AS THE SHOULDER TURNS

What happens when you mix three doctors, a 41 year old arm, and a baseball team?

You get contradictions, "baseball sources," second opinions, third opinions, contractual obligation discussions. In short, you get chaos.

The soap opera surrounding Curt Schilling's shoulder continues to unravel, with each piece of new information providing more questions than answers. The Red Sox are being tight-lipped about the whole thing, but the doctors involved are not.

The apparent situation is this:

Curt Schilling signed his deal for 2008, passed a physical, then reported shoulder pains. Dr. Craig Morgan, whose worked with Schilling for 13 years, examined him. Then Sox medical director Thomas Gill offered his opinion. Morgan and Gill contradicted each other. Morgan believed the only way that Curt could pitch would be surgery. Gill believed that surgery would mean Curt couldn't pitch at all. In order to help alleviate confusion, Mets medical director David Altcheck was brought in. Altcheck sided with Gill, believing that surgery would end the season for Schilling. But Altcheck also discovered a tear in Curt's rotator cuff.

So now, under the belief that surgery would end Schilling's season before it began, the Red Sox are taking a conservative approach. Schilling received a cortisone shot on Friday. Schilling will then rest and rehabilitate the shoulder. Dr. Morgan thinks this plan has no chance at succeeding. Dr. Gill and Dr. Altcheck think surgery would prevent Schilling from pitching.

And that's what happens when 41 year old pitchers who missed 7 weeks on the disabled list are given $8M to pitch.

The Red Sox tried to do a Clemens-esque type of deal: sign an aging pitcher knowing that he wouldn't be able to contribute for the entire season. This shoulder problem is an expected result of such a decisions.

But still, with no Curt Schilling, the Red Sox rotation becomes a series of question marks behind Beckett.

Johan Santana is only 28 years old and has a minimal injury history, just in case you were wondering.


Source:
Gordon Edes article

CELTICS AND BRUINS DELIVER WITH LAST MINUTE DRAMA

The Celtics have struggled recently without Kevin Garnett. He was once again out against his former team, and it was once again a more competitive game than it would have been had he played.

The Bruins have also struggled as of late, losing their last two games and falling behind 2-0 going into the 3rd period last night. Had the 2-0 score stood up, Buffalo would have tied the Bruins for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.

But both Boston teams came out on top. Both thanks to unlikely, or at least unexpected heroes. And both heroes seemed to simply be in the right place at the right time.

Leon Powe scored the game winning basket as time expired. With the score knotted at 86-86, Minnesota had the ball with under 30 seconds on the clock. Former Boston College star Craig Smith rebounded a missed 3 pointer for the Timberwolves. Ray Allen broke up Smith's ensuing pass and the Celtics turned upcourt. Eventually, Powe dropped the ball in as the buzzer sounded. The officials reviewed it, and confirmed the basket, giving Boston an 88-86 win.

The Bruins scored their game winning goal in an overtime shootout with the Buffalo Sabres. After falling behind 2-0 through 2 periods, the Bruins took over the game and dominated the 3rd, outshooting Buffalo 17 to 1. The Sabres had their first and only shot of the period with 3 minutes left. Zdeno Chara scored 1 minute into the 3rd. Marco Sturm tied it up 15 minutes later on a breakaway goal. After a scoreless overtime, the game went to penalty shots.

Phil Kessel netted the game winner. In attempt to trick goalie Ryan Miller, Kessel dribbled the puck, but made one move too many. The puck came off his stick, and drifted between Miller's legs and into the net. It was either one of the best moves in NHL history, or pure luck. Kessel later admitted "You can't get any luckier."

On the other end of the ice, backup goalie Alex Auld stopped all three of Buffalo's shootout shots, securing a 3-2 win for the Bruins.

The Celtics' win kept them 3 games ahead of the Pistons for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The C's also reduced their magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division to 22. If they win 22 of their remaining 35 games, they win the division, even if Toronto wins every single game they have left.

The Bruins gave themselves a small cushion in the playoff race. They now lead 9th place Buffalo by 3 points, and actually moved into 7th place in the East.

