Fooled by Randomness?

Not all the news is either 'new' or 'news', but Red Sox and area sports fans get a few earfuls today.

The Sunday Boston Globe had almost three pages of NASCAR information. NASCAR has a lot of fans throughout the US, but the unholy alliance between the Red Sox and the news media seldom gets overexposed. If I'm not mistaken, the New York Times, owner of the Globe is also part owner of the Red Sox. The Red Sox have developed an alliance with NASCAR, and all of a sudden NASCAR has become the fifth sport in town. We can argue about the numbers with the implosion of the Bruins and the Celtics, and the Revolution, but since when did NASCAR get three pages of sports coverage. Watch for this one. Expect a Dan Shaughnessy column on this one - after he reads this rant.

Tom Brady completed another pass, but was he hoping to connect? Fooled by randomness? Erstwhile girlfriend and former FOB (friend of Brady) announces that she is expecting his child. First, it's not news if it's not Brady and Bridget, and second, if it were Paul Pierce, then he'd be vilified as another NBA deadbeat dad. As a role model for the community (and yet desirous of his privacy as well), maybe Mr. Brady could consider that maybe he hasn't set a really great example for area young people here. Yes, he can 'afford' the publicity and the 'child support'. And if he's appealing to the conservative wing of the population, he can renounce birth control. And I still liked "Moving the Chains", the Brady biography. Life is complicated, and it looks like Tom got sacked on this one. Who wanted to be a US Senator anyway?

Manny will be late for camp, according to Julian Tavarez. With Manny, it's always the dog ate my homework, so this is so de rigeur it hardly bears mention. Asking the Oprah Question, I say the fact remains that the Sox are far better with him than without him. Not to mention that he can hit in a dark closet at midnight. And he's a big fan of '24'.

And by the way, I admire the way Tavarez shook off trade talk, noting that he's getting paid no matter what color the uniform. That's honest.

Daisuke Matsuzaka seems well on his way to becoming the Red Sox most popular player. I mean if you add up all the fans in Japan, he's probably already the Sox' most popular player. The beauty of his situation is that he can't read the papers here or listen to Nitwit Radio, so he's got the best of both worlds.

At least where I work, there's no shortage of Sox chatter already. The atelier is already abuzz about the bullpen, Matsuzaka, Julio Lugo, and several have already scored Sox-Yankees tickets off the ticketing website/abyss.

Competition? It sure looks like most of the roster is set, barring injuries, unforeseen trades, or retirements. Er, sorry, nobody walks away from the money these days, except Keith Foulke, so more props to him.

For whom will I be rooting this spring? I hope that Manny Delcarmen can make the roster, and who won't be rooting for Jon Lester on his comeback trail. I'll be watching (when I can) to see if Dustin Pedroia has learned to turn the DP at second and go to his right. Stay loose, Alex Cora.