If reports are to be believed, Terry Francona will become the manager of the Red Sox posthaste. The thread in many of the stories about all of this is that Francona and Curt Schilling will be reunited in Boston and that Francona's time with Schilling in Philly may have been important in getting Schilling to go to the Sox. I don't know if that is true and frankly don't care a whole lot. Here is what seems not to be told.

Francona's tenure in Philadelphia hardly covered him in glory. His Phillies teams did not play hard and the word was that there was a “country club atmosphere” around the teams. Francona had difficulties with the press in Philly which is not difficult to do in that town, but baseball in Philadelphia is not the “top dog”; if Francona gets out of sorts with the media in Boston where every pitch is analyzed and criticized by media and fans, this relationship will go in the dumpster very quickly. And Francona is obviously tone deaf to the fans. In Philadelphia on “Scott Rolen Day” – I don't remember if they were giving away bobbleheads or t-shirts or whatever featuring Rolen – Francona decided that was the day that Rolen had to rest. Rolen was not in the starting line-up on that day. Imagine doing that in Boston on “Nomar Bobblehead Day”. That could turn very quickly into “No More Francona Day”.

Another hot-stove league rumor has Juan Gonzalez leaving the Rangers. This guy is running out of venues in which to wear out his welcome! That is not news. What is surprising is that the rumors have him going to Tampa Bay to play for Lou Piniella. How can that work? One of the ways in which Gonzalez wears out his welcome is with lethargic play and generalized nonchalance. Now, fast forward to the Devil Rays' dugout/clubhouse with Piniella in charge. Oh how Sweet Lou loves nonchalance…

The Toronto Blue Jays have a new AA minor league affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team went through a process to let the fans name the team. The proposed names were winnowed down to about 5 and the fans voted. The name that finished last in that voting is the one that I think is the most clever, the New Hampshire Primaries. The team logo would have had an elephant and a donkey and a baseball and a bat and it's sorta clever. Maybe that is why those wacky folks in Manchester, NH shunned it. The name that finished in second place was the Manchester Millers, which is as exciting as potato ice cream. The winning name – and you'll pardon me while I yawn briefly here – is:

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats

What the hell is a fisher cat? I can see the logo now. You have a cat sitting on a pier casting a line out into a lake while off to the side in a small café there are some dogs playing poker. Puhleeez…

The Portland Trailblazers offloaded Bonzi Wells. He had been suspended by the team for a confrontation with coach Maurice Cheeks a couple of weeks ago; he was fined by the team and/or the league for flipping off the fans after a loss earlier in the season; if memory serves correctly, he was suspended by the team last season for “violation of team rules” or “conduct detrimental” or something like that. The good news is that he seems not to have sunk to the levels of many of his Blazer teammates and has not been cited or arrested for truly sociopathic behaviors. Wells will go to Memphis in exchange for Wesley Person – who seems to have been around since they figured out how to take the bottom out of the peach basket – and a conditional first round pick. That is a good deal for Portland. They exorcize a player that has not bought into the new “code of conduct” for the team and they get a first round pick in the process.

Everyone covering the NBA is focused on the LeBron/Carmelo comparisons and on the lack of playing time for Darko Milicic in Detroit. I'm not going to do some stat geek thing here, but you really ought to start paying attention to what is going on in Toronto with Chris Bosh and the play of Jarvis Hayes in Washington. So far, these two guys have played very well.

Another story that seems not to have gotten any traction in light of the Cavaliers' coverage focusing on “All LeBron, all the time” is the difficulty Paul Silas seems to be having with that team. Silas is an excellent coach and by all reports is a good person too. However, in his short tenure with the Cavaliers he has hit more than a couple of sour notes:

Silas and Ricky Davis still have not figured out how to get along in public no matter what happens in private. They had the same problem when Davis was with the Hornets about 5 years ago.

Silas and Ira Newble got into a loud and profane exchange of commentaries resulting in a suspension for Newble who admitted disrespecting Silas.

Silas and Darius Miles have butted heads over playing time and Miles' playing point guard for some of the time.

Here is an interesting stat I ran across recently. Karl Malone has played in the NBA for 19 years. In that period of time, he has been suspended for 6 games for whatever reasons. In that same period of time, he has missed only 4 games due to illness/injury.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to give some Holiday gift advice to the loyal readers here. If you are looking for a gift with a sports theme to it, you can find bazillions of things for sale and it can be confusing. Let me give you three things to consider when looking for a gift with a sporting theme:

1. Do not make the mistake of thinking the movie, Beautiful Boxer, has anything to do with the career of Muhammad Ali. It is the story of a Thai kick boxer who retired near the top of his career to get a sex change operation and become an “entertainer” in the bar district of Bangkok.

2. The NFL will put its logos on anything. If you go to nflshop.com, you can buy women's thong underwear with various NFL team logos on it. You have the opportunity buy these thongs in size XL. Don't do it.

3. If you are looking for the perfect item to use as a stocking stuffer, you can never beat an amputated foot.

   No need to thank me. It is a service I am pleased to provide.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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