Location, location, location

Like in real estate, if you rely on your fastball only, location is key, and right now, Josh Beckett would not get fat being a realtor...

What in de hell is going on with his fastball?!?

What are the pitching coaches doing?

Dagnabbit!

Here we go again....

I know it's 19 games per year, but I must admit I sometimes struggle to get the same emotion up for each Red Sox-Yankees series this time of the year, as it seems there's one every week. At least this is the last one until mid-august, and if there ever was a time to take on the Yanks, this is one.

Jeter might miss the series with a sore hand, Giambi's feeling the effects of 5 years of abuse (did I write that?:)), Matsui's gone for the season, Sheffield's wrist won't heal, the Unit's realised the AL post the 40s is not as fun, etc, etc. I could go on ad nauseum.

Still, we've got Beckett going up against the only reliable starter the Yanks have, Moose, so I'll stay tuned this time.

On the youngster note, I can't wait for Lester to make his debut this weekend against the Rangers...

Fizzled rocket

I don't always agree with Bob Ryan, especially when he fills in on PTI, but this is one of his better articles about what could have been...

The only sliver of hope is that the 'Stros collapse and they offer Roger up in the trade deadline, but that's probably as likely as me being Jessica Alba's date to the MTV Movie Awards...

Reality

Although I, and others like me, regard sports as one of the more important things in life, sometimes you stumble upon something that puts everything into perspective.

For a dose of reality, I wholeheartedly recommend reading through the vastly more eloquent and gripping writings of Anya, also known as Wandering Scribe.

Sometimes the safety net is more holes than net.

Finally

How do you destroy a legacy?

First take a true five tool talent, add a hall of fame god father and a major leaguer father. Then play like a future hall of famer for 13 years, including 3 MVP and 8 Gold Glove awards, while trying to get out of your father's shadow.

Then move to your home town, be accepted as a saviour, play like a demon and win accolades and awards, despite having a less than an outgoing and bubbly personality.

Then, and this is the turning point, develop a chip on your shoulder the size of Texas, and decide to inject god knows what into your body, only so that your percieved injustice, a lack of public respect, can be changed so that you, not a white man from St.Louis, own the biggest record in sports, damn the asterix and the consequences. Then finish by producing more bile and lies than ever before in sports.

So instead of being a shoe-in hall of famer, you will forever be tainted and will now finally not have the public respect you so frantically craved.

I hope it was worth it.

Now let's hope your overgrown body finally fails you completely so that at least there will be no tainting of the overall record, held by a man who had to endure a lot more than just a lack of respect.

Boom brothers pt.2

It is very telling when teams are pitching around David Ortiz, such is the fear he imparts on opposing teams.

Even worse, when they try to do that, as the Yankees' Wang did today with three consecutive inside pitches, and then fail, as Wang did on the 3 and oh-so greenlight situation which Big Papi promptly took the other way for a 2 RBI single.

What does then await the Yankees is the other flaw in the plan is that the Red Sox clean-up hitter is a certain Mr. Manny Ramirez. Cue a fastball straight down the pipe on a 0-2 count (WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WANG?) - and voila, 4-1 to the Sox.

BTW, what is it with the DD smoothies all of a sudden? It seems RemDawg can't stop talking about them? Must have been Iain's blog then...

Right, m u s t f i n i s h n o t e s for tomorrow's lecture now. Or rather, today's lecture, as it starts in less than 8 hours.

Cataracts and untruths

Pot. Meet Kettle.

Arsene Wenger (or to be crude, Arse W**ker, as he's known outside Northeast London), now calls Martin Jol a liar for not seeing two mortally wounded Arsenal players writhing on the ground (or milking a collision, depending on your view of it.).

Oh the irony...

Let me see if I can remember...

1. Robert Pires running into a defenders leg at Portsmouth - generally considered one of the most blatant dives of all time -
   
   "Not a dive", according to Wenger.
   
   
2. Bergkamp elbows Steve Lomas in the head in the FA Cup QF in 1998 -
   
   "Didn't see it", said Wenger.
   
   
3. Bergkamp tries to break Jamie Carraghers leg by stamping two-footed on him in an FA Cup game in 2002 -
   
   "(It) seems bad at first sight but if you really look then maybe he wanted only to impress rather than hurt", says Wenger.
   
   No such luck, straight red card, three game ban for Dennis.
   
