T.D.

Can't see that happening. Too much money involved, and the players' union has too much power. MLB isn't alone in that regard: European professional football (e.g. English Premier League) is also very light on drug testing compared with the Olympics. For MLB to adopt IOC/WADA-level testing, the scandal would have to get so bad that either the players' union dissolves or Congress threatens to take away antitrust exemptions. Again, too much money involved, and MLB revenues don't suggest that fans have been significantly turned off by dope stories. Let's not even talk about the NFL (I find it difficult to believe that league isn't chemical-fueled, regardless of the claimed level of testing ).

Definitely contact them and let them know of the mistake. I expect that they'll send you a prepaid mailer, so that you won't have to pay (even temporarily) for any extra postage. (That's what Berkshire Record Outlet has done for me in the past, and Mosaic's customer service should be at least as good. )

I'm strongly opposed to doping in sports, but a lot of the current hand-wringing about steroids in baseball strikes me as disingenuous. What was everybody saying during the height of the steroid era, say the McGwire-Sosa HR battles of 1998-1999? It couldn't have been more obvious that the participants in that freak show were doped to the gills, but nobody said a fucking thing! In fact, many of the dumbasses who hyped the crap out of the McGwire-Sosa spectacle (which was more suited to the World Wrestling Federation) are now crying about steroids. I don't get it.

Paul Scholes Myron Scholes Fischer Black

Agreed, except I thought that HGH was the substance that improved vision. At least according to the famous article by the age-group cyclist who experimented with PEDs. (Great article, btw.)

I can't say I'm surprised. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that any MLB player was on the juice. And it's always been clear that MLB's "testing program" is a joke (that's a big reason why the IOC doesn't want the sport in the Olympics, not that any pros would be likely to subject themselves to Olympic-level dope testing). But I think this info won't go any further. Quoting from the SI story (near the end): Arguments before an 11-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena are ongoing between government prosecutors and the players' association over the government's seizure of the test results from the Long Beach lab. The agents who collected the material had a search warrant only for the results for the 10 BALCO-linked players. Attorneys from the union argue that the government is entitled only to the results for those players, not the entire list. If the court sides with the union, federal authorities may be barred from using the positive survey test results of non-BALCO players such as Rodriguez in their ongoing investigations. Seems to me the court will side with the union here. But A-Hole-Rod's gonna get raked over the coals by the NY tabloids.

I've long had them together on a domestic disc. Yeah, but the 32Jazz Endgame Brilliance (which the Andorrans presumably ripped) is oop and out of my price range. Have been getting into Rahsaan Roland Kirk lately (previously had listened mostly to pre-Rahsaan stuff), and just got another eBay bargain:

F. Murray Abraham G. Gordon Liddy H. Rider Haggard

Sonny Stitt Tune-Up! at a bargain price. (I know I could get Tune-Up! + Constellation together on an Andorran label, but would prefer not to...)

Lysander Eduard Shevardnadze John Stuart Mill

I hear you, though the general "watered-down" assessment pretty much applies to all the "major" US pro sports. Frankly, my interest in hockey was practically killed by the long strike/"work stoppage"/whatever. The NHL didn't play for a year and a half, and I found I could get by perfectly well without it. Still, if I had TV (cable'd be necessary), I'd probably watch a fair number of playoff games (ten or fifteen years ago, I'd have gotten cable just to watch the NHL).

That's interesting. Hockey's kind of a niche/cult sport in the US, and many non-fans who never played complain that they have trouble following the puck; it's a common theme in newspaper columns by writers who don't like the sport. (I'm a fan, as stated above, but have played a lot.)

Watching: ice hockey. It's the main team sport I played, and I was better at it than the others. I don't play any more, though. Caveat: I don't watch TV at home any more, so I can't claim to watch many sports, but follow via Internet, newspapers. Participating: cycling. As an old fart with injuries, it's the least painful, and I can see a lot of the outdoors. I follow pro cycling pretty closely on the Internet. I participated seriously in distance running for a long time, but the knees got too sore and the times too slow.

If not Muzak, probably a satellite radio station... It was a small, relatively "hip" store, and I thought there was a slim chance they were really playing the disc, but not likely enough to bother inquiring.

Couple of recent surprises: 1) I was at an art gallery opening, and they were playing a Charlie Parker CD. I hadn't really noticed the music (wasn't playing very loud), but all of a sudden, holy shit, Blues for Alice! 2) Even more surprisingly, a home goods/furnishings store was playing a tune from Stan Getz's People Time album. Didn't stick around long enough to see if they were spinning a whole disc, but I seriously doubt it was radio. Not a really common album, either...

I agree. Was once a big boxing fan, but between the high incidence of Alzheimer's (see just about any ex-pug's obit) and predatory managers like Don King, the sport totally turned me off.

Damn, I'm still trying to recover from that fugly pic you posted. May have to postpone dinner for a couple of hours...

Baseball's almost always done poorly. But occasionally they get an actor who played a lot and is somewhat realistic. I can't remember any hockey films that were done at all well, except for Slap Shot. (US grid) football movies, at least the star roles, never seem very realistic, but they can fill most of the rosters with ex-pro or college players so the result isn't laughable. Maybe a problem with boxing is that very few actors have ever competed in the sport. OTOH, many kids/teens played organized baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer...

In the pre-Christmas runup, I heard that a lot of shoppers were "shopping" Circuit City price reductions, buying stuff at other retailers using "price-matching" offers.

Boy Van Poppel R. D. Laing Ettore Boiardi

Richard Feynman Tina Fey Man Ray

Pops was not just a fan, but actually made his living busking. There was a big article on Martin in Sports Illustrated a couple of years ago. Went into detail on the family background. He's from Montreal iirc.

R. R. Kirk, Theme for the Eulipions

CD received, thanks.

Yep.