quick hits

• Brett Favre "officially" retired today. It will be extremely weird not to see #4 behind Center at Lambeau in sub-freezing weather. I do not believe Aaron Rodgers is the QB of the future for the Packers; rather, I think it will be the young draft pick that arrives a few years from now in Green Bay.
• I've learned to look at my team more subjectively than anything else in Spring Training. For example, I have no idea how J. D. Drew has been performing down in Fort Myers the past few weeks, and I don't care. What do I care about? He's walking around the clubhouse these days, joking with Papi, Lowell, and Youkilis. He's talking to reporters, giving them insight and stories. He's smiling. He appears excited to be there. Also, and probably as a rationale for everything last year, Drew's newborn baby is no longer in intensive care and undergoing surgery, which is great. All of these signs lead me to this bold prediction: J.D. Drew has a kickass bounceback year in 2008(.300/.450/.425).
• Speaking of subjective Spring Training notes, I was kinda irked by Papelbon's public comments the other day about his contract status. I feel that until a player's first arbitration hearing(or the contract agreed to that covers arbitration), he shouldn't wine, speak, or voice any of his feelings about his contract or what he's worth. You are under the team's control during this time, so just deal with it. But thankfully, the Sox and Paps agreed to a 1-year deal today worth around $775,000 with incentives. This takes him through one year of aribitration, and I think it's a great deal for Paps, considering he's only a year removed from shoulder injury. The Sox will lock him up long-term in the next few years.
• Every game in college basketball should have SOME form of video cameras there to document the action for the public, either later via the internet or at primetime Sportscenter. Case in point: I will never see the hilights of the Dawgs' heartbreaker at Vanderbilt last night. Yeh, I probably don't want to relive what I heard on the radio, but I just want to see how close Shan Foster was from his OWN three-point line when he drained those last 7 3's. Ridiculous.
• Believe it or not, my parents have not been to one MSU baseball game during the entire 14-year era of Horne children on this campus. I went many years ago, but I haven't been to a game since I've been in school here. So to remedy the problem, my parents are coming up for a weekend series in April against none other than those pesky Vanderbil Commodores.

-RBDS1
Currently Drinking: Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan...I love coming home.

The Bulldogs Ride to March

I have been absent on here for far too long, especially considering the (relatively) amazing football season MSU experienced and our very aggressive run at the SEC West title in basketball. That being said and excuses aside, I'm back baby!

The Bulldogs have thrown together a great year of basketball. Aside from our loss last week at Oxford, I have not been (too) displeased with our on court showing. At Arkansas is always tough for us, but we made that one up and the UT game could've gone either way there at the end and our poor freshman made a freshman mistake.

We face Auburn today, then an extremely tough road schedule (Florida & Vandy) before finishing up the season at home against LSU. Speaking of Vandy, did anyone watch that game last night ? Pretty incredible. In true basketball fashion for a big game, the Commodores' fans decided to all wear the same color to the stadium. Which is it going to be, black or gold ? Oh, I know! How about WHITE. That way on television it is a stadium full of white shirts with the expected visiting UT crowd wearing orange. That's a stadium full of UT colors... aren't Vandy students suppose to be smart? Poor choice. However, they did come out the gates blaring and barely gave Tennessee time to catch up before pulling away for the win. That is going to be a tough game for us.

Yes, March brings March Madness. My second favorite time of the sports year (if you don't know what's my first, stop reading this, go stand in front of the mirror, and punch your teeth out). If we can win at least two more games we should be making an appearance at the NCAA tourney. No more NIT crap, please. Stansbury has become state's winningest basketball coach this season so I hope we can reward him with a trip to the big show.

not for the faint of heart

I think we can all agree that out of the 4 major sports in America(or 5, if you count soccer), hockey is by far the most dangerous. If you happen to disagree, then just read on. In case you haven't heard by now, during this past Sunday's contest, Florida foward Richard Zednik was cut my his teammate's skate as he(the teammate) was upended. I present to you some of the cameras that caught the action.

Please be advised that these videos are quite graphic.

Now another look with bettter resolution. I suggest just going to the 1:20 minute mark on the video. Again, this one is VERY graphic. Just watch what happens right before(and after) he hits the ice.

And just for an historical perspective, check this video out from 1989; the goalie is Clint Malarchuck of the Buffalo Sabres, which is exactly the same team that Zednik and the Panthers were playing on Sunday. WEIRD.

Currently Drinking: Earl Grey tea with honey(I feel terrible)

Prospect Primer

A good primer before the season. Baseball America says we have the 2nd best farm system in baseball(shocker), but here's a quick writeup and overview of it. Might wanna write down some of the names, as you are sure to see them in a big league Sox uni this summer.

Baseball America Top Red Sox Prospects

Currently Drinking: A nice hot Latte