Brian Urlacher has his own blog?  Wowsers, I wonder if he'll respond to my comments... golly gee I sure hope so.

I was comforted to know, after seeing David Stern's interview on ESPN this morning, that the commish is satisfied with his investigation into the referee scandal.  Mr. Stern came to this enlightened state of nirvana while laying in bed one evening and thinking of all the CIA and FBI scandals that cost thousands of people their lives.  These spies, moles, and leaks at our highest level of American intelligence lent Stern the idea that having a cheater ref in "his" league was okay.  Luckily for us with all of the investigations, there is no proof that Tim Two Times altered the outcome of any game.  If you don't find this asinine...

Joe Torre and Donnie Baseball in Dodger Blue?  I furrow my brow at the thought.

If I broke the Girardi as a candidate for the Yankees managerial job in a blog before it was released in regular print media, do I get credit for the leak?

Do even the Colts fans think their team has a shot this week?

A-Rod to the Giants.

Barry to the A's.

Andruw to the Dodgers.

Lowell to the Phillies.

Rowand to the Braves.

That's it.

#1 BoSox Roll - What a huge disappointment from a fans perspective.  I was really looking forward to a great World Series that went at least 6 games.  You can try and come up with the reasons why Colorado could not hang with Boston, but the fact of the matter is Boston was too good.  Its amazing how these good teams end up "cruising" through the regular season with a 3.87 team ERA, then the get to the playoffs and turn it up a notch. With their backs against the wall they smoked the two best teams left standing seven games in a row.  I wonder where Lowell will end up and how much this season will cost the team that signs him.

_______________________________________________
__________________

#2 Top 5 BCS Contenders - Last week these were my top five contenders: 1) Ohio State,    2) Boston College, 3) Arizona State, 4) LSU, and 5) Oklahoma.  Looks like nothing changes, with these five, but BC looked very beatable and Arizona States victory was pretty impressive in Tempe.  Problem with the Sun Devils is running the table looks pretty unlikely, but if they do it, how can you keep them out?  Lets add two more top conteders to the list: 6) Kansas - could it be? 7) Oregon - its either them or ASU.

_______________________________________________
___________________

#3 Tom Brady? - This is shaping up into being the most dominant statistical seasons in the history of all of sports.  Brady is on the way to having a Madden '08 season.  Let's project his stats: 4862 yards/60 TDs/4 INTs/136.2 QB RTG/4 SUPER BOWLS.  I think he's worth the $16 mil, I think Moss is worth the $8.25 mil, and I think Welker is worth the $0.5 mil.  I'm not sure if next weeks game will even be a game.  I'll take the Pats and give the Colts whatever it lands on.  I'll even wait until Sunday to lay my money down.

_______________________________________________
____________________

#4 A Rod Says Thanks, But No Thanks To $72 Mil - This may be viewed as quite a gamble, but I guess it speaks for A-Rod's discontent in N.Y.  I think Alex told Boras, "I don't care what is costs, get me out of the Bronx, and I'll cover what you lose."  The Rangers will save $3 mil over the next three years, and will allow them to continue rebuilding after a nice set of trades near the end of last season.  Although I have not recieved much support of my opinion that A-Rod will end up a Giant, but mark my words, its where he's going.  The Giants are going to dump Zito and sign A-Rod to whatever he wants and make him a shortstop again.  Expect it to be in the $30 mil range, and most if not all to be guaranteed.

For a team with a fairly strong winning tradition the Giants are at an extreme low in their history.  A commitment to Barry Bonds over winning has caused a fracture in the player personnel pipeline (which has been more through trades than minor leage development).  Extreme caution has to be used during this offseason to get the Giants back to .500 in 2008 and hopefully back into the playoffs by 2009.  The only way this will happen is through shrewd front office moves and putting the right people in the right place so they can afford some legit players.  Projected lineup for the 2008 MLB season.

1. Rajai Davis (40+ bags in a full season) - CF After picking up Davis in the Matt Morris trade (thanks Pirates), Davis proved his speed at the top of the lineup is better than an injured Dave Roberts.  An affordable player and a pretty good one.

2. Tadohito Iguchi (good situational hitter) - 2B The old middle infield needed an overhaul.  Durham is still a good player but getting a serious guy with a ring seems important.  I just like Iguchi so lets get him.

3. Alex Rodriguez (best hitter in the game) - SS The only way to get Rodriguez is to put him back in the middle of the field.  How about Vizquel goes and A-Rod stays.  You know the Giants are going to get an A player and the Yankees will take Zito off our hands.

4. Dmitri Young (20 yacks, 80 ribs) - 1B Why not?  The guy was good, then got hurt, and the Nationals won't give him another contract.  How about no more Aurilia.

5.  Pedro Feliz (20 yacks, 80 ribs) - 3B A third baseman who can't hit for contact and and can't hit 3 or 4 either must really stink.  Which Feliz does, but the Giants are in such bad shape he actually is pretty good, ugh.

6. Randy Winn (20 yacks, 80 ribs) - RF A very solid player and I like him.  A good fit to drive in about 85 runs and he brings a little speed to the lineup also.

7. Bengie Molina (fat) - C Too lazy in my book and not a championship catcher but hit pretty well for being a ####.

8. Fred Lewis (lets see what he can do in a full season) - LF Its going to be weird not to see Barry in left, but this rounds out a decent lineup.  There's not much protection in their for A-Rod but getting Andruw Jones is pretty unlikely and idiotic.

From a defensive perspective the outfield will be much faster to cover the spacious gaps on the cove.  The left side of the infield is pretty stout with Feliz and Rodriguez, and I like Tado on the other side.  Young is kind of a fill in but, better than Lance and Dicky Aurilia.

1.  Matt Cain (R) - give him a defense and watch out

2. Tim Lincecum (R) - give him a defense and watch him lead the league in Ks

3. Noah Lowry (L) - nice changeup behind the two flame throwers at the top

4. Kevin Correia (R) - He looked pretty good in a starting roll.  He's no Liriano, but he's alright

5. Jonathan Sanchez (L) - He needs to start and lets get ready for the 2009 playoffs

Closer - Brad Hennessey (R) - Picked up about 20 saves in half of a season.  Seems alright to me.

It's never to early to talk rebuilding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!