Tim McG

Buck up, Jim. Giants have no closer and their "ace" is throwing batting practice balls. It could be worse.

What I find odd is your implied notion that blogs are started just for the purpose of converting others to their beliefs. There may be something "hilarious" about it, but "ironic?" - no I don't think so. Maybe an "I Hate Blogs" blog could be considered ironic, but even that would depend on the content. That is the reason blogs are started....especially the political ones.

Too late, Pete. I've already cornered that market. Net value: Zilch.

I blame congress.

I was thinking the same thing. Couldn't have put it better myself MG Thank you. The obvious is lost on many here. I have received great pleasure from Facebook in reconnecting with old friends who I knew decades ago, but lost touch with. They have now become some of my closest friends again. This has added to the quality of my life very significantly. It would not have happened except for Facebook. One can be glib about dismissing something, and ridiculing others, but there can be more than one credible way to look at an issue. Well put, Hot Pah.

I wonder how many of these guys in the Tennessee legislature were virgins when they got married? Apparently, sex educators invented pre-marital sex.

But not the only one, given the eventual likely prosecution and possible conviction of high-level Penn State administrators involved in the coverup of Sandusky's deeds, that coverup (if real and proved in court) of course being a criminal act. And again, while Joe Pa almost certainly didn't mastermind that coverup, the protection and defense of his longstanding hegemony at Penn State was far from incidental to it. Yes -- these things are not yet proved in courts of law, and yes, there is a hue and cry afoot here, but it's hard to see that some hue and cry is not called for. I think once all the fact is separated from the frenzy, it will be enough to exonerate Paterno. But, that will never satisfy the "what if'ers" of the world. And so it goes...

Giants win 8-0 yesterday over the Dodgers. Now the Dodgers throw their stud Kershaw at them. We'll see if the Giants bats can keep it going for Vogelsong today.

Exactly, RDK. Well put. Say, "Get the fuck back in your seats and shut up, or else." Say that and you'll be looking for work the next day. Though, I have to admit, there have been times....

Cool!

All second guessing, SS1. That still doesn't make Joe Pa culpable in the least. Sandusky is the criminal here.

Serves the Yankees right. It is because of them salaries are out of control

ALL THOSE INVOLVED! They did a regular Catholic Church move, protect the institution at the expense of kids. That and offer a cancer stricken sacrificial lamb [Paterno] up to the media fenzy. Paterno transfers his stuff to somebody else because the sue-happy society we live in would go for the money regardless of who is at fault. That still doesn't prove guilt. This fish stinks from the head down.

Scapegoat, SS1. Happens all the time in sports and in politics. Besides, I never said he was 100% innocent. All I've been saying is to blame Joe Pa for Sandusky's serial child abuse isn't even 1% of the truth. TBH, there was a reason then: To make Paterno appear to be the guilty one and to keep the focus off the Penn State authorities who should have carried through when McCleary first reported the incident. The subsequent charges against them and resignations, I think, prove as much.

You think the Rangers would let him go? I'm sure they'll try to keep him, but there's sure to be a few teams that come in offers that will be batshit crazy in terms of years and/or dollars, in which case, I don't know how hard the Rangers try to meet or beat. The guy's magic when he's healthy, but he's also streaky, and he's prone to injuries, some major, some not. And he's not a kid, so a 7-10 year deal at big bucks a la Pujols is not a good bet. OTOH, he's one of the best, if not the best, talents in the game right now, and is definitely an impact player. A nice crazy-money five, or even six, year deal is something I don't think the Rangers would balk at, not at all. But you know that somebody's going to offer 7 or more years at even crazier money, and that might be the point when the Rangers tell him "thank you for everything" and start moving on. Josh gonna make the best deal for Josh, and that's how it should be, dammit. And dammit.... That's gonna suck, but life goes on, and as long as the system is developing players like Leonys Marin & Mike Olt (and as long as they keep developing themselves), you just gotta hope that good business sense and potential talent don't cross each other up. I would like to think that after all his "issues" and how the team stood by him, that might be enough to help Hamilton decide to stay. But these days, loyaty is bought and paid for, I'm afraid.

