ddain's Blog

I can honestly say that I read the L.A. Times and ESPN.com each day, and have been a Dodgers fan for about 27 years. And I can't really comprehend what their plan is for 2009.

Instead of building on a successful year, they (and by that I mean owner Frank McCourt) seems intent on letting several stars walk away and save a ton of dough. It's one thing to be grateful to be out of some bad contracts, or to not keep players who are injured and might not return to form, but to have so many holes in the team and no real plan to fill them is mind-boggling right now.

Firstly, should he keep Manny Ramirez? Most fans will say yes, realizing that nobody since Fernando has brought so much excitement to Dodger Stadium. So far they offered a 2-year deal knowing he wouldn't take it, and they're allowing him to test the free agent market. Where could he go? The New York teams come to mind since they have the dough to pay him what he wants, but if the Angels don't get Mark Teixeira, don't you think they would go after Manny? And that would be the 2nd time that Arte Moreno has signed a big-name player the Dodgers should have, the other being Vladimir Guerrero.

The pitching staff right now has three starters. Derek Lowe will probably sign elsewhere, and Brad Penny was not kept. So who are they going after? You hear that they have a passing interest in CC Sabathia, but he is being courted by several teams who seem to be more serious about signing him. You really don't hear about the Dodgers going after an AJ Burnett, Ben Sheets, or even re-signing Lowe, who was pretty good in his four years here.

I guess you could argue that they're set in the outfield with Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Andruw Jones, and Juan Pierre. But is anybody glad the last two guys are still on the team?

I don't think Rafael Furcal will be back, since he's seeking a four-year deal and the Dodgers won't give him one. He was hurt for most of the final two years of his three-year deal that he signed to play here, but they only have Angel Berroa to possibly fill the void. They might make a play for Orlando Cabrera, who played for the White Sox last year.

James Loney is at 1st, but that's about all that's set there. Russell Martin could be the catcher again, or he could be moved to 3rd, and Blake DeWitt would play 2nd. But you still have no catcher if you do that.


I guess the bullpen is about set...although who knows if Takashi Saito will come back?

So what do you think? Is Frank McCourt going to spend some money? He's cut over $60 million from last year's payroll by not keeping Lowe, Penny, Greg Maddux, Ramirez, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Furcal, and Saito. So you would think he would take a few bucks and reinvest in the team.

Who would you sign and why? And are you frustrated about any of these developments?

Well you just knew it was coming, right?

Sarah Palin might be a right-wing whack job, but she's attractive (and actually she's smoking hot when you compare her to all other women who hold political office). Now she will be immortalized, win or lose, when she will be starring in her own porno! Well, she won't be, but porn star Lisa Ann will be.

Sometime before the November election, 36-year-old MILF actress Lisa Ann will be sporting some black-rimmed glasses, putting her hair in an up-do, and will be showing off what have to be some of the biggest cans around in the soon-to-be-nominated for an AVN Award flick, "Nailin' Paylin."


In the movie, Sarah will be banging Russians who come knocking on her front door, and in a flasback sequence, Sarah will be doing one of her professors as he explains the, "Big Bang Theory." Also, for those who really love the ladies, expect a lesbian scene with Sarah, Hillary, and Condi (fortunately, not the real Hillary and Condi. Who would buy/download that?). Rumor has it porn veteran Nina Hartley will play Hillary. Imagine if that were true in real life, Bill would love that! This might be the only time where I was interested in what a politican looked like naked before I cast my ballot. Here's a video preview for all to enjoy (and yes, it's clean).

I liked "Maverick" John McCain when he ran for President in 2000. I thought he was more appealing than W. because he was more to the center  (and less polarizing) than Bush. But in the Republican party, that's not good enough to get elected. You have to make sure your views are more right than center, and that's why W. got elected. Twice.

That's where McCain is now. He's not known as a "maverick" for his political views anymore. He's firmly entrenched on the right, where the pro-gun, pro-war, pro-life people reside. And that might be enough for him to get elected in a couple of months.

But if he was truly the "maverick" he used to be, Joe Lieberman would be his running mate and not Sarah Palin.

The facts that are dribbling out about Palin since she was named to the ticket are not flattering, and are not helping the Republican cause. She may have broken the law by getting her ex-brother-in-law canned from his State Trooper job in Alaska. Sure, in theory wouldn't we all want to fire a jerk relative? A nice thought, but you can't really do it when you're the Governor of the state that he works in.

And now this about her pregnant daughter (the one holding the baby). While many run out the "who cares" argument or the "you can't control your kids" stance, the problem is that Palin promotes abstinence, and obviously, the lesson didn't sink in with her kid. It's hard to be taken seriously when you have a stance about an issue, but don't adhere to it in life.

But I find it more than a little ironic how Democratic people are calling Palin a "hypocrite" when the Democratic mantra for years has been, "Do As I Say, Not As I Do." The first evidence of this mindset that comes to mind are in the form of Al Gore's electrical bills.

Here are some other random political thoughts that you can comment on.

Hard to believe that there was no mention of the "Liberal Lion" Ted Kennedy letting Mary Jo Kopechne die in a car and not bothering to report it to the authorities until the following morning by the liberal-minded media. And this is the type of person who gets a standing ovation?

