The Boston Red Sox reportedly are entertaining offers for Manny Ramirez.
I haven’t heard the Detroit Tigers linked to these talks, but maybe they should be.
Ramirez is just the type of elite hitter the Tigers need in the middle of their batting order.
Sure, Ramirez brings some headaches with him, but he can swing the bat.
I wonder if a package of Craig Monroe and a couple of young pitchers would be enough to tempt Boston?
Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
Michigan State appears to have made a good choice in hiring Mark Dantonio as its new football coach.
But I keep thinking that the Spartans may someday wish they had hired Brian Kelly.
He knows the state of Michigan and the coaching game.
Kelly won two national titles at Grand Valley State before moving on to Central Michigan where he has revived a dormant program.
The guy is a winner. He will be the head coach at a major program soon.
Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
Maybe Joe Dumars knew what he was doing.
There was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth when Ben Wallace spurned the Detroit Pistons to sign with Chicago, but it looks more and more each day like that wasn’t such a bad deal.
So far, the Bulls have gotten a $60-million headache.
The team is off to a miserable 5-9 start as Wallace struggles with his play and his relationship with coach Scott Skiles.
Not once, but twice during a game against the New York Knicks Saturday, Wallace was benched by Skiles for violating a team rule by wearing a headband.
Granted, the rule is stupid, but for the kind of money Wallace is getting, the least he can do is follow company policies.
Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
Ok, I am convinced.
Last week at this time, I would have told you that Michigan deserved another shot at Ohio State in the national title game.
But after watching Southern California dismantle Notre Dame last weekend, I’m convinced that the Trojans have earned the right to play for the title if they can hold serve and dispatch UCLA Saturday.
Michigan and USC beat Notre Dame by almost identical scores, but the Trojans played a tougher non-conference schedule. They also beat Arkansas and Nebraska while the Wolverines were feasting on Central Michigan, Vanderbilt and Ball State.
Michigan gets the Rose Bowl. Not a bad consolation prize.
By JASON HAUPRICHT jasonh@monroenews.com
We had a story in today’s Evening News about the Oakland Raiders moving Bedford graduate and Michigan State University product Chris Morris from their practice squad to their active 53-man roster.
It’s about time.
I saw Morris play in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, in August. The Raiders beat the Eagles 16-10 and Morris performed well in 2-1/2 quarters of action.
It was his first time donning an NFL uniform, but he didn’t look intimidated at all. He was confident and made several key blocks to boost the Raiders’ running game.
It appeared that Morris was headed toward earning a spot on the Oakland roster, but he was waived at the end of the preseason, and later signed to the practice squad.
He has remained on the practice squad since then and watched the Raiders stumble to a 2-9 record.
It had to be hard for Morris to practice every day but never get a shot to help his team. Now he will get that chance, probably as a long-snapper in Oakland’s game Sunday against the Houston Texans.
A long-snapper is a vital part of any football team, and the job is done without much appreciation. The only time anyone notices a long-snapper is when he makes a mistake.
If Morris plays and performs well, it will solidify his versatility. He also plays center, and not many centers in the NFL play on the offensive line and long-snap.
Morris deserves this shot. The Lambertville native has the size (6-4, 305) and strength to play the position in the NFL, and he’s a smart football player.
From my perspective, the Spartans got a good one.
I spent four years working in Zanesville, Ohio, home of Mark Dantonio, new football coach at Michigan State. I was there when he won the national championship as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State, and when he was named head coach at Cincinnati.
He is worshiped in Zanesville, not so much for his coaching ability as for his straight-up personality. He’s a lot like Jim Tressel and Lloyd Carr, in that he’s thoughtful, serious and dedicated to the principles of building character as well as winning games.
He brought Tressel with him for a benefit luncheon in Zanesville a few years ago. In both of their speeches, the topic was more about doing things right than winning football games. Dantonio isn’t as polished as Tressel, but he has the same discipline and dedication.
It will take a while for Michigan State folks to get used to a Jim Tressel disciple running their program. And only time will tell whether Dantonio can win games in the Big 10. But on the character side, I think they have a winner.
- Dan Shaw, danshaw@monroenews.com
Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
The All-Region girls basketball team appears in Friday’s Monroe Evening News.
As usual, our staff had some very difficult choices to make in selecting the team. The thing that stands out for me is how young this team is.
Of the 16 players picked for the squad, 10 are underclassmen. It looks like 2007 will be a big year for girls basketball.
By Jason Haupricht jasonh@monroenews.com
Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins has been voted American League MVP.
He’s not even the most valuable player on his own team, so how can he win the honor for the American League?
It can be argued that either starting pitcher Johan Santana (Cy Young award winner) or catcher Joe Maeur (who won the AL batting title) were more valuable to the Twins than Morneau.
Santana went 19-6 with a 2.77 earned-run average and 245 strikeouts, while Maeur hit .347 with 13 homers and 84 RBI and was one of the top defensive catchers in all of baseball.
Morneau stats were: .321, 34 HRs, 134 RBI, 53 walks and 97 runs. Those are solid numbers, but not jaw-dropping. And he plays first base, the easiest position to play in the field.
New York Yankees Derek Jeter should’ve won the award instead of Morneau. He hit .347 and was better than Morneau in every other offensive category except homers, RBI and slugging.
He had more hits (214), runs (118), walks (69), stolen bases (34), doubles (39) and triples (3). He also played shortstop, one of the most difficult positions to play on the field.
Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
The fall season for Monroe County Region high school sports teams officially came to an end Monday night as Airport and Bedford lost girls basketball Regional games.
It was a successful fall with Erie Mason’s boys cross country team winning a state title and Courtney Roberts of Milan and Monroe’s Amanda Thompson bringing home individual state crowns in swimming. In addition, the Region had six teams reach the state football playoffs and four girls basketball teams capture league titles.
But there’s not much time to dwell on the fall, however. The winter season already has started with high school hockey in full swing. Boys basketball, volleyball, wrestling, boys swimming and competitive cheerleading aren’t far behind.
Jason Haupricht jasonh@monroenews.com
The 103rd meeting of Ohio State and Michigan could be the best of all time, but I have to admit, I’m a little sick of the endless hype surrounding the game.
I ready for the game to actually start.
It should be an extremely close contest of two evenly matched teams. The game usually overflows with passion each year. With legendary coach Bo Schembechler’s passing, emotions will be running at an all-time high.
I can’t wait to watch.