Matthew

It seems to me, it was Charlie Finley's Oakland A's that brought in the "flash" and showtime feel to baseball, with Reggie being a major player in all of that. Poor Billy Martin, he never had a chance going against Jackson, no wonder they had such conflict -- the "Yankee Way" and the "Showtime A's" were ages apart.

Talk about super cool! I'm watching a replay of Don Larson's perfect game. It's very interesting to see the 1950s commercials, how they played the game, no stepping out after ever pitch, no posturing, no "flash," just playing the game. I hope the MLB Network shows more games from the 1950-1960s. The quality of the MLB Network seems high, looks like this will be the place to be for information -- supposedly their game night will last eight hours during the season.

I have a Sony Bravia HDTV ($700 at Best Buy), with a LCD screen, for HD it goes 720pi. I happen to like it very much, with my viewing habits centering 90% on sports. If you're a sports person, HD is the only way to go, I love how basketball & baseball look on HD. I've hooked up the tv to my stereo system, and it works very well. The one caveat I have is that the non-HD picture could be better on a LCD screen, but the HD does look very nice.

My gosh, 26 combined turnovers at the half.

Pacers vs. Knicks. Can't say the play is high quality.

If it was during the season I'm sure they'd rest him...but once the playoffs arrive most of your usual safety precautions fly out the window. Yeah, it's too bad that attitude is there. Well, I forgot the the Steelers have the bye this week. Even so, it's still dangerous for Big Ben.

Reason no.1 why I can't get fully into the NFL: Roethlisberger has a "mild concussion" and will probably play this weekend, so he can get another concussion. The NFL just doesn't seem to care about the health of its players.

To say the Chargers looked good tonight is an under statement. It'll be interesting to see how they do against Indy next week.

Celtics lose two in a row. The Laker loss was understandable, but they really looked like a tired team last night against Golden State, and how can Ray Allen only come up with only seven points? They just didn't look too interested in playing last night.

Strangely enough, even with all the signings, I don't think the Yankees have improved all that much from last year. Well, IF CC and Burnett are healthy, their starting pitching must be better. Tex is a much better fielder than anyone they had there last year. Has more power than Abreu. And now they have tons of outfielders to trade off for relief pitching. It seems to me that the key is going to be Burnett, if he can come up big, he could put the Yankees over the top. As I said before, I don't see CC equaling Mussina's win total in 2009, and there is still the need for a quality three starter. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see what kind of effect on the team the move to a new park will have, maybe none, but you never know.

Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America). I think this is my favorite LoA book. Chandler's early stories and novels are very good, and the quality of writing is original and has aged very well. Very enjoyable read.

Strangely enough, even with all the signings, I don't think the Yankees have improved all that much from last year.

You mean Rivers, not Brees I think. And yes, I think they're playing well finally. If they get in, they'll be a force to be reckoned with. I hope LT still has something left in the tank though. Duh, of course I meant Rivers -- see what turning 50 does for you.

Speaking of needing to win to make the playoffs: The Sunday night game is San Diego vs. Denver, and it's in San Diego. Think the Bolts will take it easily, their offense is clicking right now, with Brees looking great against Tampa Bay yesterday. Maybe LT can get his act together for this game and make an impact, he's been out of it the whole year. I've kind of gotten back into football this year, having time to actually watch games on Sunday, it would be very cool seeing the Chargers, who were left for dead three weeks ago, make it in -- that would be a major choke job by the Broncos

The Angels are dropping out of the Mark Teixeira race. Looks like Boston/New York Yankees/Washington/Baltimore will be fighting it out. Maybe Teixeira wants to become the Rafael Palmeiro of the 21st. century, without the steroids, of course and sign with either Washington or Baltimore.

St. Basil the Great (c. 330 – 379): The Hexameron: A series of homilies on the creation account in the book of Genesis. A beautiful meditation on creation, and what is fascinating is that a lot of the issues St. Basil deals with are still with us.

I always thought this was a trippy cover:

I agree Matthew. In the Cowboys' case, Garrett was hired by Jerry Jones prior to the hiring of Wade Phillips as head coach. There was the potential for him at the time to have been head coach, had Jones not hired anyone else. I think Garrett is intelligent, and perhaps will make a head coach, but I'm not sure he's that good of an offensive coordinator. He had one really good year last year, when the Cowboys went 13-3, but in retrospect it might have been luck, or simply good playing by the offense regardless of the plays called. Garrett's star is definitely not shining as bright anymore though. Was Mora hired to be the next head coach after Holmgren had already announced his retirement? I don't really get the thinking either way. Yeah, Mora got the gig when Holmgren said 2008 was his last year. Seahawks panicked when Mora Jr. said coaching at the University of Washington would be his "dream job," and named him head coach for 2009 back in January 2008, making Holmgren the lamest of lame ducks, and now they're stuck with Mora Jr. Seattle has stunk this year -- you know you're really bad when you can't even make it in the NFC West, I mean, Arizona gets killed anytime they play a decent team. I should talk, for the first time in twleve years my Sunday afternoons are free, so I've picked up watching the Chargers again (I grew up in San Diego during the Air Coryell years), just as frustrating of a team as ever to follow; well, at least they won today, but LT is not even close to what he once was.

Knicks vs. Celtics. Doesn't look like anyone can challenge the Celtics this year, a solid all-around team.

Yes and yes. A QB is only as effective as his offensive line lets him be. Of course, having Butterfingers Owens on your team doesn't help, either. I agree. There's plenty of blame to go around, as Jim has also mentioned. Romo had a bad night, as did Owens, who quit on some routes and didn't catch a few that were catchable again. The offensive scheme was questionable, play calling was bad, and Wade Phillips seemed very reactive (like his shocked face when the Ravens faked the field goal). It wouldn't bother me if Phillips & Jason Garrett both got pink slips, as well as Brian Stewart, if he's anything more than DC in name. And the offensive line coach. Hell, all the coaches. Jerry Jones screwed up, again. Re: Garrett -- I have never understood this cult in the NFL regarding assistant coaches. Supposedly Garrett was so good they gave him big $$$ to stay, and now Garrett's value has taken a big hit he might not even be taking over next year. Seattle fell into this group think with Jim Mora Jr., naming him the head coach for 2009, way before the 2008 season started, and again, the team is tanking, and now that urgency to keep Mora doesn't look so great.

The word that I would use to describe 2008 musically for me would be sad. For some reason, I seem to have lost contact with music, whether it was job upheavals, stress, or whatever, I do not seem to have the same feeling as I once had for music. It struck me forcefully in 2008 how my cd collection has a museum quality to it, how much it interests me "historically" but not on a emotional level. As a result, the time I spent listening to music went way down this year, and I must admit, I don't miss it all that much right now -- even though I'll probably listen to Zappa for most of the day. Hopefully, when life calms down, I'll be able to recapture some of that love of music, but for right now, I read a lot, every now-and-then pop in a cd, and long for the days when jazz mattered in my life.

Today is his birthday. December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993. My bad...

Don't see how, especially with Marion Barber continuing to be out and Romo just playing flat-out terrible. As an added bonus, Dallas was way out coached last night. Just don't see it happening, if the Eagles get in, they might be the team to beat in the NFC.

Anniversary of Zappa's passing today, think I'll play some of the instrumental cds.

:huh: What the heck was that??? 77 & 82 yard runs????