Consider the take of one AL team source: "I'll tell you why the Yankees are in trouble: They are locked into this team. I honestly can tell you there is nobody on that team I would trade for. They aren't going to trade Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada or Gary Sheffield. Obviously, Johnson and Mariano Rivera aren't going anywhere. There's nobody else I'd want, because of contracts or age and ability. So when it comes time for them to make a move, they don't have anything of value.
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Now there is an even better reason to be a blogger. Major League Baseball Advanced Media has partnered with Six Apart to introduce MLBlogs, where you can find robust, state-of-the-art blogging tools that let you create a page featuring your favorite Major League team's logo and colors. Your blog will allow you to share text and multimedia, and it will come complete with your own MLBlogs.com subdomain. [link]
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A German couple who went to a fertility clinic after eight years of marriage have found out why they are still childless - they weren't having sex.
The University Clinic of Lubek said they had never heard of a case like it after examining the couple who went to see them last month for fertility tests.
Doctors subjected them to a series of examinations and found they were both apparently fertile, and should have had no trouble conceiving.
A clinic spokesman said: "When we asked them how often they had had sex, they looked blank, and said: "What do you mean?". [full story - via db]
I guess the raging hormones of adolescence had died down by time they actually tied the knot. Funny how you actually need to have sex to have a child. Unless you're this couple.
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Days after the annoucement that served to devastate Tar Heel Nation, Duke fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief, after being assured that the only critical loss from this year's sweet sixteen squad will be Daniel Ewing, who stands to graduate the May with a degree in African American Studies. Shelden Williams is staying, and will form a core with fellow high profile seniors J.J. Reddick, Sean Dockery, Shavlik Randolph and Lee Melchioni on a run to lead the 2005-2006 Blue Devils to the promised land.Williams said in a statement Monday that he has decided to pursue his goal of earning a degree.
"For that reason along with others, I am going to pass on the opportunity to enter the NBA draft," Williams said in a statement. "I am looking forward to finishing off my academic career with a degree and also returning to the playing court to help Duke compete for the national championship next season."
Williams averaged 15.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots while helping Duke to a 27-6 record and the ACC tournament championship last season.
The announcement means Duke will return two first-team all-conference performers in Williams and senior J.J. Redick, and add a strong recruiting class that includes forward Josh McRoberts and guard Greg Paulus. [espn][si]
I love how every story can't help but mention that the UNC squad will be basically running on fumes this year. This is not about them. Let it go! The ACC ought to be interesting next year, given the decimation of the carolina squad, and the decision of guys like Chris Paul (wf), Jarret Jack (gt), John Gilchrist (md) to jump ship. [full list]
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Sharing RFK causing problems for United, Nationals
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The sharing of RFK Stadium by D.C. United and the Washington Nationals has resulted in a soccer pitch that isn't rectangular.
``It's clearly not acceptable, but we understand that it's been a challenge for everybody, and we just have to be patient,'' United president Kevin Payne said Tuesday. ``Nobody wants the field to be off.''
Officials at United's 4-3 home loss to New England on Saturday filed a report with MLS saying the field was lopsided. Two officials measured the field by walking it, and they determined that one corner-to-corner diagonal was about 6 yards longer than the other. [yahoo]
Everyone anticipated problems with a system that involves completely redesigning the entire field to convert from a baseball to a soccer field and back again so it's no big surprise but I'm not sure that this is quite what they were thinking would be the problem. But who cares...baseball has returned to capital city, and, they're even managing to win-- well, more than the Expos ever did. I do believe that in the first month in a new city they've already beat the home attendance for the entire 2004 season from their Montreal/San Juan experiment...
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All around the world, Duke fans rejoice. A mere two and a half weeks after pulling off what might have seemed impossible to last year's squad, Roy Williams and the rest of the Tar Heel nation mourns the loss of the remaining three top scorers (Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Marvin Williams). That makes SEVEN departures from this year's championship team (3 to graduation). In fact, David Noel, the highest remaining scorer only averaged 3.9ppg this year. I hope they enjoyed being on top while it lasted, because they certainly aren't going far this year. In all fairness, a trophy sure goes a long way towards soothing pain though...."[Insert player here] will be holding a news conference" means the same thing in basketball lingo that "we need to talk" means in female-ese – it's time for me to do some things, it's not your fault, etc. No matter the spin, she's leaving.
"[Three players] will be holding a news conference" is even worse – she's leaving, the kids are waiting in the Benz, and she needs help loading the plasma screen into the trunk.
