PHILLYQ

I just wasted time Christmas shopping! Good one, Bebop!!!

A lot if IFs there. I doubt that the Mets will have one of the best rotations in baseball in a year or even two. We shall see. Given the Mets' track record over the past four seasons, one has to be doubtful. I capitalized the 'if' for that very reason. The young pitchers may or may not become something, but it at least looks like there may be a plan, even if it takes a couple years. They now have a young catcher, pretty young infield, young starting pitching, no bullpen and no outfield. After the stain of Bay(his salary) departs and Santana goes, the Mets may have some real $$ to spend on a few good players and we COULD see something good develop. I'm a Yank fan, but a NYer through and through and I'd love to see the Mets get respectable again.

I thought the Mets came out well in the trade- they're not gonna contend until Dickey's in his 40s. They get a catcher who is supposed to be a sure thing, a 20 year old pitcher who throws 95+, they get rid of Thole, too. With an eye to the future, they did well. In a year or two, the Mets may have one of the best rotations in baseball. Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee, Zach Wheeler, IF they all develop OK they could have a great rotation.

The cognitive dissonance of McCartney & Ayler is too much for me to handle. It's like Liberace and Cecil Taylor working together.

I saw some rumors of some temas interested in Hamilton for 3-4 years only, which, if I'm a GM, seems reasonable. Beyond that, you're paying top $$ for a guy who's 35+ with a brittle body and other problems. Then again, Shane Victorino got 3years/$39 mil, so maybe reason is gone from baseball for awhile. It's so odd to me that the Yanks are sitting on the sidelines while everyone else(including some who criticized the Yanks for spending big) is spending $$ like drunken sailors. But the Yanks need to get under the magic $189mil mark to avoid a huge luxury tax.

Good point, SS1, why do we need to hear it? Like we don't think the woman would be upset, etc. we need to hear her anguish?

I take it his Gold Glove winning days are over. In the limited role the Yanks used him for Chavez actually played pretty well. His body is rather brittle, so he can't play everyday or he'll break down, but as an occasional 3b/1b/Dh he was just what the Yanks needed/need. Right now it's third base, I don't know!!!

Me and my son saw both of them on the big screen, we had to hunt down 2 at some theater in Times Square that has 25 screens. Lots of fun for both of us, and the scene where Uma Thurman takes on about 100 people in the club is just crazy on a big screen, with the body parts flying around and the blood gushing all over.

i was 17 and a big fan of Mahavishnu. Went to see Ali Akbar Khan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I see John McLaughlin! I stammered something barely intelligible and McLaughlin was quite gracious. Oh, I once took a leak next to Hank Crawford. Didn't look, didn't pee on hom(or me).

If you ever get the chance it's worth a trip to see Armstrong's house. Besides the history within, his wife was ahead of her time in home design and the house has some really cool features.

Eric Chavez signs with the D'Backs, A-Rod might miss the entire season, it looks like the Yanks are headed to Abbott & Costello-ville! Third Base- I don't know!!!

That would be great! No more endless streams of useless verbiage on Monday Night Football. He's got a motormouth.

Deion Sanders Colonel Sanders Colonel Tom Parker

Looks like their only competition will be the Nats. I know you're a Philly fan, do you think that their time has passed or can they squeeze some good years from Lee & Halliday and have enough offense? Is B.J Upton the Upton brother who plays hard or the one with the so-so effort reputation?

On Saturday I went to see Henry Threadgill at Roulette in Brooklyn, which seems to be his go-to venue in NYC with the demise of the Jazz Gallery. I have no idea if they played new music, but it was beautifully played and had passages of ferocious intensity. He had a larger band this time around, two trumpets, two trombones, acoustic guitar, cello, tuba, drums and even an acoustic bass! Threadgill played his usual flutes and alto. At times everyone dropped out but the guitar,cello and bass and we had a forward-looking string trio. Pretty well attended from what I could see, and I saw Bruce from Downtown Music Gallery sitting in front of me. A great night of music for $25.

Here's all seven: http://www.platomania.eu/etalage/list/id/1066e's

I was rooting for the Browns myself(I'm a Giant fan), but I can only imagine how ticked a Browns fan must be.

At 5-5 they're still alive, win a few games and they'll really thrive, lose a few and it's a dive.

I get signing him, because he's a pretty good player even when unjuiced, but the price they paid is VERRRRRY high. A guy with his baggage could probably be had for a lot less $$.

Amazon US has it at $52.91, Amazon DE at EUR23.00 as Hans noted above. EUR23.00 is about USD$29.00 That's a huge difference.

He never recorded with them , but IIRC he went on tour with the Fania All-Stars as part of the band.

Interesting to note that four starting QBs were injured and couldn't complete the games, and three of them were on concussions. I think that besides the 15 yarder for a helmet to helmet hit(not an inadvertant one), the hitter should be ejected from the game.

The book is very good, but I fear that the movie may be 90% of the tawdry parts of Albany's life and 10% of the loving relationship he had with his daughter.

I take it you don't care for Hamilton, or is it that you think it's a bad move by the Phillies? I'm just curious as to why. Why would I think signing Hamilton would be a bad move?? Forget for a minute that he will be 32 in May and that his numbers are trending downward. Forget that there are legitimate concerns about his ability to stay on the field and that he has past issues with substance abuse. Forget that Hamilton bats lefty and the Philllies already have two left handed hitters at 3 & 4 in their lineup(Utley & Howard). Forget that Hamilton will get a huge contract and that the Phillies have a ton of money($130 M for 2013) committed to about 8 players(Doc, Hamels, Utley, Howard, Rollins, Lee, Chooch, and Paps) with more pressing needs(3rd base, BP) to fill. Forget all that. The real reason I don't want him on the Phillies?? He's is a streaky hitter. Look the last thing the Phillies need is Josh Hamilton. A team bulging with players in their 30's that can no longer perform at the level of their bloated contracts wants to take on another bloated contract for a bible thumping player in his 30's with all kinds of on/off field issues?? In this town with its crazy fans??? What could possibly go wrong?? Well, you certainly answered my question! I didn't really know much of their contract situation outside of Lee & Halliday & Hamels & Howard getting massive $$. It certainly does look like a bad move for Philly. Ha! He and Loria deserve each other. You gotta love Idiot Bud Selig -- Mark Cuban owning a team is bad for baseball, but people like McCourt & Loria are okay. That makes so much sense Bud. Mark Cuban, who actually gives a hoot about his team and tries(and spends the $$) to put out a product that the fans want to see is soooo bad for baseball. Think what he could do with the Cubs.

I take it you don't care for Hamilton, or is it that you think it's a bad move by the Phillies? I'm just curious as to why.