Franklin Gutierrez hopes to bounce back from IBS

I really don't want to make fun of this because considering our last post where Bobby Jenks almost died from a back condition, but Seattle's Franklin Gutierrez battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome is certainly an odd story. For the last two years it hurt his play out on the field but he's looking for a turnaround season this year.

Gutierrez, who turned 29 on Tuesday, is ecstatic to have emerged from the painful nightmare of the last year and a half.

He was branded an emerging American League star after a 2009 season in which he hit .283 with 18 homers, and according to advanced statistics was the best defensive outfielder in baseball.

But halfway through the 2010 season — one in which he earned a Gold Glove, but declined precipitously across the board, statistically — Gutierrez got his first pangs of stomach distress.

It turned out to be a debilitating illness that confounded doctors for months before he was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in late April. But even then, it took awhile before Gutierrez figured out how to manage the condition, and by that time, 2011 was a long-lost season.

Gutierrez hit just .224 in 92 games, but it was an exceedingly weak .224, including just one homer and a .273 slugging percentage.

As the season progressed, Gutierrez learned, through trial and error, what he could eat and couldn't eat — and when he could eat. Late-night snacks, for the most part, were out. Doctors settled on effective meds. And by this past offseason, Gutierrez was feeling good again — good enough to work out intensively all winter. He left for home in Venezuela weighing 183 at the end of last season (after getting down to a low of 175), and returned this month at a muscular 200.

I really do hope he bounces back from it. I got the chance to watch his great 2009 season, and watching him in the outfield in person is a real treat. He was really among the best outfielders in the majors - his range was absolutely insane.

If he can return to form the Seattle Mariners will still suck, but at least there will be somebody decent in the lineup.

Bobby Jenks almost died

Well this doesn't sound fun at all...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Bobby Jenks was not just fearful that his career was in jeopardy, the right-handed reliever was terrified for his life last December.

Jenks had surgery to remove bone spurs in his back on Dec. 12 at Massachusetts General Hospital and was back home in Phoenix a few weeks later when he noticed the incision in the middle of his back was leaking some kind of fluid.

The Red Sox pitcher bandaged it up himself and first thought nothing of it. But the problem didn't subside, so he visited a doctor and was rushed into emergency surgery on Dec. 30 to repair "a mistake" that Jenks said could have been a life-threatening situation.

"It was pretty serious," he recalled Thursday at training camp.

Jenks also was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last September, and because of that issue he had to wait until December to undergo back surgery. Leading up to the surgery, he was working out and trying to get as physically strong as he could so his body could handle the procedure.

This doesn't make me want to get old and have back surgery, so hopefully... hopefully mine holds up so I can be the 70-year old doing 5K runs as opposed to moving around in a wheelchair.

Epic Photo: Best hair band ever

Move over Whitesnake!

Epic Photo: Solar Eclipse

From Space.com

A NASA spacecraft has captured stunning footage of Tuesday's (Feb. 21) partial solar eclipse, which left our star looking briefly like a huge celestial Pac-Man.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was watching Tuesday morning when the new moon crossed part of the sun's face in a partial eclipse that was visible only from space.

Actually that's crap... the large thing blocking out the sun is actually John Lackey...

Epic Photo: I think this guy wants to be noticed

Just a hunch...

Red Sox get the "other" Chris Carpenter

The Red Sox got Chris Carpenter! Only it isn't the St. Louis pitcher who's a strike-out machine and the anchor in that rotation. Nope... it's this guy...

The situation is finally resolved after close to four months of fruitless haggling. Carpenter, 26, was a third-round pick in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. He can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but the right-hander posted an ugly 5.91 ERA in 42 2/3 minor-league innings last season and projects as nothing more than a middle reliever. The Sox will also get a player to be named later and will send the Cubs a player to be named later at some future date.

