A couple links to get you through the day

Just wanted to pass along a few links.

MLB's hot stove season is always entertaining, and nobody does a better job of tracking potential player movement better than ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. In this piece, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3161000, he takes a good look at AL teams such as the Blue Jays, Rays and Indians and what those clubs can do to stay competitive in their respective divisions. Really good read.

As we get into this world of blogging, you'll notice there's a big Bill Simmons following here at The Daily Times. This article, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071218, is a bit heavy if you're an NBA novice. But it's very entertaining to consider the possibilities The Sports Guy lays out there.

Also, this article, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3163105, hit home. It seems Jonathan Papelbon's dog recently chewed up his World Series ball. This was fitting after a splendidly frustrating episode with my dog today (we'll call her Autumn because that's her name). I won't get into the mess of a story, but let's just say I spent a good portion of my morning bathing Autumn following a brief stroll in the park. There were geese involved.

Happy Thursday! Five short days until St. Nick comes to town.

Lou