Vic Sage

i hear ya.

nyc is a big town, irish.

well, thats not a big deal to me. Great artists frequently have a limited number of things to say. They merely learn to say them in different, more interesting ways. If you look at the films of John Ford, f'rinstance, you'll find recurring motifs, actors, characters, themes, images, all over the place. Yet each is a unique statement. Hawks even uses the same basic plot to expess the same basic ideas in RIO BRAVO, EL DORADO and RIO LOBO. It can be quite interesting to see how a director chooses to tackle the same material at different points in his career. But that Allen used the same plot to express the same idea... but he simply did it LESS well the 2nd time... is kind of sad, in the same way that RIO LOBO ended up a sad kind of Hawks film. If Allen wanted to take that plot and that theme and inject it into a noir-ish thriller, then fine. But Allen doesn't have the chops to direct a thriller, and thats the problem.

Best Picture Brokeback Mountain - didn't see it. don't want to. Capote - didn't see it. don't want to. Crash - This was the best movie of the year. Good Night, and Good Luck - well done, though lacking dramatic impact. Munich - Its no THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote" Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow" Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain" Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line" David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck." Actress: Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents" Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica" Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice" Charlize Theron, "North Country" Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line." Supporting Actor: George Clooney, "Syriana"; Matt Dillon, "Crash"; Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"; William Hurt, "A History of Violence." Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Junebug"; Catherine Keener, "Capote"; Frances McDormand, "North Country"; Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"; Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain." Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"; Bennett Miller, "Capote"; Paul Haggis, "Crash"; George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Steven Spielberg, "Munich." Foreign Film: "Don't Tell," Italy; "Joyeux Noel," France; "Paradise Now," Palestine; "Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days," Germany; "Tsotsi," South Africa. Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"; Dan Futterman, "Capote"; Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"; Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich." Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"; George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Woody Allen, "Match Point"; Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"; Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana." Animated Feature Film: "Howl's Moving Castle"; "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"; "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit." Art Direction: "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Pride & Prejudice." Cinematography: "Batman Begins," "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "The New World." Sound Mixing: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Walk the Line," "War of the Worlds." Sound Editing: "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "War of the Worlds." Original Score: "Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla; "The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias; "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams; "Munich," John Williams; "Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli. Original Song: -"In the Deep" from "Crash," Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; -"It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard; -"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Dolly Parton. Costume: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Pride & Prejudice," "Walk the Line." Documentary Feature: "Darwin's Nightmare," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "March of the Penguins," "Murderball," "Street Fight." Documentary (short subject): "The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," "God Sleeps in Rwanda," "The Mushroom Club," "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin."

This movie was a huge disappointment. It's a flat, humorless depiction of loathsome people doing loathsome things and getting away with it. Its turn from UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS soap opera to noir-ish thriller is silly, with a script that enduced inappropriate laughter amongst the audience. It's a "thriller" for about 15 minutes. Good ending, though. Allen's CRIME & MISDEMEANORS covers all the same philosophical ground, but with rye humor and melancholy to leaven the heavy-handed goings on. The Martin Landau subplot from C & M is in fact lifted whole and turned into MATCH POINT, unburdened by C & M's humor, texture or Checkovian elan. All that gets replaced by the mechanics of planning and committing murder, and then covering it up. C & M left that stuff out to focus on the impact of the event on the characters, not plot machinations. I really don't understand the hoopla here, folks. The image of a naked emperor wearing invisible clothes has suddenly popped into my head. Now if i could only turn that emperor into an empress that looks like charlize theron, it would end up being a pretty good day for me.

Did anybody notice that the title of one of the nominated documentary shorts is: Documentary (short subject): "The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club" I had no idea. Bret must've finally gone postal and killed him. We need to have a wake...

