At 8:55 Thursday morning, as usual, my radio alarm clock turned on "Imus in the Morning" to rouse me for a new day. The first words my semi-conscious mind processed were the I-man's rambling: "The big news of the day is the Yankees have acquired Roger Clemens."

I thought I was still dreaming, but not even my subconscious would have entertained such news.

Soon enough, my confusion turned to stunned disbelief as Mike Breen, the witty Imus sportscaster, confirmed the news, "Susyn Waldman of WFAN is reporting this morning that the Toronto Blue Jays have traded Roger Clemens to the Yankees for David Wells, Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush."

No more doubt remained--Waldman is the well-connected Yankee beat reporter for the best sports talk station in the nation--and that left only one emotion:

It's just not fair.

There simply was no need for the Yankees to acquire the best pitcher this generation for a loveable left-handed fat man and spare parts. The 1998 Yankees won 125 games, and the 1999 version has even more talent.

Most of the league had privately already conceded the title to the Yankees, barring catastrophic injury. Toronto tipped that off by breaking a cardinal rule of trading a superstar within its own division.

Why then would the Yankees need to send one of their most beloved ballplayers in Wells to the Jaybirds? Sure, the deal makes excellent baseball sense, and Clemens is a special player, but with the Yankees everything means so much more.

With the Yankees, it's all about the headlines.

Much like Harvard squash, George Steingrabber discovered that quiet and expected dominance doesn't always make big news.

A look at the parade of names on the back page of the New York Post and Daily News reveals it all:

Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura, Ricky Henderson, Latrell Sprewell.

The tabloids grew tired of Derek and Mariano and only gazed towards the South Bronx when the Champs nearly lost Bernie.

No more, now the buzz is around one man only--The Rocket.

Piazza's first full season as a Met? Not important.