   
4. Patrick Viera is sent off at West Ham and spits at Neil Ruddock. A photo, which I unfortunately can't find on the net, showed Viera spitting at Ruddock in the foreground, with Wenger on the touchline, no more than 15-20 yards away looking straight at the incident.
   
   "I did not see it", says hawkeyed Wenger.
   

...almost pointless to go on, isn't it? To be honest, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry whenever Monsieur Moron makes a spectacular fool of himself yet again.

At least I know who to support in the CL final - Go Barca!

Stubhub?

Ahh, Fenway...All set for White Sox and Blue Jays in September, especially after 11 hours in the online queue. Imagine then if you will my horror, when one of my best friends (very anti-sports best friend, I must add) sends out his wedding invitation for that particular weekend - in Sweden!

So, now I have to find tickets for July instead...

Anyone interested in 2 SRO tickets for the 3rd and 4th of September at Fenway?

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Normally, the departure of a back-up catcher is as eventful as watching a re-run of "How to wallpaper your shed". However, when that catcher is Doug Mirabelli, personal catcher extraordinaire to Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox resident knuckleballer, then it matters a lot more to the Nation. The catcher is a vital cog in any baseball team, but

As proven by new catcher Josh Bard (acquired from the Indians in the Crisp-Marte trade), catching Wakefield is no easy task - in fact when Mirabelli got injured in 2005, Varitek "caught" Wakefield, and Wake promptly saw his ERA close in on double figures. V-Tek said this about catching the knuckler:

You know, catching the knuckleball, it's like
trying to catch a fly with a chopstick.

So Josh, you have much to learn, grasshopper...6 passed balls in 2 games, including one that let the Rays into lead when Travis Lee got home from 3rd base in yesterdays game.

Let's hope that Bard's Zito-like steep learning curve is overcome quickly, otherwise this could be a long season for both him and Wake. Hmm, I wonder if Padres are interested in a Mirabelli-for-a-slighly-used-southpaw trade?

Welcome Sir, good to have you back...

Oh how we thought you might have sacrified the rest of your career for that ultimate price in October 2004...

We watched in horror the mere shadow of your former self that tried, tried and tried again during a personal "Annus Horriblis" in 2005. Trying and failing both as a starter and as a closer, and finishing with a, for you, dismal 8-8 record with a horrible 5.69 ERA, and generally having a miserable time.

Then came Spring Training 2006, and you looked the trimmest and healthiest since arriving on the East Coast back in 2004. We watched you get your arm in shape, throw long toss, simulated games and ST games.

Then came the Opening Day at the Rangers, and I actually had to rewind my PVR to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me?!? 96 MPH in the middle innings of your first start??

Three weeks later, and you're now 4-0 with a 1.61 ERA and demolishing opponents left, right and center. As if that wasn't enough, you are leading your two new proteges Joshua and Jonathan to places they have never been before, and they have responded with mindblowing performances (Joshua - 3-0, 1.29 ERA (AL #1), Jonathan - 7 saves in 7 attempts, 0.0 ERA).

Even as I write this, the emotions of 2004 are returning......

Welcome back Mr. Schilling..... (Photo from Boston Globe)

Bye Bye Boomer

My previous post should have concluded what the rest of the world knows now - Boomer is truly on his way out. Back on the DL, and as far as I can tell, out of the Red Sox rotation for good.

Note to Theo: This shows the fickle nature of roster moves...

2oth of March - Outfield looks like it needs support, and hey, we've got 7 starters anyway.

21st of March - Bronson Arroyo is traded to Reds, where he in his first three starts has gone 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA and has hit homers in back to back games, which also happens to be his career homeruns number 1 and 2! This from a guy who told the Boston Globe when asked if he likes to hit:

No I hate hitting, I hate bunting, I hate learning the signs, I hate sliding.

Could've fooled me....:)

18th of April: Boomers on DL, Arroyo's a hit in Cincy and Papelbon is lights out in the 9th. Of course I applaud the Sox for not messing with him and putting him into the obvious gap in the rotation, but instead riding the massive wave that is JP the Closer. Lenny DiNardo filled in admirably on Monday, but he seems more suited for long relief, so either Craig Hansen's ready to come up and close soon, or Jon Lester brings his southpaw with him up to the rotation, 'cuz I don't think Boomer's coming back. If he does, it's only to show prospective trade partners he still has something left in the tank (which I'm not sure he has...). In the mean time we now have Mohr, Stern, Nixon and Pena filling two spots in the OF, and that's even before Coco returns...

