scottb

The reserves looked good tonight especially my boy Convey! Come on Jim, get on board the Convey train. You know I like Beasley too but Convey was the man tonight. His service into the box was terrific. Hopefully one these strikers will get a clue where to be to tap these in for goals. Here's how I saw it... I thought the front two did OK. Many times they were too close together, making the same runs, resulting in both of them missing the cross. Wolff, well, was Wolff. Created several nice chances for himself and blew them all. Convey was the man! Dempsey was magical for 45 then cooled off in the second half a bit. Nice finish on the diving header! I could definitely see him and Convey coming off the bench for a spark on either side of the pitch. I thought Olsen was a bit off. In the first half when we looked pretty sharp, he was the one missing passes and losing possession. The defense as a whole looked pretty good. Boca and Albright did well getting forward. They were not quite as cohesive as a unit and on a couple occasions were beaten by the pace of the forwards (hard to tell if they were that fast or we were a step a slow, hopefully the former) Howard looked a little off. Seemed to misjudge a few crosses. Wasn't really tested except on one free kick. As a whole the team looked good. Great first half with a lot of chances and good service into the box. I think this is how the US has to play to win games at the World Cup, use our speed on the flanks, get balls into the box and use our strength to get on the end of crosses for goals. The second half saw a bit more pressure from the visitors and a little less possession for the US than in the first half. Of course the red card (bogus!) changed things. When Donovan and Beasley entered the game I kinda felt like "hold on to your seats, these guys are going to bring the attack to the next level." But they didn't. Convey did much better on the left and Donovan made a few good plays but the team didn't look as sharp as a whole. Overall, a step in the right direction and like Bruce said we're not preparing ourselves to play Morocco or Venezuela, we're preparing to play the Czech Republic on june 12th. I imagine we'll see more of the starters again on Sunday.

Hey, leave the Socceroos alone! If you mean your in the same boat, I disagree. I think the US has a stronger team the the Aussies overall but we don't have a guy like Viduka. He's got a nose for goal like I'm talking about.

All my fears are becoming reality it seems. USA 0, Morocco 1. Reyna injured (yeah, didn't see that one coming. OBrien will be next!) Didn't get to see the game. I have no excuse because I now have a DVR! Sounds like the US dominated play but couldnt find the net and one mistake in the 90th minute leads to a goal and a Morocco win. I think I've said it before but the US team's greatest weakness is the absence of a true goal scorer. We've got guys who CAN score but nobody who GOING TO score game in, game out, a goal every game to a game and a half. What Twellman is to the Revs, or Ruiz to FC Dallas, or Ruud to Man U, or Henry to Arsenal, or Drogba to the forces of evil, or Eto'o, or Shevchenko, or Borghetti, or Crespo, or anyone who is going to challenge the rest for the golden boot. I don't think you can win without one guy scoring goals consistently. In our case someone is going to have to get hot during the tournament because by nature we don't have that guy on our roster.

I was all ready to spring for these but it's pickup only and he lives in Switzerland! Maybe next time

Those first 15 minutes were tremendous and Arsenal was having the better of the play. Henry looked to be on his way to a terrific performance. It was a shame the red card card changed everything. I thought the ref was justified in the call but could have also played the advantage, given Barca the goal and allowed the game to continue 11 v 11. I thought there were some terrible calls and no calls mostly in favor of Barca. I haven't had a chance to rewatch the first goal but some are saying there was an offsides missed.

Top 10 things to do while the board is being upgraded: 10 - Reaquaint yourself with the family. Find out who's living in your house. "Hon, Why is there an old lady in the den?" "That's your mother Dear, she moved in back in the fall after her hip surgery." 9 - Go outside! Enjoy a walk in the park. Maybe even participate in physical activity. (Please talk with your doctor before initiating an exercise program) 8 - Watch the news. You may learn something or even be inspired to enter the Political Forum when the board returns. (I recommend FOX news to get the no spin spin.) 7 - Knock a few items off the old honey do list. This will earn brownie points with the boss (read wife) and perhaps allow more future minutes on the board once it's back up. 6 - Go practice your instrument. 5 - Visit other jazz sites online and try to find other organissimo members so you can bemoan the fact the board is down. 4 - Go shopping on ebay, dusty groove, CD Universe, half.com or whereever else you get your tunes. (I recommend ORGANIC VIBES from Joey D.) 3 - Drink some beers (I figured I'd include it since some of you are going to do it anyway!) 2 - Listen to some of the dozens of discs you've received but haven't even opened yet! 1 - Keep hitting the refresh button until the board comes back up!!!

By the way, Joe, that Stromberg sounds pretty good in YOUR hands as well.

VERY cool!

I picked up my high definition converter from the cable company earlier this week. It also has a DVR feature so I won't be missing ANYTHING this World Cup. Except maybe sleep as I stay up all night watching ALL the games from the day.

