Random Thoughts (July 20, 2007)

Those gasps for air you are hearing are coming from Fenway Park. Last night the Red Sox dropped their third game in a row, a 4-2 loss to the White Sox, and their seventh setback in their last 10 games. Is this a collapse or is it just a bad spell that they will come out of any day now? The optimist in me is coming up with reasons -- the bats will start hitting, Jon Lester and Curt Schilling will save the rotation, Daisuke Matsuzaka will find the plate on a consistent basis -- to believe but after watching this team go 20-24 since June 1, doubt is starting to creep into my mind. Seriously, the offense has to kick in here sometime, doesn't it? Big Papi is struggling to generate power because of his knee but other than that, what is the excuse? Kevin Youkilis needs to relax at the plate and not obsess over every out he makes. J.D. Drew needs to stop being such a wimp and start playing like a guy that makes $14 million a year. Manny Ramirez (hitting .400 with 3 HR and 9 RBI since the All-Star Game) needs to keep driving the ball. The reason the Sox need to fix things from within is that there do not seem to be many options outside the club. Other than moving for a centerfielder to replace Coco Crisp, there are not many places other than the bench to make an ugrade. As upsetting as Drew has been in his first months in Boston, he isn't going anywhere. Julio Lugo (.373 BA in July, .419 since the All-Star Game) is showing signs of life but even if Theo wanted a new shortstop, they can't move Lugo's 4-year/$36 million contract. The bench is where Theo needs to act. Dump Wily Mo Pena (.205 BA, 4 HR, 12 RBI, .633 OPS in 127 at-bats) and Eric Hinske (.196/4/12/.713 in 97 at-bats). Go out and be aggressive to add solid veteran players who can contribute at the plate, on the field and in the pressure environment of Fenway Park. I'm not ready to panic yet but time is starting to run out... The Patriots have added veteran linebacker Chad Brown, who played for the team in 2005, to their roster giving them depth at a position that desperately needed healthy bodies by the end of the year... Here are the top five books I have read this summer: 5. Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever by Filip Bondy 4. Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond by Paul Shirley 3. Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel 2. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis 1. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season by Jonathan Eig And you thought I couldn't read... I watched the premiere AMC's new show, Mad Men, last night and I have to say that I liked it. The show is set in a Manhattan advertising agency in 1960 and is basically a lesson in how sexism, cigarettes and booze ruled the business world before Vietnam and Richard Nixon. The show is about more than that but the unintentional comedy of how the male ad executives act like nothing is more important than a glass of rye, a puff of a Lucky Strike and a nice set of legs drew me in... It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Bill Simmons, ESPN.com's "Sports Guy." His new feature on ESPN.com is a weekly Podcast -- the BS Report -- and it is worth the time...