T.D.

Sol Hurok Heliogabalus Soleil Moon Frye

I'm already toast in the playoff pool after a booming 0-2 on Day 1...

The Parker books are quite different from the rest of his ouvre. (You could believe that Richard Stark and Donald Westlake were different people.) I don't know what the accepted canon is but my favorite Westlake books are Dancing Aztecs and Help I am Being Held Prisoner. Of his Dortmunder books I especially like Good Behavior. BTW Those who appreciate Richard Stark would probably like Thomas Perry's The Butcher's Boy. I'd say try a couple of Stark novels and a couple of Westlakes featuring Dortmunder. No arguments with titles already mentioned. BTW, Perry's The Butcher's Boy is absolutely killer (lame pun intended), and a real classic in its genre IMO. The sequel, Sleeping Dogs, is also very good.

Julian Schwinger Richard Feynman Tina Fey

R.I.P. I've read a lot of Westlake, but tapered off a bit in recent years. Ironic that, in view of the obit's weird geographical assertion, my most memorable Westlake read was Kahawa, which took place in Uganda and Kenya! (I spent a couple of years in Kenya, so consider myself qualified to judge books about the region.) Inclined to agree with Larry about the hard-boiled material vs. the crime capers; I was once an avid fan of the Dortmunder books, but drifted away. I think the last Westlake book I read was The Ax, a few years ago, though I reread Kahawa very recently.

Kid Gleason Shoeless Joe Jackson Arnold Rothstein

Stilton Cheesewright Oofy Prosser Pongo Twistleton

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but isn't offense the Bears' big problem? Gee whiz, the QB situation is awful. When I see the Bears on TV, the offense doesn't even look up to NFL standards. Funny thing, but I grew up in the Chicago area, and the Bears have almost always had rotten QBs. I recall non-entities like Jack Concannon, Bobby Douglass (would've been a better RB), Virgil Carter,... Jim McMahon's about the only significant QB they've had for decades. It's really strange. Agreed, Chicago fans are enablers. When I moved to the East Coast, the NY fans' emphasis on winning, though kind of obnoxious, was a real sea change. Chicago is a great sports town, though.

I think the key for the Lions is new management and coaching. Gotta change everything, top to bottom, to break the culture of losing. I don't think bringing in a young offense-minded coach like Garrett, while leaving the personnel/management side intact, would be successful. With the right hires, the thing could turn around, but it'd likely take a couple of years. Miami turned 1-15 around in a single season, but that was a flukily bad year, not extension of a longstanding tradition. On the coaching side, Giant defensive coordinator Spagnuolo (sp?) is going to be a hot candidate. I'm more concerned with the GM/personnel side, though.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Chinook Marion Tinsley

Indianapolis Baltimore Philly Atlanta This is a very tough wild card week. All four road teams are favored, and the point spreads I saw are slender (two ones and two threes). I'll hold my nose and stick with the favorites, though picking four road teams looks rather dubious. Plenty of potential traps, too: going with Dungy after a bye week, going with two rookie QBs (Ryan, Flacco) on the road, and SD looks kinda dangerous (for one week only; if they win, they'll get killed in the divisional round)... Compensating factors are that the Eagles look solid, P. Manning is en fuego, Baltimore should beat up on Pennington, and Arizona stinks.

Desmond Tutu Tete Montoliu Bodacious Tatas (there was a racehorse by that name back in the '80s)

Joe Pesci Rybka (it's the world's strongest computer chess program) Abe Vigoda

The Cowboy collapse surprised me. I figured they'd lose in Philly, but not in such an ugly way. I'm more or less a Cowboy hater (kudos to Jerry Jones here), but the meltdown was even painful for me to watch. Coach firings: Marinelli had to go (you have to get rid of all traces of an 0-16 season). Also Crennel, just based on his record (and I'm a longtime fan of all the Giant Parcells alumni). Mangini was less clear, but it's New York and there were some warning signs. Trouble is, the Jets bet the ranch on a bunch of veteran free-agent signings, and that rarely seems to work in the NFL. Great job by the Dolphins, but I felt Parcells maneuvered himself into a great job. Last year's 1-15 was a freakish meltdown, and I thought the Fish could go 7-9 to 9-7 this year with minimal changes. Still, Parcells, Sparano et al. got it done...I'm very happy for Pennington (a very classy guy), although I felt his arm just wasn't strong enough for the Jets.

William S. Burroughs Steely Dan Steeleye Span

The most recent Sports Illustrated had a one-paragraph remembrance of Fischer, along with an excellent full-page B/W photo.

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini Bobby Chacon Warren Zevon

Real find in my semi-local brick-and-mortar CD shop: used copy of Frank Rosolino's Free For All for $7.99! CD purchases have been rare lately, but I had to jump on this.

Happy Birthday! :party: But I gotta say your self-immolation avatar has been creeping me out...

Like Jerry will ever let THAT happen. Holmgren's retiring, and I don't think he'd want to put up with Jones's antics anyway. (I'm not that high on him as a coach, but what do I know?) Living in NY State and occasionally reading NYC tabloids, I'm very familiar with the "hire the biggest name out there" strategy. Cowher fits from that perspective, and Jones hired Parcells before, so I wouldn't rule Cowher out. But I'm not sure Cowher'd take the job, even if they threw piles of money at him: as an owner/boss Jones couldn't be a bigger contrast to the Rooney family...

I think Reid might keep his job if the Eagles beat Dallas next week. How about Zorn? I definitely think he should stay on, but there has been speculation (after JZ's recent self-critical comments) that (the unpredictable) Snyder could replace him.

He's a Scott Boras client, no? I thought that basically means signing for the most money. (In the financial world, that'd mean highest net present value of the contract under suitable assumptions; I'm not certain the sports world is always that sophisticated...[Added] OK, Boras probably is.)

Interesting article. I had always thought Orff was an out-and-out Nazi. Looks like the real story is somewhat more complex, but he still seems like a dirtbag.

Deng Xiaopeng Dan Shittu Raymond "Poupou" Poulidor

Wow, Tennessee just surprised by doing a number on the Steelers. Didn't see the game, but box score suggests that Titans played error-free ball and capitalized on turnovers.