Posts by Eamonn Brennan at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Jason Giambi is probably a deserving All-Star -- certainly more deserving than others on his team -- but it's no crime for one overpaid Yankee to stay home for the game. Boo-effing-hoo, right? The Yankees already have like 82 people on the All-Star team.

Still, there is part of me that wants to support Giambi's candidacy. It's not just because of his ability, or his numbers -- it's because of that 'stache. It's beautiful. In one of the great political endorsements of this tumultuous campaign year, the American Mustache Institute agrees with me:

The American Mustache Institute officially offered their support for Giambi's All-Star candidacy today. "It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that Jason Giambi's hitting prowess plus a fashionable mustache, equals a bona fide All-Star," said Aaron Perlut, Executive Director of The American Mustache Institute. "Giambi's significant first-half production as well as his powerful lip fur – indicating great intellect and good looks – make two very compelling reasons for his place on the American League All-Star roster."

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised at the Institute's willingness to label Giambi's mustache as "lip fur." When we will we throw off these old politics and declare a new way, a way in which a beautifully grown mustache can not be so easily derided with cruel names? I say vote Giambi, and vote mustache. Yes, we can.

The Alex Rodriguez divorce story was officially announced late last night, but after the Madonna fiasco and the Lenny Kravitz nonsense -- seriously, man, Lenny Kravitz -- it was a foregone conclusion. It felt like old news. The one tidbit left to examine is Cynthia Rodriguez's claim that the couple's prenup may or may not be "legal." From the divorce papers' summary bulletin:

20. ANTENUPTIAL AGREEMENT: On October 3, 2002, the parties executed a "document" titled "Antenuptial Agreement". A determination as to the validity or enforceability of the agreement requires additional investigation and discovery.

See what Cynthia's lawyer did there? Very clever. It's not a document, it's a "document." If you put it in quotes, it might not exist!

Unfortunately for Cynthia, the prenup is probably legal -- were it not, one guesses the lawyers would be far more condemning here -- and the astronomical amount of money she's likely to receive from her soon-to-be-former husband is thus nominally reduced. It's cool though, 'cause Lenny Kravitz totally banks. Love + Revolution -- marketing like that simply does not fail.

I'm not going to read The Wire's obituary again, but if you don't know who David Simon is, he's one-half of the creative duo that breathed life into the best television show of the past decade, The Sopranos (arguably) excepted. He's also been labeled by The Atlantic as "The Angriest Man in Television," a title one imagines Simon is honored by.

Simon is also a baseball fan, and in this conversation with Washington Times writer Thom Loverro, Simon has a few words for Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Specifically, that they can "kiss [his] pale, white ass,"

But let me say this about the official side of Major League Baseball: They can kiss my pale, white ass. Seriously. Although that sequence reflected in no negative way on baseball itself -- a reporter was making up a story about a handicapped fan for his own benefit -- MLB considered our request to film on stadium property and use MLB logos and then denied the request. Unless our drama pretty much exalts baseball as the greatest game ever played by the greatest bunch of people ever to play a game, MLB will not allow the use of its logos or facilities in any act of storytelling. I find this cowardly and venal and offensive. A game that claims to be the national pastime should be confident enough and respectful enough of independent storytelling to allow itself to be seen within the context of ordinary American life.

Fortunately for the show, the sequence Simon is referring to suffered little for MLB's obstinance. I can understand the league's desire to not be a target in The Wire's dangerously precise purview, but to deny an innocuous request like that one seems really weird. Then again, weird is just another day in Bud Selig's office.

For all his faults, no one's ever accused Ozzie Guillen of being anything but transparent and honest. Case in point: he's made his e-mail address (OzzieGuillen13@hotmail.com) public, and invites fans to e-mail him directly. As this is the internet, Guillen gets a ton of racist, xenophobic e-mail, stuff sent by that incredibly stupid vocal minority that give all the reasonable people out here a bad name.

He also gets fan mail, not least of which from the Chicago Tribune's Rick Morrissey, who did his best to anonymously get Guillen's goat via e-mail. Guess what? It worked:

Then I forgot about it. Four hours later, I checked my mail, and there it was. From: OzzieGuillen13@hotmail.com. I opened it.

You have to be stupid. Get a life, loser. I hope you have no kids. They have to be like you.

Zing! The conversation goes on like that, Ozzie trading barbs with this anonymous heckler, before Morrissey visits Guillen in the clubhouse and reveals his true nature. Naturally, Guillen laughs about it.

Of course, it seems weird that Morrissey would use a computer at all, given how much he seems to hate the wretched beasts. Computers are destroying baseball. What's to stop them from destroying emails about baseball? Food for thought, people.

The Cubs' sale trudges onward, and little or no detail has trickled out. The candidates -- which include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Chicago rich dude John Canning -- are, along with their chances of owning the team, still relative unknowns. Who's going to pony up the cash?

The Chicago Tribune reminds that the money question might be the least important one. Instead, it will matter who is "most acceptable" to Major League Baseball, which we all knew but which has never been made as clear as it is today:

Canning is the leading contender not only because of his wealth and local ties, but also because he's part-owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, a team once controlled by Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig. [...] Selig has stated publicly that Canning is a "very close personal friend of mine," as are other members of Canning's group, which includesMcDonald's Corp. chairman Andrew McKenna, who served as chairman of the Cubs early in Tribune's ownership. Canning declined to comment on his relationship with Selig or his front-runner status.

