papsrus

At the risk of bringing the proceedings to a crashing halt .... Rays are seemingly finally doing something to address their pitching, signing Troy Percival and getting Matt Garza from the Twins in a deal that also brings in SS Jason Bartlett and minor league reliever Eduardo Morlan. The Twins get a good young player in Delmon Young in the Garza trade. Nice deal for them, too, although how this might figure into the Santana situation is anyone's guess. Could they be looking to deal Young in a package for more pitching? The Rays had nowhere to go but up as far as the bullpen is concerned, but this could noticeably improve both the starting rotation and bullpen. The running gag last year was that if a Rays' starter didn't hand a 10-run lead to the pen, it was as good as lost. i haven't checked but they must have led the league in giving up late-inning leads. Could be ready to challenge Baltimore! Plans for a new park look promising as well.

This begs the question. Why do they price oil in dollars? Convenience? To simplify the buying and selling?

Seems to be a rise in bad news around here lately ... An article in our paper last week pointed out that there are many more people struggling to make ends meet these days (significant rise in demand for assistance, etc.). As people living paycheck to paycheck see their jobs disappear, they become more and more desperate. Robberies go up. Sounds like a pretty dramatic break-in. Why bust down the door? Weird. What did the cops say?

My wife and I (like so many others) have adopted "special needs" rescue dogs. They always come from bad situations of one sort or another, and we give them a loving home and the best medical care we can, and fill their final years with as much comfort, joy and tenderness as we can. We have one now with fairly advanced kidney disease. He came to us last spring confused, skinny, and fearful. He's laying curled up at my side now as I type, happy as a clam and reassured that we're his friends. He's my pal. With proper care, he is doing quite well, for now. But we know we will eventually face a day much like you just had. It's always heartbreaking to lose them. GS, I only say all this because one of the many things you can rejoice in is that you gave Shadow a loving and comfortable home for most (if not all?) of its life. There really is no "good" way to go, but I'm sure throughout her many years with you, Shadow never suffered and was always comfortable, secure and happy. And it's those many, many happy and well-fed years that really count. ... That doesn't lessen the pain of losing a loved pet, but it is definitely something to feel very good about. And eventually, you will. Give yourself a month, or however long it takes, and then give the gift of a happy, secure home to some other lucky cat out there. Peace

Truly sorry for your loss. Hold on to the many good memories I'm sure you have with Shadow. And maybe when the time comes, another buddy will enter your home.

He really said that? He only scored two TDs and the threat of another led to the blocked punt that produced another score. What an incredible dumb ass that dude is. Some BS about how the Broncos were still leading after Hester ran back his two TDs. Yada, yada. Never mind both coaches said Hester was the key to the game.

i agree you never saw gail sayers return kicks. http://munilot.com/blogs/vhr/archive/2007/...-returners.aspx The man has already broken Sayer's team record for TD returns! There was a chart on ESPN of the guys ahead of him, and its just ridiculous - guys with 12 or 16 returns - in 120 or 150 games, while Hester has ten in like 20 career games! Its the equivalent of someone approaching Willie Mays' 660 homers - in like five years instead of 20. How about Skip Clueless saying Hester wasn't important to the outcome of the game. Are you kidding me?

I think there was a game against the Vikings that they barely pulled out at the last minute. And a one-point win over the Bills. There were a fair number of blowouts, but an equal number of reasonably close games. Although, they did beat the Pats 52-0 that year. Yikes. EDIT: BTW, looking at the results, they played six preseason games that year! Seems like a lot.

Two things about Pats-Eagles: 1. It was unlikely the Pats wouldn't be tested at some point. And the further along they get, the more likely it becomes. The Pats may have started to believe the hype themselves. Everyone from here on in is going to bring their best game against them, so the Pats will have to match that in order to keep on winning. Question is, were they exposed or will this refocus them even more? 2. The age of the New England linebackers may have been exposed Sunday night. Inside routes were easy pickings for the Eagles' backup QB. Seems like Belichick may have to scheme around that. The formula: Shut down Moss; blitz Brady early and often; play the receivers physical and tight; don't unleash a wild throw on a deep corner route on your last possession of the game when you've been burning them all night inside. It'll be interesting to see what the mad genius comes up with to counter all this next week against the (cough, cough) Ravens.

Yeah, there's one. How about the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl? Nokia Sugar Bowl? ... the whole thing is a scheme to milk more $$$ out of corporate sponsors. I agree the Rose Bowl has the tradition. It pretty much begins and ends there, though. The other thing I don't care for is how they spread the big bowls out over three days now. I much preferred having all the big bowls on New Year's Day. One final blowout and it's over.

