FUCK THIS COLD WEATHER, BAR RAFAELI TO THE RESCUE

It warmed me up. Got the blood flowing so to speak.

BUSTER OLNEY NAILS IT WITH THE ORIOLES ANGST

The last few days of the MLB Winter's Meetings have been exciting for this Orioles fan. They filled major holes in the infield by trading for Mark Reynolds and JJ Hardy and also resigned their closer Koji Uehara. But honestly I can not get too excited because the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford for a billion dollars after trading for Adrian Gonzalez. And the Yankees will probably sign Cliff Lee because like the Red Sox they overpay for everybody. ESPN'S Buster Olney sums it up perfectly to how this Orioles fan feels even after the major moves....

"If they were in the American League West, we'd be talking about if X, Y and Z happened, maybe they would contend. But in this division, they are 100 miles away," Olney said. "They have so far to go upstream, it's like watching a salmon at the mouth of whatever river. … That's why, in my own feeling, I wish baseball would realign and take out the divisions. The Rays' window may have just closed for good.

"There is a huge gap between [the Yankees and Red Sox] and the rest of their division. It's almost like it has to be a combination of brilliant work by someone like [Rays GM] Andrew Friedman with luck to get one of the other teams in the mix. For somebody that covered that team, I feel bad. You just have this huge generations of Orioles fans waiting to be inspired and I can't see it anytime soon."

Until there is a hard salary cap the game is always going to be in favor of the major market teams. The two shitbirds (Yankees and Red Sox) should honestly just join as one team. There is no difference between them. They have formed into two perfect Evil Empires. And it's not their fault because Bud Selig is too fucking dumb to do anything about it. As long as he is getting paid and the owners are cashing it in he could careless about competitive balance. And please don't give me the argument about how their have been 8 different World Series Champions in 10 years. The playoffs are a crap shoot. Anything can happen. The problem is over a 162 game schedule it's not fair for the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Rays to have play 19 games each against all the other teams in the AL Beast.

If they aren't going to do a hard cap then realign the divisions like Olney says. The Mets, Cubs, Phillies, Red Sox, and Yankees can all be in the same division. Let them beat the shit out of each other and spend the most money to win the division.

USC GRANDMA FURTHER EMBARRASSING THE SCHOOL

As if Lane Kiffin and the sanctions weren't enough. Now you have some horny old ass grandma freak dancing at your tailgates. I don't know whether to laugh or throw up.



Video HT: George Lee

THE RED SOX CLINCHED THE AL EAST LAST NIGHT, SIGNED CARL CRAWFORD

Don't worry Red Sox fans. Your long postseason void of one whole season will all be forgotten in 2011. Red Sox Nation no longer has to suffer the plight of being labeled "3rd place" in the best division in baseball. Yes, they have agreed in principle to sign the biggest free agent on the market in LF Carl Crawford.

7 years. $142 million. What recession?

In the past 5 days the Red Sox have added All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and now Crawford. It's actually quite fucking sick how nasty their lineup is going to be minus Salty at catcher and JD Drew in right. Sure they are heavy left handed but who is going to beat them? Old man Yankees? Nah. The depleted Tampa Bay Rays who lose all their stars to free agency? Nah. The Toronto Blue Jays? Get the fuck out of here. The Baltimore Orioles? Sure they have added Mark Reynolds and JJ Hardy but they can't hang with Boston.

This is how baseball works. The teams with the most revenue get the best players. There is no salary cap because Bud Selig is too busy lining his pockets with TV revenue. The Yankees will surely sign Cliff Lee now. They have to now that the Red Sox got a heavy hitting lefty lineup.

I don't blame the Red Sox for dishing out all the cash to sign Crawford. Shit I would. Crawford is a bona fide superstar in my book. Great player. Great teammate. Hustles. Boston will love him. It's just kind of sickening when you know teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees have built in advantages that other teams don't.

Congratulations go out to your 2011 American League East Champion Boston Red Sox.