Some more quick hits

Game over part 1 -
Baltimore bottoms out with only three teams in the majors with worse records (Kansas City, Texas, and Cincinnati), and the man brought in to be the savior is shown the door. Oddly, the team is batting .260 which puts them just below the Major League average of (approximately) .263. The team ERA, however, is in the top half of MLB at 4.27 (tied for 13th). Why do I bring this up? Because it makes no sense that all their other numbers would be around...well...average, and that they would have to win their next 11 straight just to be at .500.

It makes one take note of what sort of overall impact it has that they are batting near the league average, but somehow are 24th in runs scored. So long Sam Perlozzo. Nice knowing you.

Game over part 2 -
Didn't this guy promise Roger Goodell he would stay away from clubs and impose a curfew on himself in order to stay out of trouble?

Now, I know this isn't quite on the level of Vegas, but at this point, Jones has been caught be police while driving on a suspended license, and is now wanted for questioning as a witness to a fight at a club, and subsequent shooting involving friends of his. Not exactly keeping his nose clean.

Some thoughts and observations

What's wrong with this picture? Over the last six starts, Red Sox pitchers have won four games - Two by Wakefield, one by Tavarez, one by Matsuzaka. The two losses? Absolute shellings of Schilling and Beckett. I hope that we're not on the verge of seeing a repeat of last season with Beckett where he was sterling early and pitching batting practice late.

It was a good weekend for JD Drew who looks like he's breaking out of his slump. He and Dustin Padroia were a two man wrecking crew against the Giants on Friday, pretty much accounting for all of the Red Sox 10 runs.

If Padroia keeps this up, we'll be looking at two serious contenders (Hideki Okajima the other) for Rookie of the Year coming from the Old Towne Team. Also, if the adjustment that Matsuzaka made keeps him looking like he did over the weekend, he could still make a run at the award as well. I could be wrong, but I think the last time the Sox had two rookies up for that award, Fred Lynne edged Jim Rice for the honor.

And to end on a football note -

I am now officially a fan of New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant...as per Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column at SI -

3. I think the best story I've heard in a while about a guy not forgetting where he was in Saints camp on their last day of the off season program. Defensive end Charles Grant called over the club's vice president of communications, Greg Bensel, handed him a wad of $100-dollar bills -- 20 to be exact -- and told him he wanted to buy lunch for all the women who work in the team offices. "Can you make it happen?'' Grant asked Bensel. He did, handing the $2,000 to GM Mickey Loomis' administrative assistant, who organized the luncheon field trip for the women in the building. Way to remember where you came from, Charles.

More bad press for the Georgia prosecutors

I'm not going to go into detail on this as I think the AP story tells it all, but I will say, if this is true, then the attorney and his assistants that prosecuted Genarlow Wilson should at the very least be disbarred and criminal charges should be a consideration.

An idea that's been floating in my head...

I know this would be almost impossible to pull off given the shear size of Red Sox Nation, and the number of us who blog, but I have been tossing around the idea of BoSox Bloggers conventions.

This is the thought in my head - since Fenway is selling out regularly, and it's obscenely expensive to get tickets to the "lyric little bandbox," each year, or twice a year (maybe once early and once late), Sox bloggers converge on one of the minor league sites like Lowell, Pawtucket, Greenville, Portland, or even Gulf Coast (sorry West Coast bloggers, you're on your own with Lancaster).

Maybe even hold every 5th year at a bar like the Cask and Flagon in Boston during the season.

I would be surprised if it weren't something that the minor league affiliates would be into. Of course, that would mean the group of us would have to become much more organized, maybe even sort of incorporate...official member of BoSox Bloggers or something. I would love to get feedback and suggestions on how to go about this - or if all you others out there think that would even be possible.

Personally, I like the idea of being able to talk Sox face to face with the brethren.

201 - looking back and looking forward...

Well, I had hoped to run an interview here with Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley about Drew Bledsoe's place in NFL and Patriots history. We have corresponded on the subject several times, and I am still hoping that he will be able to do the interview. That said, I have a Q&A I did with Steve Sabol a couple of years ago hidden away somewhere on a cassette in my hard files that - should I find it, I will transcribe it and post it here.

Let's see - let's do the quick hits before looking back...

*The aging Schilling is continuing his Jeckyll and Hyde-like season, following a good outing with a bad one. However, it is encouraging that it looks like Wakefield might have turned the corner and be on the verge of one of his streaks.

*What has happened to Red Sox hitting over the last week? A pitching deficient team like the Rockies (team leader in ERA 3.81, team ERA 4.51) comes to town and holds the Sox (BA .374) to a combined four runs in two games? Are you kidding me?

*I realize that Coco Crisp played much of last year injured, but this is Crisp's fifth year in the bigs, and it appears that he is going backwards. Maybe he just can't stand the pressure of playing in front of the frenzied throngs at Fenway a la Edgar Renteria, but the one thing that is becoming obvious - Crisp is just not an everyday player for the Sox.

*At least one thing I read about the Patriots training camp this past weekend concerns me about Randy Moss. There has been a lot of fanfare trumpeting his arrival at the Razor, but it seems that some writers have noted that Moss is consistently the last one in his group (the receivers) to finish drills - the last in sprints, and seldom showed anything in practice (but when he did, many members of the press oohed and ahhed accordingly).

If this is what Moss thinks will fly in New England, we have a very interesting game of chicken that's about to start between him and the Patriots brain trust.

*Anybody else curious about what Roger Goodell told Pacman Jones in the meeting that preceded Jones dropping his appeal? I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall.

