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Lieberman and Clark are skipping Iowa, or at least the Iowa caucuses. Makes sense for Lieberman, who was polling very poorly in Iowa. A little surprising for Clark, but he couldn’t make a dent in the Gephardt/Dean race, so it’s probably his best option.

However, this puts both of them in the position of battling for third place in New Hampshire, which is not entirely auspicious. Even worse, if Kerry wins or comes in second in Iowa, they run the risk of being just part of the pack.

South Carolina is looking increasingly important. No wonder Edwards hasn’t dropped out yet.

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That’s kind of surreal. The Celtics just traded Walker and Delk to the Mavericks for Rafe LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, and Chris Mills. Plus a first round pick.

It’s hard to make sense of this one for either team. LaFrentz has a $69 million contract which doesn’t expire till 2008 or so. He also doesn’t represent a huge upgrade at center from Tony Battie, although he’s a much better shot blocker. Chris Mills is just kind of there, and his contract expires soon. Jiri Welsch might actually be something; he’s a 6’7” point guard who played well overseas. But giving up Walker for a handful of potential seems very odd.

From Dallas’ point of view, you lose your starting center in exchange for yet another tweener. Are they going to have Antoine play center? It almost seems like they’d have to be planning something like that.

More trades coming, maybe. Hard to figure out any other explanation.

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The thirteenth Monday Mashup revolves around the Boston Red Sox. (Yeah, you can take a week off if you’re staring at your screen in horror.) They’re generally a talented team of players but are always struck down before they reach the peak of their profession by a dire curse — which always leaves them strong enough to come back and make another try next year. In my book, professional sports is a popular form of entertainment, so let’s mash those Dirt Dogs up.

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Jason Giambi has been subpoenaed in connection with a steroid scandal. Now is the time for all Red Sox fans to feel deeply vindicated.

(More seriously — innocent unless proven guilty.)