So which media personalities are upset that the Sox won last night? Definitely Dan Shaughnessy. I'm sure he had a 'the season is over' column lined up and ready to go. Dennis and Callahan? You bet. They were ready to rip anyone and everyone. It's just the joy of being subjected to Boston Media that we have to listen to these guys you get the most enjoyment from proclaiming gloom and doom.

As it is though, D-Lowe saved the day. Cliff Floyd collected his first 2 Fenway hits. He talks about how he was looking for Zito's fastball.

The Mariner's picked up Jose Offerman. Excuse me for a few moments while I stop laughing.

Great catch.
Hopefully it is not the type of play that submarines a season. Gordon Edes thinks it might be. Tonight's game just became huge. If the Sox win, it takes the sting out a little bit. If they lose, it not only extends the sting, but it means they get swept and would trail 2 teams in the wild card race. Then I think maybe the bad effects could start to linger. I am glad Lowe is pitching tonight. Now it would be nice if the team could score some runs.

Why does it seem like whatever the Sox do is never good enough? Wasn't getting Cliff Floyd supposed to strengthen the offense? Weren't these 1 and 2 run games supposed to stop? When you have Nomar, Manny, and Cliff in the middle of your lineup, is there any excuse for scoring only 1 run? Or 2? Why does nothing ever seem to fall into place? Don't get me wrong. I still hold out a lot of hope for this season. But that incessant feeling is always there that no matter what the Sox ever do, it will never be enough. It is probably more frustrating to be a Red Sox fan than a fan of any other pro team.

Manny doesn't seem to concerned, but that's nothing new.

These are Johnny Damon's recent comments: ``This team is good enough to make the playoffs,'' center fielder Johnny Damon said. ``The way our club is right now we might be better than the Yankees. I like our club.'' Hey Johnny... you might want to consider winning some games against teams you are in contention with before making that claim.

And yes, I'm ticked off today.

I'll touch on the NJ\Philly trade.
Good for NJ - maybe ; Bad for Philly - probably.
At face value, it looks like New Jersey made out like bandits. Mutumbo is a defensive presence and can score some when he feels like it. Van Horn was never going to work in Jersey, for whatever reason. So it seems as though they got a steal and really improved their team. But.... Mutumbo is 36 years old, or so they say. Does anyone really know if that is his age for sure? Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong guy, but I thought there was some doubt a few years back on how old he really was. Even if he is 36, that is getting up there for a ballplayer. How much can he have left in the tank? He has 3 more years on his contract and you can only expect that his skills will be declining at this point in his career. How quickly those skills decline will determine how good the trade is for NJ.

As for Philly, maybe they saw that Dikembe had lost a step. Maybe they felt that decline was coming quickly and wanted out from under his huge contract. That would explain taking on Van Horn, who has done nothing in the league after being touted as a great player. Remember Pitino trying to move up in that draft because he wanted Van Horn after it became obvious that SA was taking Duncan? He was supposed to be a superstar. It's never happened. He has not been much more than serviceable. The minute he has one of his classic 4-20 games, Iverson will stop giving him the ball. I don't see this as a good fit. Todd MacCulloch does not inspire fear in opposing teams. He is big, but not much more. He has developed some decent offensive moves, but again, nothing anyone is afraid of or will go out of their way to try and stop.

Like any trade, only time will tell who it ends up benefiting. At this point though, it looks like maybe one good year for NJ, and then the trade could easily turn into a lose-lose situation for both teams.

Not much else of interest in the local papers. Sox lost... end of the world.... blah blah blah....
There's a few more bio's on Pats players. Jarvis Green, Damien Woody, Fred Coleman .

Chad Ford of ESPN Insider is reporting that the Celtics may be in the process of making a deal for Sam Cassell. This is one trade that I would love and I think would be great for the team. I have never really liked Sam Cassell, but I think it is mostly because of the way he has burned the Celts. He would look great in green. Walker, Pierce, Baker, and Cassell? That's a scary lineup. I would feel really good about the season. Of course, ESPN Insider has a tendency to just throw things out there with no evidence of any truth to it, so who knows?

Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell has asked fans to help her pay her legal bills in an effort to stop her father from being frozen. People tend to forget things after a while, and I think that is what is happening with this story. I highly doubt that fans will give money for this cause. And with interest dwindling, my guess is that Ted will remain frozen. It's just a hunch I have. JHW is too much of a weasel and I'm sure he made sure he would be covered. Johnny Pesky wouldn't give money either. "I've never heard of such a thing. That's a family matter,'' Pesky said. "I don't think it should have gone this far.''

ESPN Page 2's newest list discusses the 10 worst baseball trades of all time. The Red Sox make number 2 and number 7. One was good for the Sox; the other not so good. Can you figure out what the 2 trades are before looking at the article?

The Raiders are still upset over the Tom Brady non-fumble. Apparently, during a meeting discussing rule changes, members of the Raiders got up and stormed out because the 'tuck rule' was not being changed. Brady had this to say: ''Are they still stewing over that? You figure they'd get over it by now.'' Lawyer Milloy had this to say: ``They need to let it go. The fact of the matter is we went on from there and never looked back. We went out and did some things in some other stadiums that I don't think they could have done.''

Tony Maz compares Lowe vs Pedro. Who do you start in game 1 of a playoff series? If Lowe goes first, he can probably pitch on 3 days rest and give you 3 starts in a series. But Pedro has experience and probably gives you a better chance to win.

Every response I have received about my blurb on D&C has supported my opinion of them. I have not had one person e-mail in to argue with my point. Reader Jerome had this to say:
"Callahan is a pathetic little twit who does not have one bit of compassion in his soul. As an Irishman, I'm ashamed to think he is one of mine. I hate to think what he will ever do if his children should have the misfortune to consider some attitudes counter to his caveman mentality."

I still challenge anyone who enjoys D&C to e-mail in and give reasons why.

"The Swiss make watches. The French make Bordeaux. The Red Sox send Pedro Martinez to the mound. And they're all good. "

Those are the words Bob Hohler uses to start his column today. Personally, I don't have any words right now for how Pedro is pitching. How long can it last? Will we ever learn to not doubt this guy?

When I flipped on the game and saw that Manny was not in the lineup, I had my doubts. Day off today.... so why not play him last night? Of course, it turned out they didn't need him. But Grady's decisions are starting to take on the feeling of Jimy's decisions, where you are asking yourself why in the world did he do that? But like Jimy, most of the time it works out. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Will Rolando Arrojo be the next one released by the Sox? He is in one of his disinterested stages right now and the team can't afford that. He cost the team the game on Saturday simply because he didn't care. He grooved that pitch. Little has said the team may need to make more changes in the bullpen. I say you continue to get rid of all the dead wood that the Duke brought in. Arrojo is one of the last remaining pieces.

Shaughnessy puts together a 'Summer mysteries' piece. This gem is included:
'Did you find yourself rooting for the Yankees to beat the Angels over the weekend? Painful as it was, it made sense for Sox fans.'
Here's the thing Danno... it doesn't make sense, unless you are a quitter. 4 games back, 51 to play, including 5 head to head with the Yankees. Seems to me like there is still a pretty good chance they could overtake the Yanks. I'm not saying it will happen, but it's a little early to start focusing on the wildcard. Maybe if there were 10 games left, but not 51. You must have zero competitiveness inside of you.

Patriots players highlighted today include Victor Green, JR Redmond, Richard Seymour and Matt Light, and Donald Hayes.