Cheech Tremendous

That's a really hard question to answer because there were never any expectations for Hogan to stick around. He was just there to pop the crowd and transition the belt to Bret. The whole Lex angle was shot precisely to give them a huge babyface with Hogan out of the picture. There are too many moving parts in your scenario to answere the question properly. Basically, the answer is no. Sort of.

No, no and no.

Ask Aaron Rodgers how that scenario turned out.

I don't think that Carr would sign up for a back-up role with Green Bay when he can start in Oakland, Cleveland, Miami or Minnesota.

They have potential, don't mistake me. If Barfield or Dellucci have a big year, they could win. The same goes for Daniel Cabrera with the Orioles, and 28 other teams with their potential breakout players. People don't seem to understand this and get upset with preseason predictions. There are a ton of variables involved that make it impossible to predict what will happen. The best you can do is set odds and enjoy the season. Forced to pick, I think the Twins will win. But there are four teams that all have a great shot at the division. The biggest reason I foresee the Indians doing well is that their pythagorean wins the past two season have been 96 and 89. Of course, it's been shown that there are a myriad of reasons why teams underperform their pythagorean record. It's not always based on luck. But the reality is they've been putting up run differentials that indicate they are a 90 win team. At some point, it seems like the pendulum has to swing back their way, especially with their potent offense facing a division of what appears to be so-so pitching after the big guns (Santana and Bonderman).

I would be very surprised if they get much of anything for Carr in a trade. What incentive do teams have to trade anything of value for him, knowing that the Texans will have to dump him now? Knowing the Texans, they'll just release him and get nothing for him. The writer from NFL.com who broke the Schaub trade story was on the Dan Patrick Show this afternoon. He said that the Texans are trying their hardest to move Carr but have received literally zero interest. In trading for Schaub they've handcuffed themselves because of the $6.75 million that Carr is set to make this year. Every team now knows that the Texans can't afford to pay that to him to sit on the bench. Why would you trade picks and/or talent for Carr when you can get him for nothing in a couple of weeks? Bad planning on Houston's part.

What radio station? ESPNRadio or something local, like 610 am? That's highway robbery.

But that's all it is... hype. In his career, Schaub has thrown 161 passes and completed just 52% of them. He has 6 career touchdowns and 6 career inteceptions. He had an average college career and a decent showing in some preseason games. Other than being a sexy name, I don't know what he offers over David Carr.

NFL.com is reporting that the Falcons will trade Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans for a second round pick.

Are they going to advertise this thing at all? I just saw the first commercial for it this past weekend and it wasn't even immediately apparent that it was a new movie coming out.

They probably already have a solution in mind for the rain. I doubt that they'd book their biggest show of the year for an outdoor stadium without at least thinking of the rain, particularly because Vince has been terrified about doing outdoor shows for that very reason.

Not that the people all the way at the top of the stadium are going to be able to see anything anyway, but they cant cover the ring area with anything without obstructing views. They'll obvious have their light rigging and everything up (or else no MITB match lol).. They really should hvae just gone to Tropicanna Field. That would probably hold 50,000 and alleviate all the weather problems. I remember that in the past they looked into Tropicana and realized that the lockerrooms were too far from the ring to make it work. It was a logistics nightmare.

This is certainly excellent news. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2806948

The Rays and O's are both 70-75 win ballclubs. In the grand scheme of things, does it matter who you choose for 4th and 5th? Neither is going to be a contender in any sense of the word. They are mired in baseball mediocrity. I would assume that most are picking the Rays to finish ahead of the Orioles because they are team on the way up, packed with tons of interesting talent. The O's are on the opposite spectrum... a middling franchise that plugs holes with journeymen and underperforming AAAA talent. I know this is your team and you want to be optimistic, but when you look at things objectively there isn't a lot to be excited about. Bedard is a legitimate no. 1 starter and one of most underrated pitchers in baseball. After that, there's some potential and some question marks. With the exception of Markakis, the offense is aging and lacking impact bats. The big offseason acquisitions were Huff and a bunch of bullpen arms. That's like trying to fix a severed leg with a band-aid. It's a misuse of resources because it doesn't nothing to solve the real deficiencies of the team. PECOTA projects the Jays to win 80, the Rays to win 78 and the Orioles to win 74. That's close enough that injuries, slumps and breakout performances could shuffle them up greatly. Sit back and have fun.

Yeah I thought they were using the indoor Orlando Arena, or whatever name it's going by today. That's cool that they are going to the Citrus Bowl. I love outdoor shows for some unknown reason.

Matthews Jr., Rocker and Holyfield were stories that were beaten into the ground for the last 2-3 weeks. When their names came out it got huge press coverage from tons of media outlets. This story has been getting major publicity for weeks on end and has been analyzed from many different angles. The WWE part is just the newest wrinkle in the story. It wouldn't have gotten much press coverage on its own merits, but this investigation is breaking up one of the largest steroid rings in the US, perceived to be even larger than BALCO. It has nothing to do with MNF or WWE, it's about steroids, which is a major hot button issue amongst professional athletes at the moment.

