Saturday Morning Odds & Ends

IDLE THOUGHTS WHILE WE SIP OUR HAZELNUT COFFEE...
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There is a report in today's Boston Globe that says after being told he had been traded to the Hollywood Dodgers, Manny Ramirez begged not to be traded and promised to be well behaved. Seriously, that guy is just plain c-r-a-z-y. And we love all the yahoos who are questioning why Boston moved the still-offensively-productive Manny. Um, when key players go to the GM and say enough is enough, then Theo Epstein had no choice but to move him. Make no mistake about it, if the players had been fine with Manny, he would still be in Boston. And it's shocking what they were able to get back in return. Meanwhile, our 6-year old son's new favorite Red Sox? You got it -- Jason Bay.
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Cole Hamels got dinged around for the second straight time last night. We wonder if he will ever be a true number one pitcher. Think about it, how many truly great pitchers were primarily change up throwers? Um, not many (if any). Same thing with knuckle ballers -- if you make a mistake it ends up being a home run. Too often Hamels has one bad inning where he gives up three-plus runs and that inevitably leads to an L.
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Ed Stefanski continues to dominate the NBA off-season. This past week, he stayed under the radar and snagged free agent shooting guard Kareem Rush. He averaged almost nine points last season, coming off the bench for the Pacers. Even better, he nailed nearly 40 percent of his treys. We'll say it again - in the East it's: 1. Boston 2. Detroit (barely) 3. Philadelphia.
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We are card carrying members of Sooner Nation -- heck, we are Sooner Nation. Late last spring, their prized recruit Josh Jarboe, a 6'4" wide receiver, got caught with a gun (a gun!) on high school grounds. As a first offender, he got the charges greatly reduced and he moved to Norman last month. This past week, a video of Jarboe rapping made its way onto YouTube. No big deal, right? Except for the fact that Jarboe was wrapping about, wait for it...guns! But it gets even worse. He was rapping about shooting people! And now? Well, Josh will have a lot of time to write more rap songs because Our Guy Bob Stoops (In Stoops We Trust!) kicked the idiot off the team. Want to watch the video? Click here -- but be warned, DISCRETION ADVISED!
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Finally, apparently Wal-Mart is in some hot water for allegedly pressuring employees to vote Republican in November. Our take? When did it become wrong to give someone good, sound advice?!? Classic. Totally classic.
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