Friday, February 29, 2008

Random Thoughts, Sights and Sounds - A Potpourri of Knowledge

A variety of points and questions, as we head into another snowy weekend.

Here's a few leftover items from my Roger Clemens rant from Thursday.

Clemens' attorney Rusty Harden has to be either the biggest idiot there is or biggest enabler going. Based on his performance so far, there is no way I would hire him to get me out of a parking ticket, never mind having him try and defend me against Congress and the Department of Justice. I would much rather have Jackie Childs from Seinfield defending me.

Why would he continue to allow Clemens to travel down the path of denial and trying to clear his name, when at the end of the road there's huge consequences awaiting him if he's not telling the truth? Does he honestly believe that Clemens is telling the truth when all the signs say otherwise.

I've been kind of quiet regarding the Red Sox so far this spring training, which is a reflection of how quiet their spring training has gone. Hopefully that will all change now that the Sox will start playing their spring training games - starting this evening with (none other than) the Minnesota Twins.

Some of the outstanding questions that faced the defending World Champions as they headed into spring training:

Status of Terry Francona's extension to his contact - done, check off list. Everyone is happy with the deal, like there was ever any doubt that it would get done. Francona is arguably the greatest manager in Red Sox history.

Jacoby Ellsbury vs. Coco Crisp in Center Field. Coco has said he won't be happy being a backup, and is looking for a trade. My advice to Coco is to keep your mouth shut, and if you perform offensively as you did in your final year in Cleveland (.300 avg, 16 HR 69 RBI, 178 hits in 145 games) you'll be in the starting lineup. No one has ever questioned your defense, it's your lack of offense that's going to get you out of Boston.

Curt Schilling's shoulder issue - which the Sox are trying to partly solve by bringing in Bartolo Colon. So they're replacing one overweight, out of shape pitcher, who has shoulder issues, with a pitcher who is more overweight, more out of shape, and also has had arm issues in the past. Seems to make sense to me.

Having Hank Steinbrenner around as the owner of the Yankees will be just as fun, if not better, than having his dad in charge. With George getting old and being sick the past couple of years, there hasn't been a lot of verbal attacks towards the Red Sox, or any other teams, coming from his offices.

But old Hank is changing all that in a hurry. Below is Hank's thoughts regarding Red Sox Nation (which he gave in an interview to the New York Times' Play Magazine): For full story/interview/profile of Hank and his brother Hal click here.

"Red Sox Nation?' What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order."

Hmmm.. restoring the universe to order. That sounds like something that Darth Vader and The Emperor would say. No wonder why Larry Lucchino refers to the Yankees as 'The Evil Empire'. It's right out of Star Wars. Steinbrenner must of been watching The Empire Strikes Back in his footy Star Wars pajamas last week.

Your sound note of the week. Great new song from The Foo Fighters (aka The Fighters of the Foo), "The Long Road to Ruin" off of their latest album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

Have a great weekend everyone.

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