papsrus

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Looks interesting. Parker's all over that label. (or vice versa).

How so? Certainly not by expressing enthusiasm for American Music and seeking opinions on the catalog. Nor would Moms be the first person to distance themselves from certain regions of free jazz, in no uncertain terms. In any case, a stirred pot makes for a good brew.

Unreal that the umpire, standing right there, missed that call. Wow. Course, the umpires are often standing "right there" when they miss calls.

Great stuff Jeff. Didn't realize there were differences among the various label colors. I think most if not all of the handful of American Music titles I have were acquired at Jeff's suggestion. One from the blue label series I enjoy is John Casimir's Young Tuxedo Jazz Band AMCD-61. Taken from two sessions in 1961 in New Orleans, most of the music appears to have been previously issued. I'm in no position to judge Casimir's playing from any sort of technical standpoint, and things can get a little ragged from time to time, but when they hit it the ensemble playing is spirited and the music always comes from a genuine place. Casimir seems particularly inspired on the four tracks taken from the first session, whirling and warbling and twirling and spiraling from great heights. He seems to almost have a bit of that stovepipe, talking clarinet thing going sometimes. The Dodds looks worth hearing, too.

Boston's a great hockey town. One of the best. But they've got the Red Sox, Pats, Celtics. New York has the Yankees, Yankees and Yankees. I'm going to guess that the finals lead the front page every day in Vancouver. That it leads every newscast. And that it's all anybody talks about in Vancouver 24-7. Hope it goes 7 games!

One of the espn dudes suggested that while college athletes shouldn't be paid directly by their schools (beyond the scholarships they already receive), they shouldn't be prevented from making whatever deals they can on the side. Allow them to do TV commercials and sign endorsement deals, for instance.

Yes. Jeff may be out of pocket, not sure. But he'll certainly check in when he sees the thread.

Here we go!

While it may not make sense to you, there is a sizable portion of the population that lost respect for James when he put on that tv show (not just press coverage of an announcement, but an actual show hyping himself up). He was perhaps the most popular NBA star prior to changing teams, and now it's a different story. Why couldn't he have tried to win it all in Cleveland? They got to the NBA Finals with him and a bunch of lesser players, only to lose to the Spurs. Recruit one good player to Cleveland (which should have been easy, many would have been willing to play alongside James), and that probably would have put them over the top. Instead, he opted for the selfish "ME ME ME" alternative, and put on a big production to announce his back-turning on Cleveland. Looked like in his mind he was bigger than the sport. I like Dwyane Wade, and will be happy for him (and Haslem) should they win, but won't be rooting for James. Yeah, I get all that. I don't know. I guess I just find it curious that folks who had no real rooting interest in Cleveland feel like LBJ owed it to them to: A) not stage an ill-conceived media event and B) not leave Cleveland. He agrees that the media event was ill-conceived. And he's apologized. That's usually good enough. Not even close to good enough for this guy though. And why should he have stayed in Cleveland? He gave them 7 years and took them to the finals with almost no help. The cavalry wasn't coming. Garnett didn't stay in Minnesota. Shaq left Orlando after taking them to the finals and falling short, like LeBron, and then went to the Lakers to team up with Kobe. Sound familiar? Players move all the time. What makes LeBron moving to Miami different? As far as his move being selfish -- what if it is? Although he took less money and is basically playing second fiddle to Wade, so it can easily be argued that it really isn't selfish. But what if it is selfish? So what? What about Elway stiffing Baltimore? Eli Manning poo-pooing San Diego? Or any player who has vetoed a trade to some place he doesn't want to play? What if he just wanted to play on a great team instead of carrying the entire load in Cleveland? That's selfish? Anyways, it's all good. It just seems sometimes folks want something, anything, to be pissed off about and once the old bandwagon picks up a little steam, it's all-aboard and damn the torpedoes. I suppose I've gone on far too long about something I said I don't really care about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7TGlcHy3ug

The comparison, while not apples-to-apples, was only meant to illustrate that self-serving mega-media events arn't the sole provenance of LeBron. I'd guess that Oprah's farewell show(sssss) were more widely watched than The Decision. And I'd say Jordan strutting around the United Center calling it "my house" more than a decade after he played there gives off more than a whiff of arrogance. Particularly with a young star, MVP Derrick Rose, now on the rise there in what MJ reminds us is his house. I know, I know, Jordan's been very complimentary of Rose. Still. If it's inflated egos we're talking about, professional sports is full of them. As far as LeBron milking the marketing machine for the staging of The Decision, Jordan's "I'm back," and Tiger Woods' "Hello World" were both specifically crafted for marketing purposes -- in Tiger's case, a multimillion dollar marketing campaign. Proceeds from The Decision went to charity. And besides, Cleveland was an eager participant in creating the monster, elevating the man's image to almost Christ-like proportions. They shouldn't have been surprised that he wanted a second coming. By "I don't care," what I mean to say is that I find the hysteria and animosity generated by the whole thing a bit ... overdone. Even more so now that the guy has apologized for what was clearly a misguided media event. I just never got that worked up about it one way or the other, that's all. I can understand why folks in Cleveland might be disappointed -- pissed even -- over losing him. Not so much some dude in Dubuque.

fair 'nuff.

