RUNNING DOWN A DREAM

The over-caffeinated brain just does not want to respond today. Nothing worse than having one of those realistic dreams and waking up exhausted because you spent the whole dream at work working like a dog and then you wake up and feel like you are facing back-to-back workdays with no sleep in between? Back me up here, someone else has had this happen, right? Anyway, someone tell Oberacker to put down the Spin Doctors album and crank up the classic Tom Petty:

Yeah running down a dream
That never would come to me
Working on a mystery
Going wherever it leads
Running down a dream

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RED SOX:

HANGING WITH THE DREGS:

Detroit. Kansas City. Tampa Bay. Baltimore. Not exactly the world beaters or high powered franchises that should strike fear into the hearts of Boston (i.e. NY Yankers, AnaheimCalifoniaLosAngeles Angels, or the ChiTown Black Sox). Not that this would be an issue, but Regular Joe Torre (as in Regular Season Champion, because George cannot fire him if he finished first) has his steroid boys (Sheffield and Giambi) swinging hard as they come roaring through the above dregs making a push to catch the Sox.

Deep breath, everyone. The season is 162 games and the Sox will bounce back. They are a much better team than the tired, road-weary warriors who limped into Fenway this past weekend. Also, the Yankees are not as good as they look right now. These things even out over time. The Yankees just happen to be hot while the Sox are cold. They still face each other six more times this season, so there is plenty of time to see who is for real in the A.L. East.

JURASSIC PARK:

Should there be a curse of Carl Everett? I simply cannot imagine how a team can win with this divisive character on the roster. Add in Frank Thomas, and the White Sox, despite their amazing starting pitching, are looking like the team everyone wants to face in the post-season.


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PATRIOTS:

C-C-C-COLD-HEARTED S-S-S-SNAKE:

Apologies to Paula Abdul and my favorite video when I was fourteen, but Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick certainly know how to keep business as business and personal favoritism separate from fielding a championship team. Rohan Davey, Dex Reid, and Cedric Cobbs received their visit from the turk (that is, the coach that informs them to bring their playbook to the coach, not the hilarious character played by Donald Faison on Scrubs: Dial 916-CALL-TURK and you get Turk!). I was a bit surprised, although Belichick certainly dropped enough hints about players on the trainers table not sticking around because he could not evaluate them (Call for C. Cobbs from B. Belichick).

Reid, a good special teams player, in retrospect, probably had his ticket punched for Palookaville back in the Super Bowl where he proved once and for all that he did not belong on the field. I mean, he could not even beat out Don Davis for playing time at safety last year. I guess I was blinded by Reid because he did such a good job for me in NFL 2K5 for Xbox last franchise season when Wilson went down for the year. Lesson learned: performance by a player in video games do not always correlate with performance on the field.

Cobbs, I just cannot figure out. Belichick was obviously enamored enough to take him with a fourth-round pick, which as we know he treats late round picks like rubies and gems. Who can blame him: Tom Brady - round six; Dan Koppen - round five; Asante Samuel - round three; Tully Banta-Cain - round seven; Patrick Pass - round seven; Randall Gay - undrafted free agent. That is a lot of value in picks that often considered throw-aways.

Back to Cobbs, I have heard from reliable sources that he likely had problems in the passing game, not only receiving but blitz pick-up, which is highly valued by Belichick. I had high hopes for Cobbs. Oh well, onto the bus for Cleveland to join Romeo. You too, Reid and Davey! Pretty soon, they will be called the Cleveland Expatriates (expatriates, ex-Patriots. Get it? Buh-dum-dum. I will be here all night. Try the fish. )

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MISCELLANEOUS:

SCRUBBING UP:


Yes, if you really dial 916-CALL-TURK, as the number was given out on Scrubs, you really do get Turk (or at least a recording). I missed some episodes and am catching up on them on repeats this summer (because the funniest show on TV should be on Tuesday night. Gee, I wonder why NBC is falling in the standings faster than the Orioles in the A.L. East), but the fact that the number they gave out is a real number: too funny! Now I have something else to do other than dial 867-5309 (uh, is Jenny there?).

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