MFS62

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may be adding Idlewild to one of those lists pretty soon. From the previews I've seen, it looks like a very creative attempt at blending swing and hiphop, set in a 30's speakeasy. Also - I saw this on NCIS last night: Three government agents are in a car on stakeout. The female one starts to sing something from The Sound of Music. One of her cohorts puts his hand over her mouth and says something like "STOP! If you sing that song, I will lock you in a room and play Its a Small World 10,000 times". Since that's exactly how I feel, I roared. Later

I'm torn. My heart says yes (62 would be the real record) but my head says no. Later

Do you agree? Later ] As Howard gives chase, Maris is still the man By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports September 5, 2006 If Ryan Howard clubs nine more home runs this season, giving him 62, then the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman should be recognized as the single-season, 162-game home run champion. It's as simple as that. Maybe not for Major League Baseball, which is not planning on commemorating such a feat because, technically, three other players Barry Bonds (73), Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66, 64 and 63) have posted bigger numbers, surpassing the long-standing record of Roger Maris, who hit 61 in 1961. But since when has MLB been correct about things, particularly when it comes to the use of performance-enhancing drugs? Baseball is loath to admit that it blew it during the late 1990s and early 2000s when Bonds, McGwire and Sosa � each as juiced as a glass of squeezed oranges � made a mockery of the record book and spit in the face of Maris' accomplishment. But every reasonable, intelligent and rational person knows otherwise. Those three's numbers were achieved not with natural skill but with superior chemistry. And that is why people � if not the powers that be � should recognize Maris' 61 homer mark as the rightful record. And it's why if Howard, the big-swinging second-year player, can drill nine more dingers in his final 24 games, then he takes over. "If he breaks it, it's legit," Roger Maris' son, Rich, told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday. Yes, the sudden rise of this 26-year-old causes pause. As I wrote earlier this week, the fact that MLB does not test for human growth hormone or many other favored drugs means declaring any player 100 percent clean is a leap of faith. And after a summer of scandal courtesy of Floyd Landis, Marion Jones and others, it is natural to be skeptical. But this is what we have. This is the new reality. We can either take each performance on a case-by-case basis or write off the entire operation and no longer believe any accomplishment ever again. What we have is this: Baseball is testing for some performance-enhancing drugs and Ryan Howard has not failed any tests. Moreover, with his big frame � 6-foot-4, 250 pounds � that doesn't look bloated or strained like the previous three, and his history of being a power hitter back to high school, he at least looks clean. Maybe he winds up burning us, but at this stage he passes both the drug test and the sniff test. "In my mind," said Rich Maris, "I feel Ryan Howard's clean. If baseball's doing what they're supposed to be doing and say they're doing � I feel bad for people bashing him. "Right now people should be looking at baseball saying it's cleaned up. I know if I were a baseball player, there would be no way I'd come close to touching that stuff. Look at Rafael Palmeiro. He had first-ballot Hall of Fame statistics. And then that stuff comes out." If Rich Maris is for it, then that is good enough for me. This is a painful subject for the Maris family, who were burned by the steroid boys. They rightfully consider their father the single-season record holder and, truth be told, aren't that interested in seeing someone else break it. Worse, they had a front row seat to watch the McGwire fraud show back in 1998, an empty uniform trying to pretend he was their dad's equal. He certainly was not. "At the time, it was quite a feat," said Rich Maris. "We were in awe. It seemed to happen so fast. We were along for the ride like the rest of the country. Every time McGwire hit one, it was like, �Wow, he did it again.' And now you just look at that and laugh." I wouldn't blame them for crying. The truth is Roger Maris is the home run champion right now and nothing the official MLB record book says changes that. Which is why baseball fans should flock to Howard's historic pursuit. If MLB lacks the courage and conviction to do what's right, then the people should, out of respect for Ryan Howard and out of respect for Roger Maris. ESPN should be cutting in for each at bat, newspapers should chronicle the count down, the honest should be celebrated, the cheats ignored. Anything less is to reward the crooked and condemn the truth. Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist.