The Celtics host San Antonio on Sunday afternoon.

The Bruins host the Florida Panthers tonight.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Jim Mone (Powe scoring game winner)
AP Photo/David Duprey (Kessel's shootout winner)

PEDRO MARTINEZ: COCK FIGHT ENTHUSIAST

With the Patriots losing on Sunday, Kevin Garnett out for a few more games, Schilling's shoulder acting up, and the Bruins being the Bruins, it's time to look at a lighter side of the sports news.

A video came out on YouTube yesterday which featured Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal as soltadores in a Dominican cock-fight. A soltador is the person who releases the rooster to go and fight. The video was eventually removed from YouTube (awwwwwww), and animal rights groups instantly began formulating a horribly constructed comparison.

Pedro Martinez = Michael Vick

I don't know if anyone knows who Vick is. Used to be an NFL quarterback; tiny, teeny, hardly covered story about him running a dog-fighting ring. Well PETA, and The Humane Society have already started their barking about Pedro.

But let's just have a short education of the differences between Pedro and Vick.

Cock-fighting is legal in the Dominican Republic. Dog fighting is illegal in the US.

Cock-fighting is an accepted part of Dominican culture, like bull fighting in Spain, or American Gladiators in the US. Dog fighting is not an accepted part of American culture.

Pedro's role in the cock-fight was similar to a celebrity throwing out the first pitch of a baseball game. Michael Vick actually ran the dog fighting ring.

People eat chickens! I just had some McNuggets. Very few people actually eat dogs.

Let's be honest with ourselves. If one of our friends - that sketchy friend we all have - invited us to an underground cock-fight; we'd go. We'd have some beer, smoke some cigars, bet on a cock, and enjoy ourselves.

We're all missing the big picture here: YouTube used to be cool. But since Google took it over, it's become legitimate. They took down all the highlights from the Super Bowl at the bequest of the NFL. Then the cock-fighting video with Pedro gets removed from the site. I didn't even get to see the video before they took it down.

All I can do is use my imagination to envision Pedro and Marichal, setting two roosters loose to peck at each other in El Coliseo Gallistico de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo Cockfighting Coliseum), pictured below.



And who won the fight? Was it Pedro's bird, or Marichal's?

Source:
Associated Press/The Toronto Star article

SCHILLING'S SCHITTY SCHOULDER SCHTARTING SCHPRING SCHTRIFE

Both the Globe and Herald are breaking stories about Curt Schilling's right shoulder. The variations between the two stories leads me to believe that this story is extremely tentative and speculative. Here are a few things that are clear, though:

Curt Schilling's right shoulder is acting up

He will miss at least the start of spring training

He went to see Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed shoulder surgery on Schilling in 1995

The Red Sox official stance is "no comment"

Curt missed 7 weeks of last season with problems in his right shoulder

He's 41 years old

Tony Massarotti is a sensationalist writer

The Globe's story is more subdued, stating that there are reports of an injury and that Schilling may miss part of spring training. The Herald's story is more doom and gloom. The title of the piece is "Schilling could be lost for season." Of course, there's no hard evidence to support this. If Schilling's injury is bad enough to require surgery (again, we have no idea how bad it is), it's safe to say his season is done. But we don't even know what the injury actually is.

Massarotti's Herald column also asserts that there is friction and/or tension between the Red Sox and Schilling. Apparently, there is disagreement over treatment options. There is also a possibility that the Red Sox have looked into voiding Schilling's contract.

Tony Maz cites "baseball sources." He's a reliable reporter, but I think this story is an extreme interpretation of rumor and second hand talk. Understandable considering the lack of spring training storylines surrounding the Sox.

It is possible that the Red Sox and Schilling cannot come to a consensus on how to treat the shoulder. It's possible Schilling wants to rehab somewhere but the team wants him to rehab in Fort Myers. Who knows?

And as far as the Red Sox taking steps to void the contract: all that means is that the Red Sox have looked into it. If you had a 41 year old pitcher with a shoulder injury, and you were on the line to pay him $8M, wouldn't you see if you could get out of it?

