Thoughts while counting down the hours until the 2008 MLB All-Star Game!!!!…

Conversation of the Week:

(Ring…Ring…)

RL: Hey, this is Rich.

MR: (Singing) Rollin’ down the street smokin endo, sippin’ on gin and juice! Ahhhhh!! Bahahahaha!!!

RL: Huh? Manny? What the eff are you doing?

MR: It’s the sixth inning, mang! I’’m on my phone!

RL: That doesn’t answer my question. And why are singing Gin and Juice?

MR: I keep my phone here now!

RL: You don’t see why there’d maybe a problem with you talking on it during a game?

MR: Waitta second. I thought Javy Lopez retired. And since when does he pitch? Isn’t he a catcher?

RL: Dude, the game’s back. Get on the field.

MR: K! We still on for the X Files movie on Friday?

RL: Yup.

MR: Pinky swear?

RL: I’ll talk to you later

(Sarcastic) Logical Move of the Week:

You wonder why some organizations hit rock bottom and build themselves back up, while others remain entrenched in the asbestos filled basement of their respective league. Earlier this week, Elton Brand signed with Philly for 5 years and $80M. Sure, he’s coming off major surgery, but this isn’t 1985 when a torn ACL could derail a guy’s career. It’ll probably take Brand a year to get back to full form, but once he’s healthy, the Sixers will have four year’s worth of one of the top five power forwards in the league. Brand’s averaged 20 and 10 (not to mention more than two blocks) for his career. He’s 29, and unless injuries become an issue, will be giving the Celtics headaches until 2013.

That’s the good. Now here’s your award winner. Two days later, another former No. 1 pick, Andrew Bogut, got a contract that could pay him $72M over those same five years. What’s wrong here?

I don’t want to knock Bogut too hard . His game’s pretty solid. Last year he averaged 14 and 10. Very respectable. Especially in a league where the true center (even though this is starting to change a little) is somewhat of a rare commodity. But this doesn’t look right:

Baron Davis: 5 years/$65M
Andrew Bogut: 5 years/$72M
Elton Brand: 5 years/$80M

I know Bogut’s only guaranteed $60M, but for the point of my argument, the incentives count. The first and third players on this list are game changers. They are in the elite tier of their position. As solid as Bogut is, I still count 11 NBA centers whom I’d rather have over the next five years:

(Alplabetically)
Andrew Bynum
Marcus Camby
Tyson Chandler
Tim Duncan
Al Horford
Dwight Howard
Al Jefferson
Yao Ming
Greg Oden
Mehmet Okur
Amare Stoudamire

Maybe the Bucks think they’re on the verge of making this work, with the addition of Richard Jefferson and want to sure up the middle. If so, all the power to them, but I still think that some of that money might have been better used elsewhere.

Note: Why don’t the Bucks get as much crap as the Hawks for passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the 2005 Draft? Not only might Marvin Williams end up better than Bogut, but the Bucks presumably passed on Paul and Williams because they already had T.J. Ford, a piece of logic that would have worked if they hadn’t turned around the next and traded Ford for Charlie Villanueva. So instead of having a team lead by one of the two greatest point guards of the next 10 years, they ended up grossly overpaying for Maurice Williams. Nice work, guys.

Question of the Week: Were they really rooting for the Yankees?

After Tuesday night’s game against the Twins, Tom Caron and Dennis Eckersley were recapping the out of town scores and had the following conversation (or something to this effect) after highlights of the Yankees/Rays game:

Eck: Can’t believe we have to root for the Yankees tonight!

Caron: I know. Folks, you wouldn’t believe how weird it was in the studio tonight with everyone cheering for the Yankees! What a bizarre season this is!!

Really? I realize that NESN is in the business of making fans think that every single pitch of a major league season is life or death, but they can’t be serious. How many times does this have to happen before we learn? The Rays aren’t going to compete for the pennant this season. Next year? Maybe. The year after that? More likely. But this season, they’ll be done by the end of August. It’s coming down to the Sox and the Yankees, and every game NY wins between now and September is just another bullet we’ll have to sweat out down the stretch.

Photo of the Week:

Carl Beane is the voice of Fenway Park. Over the course of every game, his job is to tell us who’s coming to bat and who is currently pitching—in fairness, he also announces the lineups at the beginning of the game, along with the name of the person singing the National Anthem, throwing out the first pitch and the kid who yells, “Pway Bawl!!”

Now we get to the picture. While driving through the Berkshires this past weekend I came across this car, which was, as you can see, fashioned with a back tire cover with CARL BEANE #26 embroidered on the back. And it didn’t stop there. The sides of the car were also plastered with decals sporting plugs for Beane’s website. I’m assuming that this is Beane’s car. I mean it has to be, right?

So what do people think about this?

I hesitate to pass too much judgment, because by all accounts, he seem like a pretty nice guy—he does a lot of work for the New England Adolescent Research Institute—but the car rubbed me the wrong way. Just seems too weird. As does the fact that, according to this article, he’ll record you a personalized voicemail message for $25. I think I’d rather put that cash towards a new Rich Levine #33 rear tire cover for my car.

Loser of the Week: The All-Star Game

I never used to mind when the Yankees and Red Sox dominated the All-Star voting, because for the most part everyone deserved it. Damon, Jeter, A-Rod, Manny, Papi, etc. They all started at some point and you could never argue with it. Sure, it was slightly skewed because of Red Sox and Yankees fans, but who else was going to start? This year’s a little different.

Six of the nine starters in the AL are from the two giants, and really only two of them (Youk and Arod) have any business starting. It just makes the game even less appealing (and I wasn’t sure that was possible) than ever before. And how about the Cubs? Fukodome? Really? I’ve never made it a point to watch the All-Star Game, but this year I’ll probably make a point not too.

Winner of the Week: Brandon Moss

Tuesday night, Brandon Moss hit a two-out single in the eighth to win the game for the Sox. Ho hum, what else is new? Moss is like the Cris Carter of the MLB, but instead of catching touchdowns, all he does is make game winning plays.

The guy’s at a tricky point in his career. He’s not good enough to be an everyday player, but shows enough promise that he’ll get his share of opportunities; however sporadic they may be. Take advantage of them and you’ve got a career. Miss the boat and the next thing you know you’re a throw in on some deadline deal for a middle reliever and have to start all over.

Brandon Moss has been ready to play. Not even an emergency appendectomy has been able to slow Moss this season. Every chance he gets, he’s making it count. He’s the anti-Craig Hansen.

Link of the Week:

As if Mr. Beane didn’t cause enough trouble this week, here’s a tragic product of a "Carl Beane" YouTube search.

Did these guys really spend the money to rent out a studio to record this song? It has to be in one of their basements, doesn’t it? And did they just not feel like writing lyrics?

Lead singer: OK, guys, I know we don’t have any lyrics outside the chorus, but I really think we have something here with the “Red Sox Rock” loop. Lyrics are just fillers. This is gold. Let’s go with it.”

Last question: How much do we think Beane charged these guys to record the intro? The $25 voicemail fee or the $300 wedding fee? I’m going to guess it was like $100.

Prediction for Next Week of the Week: Manny Ramirez (gasp!) won’t play in the All-Star game.

See You Next Week