Just like I did a Bibby face duing the Celtics playoffs. Our friend at Sox&dawgs has created a Madonna face with Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees coming to town this weekend.

 

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Chris Gasper of the Globe reports the Patriots have signed their top pick Jarrod Mayo.

According to a league source. The rookie inside linebacker, drafted with the 10th pick overall in April's draft, will be at the second of the team's two scheduled practices today, the opening day of training camp. more...

Each week we'll pick a Bostonian who has made news (good or bad) during the week.  Illustrator Mike Briggs who will provide a caricature of the week's winner or loser.

John may look like a mild mannered owner, but when it comes down to it, John Henry is the brass with the brass; John Henry is a steel driving man. For the second week in a row we went with a member of management. We chose John Henry because he stood up against the Man(ny). When Manny Ramirez  (this weeks runner up for "Bostonian of the Week") waged war over wages, and blamed Red Sox management of double talk, Johnny Henry fired back, "I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive." Alright it may not sound like he was throwing chairs around the office, or punching holes in the wall. We don't hear too much from Mr. Henry, so when  he spoke up against Mr. Ramirez, it caused a bit of a buzz. more...

Danny Ainge wanted a vacation, but he knew he had to shut-up the increasingly panic-stricken Celtics fans before he could take a rest, so he did what any GM Of The Year would do -- re-signed fan favorite, knock-down shooter and backup guard Eddie House as well as Tony Allen (who could step into the defensive stopper role vacated by Posey).Yes, this news is a couple days old, but we've been doing some backyard maintenance here which prevented me from updating until now.  Anyway, I couldn't be more thrilled over this news.  Since we couldn't keep Posey, there was no way we could afford to lose Eddie.  My biggest fear now is that we're going to get *sigh* another point guard which will allow Doc to mess with Eddie's minutes next year.  I loved Eddie, he came up huge in the playoffs despite Doc, and he's the outside gunner we need to spread the floor and knock down buckets for our second unit.  He wasn't too expensive, either.  He signed a two-year deal earning him $2.7 million in the first year, and $2.9 million the second (which is a player option).  For those of you keeping track at home, that's more than $500,000 less than Scalabrine makes.The Tony Allen signing I'm fairly happy with, as well.  Like Eddie's deal, it's for 2 years, but for $2.5 million for both.  Plus, since we still retained his "Bird Rights", he doesn't count against our MLE.  Now that Tony has had a full year on his reconstructed knee, hopefully he'll regain his explosiveness next season.  We're also going to be banking on him to mature a little big, show some semblance of consistency and get back to playing lock-down D, but I think he can do it.I doubt Danny is done for this off-season.... we could still use another Big... but it'll be interesting to see how much Danny trusts his youth (Pruitt, Davis, O'Bryant, Walker and Giddens [if he ever signs]), or if he drops some down to the D-League and brings in some more weathered veterans like the newly jobless Robert Horry.  I can't say I'm thrilled with the current roster, but retaining Eddie was a big.  So, C's fans, are you content with letting our youth carry the load, or do you want a new group of savvy veterans stepping on the parquet next year? more...

For the last week or so, I've seen a couple different people try to make the argument that Dice-K--author of a 2.65 ERA while giving up just 26 earnies in 16 starts and holder of a 10-1 record--is having a bad season.

Now, I don't like picking on other writers. I don't think it's fair because you can hardly have a debate when one side has said all they're going to say, but I'm in a bad mood and Eric Wilbur's post on Boston.com has put me over the edge on this issue. Sorry. more...

The Linkz of the Week are your weekly walk through the world of sportswriting. Have a link? Think it's the best thing ever? No? Don't be so hard on yourself, I'm sure it's not that bad. It is that bad? Oh well, send it to me anyway at tdonegan@gwu.edu and I'll probably post it.

1. "Yo, how much you bench?"

Not as much as this guy. The Tennesseean is reporting that Jacques McClendon, a Junior offensive linemen for the Tennessee Volunteers absolutely destroyed his team's record by bench pressing 645 pounds. That's like 3 1/2 of me or one of these mutant monsters. Unbelievable. His next challenge? Yogaa€"to improve flexibility. Isn't that precious.

2. Tom Verducci REALLY Loves What That Tom Verducci Guy Has To Say About Baseball

SI asked some of their top writers to name their top 5 baseball articles that have graced Sports Illustrated's pages over the years. And, of course, four of Tom Verducci's top five were written bya€"who else?a€"Tom Verducci. None of the other writers picked a single piece they themselves had written. Way to go, Tom.

3. Bob Ryan Cleans Out the Old Desk Drawer That Is His Mind (courtesy to Boston Sports Media Watch)

Bob Ryan had a great piece in the Globe the other day he calls an "emptying out the

“I think I made the bloopers for life,”  “It was like I was swimming in a swamp right there.”“I just got a bad jump right there and I missed the ball and that was it,” Manny talking about his Stop, Drop & Roll!

In case you missed it yesterday, Manny decided to teach fire safety while playing baseball. Boy is he multitalented or what? Stop, Drop & Roll!