What really irks me about this whole thing is that Johan Santana is currently trying on his new Mets apparel. The Red Sox could have had him, albeit for a price. We had Beckett, then a 41 year old, overweight, bad shoulder question mark. Then whatever the Japanese symbol for a question mark is. Then a 90 year old knuckle-baller with a bad back. Then a bunch of kids with next to no Major League experience. Santana wouldn't be a question mark. He would've been an exclamation point.

Sources:
Boston.com article by Gordon Edes and Nick Cafardo
BostonHerald.com article by Tony Massarotti

Photo Credit:
Associated Press

SHOULD THE PATRIOTS FRANCHISE MOSS?

Yes!

Randy Moss is the Pats' top candidate to receive the franchise tag. Asante Samuel got it last year, but under the condition that he wouldn't be franchised again. Randy Moss is an unrestricted free agent, and after setting the NFL record for touchdown receptions, is the top free agent WR out there.

A franchise tag would give Moss a 2008 salary of $7.84 million, which is the average salary of the top 5 WRs in the League. This would be far below the potential salaries he could garner on the open market.

Other teams would still be able to make offers to Moss. But if Moss signed with them, it would cost them two first round draft choices. That price is a bit too steep, which is why franchising players is such an ironclad way to keep them on your team cheaply.

We can all agree that Moss was a huge part of the Patriots' record-breaking offense. Although he didn't have big numbers in the post-season, that was more of a product of Tom Brady's play, and not Moss. He is the ultimate receiving threat. He's fast, tall, strong, with great hands.

DONNELLY TO CLEVELAND, HINSKE TO TAMPA

Brendan Donnelly has signed a minor league deal with the Indians. The 36 year old righty underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007 and is expected to miss the first few months of the 2008 season. Despite being named in the Mitchell Report, I wanted the Sox to keep Donnelly. The major knock I have on this team is its lack of bullpen depth, and Donnelly could give us some. Although at his age, coming off major arm surgery might make him too much of a risk.

With the acquisition of Sean Casey, the Sox were free to let Eric Hinske go with no signs of a struggle. The 30 year old former Rookie of the Year hit a meager .204 with the Sox last year. He was a hit or miss signing when we acquired him. It was a miss. He signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Sources:
Boston.com's Extra Bases
The official web-site of the Tampa Bay Rays

SOX GET MORE INSURANCE

The Red Sox re-signed Bobby Kielty to a one year deal, potentially worth up to $1.1M bsed on incentives. With Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp, JD Drew, and Jacoby Ellsbury; this re-signing makes it clear that a trade involving an outfielder should be expected. Coco Crisp has been the name on the top of the trade list.

PRELIMINARY PATRIOTS 2008 SCHEDULE

In case you can't tell, I'm trying real hard to look ahead toward next football season. Here are the teams we'll be playing, and where the games will be. The order of the games, placement of the bye week, and time of the games has yet to be determined. Each team's record is in parenthesis

Home:
New York Jets (4-12)
Miami Dolphins (1-15)
Buffalo Bills (7-9)
Denver Broncos (7-9)
Kansas City Chiefs (4-12)
St. Louis Rams (3-13)
Arizona Cardinals (8-8)
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

Road:
New York Jets (4-12)
Miami Dolphins (1-15)
Buffalo Bills (7-9)
San Francisco 49ers (5-11)
San Diego Chargers (11-5)
Oakland Raiders (4-12)
Seattle Seahawks (10-6)
Indianapolis Colts (13-3)

Yes, it looks like we're hosting Pittsburgh and going to Indianapolis...again. One thing you may have noticed is the large number of west coast games. We're playing the AFC West along with the NFC West. That means 4 trips to the Pacific Time Zone. Last year we only had 2 games outside the Eastern zone, and they were in the Central zone. So that should be an interesting challenge.

Overall, these opponents combined for a record of 99-157 (thanks mostly to Miami and New York). Of course the big games will be against San Diego, Indy, and Pittsburgh.

One strange little oddity. The Pats will face the Colts in 2009, as well. Where? Indianapolis, of course. That means regular season road games against Indy for three straight seasons. Are any of us surprised?