Shumania's Ramblings 2.0

Who's in Trouble

Our Who's in Trouble series came to a serious halt yesterday when the rest of the competitors saw how badly Michael Vick beat Tim Nifong even without the help of a bulldog. They all dropped out of the competition and Vick was named champion in the Summer of Legal problems by default even though he was bound to win since one of his co-defendants has pleaded out and will most likely testify against Vick during his trial. I suspect we won't be seeing Vick in the NFL for the next 5 years or in any PETA ads for that matter.

NBA Matters

It certainly now does matter in Boston as Danny Ainge got confused between the MLB and NBA trade deadlines and made a blockbuster this week. Ainge traded half his roster, a year's supply of Italian grinders, a dozen boxes of connolis from Mike's Pastry in the North End, and half of the Irish luck saved from the old Boston Garden for Kevin Garnett. The Celtics now have one of the best rosters in the Eastern Conference with 3 superstars and 9 players who any GM in the Western Conference has never heard of before. That somehow makes them a contender and for some reason I'm somewhat excited to see how this experiment turns out. I may actually purchase Celtics tickets this season for when I'm back in Boston. Will the Celtics raise the 17th banner to the rafter this season? It's at least now possible.

MLB Trade Deadline

The two winners at the trade deadline this year were hands down the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox. The Braves were able to get the best hitter, Mark Texeria, on the market and will be able to make a serious playoff run down the stretch. I'm more excited about this move because one of my friends went to high school with Texeria and gets a set of tickets each year, so hopefully with this shout out I will get to go on his next trip to an MLB park of Texeria's choice.

The Red Sox made a move to get Eric Gagne that seemed impossible last week. Gagne had a no trade clause to the Red Sox and didn't have that with his other suitors, including the Evil Empire. That's what made this deal so much better. We honestly do not need another arm like his in the bullpen with Papelbon, Okijima, and Delcarmmen but Theo thought lets just toy with the Yankees, block their move and increase the depth in what is already the best relief staff in the majors. Theo also pulled off his trade deadline magic (see 2004 and Nomar) by keeping his top prospects in staff and not destroying the future of his franchise (see Danny Ainge). Lester, Bucholz, Ellsbury, Moss, Hansen, Materson, and Delcarmmen are all part of the Red Sox organization still; good stuff Theo and by the way do you need an assistant? (Blog Note: I will be plugging myself for Theo Epstein's or the God Father's job more and more as I enter my last year at college and begin looking for a job.)

For my friend Otto, here is a mention of Pittsburg sports: The Pirates were able to acquire Caesar Izturis who has been on a tear of late but then they paid $1.50 on the dollar to acquire Matt Morris from the SF Giants, who were trying to give this guy away for free. It's always good to overpay for a player who's hit a low point in his career. Okay, that's as much blog time the Pirates should get for the year.

There's two big pieces of news from Chi-town. The first is that the White Sox blew an 8-0 lead in one inning today to the Yankees and increased the blood pressure of all in Red Sox Nation. I will be sending Ken Williams my medical bills. The other news is from the North side where the Cubs are in first place in the NL Central. Keep the billy goats away!

The Upcoming Weekend

This weekend I will be taking a trip down to our great nation's capital, Washington DC. I will also be visting a National League stadium for the first time since Jon Rocker was in the league. I get to see the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Washington Nationals play on Saturday night. The main reason for this trip to RFK is to show my girlfriend how great the sport of baseball is. It will be hard to do this outside of Fenway Park but hopefully I will succeed in this mission. If you have any suggestions for me please let me know.

That's all for now. Good talk, I'll see ya out there.

The one and only Shumania