For getting Theo Epstein as their GM, the Cubs had to give up players to be named later. While Boston initially asked for their best two players, Chicago smartly turned them down and instead sent over this guy who could get you excited if you didn't realize he "wasn't that Chris Carpenter."

Meanwhile, Boston doesn't have a fourth or fifth starting pitcher in the rotation. Ye gods...

Delta's 2.74 pound mountain bike

This bike is a beast! It weighs in at just 2.74 pounds and it's frame is made of carbon fiber and Kevlar.

Delta 7‘s awesome new Antrix Mountain bike is sure to make any bike enthusiast’s jaw drop. Designed for rugged terrain, this beauty of a bike features a patented IsoTruss carbon fiber and Kevlar “spider web-like” tube frame, and its smart yet stealth frame weighs in at just 2.74 lbs! The Arantix is buit to withstand extreme use, and its unparalleled strength-to-weight ratio results in an ultra stiff and responsive bike. No price has been revealed yet, but a limited production of just 200 frames should tell you something.

It's pretty sweet, but somehome I'm guessing out of my price range.

RUHT ROW! Somebody give the Zags some Scooby Snacks

With St. Mary's losing to Loyola Marymount, all Gonzaga had to do was win out and they would at least have a share of the title. However, after last night's loss to San Francisco, the Zags have blown it.

What does this  loss mean? Basically Gonzaga no longer controls its destiny to win the WCC regular season title. They need St. Mary's to lose. If they don't win the regular season title, that means their resume for the NCAA Tournament might take a hit. If it takes a hit, that means they're going to have to do good in the WCC Tournament in order to go dancing. If they go one and done at the conference postseason tournament... Spokane might be idle this March.

They host BYU in the Kennel on Feb. 23, and if they lose that game, their NCAA hopes could take a bigger dip. That's four conference losses. That's a WCC team that haven't beat in the regular season and could be facing in the postseason tournament. I'm not saying that Gonzaga's season is over, but it's hanging by a thread at the moment and some late season losses could put them over the edge.

Epic Photo: Mount Rainier

This one comes from National Geographic.

This image captures almost 6 hours of climbing parties on Rainier going for the summit under starry skies. Wind shifts during the night would cause bands of smoke from fires 100 miles away on Mt Hood to pass over Rainier. This intermittent low-level haze caused the red glow seen in the sky and a Rainier that looks like it was almost painted on. Lights from Sunrise can be seen in the lower right of the frame. (© Chris Morin)

Josh Beckett doesn't get it

What does Josh Beckett think of last season's "Beer and Chicken" fiasco that was brought up after the Red Sox epic collapse?

Just last week, Josh Beckett surfaced to give his side of last year's chicken-and-beer uproar.

Until this, Beckett had been heard only through a prepared statement in October. Like John Lackey, he had grudgingly conceded the pitchers could have behaved differently, but he took exception to reports of drinking on the bench.

Those reports, unlike the chicken-and-beer stories, have not gained credibility. Major media seems to have largely dismissed them.

Otherwise, Beckett attributed his silence to a preoccupation with caring for his infant daughter. Explanation accepted.

That does not change the disturbing fact that Beckett does not seem to get it. And he won't, until he stops talking as if the real crime was not in being guilty but in getting caught.

What happens in the clubhouse should stay there, he said, rather than leak out to the public.

(Sigh) Here's the issue with this situation. When you're watching the Rays and Yankees, the entire teams up on the top step in close games, guys seem to genuinely like one another, there's plenty of joking around, it looks like they're having fun out there. That's what you need with a baseball team, you need it to feel like a team. No surprise, they made the playoffs.

When your starting pitchers and team leaders cut out early to go in the clubhouse from some KFC and Coors Light, what does that say to the rest of the team? It shows a lack of focus, and a disregard for the importance of the team.

Enjoy the Boston media this year, Josh!

Stuckey Update: Lighting up the Kings

Hey remember this guy?

EWU's Rodney Stuckey finished with a season-high 36 points last night and the Detroit Pistons beat the Sacramento Kings 114-108.

