Newspapers and websites are burning up with talk about a possible Alex Rodriquez for Manny Ramirez trade. If you can believe what you read, Rodriquez would like to come to Boston and Ramirez is willing to head to Texas. If the Sox pulled off this trade, they would receive the best player in the game and a guy that could easily bash 55 homers and drive in 150 runs in the middle of a potent lineup. With all due respect to Nomar, A-Rod would also be a defensive upgrade at shortstop. The trade would allow the Sox to rid themselves of Manny’s Ramirez’s poor attitude, which is not likely to improve if he’s forced to remain in Boston. The downside is an extra $5 million per year in salary over the next five years and an extra $27 million per year in 2009 and 2010. The Sox may also need to give up a pitcher in a deal with Texas. This would be a reasonable request from the Rangers given that A-Rod is a better player than Ramirez. What is unreasonable is any request by Texas that the Red Sox subsidize a portion of Manny’s contract. This trade would save the Rangers about $86 million over the next seven years. To ask for more money is outrageous and I don’t think the Sox would consider it.

If an A-Rod for Manny trade does become a reality, the Sox would quickly turn their attention to working on trading Nomar Garciaparra, more than likely to Los Angeles or Anaheim. The Dodgers are pursuing Japanese shortstop Kaz Matsui and the Angels are a possibility for Miguel Tejada so if both LA area teams landed shortstops, the market for Nomar would dry up quickly. The good news is that Matsui appears to be close to going to the Mets and Tejada is talking seriously with the Mariners. In a best case scenario, the Angels and Dodgers would be competing for Garciaparra. The Angels have several offensive players that might interest the Sox, though it is unclear which players the Angels would be willing to part with. Based on what I have read, the Angels have severely overvalued their talent. Both the Angels and Dodgers could offer pitching, either in a trade for Garciaparra or as part of a three-way deal involving Texas and both Garciaparra and Ramirez.

Speaking of the Dodgers, I heard rumors this week of a possible trade that would send Kevin Brown to the Red Sox. I cannot think of anything worse. Kevin Brown is by far the biggest jerk in baseball. I would rather have two Carl Everett’s on the roster than one Kevin Brown. He is a microcosm for everything that is wrong with today’s athlete and is an injury waiting to happen. I have faith in the new Red Sox management and I know that he would never consider a trade that would leave the Red Sox with Brown and his $15 million per year contract. Previous rumors had Brown heading to the Yankees. This makes perfect sense. Brown and Gary Sheffield fit the Yankee mold perfectly.

The dunces that run Major League Baseball once again made it clear that they will do whatever they can to help the Yankees win. Last week, the MLB Expos sent one of the best young pitchers in the game, Javier Vazquez, to the Yankees for Nick “.284 average, 14 homers” Johnson and two lawn gnomes. The Expos received 30 cents on the dollar in this deal and everyone knows it. To give up Vazquez for anything less than Alfonso Soriano is criminal. I can’t deny that Major League Baseball is a healthier business when the Yankees are winning, but does the league need to be this obvious about helping to ensure that it happens? Did I miss the memo where the Expos became the Yankee AAAA minor league affiliate? “Conflict of Interest” does not even begin to describe what is going on with Major League Baseball and the Expos.

If you use the Vazquez deal as a barometer, the Red Sox should be able to acquire Jose Vidro from the Expos for Jeremy Giambi, Ramiro Mendoza and Damian Jackson.

I am getting very tired of hearing the inaccuracies coming from New York Newsday regarding trade talks in major league baseball. I would love to know who these “sources” are that they reference in the paper. Huggy Bear? Sporty James from Hunter? People on internet message boards inventing fake trades? The two worst major newspapers in America are both published in New York City. Coincidence? I think not.

There were so many things to like about the Curt Schilling trade/signing. I love the fact that Theo Epstein and Larry Luchino were able to sell the Red Sox to Schilling. There is absolutely no way that Dan Duquette could have closed the deal. I was also astonished that Schilling spent several hours after midnight on the Sons of Sam Horn Sox message board chatting with fans and finding out about the team and the city. Schilling’s decision may have actually turned because of his positive experience with those diehard Sox fans. Best of all was the fact that Schilling represented himself in the contract negotiations. The Sox and Schilling will have a little more money in their pockets because no agent was involved. Schilling even indicated that he didn’t think an agreement could have been reached had an agent been involved. I hope that more players follow Curt’s lead and dump their agents. It makes me feel better knowing that some snake won’t collect $2 million because of Schilling’s hard work on the mound.

