Wimbledon gives ladies love

The grass will be greener for women at Wimbledon this year. The All England Club announced Thursday that female players will be paid as much as male players, falling in line with all other Grand Slam events.

Last year, men's champion Roger Federer received $1.170 million while women's winner Amelie Mauresmo got $1.117 million.

(Poor Amelie, right?)

Now both men and women will get the same winnings at every stage of the tournament.

The U.S. Open and Australian Open were the first Grand Slams to pay equal prize money. And, for the first time last year, the French Open paid both winners the same, but the overall prize fund is still bigger for the men.

Tennis is one of the few sports where men and women compete at the same events, making it an easy target for outcries against the disproportionate payouts.

There's been a longtime argument as to why men should get more money than the women: men plan five sets, women play three.

I totally agree with that idea, but I'd venture to guess that the audience draw for men and women is the same in spite of match lengths. I doubt Joe and Jane Fan say, "I'm going to the men's match because I'll get more bang for my buck."

Something the women do have going for them is competition unlike the men where Federer is utterly unstoppable (OK, except for at the French). Women's matches are especially more entertaining than the men's at Wimbledon. Instead of ace, ace, ace, the women have these things called rallies.

When it comes down to it, the issue here isn't about match lengths, entertainment value or which side draws more fans. This is about women being equal to men on the largest stages in tennis. If women aren't equal there, where would they be?

So should they get equal pay? I don't see why not. Should they be viewed as equals? Absolutely...

The Break-Up Part 2

Can I be honest? I really don't care about the off-field relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. And looks like Jeter feels the same way.

The Yankees shortstop responded to A-Rod's claim that the two are no longer "best friends" by saying what happens between the bases is important, not what goes on behind the scenes.

Why A-Rod talked about this in the first place seems more than a little silly. A-Rod said he needed to get this off his chest and be honest with the media for the first time since he became a Yankee.

Hey, Alex. How about being truthful about the fact that you've stunk in the postseason. That you're the highest paid big leaguer and have yet to win a championship. That suddenly wide, gaping holes have opened up along the left side of Yankee Stadium's infield.

I have no sympathy for A-Rod. He can buy more friends if he wants to.

New hats, no sweat!

Looks like Major League Baseball is taking good old George Costanza's advice that wool "doesn't breathe" and switching its wool caps to new summer weather-friendly headgear.

New Era has designed a 100% polyester hat that MLB players will crown starting opening day.

The hat's fabric will "wick" away sweat and reduce the shrinkage that comes with wool, a New Era representative said.

Reducing shrinkage, eh? Something else George Costanza would love about these hats...

The Break-Up

Somewhere between the hot corner and short stop at Yankee Stadium, there's a bit of a rift.

Turns out the friendship between Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter has been on the rocks for several years now, and A-Rod thought spring training was the perfect time to quit lying to the media about being best buds with Jeter.

A-Rod told reporters that rumors of a cooled-off relationship between the two are true.

(Quick interjection...yes, we are talking about sports and not what's going to be on the cover of this week's US Weekly.)

The story goes that Jeter got peeved at a 2001 interview A-Rod gave Esquire in which he said "Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him" and "he's never had to lead."

Ever since then Jeter won't return any of A-Rod's phone calls.

OK, I made that last part up...but doesn't this seem a little odd? I'll be curious to see if Jeter has a response.