Sox Continue Road Woes

By Erik Pesta
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

An alarming trend is starting to form - it's becoming more and more obvious that the Boston Red Sox can't win away from Fenway Park. They are now 11-16 on the road, compared to a dominant 17-6 home record. What is to make of this? To beat an old horse, especially in this space, the starting pitching has been nothing short of horrendous. I have confidence in nobody, save for the 40-something guy who throws 68 miles per hour. To borrow a joke from Bill Simmons, read that sentence again.

The offense has sputtered recently, but has by no means been horrible. Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek have all performed at a high level. Reigning A.L. MVP Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, and even Julio Lugo (seriously, Julio Freaking Lugo) have certainly contributed. The only person who hasn't pulled his (considerable) weight is David Ortiz. I'm probably not alone in saying that I'm getting pretty fed up with him. Enough is enough. He makes WAY too much money to cut him, and Tito would never do that, anyway. Fine. Bat him ninth, then. Seriously. It pains me to see him step into the box. As a Red Sox fan, I'm crushed.

This is hard. Ortiz is one of the most important sports figures to hit Boston since Larry Bird. In my lifetime, there aren't many on the Hick's level: Brady, Pedro, Bourque, the spot posthumously held for Manny, and Papi. That's it. That's the list. Screw Clemens. Garnett and Pierce are knocking on the door, but they aren't there yet. Garnett will be in Springfield on the first ballot, but hasn't been here long enough. Paul Pierce has been a Celtic for 12 seasons, has endured the worst years and enjoyed the best; he will forever have the love and respect he deserves from Celtics fans. But there is something missing. He never gave himself to us the way Ortiz did. And that makes a difference, at least to me.

Big Ten Expansion! Keep out Notre Dame?

By Matt Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

"I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be." - Dana Carvey as The Grumpy Old Man on SNL

If I were 82 years old and was the winningest coach in college football I guess I would speak my mind freely too. That's what Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno did at an alumni event on Wednesday. Paterno would love to see a 12th team join the Big Ten to help with scheduling and of course a lucrative conference title game. That sounds great to me, the problem is "Joe Pa" wants nothing to do with Notre Dame being that school added.

As a huge Notre Dame fan, I believe this would be the best thing for the school and the conference. Paterno says no, he'd like to see either Rutgers, Pittsburgh or Syracuse join the Big Ten. Penn State joined as the conference's 11th team in 1990, so does he get to choose who becomes the 12th. Paterno said he'd like the Big Ten to add an Eastern school, especially one that plays in the New York media market. That would seem to favor Rutgers. "If I had my choice, someone that can give us the biggest TV exposure in the East," Paterno said, offering as possibilities "Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers. Not in that order."

The Fighting Irish rejected an invitation to join the Big Ten more than a decade ago for great reasons. At the time they were still a national powerhouse and NBC was paying big bucks to have the exclusive television rights for all home games. Yes Notre Dame has been down for the past decade, excluding the last two Brady Quinn years. But, there is an ebb and flow to college football that Penn State knows very well with a 26-33 record the first five years of this decade and 40-11 the last four.

"There's some pressure, I would suppose, to maybe go back to Notre Dame and ask again, which I would not be happy with," Paterno said. "I think they've had their chance."

Notre Dame is the most polarizing school by far in the country, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. But, the Irish would bring in more recruits to the Big Ten and much larger TV ratings than Syracuse, Pitt, or Rutgers could ever hope for. Does the elderly Paterno realize what kind of a following Notre Dame has worldwide. If he is looking to add a school for TV exposure it doesn't make sense to take a school from the Big East that nobody watches anyways. There is no need to snatch a school that is already affiliated with a conference. Take the independent ND and watch the TV numbers soar for the Big Ten you old fool.

"Progress?! Flobble-de-flee! In my day, when we were angry and frustrated, we just said, 'Flobble-de-flee!' 'cause we were idiots and we didn't know what else to say! Just a bunch o' illiterate Cro-Magnons, blowin' on crusty handkerchiefs, waitin' in lines for our head to burst into flame and that's the way it was and we liked it!" - Dana Carvey as The Grumpy Old Man on SNL