Vic Sage

if they want to call a "do over" and trade him back for Zambrano, i'd be okay with that.

need: steals and saves got: starting pitchers (high Ks)

This is a chapter of KILL BILL 3. Or, as it will soon come to be known... "KILL WILLie"

I read some great reviews of this movie. It got an oscar nomination for its screenplay. so i rented it. My wife and I watched in stunned disbelief at the sheer awfulness of it. There wasn't a single recognizable human being in the story, much less one you could actually CARE about. I wanted to put my eyes out with a philips head. the missus concurred. Its one redeeming feature... it ran only 81 minutes. But it was the longest 81 minutes i've experienced since i had to go to the Emergency Room with a 2nd degree burn on my fingertips, and it took them 1 1/2 hours to get to me. I'm curious to hear the defense for this film, if there is one.

what about the bizarre notion that the Mets were actually better off with Piazza behind the plate? Even in decline, even LAST YEAR, he was a better offensive catcher than most others. The Mets problem was that they couldn't find a solid offensive 1Bman, which is really shocking considering that its the easiest position to fill. If there was a good hitting catcher pushing Piazza, and he refused to make room, that would be another matter but there wasn't and he didn't. In fact, his insistance in remaining a catcher was more to HIS detriment than to the team. If he had started splitting time at 1b much earlier in his career (before 30), he'd likely have extended his productive years, putting himself in line for one more big contract. But then you'd have to replace his bat as a catcher (a huge dropoff) when he replaces the regular 1bman (likely to be less of an upgrade than the downgrade you get at catcher). Moving him after he started to decline was too late, since all you get then is an average hitting 1bman and a below average catcher, rather than an above avg catcher and a below average 1bman. Under those circumstances, why would they put a gun to his head to move? They asked, just to salvage some remaining value from his contract and because they didn't want to spend the big bux for another 1bman. He probably hemmed and hawwed enough for them to back off. When they demanded it, he did it. And what do you know, he was right... he sucked!

i wonder... if you shoot an asshat with a bullet of cool, what do you get? Just another asshole, i guess.

]*(OE) and so is Glavine, so I don't get the win-now comment. Matsui, Glavine, Floyd and Soriano are all FA after this year. Your point being...? I also would gladly give Washington their choice of Glavine, Zambrano, or a plate of soup. the "win now" comment is about creating two holes in this year's team, by giving up our #2 starter and middle-of-the-order LFer, to fill one hole. I don't think that really helps us overall. I understand that YOU do because you totally dismiss Glavine's performance last year and project him as being exchangable for a bowl of soup, and therefore Bannister, a guy who has not been a dominant minor-league pitcher (never mind never having gotten out a major-league hitter in a game that counts) is so CLEARLY poised to be a suitable replacement, if not an actual UPGRADE, for Glavine in the rotation, based on 14 pre-season innings. And because you think the similarly untested Milledge, and the mediocre Diaz and Nady, will be upgrades over Floyd (whose been the Mets best overall player for a few years, until Wright passed him last season) and whoever will be replacing Matsui at 2b. Clearly i don't agree with your assumptions, and clearly you think i'm shooting smack into my eyeballs. Does that clarify it for you?

It is the unrequitedness of the love that gives the original its heartbreaking quality. Ann Darrow just doesn't get it... or does she? Methinks the lady dost protest too much... like many Hollywood films of that era, KING KONG had an underlying sexual tension that is much more interesting than the more explicit, overstated relationship portrayed in the remake. as to much else you liked in the remake, it seems mostly the moments that were referencing the original, rather than anything original to this version. which damns it with faint praise. unlike the original, which i'd happily watch once a year till i die, i have very little interest in watching this one again.

i don't know about that. If the Mets can't adequately fill 5 SP slots, and Julio continues to be the disaster he's been for 2 years, I'd say the Mets lose that matchup.

you know why he got injured, don't you? Wags can't take the pressure.

