Patrick

Gotta express some love for the beasts of the East from the North Coast, your Cleveland Cavaliers!!! Caught the first two against ATL at the Q. Sure Atlanta has some injured players, but those were total beatdowns. Just methodical. Maybe single covering LeBron is not such a good idea? Ya think? As expected, a bit tougher in ATL. Sweet dunks tonight from Delonte West and Wally Szcerbiak. Lousy free throw shooting but excellent defense. Josh Smith has gotta be one of the most athletically gifted total knuckleheads out there. Leave him wide open outside the paint and he will shoot (even if the shot clock is not about to expire)...and then the opposition will grab the rebound and head the other way... The defensive strategy on him looked intentional, but remained highly effective throughout the game. He just kept chucking it. Even when the home fans were repeatedly booing his missed outside shots. Some say he needs more seasoning/maturity, but he's been in the Association five seasons now. Eighth straight playoff win by at least 10 points for the Cavs. Now another 5 to 7 days off watching Big Baby and Co.

Welcome to our world. At least you have no need to check the scores to confirm that the Nationals still have a record inferior to your beloved team. Try that one on for size. I'm waiting for the pay-per-view Brad Penny vs. Carl Pavano matchup in which fans get paid to view their "stuff".

Let's also hear it for Cliff Lee, who matched Wake inning for inning, and faced a tougher lineup. Paps making it a bit interesting against the bottom of the Tribe order...

gotta get a few more miles out of the truck before trading it in!

Nice to see a solid start from Cliff Lee, and some Tribe offense (...finally). I share the puzzlement of letting CC's pitch count rise so high in a mid-April start. He is a horse, but the 120+ pitch outings really should be saved for key times during the season. And this is not a key time (for the Yankees, or Red Sox, or...).

...meanwhile the Indians have surged a full game ahead of the Nationals. And Travis Hafner already has 3 HRs--more than half way to his 2008 total (5).

yes. but will they win more regular season games than the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Amen brother. Brutal Tribe pitching, and a nearly 4 hour rain delay at the home opener. At least it wasn't snow...

Yes, Sabathia is (in)famous for getting off to slow starts. More important question to me is how many extra pounds is he carrying (if any). That might get him one of those abdominal strains that will shelve him for a few weeks. Otherwise, enjoy this one, but don't draw any conclusions for another 4-6 weeks. He doesn't have to win every single one for NYY to get their money'$ worth.

Cliff Lee continuing his fine spring training. Oh wait, this one counts? Nice to see that Omar Vizquel admits he can't hit Lee or Carmona, but may play against Pavano.

Second set, last night at the Kennedy Center (DC): The Outlaw Song for My Father Criss Cross Idle Moments Mosaic encore: Party Time I may be forgetting one title. I was especially impressed by the rhythm section (Charlap, Washington, Bernstein, Nash), and a tad underwhelmed by Nick Payton. Steve Wilson and Ravi Coltrane were solid. Sold out night (both sets) in the smallish Terrace Theater (maybe 500-600 capacity?), mostly old folks, no school groups. Very appreciative crowd. I always thought Charlap was a lot taller than he is--must be the camera angle (or that the BlueNote 7 includes several even taller guys). And I did not know BC was married to Rene Rosnes.

