Monday, Monday...

I did not do a running diary of the Orioles and Red Sox yesterday for three reasons.

#1. I made a gourmet dinner yesterday during the game. Goat cheese mashed potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and breaded chicken. It was quite delicous if I do say so myself.

#2. Was anyone elses sound all messed up yesterday? I couldn't hear a thing Jerry and Don were saying, but I could hear some fans like they were sitting next to me. Way to be NESN, please, keep screwing up the 3 Spring Training games that you do show.

#3. My cousin Kerry came over to watch the game with me / talk about our Texas Ranger trip (3 weeks!).

Anyway, some thoughts from the game:

*When they had on Tom Werner and John Henry in the bottom of the 1st, it was painfully uncomfortable to watch JWH on TV. You can tell he hates every minute of it. As the Sox batted Steve Traschel around, JWH called him, "painfully deliberate". I'm pretty sure that is how he feels about all his on camera appearances as well.

*When they showed #7 on deck, I actually thought, Trot's batting behind Manny? For 2.3 seconds and almost started crying. This is going to take some getting used to.

*Hi David, I've missed you all winter.

*I'm not freaking out about Dice-K's outing. Poor spring training outings happen. Not a big deal. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

*Youk is batting .405 this spring...YOUUUUKKKK.

*Lugo looks good at the plate, not so good fielding. I liked having a team where defense rarely hurt you last year. Although, that team finished 3rd, so I guess you need to change things up.

*Drew's batting .438. Personally I'd feel a whole lot better if his hat was a little dirty.

*Jason is batting my checking account, which, for the record is .118. Michael (Lowell) is batting a full point higher than him, so we got that going for us. (119).

*Only spring training game with the Yanks is tonight at 7:05. Deeerrr-EK Jeeetttt-ER. (hate is a very strong word, but it fits in this situation). Timmy is pitching for us against Carl (we were really able to trade for Pedro using you?) Pavano on the hill for NY.

*Roger Clemens wants 4 million dollars a month. It has always been about the money hasn't it Rog?

Ramblings this morning while wondering what it feels like to watch $103 million dollars get tagged by some no name Orioles. (you could probably ask JWH).

The truth and rumors section on SI.com had all kinds of goodies today:

"Gary Sheffield desperately wanted to cross enemy lines. The former Yankees slugger had only one team on his wish list as last season wound to a close, though he dared not disclose it. Assuming the Yankees failed to pick up his $13 million contract option, Sheffield had every intention of playing for the Red Sox this year." -- Boston Herald

Apparently Mr. Sheffield has a death wish upon his next return to Yankee Stadium. He's a Tiger, this may have been something he should have just kept to himself.

"An official who was involved in the discussions that led to the 2001 deal that sent Roberto Alomar to the Mets said one of the players New York made available to Cleveland was a Low-A shortstop named Jose Reyes. The official said the Indians liked Reyes, but simply did not have enough information from their South Atlantic League scouts." -- New York Post

That is the kind of thing to keep Indians fans up at night.

"No less than five scouts have inquired about Boston's Kyle Snyder. Look for a team needing an end-of-the-rotation starter to pursue him before the end of the month." -- Boston Globe

I think we should hang on to all our pitching until we are absolutely sure we don't need it. Otherwise, they could go off and end up being the best pitcher in the NL. You know, hypothetically speaking.

"Daisuke Matsuzaka has been expressing concern to Japanese reporters about the high mound in the bullpen at City of Palms Park." -- Boston Globe

Yeah, I bet that if he asked, they'd lower the mound for him.

Some other goodies:

*Lester will open the minor league game this Friday, throwing 3 innings.

*Gordon talks about Jacoby.

*NCAA announced its field of 65. (Bob Ryan says debating the bracket is almost as much fun as the games). Watched the Big 12 Championship yesterday. Awesome game. Texas lost to Kansas in overtime. Kevin Durant had 37. In an unrelated / completely related note, Celts lost to the Bulls yesterday. Thank you Chicago.

Dear Lottery Gods,

1st or 2nd pick please. Please.

Thanks.

Love,
Amanda

*Pats sign Donte Stallworth. I'm pretty excited about this. I'm sick of everyone saying that all these moves have been unsual for the Patriots and whanot. The Patriots don't overpay and don't sign players that don't fill a role in their team. However, they are willing to pay for top level talent like Tom, Matt Light, Richard Seymour, ect.

*Speaking of the Patriots, Bill and Scott sat in the dugout yesterday.

*Rob Bradford talks about judging spring training.

*In 1 second of NHL news, Chris Simon is suspended 25 games for his stick attack on Ryan Hollweg. Simon, meanwhile, is saying the reason he made that hit was a result of a concussion. Now, I'm not saying that that is too light of a suspension, but Todd "I'm a scumbag" Bertuzzi BROKE Steve Moore's NECK. Moore has now been out of the league for 3 years and no doctor will clear him to play because he risks paralysis if he injures his neck again. Simon cut the guys chin open and gets 3 more games? Neither play is acceptable, but giving three more games for Simon's play is ridiculous.