Newsday: On one side, we have Joe Torre, follically challenged field manager, representing truth, justice and the Dodgers way of doing things. On the other, we have Manny Ramirez, whose braided hair now extends more than a foot below the nape of his neck, standing up for the principle of Manny being Manny. Both agree that something will be done. What they can't seem to agree on is what will be done, when, or by whom. "We'll see," Manny said... when asked if he was going to cut his hair. "We're talking about it." "I'm not negotiating anything," Torre said, not laughing, when the conversation was recounted to him a few minutes later in the Dodgers' dugout. "He'll do it. He told me he'll do it.

"I'm beginning to get tired of being right all the time. Within six minutes of the news about Manny going to the Dodgers being posted on this board, I wrote the following knee jerk reation in the comments section: "Hey Joe Torre, good freaking luck. I suppose you'll be meeting him in the clubhouse with a pair of scissors and a razor." So now it's been, what? thirteen days?since Manny darkened the door of TheMostRespectedManagerintheGame's office, and he still hasn't capitulated. The LA is renting him for eight weeks, and he's already spent two weeks... 1/4 of his Dodger's career... refusing to abide by Torre's dress code.The only question is: who's more full of it here: Manny or Torre? Manny says he loves LA and wants to end his career there, but this just proves he's thinking only about his next contract. He knows his hair is iconic; that it's become part of the Manny brand and whoever signs him in November will use his 'do as part of its marketing. Torre meanwhile is trying to save face by defending a stupid rule that has nothing at all to do with winning championships. Because it makes him look like he's in charge; that his leadership ... as defined by adherence to his grooming rules... put him on the path to the Hall of Fame, not the great pitching and clutch hitting of the late '90's Yankees teams. It's a tough call. All I know is I hope it lasts all season. Watching this standoff might be the only interesting thing that goes on in NL down the stretch. PS: The Sox are 8-3 with the very well-groomed Jason Bay in the lineup.