CSN Bay Area

THE PRO BOWL RATINGS HAVE DROPPED FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW! THERE IS A GOD, AND HE WORKS FOR US ALL!

Well, okay, I can’t say that there is a God for sure, but if there is a life force that tries to help where it can, this is the proof right here.

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Uh-oh, Fall Guy Alert! The NFL has seized upon an unnamed locker room attendant as a “deflater of interest.” In other words, the non-story that has taken wings has now lit upon someone who almost certainly did not do whatever he might have done on his own.

I remember the days when the NFL was good at handling the news. Now it is apparent that they are no longer even bothering to try. But credit to them for doing a great job finding this video after tearing stomach and neck muscles not looking at the Ray Rice video.

[RELATED: Kraft puts Goodell squarely between rock, hard place]

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Russell Wilson knows how to duck, but in fairness he’s had more than a week to avoid the air-in-the-ball story.

“It had nothing to do with anything,” Wilson said Monday. “We’re not focused on that. We’re focused on playing our football and playing one play at a time, and trying to find a way to win the Super Bowl . . . I don’t think the integrity of the game’s under assault or whatever you want to say. I think that we have a lot of great football players in this football league and we do things the right way.”

No, the game’s integrity is not under assault. The business’ integrity, however, long ago disintegrated, to the point where even all this talk is good for the league, in that nobody’s-looking-at-anyone-else kind of way.

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And the last last last word on the subject until tomorrow comes from noted scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who tweeted out the following:

“For the Patriots to blame a change in temperature for 15% lower pressures requires balls to be inflated with 125-degree air.”

That damned diabolical ball boy!

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Why the New York Yankees Suck, No. 3,337,485: Knowing full well who and what Alex Rodriguez was (and yes, they’ll deny it, but shut up), they are still trying to hose him out of marketing home run bonuses that start when he hits his sixth and ties Willie Mays at 660, according to the New York Daily News (http://nydn.us/1wxOgl6). This is separate from the $61 million in salary they still owe him for signing his name, but further reveals their strategy of turning on him just to save money.

And you don’t have to like Alex Rodriguez to know that’s wrong. I mean, isn’t knowing your guys were rampantly drugging and still signing them just corporate cheating?

Let me help you with that. Yes. It is.

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So let’s check in on the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant wants to play but can’t. Nick Young seemingly doesn’t want to play but can, except when he’s benched. And the rest of the team is, well, the rest of the team. And the Minnesota Timberwolves are still worse, which leads to the obvious question, “Just how many teams are tanking here?”

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With the angry reaction of fans from the results of Sunday’s Royal Rumble (someone named Roman Reigns won a thing, if that matters) in which so many people apparently called to complain or canceled their subscription to the WWE channel outright that the server crashed, we look forward to what awaits the NFL Network when the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl.

Also, when the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl. Yay Hating The Ending Whatever It is!

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Rob Manfred’s letter to the fans as he begins his tour as MLB commissioner didn’t assuage those who see that he is trying to eliminate the defensive shift. Credit to him, though, for attacking a problem that doesn’t exist that doesn’t bother anyone, because there are no other problems with baseball at all.

Besides, he has a really creepy smile. Based on that alone, I wouldn’t trust him to open a can that was already open.

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And finally, the NHL’s red cups on All-Star Media Day are the new industry standard for all things sports, almost negating the fact that it was the last hockey thing anyone did all weekend in Columbus. Now if we can pour a couple of shots down Mike Emrick’s spectacular gullet for the outdoor game in San Jose, where the weather is expected to be a health-threatening 66 degrees, with skunks and possums coming out of the ductwork to frighten the children.