Manny speaks candidly about Boston

It's not what Sox fans want to necessarily hear, but I appreciate his honestly. A lot of this stuff doesn't come as a surprise to knowledgeable Sox fans.

"Every day I thank God I came here and had the chance to show people who I really am," he says. "The guy you see here -- that's who I am."

"The first time I stepped foot in Boston, I said to myself, 'Whoa.' I told Pedro Martinez, 'Damn, man, I just want to get traded and get out of here; this place is not me.' I was unhappy for eight years in Boston but still put up great numbers."

"Baseball in Boston is like a Sunday football game, but played every day," he says.

"We lose in L.A., I go to breakfast and people say, 'Well, you'll get them tomorrow.' In Boston, it's 'Hey, what's going on, the Yankees are coming.'

"It's just a different atmosphere. The fans in Boston got your back no matter what, but I'm talking about the people who write all this bull because it means so much to them. If your happiness depends on Boston winning or losing, you have to get a life."

"I would bring my kids to the park and I want my kids to be kids, but there'd be people trying to interview them. That's so stupid," Ramirez says. "I'd go to the parking lot after the game and 20 people I didn't know would be offering food, CDs and things -- then wanting something in return.

"Here the game ends, I go to the elevator, my car and no one bothers me."

Things went so sour in Boston, the team insisted on medical tests when he said he could not play. He didn't always run hard, and there was suspicion he struck out on purpose.

"I love to hit, to compete and would never do that; that's just people looking for stuff," he says, while admitting he now runs everything out in L.A., "and I don't even have to think about it."

That suggests he wasn't running everything out in Boston, and while he tries to explain, he's interrupted. There's no explanation for such behavior after signing a contract and being paid $20 million a year to give his all.

"You're right," he says. "You're right."

He wants to leave Boston behind, but a few weeks back Curt Schilling felt it necessary to let everyone know Ramirez is no team player. Funny, some say the same about Schilling.

"I don't wish him anything bad, although it did make me madder and play harder to show everyone who I am," Ramirez says. "I don't disrespect or takes shots at anyone. I don't want someone going to one of my sons and saying your dad is a punk and talks bad about people behind their backs."

"In many ways I'm like my mom, who doesn't curse, is always laughing and having fun. I strike out three times, and while I'm upset in my mind, I don't show it. I just tell myself I will come back the next day and go three for four."

"People think I don't take this seriously, but then why am I up early every morning working with the strength coach? I'm just playing around to keep everyone loose. When I was in Cleveland I asked a sportswriter if I could borrow $50,000 to buy a motorcycle. He wrote it like I was serious.

"It's just great here; I don't feel like I'm in a cage. The fans in L.A. are unbelievable -- never in my 16 years have I received such a reception."

Full Article

Joe Flacco

I haven't seen ball security this bad since I forgot to wear my cup in Little League.

NFL Week 4

Arizona +1

Cooch hearts value plays. Jets blow donkey nuggets and, on paper, Arizona should win this puppy. The Jets' D has a ton of holes, which will make for a nice day of offense for Warner, Boldin, Fitzgerald, and James. Value, peeps. VALUE.

The 22 Worst Place Names in the World

Staying far the fuck away from this place:

22. Cockburn, Western Australia
Although this name is often pronounced "Coburn" by those who stand to lose from its awfulness, who actually reads that when they see this word? Oh, how it burns.

On the other hand, these places will receive my touristership:

21. Twatt, Orkney, Shetland Islands, Scotland
The Shetland Islands, pronounced "Shitland Islands" if you have an accent like mine, make up a happy little area north of Scotland where it's too cold for trees to grow. I am related to approximately half the population of the Shetland Islands, share a last name with a quarter of them, and can probably trace my ancestry back to Twatt if I try hard enough. The pride!

19. Muff, Ireland
We here at Drivl love puerile humour. They have a town called Muff. Har har har.

17. Titty Hill, Sussex, England
Falling squarely into the extensive Stupid Place Names From England category, Titty Hill is probably located just north of...

