Hi friends,

Well it's July 31st the trading deadline in baseball, the early stages of NFL training camps on and off the field. What will Brett Favre do? And the pennant race excitement now has two months to go. So where do we start on this exciting eventful day in sports?

How about Manny Ramirez who finally got his ticket out of Boston in a three way trade between the Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates.  The main other player in the deal leftfieder Jason Bay formerly of the Pirates will take over for Manny Ramirez in Boston. Now Jason Bay a talented hitter himself will never be the superstar Manny on or off the field. While Manny's bat won't be equaled neither will his off the field outbursts and maybe that's finally a good thing for all the parties and teams involved and we'll see how his attitude carries out in Los Angeles for Dodgers manager Joe Torre. I'm sure the home runs will be flying out of Chavez Ravine at Dodger Stadium.. We'll see what happens.

As for Brett Favre and the Packers or whoever he ends up playing for if he plays or will he take the 20 million dollar offer NOT to PLAY FOR THE PACKERS. Are they that threatened by the 38 year old quarterback going to the rival Bears or Vikings?  Remember former Super Bowl champion quarterback Jim Mc Mahon ended his career backing up Brett Favre when the Packers won the Super Bowl in 1996. So wouldn't it be interesting to see Favre to the the chagrin of Packers fans end his career as a Bear. Or how about Minnesota and the Purple People. Remember Favre rarely plays well at the Metrodome or loud  domes and artificial turf.  So unless they're going to blow off the roof there I don't know how well that would go either. Finally I don't know how this helps new starting quaterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers who are coming off a NFC Championship Game performance last year. Besides Favre starting running back Ryan Grant is a holdout. Team chemistry is a delicate thing and we'll see how the Packers handle it in next few weeks and months no matter what happens with Brett Favre.

It should be interesting as the Red Sox go on without Manny Ramirez as well. Another legend Ken Griffey Jr who has been often injured in recent years, still has over 600 home runs and a Hall of Fame career to be. And on this July 31st he was traded from the Cincinatti Reds where he has been injured often and somewhat of a disappointment for the small market Reds since being traded there from Seattle in 2000. So now he lands in Chicago with the White Sox where he will be a role player with a more talented team. Whether he plays the outfield, first base or designated hitter in the American League, Griffey will add some productive play and leadership as the White Sox hope to match their 2005 World Series Championship success. Good luck Ken and we'll see what happens for you and the White Sox.

Finally one of my favorite teams, the Brewers lost to another team I like the Cubs except when they play the Brewers. Imagine what that's like liking two teams in the same division, but I liked both teams before the Brewers moved into the National League in 1998. Despite being swept by the Cubs, the Brewers still have a pretty good team and if they can remember last years collapse and learn from experience after losing the lead in the division to help get them through the last couple months this year. It will be tough but the Brewers have a fairly easy schedule according to the experts. If they can get through that and nobody is really easy to play in a peenant race then maybe the young and relatively inexperienced Brewers will have a chance to reach and make their goal of the playoffs. These days they don't have to win the division with the wildcard. That won't be easy either though. Good luck Brewers!! Also good luck to the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez as they part ways. Good luck to Brett Favre and the Packers and whatever team he plays for unless he wants to accept the 20 million dollars to stay retired. For any of the rest of us the money while bringing changes would be a pretty easy decision to take for most of us. But superstar athletes and entertainers like Brett Favre are like kings so it's like being Manny or Brett Favre means almost play money to them in a world where a lot of us are looking for jobs and at $4.00 gas prices. Pass the buck and throw the letovers to the fans who watch and support you. If only it were that simple.

Anyway before I get off track any further, it's been an interesting day and period in this time of sports. But without it we wouldn't be here writing or talking about much interesting. But sports is always changing and interesting and for that even though we don't know what is next we are  thankful because we have something we are passionate about to follow and talk about.  And in these uncertain economic times that is a good thing because it gets our mind off real life. We could talk about the election. But that is a topic for another blog site. So have a good evening and best wishes friends and have a great and productive day. Talk soon. fenfan

Hello friends,

Well we've got another exciting postseason and a lot of good and interesting story topics that I want to touch on. First Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox who are playing the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS opened his mouth with a comment that got a lot of publicity, but I don't think was that bad and I'm a Red Sox fan too. He said with the Red Sox down 3-1 and now 3-2 at this writing that it wouldn't be the end of the world to him if the Red Sox got beat in the ALCS. Now I think a lot of people might confuse this statement with his effort or love of the team and game which I think is wrong on both parts. Now you can say whether it was good judgement for Manny Ramirez to make his comments publicly especially during a heated playoff series, but Manny Ramirez has always been outspoken aka Manny being Manny and as long as he produces and does his best win or lose I'm not upset with his comments. We've all been tired of our job and other things in life especially when things aren't going well and we often blow off steam. Of course we don't have the media coverage and fan adulation that Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox do, but I think his comments are ok with me. I know there's second guessing and criticism about a lot of things from referees and umpires call to managers and coaches decisions, but as long as it's done in the best interest of the game and there is no cheating or gambling then I am fine with the the actions and comments of those involved with sports. They have to make tough decisions and their actions are always scrutinized.

As for actions and speaking his mind how about Joe Torre turning down the Yankees 1 year offer to manage the Yankees. Now I think you can look at that a couple of ways. On one hand his performance of not winning the World Series which is most important especially in New York with the Yankees has not been great this young century since the Yankees last won the World Series in 2000. Remember New York doesn't know what it's like to have a drought like Boston had or the Chicago Cubs or Cleveland currently do. So in that sense a one year deal with incentives to win the World Series isn't bad. On the other hand the Yankees with the highest payroll in the majors over 220 million or so by far have made the postseason the last 13 years and Joe Torre led the Yankees to 4 World Series titles and six appearances. Impressive numbers although ask the Brewers, Pirates, Royals and Devil Rays what they could do with a salary cap and half that payroll to compete. Anyway I think it's fair to judge Joe Torre that he didn't win a championship with the biggest payroll the last 7 years but his overall body of work as I said included 4 World Titles in six apperances and 13 playoff appearances with no misses since he became manage even though the team did lose in the first round the last three years. Again ask the smaller market teams about that. But this is the New York Yankees and they are held to a higher standard under their passionate to win always owner George Steinbrenner. So in the end Joe Torre walked away from the one year deal he was offered to keep managing the Yankees and I respect that. He's done his best that he can and I don't think it will get any better for him win or lose. So he's moving on and we'll see what the next manager can do in what is the fishbowl atmosphere of the New York Yankees. Good luck.

Finally we've got one great playoff series left this weekend with Game 6 and possibly Game 7 between the Indians and Red Sox in the ALCS, and we've got another great exciting young team waiting for them from the National League, the Colorado Rockies who have amazingly won either 21 of their last 22 or 22 of 23 to get to this point. Anyway we'll have a great conclusion to the American League championship series and then we'll see if the Rockies can continue their Mile High success in the World Series. As always we'll watch let me know what you think and we'll talk soon again friends. Best wishes and have a great a productive day. fenfan