Speaking of the Weed Whacker Bowl, I heard the Kansas coach, Mangino, say he opposed a playoff system because he believed in the history and tradition of the bowl system. ... huh? ... I'd bet the number of bowls has doubled in the past 10-15 years. ... And they sell-out their names to corporations. What tradition?

Strictly from a viewer's point of view, I'd rather watch that Patriots offense all game long, I don't care what the score is. Go for 100! And from a coach's point of view, you're playing with fire when you try to reign in your team. I hope they keep their foot on the gas as long as this ride lasts.

I did a little research. The two teams split their regular season games: Sask. 31, Winnipeg 26 Winnipeg 34, Sask. 15 Saskatchewan didn't score a lot of points early in the season but seemed to have the offense going in the last half of the season. Judging from their record, Winnipeg seemed to be hot and cold. With the starting QB hurt, I'm thinking things will get really cold: Saskatchewan, 36 points.

Yep. Right you are. No. 49 according to U.S. News. (No. 17 among non-private schools).

New England is just a joy to watch. ... Near perfect football.

I'm telling ya, get an education at UF so you too can sound like a moron. I'm pretty sure UF is one of the top academic institutions in the country ... top 10 I believe. Not an easy school to get into. Of course, that's now. Back when Emmitt attended, I'm not so sure that was the case.

So me and some fellas at work had a fair chunk of change riding on the Browns giving 2 1/2 points. (The line was 3 elsewhere). Needless to say ....

We'd better be careful or we'll end up on some search list for weird porn ....

I'm sensing a little hostility here. Goddamn fuck shit piss, papsrus, shit asshole damn shit hell! What the fuck are you talking about, motherfucker? You're a sad, pathetic lonely fucking man! I'm gettin' all warm and fuzzy here. ... completely off topic, but ... I'm reminded of the final episode of season one (I think) of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," where they finally open their restaurant. Open kitchen overlooks the restaurant. Surprise, the chef has turrets. Starts swearing away. Everyone horrified. To salvage the situation, co-owner Larry starts blurting out obscenities too, to make it seem as though shouting obscenities is some sort of theme for the restaurant. Before you know it, the whole place is swearing away like mad! Hysterical. Now, back to Bonds. He's a motherfucking shithead and so are his shit-pissing, fuck-faced critics. (I feel better now. Off to church I go.)

I'm sensing a little hostility here.

Hehe. ... sure. But do they have any business sense, or just that pile of cash? Obviously, there is some sense of urgency with the new stadium and all, but what about 3-4-5 years down the line? This team is going to need a major facelift sooner rather than later, no? It must be close to the oldest roster in baseball.

That may be true, but we see people lying to Congress on almost a daily basis with little or no consequence (to them). Are you sure only the record-holders are targeted? That may well be the case. I'm just not so sure. And if it is the case, isn't it common for federal prosecutors to go after the big fish? You're not going to crack open substance abuse in baseball by prosecuting some AAA call-up. I'm not sure I see a problem with the tactic, really. As an aside, the Mitchell report should break things open even further, with reportedly more than 100 names. We'll see. Selig will have his hands full.

Precisely. Indians had a great year. Gave their fans a great ride. Disappointing in the end, but the fans will be back cheering next year for bigger and better things. It's kind of pathetic that Yankees fans consider anything but a string of World Series titles to be a complete failure. And that the reaction of the club is to start dumping buckets of cash on the open market. Does anyone know anything about the Steinbrenner sons? Are they competent?

But this all tracks back to Balco. Marion Jones was tied up in Balco as well, and apparently lied to a grand jury, then eventually came clean. She'll likely do time for the same offense Bonds is charged with. So, to extend your argument, what you seem to be saying is that unless the feds go after every track athlete, they are unfairly targeting Jones? ... I don't quite buy that. Lying to Congress and lying to a federal grand jury are two different things (as has been well demonstrated on a daily basis.) Unless there's sufficient evidence to prosecute those others for lying to a grand jury, your argument seems to be a non-starter.

Very entertaining and informative thread! A-Rod is a great player. I hope he's happy in New York and hope they all have a satisfying season. My dream is that they lose to the Dodgers in the World Series (not gonna happen, but ....). I would think that for most fans of your regular run-of-the-mill (or worse) teams, this obsession with A-Rod is kind of a freak show. I heard the Angels owner say (half-jokingly) last night that he was prepared to offer A-Rod about half of what the Yankees offered him. So really, there's only two or three teams that would even consider the guy. He ended up back with the Yankees because they're the only ones who will overpay him. I'd rather watch the D-Rays develop young talent and beat the big bad Yankees and Red Sox two-out-of three when they come to town. (OK, that's kind of rare, but still. It's more satisfying than booing a $275-million player all season long.)