Thursday Football Pick, Random Thoughts

CAROLINA (-3) over Miami I would have loved to pick the Dolphins this week but Ronnie Brown's season ending injury rules it out... Keep a close eye on Georgetown's sophomore center Greg Monroe. The big lefty is tough to stop around the basket but can also create his shot off the dribble. This should be an All-American campaign... As long as the Sox do add at least - if not two - impact bats this winter, I will be just fine watching Jason Bay depart as a free agent. Bay turned down the Red Sox initial 4-year/$60-million offer and will test the free agent waters. I think this will turn out well for the Sox in the long run because I don't expect Bay to be producing numbers worthy of a $15-million salary at age 35. I would much rather see Theo Epstein spend John Henry's millions on free agents Matt Holliday and John Lackey and find a way to pry Adrian Gonzalez (goodbye, Clay Buchholz) away from San Diego, giving the Sox this lineup in 2010: 1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF 2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 3. Kevin Youkilis, 3B 4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 5. Victor Martinez, C 6. Matt Holliday, LF 7. David Ortiz, DH 8. J.D. Drew, RF 9. Jed Lowrie, SS Starting Rotation: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield God, I love filling out fictional lineups in November... My biggest fear about the Celtics - that Kevin Garnett's time as a dominant player is in the past - might be closer to reality than I previously believed... I have an actual "column" coming soon. The working title is "An NBA Story About Nothing"... Ken Jeong has always done a fantastic job of making me laugh but his work on "Community" might be the vehicle he needed to become a star... Enjoy Milan Lucic tonight...