BRUSHES WITH CELEBRITY

For a sports geek like myself, that means emailing two of my favorite, yet inexplicably unheralded, sportswriters who both now work at the Globe: Mike Reiss and Chad Finn. It may not be good business to shout-out to other bloggers who could take my fifteen readers, but, doggoneit, they both are so consistently excellent that it is a disservice of the Boston Globe not to have them up in the spotlights with Chris Snow and the other young talents recently brought on-board. These young writers are the ones who will hopefully replace the 1970s & 80s stable of writers who helped make the Globe Sports section a must read but appear to be losing their fastball. Check out two of the best: Reiss, with his Pats Q&A found at and blog soon to be joining it at: http://www.boston.com/sports and Finn: http://touchingallthebases.blogspot.com/

RED SOX:

ROYALS & TIGERS & DEVIL RAYS, OH MY!

If there was ever a time for the Sox to rip off seven or eight wins in a row and create some breathing room between themselves and those never-give-in Yankees, it is now. With a schedule in the next week consisting of the door-mat Royals and underachieving Tigers of the AL Central, and the weak sister of the AL East, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Sox need to get their pitching staff some confidence by letting them pitch seven or more innings with an early lead and let the bullpen be well rested by limiting them to two or three innings total per game. More than anything else, having their starting pitchers go seven innings and leave with an 8-2 lead will do more for the Sox postseason prospects than anything else. If they can get their lead over the dreaded New Yorkers up to seven or eight games then it will be most beneficial to the entire organization and allow a deep breath before October.

I am sick of reading all the crap about how the Red Sox are in no shape to contend in October. Boo-hoo, the team has a few holes, and no one was slow to point them out last year when they won the wild card; moreso, no one hesitated to point out the flaws the team had when they were down 3-0 against the Yankees in the ALCS. Yes, Schilling and Foulke are unknowns heading into the postseason and Pedro Martinez has taken his stale act to the big stage for the underachieving Mets, but this team has no less holes than anyone else when looking at the teams still in contention.

The Sox need to have Curt Schilling slowly ease his way into the number one starter role by having him get two quick and easy wins right out of the gate; none of this silly facing A-Rod with the game on the line with his bags still on their way back from Pawtucket. A couple of easy wins over some inferior opponents may be just enough to get Curt back the swagger everyone has been looking for since his time on the disabled list this spring. With Foulke, as long as this sore elbow is minor, he should get a few save chances against some lesser opponents as the schedule moves into September.

Getting Matt Clement, David Wells, and Tim Wakefield ready to pitch in October will be a priority in September. A bunch of wins over some weak competition will do wonders for their mental well-being. I see no reason why the sox should hesitate to move Bronson Arroyo to the bullpen where he will spend a majority of time during the playoffs. Let Wade Miller get one more chance to show he can win a few games this season.

OUT, OUT, DAMNED PINSTRIPES:

Will someone fill me in on how the Yankees are still lurking way too close to be comfortable? Mike Mussina has been their only semi-reliable starter. The Big Unit has been hurt and his inconsistency has been baffling. Carl Pavano, Jared Wright and Kevin Brown were all ineffective and injured. Chieng-Ming Wang was their best pitcher before being injured. Shawn Chacon, Al Leiter, and Aaron Small are not exactly the type of pitchers you want in the rotation as August turns to September and then the playoffs roll around.

Despite all that, they are still inexplicably nipping at the heels of the first place Red Sox. Certainly, having Mariano Rivera at the end of the game helps more than most people realize as it gives a team a lot of confidence to be able to steal a few wins that normally they would have written off as a loss. Of course, the fact the team can slug out some 9-8 wins helps immensely, but even so, it is mind-boggling that they are still in position to win the division or steal the wild card slot. Hats off to Regular Joe Torre as he keeps on questing for that elusive regular season crown that will keep him around another year.

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PATRIOTS:

RETURNING THE FAVOR:

Somehow I have a feeling that a few teams are going to leave a few open roster spots just to pick-up some Patriots cast-offs. There are some well-coached players who are going to be cut loose by the Patriots simply because there are not enough roster spots available to keep all the players. Teams like Miami with coach Nick Saban, Cleveland with Romeo Crennel, and Dallas with Formerly Big Bill Parcells who are going to grab some players who are coached in their style of defense who can likely step in and contribute right away.

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MEDIA:

PAYING THE BILLS:

Is there any worse commercial than Burger King and those hideous chicken fries commercials with their chicken-head Slipknot wannabes called Coq Roq? Am I so old as too see that these are tasteless, inappropriate, and horrific commercials? A band call Coq Roq is singing Bob Your Head??? That is beyond obscene.

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