THE GREATEST SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVER EVER?

I'm not even a comic book fan but I really love this new cover of Sports Illustrated. Of course I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon of pundits who believe the New York Yankees are done. A baseball season is not a sprint but a marathon. A really long fucking marathon that consists of a 162 games. While I will be the first to admit I love seeing the Yankees get their asses handed to them night in and night out I also believe this team has way too much talent to just throw in the towel a quarter of the season into it. The Yankees starting pitching has been bad lately and it will be interesting to see how Joba Chamberlain pitches going into the 4th and 5th innings when he could be gassed.

I'm also not sure if Tampa Bay can keep up with their current performance. They might have a lot of young talent but they also have holes. They don't score a lot of runs and their starting pitching is still really young with guys who are unproven. I will be rooting for them every time they play with the exception of their match ups with the Orioles but I can see them fading over the long haul of the season. I hope I'm wrong because I like watching the Rays play baseball. I would kill to have either one of a Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, or Evan Longoria in my starting lineup. But let's be realistic for once on this site and see that the Rays will only go so far as their starting pitching and bullpen leads them. With Troy Percival as the closer I wouldn't be laying too many prop bets on them reaching the playoffs this year. Next year they could be one of the best teams in the majors especially if they hit a homerun with their #1 pick in the MLB draft, say picking up catcher Buster Posey who could reach the big league team fast as a catcher.

But I got to give kudos out to SI for the cover. I'm sure a lot of comic book nerds will be swooping in Barnes and Nobles throughout the country and buying it and sealing it within their acid free room.