In the Ernest Hemingway novel, "The Old Man and the Sea" the old man in the story, a Cuban fisherman, has become a laughingstock among the locals because for three months because he cannot catch any fish.   He goes back out on final time for a final shot at catching the big one. In the end, he spends three days fighting a Marlin (which makes Dave Dombrowski a pretty good fisherman) finally reeling it in only to have sharks devour it on his way back to shore.

So, here we are, with Kenny's boat back in the dock and nothing to show for it except a small upgrade at shortstop.  Now what?  Where did the plan to land the "big fish" go bad?  In several places:

• The open courting of Torii Hunter may have driven a wedge between the Sox and a more realistic target, Aaron Rowand.  Now that Rowand has signed with the Giants, the two most hotly pursued outfielders are off the market and Kenny is left to ponder the wonders of Jerry Owens or trading someone of value for Coco Crisp.  Other than that, he's S.O.L.
• The Sox made a decent and competitive offer to Kosuke Fukudome who turned them down largely because he wants to stay in right field.
  
• What the Marlins wanted, the Sox didn't want to give up or didn't have in the first place.  Based on what the Marlins got from the Tigers, the Sox would have had to have surrendered John Danks and Josh Fields among others to get Miguel Cabrera and then, most likely, sticking Cabrera in left field.  Not a good deal for either party.  The tough part though was losing out on Cabrera to Detroit.  That may jump up and bite the Sox next season.
• Trading Jon Garland may be a huge blunder if Pink Gavin Floyd and John Danks don't develop quickly and Jose Contreras continues to struggle.

Just remember Kenny: The fish rots from the head.

Lightning Round

• The Mitchell report comes out this afternoon and will basically tell us what we already know.  That anyone who had a good year from 1997-2004 that didn't before, cheated.  Look for a lot of retired players on the list (Brady Anderson comes to mind.)  Some humor related Mitchell report stuff from "The Deuce of Davenport."
  
• As you might imagine, the Atlanta Falcons are none too happy with Bobby Petrino.  And if I'm Arthur Blank, I'd have a word with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a dark alley.  And with Roger Goodell.  Kissing Suzy Kolber has yet another hilarious take.
  
• It appears the Baltimore Ravens have more patience than I would with their head coach.
• The Cubs h ave declined to make an offer for 2008 to Mark Prior which is akin to leaving your beat up old car on the side of the interstate.
• UCLA may want to Chow down.  Meanwhile, West Georgia hires a former Tennessee QB and Colorado State dips into the pros to find a new coach.  On the assistant front, watch Auburn run a drastically different offense next season.
• Some Kyle Orton ha has from Rumors & Rants.
  
• The Onion looks at the juggernaut that is the New England Patriots.
• Today's list: Hollywood's fifty smartest people