Hump Day Ramblings: 11/28/07

--Watch out for the little dudes with halos next year in southern Cali. The Angels have now added Torii Hunter, Jon Garland and are still on the hunt for Johan Santana. Garland adds to an already strong pitching staff and with Hunter joining Garrett Anderson and Vlad Guerrero the Angels should be a force in the AL next season.

--One rumor making its way around the Hot Stove league is that Omar Minaya, GM of the NY Mets, might be willing to part ways with shortstop Jose Reyes in the Mets' pursuit of the aforementioned free agent ace Johann Santana. Hmmmmmmmm...........

--LSU head coach Les Miles has received permission, or rather Michigan has received permission from LSU, for Miles to interview for the head coaching position at Big Blue. Miles has said publicly that nothing will happen until after the SEC Championship game this weekend but I know that he's chomping at the bit for that coveted job. Miles is definitely a good fit for the job, having played and coached at Michigan under the legendary Bo Schembechler. My only question is that if he thinks it's tough in Baton Rouge losing to an unranked opponent, costing your team a shot at glory, what does he think is going to happen in Ann Arbor?

--Ole' Miss introduced new head coach Houston Nutt today. This only 5 days after Nutt led Arkansas to a major upset win over #1 ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. I guess going 8-4 and getting a bowl game for the school (translation here, bowl game=$$$$$$) wasn't enough for the Arkansas faithful. Players love playing for the guy and by all accounts he runs a good program. Definitely Arkansas' loss and Ole' Miss' gain. But at least Arkansas gets to host the International Redneck Olympics again next year.......oh wait, it's held there EVERY year.

--It is really a shame that many media outlets are using the tragic death of Sean Taylor to somehow draw a parallel between athletes and crime. Taylor had some scrapes with the law in the past but over the last year or so had greatly matured not only as a team leader but as a man and a father. He was a young man who made some poor choices, but was able to refocus himself on his career and his family and was headed towards what I believe to be not only a great career and towards being the best father to his daughter that he could. We all haven't been fortunate enough to live in the 'burbs with Buffy and Biff, go to the club for Sunday brunch and drive Mommy and Daddy's expensive cars around. But just because we don't doesn't mean we are all thugs, gangsters or white trash. From accounts of those that knew him Taylor grew up in a very loving home with a father who is still a police officer. Let's all reserve judgement until all the facts are in and let's not lose sight of the fact that a young, talented father and son has lost his life in another senseless act of violence.

--Does anyone still watch the NHL in the U.S.? How can you consider a sport a "major" player when they don't even have a television contract with anything resembling a major network or player in the sports market? Locally there are some games available and if you want to pay extra you can get several different packages through your satellite provider but is that enough? Recent studies have shown that both NASCAR and MMA events such as The Ultimate Fighter and UFC PPV have now surpassed hockey dropping it to seventh on the list of watched sports.

--To everyone complaining about the NFL Network's coverage of the Cowboys-Packers game this week, get over it. I remember when ESPN started carrying both college and pro games and everyone complained because they couldn't get ESPN. Now with satellite dishes springing up like gold teeth at a 50 Cent concert, it's pretty easily available. If your cable company doesn't offer the NFL Network, go get a satellite dish. It's cheaper anyway, the picture is better and more channels to choose from. Just quit whining!!

Have a great rest of the week.........and Go Packers!!!