Homerun Whackers, Wacky Cousins and Witch Wackiness?

First, you've gotta give credit to the Boston Red Sox, the come-from-behind, what-curse? baseball team whose win over the New York Yankees this week earned a whopping 16 of the top 20 key phrases in Thursday's BlogPulse results. Making it to the No. 3 spot among the most blogged-about people was player Johnny Damon, one of many Sox team members who sealed the win; Sox owner Larry Lucchino made it to the burstiest people list at No 2. Says everyone in Boston (and New York, for that matter): Bring on the Cardinals!

From baseball, we delve directly into genealogy and Thursday's third most trafficked link: Bush Relatives for Kerry. Seems Dubya's distant cousins, most of whom have never met the Prez, have taken family matters into their own hands on a web site where they explain why they're voting for his opponent in the upcoming Presidential election ("because blood is thinner than oil!"). Speaking of cousins, are Bush and Kerry really ninth cousins once removed? That family tree appears as No. 7 among Thursday's top links.

From there, head on down to Link No. 29, What Kerry Stands For. It's one college student's attempt to add a dose of levity to the world of fabricated, hyped journalism. And it's worth a few laughs, too.

First dodgeball restirctions, now this. If you had any hankering to put on your witch costume and go trick-or-treating at a school in Pullayup, Washington, you can forget it. The district's canceled Halloween celebrations because they distract from learning, take up too much time and might be offensive to real Wiccans (witches). That's why spokeswoman Karen Hansen is among Thursday's burstiest people, and so it skeptical parent Silas Macon.

TODAY'S TREND GRAPH: Name-calling, political labels, smear tactics. Call the practice what you want. Here's how it looks.