The Rundown: Yankees say "just a step", celebration says different

As the saying goes, it was a banner weekend in New York sports. The Yankees clinched the AL East by sweeping the Red Sox. The Giants and Jets are both 3-0 for the first time since 2000. And the Knicks made themselves borderline watchable next season by re-signing their two key free agents. But banners aren't always a good thing. Just ask George W. Bush.

NEW YORK YANKEES: Sunday's 4-2 win over the Red Sox was about as significant as you can get for a regular-season game. The victory gave the Bombers their first division title since 2006 and secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It gave them 100 wins in a season for the first time since 2004. And it completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox and evened the season series at 9-9 after Boston won the first eight games.

A big deal, obviously. But it led to a curious postgame dichotomy.

Joe Girardi's squad said all the right things, led by the manager himself. Girardi called the win "just a step," and added: "That's the way it is here. We don't play just to make the playoffs."

Yet the Yankee skipper was sporting a '2009 AL East Champions' hat as he said it. And the scene around him belied his tempered speech.

The Yanks did everything but hang a "Mission Accomplished" banner in the locker room, dousing each other with champagne and cavorting around like they'd won the whole thing. C.C. Sabathia only added to the confusion with this head-scratching quote: "Winning a championship is what I came here for. It definitely feels good -- first one in pinstripes, first one in the new stadium, first celebration."

Now it could be that the folks at the AP decided to cut corners and combine quotes from two different questions, or Sabathia could have perfectly articulated the study in contrasts that was the Yankees after Sunday's game. If that's not enough, look at the picture and caption in this CBS Sports article and tell me the team isn't sending mixed messages.

Celebration is good. Being satisfied in your accomplishments is good. But you don't go crazy and fill the clubhouse with champagne for a regular-season title. Last I heard, they don't give out championships for winning your division. Girardi better hope the new Yankees don't get flush with regular-season success and fall flat next week.

NEW YORK GIANTS: The G-Men pounded the hapless Bucs 24-0, outgaining them 397-86 in total yards in a game that was never in doubt. They held former teammate Derrick Ward to two yards rushing on five carries and battered washed-up quarterback Byron Leftwich.

The win looked impressive, but it's hard to take much from a victory against such inferior opposition. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay's first-year coach, summed it up nicely after the game. "We were beat by a grown-man team," he said, and indeed the G-Men earned their moniker on Sunday.

As pedestrian as the victory was, it's still a W. Victories against similarly bad teams in the next two weeks (at Kansas City, vs. Oakland) and the Giants will be off to a sizzling 5-0 start.

NEW YORK JETS: Gang Green has started 3-0 just four times in its history: 1966, 2000, 2004, and now 2009. The Jets avoided an obvious trap game after their upset of the Patriots in Week 2, holding on in the second half to beat the Titans 24-17.

For the third week in a row, the onus was on the defense to put the game away. Once again, Rex Ryan's D delivered, stopping Tennessee twice in the last five minutes to put the game on ice.

Linebacker David Harris was this week's defensive hero, collecting an interception and a sack on the final defensive stands. One of Ryan's many talents so far has been his ability to coax great individual performances from his defensive players. The Jets will need someone else to step up next week against Drew Brees and the juggernaut that is the Saints' offense if they want to remain unbeaten.

NEW YORK METS: On Sunday, it will be 40 years since the formerly Amazins won the first ever NLCS game on their way to a "Miracle" World Series title. The Mets will celebrate the milestone by quietly playing their last game of this hopefully forgettable season and grabbing their Calloways out of the closet.

NEW YORK KNICKS: At the beginning of this offseason, Knicks' GM Donnie Walsh made a conscious, farsighted decision: He was not going to spend one cent more than he had to this summer. That way, he could keep enough cap space free to go after the Dream Team of 2010 free agents (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) and still have enough green left over for a decent supporting cast.

The move was a gamble, dependent on a bad economy forcing down the salary cap and scaring teams across the NBA away from making lucrative multi-year offers to the Knicks' prize free agents, guard Nate Robinson and forward David Lee.

Well, fans, it's time to light a stogie in honor of Mr. Walsh, because that's exactly what happened. Lee and Robinson tested the free agent waters and found nothing. Wednesday, they agreed to one-year deals with the Knicks that fit Walsh's plan perfectly.

Those contracts will come off the cap after this season, leaving the Knicks with the desired cap space for next offseason. And Lee and Robinson, both proven talents, will be more likely to re-sign again if they have LeBron or D-Wade as a new teammate. Isaiah Thomas was never this savvy.