While not a battle of the titans, both teams are a combined 20-42 on the season, but it's good to see Stuckey continue to do good things in the NBA.

"We were getting easy buckets just by pushing the ball," Stuckey said to AP. "We were getting out on the break, Brandon [Knight] was pushing the ball, and I was getting rim attacks. That's my game."

Stuckey is averaging 14.7 points per game and 4.1 assists this season, and has scored over 20 in his past three games. This is his fifth year in the NBA but it's been a sluggish start to the year, however he might be on the rise for a second-half surge.

Either way, five years in the NBA means he's better than any Gonzaga player in the NBA from the past 15 years (We're not counting John Stockton, of course).

All hail the ultimate junkball pitcher

How can you say that a pitcher helped save a series when they pitched three and a half innings in a blowout loss? Well that would basically sum up Tim Wakefield in a nutshell. Wakefield announced his retirement from baseball, and at age 45 its probably a good time to hang up the cleats but nobody is going to forget about him anytime soon.

He might be the slowest pitcher in the league, he might make Jamie Moyer seem like he's throwing heat. He's payoff pitch is that quirky knuckleball. You know the one pitch your coach told you to stop throwing in Little League? Wakefield may give up home runs. He may not have days where the knuckle ball is working. He may be the only reason the Red Sox keep catcher Jason Varitek and mannequin at the plate in the lineup. But above all, Wakefield is one of those rare guys that may not look like a monster on paper but you want him on your team.

During the 2004 ALCS, Wakefield gave up his start in Game 4 to save a battered Red Sox bullpen when things look liked trouble. With everyone jumping up and down at the thought of another Boston collapse and the curse of the Babe rearing it's ugly head for another year, Wakefield did what was best for the team.

I'm not saying that he knew they were going to win the next four games BUT his mindset was more along the lines of "I'm going to give this the best chance I can to win the next four games." As a team, that's the mental state you need to be in to pull off something as historic as the 2004 ALCS. Wakefield and the team were stupid to think they could sweep the Yankees in the next four games but the funny thing is, that stupidity paid off.

New York would win Game 3 19-8 to go up 3-0 in the series, but Wakefield's act helped keep arms fresh. The more arms you can throw out there on the mound, the better chance you have at winning in a series setting. Boston won Game 4, Wakefield ended up being the winning pitcher in Game 5 and you know how the rest of the series went down. Legen...dary.

(Keep in mind that Wakefield was also the pitcher that gave up the Aaron Boone home run in the 2003 ALCS. Funny how baseball is poetic like that)

Here's the stat line from Boston.com...

Wakefield, 45, was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA in 627 appearances in his 19-year career. The Florida native spent the final 17 seasons with the Red Sox, going 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA over 590 games. He is third in team history for victories, trailing only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who each had 192.

Wakefield's 17 seasons with the Sox were the most for an active player. In team history, only Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Dwight Evans (19) played more years with the team.

Wakefield leaves the Red Sox having pitched the most innings (3,006) and made the most starts (430) in team history. He was second in games pitched (590) and strikeouts (2,046).

He also allowed the most home runs (401), walks (1,095), hits (2,931), wild pitches (125), and hit batters (176) in team history and had the most losses.

Wakefield, the oldest player in baseball last season, was 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 33 games 23 of them starts. He pitched 154.2 innings.


The great thing about Boston is they definitely have players that become "our guys." (Carl Crawford, you're definitely not there yet) Favorites that play in Fenway and maybe they don't compile the greatest stats known to man, but the memories they make always stick with fans. Wakefield was one of "our guys."

Thanks Tim! After beer and KFC chicken-gate, it's good to remember there are still guys like you.

Epic Photo: This is how Ewoks do...

Ask storm-troopers about this...

