Some news from around NFL Camps:

Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin was released from the hospital after spending two days there with a viral infection. He returned to practice on Wednesday.

The New York Jets have reached an agreement with first round draft pick CB Darrelle Revis. Revis missed 21 days of camp; contract terms were not disclosed. This leaves Oakland first round pick QB JaMarcus Russell as the only unsigned first rounder left.

Due to injuries in their secondary the Houston Texans have added veteran DB Tyrone Poole to the roster. Poole, a 12-year veteran, joins his sixth team. He previously played for Carolina, Indianapolis, Denver, New England and Oakland.

Arizona Cardinals OLB Chike Okeafor underwent surgery to re-attach a torn biceps muscle. He will most likely miss the entire 2007 season.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy was appointed by President Bush to the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The term runs for two years.

Buffalo Bills DT John McCargo hurt his ankle in practice and possibly won’t play in the next Bills pre-season game. McCargo, a 2006 first round pick, missed the last 11 games of the 2006 season with a broken left foot.

Jacksonville Jaguars OT Stockar McDougle ruptured his left Achilles tendon and will most likely miss the 2007 season.

Long before Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo was dating country music stars he had the chance to sign with the Denver Broncos and turned them down to go to Dallas. When Denver head coach asked Romo why he took the $10,000 offer over the $20,000 offer Romo told him it wasn’t about the money but that he thought he had a better chance to play with Dallas.

New York Giants WR Plaxico Burress refuses to make the same mistake teammate TE Jeremy Shockey made last year. Shockey played through training camp on a bad ankle and suffered with it through the entire season. This camp, Burress is sitting with an ankle problem and the only time on the field he has seen has been watching the offense or riding the bike.

And in a broadcasting note FOX Sports has hired former Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer to debate Jimmy Johnson, the Dallas head coach Switzer replaced, on college football’s BCS standing and analyze NFL action. Terry Bradshaw will moderate the discussions. It’s too bizarre to be true. But it is. Switzer has also joined XM Radio to provide “expert analysis and no holds barred commentary”. Oh goodie.

It’s a done deal. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will not be driving in the the #8 car for Rick Hendrick Motorsports.

“We’ve been working hard to secure the No. 8 for Dale Jr.’s car number next season,” Hendrick GM Marshall Carlson said. “Obviously, he has a tremendous history with that number, and we know how important it is to his fans. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach a point where the terms made sense, and now we have to move forward with other options.”

So what does this mean for you Little E fans out there. Little E has expressed an interest in using the #81 next season, a number he has used in the Busch Series before. Or maybe just maybe, he will use the #6.7

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Former Boston Red Sox infielder and major league all-star Jose Offerman went absolutely bat shit crazy in an independent Atlantic League game last night in Bridgeport CT. Offerman, playing for the Long Island Ducks, was hit by a pitch in the calf in his second at bat of the night and charged the mound wildly swinging his bat. According to Bridgeport Bluefish manager Tommy John, “He took at least two, maybe even three [swings].”

Offerman, who had homered in his first at bat, charged the mound and hit Bluefish pitcher Matt Beech on the hand and catcher John Nathans on the back of the head. Beech broke is right middle finger and Nathans suffered a concussion.

The game was delayed 20 minutes after the melee and when order was restored Offerman, Beech and John were all ejected. Offerman was greeted in the clubhouse by Bridgeport police who arrested and charged him with two counts of second degree assault. He was released on $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on August 23rd.

Bluefish CEO Mary-Jane Foster, called the Atlantic League office and requesed that Offerman be suspended for life. He has also been officially nominated for Carl Everett’s Crazy Hall of Fame.

Offerman, who played for Bridgeport in 2003, batted .273 during his 15 seasons in the majors. He last played in the majors in 2005 with Philadelphia and the New York Mets. He was an All-Star in 1995 with the Dodgers and 1999 with Boston.

Mike Lowell hit a solo home run in the 9th inning and Coco Crisp hit a walkoff single scoring Jason Varitek to lead the Red Sox to a much needed 2-1 victory. The runs in the 9th off of Tampa Bay closer Al Reyes overshadowed great pitching performances from both Sox starter Jon Lester and Rays starter Scott Kazmir. The walkoff win was the first for the Sox since the Mother’s Day Massacre.

It was an emotional night as Lester returned to the mound for the first time at Fenway since last season. As he made his way out of the bullpen after warming up, he received a standing ovation all the way back to the dugout. He got another standing ovation as he made his way from the dugout to the mound to make his warmup pitches. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was too much adrenaline but Lester started out the game by walking Akinori Iwamura. After that he settled down and retired the next 9 Devil Rays he faced.

