Collusion in Bonds Case

Really? Is an investigation really necessary to figure out why no one wants Bonds on their team? Does anyone really think collusion is going on?
Source: Union to examine why Bonds has no offers - Yahoo! News

The lack of offers to Barry Bonds will be examined by the baseball players' association as part of its annual review of the free-agent market. Less than two weeks before opening day, the 43-year-old home run king remains unsigned.

Then again, maybe the association has a point. Not picking up Bonds requires some common sense. That sort of thinking is usually pretty scarce in baseball front offices.

BTW, Kudos to the Sox players for sticking up for their managers and other team employees. They really should have thought of this a long time ago, however. Crisis on the day of is a bit much, I think

Volvo Wants You to Live in the Past

In what Volvo hopes is going to become the 'ultimate' collectible, they are building 107 C30 cars, one for each victory by the Boston Red Sox in their championship series.

The last one, representing the final game, will be donated by Volvo to The Red Sox Foundation for a separate charity raffle to be held later this year.

If you had been to win #15, but the scorecard you made up while sitting in the Monster Seats wasn't enough for you and you have $30K to spend, this might now be the ideal solution for you. Now if only you could get the team to sign the dashboard.

Press Release follows:

Limited Run Of 107 Cars Lets Fans Drive Home The Magic

IRVINE, Calif., Mar. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Red Sox remarkable 2007 season that culminated in a championship title continues to make headlines. Volvo is offering lucky fans the opportunity to drive home in what may be the ultimate collectible: The Boston Red Sox Special Edition Volvo C30. This specially equipped 2008 C30 is commissioned by Volvo and Major League Baseball to symbolize the partnership between Volvo and the Boston Red Sox.

Only 107 of the Special Edition C30s will be produced with each car built to commemorate a Red Sox victory during the 2007 season and bearing a numbered dash plaque authenticated by Major League Baseball. The numbered dash plaque indicates which of the 107 victories each individual car represents.

A Certificate of Authenticity signed by Anne Belec, President/CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, LLC and Larry Lucchino, President/CEO of the Boston Red Sox is also included. The Certificate of Authenticity couples the numbered dash plaque of each individual car to the corresponding 2007 season individual game victory, opponent and final score.

Signifying the championship-clinching game, Red Sox Special Edition Volvo C30 number 107 will be donated by Volvo to The Red Sox Foundation for a separate charity raffle to be held later this year.

Finished in vibrant Passion Red, Red Sox Special Edition C30s proudly wear the team's logo on the front fenders while a larger transparent logo is affixed inside the rear glass hatch. The team logo is also featured on the floor mats. In addition, the C30s are authenticated by Major League Baseball through the Major League Baseball Authentication Program.

Similar to the Volvo C30 R-Design, each Red Sox Special Edition C30 is fitted with a matte-silver finish for the outside mirror housings and front grille surround. Front fog lights, power-assisted and heated front seats, a blue watch-dial instrument cluster, leather-wrapped steering wheel with aluminum inlays, sport pedals, sport shifter, vehicle security alarm, soft load cover, cruise control and the Dynaudio Sound System with Sirius Satellite Radio are also included.

As the smallest and most expressive car in Volvo's model range, the C30 offers a dynamic driving experience. The turbocharged T5 5-cylinder engine produces 227-horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque. A five-speed eartronic transmission is optional on the Boston Red Sox Special Edition C30.

Available exclusively at select Volvo Retailers in New England, the Boston Red Sox Special Edition C30 equipped with five-speed automatic transmission with Geartronic is priced at $29,465*.

VCNA provides marketing, sales, service, technology and training to Volvo automobile retailers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For more information on the entire Volvo product lineup please refer to the Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, public relations website at: http://www.volvocars-pr.com/.

*Price does not include destination charges of $745.

Specter Wastes Congress Time

Having begun the process for world peace, fixed the economy, thrown out all the crooked politicians, cured cancer, developed a fool proof method for voting and put aside funding to get the US debt in hand, Arlen Specter has turned his sights on the issues facing the NFL, specifically spygate.

"I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in a Thursday letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Are you kidding me? This is what he's concerned about? After admitting he probably won't even watch the big game ("I may play squash while it's on"), Specter is putting the NFL anti-trust up for inspection over something that happened at the beginning of the season.

I know it's the only hold Congress has over the NFL (and MLB for that matter), but to bring up the big hammer for such a matter brings to mind the old sledge hammer to swat a fly anecdote.

Specter claims he made inquiries two months ago, but Goodell says he just became aware of Specter's interest on Thursday.

Really, Specter. Don't you have something better to do with your time?

Playoffs, Are You Talking About Playoffs?

Haven't the Patriots clinched a playoff spot? Too much math for my brain to deal with at the moment.
If the AFC Playoffs Began Today : Patriots Daily

1st seed - AFCE division leader New England Patriots (9-0). Last Sunday’s gutty comeback win over the reigning champion Colts gives the Pats undisputed possession of the AFC’s first seed this week. Little known fact - prior to Sunday, the Colts held this spot by virtue of the 4th tiebreaker; strength of victory.

That's surprising. If someone had come off the street and told me that last week, I wouldn't have believed them.

Drama, Drama, Drama...

It's only been a few weeks since the Red Sox won the World Series and we're seeing more drama now than we did during the season.

Schilling returns after his last game in a Red Sox uniform for only $8 million for one year, unless he keeps the weight down, in which case he gets $2 million more. I mean, offer me the money to keep the weight off, please!

Will Lowell be coming back (I want him for two years, but certainly not four!), or will the Red Sox enter the ARod party line (Please, please, please don't spend that much money on one player! Remember how you tried to waive manny and no one took him? That was just for $20 mill a year!). What about Pena at first instead?

Youk gets the golden glove and the most photographed award (I've seen so many after party pictures and in-flight shots over the past few days).

And then there's Coco, the man who could have won a Gold Glove if his rep was better than his name. Will he be traded and for who? Theo always seems to want to get the best deal possible, but let's just take what we can get, ok? We don't need a fourth outfielder all that badly. We could have won with or without him this year, and the same can be said for any other fourth outfielder you can name.

All in all, a lot to digest over the past week. Can we get back to the dancing and bedazzling, please? ;-)