It's been a couple weeks since I've posted here, but there's a good reason. I've been trying to secure a new sponsor for Bostonsportz.com, and have been negotiating with Ford and Worcester's own Denis Leary to have them run some new F-150 ads on our site. The talks went well, and the deal has been signed.

So, before we get on with my post, here's a brief word from Ford, and Denis Leary:

"Odds are, if you're one of the people in America driving a pickup truck, you don't look at it as a luxury, but a way of life. Your father probably drove a pickup truck, and his father's father's father probably drove one too. And they didn't have fancy places to get their oil changed or pick up some twinkies while they fill up their tank. No. In fact, your father couldn't even go the gas station and fill up with unleaded gas. He had to get the lead out of the gas the old fashioned way -- forcing a hobo to suck it out with a straw. And he wasn't worried about things like "cupholders" or "seatbelts" or "tires". You know who else didn't have tires? Fred Flintstone. He used his feet. And when he got home after a long day of running his car around, Wilma didn't give him a candlelit foot massage over some tea and scrumpets. No, he'd get home and start kicking Dino around, and let his weird little dino/dog bones ease the pain. And you think your dad had airbags? His airbag was his face flying through the windshield and coming to skidding halt on the asphalt. Well, it's nice to know you can finally have a truck your father could be proud of. It's not just a new truck. It's a new F-150. Now where's my f'n paycheck?"*

Thanks, Denis. Now back to the Sportz.

Something's been eating me up for a little while now -- sports websites either coming up with their own wild theories, which are then presented as fact, or linking to articles with salacious taglines to get you to click. If anyone has been paying attention to the MLB free agent mill, you've probably noticed a ton of this. I'm sure you've seen a spectacularly juicy headline, like today on SportsIllustrated.com, "Could Varitek Keep Teixeira From Red Sox?" from Jon Heyman. Read a little bit and you start to see sentences that contain phrases like, "It's interesting to wonder," or, "I don't know that to be the case," and "it'll probably be because...". Complete and absolute conjecture.

The one that bothered me the most, however, read, "Would the Red Sox Dare To Shop Ortiz", also on SI.com, that linked back to the Boston Globe. The article, actually titled, "The Truth Hurts", was written by Chad Finn. His point was that, if the Sox do get Teixeira, someone from the Papi, Youk, Lowell, Teixeira group is going to have to go, and that Theo runs the team a tad on the soulless side, and Papi wouldn't be the first beloved Sox to depart before their time was up. What I'm trying to say is that the Mainstream Sports Media is becoming increasingly like a tabloid. I'm sure they're trying to compete with bloggers with these eye-catching headlines and fabricated rumors, but we still need the journalists to bring us news and insight. That's my rant on that.

Like I stated earlier, it's been a while since I posted so there are a few other things I'd like to touch on.

Next, the departure of FireJoeMorgan.com from the interwebs. Absolutely heartbreaking. I didn't discover that site until just under a year ago, and would find myself refreshing the site 5-6 times per day, just hoping to catch an update. You've seen me try to recreate their magic on this site a handful of times, and they've truly done amazing work over there. If you haven't visited the site before, I sincerely suggest that you check it out. They're going to leave the site up, and may update it periodically if they so desire (and I hope they do).

Next, my buddy Jason shared this Dugout post link with me this morning, and I absolutely demand that you all go check it out as well. If you're not familiar with the Dugout, it's a fictitious chatroom consisting of conversations between MLB players and personalities. The one I'm linking to is a conversation between the Steinbrenners and the MLB free agent pitchers, and how they will spare no expense to bolster their rotation.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2008/11/16/the-dugout-presents-yankee-refocus-giant-sized-annual-1/

The highlight is when Hank offer Curt Schilling 200 billion dollars to never pitch again. 400 billion if he becomes a mute who never pitches again, and then Hal chimes in with, "600 billion if you bleed from the feet while you do it."

It's absolutely classic. You truly need to check it out.

Alright, that's all I have for you today.  Drop me a comment and let me know what you think about the Dugout post.

*Obviously I made that up and we are not being sponsored by Ford.  I also have nothing against Ford -- actually, I like them.  My first car was a Ford focus.  I just find those ads hilarious.