Damn straight.

Angel Berroa had a higher OPS, hit more HRs, scored more runs, stole 21 bases and did it all from a premium defensive position. Matsui wasn't really robbed in 2003. Berroa, by some freak occurrence, was actually the better player.

The Redskins traded Adam Archuleta to the Chicago Bears for a sixth round draft choice. Bears reworked his deal to pay him $8.1 million over the next three years, with approximately $5 million guaranteed.

The diabetes will not be a factor. I have type one and I function fine. You also aren't 43 years old and severely overweight with a well-document drinking problem. It's going to be hard for stubborn fellow such as David to reverse 40+ years of bad habits. It's already been noted that he came down with a case of gout directly linked to his diabetes problem. I do hope for the best, but it's not as though it's a sure thing he pitches 180-200 innings with a 4.00 ERA.

David Wells is a better fifth starter than 90% of teams have. I am worried about the diabetes, but it could be a positive as it will force him to lose weight and cut down on the drinking. The back end of the bullpen with Meredith, Linebrink and Hoffman is as good as you'll find anywhere. I don't think their question marks are any greater than any other team's heading into the season. Someone like Gonzalez is as likely to have a breakout season as he is to regress. Arizona and Colorado should be better than last year, but I'm not buying into the Dodgers this year. I don't have anything against them personally but I don't like the offense as they've done nothing to address the loss of JD Drew and the pitching is deep, but probably not as good as advertised (although I love the addition of Schmidt).

I'm curious as to why so many people are picking the Padres to finish 3 or 4th in their division. They had the second best record in the National League last year and upgraded at 3 spots during the offseason with the acquisitions of Greg Maddux, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Marcus Giles. The pitching, aided by Petco, will probably still be the best in the NL and the hitting is solid throughout the lineup. Am I missing something?

That may be so, but he tried to attribute them to Meltzer and Meltz called him out on it during Wrestling Observer Live.

I think it's an urban legend. Hate to bring the guy up again, but it seems like Scott Keith is the source for all those title change rumors that spouted up on the internet. It's been proven that he made most of them up out of thin air. In fact, here's a list of debunked title change myths that I can think of: Butch Reed booked to win IC title Mankind booked to win at Mind Games Austin booked to win at Final Four

AL West LA Angels Oakland Texas Seattle Comments: This is a year where I am more down on Oakland than most and a little bullish on LA. Oakland got a bit lucky last year and they've now lost their most durable pitcher and most reliable offensive weapon. 85 wins seems right. The Angels are going to have the best pitching in the AL top to bottom if Weaver holds up and Colon can give them something in the second half. They'll probably start getting something from all the great prospectst that have been touted in recent years as well. As for Texas and Seattle, I see them both challenging in the division but ultimately falling short because of significant weaknesses. AL Central Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Chicago Kansas City Comments: Any of the top four teams can win this division. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't see this being the best division in baseball as the three teams that dominated last year all look much weaker this year, either because of talent moves or likely regression. Cleveland has come up short the past two seasons and it seems like luck has to work in their favor eventually. It's the best offense in baseball and the pitching is adequte enough. Kansas City will finish last by a margin, but they are going to give a lot of good teams fits this year. AL East NY Yankees Boston (WC) Toronto Tampa Bay Baltimore Comments: It's going to be a fight all year in this division between the top 2, but it's hard to go against the Yankees. Boston features the better rotation and middle lineup (3-4-5), but NY has a stronger bullpen and deeper lineup 1-9. Toronto will likely regress some from last year unless they get the back end of the roatation solved. Tampa wil score runs in bunches but fall apart on the pitching side. NL West San Diego Arizona LA Dodgers Colorado San Francisco Comments: From a talent standpoint I like the Dodgers, but I fear that they are going to spend too much time giving at bats to Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre and Nomar. They failed to replace their best offensive talent and that's not a recipe for success on a team that often struggled to put up runs. Arizona has the most upside, but I still like San Diego because of their solid pitching and offense that should be upgraded from last year with the acquisitions of Koumanoff and Giles. NL Central St. Louis Milwaukee (WC) Chicago Houston Pittsburgh Cincinnati Comments: St. Louis will feature improved pitching this year, but I'm not confident about the lineup. Mikwaukee has the most upside in the division but the wretched defense is not going to help an already shaky pitching staff. Chicago spent the most in the offseason and should be a contender, but the lack of OBP in that lineup could still give them fits. None of three teams at the bottom really excite me, as they all have shaky rotations and lackluster offense. NL East Philadelphia NY Mets Atlanta Florida Washington Comments: Philadelphia has the best pitching and hitting in the division, especially if they can move Lieber to improve 3B or the OF. I liked Atlanta a little better than New York, but the impending sale could cause them to lose Andruw Jones and/or Tim Hudson, which lowers my expectations considerably. New York will still be a threat, but they have to solve the pitching issues first. Florida probably won't overachieve on the level of last year and Washington is going to be the worst team in baseball by a huge margin.