* Speaking of problem children - is it just me, or does it sound like things are about to either heat up, or fall apart in the federal quest for an indictment of Barry Bonds, heat up for Michael Vick, and am I the only one that heard about Bud Selig maybe considering possibly suspending Jason Giambi if he doesn't cooperate with the Mitchell investigation and thought, "wow, Hell of a backbone you're showing there Mr. Commissioner."

Anyone else think that Selig is the sort of guy at a restaurant that orders one thing, then as he hands the menu back, tells the waiter, "uh...no, how about" something else, and then gives yet another order before the server manages to walk away? Just me?

A quick look back...

I graduated from Emerson College in Boston's Back Bay in the early 1990's with a degree in writing and a minor in film. What does one do with a writing degree?

Well, for a year I worked for the City of Boston's Public Facilities Department in the first time home buyers program. I then moved on to approximately four years working in marketing, moved to Philadelphia where I spent five years teaching (while getting freelance writing and editing gigs, including a gig as the interim assistant sports editor of one of the suburban weeklies just outside of Philly), and eventually ended up in Maryland as the business writer for the Frederick Gazette, a subsidiary of the Washington Post.

I was never fond of business writing and have since moved on from that (I currently am the Maryland columnist for the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, and the Media Relations manager for the United States Australian Football League), and at the time had been offered a chance to come on board as a sports writer (which I turned down due to the evening hours combined with the fact that I wanted to be able to see my then two-year old daughter grow up). Rather than go through my blog to identify pieces I'm particularly fond of here which I did in post 150, I thought it might be more interesting to cover some of the articles that got into the various papers.

Here are a handful of articles that I am particularly proud of (all of which in my mind bear some sort of blemish, but I think we're always hardest on our own work), and all are sports related -

1. Coverage of the Rick Block Classic memorial basketball game.

2. The first day I was working at the South Philly Review, I was asked to do a story on a school closing, this is what I ended up with. It was not exactly the easiest first day in the world, but still better for me than for the subject. I hope the family and friends are healing.

3. Not my best writing, but I have always liked this piece I wrote about the Philadelphia Liberty Belles women's football team.

4. This time last year, the local bicyclers were heady over the prospect of Floyd Landis challenging in the Tour de France due partially to the fact that Frederick County, MD was where Landis cut his teeth as a mountain biker when younger. It's interesting to watch the way everyone interested in cycling is waiting with great anticipation to see how everything turns out.

5. A rant that I wrote for the folks over at Bitterfans about Hall of Fame voting in the NFL.

There are others I could have posted, some of which, for whatever reason never made it onto the web (I always liked my preview of the Red Sox 1996 season that I did for the now defunct Boston Chronicle, however far off I might have been), but these are some of the ones I am particularly fond of.

As readers may have noticed, I have been much more prolific this year than in past years as I might approach 200 posts in this year alone, not counting my other blogs Gibbering Idiot Press (entertainment, comics, sci-fi, horror), WiredFrederick (local interest to where I live), and In The Ruck (Australian football in the US). If I ever find the tape I made of the interview with Steve Sabol, I will make sure it gets posted...couching it in the year that the interview actually happened (which might have been in 2002).

Peace.

Post 200 - Big Win for Wilson

So, I had something special planned for my 200th post here at TheAngryFan, but I think I have to celebrate the 200th post in post 201...maybe that will become my tradition. I have been working on an interview, and I am waiting to hear back from my contact - he sounded interested, but did mention to me that he is currently busy. As I said, I still hope to do the interview.

Something happened though that merited cause to bump the interview. Those of you who are regular readers know that I have written on occasion about the ongoing saga of Genarlow Wilson, the then 17-year old honor student and football player in Georgia who received a blow-job, freely given, at a party from a 15-year old. Wilson found himself in jail serving a mandatory ten-year sentence on a child molestation charge that carried with it a record in the sex offender registry.

At the time Wilson went to jail, he was being recruited by colleges like Brown.

At noon today a judge, after hearing an appeal from Wilson's lawyers, "gave Genarlow Wilson a 12-month misdemeanor sentence with credit for time already served," effectively expunging Wilson's name from the sex offender registry.

While this has been a major win for Wilson, it is not the end as the state is expected to appeal the ruling, keeping Wilson in jail until at least the next court date.

When Wilson gets out, it will be a prime opportunity for those schools which recruited him to really step up to the plate and show what they're made of.

A well needed win...

I stand by my earlier statements regarding Curt Schilling and the degradation of skills. That said, it was a hell of a showing yesterday when the Sox needed it. While the story the press is reflecting on is the no hitter that got away in the ninth inning, it really should be wrapped around the fact that Schilling only threw 100 pitches to come away with the complete game one-hit win.

Schilling, who has historically gone deep in counts, walked no one and faced 29 total batters.

Why is all this so important? Because over the last couple of years when Schilling has been allowed to throw more pitches in a game, his following start to two starts have suffered. It was particularly noticeable last year after a 130+ pitch outing against Cleveland and Schilling just looked old for his next two starts.

One other observation: Is it just me, or have Schilling's trouble spots come up whenever he has shaken Varitek off?

Good job boys...now let's get number nine for Beckett. Number nine, number nine, number nine...

From bad to worse...
I'm trying to figure out if the Feds getting involved in the Vick dogfighting case bodes worse for Vick or Gerald Poindexter, the Surry County prosecutor who appeared to be dragging his feet on this case.

Poindexter upon being ousted by the Feds, made the following statement as part of the AP article:

"There's a larger thing here, and it has nothing to do with any breach of protocol," Poindexter said, still trying to rationalize where the federal government fits in. "There's something awful going on here. I don't know if it's racial. I don't know what it is."

Vick and Poindexter are black.