LeBron James also said he would play college basketball

I just don't get why LeBron feels the need to humor us. By saying he could see himself playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he caused America to roll its eyes again. I wouldn't blame Cleveland fans if they never wanted to see you in their city limits again, so don't expect them to welcome you with open arms.

While I defend LeBron going to Miami, it was the best career move for him, I think its a little soon to be saying this when he's a YEAR into his deal with Miami. How do Heat fans feel right now?

CLEVELAND -- Could LeBron James see himself playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers again? He won't rule it out and said that if he decided to return someday he hopes the town's famously scorned fans would accept him back.

James qualified it all by saying he's happy playing for the championship-contending Miami Heat. But making his third return to Cleveland since his high-profile free-agency departure, hard feelings seem to be thawing from James' perspective.

"I think it would be great, it would be fun to play in front of these fans again," James said after the Heat's practice Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.

"I had a lot of fun times here. You can't predict the future. Hopefully you continue to stay healthy. I'm here as a Miami player and I'm happy where I am now but I don't rule that out in any sense. If I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me."

I think that after "The Decision" Lebron should just stop with the public comments for the next four years.

L.E.D. snowboarder

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile. Happy Friday! Hit the snow over the long weekend!



Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton swaps the studio for the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, with a luminous after hours short starring Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes. The electrifying film sees Hughes light up the snow-covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D.-enveloped suit courtesy of designer and electronics whizz John Spatcher.

"I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness," says Sutton of his costume choice. "I've always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source."

Sutton, who has created work for the likes of Hermès, Burberry and The New York Times, spent three nights on a skidoo with his trusty Red Epic camera at temperatures of -25C to snap Hughes carving effortlessly through the deep snow, even enlisting his own father to help maintain the temperamental suit throughout the demanding shoot.

"Filming in the suit was the most surreal thing I've done in 20 years of snowboarding," says Hughes of the charged salopettes. "Luckily there was plenty of vin rouge to keep me warm, and Jacob's enthusiasm kept everyone going through the cold nights."

Epic Photo: Take that Don Zimmer

If you're a Red Sox fan, this never, ever gets old...

Learn more about about the Pedro vs. Zimmer incident.

Jon Brockman trick shots

Some pretty awesome trick shots from former University of Washington basketball player Jon Brockman.

Portland Timbers tattoo contest

Brandon and I are Seattle Sounders fans. I've gone to at least a few matches every season since the team joined the MLS. (Brandon went to two their first season then moved to Montana)

Well the awesome new marketing campaign by the Portland Timbers makes me think that it's time for Brandon to get a Timbers tattoo.

Do you have a tattoo idea? We’d love to see it. In celebration of the Timbers tattoo-inspired billboard currently displayed near the Morrison St. bridge, we’re asking all our fans to submit their own Timbers inspired tattoo design. Defender Eric Brunner and goalkeeper Jake Gleeson--two Timbers players who are tattoo aficionados--will be the judges for all eligible entries received. Eligible entries will be judged on the following basis: use of Portland Timbers branding (25%) originality (25%) and creativity (50%).

Oh, and the winner gets their tattoo paid for.

I'm thinking Brandon with a green lumberjack on his entire back.

Apple's new product

I hope this isn't too soon after Steve Jobs' death. 

Can't question Tim Tebow fandom

Football season is over but that doesn't mean Tebow-mania has to stop. While doing a little browsing today in the local Polson Walmart (better known as the center of all Lake County commerce), my roommate Dylan and I discovered a box of Tim Tebow posters.

Now neither of us are Denver Bronco fans, but how can you not want a Tim Tebow poster in your residence? If you don't like Tebow its something you can make fun of, like those weird Minnesota knick-knacks that your relatives send you, and if you do like him, you can point it out to all your friends.

But one poster isn't enough. At least not for Dylan and I. We decided to go all in and buy TWO Tim Tebow posters. Why? Because he's the effing son of God. That's why.

