The Week That Was
8/1/05 - 8/7/05

ED: ED Agner
PR: Phil Rippa
BB: Bill Barnwell


ED: Mmm, fat, clueless sportswriters preaching about ethics and morality. DEEEELISH!!!

PR: At first I thought Ed was making fun of Peter Jennings. And then I realized he wasn’t so I felt better. I mean I kinda liked Peter Jennings. I waited a full minute before asking myself why we hadn’t done a non-sports death pool.

MLB
ED: Rafael Palmeiro. Yeah. That's about all that needs to be said, really.

PR: I am still holding out hope that the Viagra is what caused the positive test.

BB: I am hoping the test reveals he is on…Cialis? Is that an ED drug? That advertising sure works wonders. All I know is that you should have 36 hours for when the time is right for you, sitting in bathtubs on the beach. Or that you should want a…heightened experience when you are lounging around your house with your creepily tan husband. Or that PHALLIC JOKES ARE FUNNY!!! especially if you – you know – make them 800 times a commercial per commercial. And mix in a really creepy smiling guy and his wife who looks like my fourth grade teacher. Horrible thoughts. Horrible horrible thoughts…

ED: Somehow this is related…if even but in Peter Angelos' strange mind - The Orioles fire Manager Lee Mazzilli. Mazzilli is replaced by Sam Perlozzo for the rest of the year.  Wow!  Who would expect this from a team that's running away with the AL East...Oh.  What?  The O's weren't for real?  Who knew?

PR: Nats fans?

ED: More 'roid news: Mariners P Ryan Franklin gets 10 days for testing positive for 'roids. Steroids now in danger of losing their "performance enhancement" label.

PR: I figured that if there was one person who could get away with the “Do I look like I am taking steroids?” defense it might be Ryan Franklin. So much for that theory.

BB: Jamie Moyer?

ED: EVEN MORE 'ROID NEWS: Barry Bonds tells MLB.com that he won't play at all this year. Or maybe he will. But probably not. Of course, ya never know. Feh.

ED: Hey! Possibly 'roids-related (or not depending on if representatives of Pudge reads this and decides to sue) Tigers C Ivan Rodriguez suspended 4 games for bumping an umpire. See, with reduced size comes reduced punishment.

PR: I might be reading too much into it but I think what Ed is trying to say is that if you have a small jimmy, sex doesn’t hurt as much. I am married so sex is a distant memory. Oh and I am 6’6” and proportional.

BB: OK – that’s enough. I am out of here.

ED: Less (possibly) 'roid related punishment comes to Indians P's Kevin Millwood suspended 5 games and David Riske 4 for intentionally hitting Mariners. Damn right, they deserved it. It's no fair hitting a Mariner when there are no Mariners who can hit you back.

ED: Your weekly cripple list includes: Twins OF Torii Hunter (now done for the season after wrecking his ankle), Mariners P Jorge Campillo (elbow. Well, all things considered, a Mariners pitching prospect who gets crippled in his first big league inning is a step forward. Comparitively.), Angels P Jarrod Washburn (forearm), Red Sox 1B John Olerud (hammy. Mmm, Petagine!), Giants P Kirk Rueter (gout), Marlins 1B Carlos Delgado (elbow and hand), Rangers OF Richard Hidalgo (wrist)

PR: More entertaining was the comedy of Manny Ramirez. I had to wonder if Terry Francona paid Edgar Renteria to take out the retarded player so the manager didn’t have to play him.

ED: Some unexciting player movement includes: 2B Bret Boone (released by the Twins…hehehehe), P Aaron Sele (released by the Mariners then signed by the Rangers), P Aquilino Lopez (claimed off of waivers by the Phillies), OF Marquis Grissom (DFA'd by the Giants), UTL Desi Relaford (released by the Rockies), OF Brian Buchanan (signed by the Twins), P Alan Benes (signed by the Cardinals), P Dennys Reyes (signed by the Yankees…then elects to stay in Mexico rather than go to Columbus. I know the feeling, Dennys.), P Ron Mahay (DFA'd by the Rangers. Awesome! The return of Steve Karsay! Maybe he can pay his bar bill now!), P Chris Narveson (DFA'd by the Red Sox), P Armando Almanza (released by the D-Backs), P Sun-Wu Kim (picked up off of waivers by the Rockies), JOHN HALAMA!!! (signed by the Nats)

PR: Aww… I know that I can now buy Ed a John Halama Nats jersey for Christmas.

ED: Reds P Jung Bong arrested for domestic battery for slapping around his wife. Yes-yes. Make your Bong hit jokes here.

ED: Senseless contract news: the Tigers extend the contract of 2B Placido Polanco for four years; the Yankees decline the 2006 option on Bernie Williams' $15 million dollar contract (What? Bernie Williams isn't a $15 million player anymore?); the Indians restructure 3B Aaron Boone's contract, picking up his contract for 2007 and adding a mutual option for 2007 (suckers)

ED: Diamonbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr. resigns to take become MLB's Sr. VP of Baseball Operations. The D-Backs name former-Rockies GM Bob Gebhard as their interim GM. Oh, there's just too much humor there.