As Soriano is a FA after this season, acquiring him is a "win now" move. But if you're giving up Floyd and Glavine to get him, you haven't really strengthened the team overall. Offensively, floyd is actually BETTER than Soriano, plus we're giving up our #2 SPer. I'd rather have Floyd and Glavine and a warm body at 2b, than get Soriano, but with V.Diaz and Nady each becoming full-time OFers, and trax and Zambrano filling out the top of the rotation, with Bannister expected to give us 30 starts and 150-175 innings. I'm not suggesting the Nats would likely pull the trigger on my proposal, but that kind of steep discount is the only kind that (in my mind) would justify taking on Soriano.

i'll restate: "In 2005, Randolph allowed Reyes to retain the job of leadoff hitter after demonstrating in 2004 that he was not yet ready for that responsibility, and as he continued to demonstrate throughout the 2005 season by barely accumulating a .300 OB%" I still think his judgment on this issue (especially in the context of his decision-making about Wright) ranks as #349.

he DID decide ahead of time... he decided when he was 12.

i wasn't into this movie at all, but the scene where they're playing football on the island started me on a laughing jag that lasted pretty much through the rest of the movie. I'd give it a solid 6, overall... a score that would've been higher had we seen Rachel McAdams naked.

Here's why i wasn't crazy about it... The movie divides into 3 acts. The first act, in nyc, is attenuated. We could've gotten to the boat alot sooner. Taking so long to establish Jack Black's desperate motivation still didn't lend any credibility to his subsequent eyebrow-arching self-parodying performance. Act II, on the boat and the island, is the best part of the movie. The natives, especially, are realistically terrifying. But there are still problems here. The story has divided the leading man into 3 characters: the sensitive writer, who she's not that hot for, but who ultimately becomes the action hero; the boat captain, who really is the tough guy, but has no real interest in her; and the actor, who only pretends to be a tough guy, but is a coward... until for some reason he saves the day. And he seems more likely to be interested in the boat captain than the girl. This parsing out of the "leading man" role ends up creating a vacuum filled by the REAL leading man... Kong. In the original, the girl is terrified of the big ape, though there seems some mutual underlying sexual tension in the metaphorical romance. Here, the love is REQUITED. The girl DIGS the big ape! The rediculousness of this conceit (which is the essential artistic statement of the remake) is underlined in the 3rd act, which i'll get to in a moment. The other problem with act II is that Jackson keeps upping the ante... Kong fights not 1 dinosaur but 3, and they keep hanging on, and the bug attack gets more and more intense, and ... it becomes an exhausting theme park ride. Which sets up another problem in Act III. Act III, back in nyc... Kong's rampage in nyc is brought to a screeching halt so that he and the girl can go on a romantic idyll... ice-skating in Central Park! I kid you not! What had been once metaphorical or at best implicit has become explicit. It made me laugh out loud. seriously. And that was NOT what the filmmakers were going for right at that moment. Then, after nearly 3 hours, we're pretty much done, yet we still have to climb the Empire State building. This iconic climax of cinematic history can't help but feel anticlimactic, after all we've already seen. In fact, the movie shot its wad, so to speak, with all the SFX and action in Act II. There is alot to admire in this movie... the acting (other than Black) is pretty good, the look and feel of the art direction and cinematography outstanding, the realism of Kong a real achievement. Some of the action set-pieces are thrilling. But the storytelling is long-winded, and the basic premise... turning the unrequited love story into a REQUITED one in which, tragically, the lovers cannot be together... ends up just feeling like a silly idea. Not just silly, but actually and literally laughable.

Reyes was handed the everyday job as a leadoff hitter by Willie Randolph, at the same time that he was keeping Wright in the bottom 1/2 of the order because he "was a young player and he wanted to bring him along slowly". Reason #349 that Willie is an idiot.

