We interrupt our weekly football coverage to talk about the rest of the sporting schedule …

Nine long years since they last won a World Series, George Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman must be feeling such relief that they finally got something for their $200 million annual investment.

Forget the Washington Nationals. If the Yankees hadn’t won the World Series, they would have been the biggest failure in baseball. Given the amount of money Steinbrenner spends every year, the Yankees are always the biggest failure in baseball when they don’t win the World Series. It’s just the economic truth.

With that in mind, how can the Yankees and their fans feel any sense of achievement even when they do win? How proud can you be of buying a championship? We ask the 2003 Florida Marlins the same thing. Because it has no spending cap and because it really is an individual sport disguised as a team game, baseball is the only pro sport where you can actually buy a title.

But, hey, Alex Rodriguez has no problem with that. Pay-Rod – that cheating, steroid-popping, selfish, narcissistic liar – finally was able to win a title, thanks to being on the best-paid team with the most talent in baseball. Yep, eight years after going to Texas “to win” (and get paid $250 million), he finally did win. Good job, little Alex, we’re so proud of you. 

Bud Selig had to be proud the Yankees were in the World Series this year, especially with the Phillies as the opponent. It gave his sport relevance on the East Coast at a time when most people are paying attention to football. Game 5 on Monday actually earned higher TV ratings than a very good “Monday Night Football” matchup between smaller-market teams (Atlanta at New Orleans), 15 million viewers to 12.5 million. And the game Wednesday, with no football being played, attracted 22 million people. Good for you, Bud.

And it’s a good thing baseball finally wrapped up its interminable season, because don’t pitchers and catchers report next week?  

Speaking of sports that run too long, the NBA is in full swing. Starts early, ends late, with ridiculously long playoff series. How long is the NBA season? Well, it starts a month after football season begins and ends a month before football teams report to training camp the next year.

The NBA can be fun to watch (especially if you have a team in your city), but its season should be cut to 50 games, the playoff field should be cut in half (this is not college football bowl season) and the postseason should be shortened.

Speaking of long playoff series, have the Sounders played that second game against Houston yet? That thing should have been done last weekend. Why in the world are there 10 days between soccer games? Talk about ridiculously drawn-out playoffs.

And — one more time – why is soccer being played at Qwest Field on a Sunday in the middle of NFL season? The MLS Cup on Nov. 22 is why the Seahawks have three straight road games for only the second time in franchise history. And you thought Tim Ruskell was an idiot.

The Sounders have kind of replaced the Sonics in the Seattle sports world, but there is constant chatter from people who want the NBA back in Seattle.

But no one from Seattle should go begging David Stern for an NBA team. The smart thing to do would be to wait patiently until Stern and the NBA get so desperate that they come back and beg Seattle to take a team. And then the city could dictate the terms.

The NBA eventually will want to come back to Seattle, and then the city can tell the Circus of 7-footers just how it will be done: Our way or stay away. Yeah, we loved having the Sonics for 41 years. But we don’t need a team so badly we should kiss Stern’s ass. Ask us nicely, Davey, and maybe we’ll accommodate your league again.

There’s just no reason to pander to a greedy little man like Stern, who almost makes you want to root for George Steinbrenner’s damn Yankees.

OK, enough griping about other leagues. We now return you to your regularly scheduled football season …