Dan Gould

Drew injured yet? No, but Schilling looks like crap and the rookie rips a single and is out by twenty feet trying to stretch it into a double. He's got no speed to speak of so what the hell is he thinking? I wish this were football so he could be forced to run stadium steps as punishment.

Indeed. Opening Day should be a national holiday!

Well, the Pete Kelly credit was in his NY Times obit. Obviously I shouldn't be trusting them ...

I've got a single by "Freddie Kohlman" from 1953, "Hole in the Ground" with vocals by Cousin Joe. Is this the same Freddie Kohlman who appeared in several movies, including ''Pete Kelly's Blues,'' and also played in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in his later years? I'm guessing it is - how many "Freddie Kohlman"s can there be, but confirmation would be much appreciated.

All I know is he looks healthy and excellent right now, and he's played 140+ games twice in the last three years, so I have to keep hope alive. And it wasn't Boras who sold us the bill of goods. Theo was a willing co-conspirator. Or should I say willing quaffer of the JD Drew is a star Kool-Aid.

My money is on Drew. Pavano is pitching on 643 days rest. My money isn't on Drew.

You acted at the right time, Chuck. Now go listen to the Baby Face singles.

Greenspan's point is that the problem with the subprime market is the decline in housing prices. If people who have ARMs that are about to adjust had more equity in their houses (IE, higher prices), they'd be in a position to refinance into a 30 year fixed at an affordable rate. The problem is people who have gotten themselves into negative amortization situations and are now "upside down" on their house wherein they owe more than the house is worth. No finance company will touch that situation, and those are the people who are going to lose their houses. Those are the people (mostly) who are defaulting and generating the "crisis" in the subprime market. it doesn't exactly take a brainiac to say that higher home values would solve the problem. Higher home values always solve the problem of bad loans - it allows people to refinance and consolidate their debts and not lose their homes. ..and the people who sold and financed those homes knew that day would come when values would even out, long term averages not withstanding, and didnt give a damn about the poor buyers. Um, actually the people who financed those homes certainly do give a damn - not about the poor buyers but about financing a home at the top of the market when the appraised value was $250,000 and loaning $225,000 of that amount for a house which currently appraises at $185,000. Their $225000 loan was secured by a note backed by a real property that is worth significantly less. The financing company doesn't exactly come out on top under these circumstances, even factoring in the interest they may have earned over a few year's time.

Greenspan's point is that the problem with the subprime market is the decline in housing prices. If people who have ARMs that are about to adjust had more equity in their houses (IE, higher prices), they'd be in a position to refinance into a 30 year fixed at an affordable rate. The problem is people who have gotten themselves into negative amortization situations and are now "upside down" on their house wherein they owe more than the house is worth. No finance company will touch that situation, and those are the people who are going to lose their houses. Those are the people (mostly) who are defaulting and generating the "crisis" in the subprime market. it doesn't exactly take a brainiac to say that higher home values would solve the problem. Higher home values always solve the problem of bad loans - it allows people to refinance and consolidate their debts and not lose their homes.

just pay another 115 next month. that way you will save a month's interest, just double the principal payment every month. save a bunch. should be easy the first few years Or better yet, think about the small HELOC loan I mentioned as a method of knocking down the principal in big chunks at one time, without even using your own money. As for amortization - I think that falls under the Golden Rule - he who has the gold, makes the rules. I'll loan you the money, you pay me back the interest then we'll knock down that principal, OK? Since we'll extend it over thirty years, we'll make it easier for you to handle while we make sure we get the most amount of interest possible. Sound good? Otherwise you can continue to live in that tiny apartment. Your choice! Seriously, too many people think that you've got to have a thirty year fixed mortgage, which fits right into what the banks want. Either method of reducing the interest and time that I mentioned above is the way people should go. Banks don't you want you to go that route, but there's no reason why you have to go their route either.

Dice pitches Saturday, Tavarez tonite.