ED: Former Yankees GM Bob Watson named the GM of USA Baseball. God, I hope he can trade for Pat Listach again.

PR: If Shawn Abner gets a job I will definitely write the FPOTM.

ED: Gary Sheffield goes weird and tells all the world that HE knows who the real leader of the Yankees is. Of course, he doesn't say who is the real leader of the Yankees is, but insinuates it might be him. I think.  But then, I'm not sure.  'Course, what do I know?  I'm a whitey. I know! I'll ask Michael Kay to be sure!

PR: Well, of course, Kay will know. He is the real leader after all. And as an aside – Juan Rivera refusing Michael Kay’s apology so makes him my favorite player of the moment.

Ed: Oh, the Reds help out a kid whose grandpa has a fatal heart attack at a game - letting the kid sit in the bullpen and go into the clubhouse after the game as his grandpa was being attended to by paramedics. After the game, the Reds showered the kid with bats and balls and other assorted paraphernalia. God, didn't the kid suffer enough already?

PR: There was a big batch of weirdness with this story since the kid was named Antonio Perez and it was on Tony Perez Bobblehead night. Yeah – I am not touching this one.

ED:  Giants radio man, Larry Krueger gets a onr week suspension for going off on the Giants and their `brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly.''  Some may call this career suicide.  Others may look at this as Krueger auditioning for a radio gig in a Red State.  Depends on how you look at it, really.

PR: I enjoy this story as its quite the “looking for a reason to be offended” story – well at least the Cream of Wheat part. Of course – I won’t know officially how to feel until Scoop Jackson writes a column about it. DUSTY NEEDS A CONTRACT FOR LIFE!!!!

CFL
WEEK SEVEN!!!

ED: Mmm, failed WR's. Winnipeg cuts big free-agent pick-up WR Wayne McGarity. Saskatchewan cuts WR Santonio Hall.

PR: Aww… is someone going to sign Bret Boone now?

ED: Anthony Calvillo throws for 3 TD's as Montreal whips Saskatchewan, 42-13.  But Montreal loses slotback Ben Calhoun for at least 6 weeks thanks to a broken wrist and elbow in the game.

ED: BC stays unbeaten by holding off Edmonton 25-19.  Peter King contemplates ditching his hooded genius and finding a quiet desk in British Columbia to hang out under.

ED: Kery Joseph goes wild as Ottawa stomps Hamilton, 28-12.  Well, at least the CFL season's getting me properly prepared for the NFL season.

PR: So Hamilton is going to talk Romo and Rich Gannon out of retirement? Hire Norv Turner?

ED: Winnipeg goes all charitable and hands everything over to Calgary, 30-21.

SOCCER
PR: For the majority of leagues – a new season started this past weekend. Bill would prefer to not talk about the Leicester game.

PR: Chelsea beats Arsenal 2-1 to win the Community Shield. Tim Howard wonders if he can somehow take credit for this.

PR: Peter Crouch is out for at least three weeks due to a bad hammy.  This is some unsurprising news. Such gangly legs.

PR: MLS has an amusing week, so I will recap

Wednesday – August 3

FC Dallas 3-1 Columbus
PR: The Crew comically has two people getting straight reds in extra time. Frankie Hedjuk is one of them. Oh yeah – I eagerly await him doing that in the first round of the 06 World Cup.

Saturday – August 6

Chicago 2-3 DC United
PR: Freddy Adu strains his MCL. ESPN immediately inquires about getting MLS to cancel the rest of the season.

New England 1-2 Kansas City
PR: Hey – remember when the Revs didn’t lose at home? Well not anymore. Just like that whole, they used to be unbeaten thing.

Real Salt Lake 2-1 Chivas USA
PR: Aww… Clint Mathis goes crazy again, hits someone in the jimmy, punts the ball into the crowd and is tossed. Amazingly he didn’t headbutt the ref. Oh and Andy Williams scored the league’s 5000 goal.

FC Dallas 2-2 MetroStars
PR: Dallas’ opens its new stadium – Pizza Hut Park. I wanna cry. The bad puns over highlights have already started.

Colorado 2-0 Los Angeles
PR: JEFF CUNNINGHAM!!! CREW DARLING!!! SCORES!!!! Brian McBride pouts.

San Jose 2-1 Columbus
PR: Poor poor stinky crew. Ohio weeps.

NFL

ED: Dan Marino, Steve Young, Fritz Pollard and Benny Friedman are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

PR: Aww… Ed’s hate consumed him so much he couldn’t say anything mean about Young or Marino. Not even with the silly throwing a pass to Mark Clayton thing.