Fernando Venezuela!

so, you dump a bucket of sarcasm on my head, then call me a complete prick for responding? I'd say i was only a partial prick. But you've sure got a lot of balls. Inferences about how guys might've performed, or how the Mets might've won even MORE (despite the fact that they were the WINNINGEST TEAM IN BASEBALL during Davey's tenure) if Davey had done this or that are pure speculation. He could've walked Straw into AA meetings and ended up with the same result. Jeffries might have BEEN a complete jerk who deserved whatever hazing he got. Or Davey might've seen it as a standard right of passage that all jocks endure, to some degree. (by the way, we don't really KNOW what Jeffries endured, beyond heresay and innuendo, do we?) Jeffries didn't just blossom when he left. He was actually pretty good HERE, but he came up pretty young, and the Mets got tired of tolerating his glove in the infield and lost patience with him just as he was approaching his peak years. I wasn't surprised he blossomed once he was relieved of defensive obligations and got to play everyday in a park suited to his gap power bat. But you seem to want to credit his improved performance to the fact that Ron Darling wasn't around anymore to pick on him. Hmmm. Ok. I'm only basing my evaluation of Davey based on what he did, not on what i think he should've done. I know other teams and other players have blossomed and succeeded without a manager acting in loco parentiis, and i know that the Mets won more during his tenure than they ever did before or since, and i know post-season can be largely a crapshoot, so i'm not going to sit here 20 years later and say: "gee, davey, if you just sat on those boys more on flights, we'd have had more world series wins." You, apparently, want to conflate your moral judgments about how athletes comport themselves with their on-field productivity and draw some conclusions about it. I don't.

]What, do you expect these managers to be den mothers? They're grown men. So what if the entire dugout takes a dislike for one poor rookie prick? No need for Davey to get involved. If it effects a rookie's ability to perform, or even if a manager thinks it might, he should get involved. Some players have tougher skin than others. But its not about off-the-field activity. Its about on-the-field performance. ]So what if Darryl is showing up hungover to games? No reason for Davey to get involved. I don't think Casey got too involved with Mick's hangovers, either. Didn't stop them from winning a WS or 2, did it? ]So what if the team destroys an airplane? Some people like Jeff Pearlman think this is cool and want to hang out with those guys. No reason for Davey to get involved. The Oakland As, the Yanks of the Bronx Zoo, the Dykstra/Kruk/Daulton Phillies.... there have been skads of winning teams that acted like ANIMAL HOUSE. No, i don't think Davey needed to get involved. ]He's not a den mother for crying out loud. that's the only correct thing you said in your post.