I had to take a little extra time to make this month's payment and mailed the check on March 7th (its never occured to me to go the registered mail route) so just as the March 15 deadline is passing I get the next statement and it shows that no payment has been received and a late payment is now due and I am PISSED. I knew I was cutting it close because I'd been the ATM on March 13th and could see that the money was still in the account but how could it take that long to get there? So I am about to call Aurora Loan Services but end up putting it off a couple of days and that's when my bank statement arrives - and it shows that an electronic check was processed to Aurora Loan Services on March FOURTEEN! So now I am really pissed, because it looks like they are trying to pull a fast one. I get out the Aurora statement and this time I happen to note when the statement was processed: March 12. It actually said, "if payment is received after March 15" so I relaxed and didn't even bother to call because obviously they didn't actually charge the late payment. As for mortgages, Jim, would you prefer living in an apartment for the rest of your life, or owning something that in all likelihood will appreciate substantially and either provide a valuable nest egg in the future or a nice bequest to your daughter? Its fair to hate the way a thirty year fixed mortgage is amortized, but mortgages allow people who would never ever save $100,000 or $200,000 or $400,000 own a home. Fortunately there are options to the 30 year fixed mortgage (and I'm not talking about ARMs or Interest only mortgages) that allow people to own their homes much faster, and without making extra payments every year. Home Ownership Accelerator: This is a home loan, available in about half the country, in which the entire loan amount is in the form of a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit). LTV must be at most 80%, and there are fairly strict credit score requirements. Basically the way it works is this: All income is put into the HELOC account (through Direct Deposit). You pay your regular bills through the account as well. Everytime a paycheck hits the account, it acts to reduce the principal balance, which is how interest is calculated. The cumulative effect of these "payments" can be very substantial. But the way to pay off even faster is if you have a substantial difference between your income and your expenses, and you are disciplined and leave that money in the account. Another way is to substantially reduce the time it takes to own your home outright is if you have investment income, like rental properties. The rent checks you receive are all run through your HELOC, and then you really see a huge impact on your account. Here's the great advantage to this system: What is the way most people try to reduce the thirty year mortgage? Pay one extra payment every year, or make bi-weekly payments which will total to one extra payment per year. Applying that payment to principal reduces your mortgage by about 7 years. What is the problem with that? Number one, it takes great discipline. The effects of the HELOC loan don't require any discipline and they don't require that you change your spending habits. Number two, even when people have extra income and want to put it toward the mortgage, many people hesitate. What if the car craps out next week, what will I do then? They are worried about paying the mortgage company when they may need that money in the future. But with a HELOC, you can make a big payment because its still a Line of Credit. Should you need that money in the future, you can take it out. It will knock back your position on the mortgage a bit, but you haven't lost control by making that payment. Using a smaller HELOC to pay down the mortgage This is the same concept as the home ownership accelerator, except that the HELOC is smaller, and its not set up to cover the entire loan. Say you've got a HELOC of $10,000. Take $5,000 and put it to the mortgage. Boom, you've reduced your principal and reduced your monthly payment. Keep paying the original amortized payment, because now more of it will go to principal. Slowly pay back the HELOC back to the $10000 limit, and take another $5000 out and put it to the mortgage. Lather, rinse, repeat. You are using the equity in the home to reduce your mortgage and save a huge amount of interest over time. My wife's mortgage company is the only one licensed in Florida to do the Home ownership accelerator loan, and it is a big part of her business. She's got a radio show on an AM station and every time they run the HOA show "Mortgage Freedom" the phones ring off the hook.

I've now figured out why this changed for me. Its GOOGLE! I had searched for something on the board using Google because I knew the search function here was worthless. When I clicked on the link, that was when the thread appeared in the "linear" format, and it was as if the settings had been permanently altered. Now, I just went back to Google, and the same thing happened. I've got no idea why Google is displaying hits on this site in that format.

Who said Papi wouldn't get along with A-Rod? Papi loves everybody! Now if you said that you had A-Rod and Varitek on the same team, then I'd be a little concerned.

Since so much is now part of the "pay" site I hardly check ESPN except for breaking news. Fox is better than SI, they have new material more often (anyone ever notice that Ken Rosenthal seems to post new articles at like 4 in the morning? Must have insomnia.) The other sites I visit are only good for rumors: ProSportsDaily has a splash page to see rumors/predictions of a particular team, mlbtraderumors is just a blog but is still a pretty good source. And of course mlb.com has news and commentary and is free. They are worth a look.

And gone. Now would someone like to help me sell the French Cooking disc with the not often heard Nathan Davis, or the Mel Powell disc, perhaps?

The Connection is now on hold.

was just browsing your list... what is so special about the connection soundtrack? were there 2 versions? JB The Blue Note soundtrack has been reissued a couple of times now (I believe) but this version with Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks (who left so few recordings behind) has been far less easily acquired.

