Guy Berger

Dallas has now won 66 games. Since the NBA went to an 82 game season, 9 out of the 10 teams who won at least 65 games* in the regular season have gone on to win the NBA finals. (What happened to the '73 Celtics?) In other words, losing this year would be an even more monumental choke-job than losing to the Heat last year. Guy *But "only" 9 out of the 13 who won at least 64. edit: The '73 Celtics lost after John Havlicek broke his arm.

Isn't it strange that he's the cartoon in Gilbert Arenas's commercial? (Am I the only one who's noticed that?) Guy

I don't think Jim A will be psyched about a link to an illegal copy of an in-print CD. Guy

The only minus about this excellent day (which will of course get better if the Lakers lose tonight) is that the Spurs lost, locking the Suns into the 2nd spot and giving them no incentive to play hard against the Clips on Tuesday night. We're SO CLOSE, but not quite there yet. Guy

April's been pathetic out here. Today it's 40 with heavy rain. Guy

Gilbert Arenas can't be bothered to watch his own team's games. Guy

Anybody heard this?

I was fiddling around with "God Only Knows" on guitar today. There's a Bm6 chord* at the end of the first verse ("...should ever leave me") that's just fantastic. Guy *At least, what the internet tells me is a Bm6 chord.

I haven't been following this pseudo-news farce, but this bit from Jon Stewart is pretty funny. Guy

The Miles gig from '63 is a good one. Guy

Scott, Congrats. Guy

Late, There are digital copies of Live at the East circulating. I'll admit that once I heard it, I was somewhat disappointed given all the hype on this board. Guy

Wrong. As loath as I am to defend Snoop, this is what he actually said: I don't think the correct quote makes Snoop look much better. Guy

There's a really nice piece by ELP, "The Three Fates", that's not on that best-of collection. The first ELP album is quite good. Their later material is much more erratic. Guy

THE LAKERS Personally I enjoy seeing them lose, but they needed to beat the Clips to help the Warriors' chances. Moral of the story: never root for "The Little Satan" again. Guy ps Props to Patrick for calling the AI/AM trade way-back-when.

Boy, do I miss reading the politics forum... Guy

Nobody here's commented on this, I don't think, but: 76ers record with AI in the lineup: 5-10 76ers record since AI/Andre Miller trade: 27-26 This is actually a decent team. Somebody predicted the AI-AM trade would make the 76ers much better when the trade happened. In fact, that guy predicted that the 76ers would finish 35-47! Moral of the story: replacing a chucker with a good point guard is good for your team. Guy

"The Barbarian", "Take a Pebble", "Knife Edge", "Trilogy", and "The Endless Enigma" are pretty good as well. Guy

1) It's sad that this pseudo-controversy passes for news these days. 2) This isn't a constitutional "free speech" issue -- Imus can make racist/sexist comments whenever he wants, but CBS/whoever has the right to fire him. 3) That said, perhaps this is an overreaction. 4) I wouldn't worry about Imus. People bounce back from these kinds of things. Guy

What do people think of this group? I'm listening to Looking Thru -- it's a little cheesy, but not without redeeming features. Very 70s. I would probably judge it more harshly if Chick Corea or Joe Zawinul were involved. Guy

It took me a while to "warm" (ha ha) to the ballads on Belonging. They are terrific. Seeds of Time is a nice record by a good group, but not life-changing. Jewel in the Lotus is fantastic. Guy

Top 10 Shawn Kemp Dunks of All Time I thought #3 and #2 were pretty spectacular. Guy Edit: My brother wrote the following commentary on the clip:

re: Smile -- Is it worth looking for bootlegged versions of the '66-'67 sessions? I listened to the 2004 version and it's nice, but I kept wishing for a more authentic, less plastic sound. Guy

I'm with kh1958. I don't like seeing jazz in concert halls, though I prefer those over a noisy club where I can't hear the music. Guy