T.D.

Uh...check page 16. But our scores will have to diverge this week.

H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n Dick Hyman Harvey Pekar

Don Beebe Bebe Rebozo Reebop Kwaku Baah

I made some nice buys on eBay: Barry Harris, For The Moment John Hicks, Something to Live For: A Billy Strayhorn Songbook Dodo Marmarosa, Dodo's Bounce George Wallington Quintet, The New York Scene George Wallington Trio, Knight Music Walter Bishop Jr., Milestones

Keyser Soze Kaiser Bill's Batman Bat Masterson

Armand Hammer Fred "The Hammer" Williamson Son Seals

Jerry Lieber Mike Stoller Alvin Stoller Alvin and the Chipmunks Monk Montgomery Montgomery Clift

Back in his Browns HC days, BB used to wear sharp-looking team sweaters, and Chris Berman of ESPN dubbed him "the nattily clad BB". I guess it's better to look like crap and win... I don't think the league encourages fashion-plate HCs. ISTR reading a story this past season about two coaches who wanted to wear business suits on the sidelines, and had to petition for league approval. Maybe the greedy bastards want all sideline staff to wear "officially licensed NFL team apparel". (Added:) Here's the story: Nolan, Del Rio, suits Reebok has a clothing deal with the league, so Nolan and Del Rio had to wear special Reebok-designed suits.

I like Tony, and remember watching him play QB for the Gophers! I dunno if he can be blamed for the subpar defenses that the Colts constantly field. Maybe the GM is at fault? Or does Manning make so much $$$ that he kills the salary cap? Still, James's departure should have freed up some bucks for defenders.

Scarlett Johansson The Hanson Brothers Brother Jack McDuff

What Lon said. I bought a few Proper Boxes (Daedalus Books & Music has been selling them in the US for a long time), wasn't overly impressed, and now avoid them.

Agreed, nice disc. Funny coincidence: I just picked up the very same CD on eBay, received it late last week! Bishop's trio disc (Prestige? don't recall offhand), which I got in Concord's blow-out last summer, has also gotten a lot of playing time.

Remember the (semi-old) NFL Films feature that focused on Hank Stram on the sidelines during the Chiefs' Super Bowl rout of the Vikings? It was hilarious. Hank absolutely knew he had it totally wired, and was strutting up and down the sideline like he owned the world. I think that was the last pre-merger SB. I never followed basketball as closely as other sports, but I found the ABA-NBA cultural clash more pronounced than the AFL-NFL one. And (IIRC) the AFL was mostly backed by Lamar Hunt who, though a maverick in some sense, I can't really view as "anti-establishment"...

The AP newswire story had an interesting item: Afterward [postgame], with the record crowd of 68,810 silenced and a terrific season wrecked, Tomlinson went after an unidentified Patriots player. Did anyone see that incident? I missed it. Poor Marty S...he might not be back next year. On Friday, the NY Post printed a funny line about the "Schottenheimerlich Maneuver".

I'm astounded that you would recognize my avatar!... Did you recognize it immediately or did it take some time? I likely got the pic from chessbase, but I don't remember. Pillsbury was one of my heroes. I'm a chess enthusiast (frequently visit Chessbase site, for instance), and recognized it right away. Played chess as a kid, and took it back up in middle age as a hobby. Pillsbury was a remarkable figure.

Conn, looks like you copied my picks this week. Check the time stamps. You've got one bada$$ avatar, btw (Hastings 1895!).

Happy birthday, Morty! I'm a big fan of Feldman's piano music, and enthusiastically second the Goldstein rec. Purchased it from Forced Exposure some years ago. "Triadic Memories" is coupled with Cage's "1^5", and I generally like Cage's "number pieces" (while stopping short of recommending them for the "general public"...). [Disclaimer: I don't usually spring for multiple recordings of works.] Also suggest "Palais de Mari" and "For Bunita Marcus" (I own the Hildegard Kleeb discs on Hat Art, and haven't found it necessary to look for alternatives).

My 1/7 queue selection (Johnny Griffin "The Congregation") shipped a couple of days ago, and I was billed $6.99 + tax. Website has been showing that price for me since 1/1. I've never had any problems with late or damaged shipments, though their packaging for multidisc shipments seems weird: the boxes have always had manually scotch-taped tears/seams.

To keep track of our picks, TD, you have to go back to the first page of this thread. We just edit out the previous week's picks and update them for this week. Thanks, Conn. Didn't mean to copy your picks; picking outright winners, the 3 TD+ spread games were automatic, and I have Parcells loyalties from NYG days.

[Round 1]: Indy, Dallas, Philly, NE. [Round 2]: Ravens, Saints, Bears, Pats. [Conference Champs]: Bears, Colts Super Bowl: Colts. Doing this early, but might as well play it safe...

For the record, I like Ms. Giambarini's vocals. I hadn't noticed that she was packing anything. What do you mean? Uh, the rather, er, buxom cover photo? [Disclaimer: Although I very rarely buy vocal CDs, I like the little I've heard of Ms. Gambarini, and have considered purchasing the disc in question.]

Excellent, thanks for the info. I think I'll preorder. I see the label also has a Roland Hanna CD "coming soon"!

Sam Jones "Down Home" on Riverside was a nice session, with larger ensembles, on which I like Zawinul's playing. Cannonball listed as producer but didn't play. Louis Hayes not on drums, surprisingly.

I bought this just before the $39->$44 price increase. You won't go wrong. The Gerald Wilson and Frank Strazzeri sessions are real finds. I enjoy the folk music session (which is problematical for some), and Harold Land is in great form there. Lots of Land in the box, if you're a fan...

What they said. This album has huge nostalgia value for me, since Hamp's version of "My Romance", which I heard on a compilation disc some years ago, was instrumental in turning me into a jazz (and piano trio) enthusiast. "Spanish Steps" is now my favorite cut, though. Sound-wise, I believe the remastering claim, as several cuts had previously appeared on 1201 Music "Hip Jazz-Bop" compilations, and I find the "remastered" sound a little better. There is a bit of distortion in places, however, so it's not perfect. For a long time, cybermusicsurplus.com (discount branch of Allegro distributors) was liquidating titles on the "1201 Music" label, including "Blues for Bud". Might be worth checking if you're looking for the disc. I paid something like $4 (20% off promotion from a base of $5).