Big Al

Actually, the Giants were up 2-0 coming back to TX, the Rangers won game 3, and that was the last game they won all season. While I don't think the Cards will sweep the Rangers at home (although it could happen), I don't see them losing this series in TX either (if at all). The Rangers bats in 2011 are no louder than they were in 2010. Hopefully the return of the DH rule for the games in TX helps, but uh.... who the hell they gonna designate to hit when freakin' NOBODY is hitting????

Well, I'm glad you guys think so. Me personally, I feel like I'm watching a bad rerun of the 2010 Series.

I'm surprised as well, because this guy actually IS one of my sacred cows! A little embarrassed to say the least! Um.... thanks? I don't know who it is, but I was definitely picking ON the guy! FWIW, the Ogerman comparison was a positive one. I generally love Claus Ogerman, particularly his work with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Wes Montgomery (but not so much his work with George Benson). And yes, I do love a good electric piano!

Same here from this Rangers fan. This Series has the potential to be legendary, with the winner being talked about for years to come.

ARod deserves to be on as many lists as Milton Bradley, AFAIC.

And yes, Jim Leyland is such a class act (also like Jim said). The look on his face during the postgame interview spoke volumes. My hat is off to him and the Tigers. They did more than keep it interesting: they fully scared the shit outta me for all six games. When they made it 9-4..... BUT, that same inning the Rangers remembered what/how/why they got there in the first place and brought the hammer(s). I just hope they can keep that momentum going for four more games, because this season is still far from over. Like Michael Young said, "I'm happy but I'm not satisfied. We still gotta job to do." And he's right: anything short of a World Series victory will be a disappointment. We've already been here. But like I said: THIS team is the real deal. I'm pretty sure a certain Mr. Lee would agree.

Dear God, I miss this man. He will always be my favorite Rangers manager, for the very reason Jim just stated. But Wash is and will always be a VERY close second!

1st time in over a decade an American League team is returning to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row! I dunno, Jim: I think this year's team is the real deal!

That's the way baseball go!

Too bad I have none....

Okay, I'm definitely gonna have to look into the Buster Williams album.

yes, he's using oxygen all the time now. he's still got his chops though. aside from his health problems, he was dealt a very heavy blow recently with the passing of Eddie Marshall. Dumb question of the day: who is/was Eddie Marshall?

Damn, this guy Fister is living up to his name! And how the hell did Uehara make the playoff roster? This guy has been nothing but terrible from the first pitch!

... less'n of course y'all are rooting for the other team ... but I take your point. Ouch! Well, at least the Lions are 5-0! http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/libvf100.shtml Footnote: No. 19 clearly comes from the pre-Steroid era in baseball. haha nice!

