Musings from Mandy

One week from right now I will be running through the Newark airport trying to catch my connecting flight to Dallas, TX with the hopes of arriving with time to go to the hotel, check in, change, chug a White Russian (or 8) and be on my way to the Ballpark at Arlington for my first in person Boston Red Sox Experience of the season. One week and one day from now, I hope to be lying by the hotel pool with a giant hangover talking about how great it was hanging out with David Ortiz after the game. Also, I bought two Mega Millions tickets today, so when I win my 80 million dollars tonight, all of my loyal blog readers can come to Texas with me. (I already paid for my room at the Holiday Inn Express and millionaires don't stay there). *From http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/ . "FSN announced today that they has signed Jonathan Papelbon to be Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight's weekly featured baseball interview for the 2007 season. Papelbon follows in the shoes of Kevin Millar (2004 ...

I have a sinking suspicion A-Rod himself made this site .

And I almost forgot! Nomar and Mia had their twin girls ! No words yet on the names, but I'm guessing Ramona and Aim.

Well, I'm actually going to Texas 8 days from today, rather than yesterday. I got a little excited thinking it was Thursday yesterday. Anyways, here are the links. (ps. this is the 91st post since I started the blog in February. I'm hoping to work it out so that my 100th will be a surely entertaining Texas recap). *The Red Sox organized a lunch yesterday for 10 members of the media and Dice-K and Okajima. Everyone, obviously had a recap. Sean McAdam , Michael Silverman , Tony Mazz , Rob Bradford , Jeff Goldberg , and Dan Shaughnessy , who writes, "Made me wish I knew the Japanese translation of "curly-haired boyfriend." Also made me glad that Curt Schilling isn't yet fluent in Japanese." *Rob Bradford has Mike Lowell answer questions for the blog. Things I didn't know before, his favorite movie is Wedding Crashers and he's a great ping pong ball player. I can't wait to see him next week. *Stan Grossfeld talks superstitions with the ...

I am sorry for the delay this morning, I was booking a car for Texas! I just need to get out of this state in a hurry. And see the Red Sox play real life games that count. I cannot wait. Anyways, here are some thoughts while wondering when I can find a weekend to go visit Gabe and Jon. *Craig Hansen was demoted to AAA . And here I was thinking I was going to have a MLB facebook friend. Damn it. Manny Delcarmen went with him. *Jeff Horrigan has some more on Dice-K's "struggles". *Bryan Corey and his 1.50 ERA couldn't fit on the Red Sox roster. *Lester's going to hang out with Gabe in South Carolina for a bit. Also, he was placed on the DL with Timlin and Clement. *The current roster looks like this : PITCHERS (12): Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Jonathan Papelbon, Julian Tavarez, Brendan Donnelly, Josh Beckett, Hideki Okajima, Joel Pineiro, J.C. Romero, Kyle Snyder, and Javier Lopez. CATCHERS (2): Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli. INFIELDERS (6)...

Even more unbelievable . You can hide booze in your shoe? It's like they invented it just for me!

Un-freaking-believeable

*Dice-K gave up 0 hits yesterday but was unhappy with is 5 walks, and was unwilling to speak with the media after the game. I personally, always got mad when I gave up no hits and runs when I pitched. (okay, I never pitched, but you get the point). Shaughnessy says Matsuzaka was seen stretching out during the game and icing after it. (he never ices) Let the massive panic attack begin. Dan does point out, "Only in Boston. Only here could there be a crisis after a guy throws a five-inning no-hitter." *Papelbon looked good yesterday. Craig Hansen did not . *The Ritz-Carlton is making a new Dice-K Tini which has, “includes three parts vodka, one part passion fruit puree and one part sake. It is garnished with a glowing red ice cube made to like dice and pickled ginger.” *Jo-EL Pineiro may be on the market . The mostly likely trade partner is the Reds according to Jeff Horrigan. *Colts President Bill Polian praises the Patriots off season moves . You think Bill? The...

Went to NH for the weekend. I don't know anything that is going on with any of our teams except that Papelbon is the closer of the Boston Red Sox! (hehe). Anyway, I have been trying to decide what to do with my "I hate Peyton Manning" shirt. It is now 0-2. It lost the regular season game when the Colts came to Foxboro (which, had we won, the AFC Championship would have been at Foxboro, things may have gone differently, my cube could be decorated with freaking Super Bowl newspaper clippings, ect). It also lost the Super Bowl. I have a terrible feeling that my shirt might be curseed. So I need everyones advice. You can leave your answer in the comments section. Do I... 1. Wash the shirt, put it in my drawer, and give it another chance next season? 2. Burn it? 3. Donate it to Goodwill? 4. Perform some kind of sayonce to rid the shirt of its evil powers? 5. Ask a priest (actually, we might need someone higher up than that?) to perform some kind of exorcism on it...