Walter Hill was a poet of machismo. his films glorified the mythology of the West... from depression-era boxers, to western outlaws, to weekend warriors, to cops and robbers. Influenced by Hollywood's classic westerns and the purplish pulp noirs of the 30s and 40s, Hill's films, at their best, trafficked in mythic archtypes... putting iconic characters in new times and places, while choreographing the mayhem like a minimalist Peckinpah. At some point along the way, however, he became a 2nd rate hack and never came back. Early period Hard Times (1975) The Driver (1978) The Warriors (1979) The Long Riders (1980) Southern Comfort (1981) 48 Hrs. (1982) Hill started as a screenwriter in the 60s (the GETAWAY for Peckinpah, amongst others). He finally got to direct with HARD TIMES, with Charles Bronson and James Coburn in a tale of bare-knuckled boxers and hucksters eking out an existence during the Depression. It was a great intro to Hill's world of men in conflict. Bronson is at the height of his powers. DRIVER is a failed existential tale about a getaway driver, but it still had some interesting things on its mind. WARRIORS is his breakthru hit movie, succeeding on critical and commercial terms.It has a dreamlike quality that stays with you. LONG RIDERS was his first actual western (though all of his films can be seen as westerns, despite the trappings of other genres). SOUTHERN COMFORT is a metaphor for our involvement in Vietnam, pitting incompetent national guard reservists in the Lousiana bayous against the local cajuns in a mysterious, pointless war. Then 48 HOURS came and solidified Hill's success as a director of men in conflict, getting a star-making performance from Eddie Murphy that gave Hill's mis-en-scene the necessary humor to leaven his self-seriousness. There he was, at the pinnacle. Then Hill stepped into the abyss... Streets of Fire (1984) Brewster's Millions (1985) Crossroads (1986) Extreme Prejudice (1987) Red Heat (1988) Johnny Handsome (1989) Another 48 Hrs. (1990) During this time, Hill was co-writing and co-producing the ALIEN films, so he was still flourishing. But his directing career was heading south... STREETS OF FIRE was going to be Hill's apocalyptic Rock-n-Roll fantasy, upping the ante on THE WARRIORS. But it failed catastrophically, on every level. He followed it up with a commercial comedy, cashing in on Richard Pryor with a remake of BREWSTER'S MILLIONS, but unlike Eddie Murphy, Pryor didn't have much to work with and wasn't able to lift the myrthless, elephantine comedy out of mediocrity. Hill returned to more familiar ground with the mythic CROSSROADS, with a guitarist and a battle with the devil, but he seems to have lost his way. His work was now sluggish and dull, unable to tap into its Campbellian material. So he returned to his beloved westerns with EXTREME PREJUDICE, trying to make a modern one with Nick Nolte. But he failed again. Hill zigzagged back to comedic crime-actioners with RED HEAT, JOHNNY HANDSOME and ANOTHER 48 HOURS, but they all failed (to a greater or lesser degree) with the sequel to his most popular film showing how far he'd fallen. One would think this marked his nadir, but one would be wrong. Worse was yet to come... Trespass (1992) Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) Wild Bill (1995) Last Man Standing (1996) Supernova (2000) (as Thomas Lee) Undisputed (2002) Hill started doing TV with TALES FROM THE CRYPT episodes. He returned to features with TRESPASS, a vague remake of TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, that was as stupid a movie as one is likely to see. He then tries 2 more westerns, with WILD BILL even more disastrous than GERONIMO. Then, with LAST MAN STANDING, Hill tried an adaptation of Dashel Hammett's "Red Harvest" (already made as a western in A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, and a Kurasawa samurai film, YOJIMBO), with mega-star Bruce Willis. He threw in all the essential elements of the 40s-era noir and western genres... but it just doesn't work at all. He bottomed out with a SF thriller SUPERNOVA that he, ultimately, took his name off of, and is now reduced to doing TV and direct-to-video/cable shlock. His last, UNDISPUTED, is a decent prison/boxing movie, but a pale version of his earlier work. He's also done some work on the excellent HBO series, DEADWOOD. But "dead wood" is also the current state of his originally promising career. I'm guessing it was drugs, but who knows how many ways Hollywood can corrupt an artist?

great, garish cartoon of a movie. structured like a WWII film, where the platoon is caught behind enemy lines and has to fight its way back to the Allied troops. The film is viceral and kinetic, and its iconic imagery is shot as if with day-glo paint. Though the script is laugable and performances pathetic, the story telling is mythic. The action is well choreographed and the story's payoff works. Walter Hill made some more good movies before he totally lost his shit. A Walter Hill filmography to follow...

The Pods are in a rare money-spending mode. and with Mirabelli as their catcher, they could certainly use Mike's bat as an alternative to playing a career backup. And with his power, Piazza might be one of the few hitters in baseball who wouldn't necessarily be hurt by Petco Park. And it doesn't hurt that he's already a hero in Southern California. Mike to SD makes alot of sense, for all parties.

