Dan Gould

Blimey! Good on you! MG 'plays the big ones' was also on ebay from the same seller, but i lost out on that one. Bid went up to $2.99?

Yes, but it looks as though there's no medical reason to use it, and he went to a Doctor who was prescribing these things for anyone, without even examining the patient. This Doctor was also in the top 100 in the state for number of malpractice claims and tops in Palm Beach County for dollar awards on malpractice claims (or something like that). I think what it really shows is how desperate a lot of players get when their careers are on the line. Meanwhile, has anyone considered that with A-Rod's home run barrage, he has a strong shot at being the first, no-doubt-about-it, no-questions-asked to break Maris' record? If he hadn't slumped occasionally, he'd be right there challenging Barroid's "record".

Anyone else agree that Liza should have been home beating her husband instead of singing that horrid rendition of "God Bless America"??

If I remember correctly, this one is the more "late night" mood album. Big Hits at least had "Sack O' Woe" and a couple of other decent tunes on it ...

I think the proper analogy is how much pleasure music addicts get from the mere act of shopping and purchasing new music (or adding to the backlog through downloads)? The woman who is "addicted to shopping" derives great pleasure from A] Going to the mall B] browsing her favorite stores C] purchasing crap she doesn't really need Aside from the value judgment of declaring her purchases "crap", does this sound like some of the people in this thead? When I was in full acquisition mode, I surely did derive pleasure in the act of searching items out (in a physical store though, not in perusing Ebay listings or trade lists), and pawing through merchandise.

I'm just glad to see that FSU is no worse than Miami, and at this point could probably manage to hold off Michigan. In other words, we're among the best of the pathetic teams. Rah rah sis boom bah!

This is an important essay everyone should read since the news broke about Ankiel. As the suspicious among us point out that there is no test for HGH, it turns out that there is no reason to believe that HGH does anything to help you play better:

There's been talk that Dice-K should be skipped, with at least one Boston writer stating that he is too "proud" to take kindly to that idea. With Buchholz, they've recently declared that his season innings limit is 155. I believe he is at 145 so that doesn't leave much room to blow it all in a spot start. I get the feeling that they like the idea of being able to bring him into a close game and let him go 3 innings, that he'd have a greater impact on the race if he does that 3 times rather than pitch one start and go 7 innings or whatever. I strongly suspect that they want to be able to use him like that during the Yankee series, at least. At least Beckett goes today - I was kind of afraid before last night's game that if they managed to win Saturday, Beckett would be hard pressed to complete a sweep. At least now we can hopefully start a new losing streak for Baltimore, and Beckett is obviously the best guy to do that. And best of all, the Yanks will have two rookies and Mussina going against Toronto next week, while they counter with AJ Burnett, and a guy who is 12-5. So long as we take care of business against Tampa at home, we should be in good shape when the Yankees arrive. Unless A-Rod keeps up his current two-homer a day pace. It does look like Detroit is turning it around again - finally - but I think Cleveland is still in good shape. At this point Seattle can only be a spoiler, and it doesn't look like they've got anything at all left in the tank. Cleveland just has to do the job head-to-head. Oh, and glad to hear they won last night against LAA. At least we keep our margin as best record in the league. That's really crucial to our chances to win the pennant, imo.

Thanks MG, I didn't realize that what you had recently ordered were Mainstream releases, which I believe I arranged through a board member to be sent to the Kynards. Re the Cal Green, you should inquire with Hiroshi. It was released a year or two ago in Japan, I got it and sent it on to Gary.

Oh, it gets fucking worse for Dice-K: In his last five starts, he has allowed 28 earned runs in 26 1/3 innings, a 9.57 ERA. And the Yankees, who have clobbered him practically every time he's faced them, are waiting, next Friday at Fenway. They better fucking expand their lead back before that happens, or we'll be fighting the fucking Tigers for the wild card.

What did I fucking say about Dice-K, as well as the likelihood of the O's winning sooner rather than later? I leave to do some fucking errands and come back to find out that Dice turned a 4-1 lead into an 8-4 deficit capped by a grand fucking slam. His ERA has gone up by about 3/4 of a run in the last two fucking starts. And of course Tavarez has given up another three spot in his next inning. Oy FUCKING vey. The Royals better start doing some damage to the MFY but I am not optimistic.

If you wish to leave and not return, then godspeed and all that. But why do you want to be deleted? Why do you want your contributions removed? Unless you are entering the Witness Protection program, I can't imagine why you'd want to be deleted from the membership.

When I saw him earlier in the tournament he looked like a Serbian serial killer, but he's clearly got a strong game and could give Federer trouble (assuming Roger does what he should do in the semis.)

Well, its good to know that Trot's decline didn't stop in Cleveland so no one can say that they should have re-signed him. The thing with Drew is, I don't have a problem with his seeming "indifference". I don't need players to wear their heart on their sleeve to know that they "care" or are truly pissed off when they fail in a clutch situation. He was taught as a kid not to get emotional. Fine. And it doesn't even bother me that he's had a few little nagging injuries that have kept him out of the lineup occasionally. What amazes me is that he has been mostly healthy all season, and yet he's hitting so terribly. I don't know what to expect next year - a big comeback because he's now familiar with AL pitchers ... or will he instead have one of those injuries that keeps him out for three months? But whatever happens then, I would never have predicted that Drew would be healthy in 2007 & hit under .260 and slug under .400.

