Stat of the Week

Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who might be the Niners' next quarterback, completed 23 straight passes in a game against USC last fall.

Factoid That May Interest Only Me

Last week, after reporting to his new team, the New York Mets, ex-Red Sox first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was asked if he would miss the drama of the Boston-New York rivalry. "It wasn't what everyone made it out to be," Mientkiewicz said. "The Twins-White Sox is just the same to me."

I will wait till you stop laughing.

Ready?

Last year, the Red Sox and Yankees played 19 times during the regular season. Each game was a sellout. They played seven times in the postseason, all of which were sellouts. So 26 games, and not an unsold ticket. A little bit of passion, too. Just a little. Before the first regular-season meeting of the year at Yankee Stadium, a neighbor of mine went to a Manhattan ticket broker looking for five box seats for a bachelor party. His tab for the five seats: $2,100. Before Game 7 of the ALCS in New York, box seats were being brokered for $750.

Last year, the Twins and White Sox played 19 times. Zero sellouts. Average attendance in the 19 games: 24,955. Average empty seats at the Metrodome in the 10 Minneapolis games: 32,673. Average empty seats at U.S. Cellular Field in the nine Chicago games: 12,441.

My guess is you probably could have scalped five seats to one of those games for $21, not $2,100.

Doug, between the hoarded final-out-of-the-World Series ball and your opinion of this rivalry, I'm starting to have some serious questions about your sanity.

Quote of the Week

"We're like the Jackson 5. To everyone on the outside, it looks like we're tight as hell. Then we go home, and it's Jermaine in this room, Tito in that room, and Randy ain't talkin' to no one. When you get up close, it's all dysfunctional."
-- Indianapolis running back Edgerrin James, to SI's Mike Silver in a column about the interpersonal dynamics of the Colts' offensive stars.

Aggravating/Enjoyable Travel Note of the Week

You know the NFL Scouting Combine is getting a little bit out of control when TV stations from Wisconsin start covering it, and when a comely young writer from Maxim is on hand to get to know the new NFL prospects.

There is simply no end to the madness that is NFL coverage. I first covered the combine in '91, when about 10 or 12 media folks loitered in the lobby of a downtown Indianapolis hotel adjacent to the RCA Dome, catching players and coaches as they walked to and from meetings and workouts and physicals. As recent as '00, it was still a pretty low-key event. I remember asking Plaxico Burress if I could spend some time with him for a column that year. He said fine, and we talked for two hours.

Now, the players have maybe 10 or 15 minutes for the horde of at least 300 media members. The prominent prospects are hustled off to sessions with the NFL Network. What used to be an opportunity to get to know the players you might be covering for the next 10 years has turned into a drive-by. The other day, I wanted to get a couple of questions answered by Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards after he finished his session in the press room at the Indiana Convention Center. "Walk and talk, walk and talk," an NFL aide said. So about 10 of us race-walked with Edwards as he sped toward the NFL Network room, microphones and one mini-cam and ears all straining to catch his words; five autograph collectors jockeyed with us to catch Edwards' attention.

So you're in college, and you want to cover an NFL beat? Advice from the combine: Get some shoulder pads and sharpen your elbows.