]And the fact that Cameron demanded the trade has nothing to do with it? no, it didn't. first, we don't know that he did; secondly, if he did, he can demand whatever he wants but the gm doesn't have to do it; third, even if he demanded it, and even if the Mets were inclined to just give him what he wanted, the TIMING of the deal (with Damon still in play) practically guaranteed that the Mets wouldn't get back as much in value as they could've. What would the bosox give for cameron after losing damon? more than nady, i'd wager. no, we moved cameron, and moved him when we did, to make $ room for Wagner. period. ]And Benson being ineffective wasn't a factor? he wasn't ineffective. he was an adequate 3rd starter. we just have a cheaper option available in Heilman. ]]and we trade for LoDuca because he'll be cheaper than Hernandez or Molina (so he thought)And just as good. So why is that bad? Because (1) Loduca is NOT just as good as Hernandez, and (2) even if they were equivalent, we had to give up top prospects (not just money) to get him. After LoDuca's first season (an excellent one), he's been a barely adequate receiver with a good BA and no power or run production. At age 34, he's at the stage where decline is imminent and ANY decline would take him from "barely adequate" to "totally suck" pretty damn quick. Ramon Hernandez has power and is defensively sound, and has a MUCH higher upside, and is significantly younger, still in his prime. and he may've cost $2m/yr more, but he would've improved the team more, and saved us valuable prospects. ]]Now he's trying to move Matsui and as much of his $$ as possible, in order to play... who? Keppinger? Anderson? Does that really make us better at 2b, or is it just a matter of reducing our expenses at that position (e.g., even if we only move $2m of matsui's deal, Keppinger makes the minimum)?That depends on who they get for him, doesn't it? Of course it does, but if they move him for a spare part or prospect, with the intent of turning the position over to Keppinger or Anderson (or god forbid, Boone), then its another $$ dumping move, because even Matsui's mediocre-to-crappy production last 2 years are at least equal to what Kepp or Anderson could reasonably be expected to produce this year as the Mets' 2Bman. ]]The Delgado deal was basically a FA signing, a year late, that cost us top prospects.A FA who flat out refused to sign with the Mets, even though they gave him a better offer than the Marlins. How is missing that Moreno's fault? i didn't say it was his fault. i was simply suggesting the delgado deal is best understood in the category of Omar's "fa signings", rather than trades, because, though it is an atypical trade for him where we were taking on rather than dumping salary, it was a deal for a player that they had already made a significant FA bid to get, at the price they were willing to pay (now plus prospects) with a team that was in the process of dumping its entire roster. And once Omar wants a guy, once there is blood in the water, he seems to become single-minded. Which is sometimes good, sometimes not (if its the wrong player). ]]We need another frontline SPer, and we need one now. And we need one without giving up Milledge. Anybody else is expendable.Yes, let's rub our magic lamp and he'll appear. It's oh so easy to pick up a frontline starting player without giving up anything in return. Other GMs are happy to give up starting players if you ask them nicely.

5=love Then/Now January 3, 2000 / New York Mets released Bobby Bonilla. 5/5 January 14, 2000/ New York Mets traded Masato Yoshii to the Colorado Rockies for Bobby Jones and Lariel Gonzalez. 3/3 January 21, 2000 / New York Mets traded Luis Lopez to the Milwaukee Brewers for Bill Pulsipher. 4/3 January 26, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Kurt Abbott of the Colorado Rockies. 3/3 February 3, 2000 / St. Louis Cardinals signed Shawon Dunston of the New York Mets as a free agent. 2/2 February 4, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Dennis Springer of the Florida Marlins. 2/2 Colorado Rockies signed Billy Taylor of the New York Mets as a free agent. 4/4 February 7, 2000 / New York Mets claimed David Lamb on waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 3/3 February 8, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Rich Rodriguez. 3/1 February 22, 2000 / New York Mets traded to the for Mark Johnson. March 13, 2000 / Detroit Tigers claimed Shane Halter of the New York Mets on waivers. 2/2 March 17, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Timo Perez. 3/5 March 18, 2000 / New York Mets traded Jesse Orosco to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe McEwing. 4/4 May 13, 2000 / New York Mets released Rickey Henderson. 2/4 June 2, 2000 / New York Mets traded Bill Pulsipher to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Lenny Harris. 4/4 June 5, 2000 / New York Mets selected Jeff Duncan in seventh round of free agent draft 3/3. June 8, 2000 / New York Mets released Jon Nunnally. 2/2 July 28, 2000 / New York Mets traded Melvin Mora, Mike Kinkade, Pat Gorman and Lesli Brea to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Bordick. 4/1 New York Mets traded Paul Wilson and Jason Tyner to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Bubba Trammell and Rick White. 4/2 August 30, 2000 / New York Mets traded Nelson Cruz to the Oakland Athletics for Jorge Velandia. 3/3 October 12, 2000 / New York Mets claimed Desi Relaford on waivers from the San Diego Padres. 2/4 November 3, 2000 / Florida Marlins signed Ryan McGuire of the New York Mets as a free agent. 3/3 November 8, 2000 / Anaheim Angels signed David Lamb of the New York Mets as a free agent. 3/3 December 5, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Brett Hinchliffe. 3/3 December 9, 2000 / Colorado Rockies signed Mike Hampton of the New York Mets as a free agent. 2/5 December 10, 2000 / Pittsburgh Pirates signed Derek Bell of the New York Mets as a free agent. 2/3 December 11, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Kevin Appier of the Oakland Athletics. 4/2 New York Mets signed free agent Tsuyoshi Shinjo. 4/3 New York Mets traded Bubba Trammell to the San Diego Padres for Donne Wall. 1/1 New York Mets signed free agent Steve Trachsel of the Toronto Blue Jays. 2/5 December 13, 2000 Atlanta Braves signed Kurt Abbott of the New York Mets as a free agent. 3/3 December 20, 2000 / Baltimore Orioles signed Mike Bordick of the New York Mets as a free agent. 4/4 December 21, 2000 / Matt Franco granted free agency. 2/3 December 26, 2000 / New York Mets signed free agent Pete Walker. 3/3