Finally, honestly, all I was praying for was a base hit by Loretta to allow Big Papi to hit a third one for the day, but instead our new 2B wallops it 3 rows deep into the Green Monster stands. The Boston faithful are really taking a shine to this new line-up....

Or as Kristen put it:

I especially loved the fact that nearly everyone
- and don't lie, you did it too - ignored the fact that Loretta was at bat and
saw only that Papi was on deck. And we all said, either out loud or to
ourselves, "Mark, just get on base. Do like Youks did. Hustle your ass off and
get on base so Papi can do what he does."

Dried up Well?

His curve, when it hits the outside corner of the plate is a thing of beauty, but so far, admittedly only one inning into the game, everything else David Wells throws looks eminently hittable...

Very nice play by Gonzalez in the 1st though. I'd be a bit more comfortable if his BA crept up at least to the Mason-Dixon line (.250).

Also, quick thanks to the very readable Iain who, through his musings, got me to sign up to mlb.com for a month. Even my wife loves that I can sit in bed with the laptop and a set of headphones and watch the Sox while she sleeps next to me....:) I might extend it to the rest of the season....

The proverbial beaver..

Wow, the last 3-4 weeks have really flown past in a hurry...I didn't have any time to comment any of these highlights:

• WBC starting - baseball on TV, yay!
  
• Baseball Tonight - back on NASN!
  
• Chelsea's manager complaining about other teams playacting - oh the sweet irony...:D
  
• Liverpool unceremoniously bumped out of the Champions League - when the top scorer in the club is a midfielder, Stevie G, and has scored more (17 goals) than the starting striker pair, Crouch and Morientes, has scored COMBINED in the season, then you're in for a tough time. No Olympiakos this time.
  
• The Incredible Sulk finally publicly confirmed as a drug user - Game of Shadows excerpts were printed in this weeks Sports Illustrated. The book's out on March 27.
  
• Spring Training starts for amateurs too! I was able to fit in two indoor sessions, but will get my first outdoor session this coming Sunday - can't wait!

I'll try to fit more in, but the next 3 weeks are very packed, so please bear with me.

Too little, too late

Wow.

This could have actually been considered slightly classy...if it had come in late December.

Now it's just sad.

Johnny, you think the Red Sox didn't "respect" you? I still think $40m is a lot of respect, but I guess everything is relative.

We'll move on, as we'll be going Loco for Coco, but you might not when you realise what a cavernous park Yankee Stadium is.

That might happen not only when you're running for a fly ball, but also when you can't seem to get your average above .300. There's a reason why Yankee Stadium is considered a pitchers park, whereas Fenway is traditionally a hitters park (at least for the home team...).

Cheese

The "Special One" has now broken the silence over the previously mentioned Robbengate, a.k.a How to hit the deck in 1 second flat without pain. Although Chelsea have reportedly been privately embarrassed about Robben's behaviour, Mourinho now feels enough is enough.

His main defensive argument goes back to the obviously still stinging Champions League defeat to Liverpool.

Liverpool question the moral actions of our player, but I do not remember them questioning anyone last May when the ball did not cross the line and the players were running to the officials putting pressure on them to give a goal.

It is almost comical how everyone affiliated to Chelsea have conveniently left out the part that if ref Lubos Michel had not played the advantage for Garcia, he would have had no other option than to give a penalty to Liverpool and send off Peter Cech for clattering into Milan Baros.

Don't think 'Pool would have won with a penalty kick to be taken and Chelsea down to 10 men after 4 minutes? As an American female teenager would have said - Puh-lease...

Fall guys

I got an interesting idea in this article in the Times, regarding our favourite thespian Arjen Robben.

From now on, I'll create my own weekly Letterman top five, highlighting the top floppers, divers and cheaters in the Premiership, starting this weekend.

Stay tuned.

Quotes, stones and concrete

Quick post with the quote of the day from the always funny Kristen's blog:

The Stones no longer cheat death. They now openly mock it and refer to it as "their bitch."

Superb...

Also, although I know the story lines have more holes in it than O.J's alibi, some elements are fantastically implausible and it's aired on satan's network - a.k.a. Fox, Prison Break is a very entertaining 42 minutes of television. UK viewers can catch this gem on Monday evenings on Five.

