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Rich Rodriguez is leaving West Virginia - to be the new head coach at the University of Michigan! At least, THAT's settled!

Sweet Relief

Photo by Chris O'Meara (AP)

So last night was balm to my soul. Sweet relief to an angst-ridden heart. The Red Sox won! And not only that, Josh Beckett got his 20th win. The first 20 game winner on the Major Leagues since 2005. A shoo-in for the Cy Young? I'd say he is a SERIOUS contender! And the bats finally made an appearance - home runs from Tek, Mikey and Big Papi! The final score was 8-1.

The more awesome news greeted me this morning. The Yankees played 14 innings against the Blue Jays - and lost. They used 8 pitchers, including 2 innings from Jaba the Hutt. So, according to the the Jaba rules, he can't pitch for two games, making him ineligible to pitch for the rest of the series against the Jays. [As I write, the Jays are up 11-9. The Yanks have used 8 pitchers, the Jays 7. Not sure who will be pitching tomorrow - maybe Brian Cashman]

So, we head into the game tonight back to 2 1/2 games ahead of the Yanks. We may be able to distance ourselves from the pack tonight. It's all up to Dice-K.

And GO BIG BLUE! Michigan beats Penn State 14-9. Sorry Martha!

Righting the ship

So, Wake is on the mound tonight for the Sox as they begin the last road trip of the season. Three games in Toronto, three in Tampa Bay with an off day in the middle. Then it's back to Fenway for the final 6 games.

The magic number is still 9, after the Sox lost to the Yankees last night. A very frustrating game - they were down by one run in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and the man you'd want to see at the plate is there. But David Ortiz popped out, and the Yankees squeaked out another victory.

But being a glass-half-full kind of girl, I see some good. We definitely lost those games - the Yankees didn't beat us. We lost due to some poor bullpen management, and to some dead bats. The game we won - Saturday's 10-1 victory - made a huge statement. When our pitchers are at their best - and Josh Beckett has been at that point all season - and when they're backed up by some good offense, we are unbeatable. We dominated the Yankees Saturday - and that bodes well for the post-season.

Manny is still out, although I think he's close to coming back. I'd rather he not rush - we want him at 100% come October 1st. Youkilis is also out - he got hit by a pitch Saturday, and has a bad bruise. We need him, too!

And my pop culture note for the weekend. They showed "Highlander: The Source" on the SciFi Channel Saturday night. Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the series - have most of the episodes on tape! - but this was a bloody mess. The plot made absolutely no sense, the special effects made me dizzy. The only bright spots were the smoking hot Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield. That's two hours of my life I'm not getting back.


And in the random photo of the day:Photo by AP
Apparently, Russell Crowe and Michigan coach Lloyd Carr have gotten to be great mates. They became acquainted when Crowe heard that Carr was using his film "Cinderella Man" to inspire his team. Saturday, Crowe gave a pre-game pep talk to the Michigan squad, and it seems to have been very effective. Michigan beat Notre Dame 38-0. Go Blue!