Dan Gould

I was going to post a "favorite Law and Order" thread after the cancellation was announced. But this is a good place to pay proper respect to a simply awesome acting performance in an episode titled, I believe "Identity". Its the story of an elderly black man who has his identity (and home) stolen online, and he finds and kills the thief. (Oops, I just realized I defined him by his race - so shoot me.) Its the rare occasion when a story-driven show gave a terrific actor a lengthy monologue. Paul Benjamin plays Lonnie Johnson, and its simply one of the most moving and effective speeches I've ever seen on television. Honestly, I have an emotional reaction every time I see it. "I took back me! Me!"

Didn't keep it but this was my first Haden: Credits here.

There is no shame in looking bad against Cliff Lee and King Felix. I'm just glad that they are lined up to face the Yanks again next week. There's no doubt both bullpens have substantial problems, but I disagree that the Red Sox are better situated for a run. The Yankees aren't just "waiting for Nick Johnson" - they have the best record with minimal, inconsistent contribution from Jeter, A-Rod and Teixeira. If any or all get their shit together - and the back of their baseball cards says they will - the Yankees could easily go on the the kind of run they had last year. And no bridge to Mo will be necessary if the combination of starting pitching and offense puts most games out of reach. And the injuries keep piling up. Manny Delcarmen was the best arm not attached to Daniel Bard up until about a week ago. But facing 14 batters, retiring 3 and allowing 10 to score and fuck up your ERA in a hurry. And now he says his elbow/forearm have been hurting and he'll see the doctor on Friday. This for a guy who already had Tommy John surgery.

I don't know what you mean by "adventure" - he didn't circle around balls then barely snag them, he went back and saved multiple XBH in a most infuriating way. The whole fucking night was infuriating between Dice-K's bullshit, our inability to hit that utterly repulsive POS Garza, all the balls that are out of most stadiums that settled into gloves, and finally the bullpen implosion that made still-winnable game a blow out. Its the last thing that ticks me off the most. We're sitting here worried about the injuries when the fact is that outside of Bard the bullpen is a complete and utter disaster. No one can fucking get anyone out with any consistency, and if you watch Papelbon on the mound with any sense of confidence, you're a mental defective. The fact that the MFY lost only makes it worse since this would have brought them into a tie for first.

Let's go with the first one. My first Don Cherry is With Haden, Higgins and James Clay

Roger falls to #3 when this is over. About the best thing to be said is that if he can pull himself together for another run, winning it all in 2011 will be a big help in the points department. Just as Nadal skipping Wimbledon last year and then probably winning it this year is an even bigger jump for him - and the Times pointed out before Wimbledon started that with Nadal on top he'd be in position to solidify his number one ranking because Roger is defending points earned a year ago while Nadal is gaining points for anything he does. Semi-final points are better than no points.

Is Hicks a dead end or have we lost interest? I think I'll correct my last post with what I now realize was definitely an earlier Hicks purchase, and also just happens to have lots of options going forward: With Clark Terry, Josh Redman, Al Grey, Ron Carter, Greg Gisbert and Grady Tate.

The first post in the thread dealt with that particular near-disaster. I turned it on as he was winning the second set and I presumed he'd get through. But as I said his serve was way off and out of the gate he was behind in the third set and lost it badly. He regrouped a bit in the fourth but possibly the turning point was when he had 15-30 on the other guy's serve, hit a deep volley but let the lob bounce instead of going for the overhead, Roger had to play a forehand and ended up losing the point. Should have been double-break point but instead the guy held. The way Roger served he deserved to lose. He had no answers for the other guy, and that's not the Roger who has won six or seven Wimbledons. Losing in the quarters is nearly as shocking as if he had lost that first round match.

I'll be figuring out what I can send in July.

FUCK! I can't believe Roger gets bounced but that had to be his worst service performance since he started winning Wimbledon. Seven breaks? And in only four sets? He may really be fading, and that disturbs me greatly.

Finally cosmic justice for asshats who won't get off their cell phones at the park: A face full of Mr. Rawlings. http://deadspin.com/5576040/yankee-fan-on-cellphone-catches-ground-rule-double-with-his-face

R-Fed is in deep trouble now. Down two sets to one and a break late in the fourth set. Unbelievable. Looks like there may be no Breakfast at Wimbledon for me, with no one I care about in the draw.

With V-Mart out I was really concerned about who would catch Wakefield, but have no fear, another catching Molina brother is here! Gustavo Molina! And, he not only has experience catching a knuckler in the minors, his bullpen session with Wake reportedly "went well". So that's one fewer thing to worry about.

Might be interesting to expand the topic to include this side of the equation too. I know I could name a few that I tried to forget purchasing.

As I believe Rudy used to say ...

At least they won, with Lidge getting the vulture win. And if the Phils have had their starting lineup intact for 15 games, that's probably about five more than the Red Sox. Ellsbury still isn't cleared to resume baseball activities and its July! V-Mart disabled, he's supposed to only miss 11 games between now and the first game after the break - between the break and two days off this week - but no one knows that his thumb will be ready. Buchholz won't pitch before next Tuesday, and no one knows that his hamstring will allow it. Beckett is targeting July 21 or 26 for his return, depending on whether or not he needs three or four rehab starts, and that will be about 9 weeks without their "ace". Pedroia needs two to three weeks of non-weight bearing healing in his foot, which really makes the hope for only four weeks in the realm of fantasy. He's 5-6 weeks from a return. Hermida remains out with his broken ribs and is just now starting his hitting progression. If they are lucky he returns right before the break. Until then its a 27 year old rookie and a 31 year old career minor leaguer (he's had more at-bats with the Red Sox than in all of his other short major league stints combined) and Cameron on a two-days on, one day off plan. Being one game back is almost unfathomable, being 1 game back when everyone is back in August would take a miracle. Speaking of broken ribs, did anyone see the infield pop that Beltre came steaming in for and Varitek laid out on to avoid another catastrophic collision? He definitely said something to Beltre because Beltre had a big grin on his face. And in his first start since then, he goes 5 2/3 and allows 6 earned runs. So that's an ERA over 5, and in a larger proportion of his season than when he was dealing. Might be time to wonder about Hughes. Or is he another guy who needs Eiland around?

Your welcome John, but I can't in good conscience say "right back at ya" for putting "You're Gonna Miss My Loving" in my head. Ugh. Where do you see that on the site? Can you please post a link? Linky dink.

an angel gets its wings?

Not a Sanders fan but this one was close enough to Prestige-era Coltrane to work for me:

First Tyner came at a time I was even buying cassettes: with Elvin and Art Davis

Looks like a tasty Ray Charles set from the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival.

Ma Bell Electric Light Orchestra Thomas Edison

Clementine (from the song) Clementine (our illustrious bomb-thrower) DEEP (our other illustrious bomb-thrower)