Manny Ramirez

Now that CC Sabathia has signed a contract with the Yankees, Manny Ramirez is the primary topic in all the trade talk. At the beginning of the offseason you couldn't turn on sports center without hearing someone talk about where Manny was going to end up. But then everybody started talking about Sabathia. Well now the Manny talk is back.

According to Newsday.com, Manny is becoming very upset over the lack of offers and lack of interest teams have been giving him. It is rumored that Ramirez told some friends that he is considering retirement if he doesn't receive a suitable offer soon. He is mad because he thinks he should be the top player in the market because of the way he played during his two months with the Dodgers. I kind of agree with him on this because did play really good. He was even considered for the National League MVP after only playing in the National League for two months. But I don't think he is necessarily the top prize. Not everybody is looking for an old veteran that isn't sure how much longer he is going to play.

Manny Ramirez confirmed that he will play next season and he is not planning on retiring soon. He said that he plans on playing at least till he hits seven hundred home runs and right now he is only at five hundred and twenty seven. So if this is true he will be playing for at least four or five more years if he keeps hitting home runs at the rate he is.

The main team that is interested in Manny is the Dodgers who offered him a deal at the begging of the offseason but then pulled the offer off the table once the free agency began. It is also rumored that the Washington Nationals are interested him but right now the Nationals are concentrating on trying to get Mark Teixeira. Another possible team is the New York Mets but I haven't heard to much about the yet. Personally I think he will end up back in LA with the Dodgers. He seems to enjoy playing there and the fans certainly love seeing him in a Dodger's uniform.

What else is new?

It's that time of year when everyone should be jolly but that isn't the feeling that is going around in Dallas these days. Big surprise, Terrell Owens is feuding with another one of his quarterbacks. He can't seem to grow up but i can't seem to get enough of it.

TO, what is wrong with you? You publically said that you always have a good relationship with your quarterbacks. Really? Did you think that we all just forgot about how you went crazy in San Francisco with Jeff Garcia? Or did you think that we forgot about that very infamous feud with Donovan "You can tie?" McNabb in Philly? Well, well, well it looks like your dirty tricks are back to their dirty ways. Now you are getting into it with Tony Romo. You even accused him of drawing up secret plays with Jason Witten that exclude you on purpose.

What more do you want from him? He has tried to get you the ball 50 more times than his partner in crime Jason Witten. But i guess you have a point. I mean, it can't be your fault that you are consistently at the top of the league in drops. It's gotta be Tony. And this whole secret play nonsense is good. You honestly believe that this is happening? Maybe if you would get open when it counts and get some hands on you, then you won't be "excluded".

Now i know it sounds like i'm complaining but i love this stuff. Watching TO tear teams apart from the inside gets better every time. Especially now because the Cowboys are one of my least favorite teams. So even though i just criticized you for the past few hundred words, i love ya man. So i'm sorry for the flip flop here sports fans, but by golly this is entertaining stuff.

Hatin on the Yankees

Well it happened. I told you it probably would and guess what, I was right. The New York Yankees officially have CC Sabathia in their pitching rotation. This pisses me off because the Yankees have so much money they can just buy whoever they want. But the funny thing is they'll probably fuck up and miss the playoffs again this year. Over the past few years they have had what seems to be an all-star roster and they still have no world series championships to show for it.

You can't really blame Sabathia for going to the Yankees. They gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. They offered him a record setting seven year deal at 161 million dollars a year. I absolutely hate the Yankees, almost as much as I hate the Cubs, but if I was offered a seven year contract for 161 million dollars I would play for the Yankees. Hell I would play for anyone for that much money.

But this deal with Sabathia doesn't mean the Yankees are satisfied. They are still trying to land A.J. Burnett who is another big name starting pitcher. I don't think they'll ever be done spending money. The Yankee's owner Hal Steinbrenner said he is optimistic that they will soon have Burnett right behind Sabathia in the rotation. This is what Steinbrenner said,

"We're interested in [Burnett] and he's interested in us. Obviously, New York has a lot to offer, and playing for the Yankees is just a great thing."

This just shows how stuck up the Yankees franchise is. They think their so great because they used to win a lot of World Series and they have so much history. Their last championship was in 2000. They've had so many big names on their roster the last 8 years they should win just about every year. In my opinion they just aren't that good.

And the Winner is...

While i was looking around Yahoo sports today i saw an interesting blog in the Shutdown Corner which is their collection of football blogs. This one was about an award that the blogger thought should be brought into existence. It is the "Vinny Testaverde Award" which he wants to be given to the best "old guy", or player over 35,in the league. This post made me wonder, who is the best old guy in the NFL this year?

There are a few that come to mind. First off Pat Williams of the Minnesota Vikings. He is part of the best rush defense in the NFL. He and Kevin Williams don't allow any kind of running their way. But does he deserve the award? I don't think so. Why? because Mr. Williams is what i like to call a fatass. He is listed at 317 but looks easily at least 350 pounds. He could sumo wrestle Santa Claus, Ruben Studdard, and 2 midgets all by himself. Everybody gets fat when they get old, so i don't think that he should get the award for letting life take it's natural course.

Another player that comes to mind is Kerry Collins. He has the Titans at 12-1 which no one expected. But he hasn't done it putting up incredible numbers. He is a game manager. Granted he has managed 12 wins in 13 tries but this goes to players who put up those kind of amazing stats. He has proven that he can win games when he has to but he is only averaging 183.9 yards per game through the air. He is old, we'll give him that, but he still doesn't deserve this award.