The resident Hollywood baddie Swede, Peter Stormare, co-stars as the mob-boss in the 'Pen', and although I love Peter's acting chops, his "Italian mob dialect" could do with some fine tuning.

Despite that, it might even tie me over until the 3rd series of Entourage starts in June. In the UK, ITV have bought the rights to series 1 and 2 and rumour has it they will air it on ITV3.

For those who haven't seen Entourage, this is the HBO comedy show based on Mark 'Funky Bunch' Wahlberg's experiences when trying to break into Hollywood. Adrian Grenier stars as Vincent Chase, up and coming movie star (competing with the likes of Colin Farrell), his half-brother Johnny 'Drama' Chase (played brilliantly by Kevin Dillon), and Eric and Turtle, two of Vincent's friend from his childhood in Queens.

However, the shining star of the show is Ari Gold - Vincent's high-powered agent, played supremely by Jeremy Piven.

The man is a quote machine, probably one of the best in the industry to deliver the slightly manic 30+ word sentences perfectly. He shone in Old School, Very Bad Things, PCU, Grosse Point Blank and Serendipity, which admittedly was quite a sappy movie, but had John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, and a couple of fantastic quotes from Piven, including:

Pimple-faced college drop outs who have made unhealthy sums of money forming internet companies that create no concrete products, provide no viable services, and still manage to generate profits for all of its lazy day-trading son-of-a bitch shareholders.

You know Piven's up to his usual high standards when in the first Entourage episode, while driving and on the phone to Eric, stops talking on the phone temporarily and screams out the side window:

Is that the way they drive in Tiananmen Square, bitch?

Instant classic.

3rd series reportedly starts on June 20th on HBO or a torrent near you.

Hospitalised?

Nothing frustrates me more than a talented athlete that feel the need to cheat to reach his or her goals - be it doping, diving or faking.

I don't subscribe to the theory that the increase of foreign players in the Premiership are the only reason that players have increased their theatrics - Gary Lineker is famous for not being booked in his entire playing career, yet he's admitted that had the yellow card for diving rule been in place during his era, his unblemished record might be slightly less clean. Also, some of the more prolific divers are English, such as Michael Owen, Joe Cole and Emile Heskey.

However, the cream of the crop in the Premiership are, in no ranking order: Jose Reyes, Robert Pires, Ruud Van Nistelroy and Arjen Robben.

Reyes have taken a tumble so many times that it almost seems that he won't even get a legitimate free kick nowadays.

Yesterday in the Chelsea-Liverpool game, which BTW Chelsea won relatively deservedly due to Liverpool's lack of forward firepower, Robben and Chelsea stooped to new lows.

Having remarkably managed to get out of a clear cut yellow card for dissent earlier in the game, Robben came up and said something to Liverpool 'keeper Reina I'm sure shouldn't be repeated when children can hear it. Reina, who the second earlier committed a foolish tackle on Chelsea's Gudjohnsen, for which he was about to get booked, seemed to push Robben in the face (with his soft goalkeeper gloves), and Robben went down on the deck like punched by Mike Tyson, only to peek up to ensure that Reina got sent off.

Only one word can summarise that.

Scum.

Cheat. (Oops, my math has always been poor.)

Robben is a remarkably gifted footballer, but clearly sub-standard as a human being...I'd like to say I'm sure he's slightly ashamed when he sees the replay images, but I'm not sure he has any shame whatsoever.

Forest for the trees

This is a bizarre feeling - we're in what used to be the holiest of weekends for me - Super Bowl weekend, and yet I was thinking more about baseball than football.

Yes, the last few seasons haven't been fun from an 49er fan point of view, but I almost fear it's more than that. I can't quite put my finger on what has made me absorb baseball to the point that there is almost no room for football.

I still consider the slow motion replay of a deep football pass the purest form of poetry in motion in the world of sport. The build-up and quick rush of excitement when a rusher hits the hole right and seemingly slithers through 5 defenders. The power surge when the unblocked blitzing linebacker or defensive end comes free and blindsides the QB, but also the excitement of watching Mike Vick evade four defensive players in the backfield and turn a guaranteed sack into a 20 yard gain.

Despite all this, I can't seem to get worked up for a football game. Instead being glued to the screen, I'll surf in and watch 5-10 minutes, and then continue my channel surfing....

Coach Nolan, please make my Niners at least an 8-8 team, so I don't have to wear a paper bag over my head.

