I'll be upfront and honest with everyone, I'm rooting for the Rays, and for the next week, I promise to take as many potshots at the Red Sox as humanly possible.

Why, you ask? It's simple, the Rays represent the best in baseball, while the Red Sox represent everything that's wrong with the game. It hasn't always been this way. There was once a point in time when the Red Sox were a lot like the Cubs, a team you could in passing root for because of their unfortunate past. But after winning two World Series, and becoming an exact clone of the Yankees - throwing loads of money at free agents and making trades no one else can make because of financial reasons - they've lost their charm.

The Dice-K deal was the backbreaker. Paying over $50 million just to talk with a guy should have made it painfully clear to Red Sox fans that their team had become everything that they had always hated so much about the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Rays are a scrappy bunch, filled with little-known homegrown overachievers. And on top of all this, their payroll is less than a third of the Sox's payroll. 

If you like baseball, and you like the belief that a team can achieve success independent of massive contracts and mega-trades, then you should be rooting for the Rays.

And now for tonight's game info.

The Rays took 10 out of 18 games in the regular season, but the series was as close as any in the majors. Tampa Bay took the lead in the seventh inning or later in six of their victories, and 11 of the contests were decided by three runs or less.

Tonights starters are Scott Shields for the Rays and Dice-K for the Sox.

Shields, you may remember, started that massive brawl with the Sox back in June by going after Coco Crisp. He was great against the Red Sox in St. Petersburg in the regular season, going 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA, but woeful in two starts at Fenway. He lost both, posting a 21.21 ERA in just 4 2-3 innings.

Dice-K pitched so-so against the Rays this season, going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He lasted only five innings in each of his three outings, striking out 17 but walking 11.

Right now, 57% of FanIQ is going with the Rays, who were a ridiculous 57-24 at the Trop this season. 

Feel free to chat it up here or on the game page.

It was quite a week here on the blog. Lots of discussions, lots of hilarious debates, and lot of stories about stupid athletes doing stupid things. Let's get to what was especially good this week, or as I like to call it, what was somewhat passable this week.

• Pacman Jones is in trouble again. I know, I'm shocked too.
• The media has a message for Pacman: Get the hell out of town.
• Speaking of Pacman, Plaxico Burress had a bad week as well.
• Oh, and the Cowboys are whiners.
• Kimbo Slice's much anticipated fight was apparently fixed.
• Greg Oden looks like he's going to one awesome pro.
• Michael Phelps is still bringing home gold.
• Hot Olympian Leryn Franco returned to show everyone her, um, chest.
• We saw perhaps the greatest high school football comeback ever.
• Sage Rosenfels was apparently on the take this week.
• Things aren't going real well at Tennessee.
• Lord Stanley got mishandled.
• They're now suspending kid for sporting Ray-hawks.

All right everyone, enjoy the weekend. I will be around, because, as I've said before, I'm actually a robot.

In news that will utterly shock you, baseball's king of decency and humanity, Jose Canseco, has reportedly been busted at the US/Mexico border down near San Diego while attempting to bring steroids back into the country.

David Vassegh of KLAC-AM in Los Angeles reported that Canseco "was recently detained at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego by Federal authorities for alleged possession of steroids." 

If you're wondering what in the heck Canseco is doing taking steroids, well, he's training for another boxing match. You may remember he got his butt handed to him by a former Eagles player a few months back in a celebrity boxing match.

I swear, this guy probably juices before getting off his couch to go to the can.

But here's the hilarious news, aside from the fact that Canseco could wind up in a Mexican jail. The steroid that Canseco was attempting to bring into the States? HCG, or human choronic gonadotropin. Why's that funny? It's funny because HCG is frequently used "during and after steroid cycles to maintain and restore testicular size."

Man, this guy is classic. Just when you think he can't sink any lower, he somehow finds a way to do it. Enjoy your stay in Mexico, Jose.

Canseco detained at Mexican border for steroids [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

No usual Nightly Wrap up today, since you'll get that in best of the week. Instead, here's a look at what's on this weekend.

We've got huge college football matchups, playoff baseball, the first outdoor NBA game, and of course the NFL. I suggest watching Texas/Oklahoma (of course), LSU/Florida, Oklahoma St./Mizzou, all the MLB playoff games, and the first ever outdoor NBA game. That's right, Steve Nash, Shaq and Co. will be playing a preseason game against the Nuggets outdoors. As you can guess, it's in Phoenix, where it's still 134 degrees on a daily basis.

FRIDAY

8pm - ESPN – NCAA Football: Louisville at Memphis
8pm - ESPN2 - NASCAR: Dollar General 300
8:30pm - TBS – ALCS Game 1: Red Sox at Rays

SATURDAY

12pm - ABC – NCAA Football: #1 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas
12:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: Colorado at #16 Kansas
3:30pm - CBS – NCAA Football: Tennessee at #10 Georgia
3:30pm - ABC OR ESPN – NCAA Football: Arizona State at #8 USC OR Notre Dame at #22 North Carolina OR Purdue at #12 Ohio State
3:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: #23 Michigan St. at Northwestern
7:30pm - NASCAR: Bank Of America 500
8pm - CBS – NCAA Football: #4 LSU at #11 Florida
8pm - ESPN – NCAA Football: #6 Penn State at Wisconsin
8pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Football: #17 Oklahoma St. at #3 Missouri
8pm - TBS - ALCS Game 2: Red Sox at Rays
10pm - TNT – NBA: Nuggets at Suns

SUNDAY

1pm - CBS - NFL - Check your local listings.
1pm - Fox - NFL - Check the map.
4pm - Fox - NFL - Map
8pm - Fox - NLCS Game 3: Phillies at Dodgers
8:15pm - NBC – NFL: Patriots at Chargers

Could someone please tell me why in the hell this game is scheduled to start at 4:35pm EST? Is MLB's goal to try and get as few people to watch this series as possible, or something? Sure, it isn't quite the same as Rays/Sox, but I mean it should still be a pretty good series.

Anyway, the Phillies got a hard fought victory last night to go up 1-0 and will look to build on that this afternoon.

Former wife beater Brett Myers will take the mound for the Phillies, while 16-game winner Chad Billingsley will go for LA.

As for the offenses, Pat Burrell is absolutely on fire right now. After going hitless in the first three games of this postseason, Burrell is 5-for-7 in his last two games with three home runs and five RBI. Plus he hit the game deciding home run last night. 

On the flip side, Manny just keeps being Manny, smoking the ball all over the place.

Right now, 53% of FanIQ is going with the Dodgers for some reason. Did everyone miss last night's game or something? Philly is good. Plus you know the Phillies are playing at home, too, right?

Anyhow, feel free to chat it up here or on the game page.