Q: I find myself actively HATING the new Red Sox. Since winning it all in 2004, it has been a complete nightmare for me -- from the out of control bandwagon of Pink Hat wearers, etc., to the Chavez Ravine-esque feel of games at Fenway now (arrive in the third, leave in the seventh!), to the well-moneyed cabal of front office carpetbaggers with a "hometown boy" dangling at the forefront like a Tammany Hall vote wrangler at the docks of old Manhattan, to the string of bad personnel moves -- we are mirroring EVERY SINGLE bad aspect of the post-2000 Yankees. Everything that every fiber of my being loathes. Their obsession with catching up to the Yankees has made them forget about what got us the title in the first place: a TEAM.--C. Fleming, Boston, Mass. SG: You know, I felt twinges of this reader's anger this winter, because the truth is, I never wanted to root for a team that bought championships like the Yankees, even though our 2004 payroll was easily nine figures and w...

First off, I went to the B's last night. Let me tell you about the game. They lost 6-3 and sucked in the 3rd period...Onto the Red Sox. I woke up this morning thinking happy Papelbon thoughts. Then I went outside, and it was warm. Then, I didn't miss the bus. Then, I got a perfectly made ice coffe with cream and sugar and chocolate stick from Dunkins. Then, I got my free Herald from my good friend at State Street, and it was filled with happy Papelbon thoughts. Then, I got to work, and well, the happiness kind of ends there. But, then I close my eyes, and I think happy Papelbon thoughts, and it all comes back. All kinds of Papelbon greatness today. I'm really not sure what the best part of this story is. That Curt put the story on his blog before it was official. That Papelbon couldn't sleep at night . That he just had to tell "his captain Tek". That he wants to be the Mariano Rivera of the Red Sox (his words not mine, I would have compared him t...

Papelbon is heading back to the bullpen! Woohoo ! (special thanks to corespondent KP for bringing this to my attention)

So, let me get this straight here. ESPN decides to put a graphic together, picks the Celtics as the lucky winners in the Durant sweepstakes, and then puts the 35 jersey on him, and no one thinks to check and see who wore #35 last? Good work World-Wide Leader!

Good Morning Everyone! Today we have a special installment of "Amanda should have researched more before her fantasy draft". Last night was my draft for the Sox Stalkers. Turns out I missed my one for Papi's Posse (which, I didn't get David on my team so I'm going to change my name to the Big Misnomers, rather than Papi's Posse. I hate that. Someone could have called and reminded me! Steve? Conor? Chris? Thanks guys). Anyway, here's my lineup. (not that anyone cares). (We're partying here like it's 2004). The Sox Stalkers C - Jason Kendall (who, I realized this morning had 1 home run last year! ONE! ) 1B - Gary Sheffield (I try to only have one ass on my team. So here he is) 2B - Freddy Sanchez (I try to have 80% of my team have some kind of Red Sox connection) 3B - Mike Lowell ("I think I love you, but what am I so afraid of" (bat speed my friends). SS - Hanley Ramirez (because ROY didn't hurt enough last year - he did ...

Would you like to buy Manny's neighbor's grill? Click here . *Manny talked yesterday to Karen Guregian and Amalie Benjamin . I usually don't like KG but I liked her piece on Lester yesterday and I liked this effort today. *Tedy Bruschi was on WEEI yesterday and talked about a few things. Mike Reiss has a partial transcript here. *Bill Simmons is going to save Holy Cross basketball . Finally, Happy first day of Spring! Also, Eileen turns 47 today, so a Happy Birthday to her as well.

*Karen Guregian has an article on Lester and him wanting to rush to come back, but still having cancer in the back of his mind. *Jackie MacMullan has a real good story on Mike Pressler , the former Duke lacrosse coach who is now the coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. *The Celtics lost to the Hornets 106-88 . Kevin Durant! *Asante Samuel did not come ot the offseason work out program yesterday, but a lot of players, including Samuel choose to work out at home, or with their alma mater. *I guess on WEEI yesterday, Michael Holley said he is 75% sure that Greg Oden will stay in school. I can't blame him, I would have stayed in school too. *And, last but not least, Mike Reiss's football notes Sunday had this story: The act was so selfless by Troy Brown that the McGowan family of Attleboro wanted to share the story, even though Brown requested that there be no publicity. Eight-year-old Matthew McGowan had been admitted to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence last...