Gotta get a (long-winded) pre-season post in here about the Tribe (…been much more focused on the Cleveland basketball team, for obvious reasons). Right now, I’m not too optimistic about the Cleveland baseball team. They made two good free agent signings, Kerry Wood and Mark DeRosa. Wood obviously has injury risk, but should be the knockdown closer that has been missing for way too long. DeRosa should be decent with the bat, and a substantial upgrade over Casey Blake at third. The rotation, now that CC is wearing pinstripes?? Cliff Lee will come back to earth (hopefully this means something like 14-18 wins, not 6). Fausto Carmona has looked good, hopefully will resemble ’07 instead of ’08. The third starter is Carl Pavano. That’s right, the third starter is a reclamation project more modest than the Kevin Millwood one of a few years back. [This isn’t even Paul Byrd in the fifth slot.] The last two slots are younguns Scott Lewis (who was impressive in some meaningless September starts) and Anthony Reyes (recovered from injury). So the starting pitching looks to be pretty mediocre unless two out of Pavano/Lewis/Reyes overachieve. Good news is that Jake Westbrook looks like he should be back by midseason. Jake is likely the only significant midseason addition. Wood substantially improves the bullpen all by himself, but they also added sidewinder Joe Smith (…not the reserve center playing so well for the Cavs). A situational guy? Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis set up and look solid. Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi (who probably will get cut this year) appear earlier. Starter Zach Jackson is super long relief when Pavano/Lewis/Reyes get shelled early. Not much change to the rest of the team, though the starting lineup will include two young corner outfielders: Shin-Soo Choo and Ben Francisco. Not thrilled that an injured Choo played so many games (as a DH) for Korea in the WBC. Francisco has shown some flashes, but this could be Franklin Gutierrez all over again—so much promise, so little production. Ryan Garko has lost some weight and may see time in the OF (yikes!). Hafner is supposedly recovered from shoulder surgery—I’m cautiously optimistic. Garko/Hafner/Victor Martinez/Shoppach will cover C/1B/DH most games. Peralta is still the shortstop even though he has no range and Asdrubal Cabrera is excellent at short. Josh Barfield, who still can’t hit a lick in the AL somehow made the squad [he must have some interesting photos of Mark Shapiro and/or Eric Wedge with …]. But then maybe he will turn into Otis Nixon—a guy who made the Tribe only because he could run, and then learned to hit a little bit and had a useful career. And the David Dellucci era in Cleveland has only one more season left (and he starts it on the DL)! Fortunately, the Tribe plays in the Central. They have a chance to make some noise, but my expectations are modest. I am looking forward to the season, but probably won’t be hanging on every pitch in April and early May.

Dan, another definition for the slang term "gobsmacked"? I echo Paps' comments--good luck at the next gig.

Is DC on the east coast itinerary?

I asked a clerk about the red tape. She said they're clearing out inventory of older items in order to reclaim space for books. May only have new releases in the future.

and economic stimulus?

Same 30% red tape deal out in Fairfax VA. I think I need bigger savings (like the 40% coupon) to show much interest. Used the coupon on a recent Mehldau 2 disc set.

Mine too. AA was a point of entry for me into the whole BN universe (along with The Real McCoy, Midnight Blue, and Blakey Night at Birdland), so I first heard it with fresh ears, and it still makes me smile today.

Walton (in small doses) much more entertaining than JVG who is only irritating (ie not illuminating or entertaining). Too often JVG and Mark Jackson (who may actually be adequate in other situations) get into some stupid debate (like players should never foul out) while real live game action is passing them by. Gotta hit the mute button on JVG. In comparison, SVG comes across as reasonable (though he is no doubt a whiner like all coaches are). Walton at a Dead show? Maybe something like "...Using his keen rhythmicality, Jerry climbed the precipice of total musicality, much like a Robert Johnson or Jelly Roll Morton, he would not be denied, overcoming the infinitude of possible notes, he selected the ones that brought nirvana to the Fillmore crowd and points beyond..."

Yes! After Kobe hits over Andre Iguadala with 6 seconds left to go up by 2, AI returns the favor with a 3-pointer over Kobe at the buzzer in lala land. Meanwhile the Celtics lost in Chicago while LeBron and Co. held on against Orlando to advance to 30-1 at home. Cavs look to have home court throughout their run in the East (Boston is 4 games back, 5 in the loss column), and currently have a 1 game advantage over LAL. Headed to Blazers/Cavs tonight at the Q.

Yes. Larry Hughes back among the living, ...at least temporarily.

Has anyone else gotten something like this? I wonder just how many Twin Sisters customers there are... Dear Amazon.com Customer, We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated Workout by Hank Mobley have also purchased Christmas Saxophone by Twin Sisters. For this reason, you might like to know that Christmas Saxophone is now available. You can order yours for just $8.99 by following the link below. Christmas Saxophone Twin Sisters Price: $8.99 Album Description The Leader in Children's Educational Music This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply. Track Listings 1. The First Noel 2. We Three Kings 3. O Holy Night 4. Jingle Bells 5. Angels We Have Heard On High 6. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming / Infant Holy, Infant Lowly 7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 8. Coventry Carol / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem 10. O Come, O Come Emmanuel / What Child Is This? 11. Silent Night 12. Away In A Manger

...and broke his leg. Hopefully Joe Smith gets a buyout any hour now and returns to the Cavaliers for the stretch run.

One year ago today ROger Clemens told Congress "I have never taken steroids or HGH." Happy Anniversary Roge.

Nice to see Rice squeak in on his last try. Rickey was an obvious first ballot guy, despite those last few years. How many more years of eligibility does Blyleven have? He should be there already. Jay Bell, Mo Vaughn, Matt Williams, and Jesse Orosco even received a sprinkling of votes.