Dave James

Yanks lose by a run in 11 innings to KC tonight. Jeter goes 0-6 lowering his BA from .285 to .271 in one game. Yankee pitching gives up just four hits and strikes out 12 Royals but manages do deal out 11 walks. I'll bet Joe Girardi is having a s**t fit. More good news. Raphael Soriano will be undergoing an MRI on his shoulder by week's end.

Hope Detroit takes the series for selfish reasons - 3 of the games against Vancouver would be EST, meaning I can watch them without having to stay up late. Plus Detroit/Vancouver would be a GREAT series. Amen, brother. A Detroit Vancouver series would be epic. Winning in San Jose isn't going to be easy, but the Wings seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now. Jimmy Howard has dialed up his game in a way I wouldn't have thought possible. He's come up big time and time again and kept his team in games. That's what good goalies do. Several days ago, I was thinking of changing out my avatar. I'm going to put that off for awhile.

I'm thinking that Jazzmoose must be thinking that when it comes to the Red Wings, he may have tugged a little too hard on Superman's cape.

I may have mentioned this before, but one of our local Portland papers called The Tribune ran a headline some years ago when George Bush was running against John Kerry, It said: 90% Of Men Prefer Bush

I'm thinking that Jazzmoose is thinking incorrect, if not impure, thoughts. I'm also thinking he might enjoy this video:

What do you want to bet Bradley doesn't have two dimes to rub together in five years?

No respect around here for the Frosh.. No Frosh, no Beach Boys. Either would be a shame.

I know I'm running a serious risk of being censured when I say this, but I've never heard All Music. However, what Jim said about the bass player could end up resonating with me and in a big way. If I recall correctly, the fellow who posted the negative Amazon review complained about bringing the instrument forward in the mix and that there were too many bass solos. Well, I'm from the School of Rock that says even one bass solo is one too many. So, if this gentleman happens to row in the same boat as my own bad self, then I guess I can see where he's coming from.

I'm in the Big Beat Steve corner on this one. Negative reviews, for whatever reason, hold more weight than do positive ones. This was borne out by something called the TARP Study that was conducted by the University of Georgia in the 1990's. In that study, it was found that someone having a poor customer interaction with a service provider, retail or otherwise, was seven times more likely to tell someone of their poor experience than if they had had a satisfactory one. Kind of the same thing with Amazon evaluations. I try not to give too much credence to one and two star reviews, but I do read 'em and I find myself asking, " uh, oh, what if they're right?" I don't ask myself the same question if the review is positive. Human nature I guess.

It must be nice to have done at least one thing that will keep you in the public consciousness for as long as people watch movies.

Young Mr. Eppley's ERA went from 1.35 to 9.00 today in 1/3 of an inning. He's messing around in space that was previously reserved for Raphael Soriano.

Red Wings live to skate again. The team nets a natural "hat trick" in the third period and holds on for a 4-3 win at the Shark Tank. Game six on Tuesday at The Joe. Can my boys come all the way back from a three game deficit? I like their odds a lot more right now than I did a few hours ago.

Only if Stern and the league force his hand in order to prop up the deteriorating situation in Los Angeles.

I think the Preds and Canucks will go seven. Luongo looks to have rediscovered his shakiness right at the wrong time and Rinne seems as quick as thy come. Lord knows when Stanley is on the line, you can't overestimate the value of a hot goalie. I have friends in Vancouver who will be placed on suicide watch should the Canucks fold their tent.

Anyone who plays golf at any level knows the kind of game it is. Everyone has it in them to be a nice guy and everyone has it in them to be a dickhead. I try not to judge someone's career on the basis of a handful of events. I judge them for what they accomplished over the long haul, what they brought to the game and the way they are perceived by their peers. Ballesteros was a competitor. He was a winner. The sport was better for his having been part of it. That's all that matters.

If the Yankees don't do something about their pitching, over the long haul, purely and simply, they are toast. You can't rely on the Bartolo Colons and Freddie Garcias of the world to get the job done. Ain't gonna happen. New York has maybe 1 1/2 reliable pitchers on any given day. That's it. Game over. Trust me. You do not win championships with those arms.

Almost a perfect game. He walked a guy in the 8th. Verlander has electric stuff. When he's on, he's...well...unhittable.

The only guy who even comes close these days is Lefty.

Pretend the burgers and dogs are democrats.

I could be wrong, but right at the beginning of the first video, it looked like they panned by the outside of the office they used in the opening montage for the Warner Bros. TV series "77 Sunset Strip." These are really cool. Thanks for sending them along.

For those who are fans of golf, the sport has lost one of its good guys. Seve Ballesteros passed away yesterday as a result of a brain tumor that he'd been fighting for some time. He played golf with the kind of flair you rarely see these days. A huge influence on the development of the sport in Europe. Here's a nice career retrospective put together by ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6498364

You want to get grossed out? Take the annual salary of Alex Rodriquez, Mark Texiera and Derek Jeter and divide it by 162, the number of games in a season. Then, multiply that by the number of games they've played so far this year and divide that by the total number of hits these three have accumulated through the games of May 5th. If I'm doing my sums correctly, the Yanks have paid these three guys $458,229 per hit in 2011.

I'm thinking about why Jerry Garcia's voice died about 15 years before he did.