Minor Details

Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland is in the midst of his first spring as a professional baseball player after being drafted out of Portsmouth High School last June.

So, what's it like being a teenage minor leaguer in his first season? Ryan has been kind enough to offer some periodic insight via The Daily News sports blog.

Check back soon to find out what's new with Westy.

The smearing of A-Rod

Sports journalism these days, it seems, is all about, “Can you top this?” In a day when blogs and 24-hour networks rule the roost, it’s about who can get the information out the quickest, whether or not it’s 100 percent accurate. It’s doing whatever you can to get people talking and reading, i.e., John Tomase.

I don’t plan on reading “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” the new book written by Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated. I won’t read it because I don’t really care enough to drop the 20 or so bucks. But SI did run an excerpt from the book this week, and while Roberts was correct when she claimed A-Rod took performance-enhancing drugs, which he later admitted, her reporting, at times, is shoddy at best.

In the book, she writes that A-Rod, when he played with Texas, tipped pitches to opposing hitters during blowouts in the hopes off getting the same treatment. That’s a pretty serious accusation, not to mention a monumental violation of the players’ code. Quoting only “former Rangers” and “former players,” Roberts felt as though she had enough to go on to put that in the book.

I’m not saying these claims are true or false, but if you’re going to report the “facts,” attribute the information correctly. Failing to do that is irresponsible journalism, and personally, I feel this book just seems like a smear job.

Who will you root for?

With all signs pointing to a Cavaliers-Lakers matchup in the NBA finals, I been thinking about where allegiances might lie here in Celtics Country.

Assuming all you Celtics fans are willing to concede that your team has no chance against Cleveland (even if they do get past the Magic), who are you rooting for in a Cavs-Lakers final?

I’ve heard a lot of anti-LeBron James sentiment around here, leading me to believe no one who bleeds green could root for the Cavs - especially after they knock out the Celtics. 

But then again, Celtics fans have hated L.A. for decades. So how could they, in good conscience, root for the Lakers? What about all those "Beat L.A." T-shirts that resurfaced last summer? Are you just going to cross out "Beat" and write in "Go"? 

Quite honestly, I don’t get all the LeBron hating. He’s got an amazing all-around game, and really stepped up his defense this season because he's clearly driven to win a championship now. 

Perhaps, when the rest of the country is glued to the television watching one of the more popular NBA finals in recent memory (yes, last year makes the list, too), Celtics fans will give it the Spurs-Pistons treatment. They won't care and won't watch.

Who’s the ‘Big Baby’ here?

After Boston Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis stuck it to the Orlando Magic and their fans by knocking down a game-winning jumper at the buzzer, he did what anyone in that situation would do – he got emotional.

Davis streaked back down the court to his teammates, where he was mobbed. On his way there, however, Davis inadvertently knocked into a boy standing courtside, who lost his hat.

Well, in an attempt to take advantage of his 15 minutes, the father of the 12-year-old fan demanded an apology on Monday. In an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel, Ernest Provetti said Davis acted like a “raging animal” with no regard for fans’ personal safety.

“How do you like to be a 12-year-old and see a raging lunatic coming at you?” Provetti said.

What a joke. I would be fully embarrassed if I was this kid. He’s likely getting beat up at school right now. As it turns out, Provetti, who also sent an e-mail to the NBA league office, said he reacted emotionally and will back off.

Funny the things we can do when we’re emotional, huh?

The freshest face in NASCAR

Yes, it would be easy for me to blog about last night’s games involving Boston teams, with the Bruins, the Celtics and the Red Sox all winning, but I watched something over the weekend that really impressed me.

Joey Logano, who turns 19 in a few weeks, led the Southern 500 for 19 laps on Saturday night at Darlington Speedway. He finished ninth, but that’s not the point. Think about what you were doing at 19. I was taking psychology 101 and unsuccessfully hitting on co-eds.

He’s hitting better than 200 mph in the No. 20 Home Depot car formerly driven by Tony Stewart. Judging by his post-race quotes, it’s apparent Logano is still wet behind the ears.

“I led laps in the Southern 500. I was stoked about that,” he said.

Other drivers, including Stewart, see this as the tip of the iceberg for rookie from Middletown, Conn.

“This kid did an awesome job,” Stewart said of Logano. “When he was leading the race, I was smiling because I knew those guys have been waiting for this for a couple weeks now. It was just a matter of time before Joey got going.”

I don’t consider myself a huge fan of NASCAR, but I can see why this would be exciting for those fans glued to the television on Sundays. It’s the equivalent of LeBron James making the leap from high school to the NBA. Or Jennifer Capriati winning a Grand Slam event at 13. Or Freddie Adu making his MLS debut at 14.

Just a heck of a lot faster.