Every Thursday, 7IS Contributor Ryan Henning will take a look at a rumor burning up the hot stove. You may not think it’s important, but it must be important to someone.

Bryan Hoch fled to Twitter to report that, behold! Mariano Rivera doesn’t know when he wants to retire, but he does know that he wants to play baseball! That’s great. It’s good to know that the Steinbrenners haven’t sucked the soul out of everyone in New York, even those that have been there for so long.
The best part of Today’s Journalists taking to Twitter is that they give us no details or context. Why is it breaking now that Rivera doesn’t know when to retire? Is there something wrong with him? Who will fill the void if he does retire? HOLY CRAP, MARIANO RIVERA WILL ONE DAY STOP PLAYING BASEBALL! IT’S AN EVENTUALITY I NEVER ONCE CONSIDERED!!! So yeah, Twitter is fun for elevating blood pressure and leading to rampant speculation. Let’s speculate:

- After Rivera retires and the Yankees keep winning because of their powerful offense and elite rotation, baseball writers might finally say “Hey, maybe he wasn’t such a big deal after all”.

- It’s only a matter of time until Rivera assumes the title of most frightening head in the Hall of Fame (though I hear Nap Lajoie could give him a run for his money)

- There will be no more players wearing the number 42 left in the game upon his retirement. Thanks a lot, Jackie Robinson.

We read darn near the entire internets so you don’t have to, presenting you with some of the best baseball-related material darn near every weekday in Peanuts & CrackerLINKS….

• Dave Zirin on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali. [si]
• Charlie Manuel sheds a ton of weight with Nutrisystem. [the FIGHTINS]
• A Chicago landlord is suing Milton Bradley for back rent. [not QUALIFIED to COMMENT]
• Paulie Rice on Tim Lincecum, Conan O’Brien and Martin Luther King, Jr. [give 'EM some STANKEYE]
• The one and only Oscar Azocar. [diamond HOGGERS]
• A very special conference championship edition of Chalk’s 8 Random Videos. [nesw SPORTS]
• A cogent analysis of why Jay Leno sucks. [speakeasy]

Got a post you think is worthy of link dumpage? Please send links @ NESWblogs-at-gmail.com. Or just follow Chalk on twitter and send him a DM.

Top Story is 7IS Editor-in-Chief David Chalk’s take on the top MLB story of the day….

mlb.com calls this a “mega-deal.”  The biggest trade of the Winter Meetings in idyllic Indianapolis, sure.  But I don’t think Curtis Granderson will be why the Yankees repeat or not.  Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy are not the second coming of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk touts Granderson as the second coming of Jackie Robinson:

One of the most underrated talents is packing his suitcase and moving to the best team in the biggest city in the sport and, oh look!, he just so happens to be African-American. Add in new Yankee CC Sabathia and longtime shortstop Derek Jeter and you’ve got a 1-2-3 punch of African-American superstars up the middle in the most conspicuous market in baseball. In a sport where African American participation on the highest levels has decreased of late, having three of the best talents concentrated on one very high-profile team could be a boon to a rejuvenated interest in baseball in New York City, and not just the lily-white suburbs.

Personally I’d take Gary Sheffield over CC and Granderson.  (Is Granderson already better than Bernie Williams?)

More importantly, there’s always been tons of interest in New York City in baseball.  Interest in playing baseball is a different matter.  Money keeps most city kids from playing baseball, just as it keeps most fans from actually getting out to a game in The New Replica Old Dump In The Bronx.  The Yankees buying every African-American All-Star won’t make playing Little League less expensive than basketball.  Nor does it mean that this multi-billion dollar corporation doesn’t take much more from the city than it gives back.