So let's see, back in December, the Red Sox' owners accepted a bid of $700m for the team. Problem was, the high bid was actually $790m. Makes sense to me...

The Attorney General here in Massachusetts got curious about the selection process, did some checking around, and concluded that it had been a bag job, a private sale brokered by, guess who? "We're finding out the truth, and the truth is not going to help Major League Baseball or the Red Sox." Yikes!

But wait, you thought the bidding had pretty much closed when the winner was selected, silly you? Well lo and behold, now comes one of the earlier bidders, upping his offer. Oh, umm, did we forget to mention that we never actually closed the bidding in the sense of not accepting new, higher bids? Why anybody can bid, just keep right on bidding, right up until closing, or even after! If you need to work on your financing a little bit more, no prob! Just come see us when you're ready!

Coffee?

Before the deal was final, when the bidding looked wide open and no one really knew who was going to win, several local sportswriters were blasting Henry's group, couldn't say enough bad things about them: if these guys win, it'll be proof positive that the fix was in from the start; Henry's group are going to use all the grease necessary to fleece the Massachusetts taxpayers; John Henry et al looked at the Massachusetts taxpayers like an ATM that stopped asking for PINs; etc.

Then whaddya know, Henry's group ends up winning, puzzling since their bid wasn't the highest. Of course, all the sportswriters had to clam up with their criticism lest they risk being shunned by the new owners of the most beloved of Boston's four sports franchises.

I'm normally into political soap operas, but this one just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

In Beantown there was much legal confusion
When a bean-counter made public allusion
To Bud's under-the-table deal
Selling laundered Sox for a steal
Leaving ballfans darning old heels
And charities footing their meals
But the stench led to Bud's own sad conclusion
Now finally collared for all his collusion

Methinks Selig better be brushing up his resume these days.

All of us true baseball fans can only hope that you prove to be prophetic with your last statement, Seph....it seems that every week another development is emerging that shows how the incompetent Selig has completely mismanaged our National Pasttime and how he has repeatedly sold out (to put in kindly) to the ownership groups that will best maximize his own personal wealth, even if it means jeopardizing the integrity of this great game and violating numerous state and federal laws in the process (including committing perjury in his statements made to Congress on national television)....what more does Selig have to do before he is forced out of office? -- oh yeah, that's right, the people who elected him (i.e., the owners) are as guilty as Bud is as they are co-conspirators of his grand scheme....what a shame!!

Ugh! Does Selig touch anything and NOT leave a stench all over it? The Red Sox, for all their underachieving glory, are one of the crown jewels of major league baseball, but he sullies them like he does everything else he comes in contact with. My beloved game deserves so much better.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has called for Selig to resign, and the House to reopen its anti-trust inquiry. Remember how arrogant and evasive he was at the Judiciary Committee hearing, how he blatantly lied under oath? Well today he tried to put his own conditions on a scheduled phone conversation with the Massachusetts Attorney General. It didn't work.

Stench? The guy is swimming in excretia. It's time to flush.

As a Yankees fan, I usually would be experiencing Schadenfreude at the continual bungling of the Red Sox sale, but I really think it's terrible that the Sox fans are being subjected to this nonsense. Selig really is at fault here--the team should have been sold to the highest bidder, but MLB seems wary of letting Charles Dolan snap up the Sox. It's time for Congress to make these folks play by the rules the other sports teams must. Baseball is no longer America's game, it's just one of many--and has become so as a result of the Seligs (and Steinbrenners) out there....

Finally... The A.G. squeezed out another $10m for local charities, the league voted, and John Henry is about take ownership of the Red Sox franchise. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Loria buys the Marlins and dumps handsome David Samson and the rest of the Expos organization.

Today's Boston Globeasked its online readers, "What is the first thing the new Red Sox owners should do?" No surprise, 75% of us answered "Fire Duquette