CRAIG SAGER-  OK, this guy is absolutely ridiculous.  Sager is the TBS on-field reporter and takes delight in dressing audaciously.  On the radio, I have heard comparisons to Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry.  The big difference is that while Cherry’s suits are often shockingly loud, they are always stylish.  Cherry also has the bravado to pull off wearing such outfits.  Sager, on the other hand is wearing ridiculous suits straight out of the 70’s.  To me, he is more reminiscent of Jim Carr, the radio announcer from the movie Slap Shot.  I’m just waiting for Ned Braden to walk by and ask Sager “Why do you wear that ridiculous rug?”

RAYS FANS-  The fact that The Trop is now sold out has drawn plenty of sarcastic comments from the baseball world.  I however, am not going to take a shot at the fan base.  I look at it in a different way.  Even before these hard economic times, sports fans had budgets.  Suppose you can afford to take your family to 5 baseball games a season.  It is very reasonable to conclude that if the team is better, or they make the playoffs, you would be willing to spend more at the ballpark because you would be getting your money’s worth.  While I am certain that some of the people packing The Trop are bandwagon fans, I bet that the vast majority are longtime fans who are coming to games more often then they used to.

JOHN LACKEY-  Is anybody else getting sick being “Kordell Stewarted” around here?  John, I’m sure you are very proud of your team’s regular season accomplishments, but the team that wins the series is, by definition, the better team.  So take your whiney attitude, keep beating up on that pathetic division, and we’ll look forward to next year’s playoff flop by the Angels.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS-  I think the time has come to declare this edition of the Patriots a suspect team, and not all the blame should be placed on Matt Cassel’s shoulders.  Cassel, who is been just about average in his tenure thus far, is still playing behind a shell shocked offensive line, an injured backfield, a disinterested wide receiver, and most glaringly, a porous defense.  At this point, the playoffs look like a long shot.