Even if you are not a big sports fan, its pretty common knowledge that the Yankees are the definition of excellence. Twenty-seven World Series titles, a $230 million payroll, and playoff appearances in 15 of the last 16 years, means that anything less than first is a failure for the Bronx Bombers (reminds me of Ricky Bobby). But not only could the Yankees miss the playoffs this year, they could do it in spectacular fashion.

A month ago, the Yankees had a seven-game lead in the American League East (which, for those of you who don’t who follow baseball, is a pretty sizable advantage). And yet over the last month the Yankees have gone 13-17, and are now fighting off the Baltimore Orioles, who are only one game back in the East. So should Yanks fans start getting ready for a collapse like the Boston Red Sox had last year? The simple answer is no.

Firstly, the Yankees are in luck that this year because Major League Baseball added a second Wild Card spot for the playoffs, which means that if they can not hold off the Orioles, they have two other shots at reaching October. Second, the Yankees last 16 games are against mostly bad teams (Toronto, Boston, Minnesota) and the only tough series they have left is against the Wild Card leading Oakland Athletics. And yet this year’s team really seems like they would be just fine sitting out this postseason. The starting rotation, with the exception of Hiroki Kuroda, is flopping, and a combination of injuries to Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and Mariano Rivera have left the Yankees missing key contributors on their team for large portions of the season.

So while Yankees fans will be biting their nails, wondering about their still ambivalent chances of playing October baseball, the rest of the New York sports world continues on. Here are some of the highlights from last week:

• The Giants avenged their first week loss to the Cowboys by winning a shootout against the Buccaneers, 41-34. Giants coach Tom Coughlin had a little fit after the game because the Buccaneers decided they actually wanted to play until the last down and tackled Eli Manning when he was taking a knee with time winding down. Its nice to see that Coughlin is still willing to get fiery every once and a while, even if it was a slight overreaction.
• The Jets, on the other hand, were not as fortunate as the Giants, and lost big to the Steelers with a final score of 27-10. The new Jets’ offense did not look to potent this week, with Mark Sanchez completing only 10 passes for 138 yards and Tim Tebow only had one carry for 22 yards. Maybe the Jets need to let Tim Tebow use his magic powers/sheer luck a little more?
• The Mets? Well, they keep losing. The team’s record? 66-80. But, hey, R.A. Dickey!

And in NYU sports news:

• The men’s soccer team, off to one their best starts in team history with a 6-0 record, defeated Baruch College 4-0 on Saturday, with goals from Paolo Luciano, Kyle Green (2), and Mickey Ingerman.
• The women’s soccer team walloped Old Westbury 8-2 this Saturday, improving to 3-2 on the year.
• The women’s volleyball team split their two final games of the RIT Invitational on Saturday, defeating St John Fisher College in three sets before losing to Bluffton College in five sets. The Violets are now 6-5 on the year.
• The men’s golf team finished 14th overall at the Duke Nelson Invitational on Sunday, while the women’s golf team finished 5th overall at the NYU Invitational.

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