You think anyone really cares about A Rod flirting with some sloot if the Yankees are up 2-0, or even tied 1-1? You think there’d be a playground brawl brewing between Swisher and the Bleacher Creatures if the Yankees weren’t looking at a must win tonight? Attendance issues making headlines if this series didn’t look as grim as it does? It’s amazing what losing can do to a ball club. It’s like when you quit smoking and all your medical issues start surfacing. Every ugly story line is moving to the front page to try and make sense of what the fuck is going on in New York. I’m just waiting for it to come out that Teixeira made some racist remarks about Delmon Young or that Eric Chavez is running a child slavery ring.

What makes distractions in sports so much different than most other places in life is that there is a magic button to make them go away. Winning. If Yankees are winning and A Rod’s got a .375 average with a couple home runs in the ALCS, his inappropriate flirting magically transforms into a funny clip of A Rod enjoying the perks of a great post season. If Swisher’s hitting better than his current playoff average of like .008, he’s back to his normal crowd-saluting, bullshit spewing self. But they’re not winning, so every detail is under the microscope. Every issue blogged and every negative word blown up into some huge controversy. If the Yankees want this Citi Field style media shit storm to stop, they have to go into Detroit tonight and beat baseball’s best pitcher. Make this a series and the tide starts turning.