By 2:00 p.m. ET, Carolina fans were left sitting in the dark, watching the wedding video, drinking Black Label on the rocks and dreaming of good times past. [espn.com]
On a related note, I wonder how the proposed age limits will affect the number of kids who declare for the draft this year. Eh, who cares, if it's bad for Carolina, it's good for me. [alt link]
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David Bergman - si.com
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The Yankees' skid can't be traced to one particular area. The starters have combined to go 2-5 with a 5.29 ERA, while the bullpen has a 6.53 ERA and has blown three save opportunities. The offense is batting just .207 with runners in scoring position, and the team ranks last in the American League in runners left on base with 106. [mlb.com]
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Nike is crowing about Tiger Woods' birdie on the 16th hole Sunday at the Masters, in which a tiny black swoosh was visible on the ball as it hung on the lip for nearly two seconds before falling in. The company feels the shot exposed its logo to a wide audience that somehow failed to notice the giant swooshes on Tiger's shirt and hat.(yes Jared, there is a picture of Britney on the page)
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Goodd job
sued for sharing (Duke)
RIAA Gains Access to i2Hub (Columbia) - more on i2hub
RIAA to sue 11 at Harvard
watch out, kids.
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More Mo
One by one, the Bronx Bombers were introduced to the sellout crowd, and one by one, each player with "New York" across his chest was being booed.
Jaret Wright? Boo. Randy Johnson? Boooo. Heck, even Andy Phillips got booed.
Then came the most bizarre moment of the day. Mariano Rivera's name was called, and as the closer stepped out of the dugout, the crowd broke into a standing ovation.
Rivera, who blew two saves against the Red Sox in last October's ALCS, then blew two more last week at Yankee Stadium, laughed at the applause, tipping his hat to the crowd. [mlb.com]
Final score? 8-1 BOSTON RED SOX. A fitting conclusion to a glorious day. Don't cry too much, boys.
it couldn't have hurt to have fellow champs throwing out the first pitch
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...was this. welcome to fenway, boys.
[mlb.com] [2] [bdd] [sosh] [boston.com] [nyt] [si.com] [karukeion]
 | this is filler text. fill me up, baby. you, know, you. |  |
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let's hope wake can spank the yanks to make the home opener what it ought to be!
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Life down Blue Jay way
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A group at MIT has designed an alarm clock for the hardcore snoozing croud like me. Dubbed clocky, the clock will roll off the table to a random location, forcing you to get up and search for it to turn it off.
The technology is great and everything, but could they have made it any uglier? Engineers. sheesh.Oh, wait. I'm an engineer too...
[cnn.com][bn]
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::snip::Wendy's offer reward over finger in chilli
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Reports of a severed human finger in a bowl of chilli at a Wendy's restaurant have hit the firm's sales in the San Francisco area, a company spokesman says."We've had a severe sales impact from this, particularly in the San Francisco-San Jose bay area," said spokesman Bob Bertini from Wendy's corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, on Saturday.
"It's very important to us to find out what happened in this incident. We believe someone knows exactly how the piece of finger got into the chilli bowl," he said.
The company has offered a $50,000 (26,520 pounds) reward to the first person offering verifiable information about how the finger found its way into a bowl of chilli at a franchise in San Jose, California, on March 22.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported this week that police has searched the home of Anna Ayala of Las Vegas, who filed a complaint about biting into a human finger after spooning up a mouthful of chilli at the San Jose Wendy's on March 22.
The Chronicle reported on Saturday that Ayala has filed legal complaints against commercial establishments before. She won a claim against a restaurant after her daughter contracted salmonella poisoning in 2003. She sued a car dealership and tire manufacturer after an accident in 2000. That case was dismissed.
Wendy's has said its own investigation found no evidence of any finger or hand accidents among workers or suppliers at the San Jose franchise in late March.
Police also focused on where the finger had come from.
"From a law enforcement point of view, once you establish it is a human finger, you have to wonder is this a case of industrial accident or is this a case of unreported homicide," Muyo said.
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I was doing the rounds and came across an article discussing the problem of drug use in baseball.
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My favorite part of the story:Duke takes targeted approach with iPod project
RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- An iPod in every new student's hand?
Not this fall at Duke.
The private university in Durham has decided not to reprise last year's experimental mass handout to all incoming freshman of the pricey, hard-disk portable digital players. [cnn.com] [link2]
Some students questioned the need for the giveaway, given many students already owned iPods or similar devices, with some saying the money would be better spent on financial aid or campus security.
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You can no longer call it a fluke, Boston's success against the great Rivera. It was the fourth consecutive save opportunity (including postseason) Rivera has blown against the Sox, and the sixth in the last 11. Rivera also blew a save on Tuesday, giving up a game-tying homer to Jason Varitek, but the Yankees rescued him in that one with Derek Jeter hitting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth."Our history is that we've been able to swing the bats well against him, and I think the guys feel that they can do that," said Mills. "I think that's big, and that's key, to have that confidence against anybody, not just Mariano." [mlb.com]
Thanks to Rivera (with a little help from our old friend A-Rod) the Sox were able to leave the Bronx with a 1-2 record on the season. As much as I like to crack on Rivera, it's incredible what the Red Sox have managed to do with him. In spite of it all, he still maintains his composure and goes out every day, fully expecting to get the job done. What can I say, I actually have some respect for the guy, unlike an already-been-named former shortstop who I will stop short of mentioning again).
