The cold is almost gone. The weekend almost here. What have we learned this week?  •  Needle to Buttock Update: best line so far on the Mitchell Report:  •  “His reputation is in tatters. We need to hear from him immediately, not his attorney.”  •  That is Roger Clemens being discussed …

Hear me, oh Lord. Make sure Manny and Big Papi are not on the list. And not Yuke, oh Lord. Take JD Drew if you must. Make sure his contract has a unilateral opt out clause, too. But not Beckett, Lord. Please not Beckett.  •  “Mitchell has interviewed scores of former players and club executives …

Channel surfing as I sipped Buckley's, I came across boxing on the CBC's French service last night - an entire night of championship boxing from the Molson Centre, home of the Montreal Canadians. It was like stepping back 30 years watching properly produced boxing on broadcast TV. Not a hint of …

I hear there is a purple pill that will fix all this but I have to figure out the right question to ask. Until then sputter, hack, wheeze.  •  Technology apparently hates Santa and ruined at least one little child's Christmas forever. What next - anti-Santa beer? Santa and beer???  •  Via Ben the …

Having a horking fit every 37 minutes that would rival any hork expelled by hork-master Pete Vuckovich, it is still amazing to me, here in the depths of a winter that has yet to begin on the calendar, that baseball is so fully immersive. But this news is too good to be true:  •  “The Red Sox and …

Snow day coming, too. In November. Global cooling is good. The bog lake even looked better with that beach at Elevator Bay, the one that emerged over the last few months, being flooded over. The swans returned there this week. December is tomorrow which will make next year next month.  •  Update …

Sports talk radio is all over the opportunities and risks the Red Sox and Yankees each face in their considerations of whether to deal for Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana. One caller I heard was convinced however good he was the Yankees should avoid him due to their crap records of signing …

Rejoice! The war is won!  •  You may have noticed that there has been spam recently. The move to Recapture has apparently attracted a band of manual spammers who focus on sites who use it. Spiteful bitter Romanians for the most part. Anyway, this site's admin also allows me to customize the spam …

I am happy that Shilling's coming back. I think he as a better chance of contributing that Wakefield - unless Wake's back sudddenly drops 15 years that is. But I like the terms of the agreement:  •  “The deal provides for him to make an additional $5 million in bonuses and match his 2007 salary …