Wake-Up Call: Manny Ramirez, Dodgers (someone wake them up), Marcus Allen, Ducks, Tom Brady

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First things first: The best thing to hit the Dodgers in 10 years, Manny Ramirez, could be headed to the Angels? The rumor mill is going crazy this morning as the Boston Red Sox get closer to signing first baseman Mark Teixeira. Of course, Teixeira is still being pursued by the Angels, his most recent team, as well as the Orioles. But the Red Sox seem to be closer and I don’t hear the fans or owners expressing worry about spending. Meanwhile, the New York Post today says that while the Yankees admit to having an interest in Ramirez, the Angels now appear to want the ex-Dodger if they lose Teixeira. That prompts the question: What are the Dodgers working on besides Rafael Furcal? I can already hear their excuses. Someone wake up the Dodgers and tell ‘em they need help. Dylan Hernandez reports that GM Ned Colletti confirmed this morning that negotiations with Furcal are continuing.

Add baseball, sort of: CC Sabathia vs. Oprah Winfrey? That is the Tale of the Tape on SI.com and Paul Tinelli has outdone himself. Both CC and Oprah are famous and rich and have had weight problems.

On to hockey: The Ducks last night did not look great on defense, as Helene Elliott points out in her game column. The Rangers, who won 3-1, would cut off Scott Niedermayer time after time, taking away his superb outlet passes. Here’s the scoring summary. The last play of the game, in which Chris Pronger fell over Nikolai Zherdev after getting beaten, made me wonder if Pronger is playing so poorly of late because he wants to get traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs and get back with Brian Burke.

There are rules, after all: The Boston Globe has a story on the etiquette of fighting in the NHL. Who knew? Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart says, ‘You don’t want to just grab a guy from behind. I made sure I got his attention before I dropped the gloves.’

He blames Al: Pro football Hall of Famer and ex-USC star Marcus Allen was on Dan Patrick’s radio show this morning. Asked if any part of his body hurt now, long after retiring from the NFL, he said only his left shoulder, that he has a sore rotator cuff. During the interview, he also made it clear that he is disappointed about how the Raiders are doing and blames it all on owner Al Davis. If Davis was a GM and not an owner, he would have been fired long ago. Patrick then raised the subject of Christmas cards and asked Allen (who pointed out he was with the Raiders only when they were here in L.A.) if the team ever sent him a card. ‘No, no,’ said the Heisman Trophy winner. Pressed on the issue, he later added, chuckling the whole time, ‘I’d probably have a heart attack if they sent me one.’ Listen to the entire interview.

The vote is in: The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Santonio Holmes made a controversial TD catch on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Was the TD call right or wrong? Of the 291 votes in our poll, 182 (63%) agreed with the call and 109 (37%) said it was not a TD.

What is stress anyway? SI.com has the most stressful moments in sports of 2008 and some of them might cause you to say, ‘Say what?’ The Giants over the Patriots in the Super Bowl? Huh? Only if you had a lot of money riding on the Patriots’ having a perfect season. Or if you were Tom Brady. I think they missed the best one: Cubs fans watching their beloved team get swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. That was painful and stressful.

Add Tom Brady: The Patriots’ quarterback, caught at a holiday party, refused to talk about his knee yesterday. ‘When we win, I’m excited for us,’ he said. ‘When we lose, it stinks. It’s no different when you’re playing or when you’re watching. My heart and soul is with this team, so you live and die with every win and loss.’ OK, maybe that Super Bowl loss should be No. 1 on the SI stress list after all.

-- Debbie Goffa

Top photo: Rafael Furcal reaches for a home run in Game 3 of the NLCS against the eventual World Series champions. the Philadelphia Phillies. Credit: David J. Phillip / Associated Press.

Inset: Marcus Allen in 1992, when he was with the Raiders. Credit: Mike Powell / Allsport