And another thing...

Swap this

Well, it's over, boys and girls. Multiple sources are reporting that Manny Ramirez is now a Los Angeles Dodger, traded in a three-way deal that leaves my Pittsburgh Pirates holding the bag again.

The deal sends Ramirez -- last seen holding up a sign in the dugout saying he'd approve a trade to Green Bay for Brett Favre -- to the Dodgers in exchange for one of the Bucs' few remaining stars, Jason Bay. The Pirates, per usual, get four minor-leaguers.

And so once again my Buccos' ownership reveals itself to be a bunch of quitters. First they send Xavier Nady to the Yankees for a couple of missing persons; now they ship Bay to Boston for a few more missing persons.

All I can say is what I always say when the Pirates do this: If their owners want to be major league owners, act like it. Quit demeaning the Pirates' proud legacy by treating them as a de facto farm team. If you can't do that -- if you want to behave like bush-leaguers -- sell the team and buy, say, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Whew. I feel better now.

-- Ben Smith

News flash. Not.

NASCAR Post Ahead ...

And here's a piece of breaking news that isn't exactly news: Sources are reporting that Ryan Newman has agreed to pilot the second car for Stewart/Haas Racing next year.

Newman's name has been at the top of everyone's list as new owner Tony Stewart's teammate ever since it was announced he wouldn't be back with Roger Penske. No one's still admitting it, but apparently the deal is either done or close to being done.

-- Ben Smith   

Walking away

This just in: The Indianapolis Colts' third-round draft pick from 2007, defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock, has apparently decided to retire.

This will come as a shock to anyone not familiar with the toll playing professional football exacts on a human body, even one still as young and resilient as the 24-year-old Pitcock's. As seductive as the game obviously is to those who play it, it also demands an almost inhuman level of commitment sometimes.

Pitcock clearly decided it wasn't for him. Ridicule him all you want for walking away from the glamour life of a pro athlete, but at least he'll still be walking 20 or 30 years from now. Which is more than can be said for some of his now-former teammates.

-- Ben Smith

A Wie bit off

Annika Sorenstam is as right as single-malt Scotch. Michelle Wie needs a new agent.

Once again, for reasons known only to Wie and her parents, who handle her affairs, she's off to play in a PGA event, this time skipping an LPGA major to do so. As I've said before on the Blob and elsewhere, I think she has every right to do this, unless I woke up in Iran or North Korea today. And yet, what she and her parents are thinking is beyond me.

Wie has struggled to make cuts and be competitive on the LPGA tour the last few years, let alone on the PGA Tour. Her game reeks of a lack of confidence. Yet she picks now to go play against the men again?

If her confidence was in a wad before, just wait until this weekend's over. Mismanaged doesn't begin to describe what's happening to her career.

-- Ben Smith

Donaghy goes up

This just in: Dirty NBA ref Tim Donaghy got 15 months slam-time today, a hefty sentence considering he flipped on two other defendants in the worst NBA officiating scandal ever.

And if you think sending Donaghy up the river closes the book on that scandal, think again. Given that shamed refs Joey Crawford and Bennett Salvatore were allowed to officiate in the Finals this year, you can pretty much bet there's more out there that hasn't yet come to light. Stay tuned.

-- Ben Smith   

More Brickyard

NASCAR Post Ahead ...

And I promise, this is my last word on Sunday's Debacle at the Brickyard.

And, yes, debacle is the right word. Especially when it looks more and more like the fallout from NASCAR's re-enactment of the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix is just getting started.

For a taste of it, check out this guy's blog here.

Note especially the e-mail from the lady who said her family burned up $1,500 and three days of vacation only to get farce in return. Her comment that next year they'll go to the beach instead ought to send chills down the spine of Brian France and every other NASCAR honcho.

That's the worst part of all this for NASCAR: The timing. Maybe if the economy was flush and NASCAR was still cresting, a catastrophe like Sunday would only be a blip on the radar. But with the economy tanking and attendance down as a result -- and the sport already in something of a flat-line trajectory -- what happened Sunday couldn't have come at a worse time. And never mind that it happened in one of the sport's two biggest events, at the most storied venue in all of motor racing.

"The track won't change next year," a clearly steamed Tony George told the Indianapolis Star Monday, in a quote picked up by Terry Blount of ESPN.com. "So if (NASCAR) wants to come back, they better figure it out because I don't think the fans want to come back and see that.

"Figuring it out will only come with getting the car and tire combination right, and that requires actually spending the time and effort to do something about it." 

In other words: Get your act together, boys. And as the blogger suggests, maybe reconsidering the tire manufacturer would be a good start. Or at the very least, bring in a second tire-maker so there's actual competition instead of the monopoly there is now.

