Manny being Manny?

It's been a while since I wrote a sports column, so I figured I was due. Warn the children because some of this might get ugly.

-I am sick of Manny Ramirez. There. I said it. I AM TIRED OF HIS ACT. Those of you in Red Sox Nation know what I am talking about. He started an offseason training program in November and will not be finished with it until next week. What does this mean? It means that he will report to camp a week after the rest of the team does.

Manny spoke with team officials and they gave him the OK on this. So let me get this straight: If a player wants to show up a week late for spring training, all he has to do is ask the manager for permission? And if your name is Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, or another superstar, this is acceptable? Wow.

I had a long chat with a fellow Red Sox fan about this today and we disagreed. My point is this ... Whatever Manny is doing from now until March 1 is not the issue. The fact that he is training and honing his baseball skills does not mean squat to me. He knew months ago when camp was to start. And he knew that everyone else on the team would be there on time. So why does he have to be "that guy" and show up a week late?

This brings up a bigger issue, one that rekindles memories of Pedro Martinez in a Red Sox uniform. Petey, a.k.a. "the man with the golden arm," always arrived a few days late to camp. Every year. And every summer, our man skipped the Red Sox team photo. Imagine that? He skipped three- or four-straight photos, so the technologically-savy guys had to digitally insert him in the picture. And again, that was OK? The only time I ever heard this was when I was covering a Red Sox game for the Boston Globe and heard columnist Dan Shaughnessy (Gordon Edes' curly-haired boyfriend) talking about Pedro, so clearly the team saw it as a non-issue.

This double standard kills me. Would it have been acceptable for a younger or less-talented player to do any of these things? Of course not. But since Manny is a star, this is OK. We have to make him feel good. Gotta keep him happy, right? Because if we make him show up on time with the rest of the team, that would make him angry. We have to baby this guy because if we don't, he'll quit the team. But above all else, this is just Manny being Manny.

Manny being Manny? I think it's time for a new excuse.

-This next one is for you golfers out there. What's up with this Stephen Ames character? On Monday night, he told the Golf Channel his thoughts on playing Tiger Woods in the opening round of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

"How he goes about scoring from where he hits it -- that's the amazing thing," said Ames. "That's the mark of a true champion. As bad as he hits it, he still manages to win golf tournaments."

He also told the Associated Press, "Anything can happen, especially where he's hitting the ball." The interviewer noted that Ames was smiling when he made that last comment.

And how did Tiger respond to these negative comments from this Canadian loser with ONE career PGA Tour victory? He simply beat him 9 & 8. To you non-golfers, this means that Tiger was nine holes up with eight to play. Game set match. Let me also point out that Ames ranks 90th in the world in driving accuracy at 59 percent, 149th in scoring average (72.29), and 172nd in money leaders with $14,178 in 2006. I don't think I have to give you Tiger's stats to make my point.

-When the Winter Olympics started, I was not overly excited. I've never been a big Olympic guy. But I find myself drawn to some of the events this year.

The luge is awesome because it is, well, luge. Anything with a name like that must be cool. Skeleton? See the previous sentence if you're wondering why I like this suicidal sport. And I've always been a hockey fan, so I enjoy watching this sport. Although the US Men's team was a flop. But hey, atleast Canada is out too.

I don't ski, but all of the skiing events are a trip. Well, except for cross-country skiing. Why would I spend my time watching a pack of guys in spandex travel in a big circle for 30 minutes? Not my idea of must-see TV. My favorite event has to be downhill (or alpine) skiing. Traveling at 70-80 MPH down a steep and slick course is insane. You would never find me doing that, but I could watch it all day long.

Curling? Don't get me started on this one. Walking down your driveway to retrieve your mail is more of a sport than this.

-Don't forget to leave a comment with some of your favorite columns on this site. I am trying to make a list of them and post it on the main page.

-Jason