Of course, here are some of the issues that have taken place under Poindexter's watch:

1. Shortly after the May 25th raid, the state animal control rep who was with the police on the raid noted that there was enough evidence to begin issuing indictments/warrants for arrests, particularly in light of the fact that neighbors could place Vick at the house in spite of his assertions that he was never there. Those warrants still have not arrived.
2. Multiple witnesses have come forward over the last two weeks connecting Vick with dogfighting. Still no warrant.
3. During Poindexter's watch, the Vick home where this all took place was broken into. Publicly Poindexter seemed unconcerned, stating that he believed that whoever broke into the home was probably just after furnishings...never mind the fact that it was a crime scene, and it could easily have been someone going there to destroy evidence.
4. At least one witness noted that a number of dead dogs are buried on the property. Somehow Poindexter's office screwed up that warrant, and had to wait for that one to expire while a new warrant was in the works.
5. As a breeder of these dogs, and an allegedly individual involved in fighting the dogs in both North Carolina and Virginia, the crime crosses state boundaries and becomes a federal offense.

All of this doesn't even account for the fact that the Vick family appears to get special treatment on the Virginia peninsula due to their celebrity status as athletes. Really, would Marcus Vick have gotten the slap on the wrist he had if he wasn't either of the following; A) The starting QB at Virginia Tech B) Michael Vick's little brother C) A black sports star in a predominantly black area?

Do I think there might be some racism at play? Maybe, maybe not. If there is, I don't think it's on the part of the Feds. Have the Feds lost confidence in Poindexter's ability to prosecute this case because of other issues? I'm guessing that's a yes.

Shoring up the minors...
According to the Herald, this is our newest first draft pick...

The Sox took University of Washington left-hander Nick Hagadone with their first selection, the 55th overall pick and the 25th pick of the compensation round. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings while posting a 6-1 record, 11 saves and a 2.77 ERA in 25 games this season.

All in all, that doesn't look too bad for a team whose first pick didn't come until the second round. Especially considering the kid is a lefty.

Coming Soon...Post 200!

Samuel and a lack of class

I've been debating whether or not to address this for some time...until I read the following by Don Banks at Sports Illustrated, "Moss last week traveled with his new teammates to New Orleans for the wake of Patriots defensive lineman Marquise Hill -- who drowned May 27 after his jet ski flipped in Lake Pontchartrain -- a player he had barely met."

Reports in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald noted Samuel's absence from the funeral. I wasn't thrilled about it at the time, as Samuel had been Hill's teammate on the defensive side of the ball for Hill's entire professional career.

Samuel has repeatedly claimed to understand that the NFL is a business, but it seems to me, when a person spurns a teammate's funeral during a contract dispute, then the dispute is moved into the personal. Maybe he had a family emergency...maybe. Or maybe he wanted to avoid having to face the Patriot front office which attended.

Either way, I think he needs to explain his absence. That event wasn't about team. It was about our connection to each other as individuals - and right now I'm seeing someone for whom money is king over all else. I don't know if that's a teammate I would want back.

Quick Shots...

It's about time that CNN and the AP picked this story up. Genarlow Wilson is back in the news on the day when his lawyer BJ Bernstein is in court for a Habeus hearing on his behalf. Good luck kid.

Trading one broken player for another...
So the trigger finally got pulled on the deal sending Trent Green to the Miami Dolphins as the solution to Miami's quarterbacking woes. Last year the 'Phins entered the season with high hopes that the rehabbing Duante Culpepper was healthy enough to lead them to the promised land in the AFC East, only to find that they had overpaid for an injured quarterback who pretty much looked done.

After only a handful of starts, Culpepper finished the season on injured reserve.

Now, the 'Phins completed a trade and new contract for Green, last year's starting quarterback for the Chiefs until he was knocked out of a game with a concussion. Upon returning to the line-up, Green never looked quite the same, struggling mightily to get the offense going.

Is Green going to continue to be gun-shy in Miami? My guess is yes. Four times in the coming season he will be facing the defenses of the Jets and Patriots, neither of which will be the balm for his pains.

Michelle Wie...Nuke Laloosh's long lost love child?

Let me preface my next rant by pointing out that I don't think of golf as a sport. Does it require athletic ability? Yes. Is it a sport? No. Who really believes that John Daly runs to get in shape in order to walk the links?

I have a hard time thinking of anything as a sport in which the caddies do all the heavy lifting.

Now...onto the rant proper...

What has Michelle Wie done to merit the amount of coverage or the sheer dollar value of her endorsements? How long before the six foot 17-year old goes from "phenom" to bust?

Evidently Wie, who has been going backwards in her development because of her and her handler's insistence that she qualify for the men's tour, was in danger of being disqualified from the LPGA Tour for the remainder of this season due to her poor play.

Let's compare Wie to Anna Kournikova, a favorite for being referred to as a bust.

Kournikova only played until 21 when injuries had finally taken their toll and she made the business decision to make money on her face. At the time she had accomplished the followng; 209-129 overall in singles play, achieved a ranking as high as 8th, won two Australian Open Doubles titles, was bounced in the semi's at Wimbledon, had 16 WTA (doubles) titles, and was ranked number one in doubles in 1999. Not bad for a bust.

Wie - was briefly ranked second amongst women golfers in 2006, has finished third in major championships three times and second once, and has no professional wins. Wie has been wildly erratic, losing amateur championships as recently as 2004 to less highly touted golfers.

Let's face it, right now this is Happy Gilmore before Chubbs' tutelage...only in tall, female form.

She might have an immense amount of talent, but until she and her handlers worry more about developing the talent than they do about the next sponsor's exemption (anyone else notice that this is how she always seems to get into an event...not because she has qualified for it?), then all she will ever be is an attractive young lady with a freakish swing from the tee.