In the first against Kazmir, the Red Sox had probably their best chance to score. After Julio Lugo led off with an out, Dustin Pedroia laced a 1-out double high off the Green Monster. David Ortiz then flew to center but it was deep enough to move Pedroia to third. Manny Ramirez then worked a walk but Kazmir would get Lowell to strikeout.

Kazmir cruised through the 2nd inning, striking out the side with a walk to Varitek mixed in there. In the 3rd inning, Kazmir issued a 2-out walk to Big Papi. Manny followed that with a single to right but committed a baserunning blunder when he was thrown out at second trying to stretch his single into a double. Another costly running miscue by Manny.

Carl Crawford led off the 4th with a double to left for the Rays first hit of the game. Then B.J. Upton singled moving Crawford to third. Crawford would come around to score on a Carlos Peña sacrifice fly. Lester would get out of the inning as he would get Delmon Young to ground into a fielder’s choice and Brendan Harris to fly out.

From the Young out until he would leave the game, Lester retired the final 11 batters he faced. For the game, Lester gave up 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and he struck out 4 on 97 pitches.

With the way Kazmir was pitching, you would’ve figured he’d be back out for the 7th inning but with his pitch count at 95, Joe Maddon elected to go to his bullpen. He summoned Gary Glover and Glover started the inning by walking Varitek. Coco then tried to sacrifice Varitek to second but failed as he pushed his bunt too far and Glover threw out Tek at second. J.D. Drew came in and pinch-hit for Wily Mo Peña. Drew ended up hitting into an inning ending double play and was showered with boos by the fickle Fenway crowd.

Kazmir went 6 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and he struck out 8 Red Sox hitters.

Manny Delcarmen came into start the 8th for the local nine and he made things very interesting. Jonny Gomes greeted Delcarmen with single and went to second on a Josh Wilson walk. Josh Paul then laid down a bunt sacrificing Gomes and Wilson up a base each. Instead of intentionally walking Iwamura to load up the bases, the Sox decided to pitch to him and the move paid off as he hit a short fly ball to Manny in left. The runners weren’t able to advance. The Sox then decided to take their chances with B.J. Upton so Delcarmen issued an intentional walk to Crawford. After the intentional walk, Terry Francona called for Mike Timlin out of the pen to face Upton. Timlin did his job and rescued Delcarmen and the Sox as he got Upton to strikeout swinging.

Unable to do anything in the bottom of the 8th, the Red Sox brought out Eric Gagné to pitch the 9th inning. He was greeted by a chorus of boos but those boos quickly turned to cheers as he got the first two batters (Peña and Young) to strikeout. Then Brendan Harris hit a double and I think I heard the crowd all say at the sametime “oh no, here we go again!” Well this wouldn’t be the case as Gagné would get Gomes to strikeout looking. Gagné would end up being credited with a win. It was by far his best inning with the Sox so far this season.

The win coupled with the Skanks loss puts the lead back at 5 games in the AL East. The Red Sox have a quick turnaround as tomorrow’s game is at 1:05 PM. Daisuke Matsuzka gets the ball and he will be opposed by Andy Sonnanstine.

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With the MLB deadline for signing draft picks tomorrow (Wednesday) at midnight ET. let’s take a look at the first round picks and whether or not they have been signed a contract.

If a player isn’t signed by tomorrow’s deadline, the team holding his rights loses said rights and the player will go back to school or head to college and then is eligible to be drafted if he will be a college junior this year. The team losing a player’s rights will be compensated in next year’s draft with a compensatory draft pick.

Kevin Millar hit a walkoff 3-run homer in the bottom half of the 10th off of Kyle Synder to lead the Orioles past the Red Sox 6-3 on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The loss coupled with yet another Yankees win cuts the lead to 4 games in the AL East.

The Red Sox did have a 2 run lead in the 8th inning until Eric Gagné served up a meatball to Miguel Tejada, who blasted it into the left field seats. Hideki Okajima had started the inning and issued a lead-off walk to to Corey Patterson. He then got Nick Markakis to ground into a fielder’s choice that retired Patterson at second. Terry Francona then went to his bullpen for Gagné to face Tejada. Tejada took the 7th pitch, a fastball, and put it in the seats to tie the game at 3. Gagné settled down and retired Millar and Aubrey Huff but it was too late as the damage was done. As he walking off the field after the inning, the legions of Red Sox Nation fans booed him all the way to the dugout.

