So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. This spring training should prove very interesting despite Jeff Kent opening his yap. Here are some story lines to follow: Tommy Lasorda will manage eight exhibition games. While Joe Torre takes a split squad to Beijing to play the San Diego Padres on March 14 and 15, Lasorda will have the remaining......

Angels 2, Devil Rays 1 - LAnaheim picked up a second straight 2-1 victory thanks to another solid outing from their rotation. Ervin Santana had 10Ks, and the Halos swept Tampa Bay to inch just a little bit closer to their third pennant in four years. Sitting at 90 wins, their magic number is down to three. Life isn't so sweet for the Devil Rays, who dressed their rookies in Hooters attire. Welcome to the......

Rockies 3, Dodgers 1 - Olmedo Saenz cranked a pinch-hit home run in the seventh, but the Dodger's offense was otherwise anemic. Rockies starter Jeff Francis had 10 Ks. Rockies 9, Dodgers 8 - Just when they were looking to turn things around in the second game of the double header, Takashi Saito allowed a two run dinger in the bottom of the ninth. He wasn't the only Dodger pitcher to have a rocky night.......

With a major project concluded, I'm back to regular writing. Hockey is back, too. You can watch a free game downtown tonight. Angels 10, Devil Rays 7 - The last time the Halos played small ball this well, they won a World Series. They could be headed back, with their magic number down to five. The Angels piled up double digits against the Devils without a home run on Monday, the 11th time they've reached......

Yesterday I was out shopping all day. It was my friend Cathi’s way of staging an intervention for me. All of my friends are concerned that I’ve become so tied to sports, they are doing everything they can to get me out. Yesterday it worked. What can I say? I’m weak when it comes to shopping. Anyhow, I’d like to take this moment to say that I’m a fucking genius. I picked 13 of......

What a waste of a quarter billion dollars. For the same amount that the Galaxy promised David Beckham to come to Los Angeles, they could have paid the salaries of all 26 New York Yankees in 2007 -- plus the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In the NFL, they could have covered an entire team operating at the salary cap for almost two and a half seasons. Granted, it's a five year......

That opening game of the NFL was a kick in the nuts, wasn’t it? The Indianapolis Colts proved their defense wasn’t a mere fluke in last season’s playoff by only allowing the New Orleans Saints offense to only score a field goal in their 41-10 blowout. At least I was right about the Saints having a pretty porous defense. With the exception of the Reggie Wayne fumble that was taken for a touchdown, no......

Guess who popped up with the Padres Tuesday? If you guessed Brett Tomko you would be right. Talk about tit for tat, the Padres acquired Tomko when he cleared waivers after being released by the Dodgers. If you remember, the Dodgers did the same when the bowling ball that is David Wells was released by the Padres. Collective dumpster diving much? Tomko, who had gotten the most boos at Dodger Stadium second to Barry......

Angels 3, Devil Rays 0 - LAnaheim avoided the sweep in Tampa and ended a three game losing streak. Kelvim Escobar's fifth straight win came on 7.2 innings of scoreless work. The Halos had three doubles in the game, but haven't gone yard in 114 innings. Mets 13, Dodgers 9 - The Dodgers slipped into a first place tie with San Diego, but it wasn't due to a lack of offense. The team had 19......

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4 - Los Angeles recovered from a shellacking to take the series from Philadelphia 2-1. Andre Ethier and Luis Gonzalez both hit jacks and the team got strong support from the bullpen. Russell Martin stole his 17th base, one shy of the team's all time record for a catcher. Could he be a five tool player? Devil Rays 7, Angels 2 - The Angels have lost 11 of their last 17 (including......

Which team has the best record in the National League? Two teams share this distinction: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, the same Los Angeles Dodgers team I ripped in my last post has the best record in the National League. Actually I take that back. This is not the same team I ripped the other day. In Friday’s 6-3 win against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Grady Little posted this......

Lakers 95, Suns 89 - After getting smacked around in the first two games of the series, the Lakers were looking up at a 17 point Phoenix lead in game three. Then something snapped. Kobe went on a 45 point rampage and -- surprise! -- Kwame Brown had 19. Lamar Odom had 18, but more important were his 16 rebounds (6 on the offensive glass). Los Angeles finally has the spark of hope that sometimes......

Giants 6, Dodgers 4 - He's not looking like A-Rod, but Barry Bonds is starting to look like, well, Barry Bonds. A little trimmer than the past couple years and a lot faster on the basepath, he's also plunking four-baggers out of the park as if he was just 40 years old. His three run shot in the first put the Giants ahead early. Los Angeles tied the game, but fell short in their comeback......

The Dodgers really know how create drama. After taking a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning, relief pitcher Rudy Seanez* loaded the bases giving up consecutive singles to Johnny Estrada, Geoff Jenkins and Kevin Mench with one out. Closer Takashi Saito came into the game at that point and managed to get out of the inning with a 5-3 lead after giving up a two-run double to Craig Counsell. As if that wasn’t enough......

