Frayed Knot

Oscar locks really because I'm never wrong at these ... except when I am Picture: Avatar Director: Hurt Locker Actor: Bridges Actress: Bullock Supporting Actor: Waltz Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique Other Awards: no one cares

soupcan wrote: Like 'Blackhawk Down' you really get a sense of the chaos and fear that must exist in Iraq. Unlike 'Blackhawk', however, this one doesn't seem to want to turn war into a music video. Very different IMO and MUCH better.

A man, a miss a kiss, a curve He kissed the miss then missed the curve Burma Shave No real point here - only that the 'miss-able curve' line reminded me of this actual long-ago Burma Shave highway ad.

Sure, but for the same reason we shouldn't look at the offense from these few games to declare him MLB ready.

The problem with a lot of this stuff is that it's merely a snapshot in time. A year ago Minaya's Mets were coming off three seasons that totaled more than 270 wins plus six post-season ones while Cashman's Yanx were on a 9-season streak of not only falling short of their own standards but doing so despite spending several billion dollars on payroll which represents something in the neighborhood of 40% more than even the next highest teams and about triple the ML average. Sure there things to judge these guys on other than those, but if the Yanx don't go through '09 as ridiculously healthy as the Mets were ridiculously unhealthy the rankings of those NYC counterparts is at least somewhat closer today.

Heard about 10 minutes of WFAN late last night and all three calls I heard concerned the fact that the Mets "HAD" to make Ike the starting 1B for opening day ... "he's 23 years old already and Murphy's not going to cut it" The host was doing his best to calm them all down but apparently two good games in ST trumps reports of trouble with both breaking balls and LHPs plus the drawback of barely 200 ABs above A-ball.

A crawl on ESPN today talks about Orel Hershiser joining Miller [u:185xet1h]AND[/u:185xet1h] Morgan in the booth for Sunday Night Baseball. So apparently Morgan isn't out after all not only meaning there's no chance of Bobby but also keeping the NY Post's rep for accuracy intact.

Garret Anderson: LA Dodger (I think this is new news ... well, it's new to me anyway)

You Know What You Get With Kiko Calero Just by the sound of it I'd say you get a drink that comes with a tiny umbrella.

Jose Reyes has been scratched from today's game. He said the initial physical raised a small concern with doctors, so he needed to do additional blood work this morning. His blood was still spinning when they first tested it. They're hoping it's calmed down by this point.

Biking while it's in the 40s is cold; cold on the hands, on the face, on the feet - especially for the long term plus you've always got a 15mph (or so) wind in your face. And, yeah, 40 degree days means 20 degree nights in the tent. Plus there's so much less daylight hours to ride. Now he did get lucky as it was probably in 50s or better during 2/3 of the trek and, yeah, that beats Georgia in July, but it's still freakin January. The problem with finding ways over water where typically only highways cross directly is that the alternatives often make a long trip even longer. Sometimes the way around that is jumping on a ferry; it solves the bridge without bike lanes problem, often let's you avoid the crowded city, and it gives a nice break to the day (it's the best way to go on bike from L.I. to Conn for instance). But that's where the only starting out with $20 problem jumps up and bites you.

And while it's good to have Straw back in the family and as a face in ST, it's also good that he's only going to be around for a week or so.

Yes - although you'd also have to account for more games being played rather than just look at the raw numbers. 1961 - the first expansion year ever - was also a big HR year (and hitters' year in general) as was the single largest expansion year ever in 1969, although that coincided with other more planned changes that were specifically put in to boost offense.

I don't remember that particular story being in 'Ball Four' (the one about Mays and his red juice I mean, greenies certainly were) but I've definitely heard/read it numerous times elsewhere and well prior to the steroid era.

Players weren't "better people" in the "good old days". There is so much money involved now, that you can argue greed, but on the other hand, the older players weren't as set for life with one contract. They were just as likely to look for every edge they could get, legal or otherwise. Yup! If anything, the difference between set-for-life money and set-for-several-lives money isn't as tempting as was the 50K playing ball vs manual labor jobs that faced players decades ago. Also, the story about Mays and various mystery substances is hardly a new one.

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Wayne Hagin's an enjoyable enough announcer who happens to broadcast Mets games 150 or so times per season. He does not equal Mets. I've always wondered why, given two opportunities recently, they didn't give the job to Ed Coleman. I mean, they have him fill in anyway, especially when Howie's doing Islanders games, so what is it they don't like about him? If they gave it to Eddie they'd have to find someone else to do his job - and he's not really a p-b-p guy. He's OK on a fill-in basis but even then you run into the problem of having him wear too many hats. - his main job has him doing the pre- and post-games gigs where you have to stay on the good side of everybody - then there's the radio booth where being critical is more allowed - and then he sometimes has to carry some regular (non-NYM approved) time on FAN where Met-ripping is sport of the day and it all makes for awkward transitions, especially as how those jobs often run back-to-back-to-back. Howie Rose ran into the same problems when he worked Eddie C.'s job and, although HR handled it better than EC, it still caused some ruffled feathers here and there. Best to keep all those jobs separate. Hagin's merely OK IMO, but the fact that he essentially replaced Gary and is next to Howie and all their ridiculously deep NYM DNA means that holding him (or any successor) to their standard pretty much assures it that we'll never be satisfied with anyone who occupies that chair. oe; {see GWreck above}

"It's this part of MLB Network that I call the boys club and that I don't like ... [guys] stading around with bats on shoulders yapping about the game." And you were expecting the MLB Network to do what exactly?

Surprising that 'Bailey or Jennifer?' never quite caught on as the next generation's version of 'Maryann or Ginger?'

"It's something that I probably shouldn't have said; it just kind of came out" -- I think Keith had this phrase made into a rubber stamp so it's easier to trot out on a press release every few months as needed.

"The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday." As long as that lost time is applied either to the part of the day where Chris Berman has sole possession of a microphone or to the airing time of 'The View' I think it'll all be worth it in the long run.