RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE TAKING BETS THAT MANNY RAMIREZ WON'T SHOW UP ON MARCH 1ST.

- So for the Seventh straight Olympic Games, the United States Hockey Team is going home without a Gold Medal. Of course, with this startling revelation comes the usual bitching and moaning about how "USA Hockey should go back to sending amatuers to the Games instead of NHL Players." That is great in theory but mises the point that when we sent College Kids to Olympus, the higher we finished was sixth in 1992 (5-3-3). The truth is, the amatuers were not getting the job done either, and supposing for a moment that we did send the best and brightest from the NCAA, it is highly doubtful that they would have done any better against the likes ofthe Czech Republic or Finland, whose rosters have been stocked with NHL talent for years.

The problem with the Olympics from a United States standpoint, is that we are the only country whose government does not fund the athletes. It is very difficult for a college attending Boston University, Colorado State, or the University of Minnesota - which is where a majority of the Olympic Hockey Team would have come from - to take a year and a half off, miss classes, most of the NCAA season ( and with that a ptential shot at the NHL Draft), and have to pay his own way to get to the Games. The United States has had this problem for years including the 1980 Miracle On Ice team. (Joey Mullen skipped out on Lake Placid, and instead signed an NHL contract). Granted, it can be argued that Team USA mailed in the effort this year, but so did many amatuer athletes (Bode Miller?).

The truth is, the Unites States as a whole does not take the Olympics (Winter or Summer) as seriously as we used to. It can also be argued that our medal totals are padded with many X-Games type events so in actuality, our medal totals should really be alot less than they are. It all goes back to the belief held by many that we just don't care about events that we don't dominate in. This is one of the main reason that Hockey has never had the ratings success on any of our major TV networks, to the extent that the other four sports have.

It also helps our cause when international events serve as a backdrop to the Games. In 1980 we were in the midst of the Cold War, an energy crisis, and National morale was at its lowest level since the Great Depression. The Miracle On Ice served as a a rallying cry, with our rag-tag College kids going up against the "Big Red CCCP Menace", and defeating them. In 2002 we proved that we could rebound from a tragedy such as 9/11, and stage a successful Games without incident.

- I have 50 bucks that says Manny Ramirez WILL NOT report on March 1st, as it is being alleged that he will, and I can see this morphing into an episode of T.O. proportions. I laughed last week when Tito Francona was being interviewed by reporters and was asked what assurance he has that Ramirez will be on time other than the left fielder's word, which has been proven time and again to be as worthless as a three dollar bill. "He will be here, I'll bet you that he will", was Tito Carroll's response. Oh how I would love to be able to take him up on that action.

- Everytime an athlete in any sport holds out, or shows up late to training camp, I always think about a story that former Boston Bruins assistant coach Tom McVie told about players not doing simple things that an organization asks them to do. When McVie worked for the New Jersey Devils under Herb Brooks and Lou Lamoriello, Rookies and injured players would be asked to report to the training staff, or weekly physical therapy sessions depending on the severity of their injury. Naturally there would be players that would disregard this directive and would show up for training camp out of shape, or with injuries that could have already been healed, had the players followed the Devils directions. When this would happen McVie would say:
"These kids are making millions of dollars, and they can't do seomething simple like pick up the phone, and schedule an appointment?...Hell, we can call the doctor for 'em, so they don't even have to do that!!!...Give me 10 million dollars, and I'll go down and have a doctor make me bend and cough..Hell for that money he can stick something up my backside and give me a checkup."

As a fan I miss Tom Mcvie. No matter how bad things were going, he always seemed to have a funny anecdote, and he was also a good defensive coach. The Bruins could sure use someone like him today. So could the Sox for that matter.

MANNY, RED SOX, AND A HISTORY LESSON IN MEDIA RELATIONS

They had a saying at the Washington Post newsroom towards the end of the Watergate scandal, a period of time in which it was almost impossible to get a a shred of truth out of the Nixon Whitehouse, or even a straight answer to a question. The Post and the Whitehouse were at war and as a result, the newer members of Nixon's Communications Department were caught in the middle.

The new, young Communications staffers ( At the urging of Chief of Staff H.R Halderman, just about everyone in Nixon's Press Department was let go at the beginning of the scandal; This led to many new and much younger people being brought onto the staff, most of whom Nixon did not trust because of their Harvard, or otherwise "Eastern Elitist" education credentials) were being lied to on a daily basis, and most of the time did not even realize it. One of Nixon's media advisors would give a quote during an interview, the Post would print the quote, and the next day a Senior Cabinet member would say something completely different. Sometimes these people would give a new staffer a statement to release then literally minutes later, turn around and say something to contradict the statement either to another cabinet member, or to a member of the press that the White House "trusted". Obviously this was very frustrating to the Post reporters and as a result the paper adopted the motto: "We don't report the truth, we report what people tell us."

(The Nixon Administration's school of thought behind this twisted, paranoid, and drunken logic was: " In a few months we are going to be out of office one way or another whether it be by Impeachment, or by Nixon resigning. Over 60% of the American People believe that we are crooks and liars and SHOULD be thrown out anyway. In the meantime, we are going to make life a living HELL for the Washington Post and the NY Times, the people that started this mess to begin with." )

One has to imagine that this must be what it is like to cover the Boston Red Sox beat (of course on a much smaller scale) . Take for instance the on-going saga about whether Manny Ramirez is 1: Going to be traded, 2: Wants to be traded, 3: Is even going to bother reporting for Spring Training(for which he is technically already late, considering that most of the team is already on Fort Myers, Fla.), or 4: Is even currently in the United States.

