And then there was one

Tavaris Jackson went down during today's practice with the Vikings. It appears to have been a leg injury. So far, there is no status update as to when he will return. That leaves them with Sage Rosenfels (or 1).

On a related note, here is a personal interest story about a not very bright Vikings fan. Pretty sure that there are plenty of Jets fans who could have warned him.

PR People should maybe liase with Front Office People more often

The Cleveland Indians traded Victor Martinez to the Red Sox yesterday in a last-minute deal. While this fact in and of itself is noteworthy (particularly because now we have another Youk-type player who can play virtually anywhere at any time), there is now a headache in Cleveland since they had planned for not one but two Martinez give-aways this week.

Oops.

As for how this affects the Red Sox: Martinez can play either 1st base or catcher. I see an eventual replacement for Varitek here, although probably not immediately (at least the club says that is not the plan). Supposedly, he will take over sometimes at first when Lowell needs a break so that Youkilis can move over. Also, he can serve as a DH in case our DH is not producing. However, Papi seems to be doing just fine in that department these days.

We traded three pitchers including Justin Masterson, who was one of those up-and-coming talents. I guess that the management figured there were sufficient up-and-comers, although with the pitching I have seen of late from Penny and Smoltz, I am not so sure about that. I do see the logic, though, since Masterson was primarily coming out of the bullpen and for once we seem to actually have a decent bullpen.

Bearing in mind that it is still August, of course. Naturally the bullpen can still fall completely apart. Ah, the mid-summer skepticism of a Red Sox fan, can't be beat.

Ortiz tested for drugs

This story broke yesterday, but apparently Big Papi tested positive for drugs back in 2003, the first year they did the tests. He was apparently surprised by this revelation and has vowed to figure out what happened. The story broke in the New York Times yesterday.

Meanwhile, he got a home run last night and another one tonight. Stay motivated!

He's back and in fine form

It's a Belichick of the Week, even though it is paraphrased from Tom Brady during a post-practice interview: 'Coach said yesterday, ‘don’t look for any light at the end of the tunnel because it’s dark.''

Incidentally, how happy does he look to be back?

Now he's not

(I'm back in the States so time to take control of this blog again!).

No Favre with the Vikings this year. He claims to have figured out that he is too old and rusty to get through another season. This leaves them in a bit of an awkward situation since there are two QBs who were about to be left behind for Favre. Now they get to play. And all this a week before their training camp starts.

Is it just me, or did the Patriots start training, like, months ago?

In baseball news, the Red Sox and Yankees are battling it out for top of the AL East. More importantly, I will get to see the Red Sox three times in the next month, once at Fenway. Yay!

Take note, Colts fans

So ESPN, an organization that I don't care for, is making an all-decade team for football. I turn it over to Reiss:

"Today, the All-Decade offensive team is unveiled and the lone Patriot is quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady's three Super Bowl championships gave him the edge over Peyton Manning by ESPN.com decision-makers."

The ring, indeed, is the thing. And shows the better QB.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Still abroad, still not checking in so much, but this required a special post.

Favre, indeed, is considering playing for the Vikings.

Just DON'T! The time has come. Let it go.