Hump Day Jocko feat. Milton Bradley

REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-OSPHERE:
MILTON BRADLEY BLOGS?

by Ryan Corazza and Evan Bartsch

Getty Images

Milton Bradley with a baseball bat: good for your baseball team or menace to society?

Jocks blog. We report. (You decide.)

Milton Bradley: I'm an All-Star Now

The Rangers DH on finally making it to the gala:

"Last September, I was being peeled up off the dirt in San Diego with a torn ACL," he writes. "I was completely written off by the baseball world. I was barely given a chance to be ready to play by the All-Star break, let alone be a part of the annual celebration. But my hard head refused to listen to the nay-sayers. 'I'll be ready for opening day,' I arrogantly proclaimed last December before I was even able to jog.

"But that's where my mother Charlena Rector comes into play. Well actually, she's been a part of things since day one. She kept me in school every single day (perfect attendance my whole life), in church every Sunday and she guided me through the trials and tribulations of this crazy career I've chosen. "God is able," she always says. And my faith in God never allowed me to waver from His perfect plan. I haven't necessarily taken the most direct route, but I made it."

Let's hope Joe Buck doesn't make a crack about M.B. in the booth next week.

Tommy Lasorda: Master Motivator

The Dodgers lifer doing what he does best:

"I can remember Cardinal O'Connor gave a memorial Mass for my mother," he writes. "After the Mass he said he wanted to see me, and he said that every time he heard me talk that I always talked about motivation.

"'Do you really believe that you need to motivate players making five, eight, 10 million dollars a year,' he asked.

"I told him that everybody in this country, from the President, down to the lowest job in the land, at some time or another needs to be motivated because they think they are doing their best when in reality they are not."

John Lackey: A Trip To The White House … and Some Bowling

John Lackey really digs the White House:

"One of the days we were in DC, a few of us players (Reggie Willits, Justin Speier, Robb Quinlan) and staff got a tour of the White House, mostly the East Wing and some of the West Wing," he writes. "I really had to pinch myself because it was surreal. I guess since 9/11 they don't do public tours so I definitely felt privileged to be there. We got a chance to see the Oval Office and the Rose Garden during our visit back in 2003 after we won the World Series but this time we spent about two hours there. Our tour guide was a former sniper with the secret service. This guy was great, knew all the ins and outs to the White House and gave us some great insight. He took us down to the basement where there is a bowling alley. I got to roll a ball and left three pins standing. You know I would have picked up the spare but we each threw just one."

Later in the visit, Lackey tried reenacting the scene from There Will Be Blood in the bowling alley. He was promptly kicked out.

Jennie Finch: 32 Days

Jennie's not ready for the Olympic ride to be over; just ready to get started in Bejing:

"Watching the Olympic trials has been rejuvenating and energizing!" she writes. "It has been amazing watching dreams come true for many. After watching many hours of track and swimming I thank the Lord above for me playing a team sport and us being chosen in September!

"My heart breaks for the many who have given so much just to have a shot on that one day. That one day they have to be their best. Less than a second, less than a centimeter, there were so many emotions in the trials this past week. I have a really close friend who was there competing for her one shot, she has given so much, faced an injury 2 months before the trials, fought so hard to overcome, she was so very close. My heart ached for her this week as she went through the trials and came up just short. She will remain a champion in my mind. Watching her face this past week just makes me realize how many belong and gave so much but yet will not be in Beijing physically but are with all of us that are.

"We are better and who we are and will carry them with us as we represent the US because of all these amazing athletes. It reminds me how grateful, blessed, thankful, and incredibly special this is. We have been grinding daily getting ready for this our whole lives and its only 32 days away."

Rafael Nadal: Nacho Typical Morning

Wimbeldon Champ Rafa blogs about morning practice with his uncle and friend:

"It has been quite a busy morning," he writes. "I practiced for 2 hours. Initially it was going to be a smoother practice but I wasn't feeling that great hitting the ball and decided to practice a bit more with my Uncle Toni and a player from Menorca called Nacho Coll. I know him for some time, he is in the Balearic Tennis Centre and he is around to play some future events. I use to hit with him sometimes when we are in Mallorca. After that I had a lot of media obligations with Press Conference, TV interviews and a get together with the Spanish media that follow me around the different tournaments."