Manny's buddy, DH David Ortiz spoke on this topic to Boston Globe writer Chris Snow in Monday's edition, but of course did nothing to alleviate any confusion, which is not at all surprising. What is amazing is the lengths that Manny's teammates and others in the organization will go to protect this guy.

At the beginning of the interview Ortiz states that:"I talked to Manny a few weeks ago, and he said he was going to Italy (today)." Of course Ortiz then qualifies that quote by saying: "He said he was going there, but he was probably kidding." Okay.

Here is where things really got good. Ortiz was then asked by Snow approximately how long their conversation lasted, to which the DH responded: "About a minute" Here is the reason for such a short conversation: "When you talk to Manny, he says his phone bill is going to be too expensive, so he can talk no longer than one minute." Like that? It gets better.

Ortiz was then asked to clarify statements that he made in January to ESPN Deportes, about whether he asked Ramirez directly about whether he wanted to return to the Red Sox. Here is Ortiz's gem of a quote: "Actually no, we didn't talk about it at all. I read in the news that he said he didn't want to leave Boston. Sounds good to me. Having my man around once again. Hopefully, that will never change again." Confused yet? For those who want to viewthis madness for themselves, you can read the artice yourself:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/02/20/ortiz_on_lookout_for_pal_ramirez/
So, for those scoring at home the record should read: Ortiz last talked to Ramirez a few weeks ago for a minute, but during that minute he could confirm that the Leftfielder would be in Italy for the start of camp, but thinks Ramirez was "probably kidding" when he said that. Also, he didn't talk to Ramirez about whether he wants to return to the team, but if that is what was reported in the papers, then it "sounds good to him." Everything clear now? Now, do you see what the writers at the Washington Post meant all those years ago?

Of course, any day now we hear the obligitory statement either from one of his teammates, or from Manager Terry Francona, that all of this is just "Manny being Manny". Manny being Manny. He does not want to run out groundballs? "Just Manny being Manny". Costs the team runs because of lazy fielding, and poor base running? "Manny being Manny". ( BREAKING NEWS: MANNY RAMIREZ SHOOTS UP THE BLEACHERS AT FENWAY PARK WITH AN AK-47... WE BRING YOU LIVE TO BOSTON POLICE HEADQUARTERS, WHERE COMMISSIONER KATHLEEN O'TOOLE IS EXPECTED TO ADDRESS THE MEDIA ANY MINUTE NOW...THE DEPARTMENT HAS ISSUED A STATEMENT IN WHICH O'TOOLE STATES THAT THIS IS INCIDENT IS " JUST MANNY BEING MANNY". )

According to a story in today's Globe, Ramirez is not going to report to Fort Myers until March 1st, exactly eight days from now. In the article there is a statement by the Red Sox which reads: "With the permission of the Boston Red Sox, Manny Ramirez will report to spring training in Fort Myers on March 1, 2006. Manny is in Florida completing an extensive training regimen, and is prepared to have an exceptional season. "

So he is in Florida, huh? So, does this debunk Ortiz's theory that Manny is in Italy? Remember that important piece of information that was given to Ortiz during his and Manny's "minute long phone conversation"? Great questions one and all, figure any of them out and you get yourself a big prize. Anyway, the "March 1st" story can be read by clicking here:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/

Theo Epstein has answered all media inquiries into the Manny situation by saying: "That is between the club and the player." During Epstein's press conference in which he was "reintroduced" as GM (of course this was after he said he "never really left"...oh forget it, not even going to get into that), he had an interesting quote about the way the Red Sox are going to handle media relations going forward: "Obviously we have noticed how the Patriots have handle in-house issues the last few years; I believe it is safe to say we will be adopting many of their policies in the future regarding issues between players, and coaches, players and management, etc."

In other words, members of the media should get ready for an information embargo that would make any former member of the KGB stand up, and give a big toast of Schmirnoff Vodka. Frankly I have no problem with the Sox keeping the media at arm's length, and I further believe they should have adpoted this policy long ago. The only difference between what the Patriots do and what the Sox envision is that the Patriots to a man, speak with one voice. From Tom Brady down to the last Practice Squad player, what happens behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors.

The Red Sox are different in that they employ a Grade A, USDA Choice, MEDIA WHORE in the person of Curt Schilling. If anyone on the Red Sox thinks that Schilling is going to keep quiet (especially when there is a potential clubhouse disruption on the horizon), they better come to Florida armed with a tranquilizer gun and be ready to fire it when the media is around, because the only way that guy is going to keep his mouth shut is if he is unconscious. This new policy and how those that cover the Red Sox adopt to the new rules, should be as entertaining as the action on the field during the 2006 season.

Speaking of the Patriots, I miss them and football already. The Sox World Series title in 2004 has gotten me more interested in Baseball than I have been in years, and I look forward to the beginning of the Baseball season, and Summer beginning, but I am an NFL junkie by nature. Yes I have an addiction, but knowing it is half the battle, right? I look at it this way: The draft is two months away, then two mini-camps, and full training camp in July. Okay, I'll stop.