I got my beginning in journalism as a sports writer and still love watching.

I had a chance to help The Brazil Times' Sports Department Thursday evening as I covered the Northview volleyball team stuff Plainfield.

It was a good game and a lot of fun to cover.

It was probably a lot warmer inside Northview's gymnasium, by the way, as Brazil Times' Sports Editor Carey Fox went to Terre Haute to cover the NHS girls' soccer team advance to a sectional title game.

But I digress.

I hadn't covered volleyball in nearly three years and it felt that way. Hopefully, the story came out fine.

While I was covering the game Thursday, and on my way back to the office, I couldn't help but think about some of the big headlines that have flashed across newspapers recently in the world of sports.

And I couldn't head into the weekend without ranting about one of them.

The subject to tackle will be Joe Torre and his plight as manager in New York.

If I were Torre, I'd leave. He's obviously not wanted. And it's not even his fault.

I remember back in the 1980s when the Yankees fell in love with signing old veterans who were really out of prime.

The Yankees were trying to get back to the title days of the late 70s.

It didn't work.

The likes of Andy Hawkins , Phil Niekro, Shane Rawley, Toby Harrah, Steve Kemp, Ken Griffey (Sr.) and Roy Smalley wore pinstripes during this time.

The first three were pitchers. Now, Niekro is a Hall of Famer, but he was at the tail end of his career.

However, a quick glance at the 1984 Yankees roster, these are some of the names you see:

Pitchers -- Jim Deshaies, Jay Howell, Jose Rijo

Infielders and Outfielders -- Rex Hudler, Stan Javier.

Interesting.

Rijo went on to win a World Series title with the Reds in 1990. Deshaies pitched very well for quite a while in Houston and Hudler was a great utility player. In addition, Javier was one of the outfielders on those great Oakland teams.

Most of these players went on to great things in other places. And they all were young in 1984. They hadn't even had a chance to get things started in the big league.

Enter 2007. The Yankees are doing virtually the same thing.

Sure, Doug Mientkiewicz has a World Series ring. Sure, Bobby Abreu is still a good hitter.

But the Yankees aren't filling up the farm system, like they did in the late 80s and early 90s.

They are being bogged down by an owner who has never learned to let it go. He has never learned to stop meddling and let the players play and the managers manage.

Now Torre is clearly in his sights.

All this owner knows is if you spend big money, big players will come to play in pinstripes.

Yeah, that's true. But those big players may be at the tail end of a brilliant career. They may not have much left in the gas tank.

Let's see how the Yankees do next season without Torre. Without Alex Rodriguez. Without some of these other players, who should bolt before the going gets tough.

It's going to happen.

Just like in the 1980s.

Welcome back George. We missed you.