yeah, thats my problem with it, too. he appears to me like a stock broker ex-jock weekend warrior, filled with a sense of unfulfilled entitlement, who likes to get drunk and be a dick, thinking his hostility makes him cool. If you hate scalpers and you hate the cops trying to catch the scalpers, if you hate the wave and hate the people who don't do the wave, if you hate assholes and ARE an asshole... well, then its just about hate, and not about Shea or the Mets, ain't it? His desperate need to be funny doesn't mask his underlying assholity. And he's not that funny.

I didn't like the LoDuca deal at the time, and i don't like it now. Its the same kind of deal Minaya has often made since day 1. In order to sign big $ FAs (Martinez, Beltran, Wagner), Freddie Morebucks makes Omar dump salary. Because god forbid we should have a payroll commensurate with our marketplace. So we trade Cameron away for Nady, and Benson for Julio, and we trade for LoDuca because he'll be cheaper than Hernandez or Molina (so he thought) The Delgado deal was basically a FA signing, a year late, that cost us top prospects. Seo was not a $ deal... it was either a personality conflict (Peterson didn't want him) and/or just plain stupid. Now he's trying to move Matsui and as much of his $$ as possible, in order to play... who? Keppinger? Anderson? Does that really make us better at 2b, or is it just a matter of reducing our expenses at that position (e.g., even if we only move $2m of matsui's deal, Keppinger makes the minimum)? Frankly, the signing of Randolph struck me as a $$ move, too, with Leyland and other options being more expensive for Freddie Morebucks. We need another frontline SPer, and we need one now. And we need one without giving up Milledge. Anybody else is expendable.

i saw MUNICH and was completely underwhelmed. It doesn't make even the mediocre top 10 i've already listed. hey, Impulse's mom, why are you surprised i like UPSIDE OF ANGER? Cuz nothing blew up? I like romantic comedies, as much as any other genre. It was a "date movie" and the missus and i were thoroughly entertained by its good performances and a script that stopped short of being overly sentimental while still having emotional weight. Costner's ex-jock was as good a performance as he's capable of. Joan Allen is always great. I didn't see the twist coming, and it really worked. but I absolutely hated the subplot with the daughter and the sleezeball radio producer,.

hatehatehatehatehatehatehate... hate.

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL are not listed as an eligible release in 2005: http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/reminder/reminder_html.html perhaps it was released in 2004?