Here's how I line 'em up Keller Cherudolo, Pope, Bocanegra, Eddie Lewis Beasley, Reyna, Donovan, OBrien (Convey) McBride, Johnson

I agree with you. I've tried to rationalize the decision about the forwards and this is what I've come up with. Ching was picked as a replacement for McBride. If McBride goes down, really Ching is his best replacement. He's a bigger target than Twellman and also has that passing ability you mentioned so I can justify his inclusion. As far as Wolff goes, as my previous posts have made clear, I'm not a fan. I think Arena wants to play 2 forwards, one target man and one speedster. Maybe he's even planning to play Donovan up top with McBride (I hope not.) Twellman really doesn't have the speed of Landon, Johnson or Wolff so there you go. Twellman is not really big enough to be a target man and not really fast enough to be the speedster. Still with his nose for the goal, I would have brought him along. I think Noonan's chance was hurt by his injury. I like him a lot. He's very versatile and people forget he can score. Sure he was third on the Revs team last year but the two ahead of him (and not by much) were Twellman and Dempsey. I think the big problem for the US is going to be scoring. McBride has been in a bit of a drought lately at Fulham. He's playing well and creating for his teammates but not putting it in the net. Maybe Johnson will break out and become the prolific goalscorer we need so badly. It's good to get some goals from your midfielders but you've got to have a striker that leads the team in scoring. John OBrien is a big question mark? Will he be injured? Will he be match fit? Will he be in form?

He's floatin' alright! He comes in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit! Although quite funny, this is also sad. He is obviously quite ill and needs help.

What I find amazing is how many hits per second this site is getting. In the time it takes you to click on the site, check the counter, back out and click again, the counter has advance by 500!

Congratulations!! Does that involve any promotional work like store appearances and workshops?

I was confusing the XK3 with the Portable B3 which is several times more expensive. Glad to hear you guys are getting new gear. Sorry to hear you aren't raking in the dough from a terrific record. Maybe you guys could be on Oprah! Anything on that show sells like mad.

Yeah, take that keyboard crap somewhere else. THIS IS THE PLACE must be selling like hotcakes those Hammond XK3s cost a small fortune, don't they?

My wife and I met in med school. We actually had a class together in undergrad but sat on opposite sides of the room. We were anatomy partners and those long hours over the cadaver sparked a friendship. Over the next four years we became closer and closer friends. I probably "fell in love" with her first during the 3rd year when we had our clinical rotations together. It was one of those things where I could feel the chemistry but on paper we are total opposites and I let my mind convince me it wouldn't work. Everyone in class thought we were together but we just remained friends. Even store clerks would call me "Mr Gordon" after seeing her maiden name on a credit card I guess we just looked and acted like a married couple. After graduation, she moved 3 hours away to her residency and within the first month of this separation, I knew I couldn't live without her. We dated long distance for 2 years until we got married and I transfered to a residency at the same hospital. Approaching 8 years and 3 kids later I can't believe I almost let her get away!

PM sent concerning Sonny Rollins at the Village Vangard RVG.

I put a reasonable bid on this McCarty model PRS on ebay early in the auction as I do from time to time just in case no one else bids. I didn't win teh auction but the winner hasn't paid and I've been offered a second chance to buy at my bid price for $1000. What would you do? I really don't NEED another guitar and I don't really NEED a PRS just play around the house with but... Worst case is I sell it for profit on ebay later. Most of these sell for $1500 to $2000 on ebay.

But guys, he was embaressed by the accident and now he can't party with his friends. Isn't that worth a few grand?

That's scarey good. Looks like Andreas has listened to a little Barney Kessel and Django. I had trouble getting that video to play at normal speed.

So I guess the only question remaining is when can get the season 3 DVD?

Have you tried FRIED PICKLES? They are delicious! We'll fry anything down here!

I recently got a new Yamaha home theater system. The DVD player also plays SACDs and I've obtained a few Hybrids to sample. Now to my problem... I thought the multichannel inputs were supposed to be the best but my SACDs don't sound so good in this mode and sound much better in 5 channel stereo. Is there something I need to do?

Lists of top jazz or essential jazz titles are easy to come by. Considering your inclining toward upbeat and progressive jazz, I'll answer a different, much narrower question and give you my top 10 hardbop / post bop Blue Note RVGs (in no particular order) Art Blakey - pick any one with Curtis Fuller (Free For All, Indestructible, Buhaina's Delight, Mosaic) John Coltrane - Blue Train Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land (his most progressive) Tina Brooks - True Blue Hank Mobley - Workout or Roll Call Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe Larry Young - Unity Jimmy Smith - Houseparty AND The Sermon (counts as one - because I said so!) Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up That was tough! I chose some titles to get "two for one." For example Bobby Hutcherson is on Mode For Joe, Grant Green can be heard on Workout and Search For the New Land, Donald Byrd is on One Flight Up and Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter play on the Blakeys (most of them.) I think this list gives you a good representation of the 1960s Blue Note sound.