In one of the stranger stories of the year, a naked man suffering from a gunshot wound appeared at Cal Ripken’s front door on Thanksgiving night, pleading for help. The man claims that he was kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day, held captive for nine hours, forced into the trunk of a car, ordered to strip off his clothes and run, then shot as he ran away. Ripken called 911 and help arrived immediately. The man was released from the hospital the next day.

On Friday, Ripken’s streak of consecutive days in which a naked man with a gunshot wound appeared at his front door ended at one.

As of right now, the road to the Superbowl goes through Foxboro. If the Patriots win their last three games (all against teams with losing records) they will guarantee themselves the #1 seed in the AFC Playoffs. If both the Patriots and the Chiefs win their final three games and finish 14-2, New England would get the #1 seed because of a better conference record. If the Pats win two of their final three, they will clinch a bye in the first round of the playoffs which comes with a home game in the second round. The Patriots hold the tiebreaker against Indianapolis thanks to last week’s victory.

The Patriots are now 7-0 against teams with records of 8-5 or better (Miami (twice), Indianapolis, Tennessee, Denver, Dallas and Philadelphia). Clearly, the Patriots fear no one. They are playing with incredible confidence both at home and on the road. In the last four games at Foxboro, the Patriots have given up just nine points (Nine!) and no touchdowns. The 2003 Pats are the first team since the 1930's to go four games at home without giving up a touchdown. On the down side, the Pats have scored only 50 points in those games (12.5 per game). They seem to be a better defensive team at home and a better offensive team on the road.

The Patriots may have received some good news when Virginia Tech Junior Kevin Jones announced that he will make himself eligible for next year’s NFL Draft. The Patriots will almost certainly look to get a running back in the first round and Jones will probably be the second best back in the draft, after Steven Jackson of Oregon State. The Pats will have their own first round pick plus a first rounder acquired from Baltimore in the 2003 Draft. Most Pats fans didn’t realize it, but the referee who failed to restart the clock in the Seattle-Baltimore game two weeks ago (which gave Baltimore a win that they did not deserve) may have hurt the Patriots draft position in the process.

Former Boston College quarterbacks started in three NFL games for the second consecutive Sunday. Matt Hasselbeck’s Seahawks lost to Minnesota while brother Tim Hasselbeck (Redskins) and Doug Flutie (Chargers) led their teams to victory. Brian St. Pierre did not see any action for the Steelers.

Is there a more arrogant person on the planet than Jim Calhoun? Boston College’s shift to the ACC may or may not be a good move, but I couldn’t be happier about separating ourselves from Calhoun, whiner-extraordinaire Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and UConn’s beer-can throwing students and fans. Calhoun stated that he will not play Boston College again once they leave the Big East as if the decision is completely up to him. I’ve got news for you Jim, it’s Boston College that wants to leave you in the rear view mirror. I wish nothing but the worst for your program and your gargantuan ego.

It is always nice to see Notre Dame get their domes handed to them as they did against Syracuse in the season finale (38-12), but it was particularly satisfying given the ending of last week’s Stanford-Notre Dame game in Palo Alto. In case you missed it, the Irish ran a fake punt ahead 57-7 against Stanford. Ty Willingham appears to be following in the classless footsteps of Lou Holtz who called for a fake punt against Boston College in 1992 while ahead 37-0 (I should know because I was there). To be perfectly honest, I have always liked Tyrone Willingham and was very surprised and disappointed by his actions last week. Notre Dame finished the season 5-7, but they were very lucky to have that many wins. I wonder if it will be the conferences that will reject Notre Dame this time around. Note to the Big Ten: if you decide to expand to twelve teams, do yourselves a favor and take Pittsburgh.

What can I say about the BCS? USC finished #1 in both polls but will not be participating in the BCS “Championship Game” at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. This is yet another embarrassing situation for the NCAA and the people involved with college football and the BCS. I’d like to believe that this will be the final stake in the heart of the BCS, but I know better. The NCAA seems determined to stick with a system that 98% of the fans, and probably an equal percentage of coaches, despise. I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I feel terrible for Pete Carroll. His Trojans were the best team in America at the end of last season, but because there is no playoff in college football, they didn’t get a chance to prove it. Today, both the coaches and sportswriters agreed that USC is the top team in the country, but again the Trojans will be left out in the cold because of a bunch of guys that have probably watched Lord of the Rings more times than they have watched college football over the past three months. I couldn’t care less about USC one way or another, but I know a travesty when I see it. What’s worse is that USC’s one loss was in overtime. As much as I love the excitement and drama of college football’s overtime system, it is a terrible way to decide an important game. The polls take this into account, the computers do not. Please visit bceaglesfootball.com later this week to see my 2003 Playoff Proposal and matchups.

My 2002 NCAA Playoff Proposal