Frayed Knot

Franchise movement is the one area where baseball could still take advantage of their exemption - but the other major sports can control theirs as well without too much trouble. The NFL sat on the sidelines and tacitly allowed much of their '80s & '90s movement because, in part, they figured that enough movement would get politicians mad enough to grant them a blanket exemption (instead of getting individual waivers piecemeal) or, at minimum, get new and/or abandoned cities to commit more money to new stadia to keep or lure teams. They could have prevented much of the movement that stole teams from LA (twice), Oakland, Houston, St Louis & Baltimore within a 20 year period; they simply chose not to. Although all of this is still besides the point. It's the press/fan reaction to steroid use or (in college basketball/football) fixing scandals where the stark diffrerences lie. Heyman's note is the first time I've even heard that football players were even mentioned in 'Game of Shadows', much less mentioned in greater numbers.

Except that the anti-trust exemption doesn't explain the differences in the fan and (mainly) press reaction/ignoring. Besides, the exemption has been so weakened over the years to the point where it's small potatoes as an actual issue.

FINALLY someone - Newsday's Jon Heyman in this case - is saying in print what I've been saying for years. Mainly in his first sentence: Baseball continues to be held to a higher standard. Nobody cares why NFL players are so much bigger and faster, and how at least five Panthers were doing steroids without detection. In 'Game of Shadows' 17 Olympic athletes, seven NFL players and only five MLB players are cited as steroid users. Yet baseball is taking the hit. And don't get me wrong, MLB deserves all the hits they're getting and the NFL does deserve credit for pro-actively (thanks largely to a lap-dog PA) getting a testing program installed a while back - although they certainly haven't eradicated the problem despite claims to the contrary. But I do think it's a fact that fans of the NFL act like as long as the bread & circuses continue that all's right with their world.

In our sun-down perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing "base" a certain game of ball ... Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close[d] rooms ... The game of ball is glorious. -- Walt Whitman, 1846

They'll supposedly know more today; like about whether it's a "pull", a "strain", a "tweak", a "cramp", etc. Early word is that it's not something that'll DL him -- but probably will push him back a bit. So one of the possible scenarios is: Game 2 Starter = Brian Bannister He's sked to stay in Florida and pitch in an intra-squad game on Sunday but that'll likely be scrapped in order to at least keep him on track for a possible Wednesday go. Zambrano then could be pushed out until game 6 next Sunday. Trachsel could also be moved up to game 2 leaving Bannister for #4 on Friday. Lima [u:c0228cfef8]did[/u:c0228cfef8] accept a demotion to AAA so if and when a 6th starter is needed - IOW, if Zambrno's injured more than they're letting one for now - you figure he'll be the guy.

My first reaction was that we had been hacked!

Agreed that it's far too early to give out any journalism awards. But at least the fact that they acknowledge that there's an issue out there and had Gary - plus whoever his sidekick du jour was - discussing it in the booth during a game puts them several steps ahead of YES (Steroids ... What Steroids?) or MSG (apparently still unaware that Isaiah has been hit with a sexual harrassment suit) in the 'Not Being A House PR Firm' contest.

I actually met one of those 'Family Circus' kids (now in his 40s or so). I think it was Jeffey but I'm not sure.

"Why are they running Zambrano out there?" Ummm, perhaps because it's 5 days before his scheduled start?

Two, I believe.

Kris B.: "But marrying a T&A queen seemed like such a good idea at the time" Chuck F.: "I hear ya brother!"

Dark-skinned and skinny but with much neater hair than last season. <<<<---- Sorry, it's the Fregosi curse that made me do it

One good sign about SNY is that they went to a split screen during their baseball telecast on Thursday to cover the Bud Selig press conference (as did ESPN) while YES (showing a NYY game at the time) and MSG (showing a re-run Knick game) did not. Not a big deal but at least a sign they don't intend to be a sweep-it-under-the-rug kind of station.

The most famous Par 3 in golf which, coincidently, resumes bedevilling golf pros starting this Thursday.

Current forcast shows maybe some light rain for Monday ... although more for later in the day than early. Still around mid-50s, no longer any mention of "breezy"

]article in the Post about V.Diaz being on the bubble. it looks like its down to Oliver or Feliciano for the Loogy slot, and the 25th man is either V.Diaz or a 7th RPer (Iriki? Bell? Lima?). I'd much rather have Diaz than an extra arm in the pen. Mee 2!! Heard in the last day or two (forget where) that they were leaning toward only a 6-man pen rather than 7. On the other hand remember that Matsui can come off the DL as soon as the end of the first week so some early yo-yo-ing is bound to occur.

Nah, Knight was slowing up towards 3rd (one camera angle captures it) and had no shot at even pretending to score. Until Harrelson waves him on it looks like the thought that the inning might NOT over had never occured to him.

I thought the locker room scene worked well enough - Devil Dog unis and all - between their awe at the famous names on jerseys and just the pristine spaciousness of it all. "We're not in Kansas anymore". Yes the character of "Brooks" was basically made up. I did one time find a TBDR who also made his debut within a day or so of Morris - a name I knew but have since forgotten. He wasn't black and wasn't a superstar type (at least didn't become one) but I'm not upset over the movie's contrast of an older guy hanging on for one last chance with a cocky, 'thinks-he-can't-miss' kid. The brief, half-hearted stretch before auditioning was, I thought, consistant with his 'let's get this over with so I can tell the kids I tried' attitude he had going in.

He certainly has the looks/build of a Samoan. I just thought the name sounded Japanese.

I like that Seawolf's picture was of a player of Japanese descent (I believe), who's now playing in Japan, hitting a HR during a Met game that was played in Japan, for the same manager that he's now playing for, and on the anniversary that it happened.

I'm always afraid that if I watch that stuff too often Buckner's eventually gonna come up with that grounder.

"There's just large swaths of the story they're unwilling to tell --- a problem with most adaptations, as interesting books contain more material than the typical length feature film." Duh! "... the story of his amateur football career and failed baseball career and going back to school in his late twenties is a big part of what's going on. The whole "nuns putting a miracle into the soil" frame story --- I don't remember any of that. I don't recall the special mentoring relationship of the young black player, but it felt Disney patronizing when I saw it." Like your first paragraph, they're not telling his entire life story here. And while one of the HS players was depicted as black, there was no particular "special mentoring" for him. If anything, the white catcher was the one portrayed as his main confidant/go-between. "The great moment of this dude washed up from the softball circuit finally arriving in a major league clubhouse is all ruined by the clubhouse being Devil Ray clubhouse, and the uniforms practically being softball uniforms." Would you prefer it if they changed the team he came up with in order to make the story more aesthetically pleasing? .... I didn't think so. "When he gets to the tryout, after sitting around all afternoon, he does a good depiction of an old-school pitcher stretching his arm across his chest (a technique that's now frowned upon), but when they ask if he needs any warmup tosses, he says no. Huh?" Small potatoes. If you want to tee off on some minor scene the least you could do is mock the 'radar trap' scene; a bit of hokum that not only didn't happen but couldn't.

I missed the existance of the book also. The movie wasn't bad and, from what I remember reading at the time of it's release, was reasonably accurate aside from a few typical Hollywood flourishes. Quaid's decent in the role and his wife particularly so. Yeah it's Disney so they lay it on pretty thick at times but the thing's practically a tear-jerker in a few spots.

Here's what I suspect: - Anna files on grounds of the marriage being "irretrievably broken" - Kris counter-sues on the grounds of; 'da bitch got me shipped to the freakin' Orioles'!! - The terms of the agreement also stipulate that the Mets retain sole custody of Jorge Julio