-----------------------------

On another note, I found this cool thing through the great Cursed to First blog:

Go here to make your own word cloud.

Test? We don't need no stinkin' tests!

I apologise for the infrequent postings, trying to juggle work, exam period at school and sports browsing is not easy...

After last years hearings it seems strange that it's not been universally accepted that Olympic testing is why Barry's not playing in the WBC.

"After he played only 14 games a year ago, you can understand why he came to this decision," said U.S. manager Buck Martinez.

Actually, 8 games over 14 days, all of them as DH shouldn't be too taxing even for BB. I'd be willing to wager that it's the olympic standard laboratories that are Barry's cause for concern...

I wonder if the US players looked at the Dominican roster, and thought 'Damn, now that's a murderers row if I ever saw one', as the US players are now lining up to play. Although Roger's probably lickin' his chops to face the Dominicans, it does indeed take a confident pitcher to face a lineup consisting of;

Miguel Tejada, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Jose Guillen, OF
Manny Ramirez, OF
Vladimir Guerrero,OF
Aramis Ramirez/Adrian Beltre, 3B
Alfonso Soriano, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Miguel Olivo, C

I mean GEEEEEEZZZZZZZ, how do you even put together a lineup? You've got 7 guys or more who normally hit 3rd or clean-up? I'd guess Soriano would revert to his Yankees' lead-off position and Olivo would hit ninth, but after that I'm stumped. Maybe I'll have to put together the lineup in MVP 2005 and simulate it...

Now that ESPN signed a deal to show the WBC, I wonder if we get to see it here in Europe? NASN, if you build it, they will come!

--------------------

With Alex Gonzalez signed as short stop on a one year/$3m deal, the Red Sox roster is getting close to finalised.

So far, it looks like the opening roster will be:

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Mark Loretta, 2B
3. Manny Ramirez, LF
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Jason Varitek, C
6. Trot Nixon, RF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
9. Alex Gonzalez, SS

The rotation is a lot more unclear past spots 1 and 2, as the future of Clement and Wells is still up in the air (Wells now more so than Clement), but the pitching staff should look something like:

SP: Curt Schilling, RHP
SP: Josh Beckett, RHP
SP: David Wells, LHP
SP: Matt Clement, RHP
SP: Tim Wakefield, RHP

Bullpen:
Bronson Arroyo, RHP
Jon Papelbon, RHP
Julian Tavarez, RHP
Rudy Seanez, RHP
Lenny Dinardo, LHP
Mike Timlin, RHP
Keith Foulke, RHP

It's not clear whether Red Sox will carry 11 or 12 pitchers, but with Wells most likely on the move, Arroyo will probably take the 5th spot in the rotation and Papelbon and Seanez will share the long relief spots. We'll also have to keep a look out for Melcarmen, Hansen and Lester, as they will most likely climb the ranks this year.

To quote Hannibal - "I love it when a plan comes together..."

Cereal Killer

Bugger....

Earlier in the week, before I got a case of the flu, I'd written a relatively long draft about the pro's and con's of having Coco Crisp in the Red Sox outfield, and looked at the Crisp-Riske-Bard for Marte-Shoppach-Mota trade that The Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox were close to finalising with the Cleveland Indians.

Of course since then Mota "failed/not failed" a physical, the deal's off the table and both sides are looking to restructure it.

One that is being talked about now is Red Sox trading Matt Clement to the Reds for outfielder Austin Kearns. The Red Sox would then swap outfielders (Crisp for Kearns) with the Indians with a host of other minor leaguers changing post codes. We'll see where that one takes us, but I, for one, am a much calmer animal with Theo back in the driver's seat.

Today's most interesting article contains this great quote:

The thing that I find funny is that some of the better writers suck at their jobs from my standpoint: Shaughnessy and [Bill]Conlin are two that come to mind. Two separate incidents from each of them told me all I needed to know about how bad members of the media can be. Dan wrote a column basically calling Pedro a piece of trash after he left the ball park on Opening Day 2004, talking about what a bad guy and horrible person he was for doing so. This is the same guy who waxed poetic years earlier when Roger Clemens did the exact same thing, calling Roger a gamer, someone that despised losing. Don't get me wrong, there is no bigger Clemens fan than me, but the two opposing viewpoints on two people doing the same exact thing paint a stark picture into how these guys look at what they do.

