All Things Bubba

Here we are, on the eve of the most sacred Sunday of the year...yes, Super Bowl Sunday. ;-) Five inches of snow fell in Dallas, and being the winter lightweights that they are, it's a mess. Hundreds of flights canceled, rolling blackouts due to the unusual cold, ice falling off the stadium room and injuring people. Fans may spend Super Sunday stranded in airports instead of at the big game.

I wonder if the NFL is regretting scheduling the 2014 Super Bowl for New York? Five inches, hah! There's more like 50 around here. This is really getting ridiculous. We've had about 8 storms since the new year, and there's another one tonight. Up to a foot of snow...on top of the 3 feet still hanging around. I should move to Florida.

Looks like the Mets are really in trouble. According to the NY Times, they were in deep with Bernie Madoff. Madoff was entwined with the Mets organization. The Wilpons said they hadn't lost any money to Madoff...and turns out that was true. They made so much money with him that some think they were practically in cahoots with him. At the very least, they were ridiculously careless and clueless.

In any case, the trustee for the Madoff victims is suing them for $300 million dollars - clawing back their ill-gotten gains. (Which is actually good news - the Times originally reported that it could have been up to a billion dollars.)

Despite the Wilpons' insistence that they are only going to sell a minority share, it's looking like they might have to give up ownership of the team.

And to end on a high note...Reds outfielder Jay Bruce might be the coolest guy in the world.

CINCINNATI -- Jay Bruce's Major League career as a Reds outfielder was only in its infancy in the early summer of 2008, but he was already articulating some grand plans. They weren't so much about how many homers he could hit or personal awards he might eventually collect.

The vision was about how much Bruce could give back to the community, if and when he really "made it." On their own initiative, Bruce and agent Matt Sosnick scheduled a meeting with Reds Community Fund executive director Charley Frank to talk charitable contribution.

"I still marvel that Jay and Matt called us to have the meeting," Frank said. "It could not have been one or two months after his callup. We have lots of good guys, but that's the only time that's happened since I've been here."

Bruce recently signed a six-year deal, and true to his word, he's giving back. Everything from access for fans with special needs to renovating ballfields for kids to free tickets for military personnel and their families. (That last program was started by Aaron Harang, now a Padre. Bruce has taken over the funding, but insisted that it still be called "Aaron's Aces.")

Holy cow. The guy's only 23. Most guys his age, coming into that kind of money, would spend it first on cars and bling. Bruce always struck me as remarkably well-grounded and mature for a kid his age, but this is just amazing. What a sweetheart.

With all the stories out there about athletes behaving badly, it sure is nice to see a story like this.