papsrus

well, I'm bidding it up for you. Every time I place a bid, the current high bid comes in at .50 above what I just bid. some bidder must have some kind of automated bid-thingy that outbids any submitted bid by 50 cents. EDIT: Oh, i see. Somebody has a maximum high bid that is unknown.

A guy, his dog, his cat, and a rat. Background: This is a video of a homeless man in Santa Barbara and his pets. They work State Street every week for donations. The animals are pretty well fed and are mellow. They are a family. The man who owns them rigged up a harness for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and, often, on the cat! The dog, will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire him for a few chin scratches. The Mayor of Santa Barbara filmed this clip and sent it out as a holiday card.

Glad you didn't suffer any real damage. Getting caught in that would be a nightmare.

I honestly didn't watch it. Saw some of the "highlights" on ESPN later. But somebody on First Take said something kind of interesting yesterday before his press conference to the effect that when A-Rod answers a question, he always seems as though he's trying to guess the right answer, as opposed to simply being sincere and giving an honest answer. I think that nails it. ... Perhaps the pause was him guessing that this was the moment he was supposed to get emotional, but he couldn't quite summon it.

Are alerts inherently political? Someone needs to send out an alert on this.

I periodically get a recorded call on my cell phone, of all things, telling me the factory warranty on my '93 Miata (which I bought used many moons ago) is about to expire. ... I often wonder if this is just a shotgun operation designed to troll among the elderly.

Sounds like you did a great deal to enrich is final years. I can't imagine doing anything more important (other than being a parent, of course)... Indeed. It would be wonderful if you could write down some of your memories with him, not necessarily to share here (although that would be generous and appreciated, I'm sure) but for yourself. It sounds like you shared a great friendship through the love of music. A great thing.

Sorry to hear this. You're lucky to have had his friendship.

I'm guessing this is one of his earlier releases ...

Go get 'em Dan!

Wouldn't surprise me. Nor would any other name in any other sport. What would surprise me is if anyone at this point would be shocked about it. Having said that, I certainly don't suspect Jeter. I assume he's clean. But then, nobody suspected A-Rod. In fact, just the opposite, he was presumed to be clean also.

Yep. Respectful disagreement is so much more ... agreeable.

More likely to be a kidney problem, which is one of the leading causes of death in older cats. Yes. Shouldn't minimize the seriousness of this. The cat should probably have some blood work done.

If none of this works, try horse piss. That ought to do it.

Pandora's Box and revisionism all in one fell swoop. ... He really does just kind of make it up as he goes along, doesn't he?

Move to California and join one of those cannabis clubs. Seriously. A friend of mine broke his ankle about 15 years ago and got a doctor to write him a prescription. Now he goes once a month to the local dispensary for his pot. He swears the pot is as good or better than anything you can get on the street and a helluva lot cheaper! Your friend convinced a doctor to write a prescription for pot because of a broken ankle 15 years ago? That must have been one helluva break.

On order: "Ellis in Wonderland"

It takes a lot of balls to do a study like this.

Would it be fair to say that skirting the rules of the game in order to gain a competitive advantage -- whether by throwing spit balls, or cutting the ball, or stealing signs, or whatever -- is simply part of baseball lore, and there are written and unwritten rules about how these sorts of things are dealt with on and off the field, and so we accept them to a certain degree? And if it is fair to say that, then it needs to be made real clear why steroids are so much worse than everything else. I think that Dan's right in saying there are clear statistical spikes that put steroids and hGH in a whole different class. And if that's the case, then 2002 becomes less important, I guess.

It's sad, if not surprising, that he was in such apparent denial. But really, this woman was a dunce if she suspected he had a deadly communicable disease and continued to have unprotected sex with him. That's not gold-digging, it's just self destructive.

Urineoff seems to be the commercial product of choice. I've used it and it seems to work, but it's intended for immediate use. You spray it on the offending spot and let it evaporate. Get a black light first to find the urine spots. It'll help you locate exactly where to apply the product. I think I've heard vinegar works also.

I buy that. I need to get to the HOF one of these days. Thanks in no small part to Ted Williams, (I just learned) there now is an accounting of the Negro Leagues in the HOF. I guess I'm just not real certain how you go about delineating among acceptable substances and unacceptable substances. There's a general consensus that any use of steroids at any time violates the integrity of the game, and it's hard to argue with that, of course. Especially if they were obtained illegally. Apparently, according to the following linked website which cites the Houston Chronicle, Fay Vincent sent a letter to all clubs in 1991 warning that players were forbidden from taking any illegal substances, including specifically steroids. Vincent apparently stated that it was against the rules (although the letter itself seems to be the "ruling," as far as I can tell). But baseball didn't adopt a policy specifically outlawing steroids until 2002, right? That's their failure. But does Canseco have a point, that prior to 2002 taking a substance that was not banned was OK? Baseball obviously thought so. (And the writers. And maybe the public). None of this is anything new. Just food for thought.

She does look like she may have gotten caught in the rain. ... She also kinda looks like she should be in the "Michael Phelps -- pot head" thread. Course, we'd have to kick Michael out.

ESPN's Jayson Stark said the other day, "The Hall of Fame is a museum, not the Vatican." Meaning, I take it, that all significant events or achievements in the history of the game should be included, whether they be good, bad or ugly. He then referred to the Gammons solution (I think), which would simply place a sign over the displays for the '80s - '00s that says: "This was the steroid era. Judge these accomplishments with that in mind," or something to that effect. But then there was the greenies era, too. What do we do about that? Or the Babe Ruth injecting himself with God-knows-what-from-a-sheep's-balls era. (It seems to have only made him ill though). Is there any reason to believe (beyond a malleable sense of fair play) that anything an athlete used prior to the implementation of the current testing program should not be considered OK?