So who should the winner be? My pick for old guy of the year is Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. He has been lighting up defenses every week. He has given the Cardinals their first division title in quite some time. But not only that, he has been putting up those huge numbers that we all like to see. He averages 301 yards per game passing. Most guys think that it is good if you have a few games over 300 yards passing but to average over 300 is just absurd. Kurt is having an MVP year so he, of course, is going to get my old guy of the year award.

[standing O]

So congrats to old guy of the year award winner Kurt Warner. That horrifically ugly trophy will look splendid on your mantle Mr. Warner.

Nemanja Vidic scores late for win over Sunderland

Nemanja Vidic scored in the 90th minute against Sunderland yesterday to lift Manchester United to another win on the season. After the game Vidic admitted that his goal in stoppage time is the most important goal in his Manchester United career. Vidic has now scored eight times since arriving at Manchester United in January 2006, but none prompted the sort of celebrations seen after his strike on Saturday.

“I think the pictures tell the story!” Vidic told MUTV. “My favourite goal is my one against Everton (another winner, in September 2007), but this one, scored with my left foot, is probably the most important. It’s always nice to score.”

Old Trafford erupted when Vidic side footed home in the 90th minute after Michael Carrick’s shot came back off the post. The Reds had been knocking on the door all afternoon, only to be frustrated time and time again after blowing each opportunity.

“We tried all game to score a goal, but we never gave up,” Vidic said. “We attacked all game and we got our reward, we got the three points. At this time in the season it’s important to win every game and we did that. We’ve taken another important step today. We played well against Manchester City last week and today, although we didn’t play as well as we did last Sunday, we got the three points and that’s what’s important."

For anyone who does not know, the points system in the English Premier League is 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. So it is absolutely important to just barely win 1-0 as this system pays favor for the teams that can pull out wins week in and week out. Rivals Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool all pulled out wins earlier in the day so Manchester United's huge win kept them in distance as they are 5 points behind Chelsea and 6 points behind league leading Liverpool.

Good News for the Cardinals

Finally there is some good news for Cardinals fans that are worried about the redbird's starting rotation. Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter's come back from a shoulder injury is going as planned. I was certainly relieved to here this news because during the 08 season the Cardinals definitely had some issues with their starting rotation. They were plagued by many injuries and struggled to put together a competitive pitching rotation. Because of these injuries, the Cardinals were expected to finish at the bottom of their division. But surprisingly they managed to stay competitive the whole season, narrowly missing making it to the playoffs. They had an alright season using what they had but imagine how good they might have been if they had a healthy pitching rotation. Chris Carpenter's return is only a start to solving St. Louis' pitching problems as they are still trying to make some trades in the offseason. The Cardinal's general manager said that even with the return of Carpenter they will still concentrate on getting better pitching in the offseason.

Here is some more on Carpenter's recovery. He underwent a nerve conduction test on Thursday and the Cardinal's general manager John Mozeliak reviewed the results and he liked what he saw. Carpenter is scheduled to begin a throwing program to get him ready for spring training. This is what Mozeliak said, "It was a very positive report. Clearly, the nerve is healing. It's healing at the normal rate. ... It's doing exactly what they expected it to do. Most importantly, he's regained his shoulder strength to almost the level he had prior to this even happening. So that's positive news as well. Right now, he's scheduled to start his throwing program in middle to late January, and as of today he's expecting a normal spring."

The one thing I'm a little concerned about is how good will Carpenter be when he returns to 100%. Many pitchers that have had shoulder problems and try to make a return just can't get to where they were at before the injury. The one good thing is Carpenter had a similar injury in 2004 and when he returned to the rotation in 2005 he had the best season of his career. He ended up winning the National League Cy Young Award. So hopefully He will be able to make a similar return next year and help the Cardinals reach the playoffs.

Cristiano Ronaldo receives Ballon d'Or

The "Ballon d'Or", often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award. It is presented each year to the player who has been considered to have performed the best over the previous year. The award was conceived by France Football's chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, who asked his colleagues to vote for the player of the year in Europe in 1956. The inaugural winner was Stanley Matthews of Blackpool.

The Manchester United winger was named as Kaka's successor (Kaka won it last year) in the early hours of Tuesday morning. On Sunday he was presented with the Ballon d'Or trophy, a golden ball, in a televised ceremony and admitted it was a dream come true.

''I'm very, very happy, It's a dream I've had since I was younger, I've always dreamed about winning it one day. I'm very moved, very happy and I'd like to take this opportunity to dedicate this trophy to my family, they've helped me get here. I thank my mother, my father ... my close friends. I had a whole list of people I wanted to thank but it's difficult, I can't remember as it's too emotional. The trophy is splendid, marvelous, very beautiful. I've waited for this.''

Of the 96 leading journalists polled, 77 voted Cristiano Ronaldo as their number one player this year and every one placed him in their top five after he scored 42 goals in Manchester United's Premier League and Champions League winning season. Ronaldo polled a massive 446 points from a maximum of 480, finishing comfortably ahead of second-placed Lionel Messi (281) and third-placed Fernando Torres (179) of Liverpool.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the first Manchester United player to win the award since George Best in 1968 in addition to Bobby Charlton in 1966 and Denis Law in 1964 have also won the award.