Hey everyone. I hope everyone had a great weekend and a better showing than I did on St. Patrick's Day. I'm afraid I killed too many brain cells this weekend to write anything even remotely witty, so instead, here is another David video. I was at this game, about 5 rows back from the Sox on deck circle with Steve. Probably my favorite live Sox game experience. Say it with me now...PAPI, PAPI, PAPI.

Thoughts while wondering how I went wrong picking Oral Roberts over Washington State... *Tank Johnson was sentenced yesterday to 120 days in jail for violating his probation. He was also sentenced to 80 days house arrest, which, he has already served. What exactly do you have to do to get house arrest? Because, quite frankly, I'm down. I have been meaning to organize my closet, there are a ton of netflix on my list that I haven't had time to watch, some books I'd like to read. I'd also like to learn a language. I'd also probably take up video games and rent the a few seasons of 24. *Sports Guy kept a running diary of yesterdays games. I know a lot of people get down on SG, but I still love him. Just want to let that be known. *" Hey Kids, Do Drugs" How do people get to be so stupid? Honestly. *Curt has a post, Why the Media Sucks . I have often said that I wish Curt would stop talking and just play, ect. That being said, his blog helps me g...

Okay, I'm bored with spring training and no nothing about basketball, so I'm going to let the Red Sox post for me today. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Spring Training... "In the East baseball and the teams are a way of life. In New England you have Catholicism and Red Sox Baseball, and not necessarily in that order." Curt "I live for that kind of challenge. I love for the fans to expect a lot from me, because I expect a lot from myself. That gets me going, when they expect a lot from you. I set my goals real high. I figure if I set my goals real high and don't reach them, then you're still going to accomplish a lot." Jonathan "Josh Beckett told me I'm a natural hitter . . . I was born to hit," Dice-K "I said to Matsui-san, 'I'm sorry to bother you right before your game.' He said, 'Don't worry about it. Thanks for coming over to say hello.' He wished me good luck so I wished him the same and sai...

Warning: Read with tissues .

Ever wake up in the morning and think, I would really like a white Russian right now? (no? me neither.) This has already been a super long week. Maybe it is because I know the awesomeness known as St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us. I'm tearing my room apart to find my shamrock earrings tonight. Anyway, I'm getting bored with Spring Training and while I watch March Madness, I don't know anything basketball or the players playing the tourney. I am doing four pools this year, one with school friends, a facebook one, a work one, and a family one. I picked Texas as the National Champ in the first two, but I might pick a different one in the other two, just to keep my interest incase Texas gets bounced in the first round. *Anyway, onto the links... * Jordan's furniture will refund your money if the Red Sox win the World Series. I feel like this is bad karma, I mean, the Red Sox winning the WS and a free couch that I bought in March! *Jonathan Papelbon killed 4,402 duck...

I did not do a running diary of the Orioles and Red Sox yesterday for three reasons. #1. I made a gourmet dinner yesterday during the game. Goat cheese mashed potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and breaded chicken. It was quite delicous if I do say so myself. #2. Was anyone elses sound all messed up yesterday? I couldn't hear a thing Jerry and Don were saying, but I could hear some fans like they were sitting next to me. Way to be NESN, please, keep screwing up the 3 Spring Training games that you do show. #3. My cousin Kerry came over to watch the game with me / talk about our Texas Ranger trip (3 weeks!). Anyway, some thoughts from the game: *When they had on Tom Werner and John Henry in the bottom of the 1st, it was painfully uncomfortable to watch JWH on TV. You can tell he hates every minute of it. As the Sox batted Steve Traschel around, JWH called him, "painfully deliberate". I'm pretty sure that is how he feels about all his on camera appearances as w...

Not much going on, too early for March Madness, NESN doesn't put enough Spring Training on TV, so instead, I'm going to post something that I randomly came across today and thoroughly enjoyed. (promise I'll have a good post Monday morning!) A Nation's destination: Destiny By Bill Simmons Page 2 I woke up thinking about the Red Sox. Answered e-mails, read the paper, showered, shaved, never stopped thinking about the Red Sox. Found that I was so excited, I could barely keep a thought in my head. Skipped through the day's routine doing ordinary things, thinking the entire time, "Holy crap, my life could be completely different in eight hours." Now it's time to join the ranks of the normal baseball fans. Thank God. Is this how parents feel when they're about to have a baby? Like nothing has changed, but everything's about to change? That's how I felt yesterday. The Red Sox were about to win the World Series. And I was about to become Just Anoth...