Speaking of Pete Rose, when did he finally come clean? Caught him on Leno last night and he was openly talking about betting on the Reds (whom he was managing) to win. Couple of week ago. He declared that he bet on his team to win every single day, so how bad was it? He loved his team and believed they would win. Unfortunately, that is contradicted by the findings of Mr. Dowd, who figured out (and apparently proved to the satisfaction of MLB) that there were two starters that he never bet on. I guess its good that he didn't actually bet them to lose on those games, but its certainly a signal to the betting community when your manager won't bet on his team when those two guys pitch. So, Rose still has a deep problem with telling the truth, if Dowd's findings are to be believed. Its really gotten beyond pathetic, Rose's attempts to rehabilitate himself. He simply has no clue anymore that boat has sailed. And ironically, it all started when he gave the interviews and released the book declaring that he did bet, timed to coincide with the HoF announcements. He went from maybe having a shot at reinstatement to being persona non grata again, and this latest effort isn't doing anything to change that.

I think the big difference is that the A's pitchers weren't prepared for that workload, not that their arms were too young, they weren't like Dice-K being on an intense throwing program since his teens. No doubt Martin ruined his pitchers - as did Dusty Baker with Pryor and Wood. Pryor and especially Wood had delivery flaws that were going to catch up to them eventually, but I don't recall if the young A's arms had those problems or well or if they were just overworked when they weren't ready for it. But Matthew, you say that pitchers are coddled nowadays, yet you object to a hundred pitch outing at the end of ST. Which is it?

Since I'm now up to date on the initial sales, UP for more! Come on, no one wants that French Cooking disc or the super rare Connection soundtrack with Tina Brooks?

Well it is your opinion, be it ever so humble. But its not going to be a matter of Francona working him into the ground, its how Dice adopts from pitching once a week with 140+ pitches and also working extremely hard in between starts to going every five days on a shorter pitch count (I'm guessing 110-120) and figuring out what kind of work is needed in between to stay both strong and maintain command. You know, the interesting thing is that so many "old time" American pitchers have been saying that the problem is coddling pitchers today, that back in the day, to have good arm strength, you threw. In Japan, that is what they do - they throw and they throw. A big deal is made about all of the pitches Dice has thrown, starting with the 250 pitch complete game in that high school tournament. Yet according to that article in SI that Quincy mentioned, when the Sox got the results on the MRI of his arm, it was "clean as a whistle". Is he just unique or is it a function of the training methods? I tell you what, if Dice dominates the league, throwing complete game shutouts, etc., etc., I have to wonder whether there might be some changes coming to the way pitchers are dealt with. Admittedly, its going to be tough to break such an entrenched mind-set.

Good to see ya back! Sorry I don't have a link, but his condioning routine is very different from the modern coddled on-a-pitch-count US pitcher. Although Dice usually only pitched every 6 days in Japan, his training was waaaaay over the top in comparison to here. 300 ft long tossing in between starts and throwing pitches after (like, right after!) his start are just a couple of the unconventional (though not in Japan) sorts of things he did. Too bad Jim Kaat retired from announcing, otherwise he'd probably go on about how he did that sort of thing as a kid. I've read the Red Sox & Dice-K are (or maybe it's past tense now) trying to reach a compromise regarding his training & habits. I think the Sports Illustrated site has a story that goes into how he trained in Japan. Matthew, its standard operating procedure to "stretch out" a starter in spring training. Schilling's prior start he threw 85 pitches but he was so efficient it got him through seven innings and he expressed disappointment that he didn't take more pitches to reach his pre-approved limit of seven innings. He was planning to throw more pitches and was actually annoyed that he was so effficient, he didn't get the chance to since the relievers needed their innings. Schilling is going tonite in his last tune up for Opening Day and will throttle back to something like 40-50 pitches. Same for Dice, who faces the Phillies on Friday and will throw about forty pitches in preparation for his first game, Wednesday at KC. There was nothing wrong or out of whack with the number of pitches Dice threw on Monday and he followed a perfectly normal procedure to get to that point during spring training.

It ain't necessarily so! http://cgi.ebay.com/MOSAIC-CD-BOX-Ike-Queb...1QQcmdZViewItem That high bidder is listed with no fewer than five bids at the winning price of 1309.99 which means he was so intent on winning that he went back four times to place higher bids to be certain he wouldn't lose. Unbelievable.

UPDATE: For all buyers who have made payment through Paypal as of Monday evening, your CDs are packaged up and ready to go in the mail Tuesday morning. Thanks to all of you for your quick payments. I am awaiting further info and payment from those who have asked me to hold CDs, and I hope that there are still many that people will jump on in the coming days.