[...] "If you're not acceptable to baseball, it's something that doesn't really resolve itself," Stone said. "There will be somebody else around who is acceptable."

In other words, if Canning bids the same amount of money as other prospective owners (including Cuban), Canning will get the team because ... he's friends with Bud Selig. That seems fair, and by fair, I mean incredibly nepotistic. And wrong.

The story that will not die just gained another nine lives -- Alex Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, is officially suing for divorce, according to both the Miami Herald and the far more reputable TMZ. (AOL! Woo!) You can probably guess the reasons for the divorce: A-Rod's "alleged" extramarital affairs, not least of which may or may not involve Madonna. Cynthia's lawyer scored the first blows:

Cynthia Rodriguez's lawyer tells TMZ, "A-Rod may be an All-Star baseball player, but he's flunked the All-Star team as far as marriage is concerned." Lilly says, "We're not gonna lose this case." He acknowledges a prenup exists but it's "too early" to decide if he'll challenge it. He says there will be a "huge settlement" in the case but "not hundreds of millions of dollars." Lilly says A-Rod's estate is "vast ... beyond what anyone knows."

Madonna will not be specifically named in the divorce papers. Lilly says infidelity is a "major cause" for the divorce, but not because of any one allegation. Rather, he says, there were a series of dalliances and "Madonna was the last straw." Lilly says Cynthia did not have an affair with Lenny Kravitz and that her relationship with him is "totally innocent and puristic."

So, to recap: A-Rod does have a prenup (phew!), but doesn't have a guarantee that he's not going to get taken for millions (doh!). Also, Cynthia says her relationship with relatively horrible pop singer Lenny Kravitz is "totally puristic." Right. So is writing about this story for money. So puristic, in fact, that I think I'll go take a cold shower.

Alfonso Soriano is a fast healer. Last year, when the Cubs centerfielder tore his left quadriceps muscle, he returned from the 15-day DL and immediately had the best September of any Cub maybe, like, ever. It was that good. This year, he's trying to return from a broken hand, and he's already making process:

He didn't look timid as he hit one line drive after another, and launched two balls out of Busch Stadium over the center-field fence. Soriano was batting .283 with 15 homers and 40 RBIs in 51 games before he was injured. This is his second stint on the disabled list; he was sidelined earlier because of a strained right calf.

Soriano won't likely be back for the All-Star game, but whatever. That's not important, no matter what Bud Selig says. What is important -- to Cubs fans, at least -- is that he returns to the Cubs as safely and quickly as possible, so the dreaded Cardinal scourge doesn't creep up and do something truly unexpected in the NL Central. This is getting ridiculous.

This week, Joe Buck got pilloried. In case you haven't been around, Buck called in to Colin Cowherd's consistently irritating radio show to talk about modern sports media and the way fans don't watch weeknight games anymore. He also admitted the one thing sports personalities should probably never admit -- he's not all that enthusiastic about baseball anymore. Bad Joe. Bad.

The response has been predictable. Awful Announcing, who originally pulled the audio, is outraged; Big League Stew's Kevin Kaduk is angry; and our own Will Brinson followed suit. All of these responses go something like: "We love baseball. Joe Buck doesn't. How can he admit to that? Get somebody who loves baseball to talk about it. Screw Joe Buck." Fin.

That sentiment, while somewhat lacking in perspective, is understandable. It bouys a pervasive feeling among sports fans that those paid millions to cover the games -- our games -- don't have a tenth of the enthusiasm in a blogger's carpal-infected wrist. But is that fair? What do Joe Buck -- and Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser and Rick Reilly -- really owe us?

The Rays, fresh off their entertaining sweep of the Red Sox, are in full-on euphoria mode. The team is young and entertaining, the fan base is slowly buying in, and the millions of people who breathe baseball every day are still trying to figure out how a team with no payroll and no history of success is leading baseball's toughest division. The answer came to different people at different times -- Baseball Prospectus predicted it well before this season -- but Yankees GM Brian Cashman saw it last September:

"It's not going to be a situation where they add 10 wins next year and 10 more the year after that. It's not going to be slow. When it happens, it will happen quick. Now. That growing stuff is behind them now. It's going to come fast."

Cashman hit it on the head -- the Rays made tweaks, not giant changes, and flipped on a powerhouse of a team that was waiting to explode. Whether Tampa can maintain 2008's defensive prowess is yet to be seen, but the future is pretty clear. The Rays are not going away.

(HT: Baseball Musings)

Maybe you've heard about this: Alex Rodriguez and Madonna are so totally doing it! Or maybe they're just friends. And Cynthia Rodriguez is so totally doing it with Lenny Kravitz! Or not! Who really knows? Who really cares?

Those are the rumors that have rocked the baseball/washed-up-pop-singer enthusiast demographics this week, and the rumors just went up another notch: the New York Daily News is reporting that A-Rod and Cynthia have separated after three months of problems:

Kravitz, 44, is in the middle of his "Love Revolution Tour" in Europe.

Sorry, that blockquote is out of left field, but I just want to digest that sentence for a second. "Love Revolution?" Is it OK to take two iconic 60's pop terms, combine them, and call that a tour? Was "Highway 61 Submarine" unavailable? Did Alex Rodriguez really just lose his wife to that guy?

So. Many. Questions.