BROCKTON ROX OFFER THEO A JOB

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It is probably a mere joke and publicity stunt from the ever original PR department of the Can-Am League team that plays down in Brockton, Mass. but here are a few reasons I think Theo should consider a job with the Rox.

1. He could watch his replacement fail from only a few miles down the road.

2. Bill Murray and the other owners and executives of the Rox probably wouldn't go behind Theo's back like the Red Sox did.

3. He could stay in baseball doing what he does best/loves while simultaneously having more free time to do whatever it is he wants to do outside of baseball. I think Dan Duquett'es become a better, more well-rounded person since he left the Red Sox and opened up His Sports Academy in the Berkshires.

4. He could definately activate himself a la Michael Dorn in Major League II. Maybe then could he attain the baseball knowledge of former college baseball hero Larry Luchino. (There's no HTML code for sarcasm but there should be) As a matter of fact, playing for the Rox would be a step up over Luchino because the Rox are a pro team.

5. Bill Murray seems like a much more fun and entertaining guy than John Henry.

6. Housing in Brockton is much cheaper than housing in Boston

7. Campanelli Stadium is much nicer than Fenway Park.

8. Dan Shaugnessey could be banned from Rox games, as well as the city of Brockton itself. In fact, an effigy of the Shank could be hung from one of the foul poles.

9. I'm sure the Rox don't have monumental problems like getting an entirely new pitching staff or dealing with overpaid players that beg to be traded than beg to stay.

10. Did I mention Bill Murray?

THEO DRAMA CONTINUED

As much as the Red Sox wanted David Ortiz to win the MVP this year, I think they would kill for it to happen right now. The organization is clinging on to whatever it can in what appears to be an effort to avoid the topic of forcing Theo out of Boston.

I'll indulge them a bit and talk about Jason Varitek winning a Gold Glove. The last time a member of the Red Sox won the awards was 1991 when Tony Pena claimed it. Tek's Glove is the 28th awarded to a member of the Red Sox. He is the 15th different Red Sox player to win one. Other Catchers who have earned the honor for the Sox are the afore mentioned Tony Pena and Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. I don't know when the last time a player won both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award was, but claiming both is a big honor.

Back to the Red Sox. Remember back in the day when we were the Rebels and the Yankees were the Evil Empire? Could you imagine if the Rebel leaders had leaked stories behind Luke Skywalker's back after he blew up the Death Star? We're not the Rebels, we're just as bad, if not worse than the Evil Empire. At least Steinbrenner does his own dirty work. He doesn't use leaks and contract negotiation maneavuring to express his opinions. He'll come out and say them for all to here. He's also not afraid to buy a new stadium or do whatever it takes to win, unlike the Sox.

Here's a good article about the negotiations between Theo and the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Red Sox struggle to get public funding for Fenway neighborhood improvements.

The lack of vision demonstrated by the Sox these last few days may come back to haunt them. If I were Mayor Menino, I'd defiantely be asking questions such as where the hell did they get the figure of $55 million from?

Full transcript of Theo's press conference

A few snippetts that stood out:

Q: Do you have a good relationship with Larry (Lucchino)?

Yeah. My relationship with Larry is one that spanned about 14 years. We’ve had a very successful working relationship. I think Larry and I like each other. As with any long relationship, there are complexities, there are ups and down, there are occasionally times where you have philosophical differences. But in the end, I want what’s best for Larry. I wish him well in the future. When I look back, he’s done a lot for me. I owe him quite a bit, and I take that to heart. In the end, 30 years from now when I look back on my relationship with Larry Lucchino, I’m gonna see it as a positive influence in my life.

So it is past tense? So it is over. So it must not have been that good of a relationship if it only spans the professional scope of life. And when someone answers a question like "are you good friends" and you say things like "I think we like each other" you're either a 12 year old girl with a big crush on a boy, or you can't stand each other but tolerate each other.

Q: Theo, do you believe that in any way that the confidentiality of certain issues concerning whether it was baseball decisions or a player’s desire to keep something private was breached by upper management either in the papers or on the talk shows?

You know, whenever you have a negotiation, an internal negotiation, management negotiating with one of its employees, there’s the possibility for it to get contentious. There’s the possibility for it to become public. And we took steps throughout the process to protect against that, and it worked for a long time. There were some breakdowns in the end, and that was unfortunate.

This speaks volumes. Theo's too classy to come out and say something like "they went behind me back and tried to bend me over." This is his way of saying it, in my opinion.

Q: If Larry Lucchino were not a part of this organization would you still retain this job?

That’s… look, focusing too much on any one person, or any one factor, is not appropriate here. This decision is not something I took lightly and it was based on a variety of factors and Larry and his ability to steer the franchise was a big factor in bringing me here in the first place and it was a big factor in our collective success. So it’s inappropriate to focus too much on any one person. Frankly, it’s been difficult for me to hear a lot of the things said about the organization and said about Larry over the last 48 hours because in the end, I want the best for him and I certainly want the best for the organization. And I believe that the Red Sox are going to be strong going forward and I would hate for the result of a very difficult decision that I had to make to in any way interrupt what I think is going to be continued success going forward.

Theo claims to not be that good at PR stuff but he avoids this question nicely. The fact that he uses 170 words to answer a yes or no question and still doesn't answer the question says quite a bit about Theo's real thoughts concerning the issue.

To me, the names Larry Luchino, Dan "the Shank" Shaughnessey, and Dr. Charles Steinberg are all beginning to sound like the names ov villains in some bad movie.

There's a new site up called Thank You Theo. If you want to tell Theo how much you appreciate what he did for Red Sox Nation, sign their online petition thingy. Who knows, maybe Theo will read it and be so moved that he'll come back. Or maybe Larry "the Grinch" Lucchino's heart will grow three sizes and he'll beg Theo to come back.

In other news, the Celtics started off their regular season with an exciting overtime victory against the Knicks 114-100 in The Garden. Paul Pierce had 30 points and 12 rebounds, Ricky Davis had 27 points, 9 of which were in OT, Delonte West had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 9 asissts and 4 blocks, every Celtics starter had at least 14 points.

At least there's some good news coming out of Boston these days, and not just Foxborough. I still have to do a full recap of Sunday's come from behind win. I'll do that within the next few days.