Tina Turner

Say It Ain't So, Cervasio!

Tina Cervasio Takes a Turn Back Home And Is Leaving NESN

�These last two years working with NESN and covering the Red Sox have been both a privilege and an honor. At this time in my career, I have chosen to pursue other opportunities that would afford me the chance to be closer to my family. I want to thank everyone that I have worked with, both at NESN and the Red Sox. It was an extraordinary experience that I will never forget and will look back upon with great pride. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Boston media who made the rigors of covering sports in New England a joy.� -- 1.29.08, Tina Cervasio in a NESN statement

Deal Time?

Deal Time?

Olney: Twins Expected to Make Decision Soon

"Executives involved in the Johan Santana trade talks expect the Minnesota Twins to make their decision soon, perhaps as early as Tuesday, on what they intend to do with the left-handed superstar, after the team asked on Monday for last and best offers from teams involved in the trade talks." -- 1.29.08, Buster Olney, ESPN.com

China Dolls

China Dolls

File Under: Thelma & Louise, Part II

"Former Red Sox marketing guru Dr. Charles Steinberg, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, checked in with word that there's hope for world peace. Steinberg and his new team are in China for Major League Baseball's announcement that the Dodgers would play the San Diego Padres in March in one of the venues for the 2008 Olympics, which are in Beijing. A short time later, Steinberg was photographed on the Great Wall with new Dodgers skipper - and former Yankees manager - Joe Torre, prompting Steinberg to quip that if the former rivals can get along, can the rest of the world be far behind? After the Dodgers return from China, they host the Sox in LA for three preseason games." -- 1.28.08, Names, Boston Globe

The Ultimate Red Herring

The Ultimate Red Herring

45 Pages of Nonsense, 15 Minutes Of Your Life
You Can't Get Back If You Bother to Read It

Agents Release Statistical Report on Clemens� Performance

"In an e-mail message to the New York Times, Randy Hendricks, one of Clemens�s agents, said his firm had released the report to try and refute inaccurate statements that had been made about Clemens�s performance.

" 'There is a lot of misconception and misinformation floating out in the public domain,' Hendricks said, citing the perception that Clemens was losing some of his effectiveness when he left Boston.

" 'In fact, he was in the top 10 in many pitching categories in 1996, the Red Sox tried to re-sign him, and his new contract with Toronto made him one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball,' Hendricks said, 'fitting for a pitcher of his caliber who just led his league in strikeouts.' " -- 1.28.08, New York Times

Read the Ridiculous Clemens Report Here

Back to the Super Bowl Part IV

Football Talk Is Fast Becoming More Popular
Than Footgate Talk

Latest Pats updates from the Globe's Mike Reiss

Nothing is Sacred

Nothing is Sacred

Not Even the Uniform of the Boston... errr EMC Red Sox

Sox Uniforms to Sport EMC Logo During Japan Games

When the Music Stops

When the Music Stops

The Red Sox Haven't Been Able to Grab a Headline in Boston
Since Dr. Charles Left Town for the Left Coast. Coincidence?

The Quietest Winter in Red Sox History Continues ...
Stop the Presses: Sox Trying to Add Lefthanded Hitter
Deja Visa: The Virtual Waiting Room Is Open This Saturday

No Worries, Pats Are a Shoe In

The QB's Well-Heeled in New York

Reiss on the Case: Brady Has High Ankle Sprain
Pats in the Super Bowl: Read All About It

Supe's On!

Supe's On!

Unstoppable Pats Finish Off Dead Bolts
And the Final Victim Is ... The Giants

18-0, 1 to Go. Read All About It.

Mr. McMahon ...

Mr. McMahon ...