14. Wetwang, Yorkshire... yep! England again!
Okay, so I'll cut England some slack. It's an old country. You know, if the United States is Google, then England is IBM. Their country is older than fucking dirt. They can't be blamed for having names that sound funny in 2007. But this is kind of ridiculous. Wetwang? I'm surprised they don't have towns called Squishy Vagina or Infected Scrotum.

Anybody want to take a stab at this one?

20. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, New Zealand

If I ever had to send snail mail there, I'd probably off myself.

The rest of the list...

Felix Jones

With his 60 yard TD run in the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers, Felix Jones became the first player in Dallas Cowboys history to score a a TD in each of his first 3 games.

I'll take it!

RAYS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS! RAYS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!

For the first time in its 11-year existence, the Rays (prior to this season known as the laughing stock of the league and also known as the Devil Rays) have made the playoffs!

With less than 10 games to go, Cooch unboldly predicts that they will also win the division. They came out of nowhere this season to win more than 90 games and wipe the smartass off most of our faces.


Congrats, Rays, even though I hate your fucking collective guts.

Lavinius edit: Me fucking too! Most of the Tampa/St. Pete area couldn't give less than a rat's ass of care about you. Your stadium is a joke. Your fans are a joke. You don't have a prayer of selling out a game unless there's thousands of away fans helping the cause. In short, I wish you zero success and that you humbly go fuck yourselves.

nomar garciaparra: injured again

Year, salary, and number of games played:
2004 $11,500,000 for 81 games
2005 $8,250,000 for 22 games
2006 $6,000,000 for 122 games
2007 $8,516,697 for 121 games
2008 $9,516,697 for 50 games (with less than 10 games to go this season)

NFL Power Rankings: Week 3

Lavinius' beloved Bills crack the top 10 after a solid road win..

Byrd vs. the Birds: Redux

Guess what? Byrd will be matched up against Toronto again. Friday....

Cowboys' Owens catches career TDs No. 131, 132

IRVING, Texas -- Terrell Owens caught his 131st career touchdown Monday night, a 72-yarder in the first quarter of Dallas' game against Philadelphia, to take over sole possession of second place on the NFL career list.

Early in the second quarter, Owens made it 132 with a 4-yard TD.

On the first TD, Owens was behind the defenders and caught the ball in stride from Tony Romo near the 15 and ran untouched into the end zone. It was the longest pass of Romo's career.

Owens is 65 TD receptions behind Pro Football Hall of Famer and former teammate Jerry Rice on the NFL list. Owens had been tied with Cris Carter for second place.

Owens has three TDs this season, and 31 in 33 games with the Cowboys. He has caught 28 from Romo, making them the league's top quarterback-receiver TD combination since 2006.

Before coming to Dallas in 2006, Owens had 20 TDs in two seasons with the Eagles. He spent the first eight seasons of his career with San Francisco, five of those with Rice.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

NFL Week 2

Bills EVEN over Jaguars

Decent play here. Battered Jags against the Bills, who are coming off a great first week. Value play, folks! Lavinius' beloved Bills win a tight game on the road.

Tris Speaker, Wade Boggs, and Dustin Pedroia

Who are the only Red Sox members to have 200 hits and 50 doubles in the same season?

Cash is STILL Money

Byrd vs. the Birds

With his start today against the Blue Jays, Paul Byrd will have faced the Blue Birds in 4 of his last 7 starts. He is 2-1 w/ a 4.03 ERA against the Jays this season.

NFL Power Rankings: Week 2

Cantu's 25th homer makes history for Marlins

Cantu's solo homer that tied the score at 1 in the fourth was his 25th of the season. The Marlins are now the first team in Major League history to have four infielders hit at least 25. Mike Jacobs (32), Dan Uggla (30), Hanley Ramirez (29) and Cantu have accounted for 116 of the Marlins 188 homers this season.

Full Article

Let the debate begin: Thigpen '90 versus Rodriguez '08

Thigpen: 4-6, 57 saves, 8 blown, 77 games, 88.1 IP, 1.83 ERA
K-Rod: 2-2, 57 saves, 6 blown, 69 games, 63.1 IP, 2.42 ERA

Thigpen had a significantly lower ERA, averaged more than 1 IP per game (including 9 games with 2+ IP and 2 games going 3 IP). I'll take the '90 Thigpen...
[Thigpen's 1990 game log]

Go home Ike

NASA Remembers...