At least Kournikova won in doubles. Nobody ever seems to mention that.

Pats back in the news

With training camp upon us, the Patriots are back in the news. There have been multiple articles and what a good citizen Randy Moss has been thus far (come back to me when he's been with the team for significantly more than six weeks), how versatile Adalius Thomas is, and of course, the Patriots' very own "Where's Waldo" situation...delusional cornerback Asante Samuel.

In April, around draft time, Samuel told the NFL Network “We have a difference of opinion in my value. They think I’m worth one price and the other teams think I’m worth a lot more. If a long-term deal can’t be done at fair numbers for me and New England, then I want to be traded.”

I'd like to know what NFL team gave Samuel any sort of numbers to go by as to what his worth is. It's my understanding that no team has talked to Samuel or his agent. And while I acknowledge that I don't know if the agent has talked to anyone or not, I do know that these things tend to get out, and there hasn't been a sniff of a rumor.

I will say this one more time - Samuel had one great year. One. He has not been as consistent as Clemens, or had as good a career as Bly. At least twice during the season, if the opposing QB had pump faked and gone to Samuel's man, the passes would have gone for touchdowns.

Samuel wants to get paid, by all reports, as the best corner in the game. As much as I like him, I don't think he's in the top five (for last season, yes, he was one of the five best...but I need to see more than one great season to call him elite. There have been a lot of one season wonders in the NFL).

A shout out to Joe Andruzzi
I have been remiss in addressing this. Get well soon big guy. May the docs at Dana Farber get you through the lymphoma quickly.

Just a quick note about Andruzzi. The former Patriots guard, to some extent, became the face of the 2001 Patriots after 9/11. With Bledsoe injured, and a then little known Tom Brady at the helm, the most memorable images from that regular season, outside of Bledsoe being put in the hospital by Mo Lewis, were of the Andruzzi brothers clad in Pats jerseys and firefighting gear at the center of the field tipping their helmets to the crows, and of Joe Andruzzi, the first Patriot to take the field after 9/11, charging out of the tunnel, American flags in hand.

The man is a lunch pail, blue collar type player who, in his prime, set the tone for the Patriots line.

May you be beating on a defensive lineman somewhere soon, big guy. The NFL needs guys like you.

Money spent

As always, going into the season, the Yankees had the highest payroll in baseball. If and when Roger Clemens joins the team, the Bronx Bombers will have a payroll in excess of $200 million dollars.

While the Yankees have shown some life of late, the 2007 edition has to be considered one of the biggest busts in the majors to date this season. With only 24 wins, so far the Boss has payed about $8 million per victory this season. If the Yankees stay on their current pace, they will win 72 games at an approximate cost of $2.78 million per victory.

The arch-rival Red Sox, on the other hand, are on a pace to win 109 games with a $143 million payroll, or a cost of $1.31 million.

Do I think either team will finish the season with those records? No. I believe the Sox won't be quite that good in the end, and I doubt the Yankees will be that bad. However, that is the current pace of each team, so that is what I am going to work with.

Interesting coincidence - only three division leaders are the highest paid team in their respective divisions. Only the Mets, Angels, and Dodgers lead theirs.

Currently, the respective places of the other highest paid per division - Yankees (4th, 24-30), Chicago White Sox (4th, 24-27), Chicago Cubs (4th, 23-31).

I guess it goes to show that it's not how much is spent rather than how it's spent. For a breakdown of this season's team salaries, take a gander below.

The following numbers, ganked from ESPN.com represent salaries heading into the year -

1. NY Yankees	195,229,045
2. Boston	143,123,714
3. NY Mets	116,115,819
4. Chicago Sox	109,290,167
5. LA Angels	109,251,333
6. LA Dodgers	108,704,524
7. Seattle	106,516,833
8. Chicago Cubs	99,936,999
9. Detroit	95,180,369
10. Baltimore	95,107,808
11. San Francisco	90,469,056
12. St. Louis	90,286,823
13. Atlanta	89,492,685
14. Philadelphia	89,368,213
15. Houston	87,759,500
16. Oakland	79,938,369
17. Toronto	79,925,600
18. Milwaukee	71,986,500
19. Minnesota	71,439,500
20. Cincinnati	69,654,980
21. Texas	68,818,675
22. Kansas City	67,366,500
23. Cleveland	61,289,667
24. San Diego	58,235,567
25. Colorado	54,424,000
26. Arizona	52,067,546
27. Pittsburgh	38,604,500
28. Washington	37,347,500
29. Florida	30,507,000
30. Tampa Bay	24,124,200
Note: Team salaries do not represent full team payroll. Number listed includes current salary for all players currently on the roster.

Headhunters, A-Rods, and Yanks....oh my

A few quick observations...

Interesting that even Joe Torre is throwing A-Rod under the bus for that yell rounding third during the game in Toronto. Then he's calling Mike Lowell's plastering of Robinson Cano clean...which it was. If a player wanders into the base path to make a play, the do so at their own peril.

Schilling is beginning to look like he could still be an effective pitcher for someone, just not as the ace...maybe as the number three or four guy. The one thing that bothered me about yesterday's game was that when he got in trouble, it was whenever he shook off Varitek and he looked tentative or uncertain about what he wanted to do.

After a slow start, Dustin Pedroia has raised his batting average to .333. As of April 20th, he was hitting .158, now he's likely to be named rookie of the month for May and (if he keeps this up) put his name into the hat along with fellow Sox rookie Hideki Okajima as a candidate for rookie of the year.