Number 38 himself has been emailing Bill Simmons, and told his version of some of the events in 2004 and 2005, and how many times Manny can utterly confuse everyone in one given day. Top stuff!

One thing that came back to me was that I never managed to peg down which Red Sox player bad mouthed gehrig38 to the Boston press. I don't want to sully anyone's name, but I'm slightly suspicious of Millar or Foulke.

Theatre of Screams

Well, that sucked.

Rarely have I seen a Liverpool-ManUtd game with so few goalscoring chances. Despite a dominating Liverpool midfield, which is one of the top two midfields in the country, the lack off forward committment by the Liverpool side meant the top two had no support. Unfortunately Djibril Cisse is showing more and more that he needs support. When you find yourself thinking (ok, yelling at the TV) that Rafa should take off Cisse and add Sinama-Pongolle, it's a clear sign this team really could use an addition up front. What happened to the Dick Kuyt rumours?

Cisse has blazing speed, but as is more and more evident, really nothing else. A good comparison for you non-Europeans is John Capel, the Florida track standout who won the gold on the 200m sprint in the 2003 World Championships and also had truly blazin speed, but couldn't catch a cold as a reciever in the NFL with the Chiefs and Bears.

Unfortunately, this leads us onto the topic of new players. I hate to kick a man who's already down, but new Reds signing Jan Kromkamp didn't have the best of introductions to the Premiership when he came on in the 89th minute against ManUtd. In the span of 90 seconds, he managed to get out of position and not cover Steve Finnan's closing down of Loius Saha, and forced Finnan to foul Patrick Evra. (Regardless of what Rafa says, it was a foul.). Kronkampt then promptly lost Ferdinand on the ensuing free kick, and voila, 3 points to ManUtd.Still, with the 2 games in hand, we should get 2nd spot, but I can't see Chelsea dropping 10 points...

Beaky Buzzard? Mike Riley?

Referee Mike Riley didn't continue his phenomenal form of awarding a penalty to ManUtd everytime someone made a purchase at Tesco's (UK's Walmart), but still made some dubious decisions. However, I don't agree with Rafa Benitez, Riley had a decent game. His worst game, to date, probably was the ManUtd-Arsenal game in 2004.

Redux

"As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks," the statement said. "We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals. "Ironically, Theo's departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization's future that did not exist on Oct. 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week."

OK, read that last part again - "Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity". I don't want to jinx it, but H**l Yes!

Welcome back - what took you so long?

...and more interestingly, what's going to happen to LL?

Core stability?

I know it's only January, but pitchers and catchers report in less than five weeks, fer crissakes! *Yay!*

I would be much calmer if the BoSox gave up the pretense that Alex Cora is a worthy Opening Day shortstop and traded for Julio Lugo. The reported price seems to be Andy Marte, but I'm hoping another deal can be made. I'm not sure about the sanity in essentially trading Renteria plus $11m for Lugo. Still, the Sox need to solve SS and CF, and with relative promptness..

Clement for Coco Crisp is another rumour that's been making the rounds for a few weeks.. I'd prefer Torii Hunter, but there is no way the Twins, with their lack of line-up power will let him go.

However, unless the Sox manage to sign a long-term CF, look for them to go after Hunter next year, unless Murphy can take the step up...

On another note, one's faith in humanity wishes, or even demands, that for every Johnny D that takes the money and runs, the world is balanced by a Paul Konerko, who thought that $12m per year with a team that he liked and in a clubhouse where he knew everyone and felt comfortable, was better than $13-15m per year for relocating one's family and hoping that the atmosphere would be as good there.

The reason I bring this up is today's news, which states that our resident rock star, Bronson Arroyo, has turned down more money elsewhere for a chance to stay with the Red Sox for another three years, and hopefully the rest of his career.

As much as JD is an easy target for the Red Sox nation's rage, and it is when he's quoted in May 2005 saying:

There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come
after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for
the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's just not what I
need

,very little is said about the way the Red Sox themselves have discarded several WS winners, including Billy Ballplayer, Kevin 'Cowboy Up' Millar, D-Lowe and Pedro. In Pedro's and JD's case, the Red Sox front office set a walk-away player value, and unfortunately, for the Sox, other teams were willing to pay more.

As much as I loathe seeing Damon in pinstripes, I think we'll have the last laugh during the 2009 season, when a then 36 year-old CF will try to throw to the cutoff man from 399 feet deep into centerfield at Yankee Stadium.