#124 Tampa Bay middle school principal caught buying a $20 rock of crack from an undercover cop in the school - AP #125 Manatee County 13 year old kidnapped while waiting for the schoolbus. Escapes before kidnapper could get ransom - WGHP #126 What does NASA in Orlando have ready for astronauts who go-nuts? Tranquilizers and duct tape of course - Local 6 #127 A Sanford high school cheerleading coach is given a paid......

#113 The court martial of the Eglin Air Force medical support officer accused of drugging and raping six men began today. He could get life - Miami.com #114 Gainesville man had four ounces of pot stolen from him so he called the cops, they found the weed but now they don't know whether to return it - Local 6 #115 Tampa Bay's $144 million desal plant is expected to cost an additional $94 million......

Knicks 102, Clippers 90 - Each team had five players score in double digits with just four other players adding 16 points to the game. The Clippers dominated the first half, leading by as many as 12 and going into the locker room up by 10. Something pretty inspirational must have happened at intermission, because New York scored the first ten points to even it up, then went on to win by 12. What did......

Lakers 111, Celtics 98 - What happens when you piss off arguably the greatest basketball player on the planet? He scores 43 points to go with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. That's what happened with Kobe Bryant, who returned from a questionable one game suspension and helped bury Boston. Kobe's wrath couldn't have come at a worse time for the Celtics, who have lost 13 in a row and sit in the cellar of a......

#63 Two-time NASCAR champ pulled out his dipstick and peed on a car in a Daytona Beach parking garage - Local 6 #64 Four men are using submachine guns to hold up check cashing locales in Orlando - Local 6 #65 Family on a plane trying to leave Florida to get back home to Massachusetts is kicked off the plane because their 3 yr old is crying too much - ABC #66 Cocoa Beach......

#58 Tallahassee man shoots a one-pound duck, brings it home, puts it in the fridge, two days later his wife asks, "is that a live duck in our fridge or are you just happy to see me." - WREG #59 Palm Beach fines Donald Trump $1,250 a day for his huge flagpole - Orlando Sentinel #60 Ft. Lauderdale literally about to nickel and dime their townsfolk by adding 250 more parking meters - Sun-Sentinel......

#52 Bradenton cop arrests homeless woman and then ties her shopping cart to his cruiser and drags it to the station. - Tampa Bay 10 #53 Office Depot is moving its Successful Businesswomen conference out of South Florida - South Florida Business Journal #54 Four kangaroos die in three days at the Gulf Breeze Zoo - WFTV #55 California freeze will not really be much of a boon for FLA orange growers - Herald......

The four-time Cy Young winner needs to fire his agent. How could Greg Maddux allow Scott Boras to trade him from one 5th place team to another when there are pennant races happening? Does the 40 yr-old Hall of Fame lock seriously have no interest in being a part of the Yankees run? Or even the Padres? Maddux has 9 wins on a Cubs team that has won only 43. He and ace Carlos......

After a perfectly wretched first half, the Angels concluded their run into the All-Star break on a tear, taking three straight from Oakland. They started their second half just as hot, sweeping the mostly hapless Tampa Bay Devil Rays at home, despite some peculiar moves by Mike Scioscia, who apparently likes to announce his intention to use the suicide squeeze so often they're thinking of putting the hotline on speed dial. The Angels then......

The Dodgers announced yesterday that they were trading starter Jae Seo and former starting catcher Dioner Navarro to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for catcher Toby Hall and starter Mark Hendrickson. Hall, who had been Tampa Bay's starting catcher, will become a reserve behind Russ Martin, and Hendrickson will join a beleaguered Dodgers rotation. Apparently the Dodgers have other moves in store, as Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said "In my mind, we're......

Nearly 30 years ago, the legendary USC football coach John McKay left Los Angeles for Tampa Bay to become head coach of the Buccaneers. McKay took over the worst team in football, one which set a record for consecutive losses. When asked about his team's execution, McKay famously quipped "I'm in favor of it." Yet McKay eventually turned the Bucs around, as they reached the NFC Championship game under his leadership. A generation later,......

Responding to growing criticism for his offseason moves, Paul DePodesta reminded the press last month that the Dodger team he inherted was heavily flawed. "It's not like I broke up a dynasty," DePodesta said. No, it wasn't. And DePodesta can feel vindicated by how things have gone so far. His acquisitions of Jeff Kent, JD Drew, Derek Lowe, Jason Phillips, and others have helped propel the Dodgers to first place in the NL West.......

It's official. Arte Moreno has announced his team will now be called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now the Angels have come full circle, after they were originally named the Los Angeles Angels, because they played in the City of Angels. But California Angels never quite worked, and who wants to be called the Anaheim Angels? The name Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sounds absolutely absurd. But Arte Moreno knows exactly what he's......