More bad for the Yanks - Doug Mientkiewicz starts to show signs of coming around at the plate, then almost has his head taken off because Derek Jeter feels he has to make a highlight reel pirouette to get the out at first with Mike Lowell coming down the baseline. The errant throw caused the Yankee first baseman to make a lunge at the ball that took him into the basepath and, in turn, put his head at ground zero for a collision with Lowell's thigh.

It was a scary couple of minutes as Mientkiewicz lay limp on the ground. As I watched, and the Yankees trainers sat him upright to treat him, I couldn't believe the butt-headed incompetence of the training staff.

The Yank's first basemen was obviously dazed (and his answers therefore shouldn't have been trusted), and there is no way that on the field that the trainer or doctor would be able to determine the extent of possible whiplash, neck, and or upper spinal trauma. Realistically, if for no other reason than precaution, Mientkiewicz's neck should have been immobilized before he was moved, and he should not have been allowed to sit up.

I sincerely hope that you have no serious injuries and that you get well soon, Doug. May the people at Mass General be taking good care of you.

And finally, looks like the Rocket is grounded for at least one more start and will not be available to the Yankees until next weekend's interleague play against the Pirates. The reason cited? A fatigued groin. Can anyone out there tell me if they have ever heard of this problem before, porn star Ron Jeremy not withstanding.

I spy with my little eye...a Vick

According to an AP report that hit early this morning, the prosecutor investigating the Michael Vick case has linked Vick to dogfighting and charges are imminent. According to prosecutor Gerald Poindexter, eyewitnesses to Vick at dogfights in Virginia have voluntarily come forward to finger Vick.

Suddenly Vick is in a lot more hot water, and things could really be on the verge of finally falling apart for the talented player who has lived on the edge for quite some time. As I watch this case quickly unfold, I can't help but think that this isn't going to end well for him.

Speaking of football...
It appears that Chad Brown might be on the verge of returning to the Patriots. If moved back outside to his natural position, Brown might provide the Patriots with decent depth.

If he does indeed come back, it would make sense for Belichick to move him to the outside for other reasons as well - he struggled when moved to the inside, and with the five linebackers in front of him, there are three, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and Adalius Thomas, better suited to the inside.

A new challenger to enter the arena...
According to reports, there's a new football league on the horizon - the United Football League, tentatively scheduled to begin play in August of 2008. Even though it's looking at kicking off during the NFL season, the league is reportedly looking at a smart design for competition.

The UFL is looking at setting up teams in eight markets that currently have no NFL team such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Antonio (though nothing is written in stone...except for maybe Vegas). Games will be scheduled for Fridays so that it avoids competition with the NFL's Thursday and Sunday games as well as college football's Saturday heavy schedule.

For the real football hardcore, that means five straight days of professional or college football from Thursday through Monday. For the NFL, this means little except that they might accelerate their plans on getting a team into the L.A. market.

The league will face a lot of issues as a start-up. The last league to successfully challenge the NFL for any sort of market share did so before the big television contracts, however, it's a loophole in the laws that govern the NFL's broadcasting that the league hopes to take advantage of. According to one report:

The UFL plans to exploit the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which prohibits the NFL from televising games on most autumn Friday nights. The United Football League the U.F.L. plans to make a smaller deal with a cable network like USA, TNT or Comcast’s versus network.

This might be a smarter move than the USFL in the 1980's or the more recently failed XFL which tried for spring league football, competing with the more established fandoms of baseball, not to mention for ratings with playoff basketball.

Their bigger problem will be competing for talent with the NFL. The only way I can see that happening is if the UFL offers guaranteed contracts with the caveat that if the league folds, then no monies are guaranteed. Otherwise what incentive will talented players have to go to a smaller league with no established stars, no established fan base, and what is likely to be a much smaller television contract?

How serious is the upstart league? Investment banker Bill Hambrecht, an owner of one of the original USFL franchises has already put up money along with his partner Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google, and basketball mogul Mark Cuban has already dipped his feet in as an owner.

It's certainly bound to be an interesting ride.

Yanks at Sox...
I was going to preview this weekend, talk about match-ups, best-case/worst-case scenarios and all, then it occurred to me...there's no reason to talk about how far ahead of the Yankees the Sox could be at the end of the weekend. Really.

Until the Yankees show that they can string more than two games together without immediately losing three, there's not point in talking about them in relation to any sort of run at first place.

Yes, they are that bad right now (in spite of their win last night). They are at a point where they merit far less consideration from the press than they are currently receiving - do the Texas Rangers or the Kansas City Royals get this sort of press? No? Until the Yankees pull ahead of Baltimore and Toronto, I think (unless something else goes monumentally wrong for them) I will begin to focus more on the Orioles and the Jays in the AL East.

Finding new ways to lose...

Somehow, amidst all their other problems, the Yankees have found ways to squander quality starts. It seems when their hitting was working in April, their pitching fell apart, then in May, when they got the occasional quality start (I hesitate to say their pitching has turned around because most of their quality starts have come from one pitcher), the hitting falls apart.

Last night Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays stole home to tie the game at 2-2 before the Jays went on to win 3-2. Now, I understand that Pettitte is lefty, but you have to at least check the runner at third.

As the Yankees free-fall to 14.5 back along with the Devil Rays, the Jays and the Orioles have strung together a few wins to creep closer to the .500 mark. Currently those two teams are three games and two games under .500 in the win column each...the Yanks? Eight.

As recently as Sunday the Yanks were at least tied with the Sox offensively...something that could give some hope that if the pitching turned it around, that maybe there could be a legitimate run at the wild card. Since Sunday the Yankees team batting average has dropped from .276 to .270. The Sox have gone up a point to .277.