I somehow doubt he'll get the baserunner out.

Go West? - the background pt. II

When I first moved to the UK in '97, Sky TV not only showed 3-4 live Premiership football games per week, but for the first time, I also could watch one live NFL game each Sunday - pure, unadulterated joy!

1 game per week first turned into the occasional doubleheader, combined with the Channel Five MNF game, albeit one day tape delayed, meant every weekend was a complete NFL feast.

Still, in accordance to my nature, whilst I needed another sport to follow like I needed another hole in my head, when my friend Andy one day called me and said - "I'm going to start playing baseball with an amateur side" - my immediate response was "Sound's like fun, I'll come too".

Although I'd only played catch a few times with friends in the US, baseball suited me like a...ehh...glove? I'm never going to be a major leaguer, heck, I probably wouldn't get a spot on the worst college team in the US, but still, I was decent. Initially I much preferred playing baseball over watching, (and to be honest, I still do), but with time the curiosity increased.

After the launch of NASN in the UK - (all together now *Hail, Hail to NASN*), I started watching the odd game, first to gain insight in how to improve my own game, but I soon got to the point where I had to select a team to follow properly.

As I have no geographical affiliation to any region in the US (my distant relatives are spread over half of the US), I had the luxury of being able to pick any team I wanted to support. The Yankees were quickly discarded, as they have a business agreement with ManUtd, and other teams were tested and fell by the wayside...

Finally, it was pretty obvious, which team I should support. Although I'd been to both Tiger Stadium and Wrigley Field in my "pre-baseball fan" days, during on of several trips to New England, I was out walking with my then girlfriend in the Fens, and there it stood - Fenway Park.

The more I read about the Red Sox, the deeper I connected to the history and the tradition of Boston baseball.

I spoke to everyone I met in Boston, while trying to hide my complete ignorance beyond the most superficial of baseball topics, and realised there was a passion I hadn't seen before in professional sports in the US. I'd been to college and pro football games (the American kind) previously, but only at a college level had I experienced anything like a trip to Anfield.

For those that haven't been to a European soccer game, preferably an English Premiership game, the atmosphere is unbeatable. I must admit I have yet to go to a real college football rivalry game, such as Michigan-Ohio State, but Opening Day 2004 at Fenway Park is the closest I've gotten to Premiership atmosphere in the US. Like Iain, once I experienced that, I was hooked.

If you can't beat them, watch them - background pt I

One, of several, personality flaws I have is the inability to enjoy things in moderation. This has been evident in many areas in my life.

For example, in music; If I discover a band I like, I have to buy every album they've ever made, ditto with authors, and last but not least with sports.

Let me start from the beginning.

I grew up in Sweden, spending my time trying out as many sports as I could, including ice hockey, football (the european kind), table tennis and various other sports. Unfortunately, and to my dismay, I was never better than average in most of them. However, except a small decrease of interest during the late teens, strangely coinciding with the discovery of alcohol and the effects such drinks have on the social interaction with the other sex, I've maintained a fervant passion for several sports.

Ice hockey and football competed for many years for the title of "my no.1 favourite sport to watch", and Tipsextra was a must every Saturday at 3PM during football season. However, then one day in my teens I discovered a strange sport called "american football". My life has never been the same since...

After watching brief highlights on terrestrial TV showing Joe "Cool" Montana dismantle the Bengals' defense in less than 3 minutes to win Super Bowl XXIII , I was hooked on football, and also a 49er fan for life. Although my first exposure to football had been almost a decade earlier, NFL's presence in Sweden in the 80's was limited to say the least.

My interest increased in 1991 when at university I not only had cable tv with a weekly NFL show and the odd live game, but also tried to play it. I was pummeled for a few years while playing for Västerås Roedeers, but ultimately, like in previous sports, I was half decent, but not a natural.

The introduction of the internet to mainstream society in the early 90's (ok, so I'm an "early adopter", to use marketing speak), meant the discovery of ESPN.com and an almost endless supply of information about football. During this period I also travelled the US for the first time as an adult, and although I watched a few baseball games in person, they were more about drinking and eating for 3-4 hours than anything else. (Little did I know...literally!)

Late nineties and a move from Sweden to the UK later, and I bloomed from a soccer fan to a full on fanatic. Sure, I'd supported Liverpool since I could stand up, but now I was surrounded by Premiership football day and night! My passion for sports continued to grow exponentially...