Now that the Dodgers have taken their two-year, $45M offer off the table, Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras can start accepting "serious" money offers.

It took over 24 hours, but I’ve finally thawed out from the Michigan-Northwestern game in Ann Arbor on Saturday.  I’ve been to some bad weather games over the years, but this one may have taken the cake.  It was about 30 degrees and raining non-stop for the entire game, which ultimately caused me to lose most of the feeling in my extremities.  It was all the more painful as Michigan fell to 3-8 in a frustrating loss to the Wildcats.  I accepted long ago that this was a transition year for the Wolverines, but after last week’s win over Minnesota I thought the team was making some positive steps.  But it was incredibly frustrating to shiver away and watch the offense flail about as it did, particularly with the weather as cold and miserable as it was. It will be a long winter in Ann Arbor, but brighter days are certainly ahead.

The rest of college football was fairly uneventful this week, as the world prepares for the epic Texas Tech-Oklahoma showdown next week.  Most things went according to plan, although it was a bit of a surprise how brutal a beating Florida gave South Carolina (I was guessing this would be closer to the spread of 22 points).  Although Alabama is currently ranked #1, from what I’ve seen of the Gators and Crimson Tide this year, I can’t see the SEC Championship being much of a contest, and would actually predict Florida to win by at least two touchdowns.  For now, my top 5 heading into this week is: 1) Texas Tech; 2) Alabama; 3) Florida; 4) Texas; 5) Oklahoma.

I was amazed at the quote from Scott Boras, right before free agency opened on Friday, regarding Manny Ramirez.  On the heels of a 2-year, 45 million dollar contract offer from the Dodgers, Boras was quoted as saying that as of Friday, they would begin accepting “serious financial offers” for Ramirez.  From my perspective, Boras is basically saying that a 22.5 million dollar per season offer is not a “serious financial offer.”  Completely ridiculous!

In other baseball news, the Cubs acquired Kevin Gregg, who will presumably take over setup duties, while Carlos Marmol will become the closer.  Marmol has been one of the best setup men in baseball over the last two years, and should transition nicely into the closer role.  Of course, the acquisition of Gregg means the end of Kerry Wood in Chicago.  I’ve enjoyed watching Wood pitch and would love to see him in a Mets uniform next season.  That being said, I’m not convinced that the Mets will give him a multi-year deal to be a closer, and basically that means he is probably off limits.

Continuing down the closer track, there was a report in a Venezuelan newspaper that Francisco Rodriguez was recently in New York getting examined by doctors in preparation for signing a deal with the Mets.  No other news outlet has reported this story, and I am somewhat skeptical that it is based in fact. While it would be a logical move from the standpoint of both parties, and Rodriguez may ultimately sign with the Mets; I tend to think that nothing is imminent.

And now, the NFL; My Dolphins have surprisingly moved into a second place tie in the AFC East, with a close win over the Oakland Raiders (and they have the head to head win over the Patriots already).  The Patriots will visit Miami next week, and if the Dolphins can pull off another win, they will be sitting in a fairly good position to shockingly make the playoffs (the Rams, Chiefs, and 49ers remain on their schedule).  I was opposed to the signing at first, but Chad Pennington has been an absolute godsend, leading this team to an incredible turnaround.  This turn of events has brought me back into the NFL on more than strictly a fantasy football level for the first time in a few years, so I thank Mr. Pennington for that.

That will do it for me this week.  See you next time.