The best Red Sox post of Spring Training by far. This almost killed me I was laughing so hard. http://www.survivinggrady.com/

Hey everyone, sorry I've been slacking, I'll make it up to you when real Red Sox games begin. As for now, here are a few links... Tom Brady is going to have a baby...with Giselle? The Boston Globe thinks so. Personally, I don't think it is true. Bob Ryan has a nice article on Tim Wakefield . Honestly, nothing going on. Glenn Murray has a lower body injury, the Celtics lost (way to get back on track guys)...

This honestly made me a little nauseous this morning. There are just some things that are not okay. Christopher Trottman Nixon in an Indians uniform is just not okay . At least the Red Sox won't give 7 to anyone for a while. Oh, wait... I can't wait to go hoarse cheering for him May 28 th and 29 th .

I'm starting off the morning with some complaints, both sports and non sports related... *Somehow, the first day this week that 1. the bus was on time, 2. we got to Boston on time, coincided with the first time I left my purse, cell phone, and work ID on the counter this week. This meant that I arrived with plenty of time to get a coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but no money to go there. This also meant I had to wait till someone else got to work early, at 7:45 or so, so they could let me onto my floor. *Could it be a little colder? Please? I'm not quite frozen yet. *I'm getting a cold. *I went through all the trouble of blowdrying my hair this morning, then I put a scarf on and now it's all frizzy. *I have been having bizarre dreams where I think the TV is on upstairs really loud, and it isn't. Paul told me this morning that last night I was screaming at him to turn down the TV in the living room, and he was in the kitchen doing his homework and the TV wasn't on. It...

Afternoon fun: *Deadspin has an email defending / but not really Ron Borges . I'm not introducing it well, but its worth the read. *Tom Brady will not wear T. Brady because Kyle Brady is joining the team. And Tully Banta-Cain is a 49er, says Mike Reiss . (hopefully no more TBC means that we are going to get Patrick Willis first) * Matsuzaka pitched again today. *I enjoyed this story from Peter Gammon 's blog: No one is looking forward to the May 20 Braves series at Fenway Park more than Jeff Francoeur is. Look, he loves being a Brave. He grew up in Atlanta. But says, "I really always wanted to play for the Red Sox because of my family. I still use the Red Sox credit card my father gave me when I was 17. It's going to be great." In 2002, Francoeur was considered unsignable because he was signed to play football and baseball at Clemson. However, before the draft, he reached a deal with the Red Sox, who were picking 57th. Atlanta scouting director Roy Clark found...

It is as ridiculous as you would think, but fun none the less. Paperdoll Heaven!

This girl, the one wearing the couch fabric, celebrated her Sweet 16 with none other than your Super Bowl MVP and Cedric the Entertainer. For some more pictures, click here , and make sure you read the comments. My famous is, "Petyon's akward stage is between birth and death"- Cake or death. *I don't want to be suspended for two months without pay. Just so you know, these are from Deadspin.com.

* Boston Globe football writer Ron Borges was suspended for two months without pay while the Globe looks into allegations he plagarized this weeks football notes. To read the differences, or lack there of the two articles, click here . To read the Globe 's response, click here . I have a sneaking suspicion that Bill Belichick is dancing around Gillette this morning, seeing him and Ron don't always see eye to eye (or, ever for that matter). The Herald also is covering this obviously . *Nick Cafardo has a cute (sorry to use that word, but it is) article on Jon Lester . My favorite part of this however is the interview with him at the top. Steve Buckley has more on Lester . (I liked this one too). Jeff Goldberg has Lester no longer feeling the ill effects of chemo . Sean McAdam also weighed in on Lester . I am tired of hearing about Manny and how freaking bizarre he is, I'm even tired of hearing about Matsuzaka and his translators and massuse and whatnot, but I co...

Also the Patriots traded for Wes Welker . I'd feel more confident about this if he wasn't name Wes Welker.

The Boston Herald is reporting that the Patriots are interested in Randy Moss . I don't know how I feel about that, but I do know that Rodney, Richard, and Tedy won't take shit from anyone. Also, In Bill I Trust . (Scott too) (I used to trust Tom too, then I found out he kisses with his eyes open. (see below) )

Jon Lester returned to the mound today and threw 8 pitches in one inning of work, retiring all three batters he faced in the "B" league game this morning. Lester had this to say after the game. "Command was great. I went away when I wanted to go away and went in when I wanted to go in. I was in the general vicinity [with] all my pitches. I don't know what the velocity was. It felt good. We'll just build from here and hopefully get stronger as camp goes on, and if the velocity isn't there, hopefully it will build back up to normal ... I don't think the treatments are a factor right now. I'm still building it back up from the offseason, but I think I'm right about at 85 or 90 percent, getting close and starting to feel a little more comfortable with my body and how things are flowing." So great!