... Must Have Been Unavailable to Take the Job,
So It's 5 More Years of Bumbling Bud at the Helm

Steroid Era Enabler Bud Selig Gets Rewarded
with 3-Year Extension as Commissioner of the WWE... errr MLB
(Hard to Tell the Two Sports Apart These Days)

Red Sox Radio Nightmare is Over:
Geffner's Going South to Call Marlins Games
Bullpen Update: Javier Lopez Back in One-Year Deal

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood

Lowell Willing Give Blood for Accurate HGH Testing

Lowell: HGH Test Must Be Totally Precise

"If it's 99 percent accurate, that's going to be seven false positives. Ninety-three percent is 70 guys. That's almost three whole rosters... You're destroying someone's reputation. What if one of the false positives is Cal Ripken? Doesn't it put a black mark on his career?" -- Mike Lowell on Thursday before the annual dinner of the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America

Get Ready

Get Ready

Fans Guide to Red Sox Spring Training

The Anti-Clemens

The Anti-Clemens

No Waiting Weeks to Speak, No Rusty Lawyers, No Released Statements, No Legal Strategies, No Conflicting Accounts,
No Mike Wallace Lap Dances, No Botched Phone Stings
Just an Immediate, Look-the-World-in-the-Eye Denial

Moss: 'Allegations Are False'

"It's unfair to athletes if a person makes a false claim. You know, there is nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is either pay up or sit back and listen to what's been said or what's being written. I can honestly say ... for someone to make a false claim about me, I'm kind of furious. It kind of hurts me deep inside for someone to do something like that, because I've always said time and time again that I am going to stand up for what's right. If I'm right, I'm right. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong." -- Randy Moss, coming clean right away

More Fehr and Loathing

More Fehr and Loathing

Don and Bud May Need Some HGH to Recover from
Patting Themselves So Hard on the Back

Congress Aims at Tejada, Clemens, Bonds
N.Y. Times: Spring Training and the Syringe Generation

"There were a few signs of outrage Tuesday in the hearing room where Mark McGwire declined to get nostalgic for the past and Sammy Sosa forgot how to speak English and Rafael Palmeiro wagged his finger at the world on that fateful March 17, 2005.

'Every fan who bought a ticket to see games for the past 20 years has been witness to a fraud � an industry promoted as honest that is in fact rooted in cheating for profit,' said Representative Betty McCollum, Democrat of Minnesota. She called for tighter regulation of baseball, which she called an industry 'filled with lawbreakers and co-conspirators who ignore the problem or actively fuel the problem.'

"Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, badgered Selig and Fehr about the three-strikes-and-out penalties put in three years ago.

'Why should someone be allowed to appeal when they�re cheating?' Shays said about the players� right to appeal a lifetime banishment for a third penalty." -- 1.16.08, George Vescey, New York Times

Verducci: Hearings confirm Success of the Mitchell Report

"What I believe happened," said one former player, "is the union was totally blindsided by this. They operate with such arrogance that they think they're always right. So they figured Mitchell was just a boob for Bud who wouldn't come up with anything, especially if none of the players cooperated. Nothing to worry about. But when the feds gave Mitchell [Kirk] Radomski and [Brian] McNamee, the game changed. The union never saw it coming." -- 1.15.08, Sports Illustrated

And More Dirty Laundry

Adderall and Ritalin Rear Their Ugly Heads

Munson: Hearing Raises Big Issues for Tejada and Magowan
Ratto: Selig, Giants Might Be Stuck in Unforgiving Spot
Mariotti: Selig's Only Legacy: S-T-E-R-O-I-D-S

"Oh, the nerve of this spinning, revisionist phony. It's galling enough that he didn't assume the blame three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, 13 years ago. But in one of his defining moments in office, the day that shamed him permanently as the baseball boss who let steroids smear the sport forever, Selig had the audacity to take credit for what actually was his complicit role in allowing juicers to kick-start a dying industry." -- 1.15.08, Chicago Sun Times

Bring on the Banged-Up Bolts

Bring on the Banged-Up Bolts

Brady and Co. Have Nothing Left to Hide
Chargers Set to Get Exposed in AFC Title Tilt

Same Time Last Year: Patriots' Stance Is Unchanged

Entering Laurence

Maroney Steps Forward and Hits Playoff Paydirt
'Not a Has' Ben Watson Grabs Some Attention... and 2 TD's

MacMullan: Maroney's Night Just What They Needed
Just Say Ben: Watson Was a Surprise Weapon
Ryan: Nothing About This One Came Easy

Oh, and Peyton ...

You're Fired. No Foxborough for You. No Fun for Us.

Manning, Colts Feeling Incomplete
But Peyton Has Plenty of Time to Star in New Series of Commercials

Patriots 31, Jaguars 20: Tom Terrific, Perfect Pats Advance
Chargers 28, Colts 24: San Diegoes to New England in Shocker
Roger and Rusty's Latest: Clemens Won't Commit to House Deposition
GM Still Won't Talk Mitchell Report But: Dan Roche Catches Up with Theo Epstein

This We'll Defend

Let the Playoffs Begin!