ED: PRESEASON STARTS!!! Whee! Yeah, I've officially abandoned all hope now.

PR: Ed and I are still working the details of our Week 17 Battle for #1 Pick in the 2006 Draft wager between the Raiders and Giants.

ED: AWESOME!!! Your first out for the season injury is…..drumroll please…Todd Pinkston, WR, Philadelphia Eagles. C'mon, Todd! Limp up here and grab your reward.

PR: I am not saddened by this at all. Couldn’t happen to a nicer team. Stupid Philly.

ED: A whole lot of kids are signing their first NFL contracts. A whole lot of old guys are holding out for more…not including Terrell Owens, of course.

PR: So young kids are holding out too. That always makes me giggle.

ED: The Lions extend GM Matt Millen's contract through 2010. That's right. And he's worth every penny. Only a big homo would question that.

PR: Yet, Art Shell can’t get another head coaching job. God, I hate football. I mean if I draft a WR in the first round of every Madden draft, the little AI fans would boo me, I would be given a D+ and then I would have to trade the player to Arizona for more picks. Ahh… Madden GMing.

ED: Hey! Your very special Seahawks trouble list!!! Former Seahawk WR Koren Robinson enters alcohol rehab in an effort to weasel out of more trouble. Former Seahawk RB Chris Warren gets 5 years probation for being a deadbeat dad.

PR: Wait – Chris Warren is Koren Robinson’s dad? I mean it would explain a bunch but it did confuse me horribly so.

ED: USELESS TRADE!!! The Seahawks send CB Kris Richard to the Dolphins for DE Ronald Flemons.  Yeah, both parties involved in this trade have to realize this is the only times in their lives anyone will know that they exist.

PR: TE Freddie Jones retired instead of not fulfilling his promise for another year. My fantasy team thanks him for announcing this early.

NBA

ED: BLOCKBUSTER DEAL!!! Or something. Five teams got together to move 13 players and royally confuse me. God, this is like a word problem. I THINK - yes, I realize everyone laughs as I go forth towards messing this up - the Miami Heat picked up Antoine Walker, Jason Williams (didn't I take him in the dead pool?), James Posey, Andre Emmett and the rights to Roberto Duenas; Memphis picks up Eddie Jones and Raul Lopez; Boston gets Curtis…Aww, crap. There's a whole lot of guys moving. Let's just go with that. And I think the correct answer is the two trains will meet in Altoona at 8:58 PM. But I just copied that answer off of someone else. Stupid word problems.

PR: You have disappointed Justin.

ED: There's a whole lot more player movement this week. But I don't care enough to list it all. You! You have a computer. You go check it out. I am old and tired.

PR: GET OFF HIS LAWN!!!

ED: Las Vegas will host the 2007 NBA All Star game. Don't worry about gamblers fixing the game. Even I wouldn't be stupid enough to bet on an NBA All Star game.

NCAA
ED:  Georgia LB Tavares Kearney is suspended for the season opener after assaulting an instructor who accused him of using a camera phone to cheat on a Nutrition exam.  Ahh, college!

PR: This is amazing. If I smacked around one of my professors, I am sure my punishment would have been a little more severe than this. Of course, if I was a professor at Georgia I would know that I was supposed to put questions like “How many points are a three point field goal worth?” on my exams.

ED: Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight testifies that the NCAA is a monopoly and that the organization forces schools to skip the NIT tournaments. Ya know, having Bobby Knight testify for your cause…yeah. That's like getting OJ as a character witness.

ED: Speaking of the old nutcase - Bobby Knight will host an ESPN reality show where Texas Tech students will compete for a walk on spot on the basketball team. Of course everyone taking part gets a free strangling. Why do you ask?

PR: Aww… so is this the reason ESPN didn’t want the NHL rights?

ED: The NCAA bans Native American mascots from postseason tournaments. Buck up, people! The NCAA can still exploit African Americans in every way, shape and form.

NHL
ED: Yeah. Right. Now, I couldn't even keep track of all the NBA player movement. You think I can keep all the NHL movement straight? I laugh. Laugh, I say. Now I go nap.

PR: Person who probably had the worst week?  Miroslav Satan. Welcome to the Islanders. Welcome to Hell.

ED:  Oh, word on the street is that Wayne Gretzky is going to coach the Phoenix Coyotes.  Nice.  The only hockey player most Americans can name coaching an American team most American's don't know even exists.  

OTHER

ED: Hall of Fame women's college basketball coach Sue Gunter dead at 66.

ED: Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day retires. What, with his recent acting stint in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory as an Oompa Loompa and all…Oh.

ED: OK. This week is the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. I suck.  And Tony Stewart wins the race, by the way.  Well, I think so.  'Course, what are the odds I can get that right?

PR: The poor man’s John Daly – Jason Gore - earned his PGA Tour card. No, no, no – it’s his own card. They didn’t take David Duval’s and give it to him.