Red Sox in Sick Ward; Stop the Mock Drafting
By: Jason Devaney
A sprinkle of this, a dash of that as I wait for the Centers for Disease Control to enter the Red Sox clubhouse and quarantine every member of the organization …
– What the hell kind of sickness has struck the sons of Terry Francona? It seems like half the team is out of commission. Jason Varitek appears to have been hit the hardest. It seems that the unearthing of the David Ortiz jersey from a concrete floor at the new Yankee Stadium also unleashed the Ebola virus on our 25-man roster.
– While I’m on the subject, let’s talk about Mr. Big Papi. His batting average before the digging was a blistering .070. Since that day, which happened to be April 13, Ortiz is batting .298 with three long balls and 17 RBIs. Obviously there is no real correlation here, but let a sportswriter have some fun. 
The real issue is Papi’s right knee. He’s not hitting the ball with power because he is not transferring enough weight to his front foot on a swing … because of the balky joint. He will eventually start hitting, but this certainly troubles me.
– Feel free to disagree here, but I am already sick of the NFL draft. And I am sick of hearing and reading about the NFL season. The 2008-09 season. Memo to ESPN: It is baseball season at the moment, and there are some great NHL and NBA playoff matchups going on. Can you please stop force feeding us these stupid mock drafts? I can’t take any more of it.
– NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was on the Dan Patrick radio show this morning and he was asked if the league is looking into halting the practice of allowing teams to sign players before the draft even begins. He also commented on draft signees getting paid more than some NFL veterans. My feeling is that teams should not be allowed to ruin the moment and sign a player (as the Dolphins have done) before draft day. What makes the draft so exciting is the anticipation of waiting for the next team’s pick to be announced.
And these top picks signing for millions and millions of dollars? You gotta ax that too. If I am a veteran who’s been playing in the league for six years and make $1 a year, I am none too pleased to hear about an unproven rookie who has never set foot on an NFL field being awarded a six-year deal worth a guaranteed $30 million (Jake Long). To steal a line from our good friend Peter Griffin, that really grinds my gears.
– Just curious, how is it that I can get 1080 AM on my car stereo at night near my place in Virginia? This station is out of Hartford, Conn., and it allows me to listen to Joe and Dave O’Brien calling the Sox games. Not complaining, but I’m intrigued.
– I gotta go with Kevin Garnett as this year’s NBA MVP. I interpret this award as not necessarily the best player, but the player who had the greatest impact on his team. Garnett has single-handedly rejuvenated the NBA in Boston. Sure it attracted some bandwagon jumpers, but who cares? The entire Celtics’ turnaround is all thanks to this guy. Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul are unbelievable players and they have the numbers to prove it, but Garnett alone is the reason why the Celtics are the best team in the league.
– I was just checking out youtube for some funny golf videos and found a gold mine. Here are a few: