Friday free for all

It's Friday people!!!

Tons of news with Josh Beckett's status, Wes Welker's groin, the Palin/Biden debate and a must-see face-off between Bill O'Reilly and Barney Frank. So, off we go...

Josh Beckett has the go-ahead to pitch game 3 for the Sox. Unfortunately, the news is not as good with Mike Lowell, who's likely out for tonight's game 2. Read more in the Boston Herald.

BTW: The Sox will playing Sunday's game 3 at 7:17pm. Game 4 on on Monday is set for 8:37pm and Game 5 on Wednesday is 9:37pm.

Here's your full schedule the rest of the way -

Friday:
6pm - ALDS Game 2 White Sox at Rays (Buehrle vs. Kazmir, Tampa Bay leads 1-0)
9:30pm - ALDS Game 2 Red Sox at Angels (Matsuzaka vs. Santana, Boston leads 1-0)

Saturday:
6:30pm - NLDS Game 3 Phillies at Brewers (Moyer vs. Bush, Philadelphia leads 2-0)
10pm - NLDS Game 3 Cubs at Dodgers (Harden vs. Kiroda, LA leads 2-0)

Sunday:
1:07pm - NLDS Game 4 Brewers at Phillies (if necessary)
4pm - ALCS Game 3 Rays at White Sox (Garza vs. Danks)
7:17pm - ALCS Game 3 Angels at Red Sox (Beckett vs. Saunders)
10:25pm - NLCS Game 4 Cubs at Dodgers (if necessary)

Monday:
5:07pm - ALCS Game 4 Rays at White Sox (if necessary, Sonnanstine vs. Floyd)
8:37pm - ALCS Game 4 Angels at Red Sox (if necessary, Lackey vs. Lester)

Tuesday:
6:07pm - NLCS Game 5 Brewers at Phillies (if necessary)
9:37pm - NLCS Game 5 Dodgers at Cubs (if necessary)

Wednesday:
6:07pm - ALCS Game 5 White Sox at Rays (if necessary)
9:37pm - ALCS Game 5 Red Sox at Angels (if necessary)

Last night, the Phillies and Dodgers find themselves now just one win away from sweeping the Brewers and Cubs. Manny Ramirez slammed another HR for the Dodgers.

Speaking of Manny, a great piece on ESPN.com by Bill Simmons on the state of Man-Ram this season and his demise in Boston.

Pats WR Wes Welker's fighting a groin problem that limited him in practice.

David Scott has the latest New England media rumblings in his excellent "Scott's Shots" weekly edition, including the new feud between Gerry Callahan and TJ Simers.

Don't forget to check out your football viewing for the weekend. The Crowe's Nest gives you your choice of week 6 in college football or week 5 in the NFL.

Madonna and A-Rod were out on the town together again. TMZ has your story.

The VP Debate last night gave us no real game-changing moments. However, the country's view of Sarah Palin surely got remarkably better. On style points, she won the debate with a "let's talk straight to the American people" approach that scored. No, she didn't wow anyone on foreign policy and in fact, not answering Gwen Ifill's question several times but did enough to show that she's not the incompetent goof everyone thought she was in the Katie Couric interview.

On the other side, Joe Biden was remarkably restrained, which is a good thing for him. No major gaffes, although he was factually incorrect on almost a dozen statements ranging from John McCain's vote on troop funding to the constitution's take on the Vice-President.

In the end, both did well for themselves and their candidate, but Palin gained more. With that having been said, the economic crisis will render this debate moot in the 24-hour news cycle as a House vote is scheduled for later today. The next debate comes Tuesday in Nashville as we go back to Obama vs. McCain.

This is MUST-SEE stuff from "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News. Bill O'Reilly trades barbs with Barney Frank on the whole Fannie and Freddie Mac woes. Classic stuff.



Don't forget that Smackdown moves to MyNetwork TV tonight. In Rhode Island, there's no real MyNetwork TV affiliate, so you'll have to watch it (or DVR it) at 11:30pm on Fox 64.

Thanks again for all those donations to Abbie's Change Bandit Team. They're coming in fast and furious, so we appreciate it. For more, click on Abbie's picture at the top right hand corner of the blog.

Football picks are coming later!