In the 10th inning with Synder on the hill, Patterson led off with a single and went to third on a Markakis single. Synder then got Tejada to foul out for the first out of the inning. With Millar at the plate, Markakis stole second and much to my surprise, the Red Sox decided to pitch to Millar. Millar took a hanging curveball and put it in the left field seats for a 3-run homer and an Orioles win. Millar was greeted by his teammates who mobbed him at the plate.

Curt Schilling pitched really well today for the Sox. Basically he did what he needed to do to get the win. The Orioles got to him for the only run he gave up in the game in the 2nd inning. Schilling got Tejada for the first out. Former Sox teammate Millar then hit a single off of Schill. Millar would go to third on a ball hit by Huff that was booted by Julio Lugo. Melvin Mora then grounded out to Lugo at short but Millar came across to make it 1-0 Orioles.

The Sox got the lead for Schilling in the 3rd inning. After Steve Trachsel got Dustin Pedroia out, he walked Kevin Youkilis. David Ortiz followed with a double to deep right that moved Youk to third. Manny Ramirez brought them both in with a double of his own, giving the Sox a 2-1 lead. With J.D. Drew at the plate, Manny was thrown out at third as he tried to advance on a ball in the dirt. The out by Manny would hurt as Drew lined a single to right. Trachsel got out of the inning as Mora made an awesome diving grab of a Mike Lowell liner down the left field line.

Boston added another run for Schilling and the Sox in the 4th. Jason Varitek led off with a double. Trachsel then got Hinske to pop out to Brian Roberts at second. Lugo brought in Varitek with a double of his own, giving the Sox a 3-1 lead. Trachsel would get out of the inning as he would get Pedroia and Youk out.

As I said earlier, Schilling pitched really well. The only two guys in the O’s lineup who gave him trouble were Millar and Huff. They both reached base a combined 5 of 6 times against Schilling. For the game, Schilling went 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and 1 run (not earned). He didn’t walk anyone and he didn’t strikeout anybody.

The Sox now return home to face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday night at the Fens. Tim Wakefield will get the ball and look to get this Red Sox ship back on course.

Can someone answer this question for me? With Gagné coming in and not pitching well AGAIN, why does Francona keep going to him. I understand you want him back on the mound after a tough outing but this is ridiculous. Why did the Sox even tinker with what was the best back end of a bullpen in baseball? Delcarmen, Okajima, and Papelbon were virtually untouchable all season. Why mess with a good thing? I just don’t understand it.

/rant

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I was watching the NASCAR race from Watkins Glen online at ESPN360.com or whatever it is now, and there was an accident at lap 72 between Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick. Montoya’s car was pushed by Martin Truex and his car went into Montoya’s which in turn hit Harvick’s car. After all the cars cleared out, both drivers exited their cars and exchanged some words and shoves.After things calmed down, ESPN interviewed Harvick and the interviewer asked him what was being said between the two. Harvick’s words and I quote him exactly:

I was talking to him about kicking his ass because that’s how I felt!

Gotta love the fieryness of NASCAR drivers.

And to answer your question, yes I do watch NASCAR. I have been watching it online today while watching the Red Sox game.

I hope to have video up shortly.

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Red Sox Nation has invaded Camden Yards.

Here’s a look at a few of Amalie Benjamin’s Extra Bases posts from the first two days.

We’re here in Baltimore for another Red Sox-Oriole tilt. There weren’t quite so many Red Sox fans on my mini-plane out of Boston this morning, but there are quite a few in the press box right now, taking a tour of Camden Yards. Just learned that 125 of them are here with Red Sox Destinations.

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Want to see what the Red Sox do for the Orioles?

Try an attendance of 48,993 tonight.

Last night’s?

Against Seattle, the Orioles drew just 18,679.

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And now a look at a few of Steve Buckley’s posts from Clubhouse Insider

The Orioles say thank you, thank you, thank you, to Red Sox fans, as attendance tonight at Camden Yards is 48,993 . . . with all but the 993 being Red Sox fans.

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As was the case Friday night, the joint is crawling with Red Sox fans. There are so many Sox fans here, in fact, that manager Terry Francona made note of it during his pre-game session with the media today.

Following Friday’s game, “Pickles Pub,” a bar located across from Camden Yards was taken over by the Sox crowd. You’d have thought you were in Kenmore Square.

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Thanks in large measure to the mega-throng of Red Sox fans on hand, today’s attendance at Camden Yards is 49,242, the largest of the season.