I haven't seen very much this year, but there are only 3 excellent movies i've seen, worth putting on a top 10: CRASH - best movie of the year CINDERELLA MAN - excellent, if a bit too sentimental MARCH OF THE PENGUINS - beautiful doc if i had to fill out a top 10, i'd have to include: BATMAN BEGINS - excellent, mostly FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY - great look, but turgid storytelling HITCH - nice romantic comedy GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - underwhelming, but solid KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - ok epic ROBOTS - only ok, but best animated film i've seen this year UPSIDE OF ANGER - surprisingly good romance here are the only other movies I've seen in 05: 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 KING KONG - great look, but disappointing MADAGASCAR - solid animated film MATCH POINT - i hated it SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS - teen drama; ok SKY HIGH - fun STAR WARS III - best of the prequels VALIANT - mediocre WALLACE & GROMIT - disappointing The following is a list of movies i have NOT seen, and have absolutely no DESIRE to see, but they've garnered good reviews and are likely to end up on some 10 best lists or get some nominations: BALLAD OF JACK & ROSE BREAKFAST ON PLUTO BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN BROKEN FLOWERS CAPOTE CONSTANT GARDNER GRIZZLY MAN MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS MUNICH THE NEW WORLD NORTH COUNTRY PRIDE & PREJUDICE SYRIANA TRANSAMERICA WALK THE LINE THE WHITE COUNTESS Here are some other films from 05 that i still want to see, though few of them (if any) are likely to end up on anybody's top 10: AEON FLUX ARISTOCRATS ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 BROTHERS GRIMM CHRONICLES OF NARNIA CHICKEN LITTLE CORPSE BRIDE DOMINO ELEKTRA 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN HARRY POTTER/GOBLET OF FIRE HISTORY OF VIOLENCE HOODWINKED ICE HARVEST THE ISLAND KICKING & SCREAMING KISS KISS BANG BANG KUNG FU HUSTLE LAYER CAKE THE MATADOR MIRRORMASK MR. AND MRS. SMITH SARAH SILVERMAN: JESUS IS MAGIC SERENITY SQUID & THE WHALE 2046 WAR OF THE WORLDS WEDDING CRASHERS I have a feeling some of these would bump out others on my current top 10, especially HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, WEDDING CRASHERS, ICE HARVEST and CORPSE BRIDE, which i am most looking forward to.

the main thing one should take from this, and similar articles from reputable sources, is the continuous gouging of the taxpaying public for the benefit of landlords and developers. The concession the city and state are making in tax rebates and rent waivers = real revenues lost. Money that could be going into school construction is going into stadium construction. As much as i hate Shea and would happily pee on its imploded rubble, i despise the corporate welfare that cities are seduced, or coerced, or bribed into paying to rich owners, when so many independent studies show that there is little economic bang for the bucks spent in this way, and when our city has so many other more pressing priorities. The whole Yankee/Met comparison is pointless, except to say that the Yanks want to build the best state-of-the-art stadium money can buy and are willing to spend 2x-3x as much on their stadium as the cheapass Mets, who apparently do their stadium shopping at K-Mart.

i don't want to see it... not because the characters are gay, but because it looks BORRRRRRRRING!

warrrrrrriors.... come out to play-ayyyyy... (clink clink clink)

Top 10 submarine war movies to see: BEDFORD INCIDENT DAS BOOT CRIMSON TIDE DESTINATION TOKYO ENEMY BELOW GRAY LADY DOWN HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER ICE STATION ZEBRA RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP TORPEDO RUN fantasy/sf sub movies: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA FANTASTIC VOYAGE THE ABYSS YELLOW SUBMARINE comedy sub movies: HELLO DOWN THERE OPERATION PETTICOAT DOWN PERISCOPE

I disagree with that column. To the extent a member of the BBWAA is a columnist, and not just a beat writer providing coverage, he/she is being paid to write OPINIONS. That such writers, who DO see more games than anybody else in any position to vote for the HOF, should be suddenly disqualified from expressing their opinion seems perverse. What such columnists, and all beat writers too, for that matter, DO have an objective interest in is the preservation of the sport's history in the HOF. While athletes may benefit economically from their enshrinement, the writers do NOT. Their interest is the only one untainted by self-interest. To take the vote away from them... who would you give it to, instead? Does Sheridan suppose a popularity contest of fans is a preferred system, more likely to put forth the most qualified candidates? Or just use the veterans committee for ALL nominees? Isn't such a small body rife with personality issues, political interests, lobbying... does HOF enshrinement rest best with such a small group voting, none of whom are guaranteed to have watched the careers of the eligible players? who else, then?