Year of the Dog?

Year of the Dog?

Confident Nixon Appreciates What Sox Have Going for Them

'''I'm going to go out there until my body shuts down,' said Nixon, who will turn 32 on the day of the Sox' home opener (April 11). 'I love this business and I love it in Boston. But I only have control over what I can do in the field. I don't have control over what they want to do.'" -- 02.14.06, Gordon Edes, Boston Globe

From Rock Star to Movie Star

Coco a Go-Go

"Not surprisingly, Cleveland fans took to the hustling Crisp. He cut a rap song, 'We Got That Thing,' which he wrote for an album featuring big league players (and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith) called 'Oh Say Can You Sing.' Record producer Schorr was impressed. 'Zero hint of ego, laid-back and soft-spoken,' he wrote of Crisp, who performed the song at MLB's party at the All-Star Game. He and godbrother Marcus came up with a reality dating show they call 'A Bucket and a Tank of Gas.' The gimmick is that a well-heeled guy pretends to be broke; he's given a beat-up car -- the bucket -- and very little else to try to impress a young woman on a date. At the end of the show, his real identity is revealed -- they used actor Rashaan Nall in the pilot -- but if the woman had earlier expressed no interest in pursuing the relationship, then it was the guy's call if he'd see her again.

"Crisp had tried some acting himself as a child, but it never got serious. 'I'd go on auditions and only read the cue cards,' he said. 'That's it. Never put any emotion in it.'

"He plays the game with considerably more flair, which is why he expects Red Sox fans will eventually be won over.

'''They're going to do what they're going to do,' he said. 'I'm going to go out there and have fun, crash into a couple of walls. If they enjoy it, they do. If they don't, they'll say, 'Hey, don't hurt yourself.'

'''I'm going to go out there and play the best I do. If they enjoy watching me play, then that's good.'

'''If not, I'll tell them to watch Manny. He's going to hit a home run.'" -- 02.12.06, Gordon Edes, Boston Globe

Speaking of Center Fielders:
Damon Not All Glitz and Glamour