Blog Riotus Boston Sports Notes

A lot of discussion over the Mike Lowell contract this week. I have a few thoughts after hearing a few differing points of view. The monopoly money theory is certainly relevant since we are speaking about such a large amount of money (in this case $12+ million/year) Theo Epstein is certainly a shrewd business man. He got the hometown leaning Lowell to accept below his requested years and money to come back and play for Boston. Theo put just enough money on the table to keep Mike interested but not enough to make him bite hard.

Was it a good deal or bad deal at 3 years $37.5 million? I don’t think we will ever know Lowell’s true value in the baseball market. Of course his numbers were all-star this past season. Anyone decent who bats behind Ortiz and Ramirez should see record number of fastballs. Put Fenway in the mix for a righty and you have the makings of a .324 BA, team leading 120 RBI season. I’m glad we got him back at a fair price. I enjoyed watching him play this season at third base. Anybody who makes third base look easy deserves a good salary. I just hope for his sake that he continues good production in the 5th spot of the batting order.

Theo is known for not offering salaries at what the player wants. Pedro Martinez was mentioned in this morning’s radio sports show (left unnamed for personal integrity) as being a guy that was given less than a desired salary offer. (Damon included) A reason that he didn’t accept a pay-cut was that he could not share a clubhouse with Curt Schilling (saying he needed to be the no.1). Sure Pedro may not have wanted to share a clubhouse; Curt is one of the most obnoxious self-righteous men in baseball!

The Patriots have been labeled most recently the NFL’s villains. Bill Belichick is unlike-able as any coach and the team is scoring points without relent on its weaker opponents. I have already touched on the “running-it-up” noise (un)surprisingly coming from national media rather than local sources but the hatred from Bill comes from the fact that he is a introverted geek who has managed to eliminate the harm that the media can cause between football games. His style is not what the national media wants and therefore they abhor his behavior… The Patriots of 2007 are not villains as they were never the saints of 2004-5. This is all how they are represented in the media…and media is driven by what makes a compelling story.

A quick mention of the New England Revolution. The Revs lost their third consecutive MLS Cup this past Saturday, twice at the hands of the Houston Dynamo. Toward the end of the game, Revs trailing 2-1, had a few good chances to nod the score at 2, but missed opportunities and bad luck plagued them. The header at point blank range that ricocheted off the goalies body was when I gave up hope. Too bad.