*avi*

] If that is true then I don't think he has a leg to stand on here because then it comes down to "I don't want to!" rather than having a legit reason such as he feels it would be bad for his career or that he will make a lousy OF'er. he doesn't have a leg to stand on in either case. He has a contract to play baseball, not to play second base. It is up to the manager to decide when and where he plays. If a player is physically able to perform and refuses to, its the height of insubordination and a violation of the basic agreement. What generally prevents managers from playing guys "out of position" is that its generally detrimental to the team. In this case, it would be, in the judgment of the management, helpful to the team. All-stars have switched positions since the beginning of the game. It didn't keep guys of the HOF, like Yount or Molitor or Pete Rose ... um... well, Yount and Molitor, anyway.

] agree that I'd want to see Anderson maybe find a few gaps or work out a hard-foulght walk or two --- display a full range of his skils --- before handing him a big league job. I agree, but they handed Reyes a big league job without waiting for him to do that. What makes you think they'll wait for Handy Andy to display such skills?

No way Wilpon allows Omar to even THINK about Soriano unless he offsets alot of that $10m salary. I'd take Soriano for 50 cents on the dollar, and the Mets would surive his defense if he goes 30/30. It's not like there's another guy in the pipeline projected to even approach Soriano's production (as flawed a player as he is). Nady (or Diaz) + Zambrano (or J.Julio) + prospect (not top 5) + they either take Matsui or pay us $5m Reyes (s) Beltran (s) Wright ® Delgado (l) Soriano ® Floyd (l) Diaz ® LoDuca ® Pedro Glavine Heilman Trax Bannister

updating my lists [u:hczswwzy]TOP 10[/u:hczswwzy] CRASH - best movie of the year CINDERELLA MAN - excellent, if a bit too sentimental BATMAN BEGINS - excellent, mostly FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY - great look, but turgid storytelling MARCH OF THE PENGUINS - beautiful doc HITCH - nice romantic comedy GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - underwhelming, but solid UPSIDE OF ANGER - surprisingly good romance plus: ICE HARVEST - Cusack and Thornton terrific in modern, comic Noir ARISTOCRATS - it alternated between making me laugh hysterically and wanting to puke. [u:hczswwzy]other `05 movies I've seen:[/u:hczswwzy] BAD NEWS BEARS - awful CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - great look but only ok CONSTANTINE - crap, but fun FANTASTIC 4 - not terrible HERBIE:FULLY LOADED - surprisingly ok HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - disappointment HOSTAGE - awful KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - ok epic KING KONG - great look, but disappointing MADAGASCAR - solid animated film MATCH POINT - i hated it ROBOTS - only ok, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS - teen drama; ok SKY HIGH - fun STAR WARS III - best of the prequels VALIANT - mediocre WALLACE & GROMIT - disappointing plus: MUNICH - its no 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR WALK THE LINE - like Jon Stewart said, its RAY with white people. Trite. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 - decent, but nothing special CORPSE BRIDE - not as good as NIGHTMARE BEFORE XMAS ELEKTRA - lame HARRY POTTER & GOBLET OF FIRE - i have no idea why i still watch these movies WEDDING CRASHERS - a few laugh-out-loud funny scenes. Overall, nothing special. I'm about to see SQUID & WHALE, CHICKEN LITTLE, HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and RENT.

I saw it opening night. I'll leave this up for a while before i make any comments.

i think he's going to "BE the ball"...

]"Last year, I didn't take a walk. This year, I will be more patient. I'm going to be aggressive and look for my pitch." Interesting. Reyes is going to be more patient by being more aggressive. Lets see how that works out.

shallow, yes, in the sense that they didn't have alot of quality starters in AAA ready to step in when injuries befell Schilling, Wells, etc. However, they had 6 SPers with major-league contracts, and they had their best prospect Papelbon ready for the rotation. One of the starters was going to get moved. It was thought to be Clement, but turned out to be Arroyo. Now of course, just like any team, if they have 1 of their SPers go down, they'll be scrambling.