Pats-Jags at The Library on Saturday Night:
Read, Watch, Hear All About It on Boston.com

Roger and Rusty, Part II

Roger and Rusty, Part II

The Clemens Clan Is On the Press Conference Circuit Again as
Roger and Rusty Search for Truth and Justice Before Facing Congress

Hire in the Belli

Hire in the Belli

After a Nationwide Search to Find Someone, Anyone, That Can Both Hit and Catch Tim Wakefield... the Sox Dug Up Doug

Hello Again, .202: Sox Close to Deal with Mirabelli

Roger and Jim Ed ...

Roger and Jim Ed ...

... Just Two Guys Who Don't Need Directions to Cooperstown

Shaughnessy: Snubbed Rice Wouldn't Downplay Hall

"Today's news had to hurt, but Jim Ed has been typically stoic through these years of rejection. He hasn't cried about racism or favoritism (he'd probably already be in Cooperstown if he'd had the disposition of Kirby Puckett or Gary Carter), but he knows he was a better hitter than former teammates Perez and Wade Boggs and he suffers in silence while inching excruciatingly close to election.

"But he's not going to insult our intelligence by telling us he doesn't give a 'rat's ass' about Cooperstown." -- 1.8.08, Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe

Clemens Hearing Postponed Until February

Rice Cooked Again

RICE COOKED
Jim Ed Left Out of Hall, Again

Same Old Story: Writers Don't Serve Rice

Extra Bases: Roger Roundup from Across the Country
SI.com: McNamee Stands By Story

"And Roger was in no way an abuser of steroids. He never took them through our tough winter workouts. And he never took them in spring training, when the days are longest. He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max ... it wasn't that frequent." -- Brian McNamee to SI.com

Wire Tap Dancer

Wire Tap Dancer

Texas Con Man Justice: Rusty Rolls Out the Secret, Sketchy, Shady Taped Conversation Strategy, and Roger & Brian Sounded Like Someone Else Might Be Listening In

McNamee Says He'd Go to Jail for Clemens in 'The Conversation'

"The truth is the truth, it is what it is... All I did was what I thought was right, I never thought it was right, but I thought that I had no other choice, put it that way." -- Brian McNamee, from The Conversation, sounding like someone who was sorry he had to tell the truth about his friend Roger Clemens

"I'm just trying to find out why you would tell guys that I use steroids." -- Roger Clemens, from The Conversation, sounding like he's just upset that McNamee told on him, not making up stories about him

'Just Let Me Know What You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'
'Tell Me What You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'
'You Want Me to Go?'
'You Want Me to Show Up?'
'Tell Me WTF You Want Me to Do'
'Tell Me What You Want Me to Do?'
'Tell Me What You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'
'What Do You Want Me to Do?'

"Tell the truth (while McNamee was speaking)... I don't know, I'm just... Let me get back to you, bro" -- Some of Rocket's answers between all the crickets when 'Mac' asked the repetitive question 'What do you want me to do?'

"I thought I was very clear with him." -- Clemens's reply in the press conference when asked why he wasn't more forceful when McNamee asked him (21 times) 'What do you want me to do?'

Roger & Brian Disagree How Roger Treats Brian
Roger Says He Treated Brian 'Like Anybody Else'
Brian Says Roger Treated Him Like Family
Roger Doesn't Get Why That's Better

"I treat you like I treat anybody else in the world." -- The World According to Roger, Part Deux

Four Score and 2004...

"Why was McNamee warning Roger's lawyer (Jimmy) about Kirk Radomski (of Mitchell Report fame) in 2004?... -- There's more questions than answers for The Court of Public Opinion now Roger

Roger on the Run: Clemens Now Sues McNamee for Defamation
60 Minutes Survey: Do You Believe Clemens?

