Friday Firings: Mike Leake, MLB Playoff Expansion, NFL Schedule

Leake is lucky he plays baseball.

With winter continuing to harass much of the country even though it's late April, seems like as good a time as any to make multiple firings. Let's get down to it.

Fire Mike Leake - The Reds pitcher was busted this week for attempting to shoplift at a Macy's in Cincinnati when he got caught removing security tags from 6 t-shirts with a total value of $59.88. Leake is no Winona Rider and he faces a maximum of 180 days in jail (not happening), but so far he has not received any disciplinary action from baseball. He made his start as scheduled yesterday and Bud Selig has been mum. If Leake were a lawyer he would face being disbarred; if he worked in government he would be fired. Since he throws a baseball, he seems to face no punishment. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gets a lot of criticism for being tough on troubled players, but he sends the right message that poor behavior isn't tolerated. Baseball is too lax on Leake and others.

Fire MLB Playoff Expansion - After a rare good move in which MLB will take control of the Dodgers, Selig went back to his usual bad decisions yesterday when he said he would like to expand the playoffs in 2012 to 10 teams. This should be fired because the season is already too long, and if 10/30 teams make the playoffs that's bringing baseball ever closer to the NBA, which allows 16/30 into the postseason. Fans have complained for years that the NBA regular season doesn't matter and that's where baseball is headed. Let's kill this expansion plan now.

Fire Possible NFL 9/11 Memorial Game Cancellation - The Jets are scheduled for a home game on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Although no details have been announced for any sort of pre-game memorial ceremony, Coach Rex Ryan said "it's an honor to be hosting a game that night," which leads us to believe that something special could be in the works. But the best laid plans of mice and men are ruined when there's a labor dispute. It would be very sad if greed cancelled a game that is meant to honor those lost in one of the most tragic events in the history of the United States. Aside from a firing, this is also a plea to the NFL to solve its problems before this game is cancelled.