Is Nacho Rafa's secret training weapon? Is that why Federer went down?

Paul DePodesta: Wanna Be GM?

"Ok, this is your chance," he writes. "Well, not really, but I am interested in hearing your opinions.

"Today we saw a blockbuster transaction with CC Sabathia moving to the Brewers. I'm not looking for your take on the trade (sorry) - these are actually two of the best GM's in the game making bold, yet solid, moves for their respective organizations. It should be a win-win, which is what you'd expect with these types of players and organizations involved. What I'm curious about is this: what would you do this month if you were the GM of the Padres?

"As I've written before, this year has been frustrating on two fronts: 1) we've played well below our expectations, and 2) we were a timely hit away yesterday from being just seven games out of an underachieving division. Given the state of our current team, our organization as a whole, and the entire division, what would you do?

"I've posted a poll to the right that will run for the next three days - no dillydallying or waiting to see how things unfold. I'd like your vote in the poll and your comments below this posting. This should be interesting…"

Ah, this pulls us right to this Seinfeld memory; cue Frank Costanza (the average crazed fan) when he has Steinbrenner over at the house because Big Stein thinks George is dead. What comes out of Frank first? Not 'how is my son' or 'what happened to George' but 'what the hell did you get rid of Jay Buhner for?!' Let the fans have their say, for it will be interesting.

Jock-osphere 5-12

REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-OSPHERE

by Ryan Corazza

Getty Images

"Actually, the scuba dives are a part of the search for the underwater fountain of youthful appearance. So … you seen my flippers?"

[Ed's Note: In the long view of the sports media industry, it's still a relatively new concept that athletes, agents, executives and yes, mascots, could circumvent us and tell their own stories…instantly, on blogs. We say, fantastic—but we're going to cover what they're writing.]

Marques Douglas: Athletes Need to Change

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Marques Douglas is tired of seeing athletes in the headlines for off the field problems. To wit:

"I look back at some of the all-time greats who played the game, like Deacon Jones and John Randle, and wondered how would they would have dealt with the problems facing the game and communities," he writes. "I wonder how the social issues that face our communities would be different if, we as professional athletes, would take a stand. … Change in a way that would allow others to come in and play the game the right way and function in their lives as productive members of society. Athletes used to be revered in the communities and across the world for how the lived their lives, not only during the hours of "the game" but also after the game."

Greg Oden: Back on the Mainland

Greg Oden is back from a ten day stint in Hawaii.

"I worked out everyday but my workouts were split between riding the bike for 13 miles and having a basketball workout for an hour," he writes. "I also got to go enjoy the island of Kona. I went on a helicopter ride of the island. I never been snorkeling before but by the time I left I went 5 times and felt like I've been doing it for years. I also went to some really good restaurants. "Tommy Bahamas" became my favorite spot."

Since it's clearly too late to write an Oden cameo into Forgetting Sarah Marshall, we're only asking for a possible spot in the next Magnum PI run. Come on Selleck, don't fight it anymore.

Detroit Tigers: Time to Ship Out the Slogan?

The Detroit Tigers are looking for a new slogan. Maybe.

"Internally we have been debating for the last two years if it's time for 'Who's Your Tiger?' to be retired as our slogan. There has been a lot of discussions (both for and against) on our message boards as well. On the one hand, there's a lot of 'equity' in the slogan—meaning that most of Detroit is familiar with the slogan and many people often refer to players as 'their Tiger.' We've even been selling WYT T-shirts for the past few years. Hitting the right note with a marketing slogan is extremely hard to do (we've had quite a few slogans that were 'one and done' —anyone remember 'Earning Our Stripes' or 'We Come to Play'?"

A suggestion for this year's squad: "Where'd our pitching go?" Hey-oh!

Rajon Rondo: Hard Rock Life

Where do you go after a rough loss in Game 3 in Cleveland? The Hard Rock Café? Somebody get Rondo in touch with the concierge. Oh well. At least he's a huge fan of the spinach dip. He also clears the air on the flagrant foul by Marvin Williams from the Atlanta series.

He and Marvin are still boys.

Paulie D

Paul DePodesta, an exec for the San Diego Padres, just stepped into the blog game over the weekend. Check him out HERE.

Evan Bartsch contributed to this report

[Origin of the Species]