The two games here have drawn a combined 98,235. With another sellout expected tomorrow — only a few standing room seats remain — this will be the largest attendance for a three-game series in Camden Yards history.

Of the seven largest crowds in the history of this magnificent ballpark, seven of them have been for games involving the Red Sox.

The O’s have had six sellouts this season, for a total attendance of 1,526,638 through 56 dates.

It’s a shame the Orioles have become Bruins-like in their annual makeup. They have such an awesome facility and it’s a great baseball town. But it’s the baseball that’s lacking.

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Josh Beckett was strong for 8 2/3 innings Saturday afternoon as he helped lead the Red Sox past the Orioles 6-2 in front of a sellout crowd at Fenway Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The strong outing for Beckett led to his MLB leading 15th win of the season.

Although he was flirting with a complete game shutout, Beckett had to rely on the bullpen to finish off the game for him as he ran into some trouble in the 9th. Brian Roberts led off with a double to deep left. Beckett then got Corey Patterson to foul out and he struck out Nick Markakis. Beckett got Miguel Tejada down to his last strike but Miggy laced a single to left bringing in Roberts from second. Former Marlin and Red Sox Kevin Millar got the better of his old Marlins teammate as he doubled to left bringing in Miggy from second. Millar’s RBI double cut the lead to 6-2 and chased Beckett from the game. Terry Francona brought in Manny Delcarmen to face Aubrey Huff. Huff worked a walk from Delcarmen and Francona went to the bullpen again for Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon had a little easier time than Delcarmen as he got Melvin Mora to pop out to Dustin Pedroia for the Red Sox win and his 27th save.

The Sox got on the board in the 2nd inning off of O’s lefty starter Garrett Olson. Jason Varitek started the inning with single and went to third on a J.D. Drew double. Olson got Coco Crisp to ground back to him on the mound for the first out of the inning. Julio Lugo followed that with a double to deep left that scored Varitek and Drew, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. Olson settled down as he got Pedroia to fly out and he struck out Youkilis to get out of the inning.

The home visiting team added two more runs in the 3rd inning. Olson started out the inning by getting David Ortiz to fly out to left. He then walked Manny Ramirez. Mike Lowell moved Manny over to third with a double. The O’s then decided to walk Varitek to face the lefty Drew. Drew made them pay for it as he hit a single that landed just inside the left field line that scored Manny and Lowell, making it 4-0 Sox. Olson got out of the inning as he got Coco to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

Beckett was dealing throughout the game. The only time runners reached third base off of him was in the first inning and the 9th inning. In his 8 2/3 innings, he scattered 8 hits, gave up 2 runs and struck out 8. He didn’t issue a free pass to anyone.

Boston would add two more runs in the 8th inning off of Orioles reliever Paul Shuey. Varitek started the inning with a walk. Shuey then got Drew striking out looking. But then he got a little wild as he walked Coco and Lugo to load up the bases for Pedroia. Pedroia kept up his hot hitting as he laced a single, bringing in Varitek and leaving the bases loaded for Youk. O’s skipper Dave Trembley went to the bullpen for Brian Burres. Burres came in and walked Youk bringing in Coco from third for the sixth run of the game for the Sox. Burres finished off the inning by by striking out and Big Papi and getting Manny to ground out.

Curt Schilling will take the ball for his second start since returning from the DL tomorrow. He will be opposed by the “human rain delay” Steve Trachsel. Gametime in Fenway Park Camden Yards is 1:35 PM.

One college football team is trying to do a little something different for it’s players after a long hard practice in the summer heat. The Washington Huskies are making their players drink chocolate milk along with Gatorade after practice to replenish the nutrients lost in the heat.

“This is just another way to facilitate post-exercise carbohydrate replenishment. This is another facet that we can use in our supplement program,” Washington director of sport performance Trent Greener said. “The research substantiates it and it’s something too that the kids are going to be compliant with.”

“We’ve always used Gatorade,” athletic trainer Rob Scheidegger said. “But we’re always trying to find ways to get natural foods into people. So if we can find a natural product at the end of practice that aids with recovery, keeps them hydrated and gives them the energy that they need we’re going to go with something like that.”

The players are required to drink a bottle of Gatorade and a small carton of chocolate milk after each practice. And if you don’t like milk, too bad. You still have to drink it. The lactose intolerant players are given a substitute drink with the same or similar nutritional benefits. They could just buy some Lactaid milk and choclate syrup mix.

I don’t know about you but after I’ve been outside working my ass off in the summer heat, I don’t want some heavy chocolate milk sitting in my system.