Sports Redux: In Which We Live Vicariously Through the NLCS

Manny vs. Pedro. Two guys we loved while they were here (well, maybe not the last month or two or eighteen of Manny, your mileage may vary), who helped us out a lot in 2004, and stuck around long enough to pose for some goofy pictures.

It's all business for them today, though, as they'll face each other in Game Two of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. Pedro: "We are actually like brothers. But we’re both professionals, and we belong to different teams....but once the game is over, I hope he comes over and gives me the same real hug he always gives me and the same jokes." The Phils took a 1-0 series lead last night, and Boston has to decide whether they root for the Phillies (at least they're East Coast, but not NY) or the Dodgers (for Torre to win one before his old team). The ALCS starts tonight, weather permitting, and you can't tell us you don't know who you're rooting for there.

The Bruins and Patriots kept preparing for their next games, against Dallas and Tennessee, respectively. Junior Seau had his first day of practice with the Pats, at least in this go-round, and said, "My role is not to baby-sit. My role here is to help this team win." Good. Meanwhile, as the Bruins prepared for a two-game trip out west, Coach Julien switched lines a little bit, moving Michael Ryder over to a line with Marc Savard and Marco Sturn, and switching Milan Lucic over to play with Blake Wheeler and David Krejci. Got all that?

Elsewhere in sports, Rush Limbaugh was dropped from the group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams. Which is perfect for him, because now he doesn't have to own the St. Louis Rams, and can concentrate on howling about how he was kneecaped by the cabal of notorious left-wing radicals who run the NFL.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers seem to have found themselves in the middle of a swine flu outbreak. LeBron's felt a little sick, but he thinks he can recover in time to play a couple of preseason games and be ready for Cleveland's opener with the Celtics in a couple of weeks, which are a couple of weeks that we wish would move along a lot faster.