Third Ear Blind

Third Ear Blind

Roger Needs to Take Another Look in the Mirror

"My body never changed. If he's putting that stuff up in my body, if what he's saying which is totally false, if he's doing that to me, I should have a third ear coming out of my forehead. I should be pulling tractors with my teeth." -- 1.6.08, Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes

Deep Pocket Rocket Has Short Arms: The Frugal Multimillionaire Won't Spend a Few Bucks to Clear His Name

"And then everybody's talking about sue, sue sue. Should I sue? Well, let me exhaust. Let me, let me just spend. How about, let's keep spending. But I'm gonna explore what I can do and then I want to see if it's gonna be worth it, worth all the headache." -- Clemens

Don't Hold Your Breath on the Lie Detector Test, Either

Wallace: How about a lie detector test?

Clemens: Some say they're good. Some say they're not. Do whatever. I mean�

Wallace: So as far as you're concerned you would conceivably?

Clemens: Yeah. I don't know if they're good or bad.

Wallace: Were you to pass a lie detector test, would that help prove that you're telling the truth and help restore?

Clemens: Would it?

Wallace:I don't know.

Clemens: I don't either. -- 1.6.08, 60 Minutes

And Old Mike Wallace Forgot to Read Roger Page 211 from Canseco's Book
Read the Complete Transcript of Clemens on '60 Minutes'
And Learn Why He Might Go to Washington to Talk More About ... Vioxx:

Move Over Pinstripe-Mike-Wallace

Move Over Pinstripe-Mike-Wallace ...

Clemens Asked to Testify to Congress in Jan.

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were asked Friday to testify before a congressional committee on Jan. 16, along with their former trainer, Brian McNamee. Also invited to appear before the House Oversight Committee were former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, whose allegations were a central part of last month's Mitchell report on doping in baseball. Former All-Star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch also was asked to speak to the panel. -- 1.4.08, Clemens asked to testify

WEEI Audio: Canseco Is Now Contradicting What He Wrote About Clemens
Chat Wrap: Peter Gammons on Clemens, Santana, Manny, and more

Clemens Turns to Plan B-12

Clemens Turns to Plan B-12

But That's a Tough Pill for the Nation to Swallow, Roger Dodger
Sincerely, The Court of Public Opinion

Clemens Says He Was Injected - With Lidocaine and B-12
He 'Swears' to the Air He Didn't Use Steroids

"Wallace asked Clemens if McNamee ever injected him with drugs, to which Clemens replied, "Lidocaine and B-12. It's for my joints, and B-12, I still take today."

Clemens said the charges were "ridiculous" and insisted he never used banned substances. After he made those statements, Wallace, who is a longtime friend, said, "Swear?" Clemens responded, "I swear." -- 1.4.08, Boston Globe

Too Bad Canseco Already Told the B-12 Joke in Juiced

1.3.08, Baseball's Steroid Era Blog excerpt from Juiced: It was the pitchers that kept the �B12� joke going. For example, I�ve never seen Roger Clemens do steroids, and he never told me that he did. But we�ve talked about what steroids could do for you, in which combinations, and I�ve heard him use the phrase �B12 shot� with respect to others.

A lot of pitchers did steroids to keep up with hitters. If everyone else was getting stronger and faster, then you wanted to get stronger and faster, too. If you were a pitcher, and the hitters were all getting stronger, that made your job that much more difficult. Roger used to talk about that a lot.

�You hitters are so darn strong from steroids,� he�d say.

�Yeah, but you pitchers are taking it, too. You�re just taking different types,� I�d respond.

And sometimes Roger would vent his frustration over the hits even the lesser players were starting to get off good pitchers. �Damn, that little guy hit it odd the end of the bat and almost drove it to the wall,� he would say. He would complain about guys who were hitting fifty homers when they had no business hitting thirty. It was becoming more difficult for pitchers all the time, he would complain.

And It Didn't Take Weeks for McNamee's Camp to Respond to Roger

McNamee's lawyer, Earl Ward, told the Daily News last night that his client never injected Clemens with the vitamin B-12 or lidocaine, but that he did shoot him up with testosterone.

"Brian has a master's degree in sports medicine," Ward said. "He knows the difference between testosterone and B-12 and lidocaine. What he injected into Roger Clemens was not lidocaine or B-12. It was testosterone." -- 1.4.08, New York Daily News

Record Players

Record Players

Pats Are On the Verge of Going Platinum, Again

It's Perfectly Fine: Comeback Pats Put Away Giants, '72 'Phins
Brady, Moss Set the Record Straight in 38-35 Win
Even Mercury Impressed with Pats Win, Sort Of