T.D.

Funny thing about the Eagles last week. They were on the cover of Sports Illustrated, with the headline PHILDELPHIA IS DANGEROUS: Bring on the Giants. Having won convincingly after incurring the dreaded SI Jinx, this may be the Birds' year. Picks: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

I've been ordering from BRO for over 10 years. They are slow, but reliable. They also have a reputation for being rather, er, gruff with "pesky" customers, so I wouldn't complain unless they exceed stated deadlines. Only problems: a couple of times I got shipped an incorrect disc, but they were very accommodating with exchange/correction. A lot of jewel cases wind up being cracked/busted, but that doesn't bug me. I also have almost always ordered classical, though my purchases have really fallen off in recent years. BRO was very helpful when it came to exploring contemporary classical. If you diligently search the site every week or so, tremendous bargains can be found. I've found the jazz offerings far less compelling, though I suppose there are occasional finds. Re. Andorrans, yes, there are a lot. And in the classical realm, there are shitloads (really ridiculous numbers) of assorted Italian pirate labels. But lots of legit labels, too. BRO always has a certain number of ECMs. In classical, Hyperions among others.

Noah Beery James Garner Stuart Margolin (time to quit, as I'm over-referencing old US TV shows)

Quincy Troupe F. Murray Abraham Larry Storch

Pain in the rear for Patriot fans. These coaches haven't exactly had a terrific record after leaving the Pats. I'm kind of high on McDaniels though. The latest trend in the NFL is to go young with your coaches, and we've had several fine ones recently. I think of Jim Harbaugh, Ken Wisenhunt, Mike Tomlin, and the Dolphin's coach as good examples. Mangini is also young, but he sucks! Lane Kiffin (ex-Raiders, now U of Tenn.) was really young, even younger than McDaniels iirc, when he got hired by the Raiders. I honestly don't know where he fits in, as it's difficult to assess the performance of coaches in the bizarro Al Davis environment. Kiffin did get rehired by a major college, but then so did Bill Callahan...

Despite missing playoffs this year, the Patriot coaching/management aura hasn't lost any luster: Broncos hire 32-year-old (!) offensive coordinator McDaniels to replace Shanahan as HC.

According to Wiki, which is probably reliable for this sort of thing, Bidwill is still owner, dating from 1972. [Added] Steelers win and cover. I heard on the radio that 3 out of 4 road teams won in the divisional round, "for the first time since 1971."

Damn. Home teams 0-3 straight-up so far in the Divisional round, where home clubs have traditionally dominated. As a Jints fan, I gotta give credit to Philly for a deserved victory.

I sure doubt it (3d q just finished). Carolina game is a real shocker. I'm getting annihilated in the pools I entered (both outright winners and vs. spread). Have always tended to back home teams in the divisional round.

Dave Cowens Steve Reich Alice Cooper

Ray Charles Frank Foster Patrick Kane

Mason Reese Willie Dixon Bruce Catton

Some strange happenings on the NFL coaching merry-go-round: Eric Mangini, fired by the Jets, immediately gets hired by the Browns, despite the team not yet having a GM in place (presumably Mangini was apprised of an impending GM deal). This has negative implications for Favre's Jet future and "legacy" (such as they may be...). Meanwhile, Boston College warned head coach Jagodzinski that he'd be fired if he interviewed for the Jets job. He went ahead and interviewed anyway, and was promptly fired!

RIP. Sad loss. I remember the old Newport Classics series of contemporary CDs (Cage, Rzewski and others), whose distinctive covers were sections of a Roy Lichtenstein painting (Frolick iirc). I think Betty Freeman sponsored those recordings, among many other things.

Dick Modzelewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski James Osterberg

Thanks, Conn, but my post wasn't a vote for changing the system (there was a certain amount of tongue in cheek, as indicated by my third point above). We announced a set of rules, and made the first week's picks. I wouldn't be comfortable changing rules once the pool is started. I do recommend SS1's setup for future NFL playoff pools.

I agree that's a better pool format, for at least a couple of reasons: a) Far less chance of ties; b) Higher weighting of later, more important and (sometimes) harder-to-pick games; c) My wild card week picks shit the bed, which would have counted less under your format. But it'd be more work to administer...Seems like we barely scraped together a playoff pool as it is.

Tennessee Pittsburgh NYG Carolina

Hyman Roth Johnny Ola Francis Ford Coppola

John "Count" Montefusco Monte Irvin Hristo Stoichkov

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.