Early Spring Roundup and Bloody Thursday

In what will hopefully be a sign of things to come, the World Series champion - and consensus favorite to repeat - Chicago White Sox lost the first spring training game of 2006 Wednesday, falling to the Colorado Rockies 6-0. The Detroit Tigers also edged Florida Southern University 4-3. The Twins played Concordia-St. Paul, but no score has been reported yet. Concordia, a Division 3 school, beat the Twins last spring.
Seriously.
*In other spring news, former Twins 3-hitter Bret Boone finally and mercifully announced his retirement Wednesday.
Boone was in camp with the Mets trying one last comeback, but admitted his confidence was so shaken that it wasn't worth waiting for games to start.
It's hard to remember the last time a player fell farther faster than Boone, who just a couple years ago was one of the game's most dangerous right-handed hitters.
*MLB's phony money-making scheme, otherwise known as the World Baseball Classic, continues to get pissed on by many of the game's biggest stars, as pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner both excused themselves from Team USA Wednesday, while Vlad Guerrero ditched the Dominican squad.
Team USA actually named 68-year old Al Leiter to the squad to replace Sabathia.
No word on whether the rumors of Joe Morgan coming in to play two-sack are true.
*As further evidence that this WBC thing is total PR bullshit, Twins CF Torii Hunter, a fellow WBC hater, has conspicuously stopped talking about it. When asked if MLB had told him to keep quiet, Hunter said, 'no comment'. Gee, I wonder what that means.
*The NFL may be headed for a work stoppage. Collective bargaining in pro sports is about as exciting to me as watching Dr. Phil, so I won't bother with the details.
But what is interesting is the effect the current deal is having on free-agency and the salary cap.
A few big names were cut today, and many, many more are expected tomorrow (the deadline for getting under the cap) for what many insiders are already calling "Bloody Thursday".
Don't believe it? Check out this quote: "In past years, you'd see a lot of guys released who maybe still had some name value but who were really in decline in terms of production," said one AFC team executive who was working late Tuesday, trying to figure out how to pare down a prohibitively bloated cap figure. "This year? People are going to be stunned -- not just by the quantity of players who are cut by Thursday but by the quality, too. It's going to be ugly. There's going to be blood in the streets and, compared to past years, it's going to be from some bluebloods, guys who can still play."
The Vikings have already informed Michael Bennett that he'll be cut. Will Daunte get the axe, too? I doubt it.
But there should be a chance for the Vikes, who are over $20 million under the cap, to add a RB.
Stephen Davis and Mike Anderson were both cut Wednesday, we'll see who's available tomorrow.
Both Davis and Anderson are the type of big, bruising, workhorse backs the Vikings desperately need. But Davis is clearly washed up, and Anderson will be 33 next September.
On the other hand, Anderson rushed for over 1,000 yards last year. I'd love to see the Vikes take him, especially if he's cheap.