Tim Tebow Poster No. 1

Note in this photo, Tebow is sharing space with the best video game character of all time, the largest natural freshwater lake in the Western United States, dinosaurs, the best fans in Arena Football, the best soccer team in the state of Montana and Chuck Norris. I'd say he's in pretty good company.

Tim Tebow Poster No. 2

The second poster is sharing space with Darth Vader. I don't think I need to explain his awesomeness.

And what should you do around a Tim Tebow poster? There's only one thing you can do...

Epic Photo: Stratospheric Skydive

I'm usually afraid of getting on an airplane, but this stratospheric skydive makes that look like a walk in the park.

Is American democracy dead?

In America, where we like to tout democracy like the greatest thing since apple pie, you'd hope we'd have this whole "voting" thing figure out. But then the 2000 election showed that people didn't know how the fill out ballots. Now a report comes out that there are 1.8 DEAD million people registered to vote in this country.

What does that mean? Well if a zombie ever runs for president, they'll definitely get the "dead" vote which is probably more potent than the "under 25 college student know it all but is too high or lazy to vote" demographic.

Here's a bit from Gawker...

The Director of Pew's Election Initiatives, David Becker, told Politico that the center's findings did not suggest any voter fraud or voter suppression stemmed from these problems. But, jeez, it really doesn't look good, right?

Voting registration systems in many states are still paper-based, meaning that election offices must perform vast quantities of data-entry by hand. These methods, Pew found, are as costly, error-ridden, and inefficient as they are quaint.

Over one-fourth of the country that is eligibly to vote isn't even registered, meaning that our American democracy is about as healthy as our American waistlines. I'm totally sure that those 51 million Americans that aren't registered never complain about the government, their leaders, how life in America is or how stupid it is we celebrate Whitney Houston's death over the death of America soldiers with clever Facebook postings. Nope not a single one... (That's sarcasm if you didn't pick up on it.)

George Lucas is a terrible old man

This weekend, Star Wars brought in 23 million dollars which would have been a major disappointment if it were a new movie. Instead it's a re-release of arguably the worst Star Wars movie ever made: The Phantom Menace.

This time in 3D. Hooray, I can see that awful podrace sequence and stilted acting in all dimensions! Granted I'll have to wear some greasy pair of glasses that's been worn 100 times before me. But it's Star Wars right?!?!

Come on folks, George Lucas needs to be saved from himself. He dumpster fired the Indiana Jones series with the fourth installment. He destroyed all credibility Star Wars had with the awful Episode I, the laughable Episode II and the "Oh this isn't godawful so if must be awesome" Episode III.

It wouldn't be so bad except we're going to see these prequels re-released in theaters in 3D and then the original Star Wars movies will be released after that. Again. For the umpteenth time, the same Star Wars movies in theaters. La-Dee-Da. Star Wars fans need to be released from their own maker's crazy marketing schemes. 

Here's an idea George, make a new movie, stop re-releasing the same old movies with minor tweaks. I know you're making a butt load of money but at least act like you're trying. You re-released these movies after they were originally run. Then you released the special editions. How many times can you beat on a dead Ewok?

Can't wait in six years when the Platinum Ultra Cool Super Sweet Editions of his six movies hit theaters again that feature more Natalia Portman cleavage or something.

And now can you excuse me, I have to buy a Tie Fighter toy online.

Just South of North Trailer Video

Casey and I would like to apologize for the little break we took from not updating Just South of North. We're back folks! You can't get rid of us that easy...

Leader Sports Report Episode Seven

Brandon and Dylan talk about Christmas, upcoming Lake County sports events, the NBA and NFL followed by a spirited discussion about the Oregon Ducks' helmets.

Leader Sports Report Episode 7 by Brandonwhansen

The Lion King Rises trailer

If you're like me then you are stoked for The Dark Knight Rises this summer. But check out this amazingly well done trailer using the voice of The Dark Knight Rises trailer and The Lion King.

Hilarious Direct TV commercial

Saw this commercial tonight. Made me smile.