I think so! Now that I've listened to it in a much better mood, well, some opinions have changed, others haven't, but as always the usual disclaimers apply with the added bonus that I have grains of salt free for the asking to anyone who wants to take anything I say below with them! Track 1: No clue, but very pretty. I'd listen to this again. And again! Track 2: Sounds like a Sonny Rollins-Jim Hall collaboration, but I can only take so much high-pitched squealing. OK, guitar solo has started, so I guess it wasn't all bad. BTW, is that Blackwell on drums? Jeez, now I know what Miles was talking about when he was waiting for Trane to get it all out of his system. Thing is, when this guy isn't trying to scream his guts out, he & the guitar player mesh quite beautifully, but then he starts goin' all apeshit and it gets painful. But here it is the 11:35 mark and I can't NOT skip to the next track! Curiosity has once again killed this kat! Another guitar solo, I hope this was fun to watch cuz it's just noise to me. Wait a minute: is this Pat Metheny? Been listening all this time and didn't even NOTICE??? I haven't been this flustered by a BFT track since JSngry put that long Weather Report track on his BFT ages ago and I thought it was live Styx!!! Track 3: Was going along nicely until the soprano started exploring the upper reaches of his instrument, which is about as pleasurable as listening to a mezzo-soprano sing descant after descant at octaves so far out of her range.... eh, sorry about the rant. The harmonies between the saxes are nice, though! Track 4: Ben Webster towards the end of his life? Sounds like him, but the cliches get in the way. Hey, Mr. Piano Player: enough with the trills, k? Even the drummer sounds like he's bored with the whole thing. Maybe in a different context this would work, but man, this one is about as interesting as.... well, reading my comments about it! Track 5: Jeeeeeez, what is it with these people and their trills??? Y'know, the notes all make sense, but they seem jumbled, random, without thought. I mean, the solo is more melodic than the theme! How backwards is that? Ah geez, spoke too soon. Does every soprano player have to pay homage to Trane's "My Favorite Things" by playing 3,845,970 notes in the space of sixteen bars? And then the piano player forgets that he's NOT McCoy and starts banging the bejabbers outta his keys. {{{sigh}}} So much for trying to do this and not be a grouch about it. Track 6: Ooooohhh, this does not sound promising. Oops, never mind: false alarm. Has kind of a big-band Headhunters feel to it. Alright, buckle me in, let's see where we go. Okay, it's Wayne, who I normally give a lotta slack to, but my goodness, this is starting to sound like a jazz tribute to Joe Satriani! Drums sound like Elvin, but the fidelity suggests something recent. Ah what the hell do I know? Sounds like a tribute to "Africa/Brass" with electric piano (which I am REALLY digging, BTW!) and the orchestrations are beautiful; sounds like the arranger took some notes from Dolphy! Getting a little too free-form for my tastes towards the end, but that electric piano coda is all kinds of nice! The flute swirls remind me of Claus Ogerman, a very nice touch! Track 7: Ah, now this is very nice! If the soprano sax player is the leader, then I think it's pretty cool that he's the only one who doesn't solo. And I do like the trumpeter's tone! THIS is what I'm talking about: the value of a few well-placed notes! REALLY loving the piano comping, too. Gonna be VERY interested to find out who this is! Track 8: Nice. Don't know that I'd come back to it, but I can sure find a heckuva lot more to enjoy in this track than gripe about, and at this point that's good enough for me! Track 9: Ahhh! My kinda grooove! Love the brassy sassy tone of the trumpet! Track 10: Whoa! This one just floated by on a cloud of absolute beauty! Actually serves as a nice segue into the next track... Track 11: My first thought about thirty seconds in was , "Oh please please please PLEASE let this all be as beautiful as it started...." Which it was, BTW! Indescribably sublime until it got kinda noisy at around the 2:45 mark. Did a bumblebee fly into the studio? But then it settled down and my oh my what a DELIGHTFUL way to end the BFT! This track alone made it worth coming back for! Glad I stuck it out! So, yeah Ptah: I'm pretty sure we got the same music!

... less'n of course y'all are rooting for the other team ... but I take your point. Ouch! Well, at least the Lions are 5-0!

Dangit! I always get it wrong; I went back and edited my posts, but I can't help but wonder how I got the name right in the thread title but misspelled it everywhere else? Unless, of course, someone changed the title for me, for which I offer thanks! MM, by Weird Beard, are you actually referring to Redbeard, the guy who did rock radio around here? Or was there someone really called Weird Beard?

Nope, I think you and GA are the only ones. Yeah, that NEVER happens to me!!!! What my Jazzbro said!!!

That is VERY good news!

Whatever else happens this season, THAT was freakin' magical!!!

Isn't that what they've been playing for the last hour or so?

Okay, I've tried. I really really tried. I guess there's still a lotta month left and maybe reading the comments will put some different angles on this, but.... I have yet to make it all the way through one song without hitting the "next" button. Either because it's too noisy or too repetitive or it could be that I'm just being a pissy little jazz snob. But I'm not giving up, and hopefully by month's end, I'll have something more than "NMCOT™" and "DKDC™" and "WTF???"

That near whisper is the reason I can't understand her. FWIW, I noticed last week during the Jo Jones fest that there wasn't any more or less music played when Schapp was on the air and when someone else was running the show. I've gotten to the point where Schaap's voice is only so much white noise and can be easily tuned out. The students, bless them, are trying their hardest (I hope), but listening to someone struggle verbally has always been painful for me.

I tell ya, as often as I gripe about Phil Schaap, I think I'm gonna give the guy some slack from here on out. Why? Because if nothing else, he's not soporific like the other DJ's that put me to sleep last week during the Jo Jones fest. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually feel comforted to hear that familiar baritone that just resumed in the midst of the Monk fest. Anyway, just putting it here cuz I didn't wanna hijack the Monk fest thread here.