From Love at First Bite (1979) George Hamilton (as Count Vladimir Dracula): "I can give you eternal life". Susan Saint James (as Cindy Sondheim ): "I knew it. An Insurance salesman. I have Prudential". Later

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I'm a University of Missouri grad. We don't have a fight song. We have a surrender song. ding! ding! ding! That response has gone a very long way to show us how much you really belong here. LOL! Later

Yes. But just because the agreements may have pre-dated Cashen, it doesn't mean those stadia didn't conform to his requirements. And for that reason ,they have been renegotiated since he left the organization. Later

More on the Tides possibly moving from a Mets fan who lives in Norfolk. ]Not sure what the problem is... went through a similar problem last time they had to renew the contract... Rosenfeld is a dick sometimes and I think he is trying for a bigger piece of the pie... The local paper ran a poll today to ask the locals who they would want the tides to be affiliated with... I sure hope the Mets can renegotiate and stay.. the Tides have been the Mets AAA club since '69 and I'd hate to see it change... with the money the Mets have invested in the stadium (one of the best in the minors) and the fan support for the team (they average better than 500,000 in attendance) and have been one of the better franchises in the AAA for the last 10-15 years, I can't see the Mets going down without a fight. The results of the poll won't be out for a few days the other options for affiliatioin are with the Orioles or Washington because they are within 200 miles of us... I'll keep you informed if I hear of any new news Later

That's interesting. Michigan and Nebraska football games have been on tv a lot over the years, and the Michigan fight song is very familiar. But I don't think I could recognize the Nebraska fight song of you locked me in a room and played it ten times. Later

Frayed Knot wrote: This game of affiliiate musical chairs is common each winter - but the Mets have stayed out of it for the most part by being very stable at the higher levels. I believe that stability is a result of a Frank Cashen edict (from his days at Baltimore) that all of the home ballparks in the minor league system have roughly the same dimensions as Shea. He felt that not only added to player familiarity when they were brought up to the majors but helped the scouts better assess talent as it rose through the ranks. If the Mets were to play musical chairs with their minor league franchises, they might not be able to modify the ballparks of the city to which they moved to conform to those dimensions. Later

Yikes! Bruce Froemming was umpiring before Julio Franco was a rookie. That boggles the mind. Later

Welcome MGIM. Glad to have you with us. Now, as part of your rookie ritual, get yourself up there on that virtual table in the middle of the room and sing your school fight song. LOUDLY Later

But if we post here, aren't we keeping it alive? Later

http://www.washblade.com/2004/4-9/locallife/sports/sports.cfm A REAL change. Later

I vote for Scranton. There's a seafood restaurant near the U of Scranton that had over 100 International beers on the menu when I went there several years ago. Other than that, there's absolutely NO reason to go to Scranton. Later

Val The Mets had their first AAA team in Syracuse. Young Ed Kranepool played there in 1962. They moved to Buffalo a year or two later. Who says you can't go home again? Later

I had the 24 hour flu yesterday, and those last three posts did not help my nausea one little bit. Later

="Gwreck"] Bell (for the 5th and final time -- is that a record?) Apparently not: ]Mike Thompson is being promoted from Triple-A Portland for the sixth time this season. The right-hander is 6-1 in Portland with a 3.76 ERA. He pitched three scoreless Later

Humber was the winning pitcher for Binghamton last night. He pitched 6 innings, gave up two hits, one run, no walks and struck out 4. That lowered his AA ERA to 2.88. Later

I won't be happy until the Braves announcers are no longer talking about the wild card chase. Later

I worked with a Yankee fan who used to call the pitcher Musima - even after he had been with the Yanks for several years. Later

]I don't think they've announced a manager yet, either. Let me make a prediction. I don't think Bill Singer will be accompanying the team on this trip. Later

It should be fun watching Reyes play a lot of games in a row on artificial turf. Later

The last time the Japanese saw anything as big as Ryan Howard, it was overturning a ferry in Tokyo Bay. Later

If it had been Jeter, they would already be naming the new Yankee Stadium in his honor. Later

From the replay, it looked like he stepped up on the base of the padding (about a foot off the ground) and may have caught his spikes in the wire fence or bruised it on the fence. He then turned around and made the throw back to the infield and didn't seem to have immediate discomfort. But he then went to the ground ans stayed there a while before limping off the field. The expression on his face when he was going down the ramp from the dugout to the clubhouse didn't look encouraging. shitfuck Later