Brandon's VCR collection

Since moving to Montana a few years ago Brandon has taken on a new hobby. Collecting VCR recorders!

Oh, and he got a sweet haircut.

Check out his collection:

NFL Pro Bowl selections

Tonight the NFL announced the lineups for the Pro Bowl. And I must say there were not many surprises.

Eight Patriots, eight 49ers, seven Packers and seven Ravens. It's pretty easy to tell that the best teams will have the best players and therefore the most Pro Bowl picks.

But how'd Brandon's favorite team, the Tennessee Titans, and my favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks fare?

Well the 7-8 Seahawks had ONE players selected. That's right, safety Earl Thomas in just his second season got a Pro Bowl selection. Looks like he was a great draft choice.

But not to be outdone, the 8-7 Titans have a whomping ZERO players selected. Wah wah. Sorry Brandon.

Happy Holidays!!!

From the Just South of North family to yours, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Awesome commercial

Perhaps the best commercial of the year belongs to Google. Nice work!

Christmas Light Show 2011

We shared with you the awesome house that had the singing Jack-o-Lantern faces during Halloween. Well now check out the same house only during Christmas.

Week 15 NFL recap

Hard to believe the NFL is almost into the playoffs but it's been a heck of a season. Let's take a look at some of the stories of today.

Colts win
Yes, the Indianapolis Colts finally proved that they could win without Peyton Manning at the helm. It only took them 14 weeks to figure out how. Oh, and the win came against Brandon's favorite team. Even better!

Packers lose
And the 1972 Dolphins toast to Kansas City. Yes, the lowly Chiefs have knocked off the might Packers. And Wisconsin will now slap the city with a cheese boycott.

The Seahawks are awesome
Where was this team five weeks ago? Can imagine if they can win out and somehow make it to the playoffs? They would be the most dangerous team out there. The Hawks have been on fire as of late and are rolling through the end of the season. Too bad a 9-7 record might miss the playoffs this season, but a 7-9 won the West last year.

Tom Brady proves he's no saint
Brady went into Denver and beat Tim Tebow and the Broncos in the promised land of Denver. And with that win Brady stamped his ticket to the burning gates of you know where. No one, and I mean no one, beats Tebow in his house without some type of retribution.

Casey rooted for Denver
Yes, I'll admit I rooted for Denver for the first time ever. That shows how much I can't stand Brady and the Patriots. Three teams I can't stand, Patriots, Steelers and Cowboys.

Joe Flacco gets his wish
Flacco spent last week complaining about how much the media covers Tim Tebow (as if Tebow controls the media and how much they cover him) and that the media never covers the Ravens. Well now he got his wish. The media will cover how much he sucked while the Ravens got hammered by the lowly San Diego Chargers. Careful what you wish for Joe.

The Giants are hot then cold
You never know what Giant team is going to show up each week. Sometimes they are really, really good. Other times they get slammed by the Washington Redskins. They are the football version of the stock market.

The Saints are GOOD
Yes the Saints are showing that the Packers aren't the only super team in the NFC. They destroyed the Vikings and show that they will by no means be a pushover in the playoffs.

Jacksonville still has an NFL team
Apparently the Jaguars still exist. Although Atlanta showed the team is still non existent on the field.

Leader Sports Report Episode Six

Dylan and Brandon talk about upcoming Lake County Sports, the NBA Debacle, the NFL and things that bug them in sports. They also give you the scoop on SKC's DJ Fish.


Leader Sports Report Episode 6 by Brandonwhansen

Things Casey is too old to do...

In the show "How I Met Your Mother" they have a thing called the Murtaugh List that is composed of things that the just-thirty characters have decided they're too old to do. That got me thinking since Casey is getting up there in years, I've decided to reveal his very own Murtaugh List...

1. Pose in front of Wieners

Just for purely aesthetic reasons, he needs to stop doing this. Unless he never plans on running for Congress.

