Patrick

Count me among those that enjoy Chris Matthews, David Shuster, David Gregory, etc. Not a fan as in fanatic, but I enjoy their attempts to cut through much of the BS (and to my mind, they appear to do this more than several other cable news alternatives), and I enjoy the varying analysts/commentators (even Pat Buchanon...as an analyst, not as a politician). Shuster's mistake was one of judgment. Plain and simple, he's on the air too much. With MSNBC basically being all politics all the time (until the late hours when it's time for "documentaries" about prison life...different type of pimpin' there...), the MSNBC talent is spending a lot of time talking on the air--much more time than during non-election times. So Shuster is on Morning Joe, and Tucker, and Hardball, and Olbermann etc. And sometimes he's a fill-in host on one of these shows, or hosting coverage from the SC primary on the weekend. So it's more than a 5 minute news segment that gets edited before being broadcast. Shuster made a mistake, and appeared to compound it somewhat by complaining that the daughter was campaigning for her mother, but was not speaking to any reporters. To me, this rationalization seems to have nothing to do with pimping (...but I don't have any youngsters). So punish Shuster for some period of time, and let him return as a reporter (more than a host/talker). I only hope that not everyone at MSNBC ends up in severe self-edit mode if/when HRC ever appears again (Matthews already did this the one time I saw him speak with her on the air). I also hope that the affected campaign doesn't play the victim card too much. Shuster apologized, a number of times, and is being suspended. Show some dignity and toughness (toughness they claim Obama has not yet proven he has), and turn back to (or toward) campaigning about the issues. While it often appears to be win at all costs (i.e. play every single card), I will hold out hope following this unfortunate event.

happy birthday, ...keep rollin'

ESPNews reporting that Shaq is on the trading block, and one possibility is sending him to the Suns for Marion and Banks. If I'm the Heat, I do that deal in a heartbeat.

I'm not making it a big deal, but it fits the pattern. Yes he ran out directly at Coughlin, shook his hand quickly, and ran away as quickly as possible (not acknowledging anything/one else, near as I could tell). No, he doesn't need to put his headset back on. But the season is over, why rush off the field after doing the minimum possible? There's no game next week to prepare (and no flight to catch either). How many other coaches would do what he did? I suspect not that many. How about acknowledging some of the Giants players or asst coaches? Ultimately, it's not that important, but I was curious to see what he'd do after having his first bad outcome of the season. As others have noted, he and his team are tremendous evaluators of talent and game tacticians, and that's the most important thing. Perhaps he just really needed to use the facilities, or to change back into one of those all cotton-almost sleeveless-homeless person-hoodies.

I liked that BB peanut butter and jelly bit. One of the local Cleveland stations tried to do a magazine-style Bill Belichick "coach show" during his time there, and it was pretty lame. Mainly because BB has very little personality, or at least little ability/willingness to emote in front of the press/camera. Really awkward conversations about football. [unlike Ditka, Parcells, Johnson, to name a few.] So I took the PB and J thing to be a nice send up of that. At least it showed he had a sense of humor about himself.

my wife and I went with an Ella version of "Cheek to Cheek" (no Louis Armstrong)--simple and sweet...and swingin'

Please. Which 3 teams in the East will get in with only 30 wins? All 8 playoff teams in the Least will win at least 30. In fact 13 of the 15 Leastern teams are on pace to win at least 30 (only NYK and Miami look not to get near that level). Perhaps one or two will make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record, and that will be frustrating to fans of good but not great west teams. Not too shocking actually. And with rare exception (hello Mavs), the 8th seed in each conference will meet a quick end in the first round, regardless of how many regular season games they won. And the conference winner likely would beat the 8th seed from the other conference as well. So the West is better again this year. Just like the AL and the AFC were. Such is the nature of league sports.

Tremendous, historic, game. Wes Welker was the only Pat who showed up. What happened to that NE offensive line? Anyone else think Bill Belichick was a bit greedy going for it on 4th and forever when they were in long FG range? Is losing 7 yards of field position so huge that you go for it on 4th and 13 (or whatever it was) rather than attempt to score 3 points? Was there a physical problem with the placekicker (Fox suggested this was not the case)? Pretty class move by BB running off the field before it was over--almost Moss-like. An ounce of dignity with all of the well-earned arrogance, perhaps? Guess not. He did manage to talk to a Fox reporter for a minute or two. Who knows how much financial duress was involved. Is it that tough to ignore Csonka, Griese, Morris, etc. in FL? I'll admit that it was pretty sad that ESPN's first postgame interviews were phone calls with Griese (happy birthday!) and Morris. The season is over now (sorry ProBowl fans) so ignore everything NFL-related (including Mel Kuiper) until the draft... Pitchers and catchers in less than two weeks!

kh, thanks for the heads up and the link to the prior thread. GOM, thanks for the rec on the Goodman twofer. I was initially a bit hesitant given the Yanow/AMG commentary (I know, I know...), but included it in my order. I placed an order for 11 Storyville titles, the Roy Haynes Dreyfus side, and an architecture book.