Well, you're entitled to a little paranoia, too, until that magic number is comfortably resting at zero. The team is looking good right now, and actually averaging more runs scored per game than they did with Manny in the lineup. I really didn't think that would be the case, but I'll take it. On the Red Sox blogs there are debates about whether Jacoby should get starts at the expense of Drew once Manny returns (there's number one in the "not contributing much" list) and at the same time, some people want to see them keep both Coco and Jacoby next year, which I can't see. Coco has regained some value this season and is relatively inexpensive for another 3 or 4 years. I'm pretty sure Jacoby can do the job full time next year, just like Pedroia proved. Speaking of, did you know that Sox fans have been comparing Pedroia to "Tanner" from the Bad News Bears? He's got that same under-sized body, chip on the shoulder attitude. And you could just see him yell "Hey Yankees! You can take that trophy and shove it up your ass!" There are little worries that gnaw at me, like the way Youk has slumped in the second half, with only brief flashes of improvement, and my biggest concern is the cumulative effect of the new league on both Dice and Okajima. Okajima has had his ERA jump big time since August, and Dice isn't looking like the pitcher we had in June when he dominated but didn't get any run support. I think they have to be very careful with those two to make sure they have enough in the tank for potentially the entire month of October. But yeah, life is good.

Absolutely. Do you have any details on these (dates, personnel, label)? Least of all his family. Because I named "Where Its At" as one of the AOTWs a long time ago (no one had it but I sent out burns to those interested) I was contacted by his brother, Gary, who told me that the family has been trying to obtain as much of Charles' music as possible. Ever since, I've been sending CDs and CDRs (or arranging to be sent in the case of the Mainstream recordings) to Gary's address. So, I am very curious about these "new" recordings. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Gary doesn't even know they exist.

And didn't that stretch all start with the interim manager getting the "interim" removed from his title? What is especially sad with the bullpen is that was where they spent all the money last off season, and look what it got them - the worst bullpen ERA in the league, I believe. What bothers me a little is that with the losing streak stretching so long at home, they'll probably get at least one win in the last two games of this season series. I mean, even the worst teams manage to win at some point. I'd love to get the sweep though - and to see the Orioles continue to torment the Yankees, somehow. I believe that if the Red Sox maintain their winning percentage the rest of the way, they'll finish with 98 wins, and would leave the Yankees having to go 20-1 to tie. Looks like they're going to get one tonight though - Joba has two more scoreless innings to his credit, 3-2 heading into the ninth. With Detroit beating Seattle, its now time to send all the positive vibes toward Motown. The only way they can challenge the Yanks is if one of these teams sweeps, so it will have to be Detroit. They do seem to be playing a bit better lately ...

The only time I splurged on one was when I got a good price on the Gene Harris Trio + 1 recording, an all-time favorite. Maybe its my turntable, but when I transferred it to CDR, it was indistinguishable from the redbook CD.

Its only happened once before, by someone almost, but not quite as small as Henin - Martina Hingis. I think she did it en route to one of her Australian Open titles. There were some truly remarkable shots/points during that match today, I just hope that Venus was a little more classy in defeat than her sister was. Henin really kicked both of their (big) asses.

. Now, it's going to be stupid cold if you get a Mets vs. Red Sox World Series. Actually, the more I think of this schedule, with the World Series possibly going into November, the more I like it. This way, I can pretend that football season never started, and just transition smoothly into basketball. Holy Guacamole, I'm already sick of hearing about football. I'm sick of football, too, but there is no transition to basketball for me, so hopefully I won't have to turn my attention entirely to football until late October, November 2 at the latest.

How's this for dominant? Batters are 1 for their last 45 against Jonathan Papelbon. Its not 42 straight retired, but that's pretty darn good.

Thanks, Matthew.

I'm pretty sure some team will finish above .500, it would be mind-blowing if the Cards actually wn the division, with that roster, and that performance for 85% of the season. Meantime, the stat of the day to cheer up Yankee fans and depress Tiger and M's fans is that no team as far as 3 games back of the wild card at this point has won it; the only team that managed to force a playoff game lost. I think I got that right from Jayson Stark's column. I guess at this point I have to hope that the Angels hold off the Indians for second best record. Otherwise, it could end up with the Sox hosting the Angels in the first round. I'd really prefer to deal with the Indians, even though they are playing quite well, and let the Halos send the Yanks packing. Does anyone know exactly how many off-days they've added to the playoff schedule? I saw some quote suggesting that a team could go all the way with three starters and one closer. I don't mind the schedule helping the Red Sox bullpen, because Okajima is clearly showing the strain of the longer season and more innings and no one knows what Gagne will give us. I'm perfectly happy seeing Papelbon record some four out saves whenever necessary, but it would suck if that allowed the Yankees to avoid using their questionable setup men and the losers at the back of their rotation.

I guess I miss this, what happened exactly? Just like it says - she was petulant and rude. Claimed that Henin hit a lot of "lucky shots". Utterly without class or dignity. If she had a brain she might have realized that a ten thousand dollar fine for skipping the press conference would be far preferable to acting like a spoiled, petulant brat who has earned 18 million dollars but is only at the press conference because she "can't afford" the fine if she skipped it.