2. Hang out with wooden monkeys

Everybody knows that once you give wooden monkeys a cookie, they're going to ask for a bag of pot. Since Casey is an upstanding citizen and doesn't touch the stuff, I think this puts him in a tough situation. Also... is that a surfboard the monkey is holding? Or one of those wake boards you put your knees on and just look like an idiot?

3. Date ugly girls

Considering he's married, this is a bad idea. And also think about what would it be like rolling over in bed next to this Shelia. Maybe he should just stick to hanging out with the wooden monkeys...

4. Play in Poo

And playing in poo with other people? Ewwwwww.

5. Run from Dinos

Haven't you ever seen Jurrasic Park? Running from T-Rex at an advanced age is like betting against Tim Tebow. BAD IDEA. Casey thinks he can outbike that monster but he's go another thing coming...

What else is Casey too old to do?

Why Albert Pujols isn't worth the money

Alright, now that everyone and their mother has had time to hand the World Series trophy over to the Angels before the season has even started, its time to get over the hype and see just how big a move it is for LA.

Considering the Dodgers are a dumpster fire right now, the Angels are trying to get as much a share on that market as possible. Sign a big free agent and get the headlines right? Albert is probably the greatest hitter of this generation so naturally, he's the one you want to hand the paycheck.

Two hundred and fifty million dollars. Probably larger than NASA's budget. For 10 years.

I have no doubt Pujols will come up big, produce well and continue to do this for years to come. He's an all-time great. He's somebody that you'll be telling your kids about years from now.

But we've seen a team do this before (Rangers with ARod) and they didn't have glowing results. In fact, Texas went backwards after fielding a decent team in the late 1990s. I don't think A-Rod was to blame, he still put up big numbers, but they didn't solve other problems on the team.

Now the Angels might be different because they got CJ Wilson, and a have a good, deep pitching staff. But they didn't make the playoffs last season, and will Pujols and Wilson put them over the hump?

You can't answer that. What if one of them slumps? One if one gets injured? What if other players get injured?

There's so much that goes on during a baseball season, Pujols signing doesn't mean anything other than the Angels will be trotting out one of the most fearsome hitters in the game.It's certainly exciting, it's certainly good for the fans but LA can't think they've solved all their problems.

It seems like the Yankees have signed every big slugger the past decade. And what's that resulted in? One World Series.

So basically what LA has paid for is 250 million dollars worth of headlines and an awesome strength for one spot in the lineup. They've got to continue to work the players around him and the pitchers they'll put out on the mound.

And at some point, couldn't they use a little bit of that $250 million for those spots too?

If Web Browsers were guns...

Casey prefers the last one...

Voyager spacecraft has reached... well really nowhere.

Good news everybody! Voyager 1 is now... basically in the middle of nowhere. In the great achievement of human engineering, the farthest man-made object from earth has reached "uncharted regions between our solar system and interstellar space."

What does that mean? The suburbs? That space in between Montana and Washington  that's basically trees and freeway that everyone just likes to drive through (Idaho)? Sounds like Voyager has found a crappy region that rivals the Tri-Cities. 

After more than 30 years of space journey, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached a distance of about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) away from the sun and has entered uncharted regions between our solar system and interstellar space.

This region is called the “stagnation region” by the scientists. In this region gusts solar winds can be felt. Solat wind contains high-energy charged particles that stream from the sun that leak out into the space.

The stagnation region? Can we send the Kardassians there?

Leader Sports Report Episode Five

Ronan All-State cornerback Jack Humphreys joins the Leader Sports Report as we talk about NFL, BCS, Brett Favre and much more!

Leader Sports Report Episode 5 by Brandonwhansen

Captions for the photos of the year

Maybe you've seen this rolling around the internet... but have you seen the captions for them?

"In third world countries, the starting line for the 100-meter dash is just a wee-bit different from America."

"You wanna know how I feel about AJ Burnett's pitching?!?! I'll show you right here."

