Ah, what a relief it is to see baseball players reporting to camp, gathering in warm weather parks — although in our weird winterless year, they could have done that almost anywhere, like Canada — and sparking that starting-anew feeling in fans everywhere.  Well, that would be everywhere except in Yankeeland — which is mostly in New York, but we believe Yankees fans have colonized other parts of the solar system too — where Mariano Rivera reported early and dropped Steinbrenner ego-size hints that this will be his last season and oh my gosh, can we really start panicking in February?! After all, this is a piece of the foundation saying he is about to leave a corner of the dynasty propped up on cinder blocks while he retires to Panama a hero. Saying goodbye to Jorge Posada seemed easy enough. Parts of him were already propped up on cinder blocks. But Mo? He’s a huge part of the franchise’s mystique, its closer, its reason for believing it can win any close game, all wrapped up in one smiling, affable, seemingly ageless package that everybody likes.  Rivera, it turns out, is not ageless. John Harper writes in The Daily News that surgery to remove polyps from his vocal cords this winter served as a scary reminder of his mortality. His exit would surely signal the end of this Yankees era, even if Derek Jeter remains, writes Joel Sherman in The New York Post. True to Rivera’s low-key form, he will not turn this goodbye year into a circus act, as Wallace Matthews writes on ESPN.com, but that does not mean a circus will not break out despite him.  Most of the rest of baseball is not thinking goodbyes but hellos and renewed hope. The Angels rolled out a big red carpet for the arrival of Albert Pujols, who ushers in a new era of urgency, writes Scott Miller on CBSSports.com. It just could lift the Angels over the top, writes Jon Paul Morosi on Foxsports.com, because Pujols is only one piece of the team makeover.  In Oakland, the team that made penny-pinching famous signed a big name at its traditional thrift-store prices. The A’s took a $500,000 flyer on the chance that Manny Ramirez’s bat can produce a little more magic. The chances are better that he will turn into a major headache, writes Mark Purdy in The San Jose Mercury News, but at least the A’s have his 50-game drug suspension to stock up on Exedrin.  If the Yankees were not enough to give New York pause Monday, the Knicks contributed to a sobering feeling. Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup, the defense promptly went on vacation and the Nets’ Deron Williams got to stamp all over Linsanity, which was pretty much his sole purpose in life Monday, writes Adrian Wojnarowski on Yahoo.com. The Nets’ victory served as an ever-so-brief reminder of their existence and pointed up a few key facts about the Knicks that are lost in the howling when Jeremy Lin leads them to victory. They are a team of strangers, writes Dave D’Alessandro in The Star-Ledger of Newark, and you cannot fast-track past the part where all these parts form a team. Not only did Anthony return but Baron Davis made his Knicks debut, adding to the work-in-progress feel, writes Ben Glicksman on SI.com. Assimilating Anthony is the big challenge, writes George Willis in The Post, and will take time.  The good thing is, we seem to have gone a day without some stupefying Asian stereotype marring the Lin coverage, although Bill Plaschke argues in The Los Angeles Times that perhaps the best thing about Linsanity is how it is forcing America to take a better look at itself and its lingering biases.  Los Angeles is adept at creating its own sideshows, the latest emerging out of Kobe Bryant’s public takedown of his own front office over Pau Gasol trade rumors. Bryant’s stance is commendable, writes J. A. Adande on ESPN.com, as an assist to a valued teammate, but it also shows just how much the Lakers’ front office has deteriorated, writes Ken Berger on CBSSports.com.  In Chicago, they cannot hear any of that because fans are too busy exhaling over the return of Derrick Rose from a back injury.  In the N.H.L., Detroit’s amazing season has a detractor in Don Cherry, who argues that the Red Wings cannot win because they do not fight enough. Please do not bother Cherry with the fact that they do win. Quite a lot, actually. If a rant made sense, it would not be emanating from Cherry.  In soccer, the top-flight players — at least the ones not freezing their shin guards off at a Champions League game in frigid Moscow — seem to be obsessed with giant fish tanks. The Red Bulls’ Thierry Henry is razing his London mansion just to add a really ridiculous one.  The N.F.L. has hit a quiet spot in its usually noisy off-season, with players understandably heading off to vacation. It is a bit interesting that Tom Brady and his receiver-taunting wife, Gisele Bundchen, are taking one with Wes Welker and his fiancée. The other Patriots’ lightning rod, Rob Gronkowski, prefers to spend his off time at baseball games, and provided a video gem by participating in a dizzy bat race.  The rest of the major league dizzy bat race will kick off soon, right after we get our fill of the baseball preseason’s hope and promise. Or panic.  Follow Leading Off on Twitter: twitter.com/zinsernyt
Sportswriters are looking at the possibility that this season might be the final one for the Yankeesâ longtime closer.