Random Tidbits

Here are some lingering thoughts from the past week or so.

The Patriots appear to be interested in linebacker Ed Hartwell. I think he'd a be a great pickup for the team if he's healthy. Hartwell can play inside and stop the run. He was great in Baltimore before joining Atlanta as a free agent two years ago. He's been plagued by injuries since joining the Falcons but he's only 28 years old. Even if he's able to compete as a part-time linebacker for the Patriots he could be a nice value signing.

I liked the Minnesota Vikings as a kid and I've been a big Randy Moss fan since his rookie year. I got a nice surprise on Christmas from my parents during Moss' rookie season when my dad was able to find a Moss replica jersey for me. I have never, however, condoned his actions off the field, or often, on the field. He can be a total jackass. I think that he is helpless without proper guidance and leadership on a football team. I think that the Patriots have the stability to reign Moss in, but I don't want him on the Patriots' roster. Moss is on the decline and his attitude sucks. Yes, he might behave in New England, but I don't think he'll put in the effort.

Donte Stallworth isn't high on my list of free agent wide receivers. He's lazy and has never reached his potential. His draft stock shot through the roof based on his 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine. He's rested on his laurels since then. The Saints tried to dump him for at least year before actually doing so. I don't think that Stallworth will bring much to the Patriots as a wide receiver, especially for the amount of money he wants.

I do like Kelley Washington at wide receiver, though. He's a big guy (6' 3") who probably won't require a lot of cash to sign. To the best of my recollection he's had some injury problems, but I don't believe that he's had any attitude or discipline issues.

The Red Sox starting rotation looks like it could be very special this year. I am well aware that Spring Training games are both meaningless and a terrible predictor of regular season performance. However, the starting pitching has been dominant so far this spring. Curt Schilling has been working on a changeup this year. Josh Beckett has been using his curveball effectively. Daisuke Matsuzaka has baffled hitters with his off-speed pitches. Jonathan Papelbon has looked as fiery as a starter as he was as the closer last year. Tim Wakefield has been mixing in a curveball this year. Jon Lester is an amazing story simply being able to compete with the team this spring after being treated for cancer last year.

Schilling has officially joined the blogging the community. His new blog, "38 Pitches", has been an interesting read this week.

Speaking of new bloggers, Rob Bradford also has a new blog this year, "Bradford on Baseball".

I will be adding both links to the sidebar of "Digital Sox" along with a few other new links.

The Sox bullpen has looked simply awful this spring. No one has looked good enough to provide any relief to the fanbase. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Hansen is fat and out-of-shape causing his back to flare up. Donnelly got crushed the other the day. Pinerio doesn't seem comfortable with his arm slot. Hansack and Delcarmen have failed to impress. Timlin can't even get onto the field. I really hope that the bullpen pulls together, and fast, because the starting pitching is going to go to waste when the real games start if the 'pen struggles this mightily.


On a personal note, we got a new laptop last week. It's a Toshiba Satellite A135-S4467 running Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit). It's a great laptop that I found on sale for a very good price. It has a dual-core 1.6 GHz Centrino processor with 1GB of PC4200 RAM. It comes with a 160 GB SATA hard drive and a dual-layer DVD burner. The screen is a 15.4-inch 1280x800 widescreen display.

I'm quite happy with the laptop and overall I'm rather impressed with Windows Vista. I wouldn't run out and upgrade any computer running Windows XP SP2, but Vista offers some nice upgrades to the overall arrangement of Windows. Many set-up operations, like setting-up a home network, have been streamlined. The overall appearance has been tweaked not only for looks, but also for simplicity and ease-of-use. I also really, really like the new layout of the menu system in Office 2007. Users no longer have to hunt down obscure toolbars or sub-menus to find advanced options.

I'll write-up a detailed Vista and Office 2007 review in the coming days.