The Yankees were supposed to have the new Murderer's Row lineup...it's on what many prognosticators based their predictions of Yankee success. They haven't been bad scoring runs (258, good for fifth in the majors), but they still languish behind Detroit (289), Cleveland (276), and Boston (276) in the American League. Their 54 home runs trail Boston (55) and Toronto (62) in the AL East.

There are a number of other offensive categories in which the Yankees are trailing other teams, but the important stats still are related to pitching. Only one team in the entire AL East lags behind the Yankees in ERA (4.61)...the Devil Rays (5.55). The others ERA's, coincidentally enough, reflect in the standings - 1. Red Sox (3.62), 2. Orioles (4.13), 3. Blue Jays (4.34).

Possibly most telling of all, and most overlooked - the Yankees are dead last in the majors with only three saves. Even Tampa Bay is in double digits with saves. The only other team with fewer than ten saves is the Texas Rangers who are currently fighting it out with the Royals for the worst record in baseball (teams the Yankees are only two games ahead of in the win column).

As strange as it is to say it after a decade, I would say that the Jays and O's are worth more worry as a Sox fan than the Yankees are for remainder of this season.

Nuggets from the weekend

RIP
Patriots back up defensive end Marquise Hill died this weekend in a jet ski accident on Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain. Hill was 24.

I am not going to wax poetic about how Hill was a supremely talented football player who was on the verge of a break-out year. He wasn't. He was a second round draft pick who was likely entering his make or break year with the Patriots. He worked hard, but in three seasons managed to play in only 13 games.

There's a chance there was a great player beneath all that hard work that would have surfaced in a system other than the one played by the Patriots, that sort of thing happens all the time. As it is, we'll never know.

Unfortunately, the young defensive end is now a cautionary tale as he and his friend went jet skiing sans life-jackets and Hill ended up paying a terrible price.

Hill, a native of New Orleans, according to reports had dedicated much of his free-time to the rebuilding efforts of the hurricane ravaged city. Also according to reports, Hill's final act was to make sure that the childhood friend with whom he was on the lake, was able to grasp a nearby pylon, saving her life.

Hill's death comes in an odd NFL off-season during which Hill is the third active player under the age of 25 to meet an untimely demise. The other two were Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams who was shot on New Year's Eve and back-up running back Damien Nash who collapsed after a charity basketball game.

The longer it goes, the worse it looks...
According to an AP report that hit the wires over the weekend an individual termed as "a reliable" police informant has placed Vick at the scene of at least one dog fight laying down money on dogs. The informant claims that his own dog beat Vick's dog in a fight.

The report goes on to say that the Surry County, VA district attorney is preparing charges, but it does not note whether or not Vick will be included in those charges.

In previous reports at least one neighbor has placed Vick at the property that he claims to have never been at (in spite of owning it), and now someone is placing Vick at a dogfight. I wonder how the Falcons are enamored with their second string quarterback, because it seems a strong possibility that they're going to be using him a lot this year.

A note on the AL East...
Currently the Yankees reside 13.5 games behind the Red Sox and 7 games under .500. This has been the lead story on ESPN and a number of different sports pages. Almost none of these stories have noted that the Yankees are tied with the Devil Rays for last place in the East, nor do most note that both the Orioles and the Blue Jays are ahead of the Yanks, and both teams are beginning to play decent baseball.

The Yankees on the other hand are playing like they're in beer-league softball. They look old, worn down, and reliant on the long-ball for most of their offense.

The fact that sports writers are not writing about the Orioles or the Blue Jays is something of an injustice. Not a huge one, as both teams are battling to get back to .500, and the second place Orioles are only two games ahead of the Yankees, but that still puts them two games closer to the AL leading Red Sox, and two games closer to the wild card.

Outside of the Red Sox, the teams in the AL East have to be setting their sites on the wild card. In about one month we will be halfway through the season. If the season ended at the All-Star break, this is the ground that teams would have to make up -

Detroit Tigers: 29-21 Wild Card Leader
Seattle Mariners: 25-22, 3 Games back
Chicago W. Sox: 24-22, 4 Games back
Oakland A's: 25-25, 4 Games back
Minnesota Twins: 25-25, 4 Games back
Baltimore Orioles: 24-27, 5.5 Games back
Toronto Blue Jays:23-27, 6 Games back
New York Yanks: 21-28, 7.5 Games back

What do the teams at the top of the list have in common? Almost all have some quality starters. Not starter...starters. The teams towards the bottom of that list? The Yankees have the lowest innings pitched per start in the entire league, the Blue Jays only now got their ace back from the DL and their closer hasn't pitched an inning this year, and the Orioles closer who was so dominant last year has been pinata-like this year.

The Dirty Dozen...and a half

Twelve reasons the Yankees are languishing behind the Red Sox

Currently the Red Sox are leading the AL East by 11.5 games over the Baltimore Orioles, 12 over the Toronto Blue Jays, and 12.5 over New York. As the Yankees were a chic pick to finish atop the AL East amongst many of the sports writers out there and the two teams have been inexorably linked since Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees, I want to address twelve reasons why the Bronx Bombers find themselves twelve-plus games back.

1. Keeping up with the Soxes: In order to keep up with Boston's personnel moves, George Steinbrenner mandated trading the farm for his own "OWGA" (Old White Guy Ace), in acquiring Randy Johnson (in order to keep up with the Schilling acquisition). Problem was, Schilling had more left than Johnson, and Brian Cashman worked hard to replenish the depleted farm system. Unfortunately, between injuries and youth, the now replenished farm system is not yet ready for prime time.

