Weird Drinking Tips for New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve there will undoubtedly be some vodka drinking. Boston Dan has sent along a link to the weirdest set of drinking tips I have ever seen: "How to Drink Vodka and Stay Sober". The tips are attributed to Russian tradition, but I have my doubts.

The author suggests eating "a couple of boiled potatoes", drinking "one or two raw eggs" and drinking "one or two tablespoons of olive oil" before the party and then continues with various tips for "at the party" and "after the party".

I don't recommend following these tips, but anyone who is willing to try them out and report back on 1/1/06 will forever be my hero. Send photos too.

Happy New Year!
Drunken Bleachers

Merry Christmas!

Gross

"Uhm...… I’m proud to be a New York Yankee and the proud tradition we have… Uhm...I will go out there and run through walls for them, hit and bring another championship to New York..."

Wig/Beard Burning Ceremony Tomorrow

Go ahead Damon Disciples, burn your replica wigs and beards. Johnny's gone to New York, but it's going to be okay (I think). At least MBTA workers aren't on strike.

Johnny Damon, our charismatic "cult hero", our "savior", has been exposed for what he really is: a typical professional athlete who has no loyalty to any fan base and is willing to play for whatever team will pay him the most. It's a simple formula really. It's "business".

The good news is that the Yankees overpaid again for an aging superstar. A Yankee fan may ask: "Why not use the $52 million forked over to Damon to bolster the pitching staff?" Yes, the Yankees will be able to pound the hell out of the ball a little bit more this year, but their pitching staff is still terrible. In contrast, the Red Sox have made improvements to their starting rotation and bullpen.

I'll reserve judgement on the Damon situation until I see what the Red Sox's two headed GM does with the cash that had been earmarked for Damon. For example, if the Sox go out and sign free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood and he wins 20 games, then I won't complain.

Meanwhile, all I want for Christmas is a centerfielder, a shortstop and a first baseman.

Say It Aint So...

''Our policy with the Yankees is to go out and win, and we're going to try to bring another championship to them. They haven't had a championship since Chuck Knoblauch was there when they had a great leadoff hitter so I think the leadoff role has been underappreciated. A good leadoff hitter is tough to find and I think New York just found the best leadoff hitter in the game." -- Johnny Damon

Bye Doug, Edgah

Who needs Theo Epstein? This seven headed "General Manager by committee" seems to be working full throttle for the Boston Red Sox.

Two weeks after the coup that landed the Sox Josh Beckett, Guillermo Mota and Mike Lowell from the Florida Marlins, the Sox have made two big trades in the last twenty-four hours.

1. Doug Mirabelli to the San Diego Padres for Mark Loretta
As much as I hate to wave goodbye to Mirabelli, (and I seriously worry about who is actually going to be able to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball), this is a good trade for the Red Sox. Loretta is not a "big name" player, but he is a solid option at second base (.301 career batting average). Loretta takes a lot of pitches, can hit-and-run and lay down a bunt. He will be a nice addition to the top of the Sox lineup.


2. E6gar Renteria to the Atlanta Braves for Andy Marte
I'm not heartbroken to hear that Edgar is leaving Boston. It would have been interesting to see if he could "turn it around" in 2006 but his numbers just weren't worthy of a $10 million per year contract. If the Sox were able to clear away some of his salary to put towards signing Johnny Damon, I am all for it.

It is also good to see the Sox get a good young prospect in return. Marte doesn't have stellar numbers so far in the big leagues (.140 batting average in 25 games ), so he is truly only a "prospect". The final evaluation of the trade will also depend on who ends up filling the vacancy at shortstop.

Isn't Nomar still on the market?

Bruins Trade Thornton

The Boston Bruins front office is a joke. I am almost too angry for comment.

I just about dropped my bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup on the floor when I heard that Joe Thornton was traded to the San Jose Sharks for three marginal players: Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau.

What in the world was Bruins GM, Mike O'Connell thinking?

The Bruins (8-13-5) are having a terrible season. It is getting painful to watch. I expected management to make a move that would shake up the team. There was still time to get hot and salvage a playoff spot. A logical move may have been to make a coaching change or to trade Sergei Samsonov who will be a free agent at the end of the season.

It was an absolutely atrocious move to trade Joe Thornton at age 26, the face of the franchise in the prime of his career without getting a player of equal value in return. The Bruins front office should have been thinking up a way to surround Thornton with better players, not how to send him packing.

Mark my words: 12 years from now Joe will retire from hockey with a Hall of Fame career behind him and the Bruins still won't have won a playoff series. Sharks fans are positive that they got away with a highway robbery.

Good luck in San Jose, Joe. In Boston I guess we're starting the process over again - with this move, the Bruins will be the frontrunners for the #1 draft pick in 2006.