It became "serious" when it happened. Besides, the whole thing was put on YouTube and then it went viral. The rest is, well, history.

You think the Rangers would let him go?

TBH, I think you're reading way too much into one statement, Jim. Seriously. McCleary was pontificating, not offering the facts. Perhaps, in an effort to save his own skin. Big difference. It has been my duty to report on numerous child abuse cases throughout my career...some which would turn your stomach... and each and every time I say, "I wish I could have done more" to stop it. Depth of feeling does not equal complicity, my friend. How? You think Joe Pa couldn't have known/didn't know that something along these lines was going on -- and going on for a good long time, well before he was senile, if in fact he finally was? Further, do you think that Penn State's perniciously isolated, don't mess with anyone or anything that has or has had to do with Joe Pa culture, without which Sandusky could hardly have flourished, was anything but Joe Pa's creation? Certainly, there were egregeous mistakes made and down right cover ups...but Paterno was not proved to be part of any of that. The court tesimony proves as much, IMHO. Further, this abuse at the hands of Sandusky had been going on long before the shower incident McCleary reported. The authorities turned a blind eye and with all due respect, I do not see how all this is on Paterno. Agreed. Well, put Jon.

Yep. http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/thunder-road-casey-affleck-plan-feature-about-baseball-superstar-josh-hamilton/ Thanks, Jim. I hope it is a story with a happy ending.

Castilla needs to go down to Fresno AAA. This is the third time in the A's series he's blown a lead, lost a game for Lincecum and now Cain. He just doesn't have the stuff. The good news is the A's can stop flapping their gums about their alleged dominance over the Giants.

I think the point is that people can be very adept at compartmentalizing and being stealthy and not go around obviously slobbering over potential targets or something like that. I spent some time with Bill, and yes I was shocked that the nice, low-key, sober seeming, gentle person I knew had this particular problem, but I understand that people can live successful double lives and function as "non-monsters" or even exemplary citizens in other contexts, so I never thought "that's impossible." The only online argument I ever remember getting into with Bill was when I called him a Pollyanna for getting so upset by criticisms of artists he loved! Goodspeak has been standing by his man Paterno on several boards from the beginning of this episode. That's his prerogative, I suppose. As a legal and required designated reporter of child abuse, I am not so much "standing by" Paterno as I am attempting to educate people on the facts relative to reporting child abuse. People want a simple answer to an extremely complex issue and subsequent prosecution of predators like Sandusky. It isn't easy. Fixing blame, however shortsighted and poorly thought out, is a dime a dozen. Point: If it was easy to nail these dirtballs, there would be no child abuse. Sadly, it is not. Never will be.

With all due respect, that's one of the most delusional comments I've heard about this entire sordid disgusting mess. We are just beginning to see what I expect will become a tidal wave of part monday morning quarterbacking (no pun intended) and part "finally feel able to talk" comments about how "Jerry had a problem with boys" and the like. Vindicated? Really? Try "confirmation of the blood on his hands." I think if you had followed the testimony in the trial, Joe Paterno had nothing at all to do with the decades long child abuse perpetrated by Sandusky. Further, to blame Paterno for a pedophile's abhorrent behavior or to even assume the victims he already assaulted would have been protected somehow because of anything Paterno is incorrectly accused of is "one of the most delusional comments I've [ever] heard." Paterno wasn't the problem here. The system failed to confront/arrest/prosecute Sandusky long before the shower incident McCleary reported on and was subsequently ignored by the authorities who ultimately should have stepped in. Joe Paterno was a victim of a media frenzy hell bent for blood ahead of the facts. Plain and simple. History will prove me out on this.

Wow. I understand this isn't his first heart attack; had one in 2007, too. Hope he'll be OK.

Hey Jim.... What's this I hear about people doing a movie about Josh Hamilton? Any truth to that?

With all due respect and in acknowledgment to the unspeakable crimes against kids at the hands of Sandusky...it is my humble opinion Joe Paterno has been finally and posthumously vindicated. Maybe now cooler heads will prevail along those lines. Nobody wins in this one.