his position. Little did I know they would design the place with obstructed view seats.

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Help me here, folks. The Bills play in a division in which each of their opponents have played 3-4 defenses for several seasons, and they're still acting like this defense is a complicated mystery. Not a good sign.

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So Beth takes Sassy the Cat to the vets recently and runs into a farret who's name is - I'm not making this up - Farret Fawcett.

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I can't recall a team more snake-bitten than the 2009 Mets. The injury-bug is so bad that their pitching ace Johan Santana and newcomer Jeff Francoeur might soon join David Wright, Carlos Beltran and 9 others already on the disabled list. The team is cursed.

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Congratulations to Jenna Cacciatori and Warren Frame on their marriage, and get-well wishes to my good friend and fellow baseballist, Max "Country Mile'' Robertson, who's battling an infection on his leg.