I see Nelson Cruz has no problem catching THIS ball!

I guess he didn’t have to leap.

Francona… I love you… but shut up

I have nothing but love for Terry Francona.
I love how he was a classy manager and led my team to the two World Series titles that we Red Sox fans will always cherish.

And I thought management treated you horribly after the 2011 season.

I covered that already.

Now let me say this… shut up.
You rolled your eyes at Bobby V’s banning beer from the clubhouse and called it a publicity stunt.

So what if it is?
It’s not a bad publicity move. It’s saying to the fans “Hey, I realize there was a problem last year and things are going to be different now.”

As much as I respect you, Mr. Francona, the reason for the massive regime change this year was because there needed to be a change in the culture. The laid back, let the guys do what they want, attitude worked brilliantly when the Sox were down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004 and 1-3 to the Indians in 2007 and almost damn worked again against Tampa in 2008!

But it came back to bite the Red Sox in 2011. When starting pitchers couldn’t make it out of the 4th and the team was spiraling and by your own admission you lost the clubhouse, the best thing to do is let Bobby V run the team the way he sees fit.

You are a really classy guy who brought glory to the Red Sox and left on strange terms.
The same can be said for Joe Torre who lost a lot of respect in people’s eyes when he put his name on The Yankee Years book.

Don’t go down that road.
We will all applaud you FOREVER for what you did. It was a glorious 8 year run.
Now it is Bobby V’s team.

Let him run it the way he wants to.

The Sully Baseball Official Oscar Picks for 2012

I am taking a break this weekend from my baseball obsession to feed my other addiction:

The Academy Awards.

Now usually, I am super prepared for the Oscars. I’ve made it a point since the mid 1980s to see all the Best Picture Nominees before the telecast and most of the acting and writing picks as well.

In fact I’ve seen every Best Picture winner ever and every nominee since 1948.

Until this year.
I haven’t been able to get out to the movies at the clip that I would have wanted to this year. And while I’ve seen 6 of the 9 nominees (which I am betting is more than you’ve seen!) I am going into this year without seeing either one of the front runners.

Nope, I haven’t seen The Artist yet.
Nor have I seen Hugo.

So while I made to the end of that awful Tom Hanks/Sandra Bullock Sept. 11th movie and a feature length movie about the A’s winning where they barely mention Mulder, Zito and Hudson, I am woefully unprepared by my own standards.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t make my predictions! My predictions are based upon who I think will win, not based upon any merit.

So here’s my picks, submitted for your approval:

BEST PICTURE: The Artist
BEST DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicus, The Artist
BEST ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
BEST ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Artist
BEST ART DIRECTION: Hugo
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Artist
BEST SOUND MIXING: Hugo
BEST EDITING: The Artist
BEST SOUND EDITING: War Horse
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
BEST MAKE UP: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
BEST MUSIC SCORE: The Artist
BEST SONG: Man or Muppet from The Muppets
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: A Separation
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Pina

And of course the categories that NOBODY knows but we bet on them anyway.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: La Luna
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: Tuba Atlantic
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Basically “When in doubt, pick The Artist!”

I am going to watch the show and I am unapologetic, I enjoy it.

And I tend to be very bad in predicting winners.
I just hope Billy Beane is in the crowd.

Enjoy the show and enjoy listening to me talk about my Oscar obsession.