"Wait... you have to use a computer to use Facebook?"

"I'm sure that's Zima they're spraying in her face."

"Dude, that was a sick double-kill on Halo 3... now switch to the sniper rifle!"

"Did you hear? Duke lost the other day."

"I'm my country, you don't deserve to have front teeth."

"The world is going to end when Al Davis dies... oh wait.. waaaaiiiit...."

"Montana reaches record highs for the month of December..."

"You're sure nobody is watching?"

"Alright, who forgot to pay the dust storm bill?"

"Hey! This tastes like movie theater popcorn!"

"...and then Rocky threw a punch like this... and Mr. T went down..."

"Duck Hunt is played a little bit differently around here..."

"McDonalds had now found a new source of meat for their quarter-pounders"

If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments below...

Epic Photo: Earth is pretty small

Marshawn Lynch is perhaps the greatest human being to have ever lived

Last night's win over the Eagles by the Seahawks had a familiar feel to it.

Now at 5-7, Seattle had no real shot at the playoffs but in a sense this is one of those wins that shows a turning point for a franchise. If you would have told me after week 3 of the NFL season that the Seahawks would win five games, I would have called you crazy.

But they've improved. Why? Because they're one of the youngest teams in the NFL and they're slowly getting better. They may not be world-beaters this season but something is brewing in the Pacific Northwest. I think last night's win showed all you Seahawk fans out there that the team is moving in the right direction.

The Eagles? Oh god, Mike Sherman will be coaching them next season.

The thing that sticks out the most about terrible teams is a lack of identity. What is Philly's idenity? Vince Young throwing interceptions. Seattle? Marshawn Lynch being an absolute stud. T-Jack not being an awful quarterback behind a good offensive line. The defense doing it's job.

There are pieces here folks. Over the course of the season, Seattle has put them together.

And that makes the win for you Seahawks fans all the sweeter. (Now if you will excuse me, the Titans have a playoff berth to clinch)

Sorry, but Wulff got screwed

Plenty of Cougar fans bought season tickets and shelled out donations but what is getting lost in all of this Mike Leach madness is how WSU royally jobbed Paul Wulff.

Lets flash back to when Wulff was hired as the Cougars head coach. Bill Doba had apparently "recruited kids" by going to Pullman middle schools and asking who wanted to play football. WSU had come off a few uninspiring seasons but still were competitive with Mike Pryce era recruits.

But all those seniors graduated and Wulff had nothing in the cupboard.

When Wulff was at Eastern Washington he was heralded as a great recruiter but it wasn't like he called a fantastic playcaller (like Beau Baldwin) or anything like that. I don't think anybody could argue anything else. He ran a program and had he coordinators take care of what they needed to take care of. However, Wulff essentially had Doba's rejects to deal with and he had to go against Pac-10 competition.

He finally gets his recruits in and the teams shows signs of improvement and they pull the rug out from under him. Even though he was probably the cheapest coach in the Pac-12 and one of the hardest working ones. Factor in that WSU will use the new Pac-12 TV money to pay Leach and it may have been something planned all along.

"Hey lets get an alum to coach the team because they're going to be absolutely awful with Doba's recruits, he's a good recruiter and he'll fill the roster with kids and once the boosters call for his head we can use the TV money to buy a big splash name."

Either way, it worked out perfectly for WSU and not so perfectly for Paul Wulff. Leach will win with his recruits next year. With Connor Halliday at the helm of this team - boy, things will be crazy in Pullman.

I mean if you win nine games in four years, you can't expect to have job security but WSU is a midmajor-level athletic program (in terms of facilities, financial support, ect.) competing in the Pac-12. You have to look at it that way and not like your USC.

Wulff was right, WSU is like the rest of them. When they complain about Leach leaving in four years, I'll point back to the day they fired a loyal guy.

(With that... I mean who isn't excited about the Cougs next year... they're going to win some games!)