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1171.html

[click on pic for larger view]

Girl caught giving handjob at college football game

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Rap Battle Gone Bad Translated

Rap Battle Gone Bad Translated - Watch more free videos

BWAHAHAHHAHAH

Mancrush v2: Have a Seat

Buchholz, who was sent to Double-A Portland on August 20, will not be returning to the Red Sox for the last few weeks of the regular season, the Boston Globe reports.

Youk...

Youk is the Sox' official team leader in HRs (25) and RBIs (97). Jason Bay has actually hit 26 HRs, but only 4 official AL HRs.

NFL Week 1

Giants -4 over the Skins

Theo: You da man!

You had a ticking time bomb in Manny Ramirez and got us Jason Bay for him. In the same deal, you dumped the enigmatic Craig Hansen and a decent spare outfielder in Brandon Moss that didn't fit into the equation. In the process you fixed that little thing called "clubhouse chemistry" and the team is 21-9 since the trade as of this post.

You resisted temptation with Johan this past spring and instead held onto our talented youngsters Lester, Masterson, and Lowrie. You drove the price up for the Yankees to the point the Twins traded him out of the AL.

You picked up Bartolo Colon from the scrap pile and he ended up giving us some nice starts before he got injured.

You picked up Paul Byrd in a waiver wire transaction for a box of David's sunflower seeds when the back of our rotation was either injured (Wakes, Colon) or just dropping deuces on oneself (Buchholz). What an improvement he's been over the former Mancrush V.2.

You picked up Mark Kotsay for three Slim Jim's and a Powerbar and the early returns are good on that as well.

Gotta say that Sean Casey has been great for the bench and the clubhouse as well.

Just to put into perspective the job Theo has done; last year the Sox used the DL nine times. This year, the Sox have used it 20 times. Rather than fold or use it as an excuse, the team is playing its best ball of the season, and appear to be a virtual lock for a playoff berth with a five game wild card lead.

Here's to you, Theo!

Carlos Pena

...has walked 7 times with the bases loaded this season.

Dice-BB

Number of times Dice-BB has walked:

0 batters in a game: 3
1 batter in a game: 1
2 batters in a game: 6
3 batters in a game: 6
4 batters in a game: 2
5 batters in a game: 5
6 batters in a game: 2
7 batters in a game: 0
8 batters in a game: 1

A little Dustin Pedroia for MVP love

AL RANKS

BA: .327 (1ST)
RUNS: 107 (1ST)
HITS: 185 (1ST)
DOUBLES: 42 (T-3RD)
OBP: .374 (18TH)
OPS: .863 (21ST)
RBI: 70 (T-29TH)

Dude gets serious consideration based on the first four cats listed, but he checks in with very respectable marks in OBP, OPS, and RBI.

Just checked his game log and I counted 57 multi-hit games! :O

Paul Byrd: "I can't say enough about my second baseman. This guy, in my opinion, is the MVP of the league. He's unbelievable. I didn't know he was that good when I came over here."

Ozzie Guillen: "A lot of people talk about Manny [Ramirez] leaving. I wish Pedroia was leaving" (Pedroia went 9 for 12 in a recent series against the Pale Hose)

From 9/1's post-game recap: Pedroia, who hit .374 in August and closed the month going 9-for-12, scored 33 runs last month, the most for the Red Sox since Dom DiMaggio and Billy Goodwin had 35 in 1950, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Cooch's NFL Predictions

NFC EAST: DALLAS EFFIN COWBOYS!
NFL NORTH: MINNESOTA
NFL SOUTH: NEW ORLEANS
NFL WEST: SEATTLE

AFC EAST: NEW ENGLAND
AFC NORTH: PITTSBURGH
AFC SOUTH: INDIANAPOLIS
AFC WEST: SAN DIEGO

NFC CHAMPS: DALLAS
AFC CHAMPS: INDIANAPOLIS

SUPER BOWL CHAMPS: DALLAS!!! (NO BIAS HERE, REALLY!!!)