Do you think Hillary is asking herself if it was worth sacrificing her dignity all of those years Bill cheated on her? I figured she stuck with him so she could run, and win, the presidency, and that's not happening. So if she knew that this would be the result of staying with him, do you think she would make the same decision twice?

I'm not sure why McCain picked Palin in the first place. It's not like the highly-Conservative right wasn't going to vote for him anyway, so he doesn't need her to shore up their vote. And I can't imagine disenchanted Hillary supporters voting for her simply because she's a woman, since she and Hillary don't have much in common politically. So why is she on the ticket?

It's tough to say that it's OK for Barack Obama to not have much foreign policy experience and vote for him because Palin has no foreign policy experience and she's on a ticket. The difference is that the person without this vital experience is at the top of the ticket for the Dems, and not for the Republicans.

Do you think it's possible that if McCain wins, he could step aside after his first-term ends and Palin could be elevated to run for President? If that happens, wouldn't that really sting the Dems who take pride on race and gender issues?

Lest anyone think that most of the mainstream media (TV, cable, newspapers, radio) isn't liberally biased, please read on.

All you have to do is think about how long it took them to cover the John Edwards story. The last thing the lefty-media wanted was for one of its darlings to be outed by a tabloid rag, right? So they never paid much attention to it until last week when they had no choice but to cover it. The media never gave the Enquirer any credibility, and they didn't do any of their own fact-finding or investigating. So it seems that they all dropped the ball. Kudos to the National Enquirer for breaking the story, shooting pictures, and sticking to their sources and facts. They're more reputable than the rest of the "media" right now.

It sickens me that anyone can excuse this guy's behavior. He cheated on his wife who has cancer. That's pretty bad. She apparently knew about the affair, and in a move that reeks of stupidity, they both thought it would be OK for him to run for President (as if this secret would stay buried forever). Both of them are arrogant, especially Edwards with his $400 haircuts and his history of making money by being an ambulance-chasing attorney, the lowest type of lawyer.

And when the National Enquirer broke this story last month, no media outlet picked it up! It's not that they didn't think it was true, but they like Edwards, and were no doubt hoping the whole thing would simply go away and get swept under a rug. In an interview last month, Edwards flat-out denied (lied) about having the affair in the first place. Smugness reigns!

Something to remember here about this case, and all others that involve philandering politicians. You don't excuse their actions by saying something moronic like, "They all do it" because they don't, and it's still an immoral and dishonest thing to do. Justifying bad behavior with other bad behavior doesn't make it right, it makes it easy to rationalize and accept if the candidate is your guy.

Many ask the question, "Well would it make a difference in how a person governs?" Of course it does! It's apparent someone like Edwards has no morality,  no integrity, and doesn't care about what's right and what's wrong, and he apparently has little respect for his terminally-ill wife. Would you want someone with those characteristics leading this country, making important decisions that will impact us for decades? Not me.

And don't believe the bull when people say that it's none of our business what they do in their personal lives. That means that it really doesn't matter where Barack Obama went to church, or that Ted Kennedy killed a woman when he drove off a bridge, or that Randy Cunningham took bribes. It's all about character, something these people sorely lack.

And if you don't think that John Edwards isn't the father of that woman's child, then I have some beach-front property in Utah to sell you for cheap. Don't be naive and/or stupid, if his mistress agrees to take a paternity test, she loses all of the "hush" money he's been giving her over the past few years. That's why she won't do it, because if she does, well he gets to pay her child support, which I'm sure is a lot less than what he's paying her now.

Goodbye and good riddance to one of the scummiest, dirtiest, and most arrogant politicians in recent U.S. history. And considering some of the company he joins, that's not a compliment.

So the Dodgers made a HUGE trade Thursday, picking up Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox for two prospects (Andy LaRoche and some guy that nobody has ever heard of).

As a Dodgers fan, I love the deal. He's their best hitter and ensure Andruw Jones never sees the light of day again.

As a Red Sox fan (I know, I'm all over the place), I'm glad he's gone because he's become a major pain in the butt.

What do you think?

Wow! A 5.8 earthquake rocked L.A. Tuesday morning, around 11:42am. Where were you? What were you doing?

Let's hear from you!

Excuse me while I whip this out.

Here is a rap that was released this week that you might interesting.

We're aware that the Celtics beat the Lakers to win their seventeenth NBA championship. Kobe Bryant, the league's MVP, didn't have a great series for the Lakers who were making their first trip to the finals since 2004.

Meanwhile, back in 2006 Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat won the NBA title. Shaq has four rings, Kobe has three (all won while playing with Shaq on the Lakers).

Since their acrimonious departure, Shaq has won one NBA title, Kobe has zero. So Shaq felt the urge to hop up on a stage somewhere and freestyle rap about that. He claims to have done this in jest, but considering how the two guys didn't like one another all that much when they were teammates, it's hard to believe him.

Have a listen.

 

I know what you're thinking....what could possible inspire me to write such a headline? What could be happening that would make one think that the headline is true?

Verne Troyer, also known as "Mini Me" in the three 'Austin Powers' movies has released a sex tape.

Since you might not believe that this is truly happening, here's a sampling.

Watch at your own risk!