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I've been watching sports my entire (albeit short) life. There are three distinct moments that I consider the worst events in that 21-year stretch. The first was the 2003 ALCS. You know who, you know why, I won't get into it. The second was when the club I follow, Arsenal, sold off Patrick Vieira, the captain of the club, to an Italian club, just one season removed from a record-breaking unbeaten title run. (sound familiar?) You probably don't know who, you probably don't care. I wont' get into it.The last was the Superbowl this past February. I watched the game with about 10 Giants fans/hangers-on at school and after the game walked around the streets of D.C. in stunned silence. The streets were relatively empty except for the few other Pats fans who, like me, were walking around with a look on their face that said something between "My life is over," and "What just happened?" It was the kind of look you see people who just survived major car accidents have; like they might just wander right back into traffic because they simply can't process what's happening. I couldn't look any of the others wandering the streets in the eye. For the first time in years, I avoided all sports media for the week. I didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to think about it, didn't want to remember that stupid drive, that stupid catch, that stupid escape.I'm telling you this because the other day, at the doctor's--that perennial timewarp of old magazines--I picked up a Sports Illustrated from the week after the game and read their article on the game destined to become The Game. And I'm okay with it. Five months on, I'm over the disappointment. I'm over the loss. I recognize what a great season the team had and what a great game the Giants played... and I'm hungry for more football.The summer has barely kicked off and the writers are already starting to begin the slow transition back into football season that, since the mid 90s, has become as anticipated and inevitable around here as the changing of the leaves. Lenny Megliola, for my money, has said it best so far. This is the "Season of Atonement", when the team that made all other teams in the league envy their adherence to the fundamental rules of football--team play, valuing the collective over individuals, playing as hard as one can for as long as one can--tries to recapture what it maybe lost in all the fervor surrounding a perfect season. With camp starting next week, I'll simply let Lenny take it the rest of the way:Atonement for the Patriots this year means just one thing. Winning the Super Bowl. Nothing less. It's a heavy load to carry around.Baby steps start next week.  more...

That is what I've been trying to figure out ever since John from Redsarmy sent me the mock-up picture that was on Wyc's phone at the DVD Premiere.First, here is KG's reaction when he first saw it.Now, here is what the New Celtics Championship ring will look like. SWEEEET!

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Today is the debut of a new weekly feature here at BostonSportz.com called "Star or Goat of the Week." Each week we'll pick a Bostonian who has made news (good or bad) during the week. We welcome Illustrator Mike Briggs who will provide a caricature of the week's winner or loser. This week we picked "Star Bostonian" Terry Francona. While Yankee fans showed their class by booing the Sox All-Star player's every move (with the exception of Manny ducking out of the way of a Carlos Zambrano pitch, then again I don't think they were cheering Manny), Terry showed his class with how he handle the Yankee players. "Tito" gave all three Yankee players a grand exit or entrance to the game. With the way the Yankee Stadium treated Terry's closer, Terry could have repaid them by denying them their closer. Instead Terry brought in the "Sandman" with one out in the ninth to a roaring Yankee Stadium. The appreciative Yankee crowd rewarded the Red Sox classy move by booing "Bostonian of the Week" runner up and All-Star MVP JD Drew. Thanks Terry for representing Red Sox Nation with good sportsmanship. Keep it classy New York. For more caricatures and illustrations, visit mikebriggZ.com  more...

The Globe reports Celtics free agent James Posey signed a four-year deal with New Orleans today, according to his agent Mark Bartelstien.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Call all your friends and family as I introduce to you the Red Sox Nation Rap Video!Thanks for listening Manny. Enjoy!

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Since It's a very slow few days in sports around here, Enjoy this Red Sox video. Thanks to our friend at Sox&dawgs

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So I was just watching the opening ceremony of tonight's MLB All-Star game and I have to admit it was very well done.  I always appreciate seeing a collection of all-time greats brought together in any sport.  Big George didn't look too great however.  I get the feeling that the sobbing he was doing isn't exclusive to the emotions the game tonight.  I imagine the same look is on his face when it's time to change his diaper these days.  But I digress...While watching the player introductions I couldn't help but notice the lack of love shown by the Yankees fans to our Red Sox players and coaches.  I'm almost positive that they weren't yelling YOOOUKK and DREWWWW.  Look I get it.  We'd be doing the same thing if the game was at Fenway tonight.  Of course I expected the boos, but these were some serious, heartfelt BOOS coming from our less intelligent adversaries to the south.  Think way way back to like 2003 for a moment.  Whenever there would be discussion of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry you would always here - It's only the Red Sox fans who consider it a rivalry, Yankees fans don't care about the Red Sox or their fans.  Many felt as if Boston fans created the rivalry because we were the envious ones who always wanted to beat the Yankees.  They'd say you can't have a rivalry if it's one-sided.  Well, I'd say those days are officially over.  It's amazing what winning two World Series championships and saddling the Yankees with the worst playoff collapse is American sports history will do to the fragile psyche of a fan base.  Watch out Sox fans - I think we have a rivalry on our hands!  more...