Why watch the Olympics? Hmmmmm.....

Ask Dubbya.

"Merman, Pop. MERMAN"

Oh how I wish I was a fish to swim in the deep blue sea.I would swim up and down and all around in laps of two or three.

Michael Phelps is what he is. A fish amongst mere men. He won the 200-meter freestyle by breaking his own record by a full second. A FULL SECOND!!! I know I said I really don't care about the Olympics But, I soon saw myself rooting for any american on tv. I think its because of the anticipation of fantasy football coming around the corner that makes people dismiss this Olympics as a lame. But, there I was. Standing on my bed screaming "USA! USA! USA!" while wearing my Red Sox adult onsey(complete with footies). Phelps has joined an Elite group of Olympians such as Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the most gold medals in Olympic history. I know of the first two Americans but I don't consider Finnish people or Commie Reds athletes(just kidding). Phelps seemed to being swimming alone out there. Kind of like the original Dream Team with Magic, MJ, and Bird as they showed the world why we're able to drive around our fat kids who can't read in huge SUVs to the Pizzza Buffet at Pizza Hut for the 3rd time this week and still win gold medals. Phelps is also one of the few athletes that "Volunteered" to be part of a genetics experiment. As part of the program he gets tested multiple times a day. He actually went out of his way to do this. How many baseball/football/track athletes would do that? If Bonds went out of his way to do that his legacy would've been that he destroyed Hank's record.

All in all, I'm impressed withPhelps. If he keeps it up, he could be referred to as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Just a sidenote. I tried hard to find a picture that didn't look like gay porn. No offense out there but not many dudes wanna see another dude in a speedo looking ripped.

Oh how I wish to be a fish and one day soon I'll be!

Had to be dealt with

I actually remember when the Sox signed Manny Ramirez. It was December of 2000. That winter the Sox actually preferred to sign Mike Mussina, as everyone knows that pitching is the key to winning trophies in baseball. When the Yanks signed Moose, the Sox had to do something. So they decided to give Manny Ramirez a HUGE contract for 8 years + 2 club options @ 20mil a year. Though I was disappointed on not getting Moose, I was very excited to get one of the best young hitters in the game...and he was Dominican! My father when hearing of the news was not as excited. He had heard the stories of Manny in Cleveland. Refusing to play for weeks because he had Pharyngitis (aka sore throat). Complaining that he couldn't play for a week because he had a sore hammy, then forgetting which hammy it was. The one thing I remember my father saying is: "he's a great hitter, but he just doesn't play the game the right way". I was like whatever. Pops is an "ol skool" baseball head. Watching Manny hit through the years was great....and overall watching Manny was entertaining as hell. The Sox were under new ownership for the '02 season. They hired a young GM named Theo Epstein who was from Boston and grew-up down the street of Fenway. In the winter after the '03 season, it came out in the media that Theo had put Manny on waivers were any team could have him....no team claimed him. That's when I thought something must be wrong w/Manny. This guy is NASTY. Why would this "kid" GM want to dump him? Odder still, why hadn't any team claimed him? When Papi started playing everyday in June of '03, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez would become the modern day Gehrig and Ruth. They were the most lethal combo in the league. The Sox ended up winning the world series in '04 w/Manny being the WS MVP. Even w/all that, Theo tried to get rid of Manny in every off-season. As the years went by I started to realize why Theo wanted to let Manny go. Pops was right. Maybe I just got older but Manny did some things that I just didn't like. A game in Sept. in '02. Hits a grounder to first. Instead of running it out, he just turns and goes straight to the dugout....that didn't sit well w/anybody. Sept. of '03. Refuses to pinch-hit when asked to buy then manger Grady Little. He gets benched the next game in Philly. I believe it was in '05 when Tito promised him he had an off-day on the following Monday in Tampa. Before the game Tito went up to him and said "I know you were due for an off-day, but player x is sick and we need you to play". " you'll have tomorrow off". Manny response?...Sorry, can't play. I can't wait to hear for other stuff to come out that we had never heard. Tito has been covering for this guy for YEARS now. I called pops last night just to see what he thought about the Manny trade. He said one word "vindicated". When veteran players go up to the GM and say that player "x" must go and that he's polluting the culture of the team...something has to be done. In closing. Good luck in the future Manuel Aristides Ramirez. I KNOW the Sox will be fine. They "may" not win the WS this year (although I still think they have a great chance) All you have to do Manny is be Manny in your next stop. A great hitter with a bad attitude.