2. Health: This goes back to the OWGA's, and to the now fired strength and conditioning guy. The Bommahs have had injuries to key starters in the field and in the rotation - Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang...the list goes on. While not all have gone on the DL, it has resulted in sub-par play, and sub-par starting pitching.

3. The Yankees Dirty Dozen: When Roger Clemens joins the rotation in about a week, it will make the twelfth starter the Yanks have had in the rotation this year. Of the Yankees' 22 wins on the season, only 14 have come from the starters (for perspective, the Red Sox' Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka combined have 14 wins). Their best starter has been Andy Pettitte against whom the AL is batting at a .268 clip. How long could his sub-3.00 ERA last if he's not fooling the batters.

4. Abreu being Abreu: Last year for two months after being acquired by the Phillies, Bobby Abreu had (arguably) the best two months of his career. Talk to Phillies fans...the real Bobby Abreu has just stood up.

5. The Bullpen stops here: If there has been one historical criticism of Joe Torre, even in the team's World Series years, it has been his handling of the pitching staff, particularly when and how to use his relievers. Unfortunately his starting pitching has been so bad that he has had to use his bullpen to excess.

6. The Rocket is the Answer: Never mind that Allen Iverson is the answer (and that I have no idea then what the question is), The Yankees answer to their pitching woes is to sign a 44 year old power pitcher who was barely able to maintain a 4.00 ERA during his last go-around in the AL, averaged only six innings per game in the weaker NL, and is two years older than the last time he pitched in the AL...well, you get where I'm going. I guess the bullpen will live by the "no rest for the wicked" credo.

7. Hideous No Mo: Ever since 2004 lights out closer Mo Rivera has been a crap shoot against the Red Sox, blowing saves in the early season series this year against the Sox who have a higher batting average as a team against Mariano than any other team in the majors.

8. Unity/Chemistry: Maybe a little overrated in baseball, but the fact of the matter is that Jeter doesn't like A-Rod, management is unhappy with Giambi, reliever Kyle Farnsworth doesn't like Clemens' special treatment...and those are just the situations we know. Steinbrenner went out and bought a lot of talented, shiny baubles that might not necessarily all fit together. He lacks that Alex Cora/Dave Roberts-type guy off the bench that becomes a fan favorite not because he's talented, but because he's the hard-nosed get my uniform dirty guy that makes things happen when he gets in the game.

9. The Sox Future Rotation: Right now the core of the Red Sox future is making the future the present...Matsuzaka and Beckett (the same number of wins as all Yankees starters combined) are the cornerstones of the future pitching staff, and right now the Sox have top rated pitching prospects in excess at AA and AAA ball. The Yankees have Wang who suddenly seems unsure of himself, and an injured Philip Hughes. Sure, Beckett is on the DL, but this season they will be getting Jonathan Lester as their fifth guy in the rotation, and will be faced with who to trade and who to keep amongst pitchers named Delcarmen, Buchholz, Gabbard, and at least two others that buzz is only now beginning to surface about.

10. Quality Starts: Even when the Sox starters are getting roughed up early as they have been lately, they are still making it into, and typically to at least the end of the sixth inning. The Yankees have only recently even raised the average number of innings from their starters to five innings per start.

11. Bench contributions: See some of what was written under the heading Unity, but also consider the following: The Red Sox and the Yankees are currently tied with a .277 team batting average. The Yankees have Posada, Jeter and A-Rod among the top five in hitting. A-Rod is showcasing his power like never before for his contract opt-out. The Red Sox still haven't seen a hot Manny Ramirez, JD Drew is struggling with a batting average hovering around .220, their lead-off guy, Julio Lugo, is struggling as much this year as Coco Crisp was last year...yet their offense right now is keeping pace with the Yankees offense.

12. One Full Run: The Yankees team ERA is more than one full run higher than the Red Sox. The Sox are in the top five in the league in team ERA, the Yankees are in the bottom five. It doesn't matter how good your offense is if your pitching can't hold a lead.

The press and the Internet

A dangerous combination if ever there was one.

Within the last week news outlets reported failed drug tests by Bengals trouble child Chris Henry and Yankees lightning rod Jason Giambi. Both reports turned out to be false.

As regulars here may have noticed, my only reference to either incident was a note that Henry "might have more trouble coming his way." Like many bloggers and reporters, I will jump on a controversial story, but this time I stayed away. I couldn't tell you why.

I can say that the Internet and news stations televising 24/7 have done more damage to the quality of reporting than anything else.

Print journalists are so desperate to get a scoop, that sometimes corroboration falls to the way side. Let's face it - it's difficult to scoop anything now because the Internet and television provide close to instant access to the news. Print journalism is slowly becoming obsolete, although not slowly enough for the newspaper companies.

For those of you that believe that the news mediums are still working - I have a question; are you seeking news, or are you seeking entertainment?

I pose this question due to the three weeks of coverage of the run away bride story that didn't feel like it was going away, and the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death. Let me tell you how NASA PR people breathed a sigh of relief when all the cameras turned to the Bahamas...me, I still want to know how the raving stalker passed the military psyche profiles to be picked for the space program.

Now back to my regularly scheduled sports coverage...

After his last two starts, I would say someone needs to remind Curt Schilling that he's not throwing batting practice.

Clemens was unimpressive against AA ball last night, giving up 3 earned in five and a third. By all accounts (from major league scouts) he was out-pitched by Red Sox prospect and Portland Sea Dogs pitcher Clay Buchholz. According to an article by Rob Bradford at the Boston Herald, a major league scout said, "we need one game to win the division and you’re giving me a choice between starting (Buchholz) or Clemens, I’m taking (Buchholz) off of what I saw tonight."

Rumors have circulated that Clemens next start will be with the Yanks. From the scouting reports - I wouldn't hold my breath that it will be a quality start.

