This Week's Boston Sports Thoughts: July 21 - 27, 2008

The Red Sox had a tough week.  After being swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, they took three against the worst team in baseball, the Seattle Mariners, then came home and lost two straight to the resurgent New York Yankees.  Tonight marks the third game in the series, and hopefully it doesn't close out the Red Sox' wins for July.

The New England Patriots opened camp this week, and it looked and sounded as though the Pats are all on the same page about last year.  They are all taking the company line, and saying they can't do anything about last season.  It is all about right here, right now! 

Good for them.  As Tom Brady said this past week, I wish we could just start playing the regular season NOW!  Me too, Tom.  It will be very important to get the first few games under the team's figurative belt.

This just in, Manny being Manny doesn't sit well with the Red Sox brass any longer.  Especially when there is still about $20 million on the table.  Manny said today that he would not block a trade if the Sox thought they could better their team.  Be careful what you ask for, Manny, I think Tom Werner has enough FU money to trade you to the Japan League.

The Boston Bruins finally bought out Glenn Murray's contract.  This was the right move to make for GM Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins organization.  The only issue—and lucky for him, it didn't burn him too much—was it was about a month and a half too late.  Maybe the Bruins could have picked up another player in the free agent frenzy, along with Ryder, if Chiarelli hadn't waited so long.

Brett Favre makes how much money? And he needs to use a company cell phone to make calls to another team?  Brett, with your line of credit you could get unlimited minutes on your own!  Can you hear me now?

Favre is really beating up his legacy.  I know he wants to comeback and compete because he still can—but is this really the legacy he wants to put to his name?  In about two weeks, he went from being a football god to really just being an off-the-field circus!

Mats Sundin says he will make a decision by Friday on where he will play.  Why do I care?  I have lost a bunch of respect for him.

He had has plenty of time to make a decision.  He has kept a lot of people on hold—and I have to ask, what kind of a team player is that?  I am not a big prediction person, but I think he is going to stay in Europe. 

Terry Glenn was waived by Dallas this past week.  In related news, Carson Palmer is to be blamed for that Buckeye being waved.

Congratulations goes out to Goose Gossage for making the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Well deserved for a great character of the game.

It is being reported that the Yankees of course are interested in Barry Bonds.  It would be a great business move, and really will cost them nothing, as I am sure he would play for free. 

Bonds wants back in baseball now.  Mr. Cashman, you may want to see if he still can hit first, though.  He won't be logging innings in the outfield in the American League.

The Boston Celtics are still the 2008 NBA Champions!

How happy is A-Rod, now that he is finally off the front pages?

And finally, the Olympics are 11 days away.  It will be real interesting to see how Beijing does.  There is a lot riding on this Olympics for a Canadian city.  Vancouver and Whistler are watching this Olympics with fingers crossed, hoping that there will not be any political issues. 

Vancouver-Whistler is the host for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.  If there are political issues of any kind in Beijing, that will open up a lot of big-time issues for 2010 in Canada. 

The Olympics really are what sports are all about, and I am excited to see the Olympians perform and succeed at 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Thanks for reading, and look back next week to see what happened this week!