George Steinbrenner is being sued by a cable executive claiming that The Boss stole his idea for the YES Network. Bob Gutkowski is suing Steinbrenner for $43 million, claiming that he pitched the idea that the Yankees start their own network back in 1996, six years before YES hit the airwaves. Gutkowski had worked with Steinbrenner while he was president of MSG network, negotiating the historic 12-year, $493.5 million deal to bring the Bombers to cable in 1988. The suit says that The Boss wanted to use the threat of starting a network to get $1 billion for a 10-year extension from MSG, who had been taken over by Cablevision (which had ousted Gutkowski from his former role). Gutkowski claims that Steibrenner said to him and his partners, "You are my guys. If it goes forward, I will do it with you." But Steinbrenner did not "do it" with Gutkowski, instead stalling him and stringing him along, according to the executive. The Yankees have called the suit "false and frivolous" and denied Gutkowski had any role in developing the YES network. more ›

Apparently, Jim Dolan is pretty happy with the way things are going with the Knicks. That’s the only conclusion you can reach after reading the piece on him in this week’s Sports Illustrated. more ›

Doug Mientkiewicz’s sixth home run broke a 4-4 tie in the 8th. Mike DeJean, just one day removed from allowing the winning run in Sunday's 5-4 loss in Milwaukee, won in relief of Aaron Heilman. Mike Piazza had a three-run home run and Kaz Matsui a solo shot for the Mets, who have won four of five on this road trip and six of seven overall. Heilman survived two rain delays totaling an hour and 35 minutes to last five and a third innings. Dae-Sung Koo relieved him and promptly blew the 4-0 lead, allowing two inherited runners to score along with two of his own. more ›

Really though, are we missing anything? Time Warner is replacing MSG and FSNY with NBA TV and College Sports TV giving their customers $2 per month while the channels are off their network. While the Knicks have improved recently, Gothamist would gladly take $2 not to watch them play until the season moves closer to the Playoffs. And the Mets? Are we really missing all that much in Spring Training action? Nope. more ›

The good news for Mets fans is that the Mets finally returned to TV on Time Warner. Whether or not you want to watch the Mets is another issue. Time Warner and Cablevision settled their pissing match, which restored the MSG Network, Fox Sports Net, and a few other channels to Time Warner's 2.4 million cable subscribers in the area. The dispute over rights fees resulted in the channels being pulled on August 1st, affecting coverage of the slumping Mets, who are cover your eyes ugly anyway. more ›