[naively asked in complete ignorance] is Storyville a legit label??? I have also had good experiences with Daedalus, though I haven't purchased anything there in a very long time.

The years with a single week between conf. championships and SB are so much better...we're spared a full week of media drivel. I'm a Jints fan and also like the Pats (due to the BB->NYG connection) and still can't stand to read the crap out there. Whether its a week of crap or two, its still easy to ignore. So I'd rather have two weeks for minor injuries to heal and have a better game, or at least the potential for a better game. Indeed it is easy to ignore. I have. We'll see if I still have interest/curiosity in this NFL season by gametime. Probably I will, but... You may be correct about minor injuries, but I'm not convinced that it means a better game. At the other extreme, I'd argue that a month off for college football players is not a good thing for the bowl games (of course if they use that time to do their homework assignments, write their papers, etc., that's a good thing! ).

Why wasn't this game played yesterday (already)? Why...

bev is a man Right, I always assumed that anyway. Those English... Bev still is. So is Fran.

Recall when Bev and Fran were participating in threads (...may have been BNBB)?

My order has not yet shipped...but now I know that JR's heaters and humidifiers are on sale...

Way too many I haven't yet cracked open from previous sales, but these won't be readily available much longer... My order: Kenny Burrell/Donald Byrd - All Day Long Arnett Cobb/Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Blow Arnett, Blow Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis/Johnny Griffin - Battle Stations Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Big Band - Trane Whistle Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet Booker Ervin - The Song Book Art Farmer Quintet - Featuring Gigi Gryce Benny Golson - Groovin' With Golson Barry Harris - Magnificent! Roy Haynes Trio - Just Us Harold Land - West Coast Blues!, Eastward Ho! Shelly Manne & His Men - At The Manne-Hole Vol. 1 Blue Mitchell - Blue's Moods

I think Jim's point was that so far the Celtics schedule has not been too tough. Like you say, it will even out eventually. At that point, the verdict will be in. I haven't studied the Celtic schedule so far, so I don't have an opinion. Cavaliers split two games against Boston, as did Pistons. Cleveland had a very tough schedule to start the season, and are now enjoying a few soft parts of their schedule (though they do have Phx, Por, Was, LAL coming up). They are not as good as Detroit or Boston right now, and probably won't be this season, but they are starting to play pretty well, admittedly against not the stiffest of competition (besides tonight at Spurs).

talk about letdowns, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and the Gilbertless Wiz sweep a home and home from the Celtics, ...and then they lose to the Knicks...

Some, not as much as earlier. I'll come back to it later this year to see how it's feeling. FWIW though, Beautifully Human is still tripping me out. Playd it just last week and still got the goosebumps. In for the duration, I think it's gonna be. (Miltonic Inversion!) Me too. That's the only one I have. (double reverse Miltonic non-inversion...nothin' but net!)

Go Jim go. Still diggin' the recent Jill Scott album? [i haven't yet acquired it.]

yummm

Especially when they used to play in a place called the Salt Palace!!!

New name for the ballpark in Cleveland. Jacobs Field, named after a past owner, will now be called Progressive Field, after the insurance company. My guess was that the Cleveland Clinic was going to prevail. Recognizing that the (corporate) name of any field is rather inconsequential [Enron Field, and whatever that now bankrupt outfit was that slapped its name on the Ravens monstrosity...PSINet??], gotta say that referring to that park as the Jake or Jake by the Lake was cool, and I'm not yet excited about the Prog??? ...Hopefully the home team will make a lot of progress playing there...and many of us will still refer to it as the Jake. When the neighboring Cavaliers switched their label from Gund Arena (again, named after a former owner) to Quicken Loans Arena, I groaned (really ugly sign and logo). But am happy now referring to it as the "Q". --- Bedard to Mariners would be great for Seattle, provided they don't create a deep area of weakness in their farm system in the process.

Its the Exchange in Willoughby, about 10 miles east of Cleveland. And this store usually sucks...until yesterday, and its funny because I go there like once a year and I decided to go there on a whim. Man, that was worth it! Even the non-jazz employees knew they got some good shit in. Nice score. I've never been to that one. The Record Exchange in Cleveland Heights used to be pretty decent once upon a time, as well as Record Revolution, both on Coventry. But these days I don't bother when I'm back in town. Mostly crud and new disks sold at list price. Any other interesting jazz material beyond the stack o' VEE??

from one Pat to another, Happy Birthday!