Rim shots

Arbitrarily speaking...
While it sounds like Floyd Landis had a good day in court on Monday, and it has been revealed that at least one lab tech was aware that the "anonymous" sample being tested belonged to Landis, I believe this still could go either way. I base this mostly on what I have seen from other arbitrators (for example, I still don't understand how an arbitrator was going to find in favor of Terrell Owens when he was trying to get out of his contract with the 49ers).

Dog eat Dawg...
The Washington Redskins released a statement "on behalf of" Clinton Portis apologizing for his comments to a Virginia media outlet regarding Michael Vick and dog fighting. After listening to Portis' tirade, it was pretty obvious that the statement did not come from him - he's no where near as well spoken as the statement would make him out to be.

The meat of the Redskins released statement read, “I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner.” Portis' words to a Norfolk news station, “I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property; it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it.” Doesn't sound like the same dude to me.

Gotta admit, wouldn't be surprised to hear that police wanted to talk to Portis at some point regarding the dogfights that he seems to know so much about on the back roads of Mississippi.

At best...
For New Yorkers, the Yankees win tonight and come away with a series win against the Sox and close the gap back to 9.5 games. The Sox finish off the road trip with three against Texas before returning to Fenway for three with the Tribe before hosting the Yankees for three.

The Bomahs - they host the Angels and then go to Toronto for three before arriving at Fenway.

Just a guess, but with the way the Yankees are playing I would be surprised to see them do any better than 3-3 during the next six games (tonight notwithstanding). I could easily see them drop two to the Angels and at least one to the Jays. At the same time, I can't really see the Sox doing any worse than 3-3, and think they will go 4-2 between now and next week when they see the Yankees again.

Say Ow!
Junior's back in the fold with the Pats, giving them the needed depth at linebacker. Rumor has it that Vinny Testaverde could be returning, Belichick has already said that Troy Brown has a place with the team if healthy, and Chad Brown might be returning (I would guess that they wouldn't use him inside like they did last time - he's just not suited to it).

Sox score 19 to Braves 20 and take 2 of 3, and other thoughts...

Game one - 13-3 Sox
Game two - 14-0 Braves
Game Three- 6-3 Sox

Just goes to show you, it's not how many you score in a series, it's when you score them.

Last Call?
Tonight could be the start of the Yankees last real chance to get going - but to do that, it will take a sweep of the Red Sox in the Bronx. The way the Yankees are playing right now, I would say at best that the Yanks will gain one game over the course of the next three. At worst...well, they walk away another three games down.

It might still be early in the season, but if they don't get going before Clemens makes his re-entry to the Bronx, then The Rocket's return will be less NASA re-entry and more of a backyard bottle rocket.

Stupid is as stupid does...
Since NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell brought the hammer down on Pacman Jones and Bengals wideout Chris Henry (who might have more trouble coming his way), the following boneheads have been in the news for all the wrong reasons - Falcons QB Michael Vick (links to dogfighting), Jets kick returner Justin Miller (assault), troubled Bengals linebacker AJ Nicholson (domestic assault, released by Bengals), Jaguars cornerback Ahmad Carroll (drugs and weapons).

Two of the players, as noted, were released, the others face potential suspensions. It begs a question - What percentage of the players in the NFL, particularly the...bad decision makers...fail to make the connection between stupid behavior and the loss of their paycheck? I guess we're on the verge of finding out.

And on a vaguely related subject - Clinton Portis, you need to just keep your mouth shut. Vick possibly being involved in illegal activities isn't The Man bringing him down, it's Vick potentially making really boneheaded decisions that could get him sent to jail.

Just because you know places in Mississippi where you can go to enjoy a dogfight, it doesn't make it either right or legal.

Musical chairs...
The annual MLB salary dump is looming and the rumors are just beginning to fly about what team will attempt to trade away their big contacts in an effort to build for the future. The important questions for Sox fans really are who is selling and what are the Sox buying? Pitching or hitting? It all really depends on Theo Epstein's plans for the stretch run and for next year.

If the assumption is that the Sox and Curt Schilling are parting ways at the end of the year, it is feasible that the Boston could look to replace the ace from within their own system. The brain trust has seen both Jon Lester and Kason Gabbard experience big-league success, and in a division with the Yankees, the fact that the two are lefties makes them major commodities.

The rumor right now, however, is that the Sox are interested in pursuing 26-year old Oakland pitcher Rich Harden. If the Sox get him, what does that do for Lester's rehab schedule? Does he spend more time in the minors? Does he become the bait to land the more established Harden?

If the trade happens, next year's rotation could look like this -
Beckett
Matsuzaka
Wakefield
Harden
Lester

If the trade doesn't happen, don't be surprised to see Gabbard and Lester in the rotation.

Think before you speak...
The other day I heard an athlete, who shall remain nameless, say, "when you play basketball, you play to win."

Well, I guess that explains why I couldn't get the college scouts to watch me when I played high school football...they didn't come because I wasn't playing basketball on the gridiron, and thus, wasn't playing to win. Oy.

In footy news...
Metro season has started. For those of you unfamiliar, Metro leagues are kind of like teams set up within a team. The Baltimore/Washington Eagles has three Metro Teams - The Baltimore Bohemians (the team I play for), Washington, and Northern Virginia. When we play Philadelphia, New York, etc., members from each of the Metro teams play.

The Metro leagues allow us to work on our skills in a competitive game environment.

This past weekend marked the second week of metro season, and the first game for Bohs.

Final score -
Baltimore 14.9-93
Washington DC 4.4-28

I will post more of a game summary and Metro standings later in the week.