-- Ben Smith      

Brickyard thoughts

Back home again from Indianapolis, after a long, strange and disastrous day, PR-wise, for the NASCAR boys. And now that I've had a chance to sleep on it a bit, I have a few takes.

* I know I gave NASCAR a pass in this morning's dinosaur editions, saying that at least everyone worked together to put on a race, or a quasi-race, unlike the debacle that was the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix. In hindsight, though (which is always 20-20, as Robin Pemberton of NASCAR helpfully told us yesterday), I'm wondering if what NASCAR gave us Sunday was all that much different.

Like Michelin in 2005, after all, Goodyear brought a tire that didn't work. Like Michelin in 2005, it underestimated just how severe the problem was until it was too late to do anything about it. And like 2005, we consequently got farce or something very like it.

Steve Letarte, Jeff Gordon's crew chief, said that at least NASCAR wasn't like Formula One, which gave the fans "nothing." Technically, that's not true. F1, like NASCAR, did put on a race in 2005. It was an absurd race, but it was a race -- which is pretty much the same description you can apply to yesterday.

Six cars going around and around; mandated cautions every 10 laps. Esthetically, what's the difference?

* The effect of the economy on NASCAR -- on all discretionary spending, frankly -- has been an ongoing story all season. And I don't know if this was anything but coincidence or, at best, andecotal evidence, but it sure looked as if the economy took a bite out of NASCAR Sunday.

I say this after seeing bare aluminum -- lots of bare aluminum -- in the north and south short chutes stand and Northwest Vista seating. Empty seats have become more and more prevalent the last few years at the Brickyard, but there were considerably more in evidence this time around.

Again, I can't say if this was economy-related or simply a pointed commentary on what a lousy venue Indianapolis is for stock cars. But it was pretty jarring.

* If Sunday taught NASCAR anything, it's that it MUST reinstate an open test at Indy. Pemberton and Greg Stucker of Goodyear claimed it wouldn't have made any difference, but out of the other side of their mouths they were admitting that some procedures would change for next year. Which to me suiggested that the return of an open test at Indy is imminent.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette          

Familiar face

INDIANAPOLIS -- I swear, you never know who you're gonna run into at this place.

Former colleagues. Actors from "Scrubs" (take a bow, John C. McGinley). Running backs from IU.

"Excuse me?" you're saying now.

You heard me. Roaming around media center today, I bumped into Bryan Payton, the former Concordia star and current Indiana star-in-waiting. He was here, believe it or not, not as a spectator, but as a member of the working press, covering the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard for the Indiana Daily Student.

It's his first big assignment, he told me, and, yes, he does know a little about it. His girlfriend got him into NASCAR some time ago; he now professes an affinity for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. His plan, he says, is to go into print journalism as a magazine or newspaper writer.

"It's been just a great experience," he said. "This is definitely the biggest thing I've done so far, being that I just started in May. It opens my mind about other stuff I would like to cover."

On the football side, Payton, a redshirt junior, returns to camp for IU next Sunday. Typically, he has big plans on the gridiron this year, too.

"There's no doubt in our minds that we're gonna get a bowl game this year," he said. "I don't know how many games we're gonna win; that's ultimately up to us and how we're gonna play. I definitely we're capable of winning more than seven games.The way I see it, if we win seven games again in my mind, that's a little bit of a failure.

"The Insight Bowl was great, I loved Arizona, they were awesome to us, but I don't want to go back. I want to go to Pasadena, I want to go to Orlando, I want to go somewhere different. We're more than capable of doing that."

-- Ben Smith

Busch, Busch, Busch

INDIANAPOLIS -- I don't know who's going to win today, though I picked Kyle Busch. And I picked him precisely because of what he did last night.

In case you missed it, he won the Nationwide event over at O'Reilly Raceway Park, his record 15th victory in all series this year. And actually, win isn't quite the word. What he did was drive off and leave everyone else, leading 197 of the 200 laps. He was running his own race, and all the other schlubs were running theirs.

Love him or hate him, what he's doing is remarkable. And for those of you who say it's all because he's got that muscular Toyota under him ... well, he did it last night in the down-powered Toyota mandated by NASCAR last week. So there.

-- Ben Smith

Favre won't show

INDIANAPOLIS -- And while we're updating stuff, the latest from the Brett Favre Network (BNN): Apparently Brett is not going to show up at the Packers camp after all.

This after the Packers have told him in every possible way that they don't want him there.

I still find it utterly amazing that the Packers are treating one of the greatest players in their history like a communicable disease, less than six months after he nearly led them to the Super Bowl. I know the guy's a pain. I know he's played these retire-or-not games with them before. I know he makes the Packers brass want to pull their hair out ... or maybe his.

But, still. He's Brett Favre, not a disposable lighter. How can you be so eager to turn the keys over to Aaron Rodgers that you're essentially tell No. 4 that he's dead to you?

-- Ben Smith