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In the top of the ninth, Jason Varitek ties it at 3 with an uppercut against Mariano Rivera that lands in the right-field seats. The blow staggers the Yankees.
A few minutes later, Derek Jeter unleashes a roundhouse to Keith Foulke. This one lands in right-center, and in the Yankees' win column. [mlb.com]
0-2
p.s. I always thought it was a bad idea for Smoltz to come out of the bullpen. ouch.
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<sigh>
back to work!
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In related news, Baylor's title is the first in men's or women's hoops in Big 12 conference HISTORY (okay, okay, so it's only been a conference since the '96-'97 season. still. big news). Kirk Heinrich and the boys at Kansas sure came close not too long ago, but remember, almost doesn't count...
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In the natural world, of course, mice rarely, if ever, suffer from cat allergies. But laboratory mice specially bred to be allergic to cats have been cured by researchers who have developed a novel approach to allergy treatment.
The results may lead to better therapy for millions of people who are allergic to cats - including 14 percent of children from age 6 to 19 - and for the estimated 50 million Americans who suffer from some type of allergy. [nyt article]
The original Nat Med article, for your reading pleasure -- yes, i'm a dork like that :-p.
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(see...i do think about more than just sports :-p)
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Teresa Marie Schindler-Schiavo (1963-2005)
Johnny L. Cochran, Jr. (1937-2005)
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
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Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, Major League Baseball's opening day 2005. 
The day the title defense officially begins. Regular season action begins in under 24 hours with a repeat of the 2004 ALCS matchup, which of course ended with a pivotal Boston victory (a great link...i suggest you check it out). The Red Sox will face the Yankees in the first of 19 regular-season matchups, with this one to take place in the boogie down
Like many other teams, the Sox don’t have the same 25 man core so let’s take a look at the most recent scouting report.
I don't have a similar report for the Yanks, but check out what si.com had to say this time last year. I did find an AL report, in order of predicted finish. Note that this is from a BOSTON paper and they put the Yanks first, so it must be unbiased ;-).
Given the current injuries (Schilling & Miller vs. Brown), I admit the first series may not go so well (Wells vs. RJ in the opener?!), but remember, it's not a sprint, but a marathon!
-->Catch the game Sunday at 8:05pm ET on WSBK/NESN/ESPN2/MLB TV
........
In related news, for the first time ever, "both sets of duelists in the previous October's League Championship Series are facing off to launch a new season." On April 5th, the Cardinals head to Minute Maid park to face the Astros in a rematch of the 2004 NLCS. Can the Cards top the 'stros yet again? Time will only tell. What a way to tip off a season. Let's hope that regardless of the outcome, that the teams put up a good fight.
........
Quote of the day: "July 1, Yankee Stadium ... Bloodied, battered, but beaten? Never." - mlb.com's Tom Singer
Fun Fact: RP Mariano Rivera's ERA against the Red Sox is 4.22 and 1.59 against all other teams.
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Villanueva headed to NBASTORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Two years ago, Charlie Villanueva thought he was ready for the NBA. This time, he says he's sure.
UConn's 6-foot-11, 240-pound sophomore forward announced Tuesday that he [sic] forgo his final two years of college eligibility to enter the NBA draft.
It will be the second time Villanueva has gone through the NBA evaluation process. Coming out of Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., in 2003, Villanueva declared for the draft, but changed his mind after workouts in front of NBA scouts.
Villanueva may feel he's ready, but I'd say that this is not the most glowing of recommendations:
Villanueva is the eighth player during [coach Jim] Calhoun's tenure at UConn to leave school early for the NBA. The coach said he is not shy about telling players when he thinks they are not ready.
"I don't think Charlie's making a mistake," he said. "Would I have liked him to stay for another year? Yeah. Could he use another year? To some degree, they all could."
The article goes on to say that "he chose to go pro in part because his mother was in a serious car accident last year on her way to work, and he doesn't want her to ever have to work again." Honorable intentions, and I can't fault him for that, because I myself would love to be in a position to relieve my mother of the responsibility of needing to work as a present for her upcoming birthday [but I'm not, sorry mom]. Regardless, I know my mom would have done the same as his, urging me to stay in school before making the plunge. I guess the millions he'll use to take care of her will have to serve as a consolation prize. Hopefully she'll find some way to cope.
Even though Villanueva will likely earn millions of dollars next year, his departure will hurt UConn's grade under a system being implemented to evaluate academic progress of NCAA programs. Calhoun said that should be changed.
"Right now, we seem to have lost a little bit of sight that a few of our very, very special students have an opportunity to get a very, very special job."
agreed. they should definitely take in consideration kids who leave early, and not penalize those institutions whose athletes maintain a good GPA, even if their time in school is cut short.
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