Well, the dude was just strutting around at the United Center on one of a seemingly endless series of farewell shows for Oprah welcoming her to 'his' house. When it comes to egos, LeBron can't hold a candle to Jordan. Wait, what team does he play for currently? The point was, LeBron isn't exactly alone in staging self-aggrandizing media stunts. You don't think "I'm back" wasn't crafted by a marketing agency driven by the star-making machine? And his Hall of Fame speech could hardly be described as humble.

Well, the dude was just strutting around at the United Center on one of a seemingly endless series of farewell shows for Oprah welcoming her to 'his' house. When it comes to egos, LeBron can't hold a candle to Jordan. LeBron's 'The Decision' was a little unusual, but only a little. You've got high school football players holding news conferences now to announce which college they are going to attend. That's more creepy to me than arguably the best player in the NBA, now a free agent, holding a TV event (to raise $ for charity, btw) to announce where he's going to go play. But, either way I'm basically in the "who cares" camp.

Exactly. And that's the sole reason I stopped watching the NBA. I have not watched a game since that fiasco and I don't plan to anytime soon. The league has become obsessed with "stars" at the expense of the beauty of the game itself. My prediction for this series? Anyone who looks at Wade funny or breathes on him or LeBron will be called for a foul and the refs will join the Heat for another "championship" celebration. Just like the last time they robbed faced Dallas. I've never been a big NBA fan. I watch some of the playoffs and glance at a couple of the marquee games during the season. That's about it. I didn't have a reaction one way or the other after "The Decision." Seemed like any other manufactured media event to me. We're not used to this sort of thing by now? C'mon. It was no big thing. The reaction to it in Cleveland I sort of understood; way over the top but that's the way fans can be sometimes. And I figured the reaction in Cleveland had as much to do with that city's history of sports failures as anything else. But the rest of the country? I don't really get why someone outside of Ohio would really care (other than folks in Miami). It seems like people got caught up in the very media frenzy they claim to dislike. Partly (mostly?) LeBron's fault, but he has since admitted that the way he handled things was a mistake. -- He agrees with you, in other words.

Dirk has a torn tendon in middle finger of non-shooting hand (left). Apparently unlikely to affect his shooting, but overall it can't be a good thing.

Isn't that "take my talents to ..." line from somewhere else? Like he was almost quoting it as a gag or something? (Hah! I just googled it and the urban dictionary says its a euphemism for masturbate.)

I'm with you on both counts. Folks went way over the top crushing LeBron for giving the hometown team 7 good years, then leaving Cleveland for Miami and a chance to play with Wade. ... Cleveland and nobody -- Miami and Wade. Hmmm. And you heard Wade say the other night there is no way on earth he would go to Cleveland. I assume that goes for Kobe, Dwight Howard, Dirk, Chris Paul, Carmello Anthony, Stoudemire and just about any other big-name player you can think of. I'm sure Cleveland is a great place in a lot of ways, but c'mon. And Rose carries the ball like a tailback.

Well, you're part of this little online community... and I'm sure I'm not the only one that's glad you're here. Thanks for all the great music recommendations. Hang in there, man. Yes.

Matthew said that Scully was relating what a catcher told him, not giving his own opinion (although he may have done that, too).

The Flames also took the Lightning to Game 7 in 2004. I was stuffed up in one of the far corners of the arena for that one. Had no voice left afterward. Although the Lightning had their chances last night, the Bruins were pretty clearly the better team. Conventional wisdom seems to be this is Vancouver's series to lose, but I don't know about that. The Bruins really had the Lightning on the run for most of the last two games. It was all Tampa could do to get the puck out of their own zone. And when they did get into the Boston zone, it was often one shot and done, and back the other way. I'm hoping the Bruins can give the Canucks a run for it.

Any news about Costa Rica?

Guess I'll have to add $2.15 to my organissimo donation for when the Yankees send Jim a bill over the image I posted.

The Posey injury was unfortunate but the play was within the rules. Having said that, there ought to be some consideration of a rule change that would eliminate a play where one man runs full speed into another man who is basically kneeling defenseless on the ground. Arguments that defend the status quo by saying that the game has always been played this way ring hollow, IMO. Football has updated its rules regarding contact in order to protect players. Why not baseball? And now, a word from the fan-friendly folks at Tropicana Field. This shirt is not allowed: